One premise of antibody-drug conjugates (ADC) is that the bound mAb-antigen complex on the cell surface will internalize and be metabolized by lysosomal proteases to release the free drug. Thus, the efficacy of an ADC is dependent not only on the presence of cell surface antigens, but also in-tact delivery of the conjugated drug, and an active pathway of receptor-mediated endocytosis. On a cellular level, the biological mechanisms behind receptor internalization and turnover have not been elucidated for novel therapeutic targets. On a tissue level, vascularization and hypoxic profile will affect delivery of the antibody into the tissue. Varying expression of the antibody target within the tissue (antigen density) will also affect the uptake of the ADC. Furthermore, the extracellular stability of the ADC may be affected by the activity of the various proteases in the tumor microenvironment (TME), outside of the lysozome. These concepts are critical for efficacy, and thus are especially important for companion diagnostic approaches (CDx) meant to predict response to ADCs. Thus, a predictive assay which would account not only for the degree of cell surface expression of the target, but also receptor internalization and potential effects of tumor microenvironment is required. To answer this need, Flagship Biosciences has invented several proprietary approaches for measuring critical properties of the therapeutic target on the cell surface or inside the cell, as well as properties of the TME which could be used to understand and predict efficacy to an ADC using FFPE biopsies. These quantitative pathology approaches are based on image analysis approaches which been designed specifically for ADC CDx programs to answer these critical questions: 1) Defining cell surface target expression independent of cytoplasmic expression; 2) Estimating receptor flux (turnover, internalization) based on staining profile; 3) Assessing critical factors in the TME which may affect delivery of the in-tact drug to the intracellular target; 4) Assaying vascular properties which may affect delivery of the drug; and 5) Heterogeneity of the target within a tumor. We are able to provide these as discrete evaluations or multiplex these evaluations for an integrative answer which can be derived from a typical clinical biopsy. Incorporation of these novel tools will enable ADC developers to create efficacy and patient stratification paradigms which incorporate the critical biological endpoints unique to ADCs. Citation Format: Joseph S. Krueger, Holger Lange, Steve Potts, David Young. Assessing factors predictive of response to ADCs for companion diagnostic strategies. [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the 105th Annual Meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research; 2014 Apr 5-9; San Diego, CA. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2014;74(19 Suppl):Abstract nr 5426. doi:10.1158/1538-7445.AM2014-5426


Influences of shading and irrigation in summer hot pepper cultivation on the plant growth and mesophyll tissue were investigated. Hot pepper plants were exposed to three shade levels (0, 30 ± 5 and 80 ± 5%) and irrigated or non-irrigated in greenhouse condition. Plant height and leaf area were highest in 30% shading and stem diameter and fresh and dry weights were highest in no shading. Plant growth was better in rain shelters with irrigation than in those without irrigation. The numbers of hot pepper fruits in the beginning of harvest were 49 in rain shelters without irrigation and shading, 22 in those with irrigation and without shading, 5 in those without irrigation with 30% shading, and 1 in those with irrigation and 30% shading. However, 80% shading showed lowest flower number and flower abscission, resulting in no fruit set, regardless of irritation. This is because carbohydrate translocation from leaves to reproductive organs may be not enough for developing fruits due to the lack of sunlight. The yield of hot pepper tended to be higher in rain shelter with irrigation than in those without irrigation. In optical microscopy observation, the thickness and development of mesophyll tissues decreased as increasing the degree of shading but no effect of irrigation on mesophyll tissues was observed. When stomata were observed with scanning electron microscope (SEM), the shape of stomata was normal but tissues surrounding stomata were slightly wrinkled in plants grown under 30% shading. The large number of abnormal stomata and wrinkled leaves was observed among plants grown in rain shelters with 80% shading. In plants grown in rain shelters without irrigation, tissues surrounding stomata were wrinkled and 10-20% decrease in the number of stomata was observed. Therefore, in hot pepper cultivation in summer with high temperature, shading was not effective for fruit yield and mesophyll tissue development; if shading is unavoidable, high degree of shading is not advisable. Further studies are needed for appropriate cultivar selection and environment-control techniques in hot pepper cultivation in summer with high temperature.


The emergence of Twitter in Thailand has given millions of users a platform to express and share their opinions about products and services, among other subjects, and so Twitter is considered to be a rich source of information for companies to understand their customers by extracting and analyzing sentiment from Tweets. This offers companies a fast and effective way to monitor public opinions on their brands, products, services, etc. However, sentiment analysis performed on Thai Tweets has challenges brought about by language-related issues, such as the difference in writing systems between Thai and English, short-length messages, slang words, and word usage variation. This research paper focuses on Tweet classification and on solving data sparsity issues. We propose a mixed method of supervised learning techniques and lexicon-based techniques to filter Thai opinions and to then classify them into positive, negative, or neutral sentiments. The proposed method includes a number of pre-processing steps before the text is fed to the classifier. Experimental results showed that the proposed method overcame previous limitations from other studies and was very effective in most cases. The average accuracy was 84.80 %, with 82.42 % precision, 83.88 % recall, and 82.97 % F-measure.


This paper proposes a reliability-centric hardware/software co-design framework. This framework operates with a component library that provides multiple alternates for a given task, each of which is potentially different from the others in terms of reliability, performance, and area metrics. The paper also presents an experimental evaluation of the proposed co-design framework using several example designs and a comparison to a conventional co-design method that does not consider reliability. Our experimental evaluation demonstrates that the proposed framework can be used to study the tradeoffs between area, performance, and reliability and that it is important to include reliability as a first class parameter in optimization.


Experiments on the effects of humidity in adhesion between rough surfaces have shown that the adhesion energy remains constant below a critical relative humidity (RHcr) and then abruptly jumps to a higher value at RHcr before approaching its upper limit at 100% relative humidity. A model based on a hierarchical rough surface topography is proposed, which quantitatively explains the experimental observations and predicts two threshold RH values, RHcr and RHdry, which define three adhesion regimes: (1) RH<RHdry, no stable water bridges form between the contacting surfaces; (2) RHdry<RH<RHcr, water bridges form but are confined to the initial solid-solid contact regions; and (3) RH>RHcr, water menisci freely form and spread along the interface between the rough surfaces.


This paper mainly covers the development of a FPGA-based fuzzy controller and image processing system for a small-sized humanoid robot. All the computations are operated on an FPGA board including the real-time image processing and the fuzzy logic controller design for PK event in FIRA RoboWorld cup. At first, the specification of the hardware is introduced. The image processing is then employed for target recognition. The control strategy system for PK event is also developed. Finally the experiments are demonstrated to verify feasibility of the proposed control system.


Current planning practices in Europe are affected by new regulations aiming at environmental protection and risk reduction, however, planning professionals often face difficulties in properly implementing the principles given by the norms. This paper discusses the influence of the introduction of Strategic Environmental Assessment and of Spatial Data Infrastructures in the EU, highlighting innovation potential and implementation shortcomings and pitfalls. To address these issues, the Geodesign approach is proposed, firstly analysing its relationships with the current planning regulations at the regional level in Italy, and then its opportunities for application in practice with regard to the Sardinian case study (Italy); secondly an integrated Planning Support System is proposed and tested to implement the core phases of the Geodesign approach. The paper concludes suggesting that Geodesign may fruitfully address some of the major issues in the current planning and SEA practice, taking full advantage of the newly available resources of SDI. Bridging the Gap Between Strategic Environmental Assessment and Planning: A Geodesign Perspective


Breast cancer is the leading cause of cancer death among women worldwide. Multiple extrinsic and intrinsic factors are associated with this disease's development. Various research groups worldwide have reported the presence of human papillomavirus (HPV) DNA in samples of malignant breast tumors. Although its role in mammary carcinogenesis is not fully understood, it is known that the HPV genome, once inserted into host cells, has oncogenic capabilities. The present study aimed to detect the presence of HPV DNA in 116 breast tissue biopsies and classify them according to their histology. It was found that 50.9% of the breast biopsies analyzed were malignant neoplasms, of which 74.6% were histologically classified as infiltrating ductal carcinoma. In biopsies with non-malignant breast disease, fibroadenoma was the most common benign neoplasm (39.1%). Detection of HPV DNA was performed through nested PCR using the external primer MY09/11 and the internal primer GP5+/6+. A hybridization assay genotyped HPV. HPV DNA was identified in 20.3% (12/59) of malignant neoplasms and 35% non-malignant breast disease (16/46). It was also detected in 27.3% (3/11) of breast tissue biopsies without alteration. However, there are no statistically significant differences between these groups and the existence of HPV DNA (p = 0.2521). Its presence was more frequent in non-malignant alterations than in malignant neoplasias. The most frequent genotypes in the HPV-positive samples were low-risk (LR) HPV-42 followed by high-risk (HR) HPV-31.


Introduction Dietary sodium intake affects the function of several target organs involved with volume homeostasis. We hypothesized that dietary sodium similarly affects the heart as a target organ, specifically myocardial relaxation. Methods Thirteen healthy volunteers (age 38.6 ± 4 y) entered a two-week crossover design study (week 1, high sodium diet [HS]>200 mmol Na/day; week 2, low sodium diet [LS],<10 mmol Na/day). At the end of each study week, tissue Doppler imaging of mitral annular velocities (mean early diastolic myocardial relaxation velocity), renal blood flow and aldosterone secretion were measured at baseline and after infusion of angiotensin II (Ang II) (3 ng/kg/min × 45 min). Results On HS diet myocardial relaxation velocity (E') was greater than on LS diet (14.0 ± 1.2 vs.12.6 ± 1.0 cm/s, p = 0.02), despite an increase in systolic blood pressure of 7 mm Hg. In response to Ang II infusion, E' was significantly reduced on the HS diet when compared to the LS diet (HSΔ -1.4 ± 0.4 vs. LSΔ -0.1 ± 0.3 cm/s, p = 0.02). E' significantly correlated with endogenous Ang II only on the HS diet. There were no significant changes in estimates of left ventricular filling pressures (E/E') with either maneuver. Response characteristics paralleled those measured simultaneously in renal blood flow and adrenal secretion of aldosterone. Conclusions Dietary sodium intake modulates myocardial relaxation velocity and its responsiveness to Ang II. The relationship between Ang II and myocardial relaxation is dependent on dietary sodium intake and is identical to relationships in other sodium-sensitive target organs. Abnormalities in these mechanisms may play a role in clinical abnormalities of diastolic dysfunction.


