Design and implementation of a 15kV sub-nanosecond pulse generator using Trigatron type spark gap as a switch. Straightforward and compact trigger generator using pulse shaping network which produces a trigger pulse of sub-nanosecond rise time. A pulse power system requires delivering a high voltage, high coulomb in short rise time. This is achieved by using pulse shaping network comprises of parallel combinations of capacitors and inductor. Spark gap switches are used to switch the energy from capacitive source to inductive load. The pulse hence generated can be used for synchronization of two or more spark gap. Because of the fast rise time and the high output voltage, the reliability of the synchronization is increased. The analytical calculations, simulation, have been carried out to select the circuit parameters. Simulation results using MATLAB/SIMULINK have been implemented in the experimental setup and sub-nanoseconds output waveforms have been obtained.


Limited availability of computing devices and broadband access are among the biggest hurdles in bringing many data rich applications, to the masses in developing countries. Ad-hoc Mobile Collaborative Community (MCC) has been proposed as a solution to address these hurdles. MCC enables two or more persons to aggregate their mobile phone/PDA network channels for collaborative data transfer across the Internet. These channels may be heterogeneous and are characterized with frequent Quality of Service (QoS) fluctuations. Further, data to be transferred may contain multiple streams each having distinct, possibly conflicting security and QoS requirements. These factors make scheduling of data over multiple channels, a challenging task. In addition, battery and processing power limitations of mobile nodes imply that scheduler should be energy and processing cost efficient. This paper proposes a novel lightweight scheduler, a Risk-Aware Workload (RAW) scheduler, to support secure and efficient collaborative data transfer in MCC.


To examine the long-run origins of democracy and dictatorship, Brian Downing focuses on the importance of medieval political configurations and of military modernization in the early modern period. He maintains that in late medieval times an array of constitutional arrangements distinguished Western Europe from other parts of the world and predisposed it toward liberal democracy. He then looks at how medieval constitutionalism was affected by the "military revolution" of the early modern era--the shift from small, decentralized feudal levies to large standing armies. Downing won the American Political Science Association's Gabriel Almond Award for the dissertation on which this book was based.


If we connect the zinc and copper by means of a metallic conductor, the excess electrons that remain when Zn2+ ions emerge from the zinc in the left cell would be able to flow through the external circuit and into the right electrode, where they could be delivered to the Cu2+ ions which become "discharged", that is, converted into Cu atoms at the surface of the copper electrode. The net reaction is the oxidation of zinc by copper(II) ions:


When sand falling in the spacing between two plates goes past an obstacle, a dynamic dune with a parabolic shape and an inner triangular region of nonflowing or slowly creeping sand forms. The angle of the triangular zone increases with the height of the dune and saturates at a value determined by the geometry of the cell. The width of the dune, related to the radius of curvature at the tip, shows universal features versus its height rescaled by geometrical parameters. The velocity profile in the flowing part is determined and found to be nonlinear. The parabolic shape can be accounted for using a simple driven convection-diffusion equation for the interface.


The excitation of a two-level dipolar (d{ne}0) molecule with two Gaussian pulsed lasers is examined theoretically for the case where one laser's frequency is tuned close to the energy level separation (pump laser) while the second laser's frequency is extremely small (probe laser). The final excited state populations are shown to depend on the probe laser's absolute carrier phase while remaining independent of the pump laser's absolute carrier phase. They do not depend on the relative phase difference between the two laser fields as in many other pump-probe scenarios. The absolute carrier-phase effect is negligible for nondipolar (d=0) molecules. The probe laser absolute carrier-phase effect arises through the coherent excitation of multiple optical paths from the initial to the final state containing a common number of pump photons (N{sub pump}=1) and a varying number of probe photons. Excited state populations, after the interaction of the pulses with the molecule is complete, are examined as a function of the probe laser's absolute carrier phase for varying field strengths, frequencies, and pulse durations in order to verify the source of the probe laser absolute carrier-phase effect and to determine the conditions needed to most readily detect it.


The G protein-coupled receptor (GPCR) cysteinyl-leukotriene receptor 2 (CysLTR2) with a single amino acid mutation at position 3.43 (Leu replaced with Gln at position 129 in transmembrane helix 3) causes uveal melanoma in humans. The ability of CysLTR2-L129Q to cause malignant transformation has been hypothesized to result from constitutive activity. We show that CysLTR2-L129Q is a constitutively active mutant (CAM) that strongly drives Gq/11 signaling pathways in melan-a melanocytes and in HEK293T cells in culture. However, the mutant receptor only very weakly recruits beta-arrestins 1 and 2. The mutant receptor displays profound signaling bias while avoiding arrestin-mediated downregulation. The mechanism of the signaling bias results from the creation of a hydrogen-bond network that stabilizes the active G protein signaling state through novel interactions with the highly-conserved NPxxY motif on helix 7. Furthermore, the mutation destabilizes a putative allosteric sodium-binding site that usually stabilizes the inactive state of GPCRs. Thus, the mutation has a dual role of promoting the active state while destabilizing inactivating allosteric networks. The high degree of constitutive activity renders existing orthosteric antagonist ligands of CysLTR2 ineffective as inverse agonists of the mutant. CysLTR2 is the first example of a GPCR oncogene that encodes a GPCR with constitutive highly biased signaling that can escape cellular downregulation mechanisms.


An optimal logical topology of a wireless sensor network (WSN) facilitates the deployed sensor nodes to communicate with each other with little overheads, lowers energy consumption, lengthens lifetime of the network, provides scalability, increases reliability, and reduces latency. Designing an optimal logical topology for a WSN thus needs to consider numerous factors. Chain oriented topologies have been found to offer a number of improvements in energy consumptions, lifetime, and load balancing than other topologies of WSNs. However, they usually suffer from latency, scalability, reliability and interference problems. In this paper, we present a chain oriented logical topology, which offers solutions to those problems. The proposed topology is designed such that it retains the advantages of the chain oriented topologies, and at the same time, overcomes the problems of the chain oriented topology such as latency, scalability, and data reliability. The proposed topology provides a communication abstraction, which can be easily used to devise a range of application protocols. Moreover, the logical topology offers node management, resource management, and other services. The performance of the proposed topology is compared with other topologies in respect to total energy consumption and lifetime of the network.


Hot air balloons can be modelled in a number of different ways. The most satisfactory, but least useful model is at a microscopic level. Macroscopic models are easier to use but can be very misleading.


The article explains the inclusion into the theoretical and the methodological apparatus of the study of the state youth policy of a new concept - of a negative youth policy. Russian and foreign historiography of the state youth policy is perceived as positive youth policy that aimed at socially important purposes. The concept of the negative youth policy in the author's interpretation has no the estimated interpretation, that divide the state youth policy into the right politics and the wrong one. The negative youth policy should create the methodological basis for the emphasizing of the positive youth policy in various stages of enforcing state youth policy (or its components) and for motivation of the young people for some social practices. At the same time the negative youth policy should discourage young people from the stigmatized types of the social behavior.


This work addresses the problem of efficiently balancing the use of network resources when processing both spatially-constrained and (sensed) value based queries in Wireless Sensor Networks. To alleviate the drawbacks inherent to centralized approaches – e.g., overheads in energy consumption and latency – due to the transmission of the individual raw data/measurements to a dedicated sink, we propose in-network processing methodologies which unify the management of physical and data-space based queries. Since sensed data typically represents values that evolve over time, the distributed data management approaches need to be efficient in terms of communication cost and storage requirements. Furthermore, if the query processing paradigm(s) allows approximate answers, it may yield additional benefits if data abstractions based on higher-order statistics are integrated in the data management. . The related challenges are further compounded if the nodes are mobile, for the purpose of adapting the quality of sensing/coverage to spatial changes in the data field. We present novel communication and storage efficient physical and data-space abstractions to facilitate in-network indexing of sensed data and processing of queries in WSNs consisting of mobile and static nodes. We also present novel algorithms to handle changes in the abstractions due to mobility of the nodes. To trade-off (im)precision vs. energy consumption, the proposed abstraction schemes combine rank order statistics, regular sampling, and bitmap representation. The proposed abstractions are generic, in the sense that they can be utilized in any hierarchical indexing structure that is based on binary space partitioning (BSP), such as k-d trees, Quadtrees and Octrees. Based on implementation in SIDnet-SWANS simulator, our experimental results demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed abstractions under different mobility models, mobility speeds, and query streams.


In this article, we review a Markov chain Monte Carlo (MCMC) algorithm for performing conditional inference in contingency tables in the presence of partial information using Markov bases, a key tool arising from the area known as algebraic statistics. We review applications of this algorithm to the problems of conditional exact tests, ecological inference, and disclosure limitation and illustrate how these problems fall naturally in the setting of inference with partial information. We also discuss some issues associated with computing Markov bases which are needed as an input to the algorithm. WIREs Comput Stat 2013, 5:207–218. doi: 10.1002/wics.1256


A simple ventricular phantom has been constructed to validate calculations of ejection fraction in radionuclide ECG-gated equilibrium studies. The R-wave stimulator constructed from one integrated circuit can also be used as a stand alone device for testing computer interface and cable connections for the ECG R-wave synchronizer input.


The future user needs in the field of multimedia retrieval is the focus of many research and development activists. It is empirically observed that no single algorithm is efficient in extracting all different types of images like building images, flower images, car images and so on. Hence, a thorough analysis of certain color, texture and shape extraction techniques are carried out to identify an efficient Content Based Image Retrieval (CBIR) technique which suits for a particular type of images. The extraction of an image includes feature description, index generation and feature detection. The low-level feature extraction techniques are proposed in this paper are tested on Corel database, which contains 1000 images. The feature vectors of the Query Image (QI) are compared with feature vectors of the database images to obtain Matching Images (MI). This paper proposes Fuzzy Color and Texture Histogram (FCTH), and Color and Edge Directivity Descriptor (CEDD) techniques which extract the matching image based on the similarity of color and edge of an image in the database. The Image Retrieval Precision value (IRP) of the proposed techniques are calculated and compared with that of the existing techniques. The algorithms used in this paper are Discrete Cosine Transform (DCT), Discrete Wavelet Transform (DWT) and Fuzzy linking algorithm. The proposed technique results in the improvement of the average precision value. Also FCTH and CEDD are effective and efficient for image indexing and image retrieval.


