The diagnosis of squamous cell carcinoma requires the accurate classification of cervical squamous lesions in the ThinPrep cytologic test (TCT). It primarily relies on a pathologist's interpretation under a microscope. Deep convolutional neural networks (DCNN) have played an increasingly important role in digital pathology. However, they have not been applied to diverse datasets and externally validated. In the present study, a DCNN model based on VGG16 and an ensemble training strategy (ETS) based on 5-fold cross-validation was employed to automatically classify normal and abnormal cervical squamous cells from a multi-center dataset. First, we collected a dataset comprising 82 TCT samples from four hospitals and fine-tuned our model twice on the dataset with and without the ETS. Then, we compared the classifications obtained from the models with those provided by two skilled pathologists to discriminate the performance of the models in terms of classification accuracy and efficiency. Finally, paired sample t-tests were used to validate the consistency between the classification provided by the proposed methods and that of the pathologists. The results showed that ETS slightly, though not significantly, improved the classification accuracy compared with that of the pathologists: P0=0.387>0.05 (DCNN without ETS vs. DCNN with ETS), P1=0.771>0.05 (DCNN with ETS vs. pathologist 1), P2=0.489>0.05 (DCNN with ETS vs. pathologist 2). The DCNN model was almost 6-fold faster than that of the pathologists. The accuracy of our automated scheme was similar to that of the pathologists, but a higher efficiency in the accurate identification of cervical squamous lesions was provided by the scheme. This result allows for wider and more efficient screening and may provide a replacement for pathologists in the future. Future research should address the viability of the practical implementation of such DCNN models in the laboratory setting.


Abstract Time-stratigraphic interpretations of Late Pliocene to Early Pleistocene sediments from onshore locations and from marginal marine settings of the North Sea Basin often refer to the subdivision of the Dutch and British 'Quaternary' regional stratigraphic stages. Since age control for these stages and their stage boundaries are based on relative dating methods, in this study pollen, dinoflagellate cysts and foraminiferal assemblages were investigated to correlate the regional stratigraphic stages independently to the global chronostratigraphy and the paleomagnetic timescale. The data were obtained from eight boreholes located in the depocentre setting of the Late Pliocene North Sea Basin comprising a 1000 m thick sedimentary succession. The British Gedgravian and Waltonian stages, the Dutch Reuverian to Brunssumian as well as published foraminiferal zones (NSB 14, FB and the lower part of the FA2 zone) fall within the Zanclean and Piacenzian. The lower boundaries of the Pre-Ludhamian and Pretiglian stages and of the NSB 14 to 15 zones are close to the paleomagnetic Gauss-Matuyama boundary. The Pre-Ludhamian, Ludhamian, Thurnian and the Pretiglian, Tiglian A and Tiglian B stages presumably cover the marine isotope stages 103 to 95. It is proposed that the Ludhamian, Thurnian and the Tiglian A were short lasting, warm, periods during which sea level highstand facilitated sedimentary deposition at the marginal areas of the North Sea Basin. The lower boundary of the paleomagnetic Olduvai subchron is situated in the Tiglian Cl-4b stage while the TC4c stage is found within the Olduvai subchron. Foraminiferal NSB 15 and NSB 16 zone as well as the upper part of the FA2 and FA1 zone fall within the Gelasian and cover the Matuyama chron as well as the lower part of the Olduvai subchron. Comparison with formerly dated North Sea sediments shows a good agreement between foraminiferal zonations on a broader scale but significant differences in absolute ages occur. Strontium isotope values indicate approximately 1 Ma younger ages as expected from our chronostratigraphic model. This discrepancy is explained by the dominance of freshwater from river discharge contributing high amounts of eroded material to the basin, leading to an increase of the 87Sr/86Sr ratio in the shelf-sea water.


Following the advent of a post-Moore's law field of computation, novel architectures continue to emerge. With composite, multi-million connection neuromorphic chips like IBM's TrueNorth, neural engineering has now become a feasible technology in this novel computing paradigm. High Energy Physics experiments are continuously exploring new methods of computation and data handling, including neuromorphic, to support the growing challenges of the field and be prepared for future commodity computing trends. This work details the first instance of a Kalman filter implementation in IBM's neuromorphic architecture, TrueNorth, for both parallel and serial spike trains. The implementation is tested on multiple simulated systems and its performance is evaluated with respect to an equivalent non-spiking Kalman filter. The limits of the implementation are explored whilst varying the size of weight and threshold registers, the number of spikes used to encode a state, size of neuron block for spatial encoding, and neuron potential reset schemes.


What is it exactly that people mean when they say something is 'politically correct'? Noam Chomsky once described it as a 'healthy expansion of moral concern'. Michael Barnard viewed it as a 'new strain of ideological virus'. For Morris Dickstein, it was a 'dictatorship of the well-meaning and pure of heart' and for Eugene Goodheart a 'doctrine of opportunism'. Perhaps the whole thing has been an illusion, as Ruth Perry put it, a 'will-o'-the-wisp on the murky path of history'. Sometimes political correctness seems more like an urban myth, with stories of the differently hirsute ('hairy'), the specially non-tall ('short') and the chronologically gifted ('old') reminiscent of those widely circulated anecdotes about batter-fried rats, poodles in microwaves, spiders in hairdos and alligators in the sewers of New York. The term is hopelessly inexact and with so much polemical baggage on board, its meaning seems to change every time it makes an appearance. We consider political correctness as a brainwashing programme and as simple good manners; and we examine the interaction of PC-inspired relabelling initiatives with notions of taboo and censoring. Because it is politically driven, political correctness will obviously attract more attention, and certainly more hostility, than most acts of linguistic censoring. We assume that PC language reflects, and also seeks to enforce, social change. Nonetheless, speakers typically dislike being told to change their linguistic habits, which they see as an attempt to manipulate their thinking.


Abstract. The paper analyses and compares infrasonic and seismic data from snow avalanches monitored at the Vallee de la Sionne test site in Switzerland from 2009 to 2010. Using a combination of seismic and infrasound sensors, it is possible not only to detect a snow avalanche but also to distinguish between the different flow regimes and to analyse duration, average speed (for sections of the avalanche path) and avalanche size. Different sensitiveness of the seismic and infrasound sensors to the avalanche regimes is shown. Furthermore, the high amplitudes observed in the infrasound signal for one avalanche were modelled assuming that the suspension layer of the avalanche acts as a moving turbulent sound source. Our results show reproducibility for similar avalanches on the same avalanche path.


The growth of Escherichia coli strains in media having elevated osmolarity was promoted in the presence of low concentrations of the L-proline analog 5-hydroxy-L-pipecolic acid. The osmoprotective ability of this compound was correlated with the presence in these strains of a functional proP+ gene. The results suggest that the proP-mediated transport of L-proline (in addition to that by proU) is important in osmoregulation. proP::lac operon fusions were used to demonstrate that this gene shows limited induction of expression upon growth in media having elevated osmolarity and that it is transcribed clockwise on the chromosome.


Rats that drank water in a distinctive environment and were then injected with lithium chloride (water-lithium condition) were compared with those given an added taste on those conditioning sessions (sucrose-lithium condition). In three experiments this taste potentiated a conditioned aversion to the context, as measured by suppression of intake of another solution: either a novel sour taste (Experiments 1 and 2) or a familiar saline solution (Experiment 3). In contrast, this potentiation effect was not detected when subjects were tested with water, whether a high or low dose of lithium was used (Experiment 2). Instead, in Experiments 1 and 2 water-lithium subjects drank less water than did the sucrose-lithium subjects on such tests i.e. an apparent overshadowing effect, which was the opposite outcome to that found previously using almost identical procedures. Intake on recovery sessions in another context suggested that, when water is used as the test fluid, potentiation can be masked by two factors: a context-dependent aversion to water in water-lithium subjects, and a conditioned inhibition effect of water in sucrose-lithium subjects. These may account for previous failures to detect potentiation of context conditioning.


This study investigated the impact of fraud on the performance of deposit money banks in Nigeria between the periods from 1994 to 2015. In this study, bank deposit was specified as the dependent variable while the one-period lagged value of bank deposit, amount involved in reported fraud cases, amount lost to fraud and number of staffs involved in fraud cases were used as independent variables. The Generalized Method of Moments (GMM) estimator was employed to analyze the data. This study showed that the amounts involved in fraud cases, amount lost to fraud and number of staffs involved in fraud have a negative and significant influence on the deposit of banks in Nigeria. Meanwhile, the past value of bank deposit has a positive and significant relationship with deposit of banks in Nigeria. The significance of the past value of bank deposit justifies the introduction of dynamism to this study. It was recommended that bank management should not only strengthen their internal control system, but also utilize whistleblowing policy and other "speak-up" mechanisms, which have remained underused and underrated in the Nigerian financial sector, since greater dependence on the process-type fraud detection methods simply encourage complacency.