This study investigated Task-Based Language Learning (TBLL) through Digital StoryTelling (DST) in a blended learning environment. Twenty-six Turkish university-level students prepared a DST individually and shared it with their peers in an online discussion platform. Each evaluated and graded others' DST performance based on an assessment scale. After this, they performed their stories in the classroom and similarly assessed their peer's performances. Ultimately, they were asked to give their self-reflection on the pros and cons of performing tasks online and in the classroom. Findings showed that TBLL through DST was more favoured than storytelling in the classroom and helped them to improve their speaking skills. The study suggested DST could be a positive approach in language learning and should be explored further in other language skills and multiple contexts.


The payment amount of the entry level scheme significantly exceeds the additional costs which arise from abiding by the regulations and with this the financial situation and competitiveness of the viable agricultural enterprises may improve. Based on the pre-calculation in relation to the fortuituos entry into the integrated target scheme it can be concluded that the additional cost determined by the target scheme would only use up just about half of the surplus payment allotted through the integrated target scheme. It is well-worth to make use of the opportunities given by these schemes, because through them the enterprise can obtain a regular, secure and significant income.


In this paper, we applied the potentiostatic anodisation method on the new Ti–20Nb–10Zr–5Ta alloy surface with the aim to increase its stability and bioactivity. The morphology (SEM) and composition (Raman, FT‐IR) of the obtained anodisation nanolayer are studied. Also, electrochemical stability (by cyclic potentiodynamic polarisation and EIS), corrosion resistance (by linear polarisation), long‐term behaviour (by monitoring of the open circuit potentials and corresponding open circuit potential gradients) and the characterisation of the layers deposited on the alloy surface after 1000 h in acid, neutral and alkaline Ringer and neutral Ringer–Brown solutions are presented. By potentiostatic anodisation, on the alloy surface was electrodeposited a continuous nanolayer containing TiO2 rutile type oxide. The anodised layer possesses better protective properties and at the same time better porosity, therefore a higher stability and bioactivity in comparison with the native passive film. After 1000 h in the testing solutions promoted the deposition of the brushite, phosphatotitanate and hydroxyapatite, precursors, respectively component of the human bone, namely this layer is bioactive.


RapidIO/spl trade/ is a pseudo-serial, source-synchronous, point-to-point interconnect which enables reliable, high-speed intra-system communication. The RapidIO physical layer utilises low-voltage differential signaling (LVDS) pairs that interconnect RapidIO link partners belonging to end-points or central switch fabrics. The following is an investigation into the performance of the RapidIO architecture when deployed as the interconnection between the components of a generic switch device. A discrete event simulation model of such a system has been developed enabling various compositions of traffic to be offered to the device. Extensive simulations have enabled a quantitative analysis of various performance metrics that indicate how the device deals with various classes of traffic under saturating and non-saturating aggregate traffic loads. The results therefore provide an insight into the general performance capabilities of the RapidIO architecture as a transport protocol as well as outlining some specific issues regarding implementing RapidIO to interconnect components of a generic switch device.


Purpose: Models of rectal toxicity which include dosimetry only are known to have a relatively low predictive power, at least as measured by the area under the ROC curve (AUC). It has been suggested that the predictive power of models can be improved by including non-dosimetric patient specific characteristics. Methods: We compiled a database of 79 prostate patients who were treated with an IMRT technique to a dose of 77.4 Gy, 1.8Gy/fx, with an integrated boost to 81–83Gy in a sub-volume of a prostate which was identified on a pre-treatment MRI study. Acute grade 2+ rectal toxicities were graded according to CTCAE v4 by a physician who retrospectively reviewed patient's medical records. We modified the LKB model to include one patient specific variable at a time, and we also used an NTCP model based on logistic regression to perform multi-variate analysis. We used patient specific variables available to us in a retrospective study: age, diabetes, hormonal treatment, Gleason Score, PSA, Statin use, prostate volume, boost volume and rectal volume. Results: Grade 2+ acute rectal toxicity occurred in 20% (16/79 patients). The LKB model with dosimetry alone gives AUC=0.65. Four variables, age, diabetes, PSA, Statin use, increase the AUC in LKB model to a maximum of 0.79. The same four variables in the logistic regression model increase AUC to 0.87. The most significant correlations are with PSA and with Statin use. Conclusion: Including patient specific variables in toxicity models can significantly increase apparent predictive power of a model. Somewhat surprising finding of a strong correlation between rectal toxicity and PSA in our dataset suggests that conclusions from each individual study should be treated with caution, until independently confirmed. Larger databases from prospective studies or meta-analysis of multiple studies may be needed to find patient characteristics that are truly predictive.


We evaluated the ensemble empirical mode decomposition (EEMD) and Stacking model for borehole seismic data denoising. The borehole records collected by distributed optical fiber acoustic sensor (DAS) technology have multi-type noise contamination, and it is difficult to attenuate these noises while recovering the seismic waves well. We first perform EEMD on the seismic data to obtain the signal-to-noise modal components, then extract the time and frequency information of the decomposed modes using six feature factors, and finally introduce an ensemble learning method to classify the acquired modal features effectively. Stacking is the ensemble learning technique we used in our study. This technique integrates several diverse basic ensemble models using the meta-learning strategy and construct a highly integrated framework with superior performance and good generalization. In addition, the basic ensemble models consists of many decision tree classifiers following two different ideas of parallelization and serialization. The feature extraction process provides sufficient DAS feature data for the training process of the framework. Synthetic and real experimental results demonstrate that the Stacking integration framework effectively separates the signal-to-noise modal features of the borehole DAS records. Furthermore, EEMD-Stacking method performs better than wavelet transform, intrinsic time-scale decomposition, robust principal component analysis, K-SVD and median filtering on the denoising task.


Cranioplasty after decompressive craniectomy (DC) is associated with increased morbidity, but the reported mortality rate is low. Recently, some authors have reported a rare unexplained complication of sudden death in association with massive cerebral edema immediately after cranioplasty. The author reports on 4 patients who underwent cranioplasty after DC between January 2005 and August 2010 at his department and died because of massive cerebral edema immediately after uneventful surgery and anesthesia. All 4 of the new cases reported involved young male patients who underwent decompressive hemicraniectomy after traumatic brain injury. They developed massive cerebral swelling immediately after uneventful cranioplasty (3 patients) or after removal of an epidural hematoma several hours after surgery (1 patient). All 4 patients had a large skull defect and significantly sunken craniotomy site, and all were treated with a closed vacuum suction system that was placed under the scalp and kept open at the end of the cranioplasty procedure. After surgery, the patients' pupils became fixed and dilated, and brain CT scans showed massive brain edema. Despite emergency DC, the patients did not recover, and all 4 died. A MEDLINE search showed 8 similar cases that were reported previously. Fatal cerebral swelling after uneventful cranioplasty is a distinct clinical entity, although it is unpredictable. It is postulated that a negative pressure difference from the elimination of atmospheric pressure that had been chronically applied on the injured sinking brain in combination with the negative pressure applied by the closed subgaleal suction drain may lead to a massive brain shift toward the cranioplasty site and initiate a fatal vasomotor reaction.


Methyl ketone derivatives of L-amino acids are substrate analogous inhibitors of membrane bound alanine aminopeptidase (EC 184.108.40.206) from Acinetobacter calcoaceticus. The type of inhibition is competitive. Compounds with a branched aliphatic side chain are most effective so that valine methyl ketone was found to be the best inhibitor of the enzyme with a K-value of 5.5.10(-7) mol.l-1.


For the task of image classification, neural networks primarily rely on visual patterns. In robust networks, we would expect for visually similar classes to be represented similarly. We consider the problem of when semantically similar classes are visually dissimilar, and when visual similarity is present among non-similar classes. We propose a data augmentation technique with the goal of better aligning semantically similar classes with arbitrary (non-visual) semantic relationships. We leverage recent work in diffusion-based semantic mixing to generate semantic hybrids of two classes, and these hybrids are added to the training set as augmented data. We evaluate whether the method increases semantic alignment by evaluating model performance on adversarially perturbed data, with the idea that it should be easier for an adversary to switch one class to a similarly represented class. Results demonstrate that there is an increase in alignment of semantically similar classes when using our proposed data augmentation method.


toxicological data combined with their widespread abuse generated great concern in the international scientific community. Objective: Inside the Italian National Early Warning System (NEWS), clinical urine specimens were collected from patients (n=202) admitted to the Emergency Departments (April 2011-January 2013) for clinically suspected abuse of any kind of unknown new psychoactive substances, to measure synthetic cathinones demonstrating the consistency and reliability of the employed screening assays as useful tools to detect these drugs, with the ultimate objective to advance patients care and management. Methods: Screening analyses were performed using two specific ELISA assays, targeting Mephedrone/ methcathinone and MDPV (LOD 0.40 and 20.0 ng/ml, respectively). Data were then compared to determinations gained by LC-MS (LOD 5 ng/ml). Results: (i) Mephedrone/methcathinone: 195/202 samples gave values 16 ng/ml (above the upper limit of the standard curve) by screening immunoassay, and only 4 of them resulted positive by LC-MS; (ii) MDPV: 162/167 samples gave values ≤ 60 ng/ml by screening ELISA and tested negative by LC-MS. Five samples showed concentration above the upper limit of the standard curve (>850 ng/ml). Among these, 3/5 samples were confirmed positive by LC-MS (2 for butylone and MDPV, 1 for pentedrone and MDPV). Discussion and conclusion: These results emphasize a good overall match between data obtained by the two analytical methods, showing disagreement in few cases concerning positive results; no false negatives were detected by ELISA screening, suggesting the promising usefulness of this reliable tool as first approach in the emergency setting to rapidly detect synthetic cathinones, allowing the clinician to improve differential diagnosis, aiding real-time patient care and management.