Outdoor recreation is one of the fastest growing economic sectors in the world and provides many benefits to people. Assessing possible negative impacts of recreation is nevertheless important for sustainable management. Here, we used camera traps to assess relative effects of various recreational activities—as compared to each other and to environmental conditions—on a terrestrial wildlife assemblage in British Columbia, Canada. Across 13 species, only two negative associations between recreational activities and wildlife detections were observed at weekly scales: mountain biking on moose and grizzly bears. However, finer‐scale analysis showed that all species avoided humans on trails, with avoidance strongest for mountain biking and motorized vehicles. Our results imply that environmental factors generally shaped broad‐scale patterns of wildlife use, but highlight that recreational activities also have detectable impacts. These impacts can be monitored using the same camera‐trapping techniques that are commonly used to monitor wildlife assemblages.


Background Time-intensity curve analysis (TIC analysis) based on contrast-enhanced ultrasound (CEUS) provides quantifiable information about the microcirculation of different tissues. TIC analysis of kidney transplantations is still a field of research, and standardized study protocols are missing though being mandatory for the interpretation of TIC parameters in the clinical context. The aim of this study was to evaluate the impact of different sizes and forms of regions of interest (ROIs) on the variance of different TIC parameters and the level of interoperator variance between the different ROI methods in kidney transplantations. Methods In 25 renal transplanted patients, 33 CEUS of the transplanted kidney were performed, and TIC analysis with ROIs sized 5 mm2 (ROI5), 10 mm2 (ROI10), and ROIs circumscribing the outlines of anatomical regions (ROIAnat) were analyzed based on CEUS examination. The TIC analysis was repeated by a second independent operator for ROI5 and ROIAnat. Results Statistical analysis revealed significant differences between TIC parameters of different ROI methods, and overall, the interoperator variance was low. But a greater ROI surface (ROI10) led to higher values of the intensity parameters A and AUC compared with ROI5 (p < 0.05). The difference in the ROI form led to high variation of certain TIC parameters between ROI5 and ROIAnat in the myelon [intraclass correlation coefficient (A, ICC = 0.578 (0.139–0.793); TIC parameter (TTP); and ICC = 0.679 (0.344–0.842) (p < 0.05)]. A mean variation of 1 cm of the depth of ROI5 in the cortex did not show significant differences in the TIC parameters, though there was an impact of depth of ROIAnat on the values of TIC parameters. The interoperator variance in the cortex was low and equal for ROI5 and ROIAnat, but increased in the myelon, especially for ROIAnat. Furthermore, the analysis revealed a strong correlation between the parameter AUC and the time interval applied for the TIC analysis in the cortex and myelon (r = 0.710, 0.674, p < 0.000). Conclusion Our findings suggest the application of multiple ROIs of 5 mm2 in the cortex and medulla to perform TIC analysis of kidney transplants. For clinical interpretation of AUC, a standardized time interval for TIC analysis should be developed. After the standardization of the TIC analysis, the clinical predictive value could be investigated in further studies.


The concentrations of PM2.5, black carbon (BC), elements as well as sources of pollution in Beijing from 2003 to 2018 were investigated. The results show that the concentrations of PM2.5 and BC had similar annual and seasonal trends, especially in autumn-winter, which with declining trends in recent years. The proportion of BC in PM2.5 reduced from 13% in 2013(max) to 8.5% in 2018(min), indicating the reducing measure of replacing coal boiler with gas boilers worked well. In this study, annual trends of 15 elements were also discussed, it is found that the concentrations of S, K, Mn, Ca, Pb, Cu, Mn and Fe displayed remarkable decrease these years. Br, Zn and Cl was growing overall and Cl was more concentrated in PM2.5 in autumn and winter. Moreover, the In detected by NAA with high sensitivity may be a new and crucial fingerprint element associated with coal combustion, industry emission or biomass combustion because of correlation with BC, Na, K, Cu and halogen elements well. Finally, 6-factor solution was identified during 2007 and 2016-2017 by EPA PMF, and the proportions of some pollution sources changed a lot in PM2.5. Soil management in north China reduced the soil and dust source by 9.2%; The contribution of Industry-S or secondary S showed decrease from 27.5% to 22.5% due to industries relocating , gasoline with sulfur optimization and coal burning restriction; Banning straw burning and waste incineration in 2007 kept biomass and waste combustion out gradually. However, initial stage of some policies maybe the main reasons for a small increase of coal combustion source despite some steps taken.


Background: Salmonella Kentucky is of great veterinary and public health concern and exhibits the capacities to emerge as the most prominent Salmonella serotype in human disease. The objective of this study is to evaluate the efficacy of prepared live attenuated and inactivated vaccines against experimentally induced salmonellosis caused by S. Kentucky in broiler chickens.
Methods: Field isolate of S. Kentucky was obtained from the National Veterinary Research Institute Vom, Nigeria and used in the preparation of experimental vaccines. Broiler chickens purchased and ascertained to be free of Salmonellae were randomly distributed into three experimental groups of 20 chicks each. Five-bromouracil at a concentration of 1000μg/ml was used in attenuation of S. Kentucky in preparation of the live vaccine and 0.6% formaldehyde was used in inactivation of S. Kentucky for preparation of the inactivated vaccine. Group 1 chicks were immunized with the live vaccine subcutaneously at 0.5ml per bird, group 2 received 1ml of the inactivated vaccine subcutaneously, and group 3 served as unvaccinated/control.
Results: There was 100% faecal inhibition and 100% vaccinal efficacy in broiler chickens immunized with the live vaccine on day 56 of age, and 49.6% faecal inhibition and 82.8% vaccinal efficacy in broiler chickens immunized with the inactivated vaccine on day 56 of age when compared with the unvaccinated control. The vaccinated birds also showed higher antibody (IgY) titre levels from day 21 to day 56 of age (p<0.001) on all sampling days when values were compared with the unvaccinated birds.
Conclusion: The interplay between vaccination protocol that includes administration of live attenuated or inactivated S. Kentucky vaccines and developed antibody (IgY) can reduce intestinal colonization by S. Kentucky and subsequent shedding of the serovar in faeces.
Keywords: Salmonella Kentucky, 5-bromouracil, IgY, Antibody, Vaccine


Abstract We present an alternative synthesis strategy for developing nanocrystalline (Ga1−xZnx)(N1−xOx) semiconductors known to be very efficient photoabsorbers. In a first step we produce mixtures of highly crystalline β-Ga2O3 and wurtzite-type ZnO nanoparticles by chemical vapor synthesis. (Ga1−xZnx)(N1−xOx) nanoparticles of wurtzite structure are then formed by reaction of these precursor materials with ammonia. Microstructure as well as composition (zinc loss) changes with nitridation time: band gap energy, crystallite size and crystallinity increase, while defect density decreases with increasing nitridation time. Crystallite growth results in a corresponding decrease in specific surface area. In the UV regime photocatalytic activity for overall water splitting can be monitored for samples both before and after nitridation. We find a significantly lower photocatalytic activity in the nitrided samples, even though the crystallinity is significantly higher and the defect density is significantly lower after nitridation. Both properties should have led to a lower probability for charge carrier recombination, and, consequently, to a higher photocatalytic activity.


OBJECTIVE
The objective was to survey the prevalence of parent-reported ADHD diagnosis and to assess its associations with sleep problems among urban school-aged children in China.

METHOD
A random sample of 20,152 school-aged children participated in a cross-sectional survey in eight cities of China. A parent-administered questionnaire and the Children's Sleep Habits Questionnaire were completed to quantify history of ADHD diagnosis and sleep problems, respectively.

RESULTS
Slightly more than 4% of Chinese school-aged children were reported to have a history of ADHD diagnosis. The multivariate regression models revealed that, after controlling for some confounders-such as gender, parents' educational level, family income, family structure, and stimulant medication-there was a higher prevalence of sleep problems, especially parasomnias, sleep-disordered breathing, and daytime sleepiness, in children with a history of ADHD diagnosis.

CONCLUSION
The results emphasized the importance of incorporating screens of sleep problems into the evaluation of ADHD.


This paper explores the relationship between firms' cooperation and their propensity toward environmental innovation. Previous literature has emphasized the peculiarities of such innovations based on their drivers, their positive spill-overs and the importance of regulation to trigger them. This paper contributes to the literature by focusing on the importance of cooperation and of vertical, horizontal and lateral cooperative agreements on environmental innovation propensity. I test these hypotheses through a large scale dataset, the Community Innovation Survey for Spanish firms (PITEC), through the use of estimation techniques that allow to control for possible selection bias. The econometric estimations suggest that environmental innovative firms cooperate on innovation to an higher extent than other innovative firms. Furthermore, cooperation with suppliers, KIBS and universities is more relevant than for other innovative firms, whereas cooperation with clients does not seem to be differentially important.


