I n this issue of the journal, we have four Review Articles, six Original Articles, one Short Communication, one Case Report and two Letters to the Editor. I would like to pay close attention to the interesting papers that reported and discussed current topics of prostate cancer. Masuda et al. (Tokyo, Japan) explored the relationship between body mass index (BMI) and prostate cancer risk at biopsy in Japanese men, and compared the risk with that of Caucasian men. They retrospectively evaluated Japanese men with prostate-specific antigen (PSA) levels from 2.5 to 19.9 ng/mL undergoing an initial extended prostate biopsy. There was a significant positive relationship between BMI and prostate cancer risk at biopsy, with an increased risk observed in men whose BMI was 27.0, compared with the reference group. A significantly increased risk starting at BMI 25.0 was found in high-grade disease. In contrast to their results, there has been no reported increase in the risk of prostate cancer at biopsy in Caucasians within the overweight range (BMI of 25.0–29.9). The authors concluded that Japanese men within the overweight BMI range who have an elevated PSA also have a significant risk of harboring prostate cancer, especially high-grade disease, and that overweight Japanese might be at greater prostate cancer risk at biopsy than overweight Caucasians. The accuracy of the Japan Cancer of the Prostate Risk Assessment (J-CAPRA) score, which was developed as a risk stratification instrument for patients undergoing primary androgen deprivation therapy, was externally validated for predicting cause-specific survival (CSS) among patients in the USA community-based Cancer of the Prostate Strategic Urologic Research Endeavor (CaPSURE) registry; however, there have been no investigations to validate the accuracy of the J-CAPRA score in predicting progression-free survival (PFS) along with analysis of clinical situation. Kitagawa et al. (Kanazawa, Japan) examined whether the clinical outcomes of patients treated by combined androgen blockade (CAB) with bicalutamide could be stratified using the J-CAPRA score. The factors used in the J-CAPRA points were significant predictors of PFS, and clinical T stage and M stage were also significant predictors of PFS. The probabilities of PFS and CSS were significantly different among the groups categorized according to the J-CAPRA risk strata. The authors concluded that the J-CAPRA score is a useful tool for predicting the clinical outcomes of patients with prostate cancer treated by CAB including bicalutamide. Several papers of laparoendoscopic single-site surgery in urology have been published, but just a few cases of radical prostatectomy have been reported. Nakane et al. (Anjo, Japan) showed the early outcomes of an original two-port laparoendoscopic approach for radical prostatectomy. A multichannel port with three 5-mm trocars, providing easier instrument handling, was inserted extraperitoneally through a 2.5-cm lower umbilical "U" incision. An additional 12-mm port was inserted into the left fossa to allow an adequate working angle. The operation was successfully completed in all 22 patients with early-stage prostate cancer; only one patient required an additional 5-mm port to control bleeding. There were no intraoperative complications. The authors concluded that this new procedure can be safely carried out if the surgeon is familiar with conventional five-port laparoscopic radical prostatectomy. Paraneoplastic limbic encephalitis (PLE) is a rare tumor-related syndrome, and the prognosis for neurological recovery and survival is poor. The neoplasms most frequently associated with PLE are small cell lung cancer and testicular cancer. Jakobsen et al. (Viborg, Denmark) reported a rare case of prostate cancer-related PLE. The authors showed that high-risk prostate cancer can trigger PLE, a rapidly progressive neurological syndrome with a bad prognosis.


This paper addresses the problem of improving the quality of measurement calibration and reconstruction using an artificial neural network (ANN) for a linear and nonlinear dynamic measuring system. The reconstruction consists of a regularized inversion of the operator of conversion, i.e., finding an operator of reconstruction. A recurrent multilayered neural network structure is used to model the operator of reconstruction. We present numerical results from synthetic and real world data in spectrometric problems. The ANN method studied has been used for correcting the data acquired by means of the optical spectrum analyzer. However, a broadfield of engineering applications including channel equalization, metrology, biomedical engineering, echography and seismology can be considered. A comparison is carried out to test the robustness of the method regarding noise level added to the measured samples and VLSI implementation properties with popular methods of correction.


The BioFlux system (Figure 1) offers a physiologically-relevant platform for running vascular biology assays such as platelet adhesion and thrombosis. These assays often require the use of whole blood or its components to maximize biological relevance. Fluxion's Well Plate MicrofluidicTM technology makes it easy to run whole blood assays because all of the fluidic reagents are neatly contained in the well plate rather than being distributed through a messy network of tubing (Figure 2). The microfluidic format uses substantially less blood (up to 100 times less) than conventional flow cells. This enables more experimental conditions using the same human donor or mouse model.