AIMS & OBJECTIVES:
1. To determine the association between moderately elevated Serum Ferritin levels in mid-pregnancy and risk of Gestational Diabetes Mellitus.
2. To investigate the effect of a higher level of maternal serum Ferritin and
thereafter describe a generic framework for combining this screening
information with designing a prophylactic intervention in the future.
METHODOLOGY:
STUDY CENTRE: Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology,
Madras Medical college, Chennnai.
DURATION OF STUDY : One year.
STUDY DESIGN : Prospective study.
SAMPLE SIZE : 100 .
INCLUSION CRITERIA:
Pregnant women in gestational age 16 to 24 weeks as calculated by LMP
and dating scan.
EXCLUSION CRITERIA:
Pregnant women with:
1. Anemia (Hb<11gm/dl),
2. Pre-eclampsia,
3. Type 1 and type 2 diabetes,
4. Hematological disorders ( sickle cell anemia, hemoglobinopathy,
thalassemia),
5. Auto immune disorders( SLE, rheumatoid arthritis),
6. Hepatitis, Any fever,
7. Any local and systemic infection.
PROCEDURE:
100 women attending the antenatal clinic (as selected by inclusion criteria and exclusion criteria )were enrolled in the study. Their haemoglobin levels at their vist from 16-24 weeks was analysed and those with above 11 gms were chosen for the study after obtaining valuable consent. The serum ferritin levels measured and grouped into four and then they were prospectively observed during their consecutive antenatal visits with OGCT and OGTT if needed. And also FBS, PPBS was monitored for women with term gestation. The patients were followed up for risk of development of GDM.
RESULTS:
Among the 100 pregnant women in this study, only 37 had GDM diagnosed at some point of time in the current pregnancy. In that 37 women, 22 were started on insulin and 15 were on medical nutrition therapy out of 37 who developed GDM, about 18 had ferritin values between 60-90 ng/ml, and 6 had values above 90 ng/ml. and in this 6 women women with serum ferritin >90, 5 were started on insulin. This implies that high serum ferritin levels has required the need of insulin for their blood sugar control. Among 18 who had serum ferritin level 60-90ng/ml, majority ( about 14) had the need of insulin and remaining 4 just needed MNT for their adequate blood sugar control. The p-value of this association is <0.001.
CONCLUSION:
Serum ferritin levels, apart from iron store action, is a good predictor of developing GDM. Elevated serum ferritin concentrations, at early gestational weeks, is associated with increased risk of developing GDM. This association is mediated by fat mass of the mother and obesity, at least in part. This data in this study suggests a possible link. between high serum ferritin and low grade inflammation and insulin resistance in pregnancy., which creates the risk of developing GDM.
Though significant association was analysed in this study, between serum ferritin in higher levels and risk of developing GDM, still larger studies are required to prove this association in a significant large population.


To date, medical guidance for patients undergoing cancer chemotherapy has mainly been with regard to individual medicines. Only a few reports have been available dealing with information on side effects by a regimen unit. Therefore, we accumulated information on side effects and made a pamphlet for patients with malignant lymphoma undergoing peripheral blood stem cell transplantation after Melphalan (L-PAM), Cyclophosphamide (Endoxan), VP-16 (etoposide) and Dexamethasone (LEED)therapy, for the purpose of explanation for patients on pharmacist's rounds. This pamphlet consists of time schedule of anticancer therapy, harmful phenomena due to cancer chemotherapy and counterplans for such side effects. Easy-to-understand graphics are used to explain the appearance and duration of side effects by anticancer agents. This pamphlet will serve to improve comprehension and the attitude of patients toward cancer chemotherapy. The pamphlets will also be a useful tool to reassure patients on pharmacist's rounds.


The research aims to investigate the influence and relationship of financial ratios with the liquidity ratio indicators, leverage, profitability, activity, growth, and intellectual capital indicators with Human Capital, Structure Capital, and Customer Capital on financial difficulties (financial distress) with cash flow analysis indicators, corporate strategy, financial statements on construction companies. Theresearch was conducted in Sengkang, Wajo District, South Sulawesi usingnon-probability sampling and purposive sampling. The data analysis technique used is double linear regression analysis. The results of the research findings proved that both simultaneous and partial intellectual ratios of the financial and capital have no significant effect on financial difficulties. In comparison,the correlation analysis shows the ratio of financial and intellectual capital simultaneously not significant to financial distress or negative relation where the greater the variable of financial and intellectual capital ratio, the greater the decrease in the value of variables of financial difficulties.


Purpose. To examine the relationship between physical activity and (1) convenience of destinations, measured by whether destinations (such as a park, trail, businesses, and services) are within walking distance of the home, and (2) participants' perception of the quality of their neighborhood surroundings for walking, captured with a global neighborhood "walkability" rating. Design. Cross-sectional analysis of data obtained in 1999. Setting. Community in southwest Pennsylvania. Subjects. Older Caucasian women (n = 149, mean age = 74.2 years). Response rate = 79%. Measures. Walking levels, leisure-time physical activity, and features of the neighborhood environment were measured with interviewer-administered questionnaires. Physical activity was also measured objectively with a pedometer. Results. Living within walking distance (defined as within a 20-minute walk of home) of a park; biking or walking trail; or department, discount, or hardware store was related to higher pedometer readings (p < .01). In addition, there was a positive trend between the sum of destinations within walking distance of home and activity levels measured by pedometer and questionnaire (p < .01). There was also a positive trend between participants' neighborhood "walkability" rating and activity levels measured by pedometer and questionnaire (p < .01). Conclusion. These findings suggest that the ability to make utilitarian walking trips from home and the perception of having favorable neighborhood surroundings for walking are associated with increased physical activity levels in older women.


Background: Long bone fractures of the extremities are increasingly becoming a common clinical presentation of the trauma patients to the emergency unit of most urban hospital in Nigeria due to increasing vehicular traffic on our roads. Locked intramedullary nailing is the gold standard for operative treatment of these injuries. Patients and Methods: 104 consecutive patients with 108 fractures of femur and tibia who had Surgical Implant Generation Network (SIGN) locked intramedullary nailing over a period of two years from September 2004 to August 2006 was evaluated for its effectiveness. Results : There were 72 males and 32 females giving a ratio of 2.3:1.The mean age was 36.6years SD±15.2 and 88 (81.5%) femoral and 20 (18.5%) tibia fractures. Fractures was closed and open in 86 (79.6%) and 22 (20.4%) patients respectively. Gustillo and Andersen grades of open fractures was I 7 (31.8%), II 8 (36.4%), IIIA 4 (18.2%) and IIIB 3 (13.6%. The open method of reduction was used. Indications for fixation were: Recent factures in 73 (67.6%) and non union in 35(32.4%). Average time to union was 4.5 SD±1.92 with a range of 3 to 9 months. The mean duration of follow up was 36 months. Mean duration of hospital stay was 36.8 days SD±39.2. Conclusion: We concluded that locked intramedullary nailing using SIGN nail was safe and achieved satisfactory union of fracture of Femur and Tibia. Key words : Intramedullary nail, SIGN.


The dynamic capabilities of 74 publicly listed U.S. companies are examined to determine their knowledge management's effects on shareholder value. R&D practices, patenting and intellectual capital are examined in a cross-sectional and longitudinal analysis to offer insights into the temporal dynamics of managerial decision-making and create new knowledge about time lags in returns on innovation and intellectual capital management. From the accounting perspective, the findings are highly relevant for knowledge productivity. The results indicate that innovation and intellectual capital are beneficial for corporate value and that firm size, debt level and industry matter for the outcome. The paper highlights areas of success and in need of further development in the period during and after the "Dot-com crisis" and suggests increased awareness of long-term thinking in innovation by showing how previous investments in innovation act on future corporate value.


Lexical Simplification (LS) is the task of replacing complex for simpler words in a sentence whilst preserving the sentence's original meaning. LS is the lexical component of Text Simplification (TS) with the aim of making texts more accessible to various target populations. A past survey (Paetzold and Specia, 2017) has provided a detailed overview of LS. Since this survey, however, the AI/NLP community has been taken by storm by recent advances in deep learning, particularly with the introduction of large language models (LLM) and prompt learning. The high performance of these models sparked renewed interest in LS. To reflect these recent advances, we present a comprehensive survey of papers published between 2017 and 2023 on LS and its sub-tasks with a special focus on deep learning. We also present benchmark datasets for the future development of LS systems.