Robust inference of a low-dimensional parameter in a large semi-parametric model relies on external estimators of infinite-dimensional features of the distribution of the data. Typically, only one of the latter is optimized for the sake of constructing a well behaved estimator of the low-dimensional parameter of interest. Optimizing more than one of them for the sake of achieving a better bias-variance trade-off in the estimation of the parameter of interest is the core idea driving the general template of the collaborative targeted minimum loss-based estimation (C-TMLE) procedure. In this dissertation, we first resolves the computational issue in the widely-used greedy variable selection C-TMLE. Then we further investigate how to extend the discrete, variable selection C-TMLE for a more general model selection purpose.Chapter 1 begins by introducing the framework of causal inference in observational studies. We introduce the non-parametric structural equation model for modeling the data generating distribution. We briefly review the targeted minimum loss-based estimation (TMLE). We also introduce the general template of C-TMLE and its greedy-search variable selection version.In chapter 2, we propose the template for scalable variable selection C-TMLEs to overcome the computational burden in the greedy variable selection C-TMLE. The original instantiation of the C-TMLE template can be presented as a greedy forward stepwise C-TMLE algorithm. It does not scale well when the number $p$ of covariates increases drastically. This motivates the introduction of a novel instantiation of the C-TMLE template where the covariates are pre-ordered. Its time complexity is $\mathcal{O}(p)$ as opposed to the original $\mathcal{O}(p^2)$, a remarkable gain. We propose two pre-ordering strategies and suggest a rule of thumb to develop other meaningful strategies. Because it is usually unclear a priori which pre-ordering strategy to choose, we also introduce another instantiation called SL-C-TMLE algorithm that enables the data-driven choice of the better pre-ordering strategy given the problem at hand. Its time complexity is $\mathcal{O}(p)$ as well. The computational burden and relative performance of these algorithms were compared in simulation studies involving fully synthetic data or partially synthetic data based on a real world large electronic health database; and in analyses of three real, large electronic health databases. In all analyses involving electronic health databases, the greedy C-TMLE algorithm is unacceptably slow. Simulation studies seem to indicate that our scalable C-TMLE and SL-C-TMLE algorithms work well. In chapter 3, we extend C-TMLE to a more general model selection problem: we apply C-TMLE to select from a set of continuously-indexed nuisance parameter (the propensity score, PS) estimators. The propensity score models have traditionally been selected based on the goodness-of-fit for the treatment mechanism itself, without consideration of the causal parameter of interest. In contrast, the C-TMLE takes into account information on the causal parameter of interest when selecting a PS model. This ``collaborative learning'' considers variable associations with both treatment and outcome when selecting a PS model in order to minimize a bias-variance trade off in the estimated treatment effect. In this study, we introduce a novel approach for collaborative model selection when using the LASSO estimator for PS estimation in high-dimensional covariate settings. To demonstrate the importance of selecting the PS model collaboratively, we designed quasi-experiments based on a real electronic healthcare database, where only the potential outcomes were manually generated, and the treatment and baseline covariates remained unchanged. Results showed that the C-TMLE algorithm outperformed other competing estimators for both point estimation and confidence interval coverage. In addition, the PS model selected by C-TMLE could be applied to other PS-based estimators, which also resulted in substantive improvement for both point estimation and confidence interval coverage. We illustrate the discussed concepts through an empirical example comparing the effects of non-selective Nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs with selective COX-2 inhibitors on gastrointestinal complications in a population of Medicare beneficiaries.In chapter 4, we propose using C-TMLE to adaptively truncated the propensity score when there exist practical positivity violations. The positivity assumption, or the experimental treatment assignment (ETA) assumption, is important for identifiability in causal inference. Even if the positivity assumption holds, practical violations of this assumption may jeopardize the finite sample performance of the causal estimator. One of the consequences of practical violations of the positivity assumption is extreme values in the estimated propensity score. A common practice to address this issue is truncating the PS estimate when constructing PS-based estimators. In this study, we propose a novel adaptive truncation method, Positivity-C-TMLE, based on the C-TMLE methodology. We further show how to construct a robust confidence interval by a targeted variance estimator. We demonstrate the outstanding performance of our novel approach in a variety of simulations by comparing it with other commonly studied estimators, for both point estimation and confidence interval coverage. Results show that by adaptively truncating the estimated PS with a more targeted objective function, the Positivity-C-TMLE estimator achieves the best performance for both point estimation and confidence interval coverage among all estimators considered.The code for all the variations of C-TMLE in this dissertation are publicly available in the \emph{ctmle} R package.


This case report describes larynx‐preserving pharyngectomy after chemoradiotherapy using a thyroid gland flap. A thyroid gland flap has good blood supply and reconstruction can be done in the same surgical field. The thyroid gland flap has potential as a novel appropriate flap for use in head and neck surgery.


Indole-3-butyric acid (IBA) is frequently used to promote adventitious root development in plant propagation from cuttings. We evaluated the effects of 0, 1000, or 3000 ppm IBA applied as a liquid foliar spray or talc-based basal dip on adventitious rooting of wall germander (Teucrium chamaedrys) cuttings. An initial experiment was conducted in Fall 2016, followed by a replication in Spring 2017. Two-dimensional root area, primary root count, root dry weight, and a rooting index (0 to 5 scale) were assessed as measures of root growth. By all metrics and for both experiments, cuttings benefited from IBA application and exhibited equal or greater root growth after the foliar spray treatment compared with the talc dip. In both experiments and for all metrics, the talc dip method achieved no greater root growth at 3000 ppm IBA than the foliar spray method at 1000 ppm IBA. These results suggest that for wall germander, IBA application by the foliar spray method is equal or superior to the talc dip method presently in widespread use in the horticulture industry.


BACKGROUND
The hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) is influenced by the proinflammatory cytokines IL-6, IL-1β, and TNF-α in critically ill humans. Information about the association of cytokines with the HPA axis in neonatal foals is lacking.

HYPOTHESIS/OBJECTIVES
The objectives were to describe for hospitalized septic and nonseptic foals (1) temporal changes in blood concentrations of ACTH, and cortisol, and leukocyte cytokine gene expression, and (2) coassociation of these HPA axis hormones with blood leukocyte cytokine gene expression.

ANIMALS
Hospitalized septic foals (N = 15) and hospitalized nonseptic foals (N = 11).

METHODS
Blood samples, obtained from study foals at admission (T = 0), and 24 (T = 1), 48 (T = 2), 72 (T = 3), and 96 (T = 4) hours after admission, were processed to isolate RNA from leukocytes and to harvest plasma and serum for hormone assays. Plasma ACTH and serum cortisol concentrations were determined by radioimmunoassay. Leukocyte mRNA expression of IL-1β IL-6, IL-8, IL-10, and TNF-α was determined using RT-PCR.

RESULTS
Cortisol concentrations were greater (P < .05) in foals at admission than at other time points. The expressions of IL-8 and IL-10 mRNA were lower (P < .05) at each time point in septic than in nonseptic foals. Among septic foals, ACTH was positively associated (P = .0026) with IL-6 mRNA expression.

CONCLUSIONS
Sepsis influences secretion of the HPA axis hormones and expression of cytokines in foals. A positive association with the HPA axis and IL-6 expression was detected. The clinical importance of these findings requires additional study.


The quality assurance program in a Nuclear Medicine Department aims to minimize errors and artifacts that cover all aspects of clinical practice. The quality control can be seen such as one particular procedure used to meet measurements that can be followed along the time. The intrinsic flood-field uniformity is one of the quality control procedures to evaluate the response of a gamma camera to a spatially uniform flux of an incident gamma radiation over the field of view. The purpose of this study is to test our gamma cameras, recording the integral and differential uniformity figures of the intrinsic uniformity during the 2007 in order to establish how well the instruments were working. At the beginning we perform an evaluation of our acquisition protocol which implies the variation of the acquired counts, the energy window width and its placement. After that we analyze the recording data creating plots which are showing the performance of the systems. Using an energy window placed at 140 keV at 20%, with matrix size of 512 x 512, acquiring 15 million counts and the source activity close to 700 °C; we think that we get a good enough images and both uniformities are within the manufacture's requirements, however, increasing the number of acquired counts, images are much better and an improvement in the evaluated parameters can be seen. The performance evaluation, of the three gamma cameras, was taking into account for approximately 240 days, showing an integral uniformity range of 1.04 ± 3.5 % and the range for differential uniformity vary from 0.88 up to 2.7 %. We conclude that the gamma cameras were working quite well, we do not need to vary our acquisition protocol because it is good enough to perform this test; also factors affecting the quality of the images are radioactive waste material not very well shielded and temperature room variations, especially at the beginning of our workday.


Giant mucoceles of the frontal sinus are rare but their recognition is important in the differential diagnosis of proptosis and fronto-orbital lesions. We describe a patient with frontal giant mucocele with intracranial as well as orbit and ethmoid sinus involvement. A 53-year-old male was admitted with headache, right exophthalmos and ophthalmoplegia. Computed tomography and magnetic resonance imaging demonstrated a giant frontal sinus mucocele with extension into the left anterior cranial fossa and orbit. The mucocele was treated with a transcranial and endoscopic transnasal approach.


ISSR (Inter Simple Sequence Repeat) is one of the popular techniques of DNA fingerprinting because of several reasons. In many fields, ISSR markers have proved their utility. There are many applications of ISSR in various aspects of medicinal plants. ISSR based markers have utility in the fields like genetics, taxonomy, physiology, embryology etc. and recently the ISSR based markers have found wide applicability in pharmacognostic characterization of medicinal plants. As use of herbal medicines is increasing, there is urgent need of newer technologies and its proper application. In recent years, pharmacognosy has witnessed advent of such new technologies. This review provides detail list of plants, which are studied by ISSR marker and discuss some of the important application in medicinal plant research.


The vitellogenin (Vtg) is a precursor for the synthesis of egg yolk protein. Feeding with zinc-supplemented diet is hypothesized to increase the circulating Vtg thereby enhancing reproductive development. A total of 80 ducks, aged 16 weeks old, were randomly assigned to treatment groups; namely: group A with 40 ducks fed with 30 ppm zinc-supplemented diet (zinc positive) and group B with 40 ducks fed with no added zinc (zinc negative). The circulating Vtg at sexual maturity (155.11±10.83 days old) were determined from the blood sera. The sera were assayed for Vtg in duplicate using 96–well microplate and read the optical density at 415nm. The zinc concentration of the samples was calculated using the nonlinear regression =OD = a x [Zn2+] / (b + [Zn2+]. Results show that the circulating Vtg in the blood sera of ducks at sexual maturity were 0.69±0.07 Gg Zn dL-1. The feeding of zinc-treated diet had no significant influenced on the concentration of circulating Vtg. There was also insignificant difference in the reproductive morphology of ducks fed with or without added zinc. The Vtg concentration had no correlation with reproductive parameters but found to be positively correlated with liver weight (H=0.21) and negatively correlated with body weight (H = -0.24).