Vortices have recently received much attention in the research of planet formation, as they are believed to play a role in the formation of km-sized planetesimals by collecting dust particles in their centres. However, vortex dynamics is commonly studied in non-self-gravitating discs. The main goal here is to examine the effects of disc self-gravity on vortex dynamics. For this purpose, we employ the 2D shearing sheet approximation and numerically solve the basic hydrodynamic equations together with Poisson's equation to take care of disc self-gravity. A simple cooling law with a constant cooling time is adopted, such that the disc settles down into a quasi-steady gravitoturbulent state. In this state, vortices appear as transient structures undergoing recurring phases of formation, growth to sizes comparable to a local Jeans scale and eventual shearing and destruction due to the combined effects of self-gravity (gravitational instability) and background Keplerian shear. Each phase typically lasts about two orbital periods or less. As a result, in self-gravitating discs, the overall dynamical picture of vortex evolution is irregular consisting of many transient vortices at different evolutionary stages and, therefore, with various sizes up to the local Jeans scale. By contrast, in the nonself-gravitating case, long-lived vortex structures persist for hundreds of orbits via merging of smaller vortices into larger ones until eventually their size reaches the disc scale height. Vortices generate density waves during evolution, which turn into shocks. This phenomenon of wave generation by vortices is an inevitable consequence of the differential character (shear) of disc rotation. Therefore, the dynamics of density waves and vortices are coupled implying that, in general, one should consider both vortex and spiral density wave modes in order to get a proper understanding of self-gravitating disc dynamics. Our results suggest that given such an irregular and rapidly varying character of vortex evolution in self-gravitating discs, it may be difficult for such vortices to effectively trap dust particles in their centres, which is an alternative mechanism recently proposed for planetesimal formation. Further study of the behaviour of dust particles embedded in a self-gravitating gaseous disc is, however, required to strengthen this conclusion.


Troponin C has been isolated from rabbit slow skeletal and cardiac muscle and the complete amino acid sequence of the slow muscle protein determined. Amino acid analysis and peptide mapping of the cardiac protein showed it to be very similar to, if not identical with, the slow muscle protein. This identity has been proved by the isolation and characterisation of tryptic peptides from the cardiac protein. It seems very likely that troponin C from these two tissues is the product of a single gene, in contrast to troponin I and troponin T which are the products of different genes. The amino acid sequences shows only one difference from that of bovine cardiac troponin C, the highly conservative replacement of an aspartic for a glutamic acid at position 115. No differences were found in the N-terminal region where these proteins appear to have a lost one of the Ca2+ binding sites found in fast skeletal muscle troponin C. The possible significance of this finding in relation to the binding of troponin C to the different types of troponin I is discussed.


A compact and efficient design of the electromagnetic interference (EMI) input filter is one of the main challenges in a high-density switching regulator, and is critical to achieving the full benefits of electrification in automotive, enterprise, aerospace and other highly constrained system environments. As examples, automotive on-board chargers and server-rack power supplies are high-power applications where it is important that the volumetric reduction of EMI filter components helps the solution fit into challenging form factors, especially with the advent of wide-bandgap (gallium nitride [GaN]- and silicon carbide [SiC]-based) power semiconductor devices with fast switching characteristics that potentially lead to higher common-mode (CM) emissions. CM filters for both commercial (Class A) and residential (Class B) environments typically have limited Y-capacitance because of touch-current safety requirements, and thus require large-sized CM chokes to achieve the requisite attenuation – ultimately resulting in filter designs with bulky, heavy and expensive passive components. The deployment of active EMI filter (AEF) circuits enables more compact filter designs for next-generation power-conversion systems. Space-constrained applications, such as those mentioned above, are ripe for even further optimization by leveraging active power-supply-filter integrated circuits (ICs) to significantly reduce magnetic components and overall filter size. This technical white paper frames the theoretical background and general principles of AEF circuits in terms of sensing, injection and control techniques, with practical circuit realizations using a family of stand-alone AEF ICs from Texas Instruments for CM noise cancellation in single-phase and three-phase AC power systems. Measured results from a 3.3-kW power factor correction (PFC) AC/DC regulator will illustrate the benefits of EMI mitigation and board space savings.


Background: The rise in global popularity of triathlon competition requires the medical team to be familiar with various endurance sport related injuries that may sustain throughout the race period. However, there have been very few published studies on the injury profiles of triathlon events held locally.
Objective: To describe the injury rate, the pattern of injuries, and time of presentation for medical treatment among injured athletes at the ultra-distance triathlon event held in Malaysia in year 2014.
Methodology: This cross-sectional study analysed data from all athletes who sustained the injury that required treatment or assessment by the medical personnel during or immediately after the triathlon race. Data on injured athletes were retrieved from Medical Encounter Form used during the race. All physical injuries were documented based on body part affected, type of injury sustained and time of medical treatment sought.
Results: Approximately 30.7% (329/1073) of the athletes in our study population presented to the medical team for treatment during or immediately after the event, with 539 injuries identified among them. Injuries were more commonly seen among male, age group of 30–39 years old, and Asian athletes. The injuries more commonly sustained during the running discipline. Muscle cramps, sprains, and nausea and/or vomiting were the most common type of injury across all race disciplines. There was an apparent increased in athlete presentation from 15:00 hours, and it remained high until 23:00 hours.
Conclusion: There was a wide range of injuries encountered by the competitors. Our results will add to the growing body of knowledge on local triathlon injuries and helps the medical team preparation for future triathlon events.


Abstract Objectives: Fatigue sacral fractures (FSFs) are rare and often misdiagnosed. This study presents a series of FSFs and a meticulous literature review. Methods: The present is an 11-year (2010-2021) retrospective observational study. The characteristics of all adult patients with FSF, including demographics, fracture type, treatment, history of fatigue fracture and imaging were evaluated. Results: Eight cases (6 females; 75%), suffering from 12 fractures (4 bilateral cases) with mean age=33.4 years were studied. Two patients (25%) had suffered another fatigue fracture in the past. Mean symptoms' duration prior diagnosis was 8.5 weeks, while mean symptoms' duration after diagnosis was 10.75. In most cases (7; 87.5%), MRI revealed the fracture. According to the Kaeding-Miller classification; five fractures (42%) were grade III, four (33%) IV and three (25%) II. All patients were treated conservatively, with rest and analgesics, while three received vitamin D and calcium. One patient, due to delayed union, was commenced on teriparatide. Conclusions: FSFs are often misdiagnosed; therefore, they should be included in the differential diagnosis for chronic low back-or-hip pain in athletes. History of other fatigue injuries seems to be a predisposing factor. It is of paramount importance to obtain advanced imaging for identifying a FSF.


CONTEXT
Medical error is a significant problem in the United States, and pathologic diagnoses are a significant source of errors. Prior studies have shown that second-opinion pathology review results in clinically major diagnosis changes in approximately 0.6% to 5.8% of patients. The few studies specifically on head and neck pathology have suggested rates of changed diagnoses that are even higher. Objectives .- To evaluate the diagnostic discrepancy rates in patients referred to our institution, where all such cases are reviewed by a head and neck subspecialty service, and to identify specific areas with more susceptibility to errors.

DESIGN
Five hundred consecutive, scanned head and neck pathology reports from patients referred to our institution were compared for discrepancies between the outside and in-house diagnoses. Major discrepancies were defined as those resulting in a significant change in patient clinical management and/or prognosis.

RESULTS
Major discrepancies occurred in 20 cases (4% overall). Informative follow-up material was available on 11 of the 20 patients (55.0%), among whom, the second opinion was supported in 11 of 11 cases (100%). Dysplasia versus invasive squamous cell carcinoma was the most common (7 of 20; 35%) area of discrepancy, and by anatomic subsite, the sinonasal tract (4 of 21; 19.0%) had the highest rate of discrepant diagnoses. Of the major discrepant diagnoses, 12 (12 of 20; 60%) involved a change from benign to malignant, one a change from malignant to benign (1 of 20; 5%), and 6 involved tumor classification (6 of 20; 30%).

CONCLUSIONS
Head and neck pathology is a relatively high-risk area, prone to erroneous diagnoses in a small fraction of patients. This study supports the importance of second-opinion review by subspecialized pathologists for the best care of patients.


On the basis of piano teaching, piano duet is developed, and it is also a modern new playing form. Playing forms of piano duet mainly include four-hands playing and two-pianos playing. Piano duet player must have a certain sense of cooperation and coordination, and it can be seen that, piano duet is a kind of playing form with high musical artistic value. Based on this, in the actual piano teaching, more music educators begin to pay attention to and focus on teaching of piano duet. This paper deeply discusses the practical application of piano duet in piano teaching, aimed to better improve the effectiveness of piano teaching.


Abstract This study investigates spatial price discrimination with two types of market competition – price competition and quantity competition – and two kinds of cross-relations between goods – substitutes and complements – with endogenous location choices in a barbell model. The results herein present that the maximum differentiation (end point agglomeration) is the unique location equilibrium with substitutes (complements), irrespective of what type of competition. We demonstrate that if the unit transportation rate is sufficiently high, then consumer surplus, profits, and social welfare are higher under price competition than under quantity competition for both substitutes and complements. This means that introducing a spatial barrier to competition generated through transportation costs may solve the problem of inconsistency from the conflict interests between consumers, firms, and a social planner.


A new technique, adding argon or helium into nitrogen plasma, has been used to regulate the electron temperature in an inductively coupled plasma. The electron temperature is determined by analysing the intensity ratio of two nitrogen spectrum lines. The results show that, when the total pressure is 0.7 Pa, the electron temperature increases with the increase of the He partial pressure in He/N2 plasma, but the electron temperature decreases with the increase of the Ar partial pressure in Ar/N2 plasma. The regulation effect of electron temperature is weaker in higher pressure N2/He plasma of 2.6 Pa.