Today an application is secured using invitro perimeter security. This is the reason for security being considered as nonfunctional requirement in Software Development Life Cycle (SDLC). In Next Generation Internet (NGI), where all applications will be networked, security needs to be in-vivo; security must be functions within the application. Applications running on any device, be it on a mobile or on a fixed platform - need to be security-aware using Securityaware Software Development Life Cycle (SaSDLC), which is the focus of this paper. We also present a tool called Suraksha that comprises of Security Designers' Workbench and Security Testers' Workbench that helps a developer to build Security-aware applications.


Let {(X n ,J n )} be a stationary Markov-modulated random walk on ℝ x E (E is finite), defined by its probability transition matrix measure F = {F ij }, F ij (B) = ℙ[X 1 ∈ B, J 1 = j | J 0 = i], B ∈ B (ℝ), i, j ∈ E. If F ij ([x,∞))/(1-H(x)) → W ij ∈ [0,∞), as x → ∞, for some long-tailed distribution function H, then the ascending ladder heights matrix distribution G +(x) (right Wiener-Hopf factor) has long-tailed asymptotics. If 𝔼X n < 0, at least one W ij > 0, and H(x) is a subexponential distribution function, then the asymptotic behavior of the supremum of this random walk is the same as in the i.i.d. case, and it is given by ℙ[sup n≥0 S n > x] → (−𝔼X n )−1 ∫ x ∞ ℙ[X n > u]du as x → ∞, where S n = ∑1 n X k , S 0 = 0. Two general queueing applications of this result are given. First, if the same asymptotic conditions are imposed on a Markov-modulated G/G/1 queue, then the waiting time distribution has the same asymptotics as the waiting time distribution of a GI/GI/1 queue, i.e., it is given by the integrated tail of the service time distribution function divided by the negative drift of the queue increment process. Second, the autocorrelation function of a class of processes constructed by embedding a Markov chain into a subexponential renewal process, has a subexponential tail. When a fluid flow queue is fed by these processes, the queue-length distribution is asymptotically proportional to its autocorrelation function.


OBJECTIVES: Septic pulmonary embolism caused by a Klebsiella (K.) pneumoniae liver abscess is rare but can cause considerable morbidity and mortality. However, clinical information regarding this condition is limited. This study was conducted to elucidate the full disease spectrum to improve its diagnosis and treatment. METHOD: We reviewed the clinical characteristics, imaging findings, and clinical courses of 14 patients diagnosed with septic pulmonary embolism caused by a K. pneumoniae liver abscess over a period of 9 years. RESULTS: The two most prevalent symptoms were fever and shortness of breath. Computed tomography findings included a feeding vessel sign (79%), nodules with or without cavities (79%), pleural effusions (71%), peripheral wedge-shaped opacities (64%), patchy ground-glass opacities (50%), air bronchograms within a nodule (36%), consolidations (21%), halo signs (14%), and lung abscesses (14%). Nine (64%) of the patients developed severe complications and required intensive care. According to follow-up chest radiography, the infiltrates and consolidations were resolved within two weeks, and the nodular opacities were resolved within one month. Two (14%) patients died of septic shock; one patient had metastatic meningitis, and the other had metastatic pericarditis. CONCLUSION: The clinical presentations ranged from insidious illness with fever and respiratory symptoms to respiratory failure and septic shock. A broad spectrum of imaging findings, ranging from nodules to multiple consolidations, was detected. Septic pulmonary embolism caused by a K. pneumoniae liver abscess combined with the metastatic infection of other vital organs confers a poor prognosis.


Abstract. The parameters used to describe the electrical conductivity of a porous material can be used to describe also its thermal conductivity. A new relationship is developed to connect the thermal conductivity of an unsaturated porous material to the thermal conductivity of the different phases of the composite, and two electrical parameters called the first and second Archie's exponents. A good agreement is obtained between the new model and thermal conductivity measurements performed using packs of glass beads and core samples of the Callovo-Oxfordian clay-rocks at different saturations of the water phase. We showed that the three model parameters optimised to fit the new model against experimental data (namely the thermal conductivity of the solid phase and the two Archie's exponents) are consistent with independent estimates. We also observed that the anisotropy of the effective thermal conductivity of the Callovo-Oxfordian clay-rock was mainly due to the anisotropy of the thermal conductivity of the solid phase.


In two previous papers on the prospects for intelligent legal information systems 122, 271, I advocated the development of "deep conceptual models" of particular legal domains. My motivation was both practical and theoretical. On the practical side, I argued, our long-term goal should be an integrated analysis/planning/retrieval system that matches as closely as possible the way a lawyer actually thinks about a legal problem. On the theoretical side, my work with Sridharan on the TAXMAN project [31, 32, 441 had clarified the importance of an adequate domain theory in any attempt to model the arguments of lawyers in hard cases, For both purposes, I claimed, deep conceptual models are essential.


In this paper, a novel transparent thin film based on carbon nanotube (CNT) technology for radio frequency (RF) electromagnetic shielding is presented. The thin film, which is assumed to be infinite in length and width and tens to hundreds nanometers in thickness, consists of two layers of CNTs perpendicular to each other with a distance of hundreds of nanometers and a host medium which encloses the CNTs. The shielding effectiveness (SE) and optical transmittance of the thin film under normally incident plane-wave is both simulated by CST, a 3-dimentional full wave electromagnetic simulation software and theoretically calculated. Results from the theory and simulation fit well. The SE is still higher than 80dB when the frequency rises up to 10GHz and the optical transmittance is higher than 80% from 300nm to 1000nm. Besides that, comparisons with metallic screens or multi-layered thin films are provided to demonstrate the superity of the proposed design.


Abstract This study investigates the differences between in-place and online project-based learning carried out over the years at the University of Macerata in the course of Economics and Marketing of Agri-food (an undergraduate degree in Cultural Heritage and Tourism). The study aimed to investigate the key elements to consider to implement online project-based learning with strong links with the place in rural settings. It reports about expectations from the teaching group about the learning experience implemented online for the first time, crossed with the outcomes of the students' evaluation questionnaires and discussed in a focus group among the teacher and the tutors. The conclusions highlight successful aspects and critical issues between the place-based and online-based experiences.


OBJECTIVE
To investigate the relation between transdifferentiation of the airway myofibroblasts and the expression level of (trypsinogen16, TG16) in vitro and explore the mechanism of airway basement membrane thickening.

METHODS
The total lung proteins were extracted from normal and OVA-induced asthmatic mice and the protein expression profiles were analyzed with SDS-PAGE. The differentially expressed proteins were isolated for analysis with liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry. TG16 was cloned from mouse lung tissue and subcloned into the expression vector pcDNA3.0 to generate a pcDNA3-TG16 plasmid. The vectors were transfected into mouse embryonic fibroblast 3T3 cells and cultured in MEM in the presence of transforming growth factor-beta1 (TGF-beta1). The mRNA levels of alpha-actin and the housekeeping GAPDH gene were analyzed with RT-PCR. Using RNA interference, TG16 expression was suppressed and the resultant alpha-actin or GAPDH protein levels were analyzed using Western blotting.

RESULTS
In the total lung proteins from OVA-induced mice, a 25 000 Da protein was significantly enhanced in comparison with the protein profiles of normal mice. The protein band was identified to represent the protein of TG16. With TGF-beta1 stimulation, transfection with the plasmid pcDNA3-TG16 significantly suppressed the mRNA expression of alpha-actin (alpha-actin/GAPDH=1.78-/+0.50) in 3T3 cells as compared with the expression in cells transfected with pcDNA3.0 (3.20-/+1.36); transfection of the cells with TG16 stealth RNAi oligonucleotide to decrease TG16 mRNA level upregulated the protein level of alpha-actin (3.60-/+0.44) as compared with the alpha-actin protein level in 3T3 cells transfected with control oligonucleotide (2.78-/+0.50).

CONCLUSION
TG16 can inhibit the expression of alpha-actin in fibroblasts, which might be a protective mechanism in the progression of airway remodeling in asthma.


Quality of life refers to an individual's perception of their position in life in the context of the culture and value systems in which they live and in relation to the irgoals, expectations, standards and concerns. It is a broad ranging concept affected in a complex way by the person's physical health, psychological state, level of independence, social relationships, personal beliefs, and their relationship to salient features of their environment. Thus, quality of life has physical, psychological, and social aspects that must be taken into account. The purpose of the present research is to compare the health related quality of life of the active and sedentary faculty members of IAU, Qazvin Branch. 140 faculty members with an average age of 40 were randomly selected as the sample of this applied, descriptive research. The data was collected using a researcher-made demographics questionnaire, Short Form Health Survey (SF-36), and Becke's questionnaire. Based on the type and frequency of exercise per week, the samples were divided into an active group and a sedentary group. Descriptive statistics (mean, standard deviation, tables, and figures) and inferential statistics (Pearson correlation coefficient, t test and U Mann-Whitney and Tukey's test) were used for data analysis. The results showed active female members had a significantly better quality of life than sedentary female members. Also active male members had a significantly better quality of life than sedentary male members. Moreover, there was a significant difference between male and female faculty members in terms of quality of life, and men had better quality of life than women. It can thus be concluded that active people have better quality of life than sedentary people.


Klebsormidium flaccidum algal cells exhibiting the ability to form gold nanoparticles intra-cellularly in suspension were encapsulated within silica gels. Optical and electronic microscopy indicate that entrapped cells maintain their ability to reduce gold salts. A difference in the kinetics of gold colloid formation within silica in the absence or presence of cells could be followed by UV-visible absorption spectroscopy, confirming the bio-mediated nature of the reduction process. Study of the photosynthetic activity of the algae showed that the encapsulation process protects the cells from lethal effects arising from gold toxicity. Moreover, the first in situ imaging of entrapped cells using Raman spectroscopy allowed the investigation of the influence of the gold colloids on the photosynthetic system of the algae, in particular through modification of chlorophyll fluorescence and carotenoid signals. Such a coupling of sol–gel encapsulation and Raman imaging should allow the future development of novel photosynthesis-based cellular biosensors.