To reduce the amount of information presented to a human observer, ORing has been used to combine frequency-time plots from several acoustic channels. ORing introduces a loss which is measured as a rise in the minimum detectable signal-to-noise ratio. Equations for ORing loss are derived for a general signal processing system with arbitrary signal and noise distributions. Results are provided for the case of Gaussian noise and Gaussian signal. Simulation is used to verify the analytical results, and to provide insight into how cross-correlated noise and signal present on multiple channels reduce ORing loss. Results suggest: 1) if signal is present on only one channel, noise correlation reduces ORing loss, but not as much as currently estimated, and 2) if noise is independent from channel to channel, signal on more than one channel also reduces ORing loss. However, the two effects are not independent. Consequently, they must be considered together when estimating ORing loss.


Abstract: Health care leaders and analysts typically describe the health care environment as dynamic, complex, and highly uncertain. This study conceptualizes environmental uncertainty as an individual perception that blends subjective and objective realities derived from the complexity and dynamism of the organizational task environment. Exploratory judgments of the complexity and dynamism of the environment of health care organizations are included.


Flat plate oscillating heat pipe (FP-OHP) is a unique heat transfer device and considered as a promising candidate for effective heat transfer device in electronics industries. A number of theoretical studies and experimental investigations have been carried out on FP-OHP in the past decades after its invention. However, due to the operational characteristics of FP-OHP, the effect of various parameters on the thermal performance of FP-OHP has not been completely revealed so far. This paper attempts to discuss the effect of operational parameters on the thermal performance of FP-OHP. In this study, the FP-OHP was investigated with different charge ratios, orientations, working fluids, and heat loads from 10 W to 150 W. In order to investigate the effect, 18 parallel square channels of 2 × 2 mm2 are machined onto pure copper plate (93 × 70 × 8 mm3) to form FP-OHP. DI water, ethanol, methanol, acetone, and FC-72 are investigated. The measured thermal resistance was strongly dependent on operational parameters. The optimum performance was observed with acetone with a charge ratio of 70% in the vertical orientation. The lowest thermal resistance of 0.39 °C/W is achieved using acetone as a working fluid at 100 W. A Kutateladze number (Ku) was used to compare the experimental data and found to be suitable for prediction of the thermal performance of FP-OHP with standard deviation of 15%.


Tilt table testing is taken as a safe and effective modality for subjecting a person to strong orthostatic stimulus. HRV (Heart rate variability) has the potential to provide valuable insight into physiological variations occurring in relation to postural changes. This study compares the supine basal, entire 30 minutes (Prolonged tilt), early 10 and last10 minutes (early and late tilt respectively) tilt HRV among themselves.13 healthy adults were subjected to 30 minutes head up tilt at 60 degree angle. 10 minutes basal supine HRV was compared with entire 30 minutes, early 10 minutes and last 10 minutes tilt HRV. Stastical analysis was done using one way Anova with repeated measures and LSD post hoc tests. Among the time domain measures Mean±SEM RR interval in seconds showed significant decrease during prolonged, early and late tilt (0.73±0.02,0.72±0.02,0.69±0.02 respectively) as compared to the basal (0.81±0.02).The Mean±SEM heart rate in beats per minute showed significant increase during prolonged, early and late tilt (84.13±2.49, 84.64 ±2.71, 87.69±2.70 respectively) as compared to basal (75.22±2.60). The parametric frequency domain measures showed significant difference between basal and late tilt. The Mean±SEM Lf power in normalised units or LFNU was 40.95±5.31 and 70.20±6.75 between basal and late tilt respectively, and LF/HF%was 2.27±0.50 and 11.33±1.92 between basal and late tilt respectively. They showed significant increase during the late tilt. The Hf power in percentage or HF % (35.41±5.23 and 9.80±2.14 between basal and late tilt respectively) and Hf power in normalised units or HFNU (32.19±6.13 and 8.68±1.74 between basal and late tilt respectively) showed significant decrease during late tilt. The non parametric frequency domain measures showed similar significant difference between late tilt and basal, late tilt and prolonged tilt as well as between late tilt and early tilt. This indicates sympathetic predominance during prolonged HUT.


Abstract. A software tool for end-to-end simulation of data products of spaceborne and airborne visible, near-infrared and short-wave infrared imaging spectrometers, starting from either synthetic or airborne hyperspectral data, has been developed and tested. Such a simulator is conceived as a preliminary aid tool (during phase 0/A) for the specification and early development of new Earth observation optical instruments, whose compliance to user's requirements is achieved through a process of cost/performance trade-off. The proposed simulator is based on three different core modules: the reflectance scenario simulator, the atmospheric simulator, and the instrument simulator.The main novelty of this paper is that the modeling adopted for the simulator is validated and assessed through the matching of synthetized spectra, both radiance and reflectance, to true spectra measured on an agricultural clay bare soil by means of a hand-held point spectrometer and an airborne instrument developed and manufactured by Selex Galileo S.p.A. Both pure and mixed spectra show a high degree of matching between true and synthetic data, thereby establishing the validity of the underlying linear spectral mixing model. Furthermore, a validation of an application test has been performed for clay soil mapping at ground and airborne level. Eventually,a satellite instrument simulation of the same clay map has demonstrated a more than acceptable agreement notwithstanding the low spatial resolution.


This article examines the human rights challenges of police use of facial recognition technology from a European perspective. Based on both international human rights law, the European Convention on Human Rights and EU law, the article argues that the technology challenges human rights. The focus of the article is on the right to privacy and data protection, as this right is fundamentally at risk by the technology. Acknowledging that other rights and guarantees are also negatively impacted by the use of facial recognition technology, the article makes reference to the risk of discrimination, and the unregulated cooperation between State and the surveillance technology industry. However, a central point in the article is that irrespective of whether the technology can be refined to eliminate risk of discrimination, and even if sufficient safeguards for cooperation between State and the industry are put in place, fundamental challenges remain in relation to the right to privacy and data protection. The technology captures the unique facial features of an individual known as biometric data which is highly sensitive data and creates an interference with the right to privacy and data protection. By allowing facial recognition, society allows for an entirely new type of intensive surveillance. The use of the technology also entails a risk of chilling effect on e.g. freedom of assembly which furthers negative implications on human rights. The article concludes that when it comes to police use of facial recognition technologies, States should tread carefully and ensure that a sufficient human rights-based regulatory framework and adequate safeguards are in place before considering using the technology.


In this article we will try to pinpoint the responsibilities of states involved in mutual assistance in criminal matters within the EU framework, with respect to the effective enforcement of the European Convention on Human Rights. What responsibilities do the requested and the requesting state have? What are the risks for effective enforcement under the current system of transnational cooperation (based on mutual trust) and how, if at all, are these risks to be countered without undermining the cooperation itself? This analysis is preceded by a more general introduction into the case law of the ECtHR on transnational cooperation. The focus will be on cooperation within the EU, so as to be able to take into account the special features of cooperation under the EU Treaty. In a separate paragraph attention is given to the new forms of cooperation that are currently in use or are being developed within the EU framework, to wit the joint investigation teams (JIT) and the proposal for a European Evidence Warrant (EEW).


NOAA has been developing a fully-coupled Earth system model under the Unified Forecast System framework which will be responsible for global (ensemble) predictions at lead times of 0-35 days. The development has involved several prototype runs consisting of bimonthly initializations over a 7-year period for a total of 168 cases.
This study leverages these existing (baseline) prototypes to isolate the impact of substituting (one-at-a-time) parameterizations for convection, microphysics, and planetary boundary layer on 35-day forecasts. Through these physics sensitivity experiments, it is found that no particular configuration of the subseasonal-length coupled model is uniformly better or worse, based on several metrics including mean-state biases and skill scores for the Madden-Julian Oscillation, precipitation, and 2-m temperature. Importantly, the spatial patterns of many "first-order" biases (e.g., impact of convection on precipitation) are remarkably similar between the end of the first week and weeks 3-4, indicating that some subseasonal biases may be mitigated through tuning at shorter timescales. This result, while shown for the first time in the context of subseasonal prediction with different physics schemes, is consistent with findings in climate models that some mean-state biases evident in multi-year averages can manifest in only a few days. An additional convective parameterization test using a different baseline shows that attempting to generalize results between or within modeling systems may be misguided. The limitations of generalizing results when testing physics schemes are most acute in modeling systems that undergo rapid, intense development from myriad contributors – as is the case in (quasi) operational environments.


Endoglucanase is an industrially important enzyme involved synergistically in degradation of cellulosic materials into constitutive monomers with other cellulase enzymes. In this study, overexpression of (His)6-tagged endoglucanase from Fusarium oxysporum sp. in E. coli BL21(DE3) resulted to high tendency of endoglucanase in the form of inactive inclusion bodies when the host cells were cultured between at 37°C and induced by 0.20 mM (final concentration) IPTG. A simple and time-efficient on-column refolding scheme using immobilized metal-chelate affinity chromatography (IMAC) aided by AKTA purifier, an automated fast protein liquid chromatography (FPLC) system afforded highly purified refolded recombinant endoglucanase that was active in carboxymethyl cellulose (CMC) assay. The on-column refolding scheme is reliable and can be applied for efficient and robust method for lab-scale production of recombinant endoglucanase .


This study investigated the status of data citation guidelines by analysing 15 style manuals and 100 data repositories in various fields. Analysis results are presented through a comparison with eight items in the Joint Declaration of Data Citation Principles (JDDCP). Only nine style manuals and only 20 repositories contain instructions regarding data citation. The guidelines generally agree on the importance of the author, publication date, title, and publisher, but there is large variation between the different guides. Analysis of the guidelines revealed that they generally reflect the principles of the JDDCP. In particular, the principle of Credit and Attribution is significantly reflected in style manuals and data repositories and supports one of the major motivations for data sharing. The principles of Unique Identification, Access, and Persistence are less well supported in data citation guidelines. However, the principles of Importance, Evidence, Specificity and Verifiability, and Interoperability and Flexibility are rarely supported. The findings of this study reveal that better guidelines are required, and future work could investigate developing and assessing the standard guidelines for data citation in different fields.