Purpose: The purpose of this study was to develop an Enneagram program (EP) and examine the effects on codependency, anger and interpersonal relationship in wives of alcoholics. Methods: A nonequivalent control group pre-posttest design was used. Participants were 26 wives of alcoholics (experimental group: 12, control group: 14). From March 17 to August 18, 2014, six two-hour sessions of EP were provided to the experimental group over six weeks. Data were collected using the Codependency Recovery Potential Survey (CRPS), Korean State-Trait Anger Expression Inventory (STAXI-K) and Relationship Change Scale (RCS). and analyzed using PASW 18.0 with Fisher's exact test, t-test, and Mann-Whitney U test. Results: The experimental group showed lower scores for codependency (Z=-2.17, p=.030) and anger (Z=-2.43, p=.015) than the control group. However, there was no significant difference in interpersonal relationship score between two groups. Conclusion: The EP for wives of alcoholics was effective in improving codependency and anger. A randomized clinical trial is needed to confirm the value of this EP.


Inflammatory diseases of the thorax can affect its own lungs, pleural cavity, mediastinum or chest wall. They often complicate the treatment of traumatic injury of the thorax. Even infectious complication after intrathoracic surgery are not rare. The early removal of infectious substance (tissue, fluid) and relevant antibiotics therapy are basis of surgical treatment. This article deal about infection of the thorax in surgery and posibilities of treatment options. Contribution of well-timed surgical intervention is demonstrated on case report of patient with infectious complication after traumatic thorax injury.


Background The necessity of performing antifungal susceptibility tests is recently increasing because of frequent cases of oral candidiasis caused by antifungal-resistant Candida species. The Etest (BioMerieux, Marcy l'Etoile, France) is a rapid and easy-to-perform in vitro antifungal susceptibility test. Objective The purpose of this study was to determine the minimal inhibitory concentrations (MICs) of antifungal agents by using the Etest for Candida species isolated from patients with oral candidiasis. Methods Forty-seven clinical isolates of Candida species (39 isolates of Candida albicans, 5 isolates of C. glabrata, and 3 isolates of C. tropicalis) were tested along with a reference strain (C. albicans ATCC 90028). The MIC end points of the Etest for fluconazole, itraconazole, voriconazole, and amphotericin B susceptibility were read after the 24-hour incubation of each isolate on RPMI 1640 agar. Results All Candida isolates were found susceptible to voriconazole and amphotericin B. However, all five isolates of C. glabrata were resistant to itraconazole, among which two isolates were also resistant to fluconazole. Conclusion This study revealed that the Etest represented a simple and efficacious method for antifungal susceptibility testing of Candida species isolated from oral candidiasis patients. Therefore, voriconazole and amphotericin B should be recommended as effective alternatives for the treatment of oral candidiasis.


In 1993, in _Daubert v. Merrill Dow Pharmaceuticals, Inc._, the Supreme Court set forth a multi-factored reliability test for scientific evidence. Of the factors courts should consider in determining the validity of scientific evidence, the Court instructed trial courts to consider the "potential error rate" of the scientific method. In 2009, the National Academy of Sciences, in its landmark report on the state of forensic science, came to this remarkable conclusion: "[N]o forensic method other than nuclear DNA analysis has been rigorously shown to have the capacity to consistently and with a high degree of certainty support conclusions about 'individualization' (more commonly known as 'matching' of an unknown item of evidence to a specific known source)." Of course, matching items of evidence to a specific known source is the central mission of forensic science, so this critique has led to considerable study and research over the past ten years aimed at developing statistical methods to measure error rates in these disciplines. Yet we have seen little progress in developing a statistical foundation for forensic disciplines, which continues to represent a pressing concern. Without reliable information about how often a forensic science process yields the wrong answer, the probative value of forensic evidence is impossible to quantify.

This Article describes a major breakthrough in developing a statistical foundation for forensic science disciplines: a cutting-edge blind proficiency testing program operating in six disciplines at the Houston Forensic Science Center (HFSC). By introducing mock evidence samples into the ordinary workflow of its laboratory analysts, HFSC has begun to develop statistical data that will allow it to calculate error rates for those disciplines. We provide specific details regarding how the program operates in HFSC's toxicology, firearms, and latent prints sections, and discuss both the challenges and benefits the laboratory has experienced because of the blind proficiency testing program. We propose that criminal justice stakeholders should urge other forensic laboratories to implement similar blind proficiency testing programs to develop the statistical data needed to prove the scientific validity of the forensic disciplines.


The soil movement on failed slope had caused substantial failure of soldier pile wall at Muar River embankment, Panchor town, Johor. The existing retaining wall has totally collapsed during low tide period is due to insufficient embedded length of existing wall system and failure due to excessive deformation of the wall and slope sliding under backfilling surcharge and human and traffic activities. To facilitate investigating causes of the failure, a computer simulation of slope stability using SLOPE/W is performed to simulate slope condition before and after construction of the study area and to check the total displacement after the construction by using PLAXIS V8.2. The river embankment collapsed during low tide period thus, the calculated back analysis of factor of safety (FOS) is based on the different at every changes of water level.The result of simulation analysis established the fact that global soil mass had a lateral movement direction toward to installed soldier pile wall generates a combination of mobilized shear force and lateral pressure larger than the capacity or strength of the soldier pile wall. Furthermore, the simulation analysis deduces that the slope instability become greater as moisture or pore-water pressure in the slope increase or decrease in soil's shear strength. FOS determined is 0.966 during low tide period where the existing retaining wall has totally collapsed. Therefore there are 3 options of methods to be introduced to overcome the failure which are all the options introduced show the FOS ranging from 1.378 to 1.435. The anticipated settlement is in the order of 409mm over 25 years after construction.


We demonstrate the possibility of mapping the transverse spatial distribution of optical noise at the output of photonic devices. Maps of local low-frequency noise are obtained by using statistics on multiple-sampling data from near-field scanning optical microscopy (NSOM). On selected laser diodes, the signatures of basic types of transverse mode instabilities (relative phase and amplitude of modes) are unambiguously obtained. On more complex systems, the types of mode instability can be identified and their intensity can be monitored. Such noise mapping opens a new path for analyzing noise origins and for optimizing device design.


We present an analysis of the baryon-octet and -decuplet masses using covariant SU(3)-flavor chiral perturbation theory up to next-to-leading order. Besides the description of the physical masses we address the problem of the lattice QCD extrapolation. Using the PACS-CS Collaboration data we show that a good description of the lattice points can be achieved at next-to-leading order with the covariant loop amplitudes and phenomenologically determined values for the meson-baryon couplings. Moreover, the extrapolation to the physical point up to this order is found to be better than the linear one given at leading-order by the Gell-Mann-Okubo approach. The importance that a reliable combination of lattice QCD and chiral perturbation theory may have for hadron phenomenology is emphasized with the prediction of the pion-baryon and strange-baryon sigma terms.


The letter from Dr George Dantas de Azevedo and colleagues describes the prevalence and the interventions used to improve knowledge about the metabolic syndrome and its diagnosis among postmenopausal Brazilian women. The prevalence of the metabolic syndrome seems to be as high in postmenopausal Brazilian women as in other Latin American women. For these reasons, this effort to improve the knowledge of doctors as well as patients about the metabolic syndrome is important and could reduce the morbidity and mortality related to this silent disease.


Random testing (RT) has been identified as one of the most popular testing techniques, due to its simplicity and ease of automation. Adaptive random testing (ART) has been proposed as an enhancement to RT, improving its fault-detection effectiveness by evenly spreading random test inputs across the input domain. To achieve the even spreading, ART makes use of distance measurements between consecutive inputs. However, due to the nature of object-oriented software (OOS), its distance measurement can be particularly challenging: Each input may involve multiple classes, and interaction of objects through method invocations. Two previous studies have reported on how to test OOS at a single-class level using ART. In this study, we propose a new similarity metric to enable multiclass level testing using ART. When generating test inputs (for multiple classes, a series of objects, and a sequence of method invocations), we use the similarity metric to calculate the distance between two series of objects, and between two sequences of method invocations. We integrate this metric with ART and apply it to a set of open-source OO programs, with the empirical results showing that our approach outperforms other RT and ART approaches in OOS testing.


We developed a new on-line method of ultra-performance liquid chromatography coupled with biochemical detection (UHPLC-BCD) to screen acetylcholinesterase (AChE) inhibitors in complex matrixes. Chromatography separation was performed using an Xtimate UHPLC C18 column (100 mm × 2.1 mm, 1.8 μm) and a gradient elution with methanol-0.1% formic acid at a flow rate of 0.08 mL/min. The BCD was based on a colorimetric method using Ellman's reagent, and the detection wavelength was at 405 nm. Galanthamine was used as a positive reference to validate the methodology. The detection and quantitation limits of the UHPLC-BCD method were 0.018 and 0.060 μg, respectively. A functional equation was generated in terms of the negative peak area (X) and galanthamine concentration (Y, μg/mL). The regression equation was Y = 0.0028X2 + 0.4574X + 50.7776, R2 = 0.9993. UHPLC-fourier-transform mass spectrometry detection results revealed that five alkaloids showed obvious AChE inhibitory activities including coptisin, epiberberine, jatrorrhizine, berberine and palmatine. The relative AChE inhibitory activities of jatrorrhizine, berberine and palmatine in the Coptidis Rhizoma sample were equal to that of 257.0, 2355 and 283.9 μg/mL of galanthamine, respectively. This work demonstrated that the UHPLC-BCD method was convenient and feasible, and could be widely used for the screening and activity evaluation of the bioactive components in the complex extracts.