The design of perfect electromagnetic cloaks is usually based on the coordinate transformation method. However, for cloaks with arbitrary shapes, it is difficult to express analytically such coordinate transformation. Thus, we have to resort to numerical methods to design approximate cloaks. In this paper, we propose a numerical method of designing cloaks with arbitrary shapes. According to this method, spatial compressions are treated as homeomorphous mappings and described in numerical forms. The corresponding coordinate transformations are therefore expressed numerically. As an application of this method, we deduced the discrete constitutive parameters of a two-dimensional polygon cloak, and verified the results by numerical simulations. This method can be also used in cases with acoustic waves and matter waves.


Background: Premature ovarian failure (POF) is a common long-term consequence of chemotherapy. Whereas the cytotoxic-induced damage is reversible in other tissues of rapidly dividing cells such as bone marrow, gastrointestinal tract and thymus, it appears to be progressive and irreversible in the ovary, where the number of germ cells is limited, fixed since the fetal life, and cannot be regenerated. The gonadal toxicity of cyclophosphamide is well known. In patients with lupus nephritis, premature ovarian failure (POF) was reported in half of all treated women after cyclophosphamide pulse therapy, affecting 100% of those older than 30y, about 50% of the patients between the ages of 20-30y and only 13% of the patients younger than 20y of age. Following our preliminary encouraging experience in women with lymphoma, whereby the temporary induction of a prepubertal hormonal milieu, during chemotherapy, has significantly decreased the risk of POF, we have administered a monthly injection of gonadotropin-releasing hormone agonistic analogue (GnRH-a) to eight young women in parallel to alkylating agent chemotherapy. Materials and methods: A monthly intramuscular depot injection of 3.75 mg D-TRP6-GnRH-a (Decapeptyl C.R.) was administered after informed consent to eight women with autoimmune, severe connective tissue diseases (seven SLE patients and one woman with nephrotic syndrome) in parallel to chemotherapy, for up to six months. The institutional committee for human experimentation approved the protocol. The concentrations of FSH, LH, progesterone, and 17-/3-estradiol (E2) were measured before, during and after the GnRH-a/chemotherapy treatment. A transvaginal (or transabdominal) sonography (TVS) was performed on each patient before and after treatment. These eight treated patients (study group) were compared to a group of nine women similarly treated by cyclophosphamide pulses (CPT) or chlorambucil for SLE/connective tissue disease but were not referred for the GnRH-a adjuvant treatment. Results: Whereas none of the eight women receiving GnRH-a in parallel to alkylating agent chemotherapy (cyclophosphamide (7) or chlorambucil (1)) suffered POF and hypergonadotropic amenorrhea, five of the nine (> 50%) patients treated by alkylating agents (cyclophosphamide (8) or chlorambucil (I)) experienced POF. Whereas two of these five women were 35 y old, the other three were < 23 y old at the time of the chemotherapeutic insult. Conclusions: Our present results, extrapolating this encouraging experience from hematological malignant diseases to severe connective tissue diseases, such as SLE associated nephropathy or others, suggests that the beneficial effect of GnRH-a co-treatment may be exploited towards preservation of future fertility and ovarian function in every young woman of reproductive age, exposed to alkylating agents, such as cyclophosphamide and chlorambucil.


Background: Amyloidosis includes a group of diseases characterized by the extracellular deposition of various fibrillary proteins that can autoaggregate in a highly abnormal fibrillary conformation. The amyloid precursor protein of systemic light-chain (AL) amyloidosis is comprised of monoclonal light chains that are due to plasma cell dyscrasia. The clinical presentation of patients with AL amyloidosis varies from patient to patient. Current treatment strategies target the clone in order to decrease the production of the pathologic light chains. Recent advances in therapy have helped many patients with AL amyloidosis achieve hematologic and organ responses. Summary: AL amyloidosis is the most common type of systemic amyloidosis in China with increasing morbidity and a high mortality rate. The clinical presentation of AL amyloidosis is variable, and the median overall survival was found to be 36.3 months. The disease prognosis and risk stratification are linked to serialized measurement of cardiac biomarkers and free light chains. The treatment of AL amyloidosis is mainly based on chemotherapy and autologous hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (ASCT). The use of novel agents (thalidomide, lenalidomide, and bortezomib) alone and in combination with steroids and alkylating agents has shown efficacy and continues to be explored. Key Messages: AL amyloidosis is the most common type of systemic amyloidosis in China with increasing morbidity and a high mortality rate. The lack of prospective clinical trials using the current therapies is a challenge for evidence-based decision making concerning the treatment of AL amyloidosis. Facts from East and West: (1) AL amyloidosis is the most prevalent type of amyloidosis accounting for 65% of the amyloidosis-diagnosed patients in the UK and for 93% of the amyloidosis-diagnosed patients in China. The predisposition of men over women to develop AL amyloidosis might be higher in China than in Western countries (2:1 vs. 1.3:1). Both in the East and West, incidence increases with age. At the time of diagnosis, edema is twice as frequent and the proportion of renal involvement is higher in Chinese compared to Western patients. (2) Melphalan followed by ASCT is the current standard therapy but is restricted to eligible patients. The efficacy and safety of bortezomib combined with dexamethasone were proven in Western patients and recently confirmed in a Chinese cohort. Recent studies in China and the US indicate that bortezomib induction prior to ASCT increases the response rate. Thalidomide and lenalidomide have shown benefit, but toxicity and lack of clinical evidence exclude these agents from first-line therapy. The green tea extract epigallocatechin-3-gallate is under investigation as an inhibitor of AL amyloid formation and a compound that might dissolve amyloid.


Visual symbols like uniforms, emblems and ceremonies became central in inventing British military culture among West African forces reflecting orientalist and ornamentalist interpretations of empire. While uniforms fostered military identity, the versions devised for West African soldiers reproduced racial stereotypes and military fashion trends. Granting insignia and Colours to West African units transformed them from simplistic paramilitaries to honoured members of the British imperial milieu. Colours served as ritual objects enabling West African forces to recreate pivotal cultural events of the British regimental system. The public presence of uniformed West African soldiers promoted a sense of imperial majesty that reinforced British rule. Travelling to Britain, West African troops participated in parades and exhibitions initially displaying the epic scale of the empire, but eventually these military visitors became symbols of colonial reform. With independence, Britain's former colonies in West Africa retained Western-style military symbols altered to highlight republicanism and modernist aspirations.


Author(s): Sperry, Samuel | Abstract: The following thesis presents results from several investigations of marine natural products. It is divided into 5 chapters consisting of an introduction, three chapters examining the metabolites of tropical sponges. and a final chapter which discusses the chemical profile of a marine derived fungal culture. Chapter 1 is a brief survey of some of the most promising bioactive marine metabolites discovered to date. Furthermore, the first chapter includes some history and perspective pertaining to the field of marine natural products and natural products in general. Chapter 2 is an analysis of sponge metabolites derived from several Indo-Pacific collections of Diacarnus cf spinopoculum. A series of new terpenes of the nuapapuin class (norditerpene peroxides) and muqubilin class (norsesterterpene peroxides) were isolated, along with the new dinorditerpenone muquketone. When these and other related isolates were screened for in vitro cytotoxicity, the diterpenes nuapapuin A methyl ester and nuapapuin 8 displayed selective behavior and thus were selected for in vivo evaluation. Chapter 3 is divided into two parts both involving the processing of organisms which contained small alkaloids. Part I details the study of Clathria basilana from which no chemistry was previously published. Five specimens were examined, but only one was found to contain the unique quinolizine, clathryimine A. When heated, this compound gave rise to the degradation product clathryimine B. Part 2 describes the isolation of phenethylguanidine analogs, the dihydrotubastrines, from a zoanthid-infested specimen of Petrosia cf. comignata. The dihydrotubastrines are the first examples from this compound class with a saturated acyclic C2 unit. Chapter 4 recounts the isolation of the new C 15-ketosterol haliclostanone sulfate along with the fairly common sterol metabolite halistanol sulfate from a Haliclona sp. Interesting and rare features of the new sterol include the cis-C/D ring junction and the sidechain. Chapter 5 is a discussion of two vertinoid polyketides isolated from a saltwater culture of Trichoderma longihrachiatum procured from a marine sponge. The new metabolite epoxysorbicillinol is described, and its absolute stereochemistry is determined from CD exciton coupling. Furthermore, biosynthetic analysis is used to infer the absolute stereochemistry of the known vertinoid bislongiquinolide.


In economies with incomplete information, laissez-faire price competition is not, in general, constrained Pareto efficient. But which market structures are? We consider an environment in which firms have private information about costs and consumers make discrete choices over goods. Surveying an expansive class of market structures, we show that the constrained efficient ones are equivalent to price competition, but with lump-sum transfers and yardstick price ceilings that depend on the prices of competing firms.


The introduction of serious games as pedagogical supports in the field of education is a process gaining in popularity amongst the teaching community. This article creates a link between the integration of new pedagogical solutions in first-year primary class and the fundamental research on the motivation of the players/learners, detailing an experiment based on a game specifically developed, named QCM. QCM considers the learning worksheets issued from the Freinet pedagogy using various gameplay mechanisms. The main contribution of QCM in relation to more traditional games is the dissociation of immersion mechanisms, in order to improve the understanding of the user experience. This game also contains a system of gameplay metrics, the analysis of which shows a relative increase in the motivation of students using QCM instead of paper worksheets, while revealing large differences in students behavior in conjunction with the mechanisms of gamification employed. Keywords : Serious games, learning analytics, gamification, flow.