Measures of income concentration?such as the share of income received by the highest income families?may be biased by pro-cyclical volatility in annual income. Permanent income, though, can smooth away such volatility and sort families by their usual economic resources. Here, we demonstrate this bias using rolling 3-year panels of IRS tax records from 1997 to 2013 as a proxy for permanent income. For example, one measure of 2012 income concentration?the share of income received by the top 0.1 percent?falls from 11.3 percent to 8.9 percent when families are organized by permanent income instead of annual income. However, the growth in income concentration cannot be explained by this volatility, as growth rates are comparable in the permanent income and annual income groupings during our sample period. Further, the probability of remaining in the highest income groups, while relatively low at the very top of the distribution, increased slightly during our sample period, suggesting that top incomes have become less volatile in this dimension. These results are confirmed using household income data measured in the Survey of Consumer Finances (SCF)?a household survey with a large oversample of high-income households and a unique measure of permanent income.


This paper tests for the market environment within which US ...scal policy operates, that is we test for the incompleteness of the US government bond market. We document the stochastic properties of US debt and de...cits and then consider the ability of competing optimal tax models to account for this behaviour. We show that when a government pursues an optimal tax policy and issues a full set of contingent claims, the value of debt has the same or less persistence than other variables in the economy and declines in response to higher de...cit shocks. By contrast, if governments only issue one-period risk free bonds (incomplete markets), debt shows more persistence than other variables and it increases in response to expenditure shocks. Maintaining the hypothesis of Ramsey behavior, US data con‡icts ¤firstname.lastname@example.com, Departament d'Economia i Empresa, Universitat Pompeu Fabra, Ramon Trias Fargas 25-27, 08005 Barcelona, Spain. email@example.com, Department of Economics, London Business School, Regents Park, London NW1 4SA, UK. We thank Arantza Gorostiaga, Christel Rendu and, especially, Arpad Abraham for research assistance. This work was sponsored by H.M.Treasury and the ESRC's Evolving Macroeconomy program. Marcet's research was funded in part by DGES and CIRIT. For comments we thank Fernando Álvarez, Paul Klein, Juan P. Nicolini, Victor Ríos-Rull as well as seminar participants at CEPR European Summer Symposium in Macroeconomics, Tarragona, CEPR Public Finance Conference, Tilburg, H.M.Treasury, IIES, Stockholm, London School of Economics, Universite de Toulouse, and Universidad T. di Tella. Views expressed in this paper are those of the authors and not necessarily of any sponsoring institution.


A 19-year-old phenotypic female with gonadal agenesis and XY karyotype underwent an endocrinologic study. She lacked secondary sexual characteristics and there was posterior labial fusion, absence of vagina, and no gonadal or gonadal duct tissues present at laparotomy. Elevated levels of luteinizing hormone (LH) and follicle-stimulating hormone (FSH) responded well to intravenous injection of LH-releasing hormone (LH-RH) but did not respond to clomiphene citrate. Both OH and FSH levels were suppressed by administration of testosterone or estrogen. Low serum concentration of testosterone did not respond to human chorionic gonadotropin (hCG) injection. Dihydrotestosterone binding by cultured skin fibroblast revealed the existence of a binding component with low capacity and high affinity. This is the first report of a patient with XY gonadal agenesis in whom androgen receptors in the target cells are demonstrated.


The invention relates to a solution for the deposition of barrier layers on metal surfaces, which comprises compounds of the elements nickel and molybdenum, at least one first reducing agent selected from among secondary and tertiary cyclic aminoboranes and at least one complexing agent, where the solution has a pH of from 8.5 to 12.


In summarizing it seems very hard at the present time, either from the evidence presented by many authors, or from our own observations, to draw definite conclusions as to the etiology of the progressive muscular dystrophies. If we allow ourselves to be influenced entirely by the theories of endocrine origin we find many stumblingblocks. It is hard to believe that a cystic tumor or other pathology of one of these glands can always locate itself in just the place to cause repeatedly the identical or almost identical clinical entity. The evidence introduced in this respect does not always seem to be entirely sound. On the other hand, the recoveries reported in the literature and in our own series seem to be beyond question. There is not in progressive muscular dystrophy the low fatigue coefficient, within physiological limits, that one would expect to find. The muscle fibers which remain unaffected from the disease seem to be acting to the extent of their normal limit. But there seems to be not "enough ammunition to go around." Is it a matter of waste product elimination? Are a part of the muscle fibers in their physiological capacity of glycogen builders and storehouses, or as secretors of sarcolactic acid and carbon dioxide, failing in their work?

It is generally conceded that there is a low amount of blood sugar, and that sugar when fed is rapidly excreted. Has something happened to the muscular substance which should activate the transforming enzyme? We need more autopsies; we need more pathological studies; more chemical studies; and we need more research by men who go into their work with a good substantial knowledge of what has already been said and done on the subject.

In making this synopsis of our cases we have come to the realization of its possibilities, and the meager work which we have presented will be followed up in the immediate future by a more thorough, and we trust, more enlightening series of experiments.

I am indebted to Dr. Steindler, in charge of the Orthopaedic Service, for the privileges extended me in the use of the cases and for his co-operation and valuable advice.


Oxyethylene docosanol (OED) retarded evaporation of agar media in petri plates when the plates were used in an air sampler; this confirmed the report of May (2). Flooding of plates with OED solutions or incorporation of OED into agar media, however, did not alter evaporation rates when the plates were stored in incubators or were refrigerated.


Many techniques have been developed to analyze time series. Spectral analysis and cycle regression analysis represent two such techniques. This study combines these two powerful tools to produce two new algorithms; the spectral algorithm and the one-pass algorithm. This research encompasses four objectives. The first objective is to link spectral analysis with cycle regression analysis to determine an initial estimate of the sinusoidal period. The second objective is to determine the best spectral window and truncation point combination to use with cycle regression for the initial estimate of the sinusoidal period. The third is to determine whether the new spectral algorithm performs better than the old T-value algorithm in estimating sinusoidal parameters. The fourth objective is to determine whether the one-pass algorithm can be used to estimate all significant harmonics simultaneously.


ABSTRACT The effects of soil texture on trace metal concentrations and geochemical fractions in an apple orchard soils were investigated. For this purpose, soil samples were taken from the apple orchards with two different soil textures located on the same geomorphological unit in Çanakkale, Turkey. A wet digestion was used to determine total trace metal concentrations, and a sequential extraction method was used to determine geochemical fractions of the metals. According to average total concentrations of all metals, except Pb, were found to be significantly higher (p < 0.05) in clay soils. Sequential extraction analysis showed that potential mobile fractions were ordered as Cd (68.8%) > Pb (52.4%) > Cu (42.0%) > Zn (34.8%) > Ni (32.3%) > Cr (22.9%) in clay soils and as Cd (61.6%) > Pb (51.6%) > Cu (40.2%) > Zn (30.7%) > Ni (30.8%) > Cr (24.9%) in loamy soils. The results revealed that all metals, except Pb, in exchangeable/acid soluble, oxidizable and, potential mobile fractions were found to be significantly higher in clay soils (p < 0.05). It was figured out that clay contents played an effective role in total concentrations of metals and their distribution in geochemical fractions.


Background: Transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) is often used to examine neurophysiology. We aimed to investigate the inter-rater reliability and agreement of single pulse TMS in hospitalised acute ischemic stroke patients. Methods: Thirty-one patients with first-time acute ischemic stroke (median age 72 (IQR 64-75), 35% females) underwent TMS motor threshold (MT) assessment in 4 muscles bilaterally, conducted by 1 of 2 physiotherapists. Test-retest reliability was evaluated using a two-way random effects model (2,1) absolute agreement-type Interclass Correlation Coefficient (ICC). Standard Error of Measurement (SEM) and Smallest Detectable Change (SDC) were used to evaluate agreement. Results: Reliability, SEM, and SDC of TMS was found to be moderate in right opponens pollicis (0.78 [CI 95% 0.55-0.89], SEM: 4.51, SDC: 12.51), good in right vastus medialis and tibial anterior (0.88 [CI 95% 0.72-0.96], SEM: 2.89, SDC: 8.01 and 0.88 [CI 95% 0.76-0.94], SEM: 2.88, SDC: 7.98 respectively), and excellent in right and left biceps brachii (0.98 [CI 95% 0.96-0.99], SEM: 1.79 SDC: 4.96, and 0.94 [CI 95% 0.89-0.97], SEM: 2.17 SDC: 6.01), opponens pollicis (0.92 [CI 95% 0.83-0.96], SEM: 2.68 SDC: 8.26, vastus medialis (0.92 [CI 95% 0.84-0.96], SEM: 2.87 SDC: 7.95), and tibial anterior (0.93 [CI 95% 0.86-0.96], SEM: 2.51 SDC: 6.95). Conclusion: The TMS demonstrated moderate to excellent inter-rater reliability confirming the ability of these measures to reliably discriminate between individuals in the current study sample. Improvements of less than 4.96 to 12.51 could be a result of measurement error and may therefore not be considered a true change.


A mobile ad hoc network (MANET) is a network in which data are transmitted from the sender to the receiver without the need for any infrastructure. In this network, the connected nodes may be in the form of laptops, mobile phones, personal digital assistant (PDA), and so on, and any node can work as a router that receives and sends packets [1]. In an ad hoc network, the delay of route traffic can be minimized by the clustering technique, and network performance as well as data transfer control can be improved by the selection of the routing protocol type [2]. This study investigates the effect of using the clustering technique in ad hoc networks and how this technique can increase resource savings and decrease time delay. It also describes clustering, cluster structure, cluster linking type, and the different types of clustering algorithms used in cluster head selection and their effects on MANETs. In addition, this study analyzes the performance of MANETs to show the effect of using cluster on the performance of ad hoc networks, so that a cluster-based routing protocol (CBRP) were used which is considered one of the clustering routing protocols . The CBRP is compared with other types of routing protocols, such as AODV, DSR, and DSDV, none of which uses the clustering technique. The conclusion and analysis of the results are discussed to explain the advantages and disadvantages of using clustering in MANETs.