Measure Theory of Self-Similar Groups and Digit Tiles. (December 2010) Rostyslav Kravchenko, B.S., National Taras Shevchenko University of Kyiv, Ukraine; M.S., National Taras Shevchenko University of Kyiv, Ukraine Chair of Advisory Committee: Dr. Gilles Pisier This dissertation is devoted to the measure theoretical aspects of the theory of automata and groups generated by them. It consists of two main parts. In the first part we study the action of automata on Bernoulli measures. We describe how a finite-state automorphism of a regular rooted tree changes the Bernoulli measure on the boundary of the tree. It turns out, that a finite-state automorphism of polynomial growth, as defined by Sidki, preserves a measure class of a Bernoulli measure, and we write down the explicit formula for its Radon-Nikodim derivative. On the other hand the image of the Bernoulli measure under the action of a strongly connected finite-state automorphism is singular to the measure itself. The second part is devoted to introduction of measure into the theory of limit spaces of Nekrashevysh. Let G be a group and φ : H → G be a contracting homomorphism from a subgroup H < G of finite index. Nekrashevych associated with the pair (G, φ) the limit dynamical system (JG, s) and the limit G-space XG together with the covering ∪g∈GT · g by the tile T. We develop the theory of selfsimilar measures m on these limit spaces. It is shown that (JG, s,m) is conjugate to the one-sided Bernoulli shift. Using sofic subshifts we prove that the tile T has integer measure and we give an algorithmic way to compute it. In addition we give an algorithm to find the measure of the intersection of tiles T ∩ (T · g) for g ∈ G. We present applications to the evaluation of the Lebesgue measure of integral self-affine


Over the past few years, microbiome studies have broadened our understanding of the interactions between microbial communities and their animal and plant hosts. The sequencing technology underlying these studies is powerful and sensitive. Based on the detection of contaminants in genomic DNA prep kits, it is now strongly recommended to include negative kit controls alongside samples in microbiome studies. Although the importance of negative controls is undisputed, questions remain regarding how these data should be used to process and interpret sample data. A conventional method used in microbiome research is to remove Operational Taxonomic Units (OTUs) from the sample data if they are detected in negative controls. This method assumes that all sequences found in negative controls arise from contamination in the kit itself. However, it is possible that when controls are processed alongside samples, sample material contaminates the negative controls. If this is true, eliminating OTUs from datasets due to detection in the negative kit control would be an overly conservative approach. To explore this, we sequenced and analyzed negative controls processed alone and with samples of three different types. This is a unique opportunity to look at the impact of sample type on the negative kit control that was processed with it and address the question of how much of what is found in a negative kit control can be attributed to the kit itself and how much can be ascribed to the samples they were prepped alongside. To do this, we sequenced and analyzed the V4 region of the 16S rRNA gene using the open source software package mothur. First, we examined negative kit controls processed on their own (no samples processed alongside). We compared three preps from a kit that had been previously opened and handled during sample processing and three preps from an unopened kit to analyze variation among preps from a single kit and identify contamination that may occur due to normal handling of the kit. We found no significant difference between the negative controls from the opened and unopened kits. Second, we compared negative kit controls processed on their own to controls processed alongside either monkey fecal samples, rat fecal samples or samples from a composting toilet. We found a higher number of sequences in the controls processed alongside samples, and we are currently conducting statistical analyses on these data. Finally, we will compare the data from all negative kit controls and the samples themselves. We predict that the OTU profiles of kit controls processed alongside samples will be more similar to the sample type that they were processed alongside. We also expect that the negative kit controls processed with samples will be significantly different from those processed alone. This study will provide information on how negative control data should be processed and interpreted in microbiome studies, which is an important open question in the field today.


In recent years, diffusion models have achieved tremendous success in the field of image generation, becoming the stateof-the-art technology for AI-based image processing applications. Despite the numerous benefits brought by recent advances in diffusion models, there are also concerns about their potential misuse, specifically in terms of privacy breaches and intellectual property infringement. In particular, some of their unique characteristics open up new attack surfaces when considering the real-world deployment of such models. With a thorough investigation of the attack vectors, we develop a systematic analysis of membership inference attacks on diffusion models and propose novel attack methods tailored to each attack scenario specifically relevant to diffusion models. Our approach exploits easily obtainable quantities and is highly effective, achieving near-perfect attack performance (>0.9 AUCROC) in realistic scenarios. Our extensive experiments demonstrate the effectiveness of our method, highlighting the importance of considering privacy and intellectual property risks when using diffusion models in image generation tasks.


The professional life of economists takes place within the boundaries of the institution of academic economics. Belonging to the institution enable economists in many ways. It provides a context wherein their contribution is meaningful. But it constrains, too, what economists are allowed to do or say. Thus, institutions both enable and constrain individual action. Metaphors do the same and are therefore, in this respect, institutions. They are place-holders to communicate our beliefs, feelings, and thoughts. So far, there is nothing wrong. This may become a problem, however, as Richard Rorty has once said, when the "happenstance of our cultural development [is] that we got stuck so long with place-holders." In the essay we focus on the enabling and disabling roles of metaphors as institutions in the rhetoric of economics. We argue, from the perspective of economics of rhetoric, that some of the metaphors can lead us to path dependent circumstances where the performance of the metaphors is not as desirable as it was when the metaphors were first introduced. Sometimes certain metaphors undergo exaptation, and are employed with new functions. Altogether, we believe, the tools of institutional economics can be fruitfully employed to study metaphors.


This thesis discusses the life and work of the eighteenth-century French composer, Julie Pinel. Pinel's extant music comprises one collection of music, Nouveau recueil d'airs serieux et a boire a une et deux voix, de Brunettes a 2 dessus, scene pastorale, et cantatille avec accompagnement, published in 1737, of which a critical edition has been produced in volume II of this thesis. There is little information regarding Pinel's life and work, however, the preface and privilege included in her Nouveau recueil provide some clues as to Pinel's biography. Her life and music are examined, with reference to the social, literary and musical environment she was working in. An added dimension is that Pinel was working as a professional musicienne at a time when women were beginning to find their voice and place in professional society. Pinel claims authorship of the majority of the poems in her collection, and the rest come from anonymous sources. Pinel's literary and musical output illustrates her obvious knowledge of the current trends in eighteenth-century France, with most of her poetry written for a female poetic voice, displaying many of the fashionable themes of the day. Her music displays a variety of styles, ranging from simple airs in binary form, traditionally found in most French airs serieux et a boire, to the operatic, and the fashionable rococo styles.


The effects of current types on the microstructure and tensile properties of electrodeposited bulk nanocrystalline Ni–W alloys were studied. We electrodeposited bulk Ni–W alloys using direct current, pulsed current, and pulsed-reverse current. We measured the W content of the resulting samples to be in the range of 0.8–2.2 at%. An increase in the peak current density or the use of a reverse current reduced the W content. The reduction of W content increased the grain size from 26 to 40 nm. The hardness and yield strength increased as the grain size decreased. However, tensile elongation showed no dependence on grain size or W content. Most alloys exhibited a similar uniform elongation of approximately 5%, while the local elongation varied from 0.1% to 6.9%. The application of a pulsed current increased the peak current density and reduced the tensile elongation. The use of a reverse current stripped the surface of deposits formed during electrodeposition, resulting in higher tensile elongation at the same peak current densities. The results of this study indicate the effectiveness of a reverse current in electrodeposition for adjusting solute content and reducing processing defects. [doi:10.2320/matertrans.M2017256]


Closed loop system modeling for the modular masterless multiphase architecture with paralleled voltage and current sharing regulation loops is presented in this paper. The parallel structure allows both loops to have high bandwidth. Modeling results of such systems show that the voltage loop and current loop can be designed independently assuming identical power stages in each phase. The effects of mismatch on the closed loop system dynamics are then studied to assure performance and stability. A design example with simulation and experimental results is presented for a modular masterless 2-phase converter demonstrating fast response of both voltage and current loops


The intention of this paper is to estimate a Bayesian distribution-free chain ladder (DFCL) model using approximate Bayesian computation (ABC) methodology. We demonstrate how to estimate quantities of interest in claims reserving and compare the estimates to those obtained from classical and credibility approaches. In this context, a novel numerical procedure utilizing a Markov chain Monte Carlo (MCMC) technique, ABC and a Bayesian bootstrap procedure was developed in a truly distribution-free setting. The ABC methodology arises because we work in a distribution-free setting in which we make no parametric assumptions, meaning we cannot evaluate the likelihood point-wise or in this case simulate directly from the likelihood model. The use of a bootstrap procedure allows us to generate samples from the intractable likelihood without the requirement of distributional assumptions; this is crucial to the ABC framework. The developed methodology is used to obtain the empirical distribution of the DFCL model parameters and the predictive distribution of the outstanding loss liabilities conditional on the observed claims. We then estimate predictive Bayesian capital estimates, the value at risk (VaR) and the mean square error of prediction (MSEP). The latter is compared with the classical bootstrap and credibility methods.


Throughout much of this century the most prominent exegetes maintained that Aquinas's mature moral psychology is fundamentally voluntarist, that he considers the will an independent cause of action, most conspicuously in his later works. Disagreement over the character of the will's causal authority and the composition of the list of later works did little to unsettle their shared conviction that Aristotle's intellectualist moral psychology was improved, indeed saved, by Aquinas's insistence that the will can move itself, at least in some fashion, apart from the influence of the intellect. See Rene Antoine Gauthier and Jean Yves Jolif, Aristote: L'ethique a Nicomaque, 2nd ed., vol. 2 (Paris: Beatrice-Nauwelaerts, 1970), p. 218; Bernard Lonergan, Grace and Freedom: Operative Grace in the Thought of St. Thomas Aquinas, ed. J.P. Burns (New York: Herder and Herder, 1971), pp. 93–97; Odom Lottin, "La Preuve de al Liberte Humaine chez Saint Thomas d'Aquin," Recherches de Theologie Ancienne et Medievale 23 (1956): 323–30; and Klaus Riesenhuber, Die Transzendenz Der Freiheit Zum Guten: Der Wille in der Anthropologie und Metaphysik des Thomas von Aquin (Munchen: Berchmanskolleg Verlag, 1971), p. 290.