In Korea, there is great lack in jet lease agreements compared to many other countries. Due to such scarcity in numbers of jet lease agreements, problems have never truly surfaced and legal foundation dealing with such issues have not yet been formulated. However, as the globalization is making the world smaller and smaller, the demand for jets will grow. As the Korean aviation industry is expanding tremendously, although very preliminary at this time, the interest and actual execution on private jet lease agreements will grow. The prediction of increase in the private jet ownership is causing the lease industry to be nervous and may require particular preparatory foundation works. Particularly, legal analysis and detailed review maybe necessary to set a precedent with will serve as the grounded rule in the future. It is notable that Vietnam, a country which is believed have a less developed aviation industry than Korea, had already established a specialized jet leasing company, VALC in 2007. Also, when leasing an airplane from a foreign financial institution, it is possible to obtain a government issued guarantee. Therefore, it is urgent for Korea to prepare the legal foundation for the future demands in aviation leasing, as well as private jet leases which in turn would promote national wealth and further develop the financial industry.


A method is described to reject certain bands within the passband of an ultrawideband (UWB) planar antenna using parasitic elements. In the presented design, the antenna is created by a planar monopole and a ground plane both of half circle shape, whereas parasitic elements are in the form of printed strips. Four examples of UWB antenna design are shown. The first design is without parasitic, while the remaining ones are with parasitics to reject a single narrow band, a wide band or three narrow bands. The results of simulation and measurements show that all these antenna designs exhibit a 10-dB return loss bandwidth from 3 GHz to 11 GHz excluding the rejected bands. More than 10 dB gain drop is recorded in the suppressed bands. The time domain transmission test between two identical antennas without the parasitic strips shows an almost distortionless pulse performance.


Household refrigeration represents 17.3% of home energy consumption in the USA and 47% in Brazil. This article overviews a multidisciplinary approach to develop a traditional hermetic compressor (oil lubricated, with several rotating parts), into an oil-less, linear motion, innovative compressor, with improved efficiency, versatility and sustainability. This involves the development of surface engineering processes combining purpose-oriented phases applied to soft substrates to achieve high wear resistance and load support and low friction coefficient. Initially, the role of the environment (air, CO2 and R600a) on the tribological behaviour of a commercially available Si-rich multifunctional DLC coating deposited on AISI 1020 steel is illustrated. In sequence, the influence of the thickness of different layers (DLC and CrN) on sliding wear is analysed. Results are presented using an original approach (3D triboscopic maps) for two distinct configurations (increasing load and constant load) and findings are confronted with numerical simulations using Film Doctor®. Finally, a low cost process to obtain a multifunctional coating (different nitrided layers + DLC) is described, which uses a unique thermal cycle reactor capable of coating parts in industrial scale with reduced cost.


The water phase diagram is extraordinarily complex. In addition to numerous solid phases of ice, studies have pointed to the existence of distinct amorphous phases. It has even been proposed that there may be a liquid-liquid critical point, where two different liquid phases coexist. In his Perspective,
 Soper
 highlights the report by
 Tulk
 et al., whose results provide evidence against distinct amorphous phases. These phases were believed to be the low-temperature manifestations of the two liquid forms of water. The work raises doubts about the idea that there is a liquid-liquid phase separation in low-temperature water.


Abstract Enzymatic treatments that facilitated whole-cell electrophysiological recordings were used on Limulus ventral photoreceptor cells. Ventral optic nerves were treated with either collagenase or collagenase, papain, and trypsin. Either treatment greatly increased the ease of making whole-cell recordings of transmembrane potentials. Light responses obtained from enzyme-treated photoreceptor cells were nearly identical to results obtained without enzyme treatment and compared favorably to in vivo recordings of light responses from the compound lateral eye. Enzyme-treated cells also responded to applied octopamine, as do untreated cells, with an increased phosphorylation of a 122-kD protein. This suggests that the external receptors and internal biochemical machinery required for at least one second-messenger cascade are present after enzyme treatment. The morphological integrity of enzyme-treated photoreceptor cells was examined with light microscopy as well as with scanning and transmission electron microscopy. In general, we found that each enzyme treatment greatly reduced the integrity of the layers of glial cells that surround the photoreceptor cells thereby making these cells easily accessible for whole-cell recordings of transmembrane potentials. The morphology of the rhabdomere was normal after enzymatic degradation of the adjacent glial covering.


A solventless Suzuki coupling reaction has been developed which utilizes a commercially available potassium fluoride alumina mixture and palladium powder. The new reaction is convenient, environmentally friendly, and generates good yields of the coupled products. Aryl iodides react faster than the bromides or chlorides; aryl groups are also more reactive than alkenyl groups. which react faster than alkyl groups. The use of microwave irradiation accelerates the reaction, decreasing reaction times from hours to minutes. The palladium powder catalyst can be recycled using a simple filtration and washing sequence without loss of catalytic activity.


For agents at a contact centre receiving calls, the most important piece of information is the reason for a given call. An agent cannot provide support on a call if they do not know why a customer is calling. In this paper we describe our implementation of a commercial system to detect Purpose of Call statements in English business call transcripts in real time. We present a detailed analysis of types of Purpose of Call statements and language patterns related to them, discuss an approach to collect rich training data by bootstrapping from a set of rules to a neural model, and describe a hybrid model which consists of a transformer-based classifier and a set of rules by leveraging insights from the analysis of call transcripts. The model achieved 88.6 F1 on average in various types of business calls when tested on real life data and has low inference time. We reflect on the challenges and design decisions when developing and deploying the system.


A creel survey was conducted from 1 September 1990 through 31 August 1991 to estimate fishing pressure and catch rates, initial mortality, and value of fishes captured in an entanglement gear fishery at Wright Patman Reservoir, Texas. Mean daily net fishing pressure ranged from 3,508 m/day (fall) to 763 m/day (summer). Commercial nets accounted for 85% of the annual netting pressure. Catch rates of sport and commercial fishes declined as bar mesh size increased from 76 to 102 mm. Smallmouth buffalo (Ictiobus bubalus) was the dominant species represented in entan- glement gear, comprising 70% of all fish and 84% of the rough fish/catfish captured. By-catch of sport fishes in nets was highest during winter months (12.7 fish/1,000 m of net) and represented 41% of that season's catch. Crappies (Pomoxis spp.) were the dominant sport species represented in nets, comprising 55% of the sport fish and 8% of all species captured. Most sport fishes captured in entanglement gear were legal- sized adults. Annual initial netting mortality of sport fishes was 14.6%; largemouth bass (Micropterus salmoides) experienced the highest rate (37.5%). The estimated monetary cost to the resource from netting was $72,402; of that, $48,116 represented potential commercial value. Monetary loss of sport fishes as a result of netting-induced mortalities was $24,286, translating into a cost of $1.00 to the recreational fishery for every $2.00 of commercial value of rough fish/catfish.


In this paper a novel and very fast low order knowledge-based algorithm (called LOKBA) is presented to solve binary integer programming (BIP) problems. The factors in the objective function and the constraints of any BIP problem contains specific knowledge and information that can be used to better search the solution space of the problem. In this work many new definitions are introduced to elaborate on this information and extract necessary knowledge for creating and improving solutions. Found solutions are improved further and further until there is no new knowledge that can be extracted and there are no more possible improvements. The proposed algorithm has many major credentials. It produces promising results within amazingly short run times even for very large problems such as problems with one million variables. Also, it is extendable to solve integer programming and binary quadratic programming problems. Furthermore, it can be combined with heuristic or meta heuristic algorithms.


This research presents a parallel metaheuristic optimization framework, Optimus (Optimization Methods for Universal Simulators) for integration of a desired population-based search method with a target scientific application. Optimus includes a parallel middleware component, PRIME (Parallel Reconfigurable Iterative Middleware Engine) for scalable deployment on emergent supercomputing architectures. Additionally, we designed TAPSO (Topology Aware Particle Swarm Optimization) for network based optimization problems and applied it to achieve better convergence for water distribution system (WDS) applications. The framework supports concurrent optimization instances, for instance multiple swarms in the case of PSO. PRIME provides a lightweight communication layer to facilitate periodic inter-optimizer data exchanges. We performed scalability analysis of Optimus on Cray XK6(Jaguar) at Oak Ridge Leadership Computing Facility for the leak detection problem in WDS. For a weak scaling scenario, we achieved 84.82% of baseline at 200,000 cores relative to performance at 1000 cores and 72.84% relative to one core scenario.


Introduction:
 The risk of dementia increases with increasing levels of hemoglobin A1c (HbA1c), a measure of average blood glucose. However the association between glucose peaks and dementia in persons with diabetes is unclear. 1,5-anhydroglucitol (1,5-AG) is a novel biomarker of glucose peaks, with low levels reflecting blood glucose concentrations that exceed the renal filtration threshold (~180 mg/dl) over the prior 7-10 days.

 Hypothesis:
 Glucose peaks, indicated by low levels of 1,5-AG, will be associated with higher risk of dementia, independent of HbA1c and other dementia risk factors.

 Methods:
 We conducted a prospective analysis of 1568 participants with diabetes from visit 2 (1990-1992) of the ARIC Study. Diabetes was defined based on self-reported physician diagnosis, diabetes medication use, or HbA1c ≥ 6.5%. Community surveillance of hospitalizations was used to identify incident dementia. Cases were defined as the first occurrence of a hospitalization with an ICD-9 code for dementia appearing in any position in the hospital discharge record. We used Cox regression to examine the association between 1,5-AG (modeled linearly) and incident dementia, adjusted for demographic and clinical risk factors, including HbA1c.