Sphenoid wing defects of the posterior orbit and frontal and middle cranial fossae, secondary to tumor ablation, create difficulties in orbital and cranial base reconstruction. Autogenous split calvarial bone grafts harvested at the time of neurosurgical tumor ablation were used to reconstruct sphenoid wing defects in nine patients between July 1983 and January 1993. Meningioma is the most common tumor resected in this series, followed by fibrous dysplasia. Patient follow-up ranged from 1 to 5 years with a mean of 3 years. Calvarial bone grafting was performed to restore continuity of frontal bone, supraorbital ridge, orbital roof, and lateral wall and floor. All patients demonstrating proptosis showed either complete resolution or significant improvement postoperatively by exophthalmometry. Postoperative pulsatile exophthalmos occurred transiently in one patient but resolved spontaneously. Postoperative diplopia occurred in two patients, which subsequently resolved within 6 weeks. There were no incidents of postoperative osteomyelitis or bone graft loss within the reported postoperative period. Conventional and three-dimensional computed axial tomographic scans did not demonstrate bony resorption resulting in structural instability in any of the cases with this reconstructive method.


This essay traces the birth and development of gender history in relation to specific studies on fascism, focusing in particular on George L. Mosse's pioneering work, the new acquisitions in the history of masculinity, and the theoretical reflections of feminist thought and its impact on women's history. The intent is to critically analyze this now increasingly rich historiographical output, while seeking to understand how investigation of the relationship between fascism and gender identity has changed in accordance with the dominant paradigms over the past thirty years. What emerges is a more articulated image of the fascist man and woman, but also of the Regime's relationship with modernity and tradition.


Basic Instructional Speaking materials of English for Business Management plays important role in teaching learning process for Economic College in order that the education goal as stipulated in National Framework Curriculum (KKNI) could be achieved. The ability to use English in oral communication is the communicative goal. In fact, there have been many Higher Educations such as Economic College does not provide reliable instructional materials which are based on students' needs and industrial needs. Even the materials are not relevant to the students' Department. However, since there has no many ESP books and researches done due to this issue, this research was eventually carried out and the final product is to grand a basic instructional material of ESP for Economic Students. The data analyses were through interview and questionnaires to the first grade students of Sekolah Tinggi Ilmu Ekonomi Sampit. The results indicated the students are considered as basic learners of English who need appropriate materials as per their level ability. Therefore, instructional materials for Business English especially for basic learners who want to speak English for Business needs are hardly needed in STIE Sampit.


Nurse educators and practitioners aim to plan programmes which will prepare nurses with the knowledge, skills, decision making abilities and confidence to be accountable for the care they provide (Boore & Deeny, 2012). This article explains, by way of a case study, one situation where these skills were used for an individual learning opportunity to help a student (Miss A) withdyslexia, within the University, to complete her studies successfully. Resulting from the original case study is a future plan for an action research project questioning the assessment criteria and evaluation of learning styles of students with dyslexia. It is hoped that the action research project will lead to the implementation of changes, if needed, in the assessment criteria of students with dyslexia within the University environment.


BACKGROUND
Integrated care is characterized by evolving heterogeneity in models. Using telepsychiatry to enhance these models can increase access, quality, and efficiencies in care.

INTRODUCTION
The purpose of this report is to describe the process and outcomes of adapting telepsychiatry into an existing integrated care service.

MATERIALS AND METHODS
Telepsychiatry was implemented into an existing integrated care model in a high-volume, urban, primary care clinic in Colorado serving patients with complex physical and behavioral needs. Consultative, direct care, educational/training encounters, provider-to-provider communication, process changes, and patient-level descriptive measures were tracked as part of ongoing quality improvement.

RESULTS
Telepsychiatry was adapted into the existing behavioral health services using an iterative team meeting process within a stepped care model. Over 35% of the requests for psychiatry services were medication related-and medication changes (type/dose) were the most frequent referral outcome of psychiatric consultation. Forty percent of patients in the service had multiple behavioral health diagnoses, in addition to physical health diagnoses.

DISCUSSION
Telehealth will become an increasingly necessary component in building hybrid/blended integrated care teams. Examples of flexible model implementation will support clinics in tailoring effective applications for their unique patient panels.

CONCLUSIONS
An adapted integrated care model leveraging telepsychiatry is successfully serving the complex deep end of a primary care patient population in Colorado. Lessons learned in implementing this model include the importance of team attitudes.


Study of dosimetric variation due to interfraction organ movement in High Dose Rate Interstital (MUPIT) brachytherapy for gynecologic malignancies Ten patients with cancer of uterine cervix who underwent interstitial brachytherapy using MUPIT templates were CT scanned (CT1) using which bladder, rectum and CTV were delineated. The treatment plan PCT1 was generated and optimized geometrically on the volume. CT scan (CT2) was repeated before the second fraction of the treatment CTV and critical organs were delineated. The plan (PCT2) was created by reproducing the Plan PCT1 in the CT2 images and compared with PCT1. Bladder, Rectum and CTV percentage volume variation ranges from +28.6% to -34.3%, 38.4% to -14.9% and 8.5% to -15.2% respectively. Maximum dose variation in bladder was +17.1%, in rectum was up to +410% and in CTV was -13.0%. The dose to these structures varies independently with no strong correlation with the volume variation. Hence it is suggested that repeat CT and re-planning is mandatory before second fraction execution.


, experiments also show that the proposed method consistently outperforms traditional parallel imaging methods and existing UNNs, and even outperforms the state-of-the-art supervised-trained k -space deep learning methods in some cases


A monoprotic [(trifluoromethyl)benzenesulfonyl]imide (SI) superacid electrolyte was used to covalently modify a mesoporous carbon xerogel (CX) support via reaction of the corresponding trifluoromethyl aryl sulfonimide diazonium zwitterion with the carbon surface. Electrolyte attachment was demonstrated by elemental analysis, acid-base titration, and thermogravimetric analysis. The ion-exchange capacity of the fluoroalkyl-aryl-sulfonimide-grafted carbon xerogel (SI-CX) was ∼0.18 mequiv g(-1), as indicated by acid-base titration. Platinum nanoparticles were deposited onto the SI-grafted carbon xerogel samples by the impregnation and reduction method, and these materials were employed to fabricate polyelectrolyte membrane fuel-cell (PEMFC) electrodes by the decal transfer method. The SI-grafted carbon-xerogel-supported platinum (Pt/SI-CX) was characterized by X-ray diffraction and transmission electron microscopy to determine platinum nanoparticle size and distribution, and the findings are compared with CX-supported platinum catalyst without the grafted SI electrolyte (Pt/CX). Platinum nanoparticle sizes are consistently larger on Pt/SI-CX than on Pt/CX. The electrochemically active surface area (ESA) of platinum catalyst on the Pt/SI-CX and Pt/CX samples was measured with ex situ cyclic voltammetry (CV) using both hydrogen adsorption/desorption and carbon monoxide stripping methods and by in situ CV within membrane electrode assemblies (MEAs). The ESA values for Pt/SI-CX are consistently lower than those for Pt/CX. Some possible reasons for the behavior of samples with and without grafted SI layers and implications for the possible use of SI-grafted carbon layers in PEMFC devices are discussed.


Albatross are the largest seabirds on Earth and have a suite of adaptations for their pelagic lifestyle. Rather than having a bill made of a single piece of keratin, Procellariiformes have a compound rhamphotheca, made of several joined plates. Drivers of the shape of the albatross bill have not been explored. Here we use three-dimensional scans of 61 upper bills from 12 species of albatross to understand whether intrinsic (species assignment & size) or extrinsic (diet) factors predict bill shape. Diet is a significant predictor of bill shape with coarse dietary categories providing higher R2 values than dietary proportion data. We also find that of the intrinsic factors, species assignment accounts for ten times more of the variation than size (72% versus 6.8%) and that there is a common allometric vector of shape change between all species. When considering species averages in a phylogenetic framework, there are significant Blomberg's K results for both shape and size (K = 0.29 & 1.10) with the first axis of variation having a much higher K value (K = 1.9), reflecting the split in shape at the root of the tree. The influence of size on bill shape is limited, with species assignment and diet predicting far more of the variation. The results show that both intrinsic and extrinsic factors are needed to understand morphological evolution.


The Origins of Justice: The Evolution of Morality, Human Rights, and Law presents a view of human origins and nature that is radically different from that of the prevailing Western paradigm. John O'Manique's view shifts the emphasis from a negative characterization, in which humans are primarily aggressive and solitary, to a more positive picture of human origins within social communities, in which empathy and mutual care are just as natural and effective as selfish, competitive behavior. Drawing from neo-Darwinian theory and research on evolution, O'Manique develops hypotheses on the origins of human rights and justice that challenge the Western paradigm and the writings of such influential modern theorists as John Rawls and Robert Nozick. In the prevailing paradigm, justice is a rational solution to the natural condition of fear and conflict. But, O'Manique suggests, scientific evidence supports the hypothesis that human rights, law, and justice arise within caring communities, from the reflections of our early ancestors on genetically based inclinations required for biological development. With the birth of self-consciousness, O'Manique shows how humans, within the context of their communities and cultures, construct systems of justice which transcend the biological base from which they emerged.


The Fulmar oil field lies at the faulted western margin of the Central Graben in the central North Sea. Chalcedony and quartz, and later dolomite, occur as diagenetic cements in veins within the Upper Jurassic Fulmar Formation. Quartz in one particular vein contains primary aqueous fluid inclusions with homogenization temperatures ranging from 85 degrees to 140 degrees C, with a mean of 117 degrees C. The measured d18O of the authigenic quartz ranges from +25.1 to +27.1o/oo SMOW. The d18O of the water from which most of the quartz precipitated is calculated to have been around +8o/oo, which is significantly more positive than the measured present-day formation water d18O of +4o/oo. Quartz and chalcedony cements in the vein are postdated texturally by dolomite that has a d18O of +23.5o/oo SMOW. High salinities are recorded in the fluid inclusions in the quartz, the majority ranging from 15 to 19 wt. % NaCl equivalent. Also, the quartz contains inclusions of anhydrite. High-salinity aqueous inclusions, combined with anhydrite inclusions in the quartz and the 18O-enriched calculated water composition, suggest that the quartz precipitated from an evaporite-influenced fluid. The same fluid contributed Mg for dolomite precipitation. More deeply buried sections, including the Permian Zechstein evaporites underlying the Fulmar field, are the most obvious source of an 18O-enriched saline fluid. Mineralization of the vein resulted from cross-formational flow of warm fluids from depth through the Zechstein and into the Jurassic succession over vertical distances of 600-2000 m. Fluids most probably migrated up faults and fractures during episodes of salt movement or overpressure release.