Advances in Machine Learning (ML) have led to its adoption as an integral component in many applications, including banking, medical diagnosis, and driverless cars. To further broaden the use of ML models, cloud-based services offered by Microsoft, Amazon, Google, and others have developed ML-as-a-service tools as black-box systems. However, ML classifiers are vulnerable to adversarial examples: inputs that are maliciously modified can cause the classifier to provide adversary-desired outputs. Moreover, it is known that adversarial examples generated on one classifier are likely to cause another classifier to make the same mistake, even if the classifiers have different architectures or are trained on disjoint datasets. This property, which is known as transferability, opens up the possibility of attacking black-box systems by generating adversarial examples on a substitute classifier and transferring the examples to the target classifier. Therefore, the key to protect black-box learning systems against the adversarial examples is to block their transferability. To this end, we propose a training method that, as the input is more perturbed, the classifier smoothly outputs lower confidence on the original label and instead predicts that the input is "invalid". In essence, we augment the output class set with a NULL label and train the classifier to reject the adversarial examples by classifying them as NULL. In experiments, we apply a wide range of attacks based on adversarial examples on the black-box systems. We show that a classifier trained with the proposed method effectively resists against the adversarial examples, while maintaining the accuracy on clean data.


Scoring functions are at the heart of structure-based drug design and are used to estimate the binding of ligands to a target. Seeking a scoring function that can accurately predict the binding affinity is key for successful virtual screening methods. Deep learning approaches have recently seen a rise in popularity as a means to improve the scoring function having as a key advantage the automatic extraction of features and the creation of a complex representation without feature engineering and expert knowledge. In this study we present LigityScore1D and LigityScore3D, which are rotationally invariant scoring functions based on convolutional neural networks. LigityScore descriptors are extracted directly from the structural and interacting properties of the protein-ligand complex which are input to a CNN for automatic feature extraction and binding affinity prediction. This representation uses the spatial distribution of Pharmacophoric Interaction Points, derived from interaction features from the protein-ligand complex based on pharmacophoric features conformant to specific family types and distance thresholds. The data representation component and the CNN architecture together, constitute the LigityScore scoring function. The main contribution for this study is to present a novel proteinligand representation for use as a CNN based SF for binding affinity prediction. LigityScore models are evaluated for scoring power on the latest two CASF benchmarks. The Pearson Correlation Coefficient, and the standard deviation in linear regression were used to compare and rank LigityScore with the benchmark model, and also to other models recently published in literature. LigityScore3D has achieved better overall results and showed similar performance in both CASF benchmarks. LigityScore3D ranked 5th place for the CASF-2013 benchmark , and 8th for CASF-2016, with an average R-score performance of 0.713 and 0.725 respectively. LigityScore1D ranked 8th place for the CASF-2013 and 7th place for CASF-2016 with an Rscore performance of 0.635 and 0.741 respectively. Our methods show relatively good performance when compared to the Pafnucy model (one of the best performing CNN based scoring functions), on the CASF2013 benchmark using a less computationally complex model that can be trained 16 times faster.


Four of Richard G. Plaschka's colleagues—Horst Haselsteiner, Walter Lukan, Karlheinz Mack, and Arnold Suppan—themselves well-known scholars, selected thirty-eight samples (articles and chapters from larger studies) of Plaschka's scholarly works and published them in this volume to honor him on his sixtieth birthday. The volume also contains a congratulatory message, a short summary of Plaschka's life and work, and his complete bibliography and ends with indexes of personal names and geographic locations. Nobody working with the large region once governed by the House of Habsburg, with Austria proper, or with East-Central Europe needs an introduction to Richard G. Plaschka. This statement is true regardless of the scholar's academic discipline or home country. They know Plaschka as the director of the Osterreichiscb.es Ostand Stidosteuropa-Institut, as the former rector of the University of Vienna, as an understanding and helpful colleague, cherished friend, but first and foremost as a prolific and important scholar with numerous major interests corresponding to his wide knowledge. The variety of Plaschka's interests is clearly demonstrated by this volume that is divided into four sections: Bohemia, southern Slavs, and power of the centralized state; national integration; the signs of crisis during the war; and studies beyond national borders and new approaches to scholarship. Each of these sections contains several studies on a great variety of subjects. Those truly familiar with Plaschka's work might miss one or the other of their favorite essays or articles, but the editors did an excellent job in bringing together samples of the author's works that will give a good idea of how diverse and often original his contributions were. In doing this, they translated into German a few of Plaschka's writings that originally appeared in Czech, making them available to a new group of readers. The volume was carefully put together and is practically free of typographical or other errors. The print is clear and easy to read. The book is both a good introduction to Plaschka's work and a fitting testimony of a successful career far from finished.


This study was aimed to investigate the effects of oxaliplatin on human multiple myeloma cell line RPMI-8226 and its mechanism. The proliferation inhibitory rate of RPMI8226 cells was assayed by MTT, the morphological changes of RPMI-8226 cells were observed by inverted fluorescent microscopy and transmission electron microscopy, the apoptosis rate and the cell cycle distribution of RPMI-8226 cells were detected by flow cytometry, The effects of oxaliplatin on the expression of Bcl-2, caspase-8, caspase-3 mRNA were tested by RT-PCR, Bcl-2 protein expression of RPMI-8226 cells was analyzed by Western blot. The results showed that oxaliplatin could inhibit the proliferation of RPMI-8226 cells in time and dose-dependent manners. Cell number in oxaliplatin group was significantly less than that in control group under light microscope, and the growth arrangement was irregular, apoptotic cells could be seen. Under electron microscope, typical apoptotic morphological and ultrastructural changes could be observed. Flow cytometry results showed that oxaliplatin could induce apoptosis of RPMI-8226 cells, the difference have statistical significance (P < 0.05). Oxaliplatin mainly arrested RPMI-8226 cells in the S phase (P < 0.05). The expression of Bcl-2 mRNA did not have apparent change, while the expression of caspase-8, caspase-3 mRNA increased (P < 0.05). Western blot results suggested that the expression of Bcl-2 protein had no obvious change. It is concluded that the oxaliplatin can induce apoptosis of RPMI-8226 cells, activating the death receptor pathway and arresting cell cycle may be two of the related mechanisms, Bcl-2 gene has unobservable effects in the process of oxaliplatin-induced cell apoptosis.


A model is presented for the asdorption of a mixture of anionic and a nonionic surfactant on latex particles. The model is based on the Langumir equation for adsorption and the regular solution theory for mixed micelle formation. Good agreement between the experimental data and the calculated adsorption was obtained with amixture of sodium dodecyl sulphate (SDS) and nonylphenol ethoxylate (NPE10). The preferential adsorption of the more surface active NPE10 is greatest at the onset of micellization and diminshes as the total surfactant concentration increases. The composition of the mixed surfactant at the surface gratly depends on the total surfactant concentration and on the surface area/solution volume ratio. This is illustrated by the calculated adsorption equilibria at differnet conditions. Addition of small amounts of organic solvents (e.g.,coalescing aids) increases the critical micelle concentration (cmc)of NPE10 and decreases the cmc of SDS. the decreade in the difference between the cmc values of the two surfactants is paralleled by a reduction in the preferential adsorption of the nonionic surfactant in the presence of a coalescing aid.


Civil Act, § 999 (Claim for Recovery of Inheritance), paragraph (1) provides that "if the right of inheritance is infringed by a person who pretends to have the right of inheritance, the person who has the right of inheritance or his agent by law may bring an action for recovery of inheritance.", and paragraph (2) provides that "the claim for recovery of inheritance under paragraph (1) shall lapse at the expiration of three years from the date he comes to know the infringement, or ten years from the date the right of inheritance is infringed." (Amended by Act No. 6591, Jan. 14, 2002). In this Article, I first explore the issue that the institution of the claim for recovery of inheritance does operate as that for a fake inheritor(a person who pretends to have the right of inheritance) rather than as that for real inheritor, because of the short statute of limitations provided at paragraph (2). Second, I then go on to discuss the legal nature on the claim for recovery of inheritance and case law. With respect to the legal nature, case law characterizes it as the gathering of the separate rights. According to case law, a real inheritor has only the cause of action for the claim for recovery of inheritance, but not for the separate rights, such as the claim for return of article owned(§ 213). Third, I study some possible effective methods for the prevention and the prohibition against actual evil practices that the claim for recovery of inheritance works for the fake inheritor. I argue that the claim for recovery of inheritance should work for real heirs as far as possible. Even if the Constitutional Court of Korea decided that the short term statute of limitations was unconstitutional on July 19, 2001(99Hun-Ma9), it, amended by Act No. 6591, Jan. 14, 2002, also may be unconstitutional because of the same reasons. In addition, I indicate that Supreme Court of Korea has interpreted a category of the fake inheritors narrowly or restrictively. Finally, I will argue that Civil Act, § 999, providing the claim for recovery of inheritance should be reviewed de novo and amended again, range from the requirements and the contents to the effects, in accordance with the purport of the legislation.