 Results:
 At baseline, the mean age was 58 years, 58% were female, 54% were white, and mean HbA1c was 8.1%. Over a median follow-up of 18 years, 158 participants had a hospitalization with an ICD-9 code of dementia. Each unit decrease in 1,5-AG increased the risk of dementia by 4% (HR=1.04, p-value=0.03, Figure). Associations were similar when 1,5-AG was modeled using linear splines.

 Conclusions:
 Short-term glucose peaks were associated with higher risk of dementia among adults with diabetes, independent of HbA1c and other dementia risk factors. More studies are needed to determine if targeting glucose peaks, in addition to average glucose, among persons with diabetes can reduce the risk of dementia.


Forest fires have negative effects on biodiversity, the atmosphere and human health. The paper presents a spatial risk model as a tool to assess them. Risk areas refer to sectors prone to the spread of fire, in addition to the influence of human activity through remote sensing and multi-criteria analysis. The analysis includes information on land cover, land use, topography (aspect, slope and elevation), climate (temperature and precipitation) and socio-economic factors (proximity to settlements and roads). Weights were assigned to each in order to generate the forest fire risk map. The investigation was carried for a Biological Reserve in Bolivia because of the continuous occurrence of forest fires. Five risk categories for forest fires were derived: very high, high, moderate, low and very low. In summary, results suggest that approximately 67% of the protected area presents a moderate to very high risk; in the latter, populated areas are not dense which reduces the actual risk to the type of events analyzed.


Abnormalities of cardiac rhythm are due either to disorders of impulse propagation (delay or block of conduction, re-entry, circus movement, etc.), or to disturbances of impulse formation (dysfunction of ordinary pacemakers and induction of focal activity). In most instances certain disturbances of transmembrane movements of Na or K ions may be considered to be involved basically in the genesis of dysrhythmic cardiac activity. By means of intracellular recordings as well as of voltage clamp measurements and of analogical computations it is demonstrated that characteristic changes of the membrane potential might result from entirely different ionic mechanisms. Furthermore, an attempt is made to present a detailed analysis of permeability changes underlying normal pacemaker activity in Purkinje fibers as compared with the sinus node or with focal activity induced in myocardial fibers by different influences (aconitine, barium ions, stretch, and strong currents).


Protoporphyrinogen oxidase inhibitor has become the focus research field as herbicides.Seven novel N-benzoxazolonyluracils were obtained by cyclization of 6-aminobenzoxazolone derivatives with ethyl 3-dimethylcarbamoylamido-4,4,4-trifluorocrotonate and then methylation or amination, and the reaction yields were between 59~0_0—86~0_0. The chemical structures of the compounds were identified by Elemental Analysis, MS and ~1H NMR. Biological results indicate that some compounds exhibit excellent control of broadleaf weeds at post-emergence by low dosage 18.75 ga.i/ha, but are not effective for grass weeds below dosage 37.5 ga.i/ha. In addition, these compounds show no damage at high-dosage 150 ga.i/ha to wheat and corn, but are unsafe to dicotyledonous plants such as cole, soybean and sorghum even at lower dosage 18.75 ga.i/ha.


Mycobacterium xenopi is very rare pathogen in Japan. We reported herein four cases of M. xenopi pulmonary disease. These patients were all male and their ages ranged from 53 to 72. They all had past history of pulmonary tuberculosis, including two cases who had been also treated for Mycobacterium kansasii pulmonary disease later. The bacilli could be cultured in Mycobacteria Growth Indicator Tube (MGIT) system from 10 sputum samples, but they could not be cultured on Ogawa egg media except for two samples. All four cases fulfilled the criteria for the diagnosis of nontuberculous mycobacteria pulmonary disease proposed by the Japanese Society for Tuberculosis. Combination chemotherapy including isoniazid, rifampicin, and ethambutol was started in all four cases when mycobacteria were detected under tentative diagnosis of the relapse of tuberculosis or Mycobacterium kansasii disease. Sputum converted to culture negative by the chemotherapy in two cases. In one case, the chemotherapeutic regimen was changed to rifampicin, ethambutol, and clarithromycin after the bacteriological identification of M. xenopi, and the new regimen was found to be effective. In the final case, both of the regimens were finally ineffective.


Tumorigenic processes are understood to be driven by epi-/genetic and genomic alterations from single point mutations to chromosomal alterations such as insertions and deletions of nucleotides up to gains and losses of large chromosomal fragments including products of chromosomal rearrangements e.g. fusion genes and proteins. Overall comparisons of copy number alterations (CNAs) presented in 48 clear cell renal cell carcinoma (ccRCC) genomes resulted in ratios of gene losses versus gene gains between 26 ccRCC Fuhrman malignancy grades G1 (ratio 1.25) and 20 G3 (ratio 0.58). Gene losses and gains of 15762 CNA genes were mapped to 795 chromosomal cytoband loci including 280 KEGG pathways. CNAs were classified according to their contribution to Fuhrman tumour gradings G1 and G3. Gene gains and losses turned out to be highly structured processes in ccRCC genomes enabling the subclassification and stratification of ccRCC tumours in a genome-wide manner. CNAs of ccRCC seem to start with common tumour related gene losses flanked by CNAs specifying Fuhrman grade G1 losses and CNA gains favouring grade G3 tumours. The appearance of recurrent CNA signatures implies the presence of causal mechanisms most likely implicated in the pathogenesis and disease-outcome of ccRCC tumours distinguishing lower from higher malignant tumours. The diagnostic quality of initial 201 genes (108 genes supporting G1 and 93 genes G3 phenotypes) has been successfully validated on published Swiss data (GSE19949) leading to a restricted CNA gene set of 171 CNA genes of which 85 genes favour Fuhrman grade G1 and 86 genes Fuhrman grade G3. Regarding these gene sets overall survival decreased with the number of G3 related gene losses plus G3 related gene gains. CNA gene sets presented define an entry to a gene-directed and pathway-related functional understanding of ongoing copy number alterations within and between individual ccRCC tumours leading to CNA genes of prognostic and predictive value.


We propose that islands arc "less insular" than is generally perceived. This belief results, in part, from the paucity of studies on vagrant species that exploit islands but are not permanent residents with continual breeding populations. We show, via aneedotal evidence extracted from the literature and data acquired ON Gulf of California islands, that visitors to insular systems are fairly common. We delineate three types of events beyond the bounds of current biogeographical analysis that make islands less insular: I) migrants and "accidental" visitors. 2) individuals of a species whose foraging areas encompass many islands or the mainland and islands, and 3) species who "colonize" islands during opportune periods or years but become extinct during difficult times (source-sink situations). Such events potentially significantly affect the ecology and evolution of island inhabitants by such means as increased predation and/or competition, transport of parasites and pathogens, dispersal of seeds and eggs, and genetic introgression and hybridization. Discussion of other "insular" habitats such as freshwater lakes and wildlife refuges illustrate that vagrancy events may be nearly ubiquitous. Studies addressing the frequency and ecological and evolutionary significance of vagrants are required, especially in light of recent and rapid extinctions on islands and the increasing fragmentation of habitats.


Research on controlled nuclear fusion has been largely concentrated on plasma confinement using toroidal magnetic fields. Toroidal systems are complex. A simpler magnetic confinement system may provide a valuable platform for understanding fusion plasmas. The linear mirror machine has delivered good performance with the potential of giving a direct conversion of nuclear energy into electric power. The GAMMA-10 (G-10) linear mirror confinement system at Tsukuba University demonstrated the principle of the direct conversion of plasma energy into electric power on a small scale from the exhaust plasma in the exterior divertor chamber. The tokamak fusion system has to prove that the 10 to 15 MA of plasma current can be sustained continuously with acceptable efficiency. Plasma confinement is due to the magnetic field from the plasma current in tokamaks. There is room for creative new solutions in the magnetic confinement of fusion plasmas, and consideration is given for the alternative approach of using a linear machine with high magnetic mirror fields and the direct conversion of the high temperature escaping plasma to electric power.


Conversion of CO2 into CO with electricity is a straightforward method to convert intermittent sustainable electricity into storable chemical energy. Despite much research efforts worldwide, it has not yet simultaneously achieved acceptable CO2 conversion and energy efficiency. Here we demonstrate that the Boudouard reaction, CO2 + C → 2CO, driven by thermal plasma allows CO2 conversion exceeding 95% and electrical energy efficiencies of 70% for CO production, which are much higher than that seen so far by conventional method. The improved performance is benefit from plasma excitation of the CO2, with which CO2 is firstly decomposed into CO, O and O2 by arc discharge, then the free oxygen in the mixture combust with carbon to form CO, and residual CO2 is reduced by carbon due to high plasma temperature. Therefore, the endothermic Boudouard reaction is partially replaced by exothermic reaction, and the electric energy to produce plasma is reused.


In the present work, the nonlinear finite element method (FEM) analysis by using package ANSYS V.11 has been carried out to analyze eleven tested RPC deep beams, have dimensions 150mm width, 400 mm depth and 1250 mm total length. The present research objective is to analyze the tested RPC deep beams by using three-dimensional nonlinear finite element (ANSYS Version 11.0) computer program was used in this work. Eight-node brick elements (SOLID 65) are used to represent the concrete and three dimensional (LINK 180) is a spar (or truss) element are used to represent the steel reinforcement and element (SOLID 185) is used for the steel plates modeling. This compare between the numerical and experimental conclusion assured well airworthiness from this numerical analysis and this methodology developable in this study where this maximal distinction rate in this ultimate loading was about below 4.2% to total this tested and analyzed RPC deep beams.