Background: Egyptian poultry industry has suffered from high economic losses as a result of the wide spread of highly pathogenic H5N1. Determination of the optimal antigen content of avian influenza virus vaccines is urgent to reach protective antibody titers and reduce virus shedding.

Material and method: Groups of one day old commercial broiler chicks were divided in to 8 groups 1, 2 and 3 were vaccinated with a prepared vaccine contain 500HAU of H5N1 reassortant antigen; while group 4, 5 and 6 were vaccinated with an imported reassortant vaccine with 500HAU antigen content of H5N1 at 1, 5 and 10 days of age; respectively. Groups 7 was positive challenged control and group 8 negative challenged groups. All chicken groups were maintained at isolators along the experiment study. Blood samples were collected for weekly for 4 weeks and antibody titers were determined by HI test. All vaccinated groups were challenged 4 weeks post vaccination and tracheal and cloacal swabs were taken at 3, 5, 7, and 10 days post challenge and tested by real time RT-PCR (rRT-PCR) and virus isolation and titration in SPF ECE.

Results: Results of HI demonstrated significant difference between groups in relation of age of vaccination where the groups vaccinated at 10 days of age were significantly higher compared to others with maximum titers at 4 weeks post vaccination. The protection % post challenge revealed 0, 20, 86 % and 0, 20 and 86 % in groups 1, 2, 3 and groups 4, 5, and 6; respectively. Results of rRT-PCR and virus isolation revealed that all chicken groups vaccinated at 1 and 5 days of age revealed 100% shedding at 3rd, 5th, 7th and 10th days post challenge. However, groups 3 and 6 which were vaccinated at 10 days of age demonstrated different shedding pattern where group 3 (vaccinated with local prepared 500HAU vaccine) showed at the 3rd and 5th days shedding by rRT-PCR and 80% and 20 % of the chickens in tracheal swabs and 80% and 40% in cloacal swabs when tested by virus isolation in eggs at 3 and 5 days post challenge; respectively. Whereas swabs of 7 and 10 days post challenge of group 3 were negative by rRT-PCR and virus isolation. In the other hand , group 6 (vaccinated with imported 500HAU vaccine) demonstrated shedding % at 3 and 5 days post challenge by rRT-PCR and for virus isolation were positive in 60% for tracheal swabs 3 day post challenge and no shedding at 5th post challenge and 60% and 20% for cloacal swabs ; respectively. At 7th and 10th days post challenge shedding of all chickens in group 6 were negative by both rRT-PCR and virus isolation.

Conclusion: Vaccination against H5N1 AIV is greatly affected by both antigen content of vaccine and level of maternal immunity in vaccinated chicks.


This experimental programme employs length-scale analysis of measured profiles to quantitatively discriminate the surface textures of stone flakes manufactured from East Anglian chalk flint used on four contact materials (shell, wood, dry hide and soaked antler). It presents a method for evaluating texture characterization parameters based on their ability to discriminate wear types, and to determine a level of confidence to the discrimination, using the F-test. The results of this experimental work demonstrate that relative lengths, over certain scale ranges, can discriminate the stone tool surface wear profiles produced by the different contact materials.


The structure, characteristics and searching method of the patent cooperation treaty free patent database are further explained on base of introduction and comments of World Intellectual Property Organization and The Patent Cooperation Treaty.


Introduction. The Riemann sphere, or extended complex plane C«,, has long played an important role in classical function theory. Therefore in abstract function theory, where the range or both the domain and range of an analytic function lie in a Banach space or algebra A, it is natural to pose the problem : how should A be extended to a new structure Am which plays the role of the Riemann sphere? Here we give the solution to this problem, valid when A is a complex commutative Banach algebra with identity. Av is provided with quasi-algebraic, topological, and analytic structure. In §1, the quasi-algebraic structure of Ax is studied, with the exposition being given for the surprisingly abstract context of a commutative ring with identity. We say quasi-algebraic rather than algebraic because elements of A w may only sometimes be added and sometimes multiplied. AK may be regarded as the set obtained by adjoining to A all formal quotients afb of elements of A, where b is singular and both a and b lie in no proper ideal of A. The 2x2 matrices with coefficients in A and invertible determinant induce the fractional linear group of bijections of Am. Ring homomorphisms induce Riemann sphere homomorphisms and fractional linear group homomorphisms which are related ; this lends a functorial tinge to the subject. In §2, we equip Am (where A is now required to be a commutative complex £-algebra with unit) with the unique topology so that A is an open subspace and each fractional linear transformation is a homeomorphism. Locally compact Riemann spheres occur iff A is finite dimensional, and compact Riemann spheres are even rarer. The lifting of algebra homomorphisms to Riemann sphere homomorphisms enables the extension of the Gelfand representation of A to Aœ, as well as the definition of the spectrum of an element of Am. The Riemann sphere construction enables us to replace one disconnectedness phenomenon by another. The mapping a -*■ a~1 is usually regarded as being defined on the (perhaps not connected) set / of invertible elements of A. However, here we regard fl^-a^'asa mapping of all of A x onto itself, and clearly / is contained in the component of Ax which contains A. Unfortunately Example 2.6.5 shows that Am itself need not be connected. A related phenomenon is that the spectrum of an element of A M may be the whole extended plane ; whenever A x is disconnected there are such elements, but not conversely. In §3, we give A " an analytic structure, in which each fractional transformation


The famous Epistola Luciferi , written in late 1351 or early 1352, caused quite a stir in the Avignon of Pope Clement VI , quickly became a medieval best-seller, and thereafter remained topical, being copied and printed down to the present day. Traditionally ascribed to Nicole Oresme or Henry of Langenstein, the letter was attributed to the Cistercian Pierre Ceffons by Damasus Trapp in 1957. Trapp merely took Ceffons' authorship for granted, however, and in the most thorough study of the Epistola Luciferi and of the entire genre of Devil's letters, her 1982 PhD dissertation, Helen C. Feng rejected the attribution. Presenting codices and works of Ceffons of which Trapp was unaware, this article argues in favor of Ceffons' responsibility for the Epistola Luciferi , while offering a new critical edition of the letter, an English translation, and a supplemental list of manuscripts and editions.


Equivalent circuit modeling techniques are described for both small-signal and large-signal models of GaAs MESFETs. The use of large-signal model in an interactive program for amplifier analysis is shown. The computed load-pull results and IMD (intermodulation distortion) predictions are shown to be in good agreement with measured data at 10 GHz. >


approved: ______________________________________________________________________ Michael D. Flowers Proper nitrogen (N) management and variety selection are important for profitable hard red winter (HRW) wheat production in the dryland growing regions of northeastern Oregon. In these dryland systems, N management for grain yield and grain protein concentration (GPC) is challenging due to climatic and year-to-year variation in production environments. However, current fertilizer guides make little distinction between locations and incorporate relatively little data from HRW production. Identifying adequate N management practices and scenarios suitable for HRW production will help producers reduce risk and enhance profits. This study investigates the effects of fertilizer N rate, N application timing, variety and location over six site-years in northeastern Oregon from 2007-2009. Whole plant tissue nitrogen (TN) concentration at Zadoks growth stage (GS) 30 and flag leaf nitrogen (FLN) were also evaluated as decision making tools for N management in this region. Three sites representing low and intermediate precipitation zones were chosen for this study. A site at Pendleton, Oregon represented an intermediate precipitation zone (420 mm), while sites at Lexington and Arlington, Oregon were in a low precipitation (250-300 mm) zone. Study sites were minimally responsive to N treatments in terms of yield. Spring N was less detrimental to yield than fall application when N was excessive at Lexington and Arlington. Grain protein concentration response to fertilizer N was significant and varied by site-year. Some site-years proved favorable for efficient production of high GPC HRW wheat, whereas acceptable GPC was very difficult to achieve in others, underscoring the difficulty of consistently producing high GPC HRW wheat in these regions. Fertilizer N use efficiency was 18-39% at Pendleton, but generally less than 20% at Lexington and Arlington, dropping to zero in some circumstances. At all sites the soil N pool was used more efficiently than fertilizer N, indicating that HRW production is best suited where only minimal fertilizer N is required to complement crop N requirements. Spring N application improved GPC one year at Pendleton following above average late spring rainfall, and may therefore be a useful N management strategy in that environment. In contrast, spring N had a neutral or negative impact on GPC at Lexington and Arlington. Overall, current recommendations did not adequately describe N requirements observed in this study. However, requirements for achieving target GPC were generally lower and more stable at Pendleton, indicating that this and similar environments may be more suitable for HRW production than low yield, high stress environments such as Lexington and Arlington. Varieties showed similar response to N treatments regardless of site. Grain yield of HRW varieties were generally competitive with the soft white winter (SWW) variety 'Stephens'. Among tested HRW varieties, 'Norwest 553' expressed the best combination of yield and GPC performance. The relationship of tissue N (TN) concentration at Zadoks growth stage 30 to GPC was stable across site-years. A critical TN level of 41 g kg corresponded to 126 g kg GPC. This level could be used to indicate when additional N is required to achieve desired GPC, but it remains uncertain how useful this test would be at high stress, low rainfall sites considering the poor response to spring N at Lexington and Arlington. Flag leaf N also showed promise for predicting GPC, but additional research is necessary to clarify this relationship. ©Copyright by Daniel R. Jepsen March 17, 2010 All Rights Reserved Nitrogen Management and Variety Selection for Dryland Production of Hard Red Winter Wheat in Northeastern Oregon


The typical characteristics of seasonal winds were studied around the Pohang using two-stage (average linkage then k-means) clustering technique based on u- and v-component wind at 850 hpa from 2004 to 2006 (obtained the Pohang station) and a high-resolution (0.5 km grid for the finest domain) WRF-UCM model along with an up-to-date detailed land use data during the most predominant pattern in each season. The clustering analysis identified statistically distinct wind patterns (7, 4, 5, and 3 clusters) representing each spring, summer, fall, and winter. During the spring, the prevailed pattern (80 days) showed weak upper northwesterly flow and late sea-breeze. Especially at night, land-breeze developed along the shoreline was converged around Yeongil Bay. The representative pattern (92 days) in summer was weak upper southerly flow and intensified sea-breeze combined with sea surface wind. In addition, convergence zone between the large scale background flow and well-developed land-breeze was transported around inland (industrial and residential areas). The predominant wind distribution (94 days) in fall was similar to that of spring showing weak upper-level flow and distinct sea-land breeze circulation. On the other hand, the wind pattern (117 days) of high frequency in winter showed upper northwesterly and surface westerly flows, which was no change in daily wind direction.