Glutamate transporters play an important role in the regulation of extracellular glutamate concentrations in the mammalian brain and are, thus, promising targets for therapeutics. Despite this importance, the development of pharmacological tools has mainly focused on the synthesis of competitive inhibitors, which are amino acid analogues that bind to the substrate binding site. In this report, we describe the characterization of the mechanism of glutamate transporter inhibition by a constrained, cyclic glutamate analogue, (+)-3-hydroxy-4,5,6,6a-tetrahydro-3aH-pyrrolo[3,4-d]isoxazole-6-carboxylic acid [(+)-(3aS,6S,6aS)-HIP-B]. Our results show that (+)-HIP-B is a nontransportable amino acid that inhibits glutamate transporter function in a mixed mechanism. Although (+)-HIP-B inhibits the glutamate-associated anion conductance, it has no effect on the leak anion conductance, in contrast to competitive inhibitors. Furthermore, (+)-HIP-B is unable to alleviate the effect of the competitive inhibitor dl-threo-β-benzyloxyaspartic acid (TBOA), which binds to the substrate binding site. (+)-HIP-B is more potent in inhibiting forward transport compared to reverse transport. In a mutant transporter, which is activated by glutamine, but not glutamate, (+)-HIP-B still acts as an inhibitor, although this mutant transporter is insensitive to TBOA. Finally, we analyzed the effect of (+)-HIP-B on the pre-steady-state kinetics of the glutamate transporter. The results can be explained with a mixed mechanism at a site that may be distinct from the substrate binding site, with a preference for the inward-facing configuration of the transporter and slow inhibitor binding. (+)-HIP-B may represent a new paradigm of glutamate transporter inhibition that is based on targeting of a regulatory site.


In three institutional environments, this study examines the uncertainty-reducing effects of experiential knowledge of varying specificity in the market entry process. The goal of the study is to answer the research question: What is the uncertainty-reducing effect of experiential knowledge of varying specificity in markets with different institutional distances from a firm's home base? The authors develop a theoretical model using the most recent developments in internationalization process theory. They test the model with a data set collected on-site at 203 small and medium-sized enterprises with entry experience into the new Eastern European Union member-states, Russia and China. The analysis shows no support for the claim that internationalization knowledge reduces uncertainty in the market entry process. Rather, the analysis reveals that societal knowledge of the entering firm has an uncertainty-reducing effect in markets that are relatively less distant from its home market. The analysis also shows that international experiential knowledge of high specificity, an important type of marketing knowledge, provides the greatest uncertainty-reducing effect.


The pathogenesis of ovarian cancer remains poorly understood. Genome-wide gene expression profiling can provide novel genetic data involved in the pathogenesis of disease. In this study, using normal ovarian surface epithelium and abnormal ovarian surface epithelium of patients with ovarian cancer as models for cDNA microarray analysis, we found that cyclooxygenase-2(COX-2) expression of patients with ovarian cancer was increased. This result was further confirmed by semi-quantitative RTPCR and Western blot. It was found that COX-2 was significantly up-regulated in ovarian cancer group in comparison with normal group on mRNA level. On protein level, COX-2 was also highly increased in ovarian cancer group. This study provides novel candidate molecules and suggests a potential local role for COX-2 as mediators of ovarian cancer and as markers of disease activity. Key words: Ovarian cancer, COX-2, cDNA microarray, semi-quantitative RT- PCR, western blot.


European policy-makers often speak of their efforts to 'manage globalization'. We argue that the advocacy of managed globalization is more than a rhetorical device and indeed has been a primary driver of major European Union (EU) policies over the past 25 years. We sketch the outlines of the concept of managed globalization, raise broad questions about its extent, and describe five major mechanisms through which it has been pursued: (1) expanding policy scope; (2) exercising regulatory influence; (3) empowering international institutions; (4) enlarging the territorial sphere of EU influence; and (5) redistributing the costs of globalization. These mechanisms are neither entirely novel, nor are they necessarily effective, but they provide the contours of an approach to globalization that is neither ad hoc deregulation nor old-style economic protectionism.


Magnetic field effect on a Heusler-type Ni2MnGa off-stoichiometric alloy having a martensitic transformation temperature around room temperature which is coincident with a Curie temperature has been investigated. The process of martensitic transformation of a single crystal was investigated by neutron diffraction under the magnetic field up to 8 [T]. It was found that the magnetic field, which is applied at a temperature near the transformation temperature, causes the martensitic transformation. The process of the transformation caused by the increase in magnetic field is quite similar to the process caused by the decrease in temperature.


This descriptive, exploratory research explores the notion of Dialogue as proposed by the physicist/ philosopher David Bohm. Central to Bohm's thesis is the notion of fragmentation in relation to how we acquire, produce and utilize knowledge. The goal is a greater understanding of reality in all its complexity, focusing more on relationships and complete entities rather than parts and particulars. However, elaborating what constitutes systemic thinking is not, in itself, sufficient for Bohm. Instead of linking fragmentation to bounded enactments of disciplinary knowledge construction, Bohm proposes fragmentation as a pervasive and prevalent mental attitude, one that systematically re-enacts absolutist and definitive distinctions. In other words, fragmentation is rooted in the functioning of the mind itself. Bohm invites us to give serious attention to these thought processes and to resist fragmentation by becoming aware of its invasive presence via the practice of Dialogue. The assumption being that by becoming more aware of the prevalence of fragmentation our abilities to resist it or create alternative modus operandi will be enhanced. This practice of inquiring into our mental models is considered a powerful approach to re-frame our mindsets. Yet, the practice of Bohm's Dialogue is complex, often confusing and sometimes difficult. This research focuses on the appropriation of Bohm's Dialogue, to denote the difficulties of living "the Dialogue according to Bohm". The study is action research based. Dialogue sessions composed of 25 participants took place over 8 month period. Analysis shows that the very difficulties and/or hindrances evoked by the Dialogue process often served as the essential elements necessary for in-depth exploration of both individual and collective thinking processes. Such findings will certainly be of interest to participant-practitioners of Bohm's Dialogue. In addition, such findings may also be of interest to those who wish to initiate themselves to this innovative practice. This study aims to contribute to research efforts pertaining to Bohm's Dialogue which are presently in their early stages of development.


High processing efficiency and low environmental pollution have been recognized as important goals of sustainable electrical discharge machining (EDM). This paper proposed a sustainable and efficient EDM method called rotating short arc milling. In order to improve the processing efficiency and reduce pollutant emissions, the principles of this method to achieve high material removal rate (MRR), low tool electrode wear rate (TEWR) and environmentally friendly dielectric are described separately. The rotating short arcs generated by the compound field can improve the machining efficiency. The action of the magnetic field and the internal high-pressure dielectric can quickly remove the debris avoiding irregular discharge, thereby improving the machining quality. Due to the attraction effect of the magnetic field on the debris, several debris adhere to the processing end of the tool electrode to form a protective layer and participates in the processing as a part of the tool electrode, which can reduce the tool electrode wear. Tap water is used as the working fluid to reduce pollutants generated during processing. Then, a series of experiments are conducted to study the influence of process parameters on the processing of GH4169 superalloy. The results show that the machining voltage, machining depth and magnetic field strength are the three most important factors that affect the efficiency and sustainability of rotating short arc milling. Furthermore, the optimal process parameters are obtained by using gray relational analysis method to optimize the machining process in terms of high efficiency and environmental protection.


Protein is an important component of milk and it plays an essential role in all living organisms. β-casomorphins-7 (BCM-7) is derived from A1 β-casein and has been implicated in some human health issues. This A1 β-casein is produced by cows with the A1A1 or A1A2 genotype, whilst cows with the A2A2 genotype produce A2 β-casein, which has not been implicated in the same human health issues. Given the potential importance of A2 milk for public health and its apparent commercial potential, selection based on the A2 genotype and its impact on production and reproduction traits should be investigated. The objective of the current study was to compare the productive and reproductive performance of dairy cows based on A2 genotype in two different dairy farms. From July 2017 to May 2018, 206 cows (including 122 A2A2 genotype; "A2 cows") were milked once a day at Dairy 1 and 451 cows (including 217 A2 cows) were milked twice a day at Dairy 4. Records of lactation yields of milk, fat and protein, fat percentage, protein percentage, days from start of mating to conception, pregnancy rate to first service, the submission rate at 21 days and the pregnancy rate at 21 and 42 days (PR42) after the start of mating from 642 cows in two herds were analysed. The effects of A2 genotype on production and reproduction traits were not significant. The interaction between farm and β-casein genotype was significant for PR42 (P<0.05) but not for any other traits. The interactions between parity number and genotype were not significant for any of the traits. The results indicated that cows of different β-casein genotypes have similar production and reproductive performance.


There has been increasing interest in how to assist people to 'live well' with advancing and incurable conditions late into life. This article considers the progress made in mental health services for adults of working age which promote active involvement in their care and how these principles can be applied to older adults with dementia. The concept of 'recovery' and its applicability to dementia care are discussed. The Wellness Recovery Action Plan (WRAP) and how it could be translated and modified to the needs of people with dementia are explored. This is especially important in light of the UK National Dementia Strategy, which emphasises early diagnosis and intervention to promote improved care and quality of life.


Hyperthermia of 40.5 C was induced in anesthetized white rats by microwave exposure (2,450-Mc continuous wave, .08 w/cm2). Thermal response was accompanied by increased cardiac output, stroke volume, cardiac work, and heart rate. Blood pressure and total peripheral resistance decreased. Administration of reserpine as a single dose of 2.5 mg/kg body wt. 1 day before the experiment depleted the myocardial norepinephrine, but did not eliminate the accelerated heart rate and increase of cardiac output during hyperthermia. Hyperthermia after reserpine did not alter significantly the stroke volume and blood pressure, and the peripheral resistance decreased. These data suggest that the circulatory adaptation to microwave hyperthermia is mediated not only through the sympathetic nervous system, but by other mechanisms such as direct cardiac response to the increased tissue temperature.