In recent years, the European Union has supported the development of a new civil security market, capable of providing security technology for new and global security challenges. This article analyses the emerging growth market for civil security in relation to contemporary notions of potential crisis and emergency. Building on ongoing academic analysis of what Melinda Cooper has termed 'economies of emergence', the article points out how the figure of emergence generates investment in more flexible, adaptive and, so it is argued, potentially lucrative markets for civil security. Drawing on observations at a number of security trade shows and stakeholder workshops, the analysis demonstrates that 'civil' aspirations, concepts and technologies build on earlier formulations of military strategic discourse in the so-called Revolution in Military Affairs – though in complex and sometimes contradictory ways. More generally, the motivation behind the analysis is to investigate civil security and civil markets as performative enactments, and so to critically engage with the emergence of the civil security market as a priority in EU policymaking.


Although recent studies have shown that osteopetrotic (op/op) mice lack macrophage colony-stimulating factor (M-CSF or CSF-1), the precise role of M-CSF in the development of immature osteoclasts remains unknown. Using a recently discovered osteoclast-specific colony-stimulating factor (O-CSF) and in vitro long-term bone marrow culture systems, we investigated the ability of op/op and control marrow stromal cells to support the production of O-CSF-responsive clonogenic osteoclast progenitors (colony-forming unit-osteoclast [CFU-O]) from inoculated normal stem cells. Remarkably, op/op stromal cell cultures produced five times as many nonadherent cells as control cultures throughout the experimental period of 14 weeks; an average of 37% of these cells were nonviable compared with 8% in control cultures. Significantly higher numbers of CFU-O were found in op/op cultures than in control cultures; the CFU-O in op/op and control cultures were proliferating at a similar rate. Higher numbers of calcitonin receptor-bearing cells were found when harvested cells from op/op flasks were cultured with 1,25(OH)2D3. These studies clearly show that op/op marrow stromal cells can support the differentiation and proliferation of osteoclast progenitors from inoculated stem cells and provide the first experimental evidence that M-CSF is not essential for the early stages of osteoclast development. We hypothesize that while O-CSF supports proliferation of osteoclast progenitors, M-CSF plays a role in the later development and maturation of the progenitor as well as in the prevention of cell death.


Neonatal brain abscess is a very rare disease. Despite improvement of survival rate of premature infants due to the development of neonatal intensive therapy, it is still one of the important causes of death or sequelae of neonate. Fungal infection is unusual cause of neonatal brain abscess and the neonatal fungal brain abscess is a secondary result of hematogenous seeding that is rarely discovered primarily. We present a case of incidentally discovered multiple disseminated fungal brain abscess in asymptomatic very low birth weight infant.


Copper oxide thin films were synthesized by using spray pyrolysis deposition technique, in the temperature around 400°C in atmosphere from alcoholic solutions. Copper (II) chloride as precursor and glass as a substrate. The textural and structural properties of the films were characterized by atomic force microscopy (AFM), X-ray diffraction (XRD). The average particle size determined from the AFM images ranged from 30 to 90 nm and the roughness average was equal to 9.3 nm. The XRD patterns revealed the formation of a polycrystalline hexagonal CuO. The absorption and transmission spectrum, band gap, film thickness was investigated. The films were tested as an optical limiter. The experiments were performed using Q-switched Nd:YAG laser at 532nm and 1064 nm at different intensities. Copper oxide thin films appear to be attractive candidates for optical limiting application and sensor application.


The recent success of transformer networks for neural machine translation and other NLP tasks has led to a surge in research work trying to apply it for speech recognition. Recent efforts studied key research questions around ways of combining positional embedding with speech features, and stability of optimization for large scale learning of transformer networks. In this paper, we propose replacing the sinusoidal positional embedding for transformers with convolutionally learned input representations. These contextual representations provide subsequent transformer blocks with relative positional information needed for discovering long-range relationships between local concepts. The proposed system has favorable optimization characteristics where our reported results are produced with fixed learning rate of 1.0 and no warmup steps. The proposed model achieves a competitive 4.7% and 12.9% WER on the Librispeech ``test clean'' and ``test other'' subsets when no extra LM text is provided.


India bears the second largest burden of SARS-CoV-2 infection. A multitude of RT-PCR detection assays with disparate gene targets including automated high throughput platforms are available. Varying concordance and interpretation of diagnostic results in this setting can result in significant reporting delays leading to suboptimal disease management. Here, we report the development of a novel ORF-1a based SARS-CoV-2 RT-PCR assay, Viroselect, showing high concordance with conventional assays and the ability to resolve inconclusive results generated during the peak of the epidemic in Mumbai, India.We identified a unique target region within SARS-CoV-2 ORF1a, non-structural protein (nsp3), that was used to design and develop our assay. This hypervariable region (1933-3956) between SARS-CoV-2, SARS-CoV, and MERS-COV was utilized to design our primers and probe for RT-PCR assay. We further evaluated concordance of our assay with commonly used EUA (USFDA) manual kits as well as an automated high throughput testing platform. Further, a retrospective analysis using Viroselect on samples reported as 'inconclusive' during April-October 2020 was carried out.A total of 701 samples were tested. Concordance analysis of 477 samples demonstrated high overall agreement of Viroselect assay with both manual (87.6%; 95% CI) as well as automated (84.7%; 95% CI) testing assays. Also, in the retrospective analysis of 224 additional samples reported as 'inconclusive', Viroselect was able to resolve 100% (19/19) and 93.7% (192/205) samples which were termed inconclusive by manual and automated high throughput platform respectively.We show that Viroselect had high concordance with conventional assays, both manual and automated, as well as highlight its potential in resolving inconclusive samples.


ABSTRACT
 Female broodstock of Pacific oyster (Crassostrea gigas) were conditioned using different diets to determine the effect of diet on oocyte cryopreservation success. Oocyte biochemical composition, fatty acid profile, and fertilization success before and after cryopreservation were determined. Broodstock were conditioned in 2 stages: a cold preconditioning stage during which animals were either starved or fed live microalgae, and a warm conditioning stage during which animals were again either starved or fed live microalgae, AlgaMac-2000, or a mixture of corn and rice flour. Overall, oysters that were fed microalgae during cold preconditioning produced oocytes with significantly more lipid than oysters that were starved. Similarly, those that were fed during warm conditioning produced oocytes with more lipid than starved oysters, regardless of diet. There was no effect of conditioning regime on the level of polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs) in the polar lipid fraction. However, oysters that were starved or fed AlgaMac-2000 during warm conditioning had higher PUFA levels than oysters fed microalgae or flour. Broodstock conditioning regime had no effect on the fertilization success of oocytes prior to cryopreservation, but those that were fed during cold preconditioning produced oocytes that had significantly higher fertilization success after thawing.


Working on a true molecular level is essential for advances in the field of molecular electronics. Techniques have to be perfected and new approaches have to be developed in order to characterize the properties of a single molecule. In this work we report temperature-dependent transport studies of a single octanethiol molecule trapped between the apex of a scanning tunneling microscope tip and a substrate. At each temperature the molecule is brought into contact by decreasing the gap between tip and substrate in a controlled way. At a positive sample bias the molecule jumps into contact upon approaching the substrate by 0.16±0.01 nm with respect to a fixed reference point defined by a sample bias of +1.5 V and a tunneling current of 0.5 nA. The conductance of octanethiol is temperature independent, demonstrating that either tunneling or ballistic transport is the main transport mechanism


BACKGROUND/AIMS
The liver has been recognized as a major target of injury in patients with metabolic syndrome and non-alcoholic fatty liver disease has even been considered the hepatic manifestation of metabolic syndrome. Pathogenesis of non-alcoholic fatty liver disease remained unclear. Interleukin-18 belonged to pro-inflammatory cytokines and previous studies showed plasma levels of interleukin-18 correlated with metabolic syndrome. There has been no report regarding plasma levels of interleukin-18 in Chinese patients with non-alcoholic fatty liver disease.

METHODOLOGY
A total of 46 non-alcoholic fatty liver disease patients and 46 age- and sex-matched control subjects were enrolled to compare the clinical and laboratory characteristics and plasma levels of interleukin-18, interleukin-18 binding protein, and interleukin-18/interleukin-18 binding protein ratio. Interleukin-18 and interleukin-18 binding protein were determined by commercially available enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (Bender MedSystem, Austria, R&D Systems, Minneapolis, MN, USA, respectively).

RESULTS
As compared with control group, patients with non-alcoholic fatty liver disease had significantly higher body mass index (p < 0.001), waist circumference (p < 0.001), total cholesterol (p = 0.001), triglyceride (p < 0.001), low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (p = 0.002), fasting sugar (p = 0.042), fasting insulin (p < 0.001), homeostasis model assessment of insulin resistance index (p < 0.001), and lower high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (p = 0.006). Patients with non-alcoholic fatty liver disease had significantly higher interleukin-18 (340.10 +/- 43.13pg/mL) and interleukin-18/ interleukin-18 binding protein ratio (1.31 +/- 0.12) compared with control group. Nonalcoholic fatty liver disease patients with abnormal alanine aminotransferase had higher plasma interleukin-18 (352.60 pg/mL) than non-alcoholic fatty liver disease patients with normal alanine aminotransferase but did not reach the statistical differences.

CONCLUSIONS
Through the chemotactic and proinflammatory effects, interleukin-18 may play a role in the pathogenesis of non-alcoholic fatty liver disease in Chinese patients, and it is reasonable to take into account interleukin-18 binding protein when evaluating the effect of interleukin-18.