In this research was light up the high clinical effectivity of the diltiazem in patient with arterial hypertension, connected with ischemic heart disease. Monotherapy with the diltiazem had not influenced on the contractive quality of the left ventricle. Therapy with the diltiazem considerably improve the diastolic function of the left ventricle and approach it to the standard. These changes are expressed in the decreasing of pre-load, also indirectly indicates the decreasing of the last-diastolic pressure at the left ventricle.


The method of Marcum for finding the probability density function associated with a pulsed radar with integration and a square law detector is extended to include the case of a randomly modulated sinusoidal signal. Two mathematical procedures are developed, the well‐known Edgeworth asymptotic series and a convergent series suggested by Varma. Sets of curves are drawn for probability of detection vs average signal‐to‐noise power ratio. Some previous work has shown very high values for probability of detection resulting if it is assumed necessary to detect only one out of many pulses. Such probability levels are reduced if a slowly varying random amplitude of signal is postulated.


BACKGROUND
Bilateral sequential cataract surgery within a short period is becoming more prevalent because of the efficiency and safety of modern cataract surgery. It has been reported that the first surgical eye might affect the contralateral eye. This study investigated the cytokines involved in the immunopathogenesis of pre-existing ocular or systemic conditions, as well as the inflammatory biomarkers in response to topical stimuli, by analyzing the cytokine profile of aqueous humor (AH) from cataract patients without these morbidities as control and with type 2 diabetes mellitus (DM), primary angle-closure glaucoma (PACG) or high myopia (HM) in each eye at the beginning of first (defined as baseline) and second eye cataract surgery.

METHODS
Forty patients were recruited in this cohort study (10/group). Bilateral sequential cataract surgeries were conducted at intervals of 12.08 ± 1.2 days. Aqueous humor samples (100-200 μL/eye) were separately collected from 40 first-eyes and 40 second-eyes at the beginning of the cataract surgeries. Twenty-seven selected cytokines were detected with Luminex-multiplex immunoassay. The concentrations of cytokines in the aqueous humor and their association with pre-existing ocular or systemic conditions were analyzed and compared between and within the groups.

RESULTS
Before first-eye surgery (baseline), the levels of interleukin (IL)-1ra, IL-13 and tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-alpha were significantly increased in PACG compared with controls. The levels of IL-13 were increased while that of IL-15 were decreased in HM. Compared with controls, 11 cytokines were significantly increased in DM. In the AH of the contralateral eye after first-eye cataract surgery, basic fibroblast growth factor (bFGF) was significantly more abundant in PACG and HM, while the levels of monocyte chemoattractant protein-1 (MCP-1) and interferon gamma-induced protein 10 (IP-10) were decreased in PACG. We also identified 6 significantly upregulated cytokines in DM compared with controls. Compared with baseline, there was an overlap of 5 altered cytokines in the AH of contralateral eyes after first-eye surgery between the four groups. Some were exclusively altered in each subgroup, with 1 in the control group, 4 cytokines in the PACG and HM groups, and none in the DM group.

CONCLUSIONS
From the initial profile, it is observed that patients with pre-existing ocular or systemic conditions have some degree of inflammation in their eyes before surgery and in the contralateral eye after the first eye cataract surgery, which could be peculiar of the morbid conditions of the patients. Inflammation was more detectable in patients with type 2 DM before surgery. PACG and HM patients showed stronger intraocular inflammatory reactions to topical stimuli compared with controls and DM patients. Our data suggest that ophthalmologists should pay closer attention to inflammatory responses, especially in cataract patients with pre-existing conditions, although the clinical significance of these changes following surgery remains to be further investigated.


Observational constraints on geomagnetic field changes from interannual to millenial periods are reviewed, and the current resolution of field models (covering archeological to satellite eras) is discussed. With the perspective of data assimilation, emphasis is put on uncertainties entaching Gauss coefficients, and on the statistical properties of ground-based records. These latter potentially call for leaving behind the notion of geomagnetic jerks.
The accuracy at which we recover interannual changes also requires considering with caution the apparent periodicity seen in the secular acceleration from satellite data. I then address the interpretation of recorded magnetic fluctuations in terms of core dynamics, highlighting the need for models that allow (or pre-suppose) a magnetic energy orders of magnitudes larger than the kinetic energy at large length-scales, a target for future numerical simulations of the geodynamo. I finally recall the first attempts at implementing geomagnetic data assimilation algorithms.


Background Osteoporosis and related fragility fractures are one of the most common complications seen in patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA). Increased osteoclast activity contributes to local and systemic abnormalities of bone remodelling, including bone erosions and focal and systemic osteoporosis. Receptor Activator of Nuclear Factor Kappa Beta Ligand (RANKL) is essential for osteoclast formation, function, and survival, and it is a key mediator of increased osteoclast activity in RA. As fracture prevention is the major target in prevention and diagnosis of osteoporosis, we are evaluating fracture risk in RA patients using the fracture risk assessment (FRAX) tool developed by the WHO. Moreover, we are searching for a potential association between serum RANKL and fracture risk aiming at identifying patients at high risk of fractures. Objectives To assess the level of serum RANKL in post-menopausal rheumatoid arthritis patients and its correlation with fracture risk using Fracture Risk Assessment Tool (FRAX). Methods We recruited 116 individuals (78 postmenopausal RA patients and 38 age-matched post-menopausal control subjects). All patients and controls were not receiving osteoporosis treatment. We measured serum RANKL, C reactive protein (CRP) and Rheumatoid Factor (RF). Disease activity score (DAS)-28 was used to assess RA activity. We measured bone mineral density (BMD) at lumbar spine (L1- L4), right femur neck and right forearm radius with dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry. We have calculated the absolute 10-year major osteoporotic fracture and hip fracture risks with FRAX tool. Results Mean age was 54.83± 6.6 years in RA patients versus 55.05± 6.2 years in controls. Mean body mass index (BMI) of the patients was 30± 5.6. Mean disease duration was 10.53± 6.6 years. Mean DAS was 3.94± 1.3, mean CRP level was 8± 5.2 mg/L and 76.9% of patients were on steroids. Two of the patients were smokers and no one was taking alcohol. One of the patients reported history of fragility fracture at the forearm but no one reported parent hip fracture. Serum RANKL was significantly higher in RA patients versus controls (971.0pmol/L vs. 177.85 pmol/L, P value <0.0001). Mean BMD of RA patients at lumbar spine was 0.990± 0.2 g/cm2, at femur neck was 0.870±0.19 g/cm2 and at forearm was 0.568± 0.14 g/cm2. Prevalence of osteoporosis in RA patients at lumbar spine was 34.6%, at femur neck was 23.1% and at forearm was 42.3%. Risk of major osteoporotic fracture in RA patients was 8.62% and the risk of hip fracture was 3.3%. There was a highly significant positive correlation between serum RANKL and the risk of major osteoporotic fracture (r =0.736, P value<0.0001). There was a highly significant positive correlation between serum RANKL and the risk of hip fracture (r =0. 859, P value <0.0001). Serum RANKL was negatively correlated with femur neck BMD (r= -0.529, P value <0.001) and negatively correlated with forearm BMD (r= -0.289, P value <0.01). No significant correlation was found between serum RANKL and BMD at lumbar spine, RF, CRP level or DAS-28. Conclusions In post-menopausal RA patients, increased serum RANKL level is associated with an increased risk of major osteoporotic and hip fractures. Therefore, serum RANKL could be a marker to identify post-menopausal RA patients at high risk of fractures. Disclosure of Interest None declared


Abstract Pulmonary hypertension (PH) may complicate connective tissue disease (CTD), particularly systemic sclerosis (SSc, scleroderma), and markedly increases mortality. More than 70% of cases of PH complicating CTD occur in SSc, which is the major focus of this article. Pulmonary complications (i.e., interstitial lung disease [ILD] and PH) are the leading causes of scleroderma-related deaths. "Isolated" PH (i.e., without ILD) complicates SSc in 7.5 to 20% of cases; secondary PH may also occur in patients with SSc-associated ILD. Several clinical markers and specific autoantibody profiles have been associated with PH in SSc. The role of PH-specific therapy is controversial, as prognosis and responsiveness to therapy are worse in SSc-associated PH compared with idiopathic pulmonary arterial hypertension. We discuss medical therapies for CTD-associated PH and the role of lung transplantation for patients failing medical therapy.


The nature of capacity limits within human visual working memory (VWM) remains the subject of controversy: while the capacity-as-objects account predicts that what loads VWM capacity is solely the number of objects maintained, irrespectively of the number of visual features that need to be stored for each object, the capacity-as-features account predicts that also (or – primarily) the total number of features maintained in VWM loads its capacity (and leads to decreased performance). We present novel simulations of a VWM task, using our existing, oscillatory computational model that describes the binding of features into objects as resulting from the proper synchronization and desynchronization of rhythmical changes in neuronal activity. The model predicted (in line with wide evidence) that VWM performance decreases with the increasing number of objects, but also decreases (although not as sharply as predicted by the capacity-as-features account) as a function of increasing number of features. The model attempts to explain what precise characteristics of oscillatory dynamics stand behind such two sources of VWM limitation. However, the complete pattern of the model's predictions remains yet to be examined empirically.