Electromagnetic damper (EMD), which has shown good vibration isolation and energy harvesting potential, has received much attention in recent years. In addition, the harvested energy of EMD systems can be used to further suppress severe vibration. When the harvested energy of the suspension system is more than the consumed energy, the suspension system can realize self-powered functions. However, the integration of the above three functions is a challenge for the design of EMD systems. In this paper, a novel multi-function electromagnetic damper (MFEMD) system, which integrates the semi-active vibration control mode, energy-harvesting mode, and self-powered mode, is introduced first. The MFEIS system applies an H-bridge circuit to control the multi-directional flow of circuit energy flow, and the supercapacitor is used as the energy storage device because of its high-power density and rapid response speed. Since vehicles are driving in complex road conditions in the real world, road information needs to be considered to control the MFEMD system. Additionally, the energy recovery efficiency and vibration suppression performance of the MFEMD system also need to be balanced. A switchable control strategy based on road classification is proposed to switch the state of the MFEMD system. According to the real driving conditions, roads are classified into three categories, namely high-speed smooth roads, medium-speed good roads, and low-speed bad roads. The state of the MFEMD system is switched based on the road information to balance the ride comfort and energy recovery efficiency. A complex road, which contains different levels of random roads, is adopted to verify the effectiveness of the proposed control strategy. Simulation results verified the effectiveness of the proposed switchable control strategy compared with a well-tuned passive suspension and a semi-active suspension.


We solve the problem of finding and justifying an optimal fully discrete finite element procedure for approximating annulus-like, possibly unstable, minimal surfaces. In this paper we introduce the general framework, some preliminary estimates, develop the ideas used for the algorithm, and give the numerical results. Similarities and differences with respect to the fully discrete finite element procedure given by G. Dziuk and J. Hutchinson in the case of the classical Plateau problem are also addressed. In a subsequent paper we prove convergence estimates.


A new kind of π-conjugated heterocyclic poly(Schiff base) was firstly prepared by the condensation reaction between tetrathiatetrahydropentalene-type diketone and bithiazole-diamine in good yields. The polymers were characterized by VPO, FTIR and 1H NMR spectroscopy. A large bathochromic shift was observed in UV-Vis spectra for these polymers due to the π-π* transition in the conjugated main chain. Brief examination indicated that the nitrogen- and sulfur-containing polymers exhibited an excellent chelating tendency to metal ions and the corresponding polymeric complexes would be expected to have potential in applications.


Introduction The Human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection remains a serious health problem globally. Recently, the Prevention of mother-to-child transmission (PMTCT) programmes have gained meaningful achievements, although not evenly spread especially in resource-constrained settings. This study objective is to determine the prevalence of pregnancy with HIV concerning the characteristics of maternal and perinatal outcomes in Prof. Dr. R. D. Kandou Central Hospital as the national referral hospitals in north-eastern part of Indonesia. Methods This is a cross sectional study with data collected from medical records at the VCT clinic at Prof. Dr. R. D. Kandou Central Hospital Manado after the implementaton of PMTCT program which is from January 2011–December 2014. Results During the period there are 17 cases of mother with HIV infection. Patients who consume drugs regularly during pregnancy as much as 93.33%, with an overall undetectable HIV infants. About 70% were delivered by sectio caesarean method. The rest of 6.67% were not taking ARVs regularly and resulted with CD4 3 and HIV-infected infants. Conclusion During the program, numbers of HIV in pregnancy cases were discovered and more MTCT cases were prevented. However a more comprehensive and active strategic approach for the PMTCT programmes need to be taken to prevent HIV infection in infants. Disclosure of interest statement No grants were received in the development of this study.


14. ABSTRACT: We proposed to test the possibility of using midkine promoter driven adenovirus (AdMk) to selectively kill neurofibroma cells. It is suggested from the literature that midkine is expressed at higher levels in cells and sera of NF1 patients. We initially obtained a version of the AdMk and tested its cytopathic effect on a neurofibroma cell line ST88. However a more recent publication indicated that this virus would be too toxic for normal cells as well. We then obtained from our new collaborator several different modified adenovirus and tested their cytopathic effects. Promoter activities of the midkine and Cox2 are also assayed in several cell lines.


Puerperal fever was first described by Hippocrates.1 However, the epidemic form of the disease does not seem to have existed before the mid-seventeenth century, when "an unknown affection occurred at Leipzig in 1652 and returned again in 1665. It attacked puerperal women and was so deadly that but one in ten escaped".2 Sporadic outbreaks were recorded over the following century3 until the winter of 1746, when there was an epidemic at the Hotel-Dieu in Paris.4 Thereafter the disease became increasingly prevalent; the first English epidemic was in 1760, at the British Lying-in Hospital.s Virulent epidemics continued together with sporadic cases until 1936 when, associated with the introduction of the sulphonamides, there was a sudden, profound and sustained fall in maternal mortality, which had remained static in England and Wales from the middle of the eighteenth century (when comprehensive reports on deaths in childbirth first became available).6 The experience of other countries was similar.7


This study reported the conference papers presented conducted by the two computing societies in the Philippines. Toward this goal, all published conference proceedings from the National Conference of IT Education and Philippine Computing Society Conference were gathered and analyzed using social network analysis. The findings of the study disclosed that there are 733 papers presented in the conference for the span of 18 years. On the average, both conferences had 27 papers presented annually. Private higher education institutions dominated the list of research productive schools where De La Salle University tops the list. A researcher in the University of the Philippines-Diliman is the most prolific researcher with 39 publications and "algorithm" was the most researched topic. Researchers tend to work in small team consisting of 2 to 3 members. Implications and limitations of the study are also presented.


PURPOSE
The purpose of this study was to investigate the cumulative survival rates of dental implants placed in a private periodontal practice and the effects of periodontal disease and immediate placement on implant survival.

MATERIALS AND METHODS
A retrospective chart review was conducted on 149 consecutive patients. Each patient had a single implant placed. For the purpose of analysis, patients were divided into 2 groups: those who were periodontally healthy and those who had periodontal disease. Implants were placed into available bone either immediately or after a healing period. All failed implants were removed and recorded. The effects of periodontal status and placement time on implant survival were evaluated using Cox proportional hazards regression and log-rank tests.

RESULTS
Of the 149 implants in the study, 22 failed during the observation period. The 127 censored cases (i.e., implants that had not failed at the end of the observational period) were observed for a mean of 943 days (SD 932, range 35 to 4,030). Failed implants were observed for a mean of 722 days (SD 1,026, range 18 to 3,548). The presence of periodontal disease appeared to be associated with a greater failure rate, but there was no observed effect associated with time of placement. The percentages of censored immediate placement cases and delayed placement cases were nearly identical. Among the 77 implants associated with periodontal disease, placement time was not strongly associated with percentage censored. Forty-three of the 55 immediately placed implants (78.18%) and 18 of the 22 implants (81.18%) whose placement was delayed were censored. Both Cox proportional hazards regression and log-rank tests established that survival was adversely affected by periodontal disease (P < .05) but unaffected by time of placement (P > .50). The lower 1-sided 95% confidence limit for median survival time was 3,548 days for patients without periodontal disease and 1,799 days for patients with disease.

DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSION
Implant survival was compromised by a history of periodontitis but not affected by immediate or delayed placement.


In this paper, we propose a new segmentation and recognition of Chinese ch circular and elliptical seals for automatic Chi retrieval. The seal identification system comp image with its model seal. However, the mod found manually, which costs quite a lot o manual stage has become the bottleneck o identification. In addition, traditional aut which were designed for circular seal imprin work well for elliptical seal images. In order t shortcomings, our method first fits the conto and then automatically classifies them into ei shape or elliptical seal shape. After that, w methods for Chinese character segmenta correction with circular and elliptical se respectively. Finally, we use our classifier com to recognize the Chinese characters on Chi Once optical character recognition (OCR) is d imprint corresponding to its input sampl retrieved for verification from the seal im Experimental results show that our me performance than traditional ones.


AbstractBackground and purpose: Prevention of mother to child transmission (PMTCT) is a government program aimed at preventing mother-to-child transmission of HIV. A comprehensive PMTCT program involves the implementation of HIV testing up to antiretroviral (ARV) treatment for mothers with positive HIV test results. Coverage of comprehensive PMTCT remains low, with many HIV-positive pregnant women who discontinued ARV treatment. This study aims to explore the reasons of HIV-positive pregnant women to discontinue with the comprehensive PMTCT program.Methods: A qualitative study was carried out in Badung District, Bali Province, with seven respondents: one HIV-positive pregnant woman who did not continue the ARV treatment, two HIV-positive women who gave birth the previous year and did not take ARV, three public health centre (PHC) providers, and one head of PHC. Respondents were selected using a purposive sampling technique. Data were collected through in-depth interviews and analyzed thematically. The results presented narratively to illustrate the reasons why HIV-positive pregnant women discontinued with the comprehensive PMTCT program.Results: The emerging themes related to the reasons of HIV-positive pregnant women discontinued with the comprehensive PMTCT program included the lack of comprehensive PMTCT-related information, the lack of health provider assistance, and the high stigma towards people living with HIV (PLHIV). These barriers were affecting the willingness of HIV-positive pregnant women to continue with the program.Conclusions: Lack of comprehensive PMTCT-related information, lack of assistance by health care providers, and high public stigma impacts upon HIV-positive pregnant women's willingness to continue with comprehensive PMTCT program. There is a need for a minimum service standard in the implementation of comprehensive PMTCT services and comprehensive information on HIV infection in order to reduce the stigma towards PLHIV.


Resilience amid COVID-19-induced remote learning difficulties is disproportionate for disadvantaged families due to structural inequalities. This paper investigated the resilience process of economically disadvantaged households by examining how they mediate responses to the challenges in COVID-19-induced remote learning. Utilizing a case study research design, 15 purposely selected households from Naval, Biliran, with children enrolled in remote education and monthly income below the poverty threshold, were interviewed using an interview guide, and their narratives were thematically analyzed. Results revealed that households mobilized their available resources to minimize the difficulties in COVID-19-induced remote learning. However, in the process, risks are shifted to their consumption, productive work and livelihood, parents' health, and children's learning. In the end, the resilience process of households was characterized by the management of time and capital and unsustainability. This paper argues that increased community and government support is needed for sustainable household implementation of remote learning.


Two buffer-soluble endo-1,3-beta-D-glucanases (EC 18.104.22.168) have been purified to within 1% of electrophoretic homogeneity from etiolated Pisum sativum stem tissues. Purified glucanase I and II differ in physical properties, such as electrophoretic mobility in sodium dodecyl sulfate polyacrylamide gels (Mr values were 22 000 and 37 000, respectively) and isoelectric focusing, (pI values were 5.4 and 6.8, respectively). Although the enzymes have similar pH optima (5.5--6.0), Km values for various substrates (0.6--7.4 mg/ml) and thermal inactivation profiles, they are localized in different tissues and they differ markedly in the rates with which they attack the internal linkages of long- vs. short-chain substrates. Glucanase I is concentrated in apical regions of the stem and is most effectively assayed reductometrically (as laminarinase), while glucanase II is localized in mature regions and is relatively more active in viscometric assays (as carboxymethyl-pachymanase).


As we wrap up 2022, I'd like to take this opportunity to thank you for your feedback and continued commitment to the JPT editorial team as we research and write our online and monthly articles, all exclusive to JPT. Your presentations at SPE conferences, technical papers, interviews, and contributed articles are what make this content the best in the industry. A special thank you goes to our Editorial Review Board.
 Here's a sampling of JPT's most-viewed features in 2022.
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The cliches it's a small world and the world is our classroom are becoming practical realities for many educators. Increasingly accessible transnational contexts for English language teaching and learning offer new opportunities for local–global learning. This article reflects on a content-based online English course focused on community youth leadership that was offered for Brazilian teens by U.S. instructors and graduate students. The researchers used the backdrop of English learning focused on key concepts to engage students in critical self-reflection, collaborative discussion with peers, and civic engagement with their home communities. This course focused on communication skills, content knowledge, and technology practices needed for young adults to engage each other as emerging global citizens. Students wrote reflections on identity, planned and reflected on community interviews, and designed community-based service projects. The authors describe how students and instructors used a variety of formal and informal communication platforms to experiment with the language and communication strategies students needed to get beyond simple vocabulary practice and into meaningful discourse about contested concepts such as identity, community, social responsibility, social hope, leadership, and beliefs. The authors discuss how students creatively used English across multiple online platforms and geographic borders to reimagine and project themselves as agents of positive social change and emerging community leaders.


This article, a reconsidering of both the benefits and the consequences of the Brown v. Board of Education (1954; Davis and Graham, 1995) case, posits determinations as to the historical significance of the U.S. Supreme Court justices' decision. Carefully weighing the words of the justices renders a position that the decision of the Court and the intention of the Court do not fall in alignment with one another. And despite the rightness of the decision and all that has been reaped in the way of its benefits, still, the decision's unarticulated language has rendered a greater significance and has placed enduring consequences on the public education system, as well as in the greater context of race as a whole.


In this chapter the authors describe the development of an interdisciplinary graduate program focusing on sustainable urban development at Chicago's DePaul University. Locating the curriculum both in the administrative institutional context and the historical geography of a racially and economically segregated urban area, the authors discuss the process of program formation and adjustment over its first five years of operation, 2013–2018. The chapter highlights some of the challenges encountered by program faculty, from internal curricular competition to external classification of the program under federal educational designation, and notes some of the interdisciplinary innovations, such as requiring courses in Geographic Information Systems to aid spatial data analysis and visualizations. In the second part of the chapter, to assess the impact of the graduate program on students, the authors review and draw from reflection essays written by students who, while completing their studies, pursued internships with nonprofit organizations in Chicago. The chapter concludes by discussing the employment status of recent alumni to suggest how these former students are pursuing jobs that may come to impact sustainability policy and practice. The authors maintain it is necessary to push the understanding of "sustainability" beyond solely environmental concerns to incorporate understandings of how economic development and community engagement must be included to deliver a sustainable city. The interdisciplinary curriculum described challenges students to become leaders in local efforts to make urban areas not only more environmentally sustainable, but also more economically and socially sustainable for all residents.


Simple, rapid and inexpensive one-step reverse micellar microextraction (RMME) procedures were combined with matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization mass spectrometry (MALDI MS) for the determination of thiol-containing peptides and amino acids. In this investigation, a thiol-containing peptide (HW6) was chosen as model compound to understand the mechanism of RMME. The electrostatic interactions between the thiol-containing peptide and reverse micelles were proposed to be reason for the transfer of analytes from the aqueous phase to the organic phase. Reverse micelles were formed by the cationic surfactant, methyltrioctylammonium chloride (MTOAC). The best extraction efficiency of HW6 was obtained under the following conditions: pH 11.0, ionic strength 5.0 mM of KCl and micelle concentration 7.0 mM of MTOAC. The limits of detection (LODs) obtained for HW6 in water, urine and plasma samples were 0.15, 0.19 and 0.28 microM, respectively, with relative standard deviation (RSD) values in the range +/-8.8-10.5%. The sensitivity obtained in water by the present method was 45-fold higher than that of the conventional use of atmospheric-pressure (AP)-MALDI MS. Furthermore, the applicability of the proposed approach was extended for the determination of thiol-containing amino acids in sample solutions by using MALDI time-of-flight (TOF) MS.


Purpose of this research were (1) to identify family's and child's characteristics, (2) to identify mother's knowledge on nutrition and child's growth development, mother's access to information on nutrition and child growth development, psychosocial stimulation, and child's cognitive development, (3) to analyze relationship between family's characteristics and mother's knowledge on nutrition and growth development, (4) to analyze relationship of family's characteristics, mother knowledge, child's characteristics and psychosocial stimulation, (5) to analyze relationship between mother's knowledge, psychosocial stimulation and child's cognitive development. A cross sectional design was assigned for this research. Population of this research were children aged 2-5 years old that located at Sub capital East Bogor and Kedungbadak were selected by random proportional from 297 children's to 100 sample which consist of aged 2-3 years old (37 children), 3-4 years old (50 children), and 4-5 years old (33 children). A correlation test of Rank Spearman was applied to test the correlation among variables. Results showed that there were significant and positive relationship among three variables which were family's characteristics (family's income and mother's education) and mother's knowledge. Meanwhile, mother's and father's educational attainment and family's income had a positive and significant correlation with psychosocial stimulation.. The study also found that psychosocial stimulation and mother's knowledge had a significant and positive relationship with child's cognitive development.


Developing countries are characterized by a high share of informal workers and several types of labor market regulation. We study the effects of the enforcement of this type of regulation on firm dynamics in Brazil, using different linked administrative data sets. Using a difference-in-differences design, we show that firms caught with informal workers experience a slowdown in their growth rates that last several years. Informal workers are present in firms of all sizes. Formal and informal workers exhibit almost identical observable characteristics.


The medical technology industry is one of the most innovative sectors of the US economy. The paper considers how the US federal government, in a variety of roles as promoter, protector and payer, is involved in every stage of the innovative process for medical technology. It discusses the influence of government policies on medical innovation.


The mitotic index of mouse corneal epithelium was studied during and after 0.5-- 24 hours exposures to 9.9-39.4 kilooersteds constant magnetic fields. It was shown that 0.5, 1 and 3 hours exposures to a 39.4 kilooersteds constant magnetic field inhibited the mitotic activity whereas 8 and 24 hours exposures caused its stimulation. The value and rate of mitotic index alterations decrease with a decrease of field strength. No changes were found in the frequency of aberrant mitoses or in the number of cells per one field of microscopic vison.


French Title: Le syndrome De Beckwick-Wiedemann neglige revele par une macroglossie severe
The Beckwick-Wiedemann is a congenital syndrome (BWS) characterised by macroglossia, and other symptoms as abdominal wall congenital defect or hemihypertrophy. Some of the hallmark symptoms can appear lately after birth rending the diagnosis difficult. We present a case of  macroglossia revealing a BWS in a 12-year-old girl, the social implications and the early surgical outcome. After a history of abdominal wall repair in early childhood, the girl was admitted to our Plastic and Reconstructive surgery department for dysarthria caused by the overgrowth tongue. The severe macroglossia, the congenital laparoschisis, and a hemi-body overgrowth lead to the BWS diagnosis. The surgical glossectomy using a keyhole technique provided good cosmetic results. The girl was lost in the follow-up screening. The frequency of congenital abnormalities is still underestimated in Africa especially in remote areas. The presence of a macroglossia might urge clinical examination seeking other BWS symptoms.
Keywords: Macroglossia, Beckwith-Wiedemann syndrome, congenital abnormality, glossectomy, Africa.