Randomized clinical trials provide the best evidence on the effect of treatment studied. There are different types of measures on the treatment effect, depending on the endpoints of the trials. For a given measure, based on the data from clinical trials, various statistical procedures are available for the inference of the treatment effect in terms of this measure. In a cancer clinical trial with a time to an event as the endpoint, hazard ratio is a popular measure for the relative difference between treatment groups. Most current statistical inference procedures for hazard ratio rely on the proportional hazard assumption, which may not be applicable to practice when it does not hold. Nonparametric confidence intervals for the hazard ratio have been proposed based on the asymptotic normality of the kernel estimate for the hazard ratio, but they were found not very satisfactory in the simulation studies. In the first part of this thesis, the empirical likelihood method is used to construct the confidence interval for the timedependent hazard ratio. The asymptotic distribution of the empirical likelihood ratio is derived and simulation studies are conducted to evaluate the proposed method. It was also argued that the measure of the relative treatment effect based on the hazard ratio may be difficult to understand by clinicians. An alternative measure called probabilistic index was suggested and the C-index was proposed to estimate this ii index. However, it was pointed out recently that the expected value of the estimate based on the C-index may be far removed from the true index. In the second part of this thesis, assuming a semi-parametric density ratio model, two new estimates based on respectively the conditional likelihood and weighted empirical likelihood are proposed. Associated confidence intervals are also derived based on the bootstrap resampling method. The proposed inference procedures are evaluated by Monte-Carlo simulations and applied to the analysis of data from a clinical trial on early breast cancer. After primary analysis including all patients is completed in clinical trials, analysis by subgroups defined based on covariates of patients is often of interest to assess the homogeneity of treatment effects over these subgroups. The treatment-covariate interaction is usually used for this assessment. In the last part of this thesis, a nonparametric measure is used to quantify the interaction between treatments and binary covariates in the presence of censoring. Asymptotic distribution of the interaction estimates are derived and the bootstrap method is applied to construct the confidence intervals. The proposed approaches are also evaluated and compared by Monte-Carlo simulations and applied to a real data set from clinical trial.


Recently, we have shown how the friction experienced by nanowires pushed by an AFM tip can be determined by measuring their radius of curvature after manipulation [1]. It is of fundamental interest to know whether the wires behave like macroscopic objects, or if they are more like true atomic-scale point contacts where friction becomes independent of the applied normal force. Here we study how the friction between InAs nanowires and a SiN layer on conductive silicon varies when a DC voltage is applied. The tip charges the capacitor formed by the wire and the silicon back contact, causing attractive Coulomb forces and so increasing the contact pressure. A monotonic increase of the sliding friction with voltage was observed. This implies that the friction increases with the normal force and that this mesoscopic system behaves more like a macroscopic contact, despite being only nanometers in size in the direction of motion.


We show that different flavors of TCP may be viewed as implementations of age-based scheduling disciplines. By parameterizing the scheduling disciplines of interest we are able to position variants of TCP in a wide spectrum having FCFS (first-come first-served) and LAS (least attained service first) as extremal policies, and including PS (processor sharing) as an intermediate case. We argue that for highly loaded systems, providing a fair bandwidth allocation among all users is secondary to ensuring network stability. So as to isolate protocol fairness from congestion effects, we therefore focus on scenarios with infinite buffers. This way, asymmetries in capacity shares are the consequences of the protocol only, and not affected by the packet loss process. The model, however, is flexible enough to include finite buffers with random packet loss as a special case (for example to capture Active Queue Management). The results are helpful in studying fairness and performance concerned with transmission protocols in communication networks. For persistent HTTP connections we study the distributions of the transmission rates and the relative fairness index under various assumptions on the file size distributions and scheduling disciplines. For infinite file sizes, we show that protocols that increase priority more than linearly with the attained service asymptotically behave similar to FCFS. In contrast, protocols with at most linearly increasing (or even decreasing) priority, with TCP's Congestion Avoidance mechanism as the most prominent example, converge to PS scheduling (even in absence of losses). When the priority is exactly linear in the attained service, such as for scalable TCP and TCP's slow start phase, the shares remain constant in between file initiations and completions.


Investigations of spectrum adjustment by unfolding techniques for different locations of critical and driven subcritical MUSE4 configurations are presented. The current analysis is based on the recent accomplishment of specific foil activation measurements and on the use of the unfolding code STAY'SL in conjunction with IRDF-90 and IRDF-2002 dosimetry libraries. Specific developments have been conducted to consider the uncertainties associated with the determination of the experimental absolute reaction rates and the initial calculated spectrum in the most realistic manner. In this context, the iterative adjustment process for the neutron spectrum is established on the basis of variance/covariance matrices defined for the three types of input parameters, i.e., the experimental reaction rates, the initial spectrum, and the dosimetry nuclear data files. The results highlight the spectral variations between different locations of the MUSE4 cores, in particular the characteristic behavior of a subcritical configuration driven by an external T(d,n)He 4 (14 MeV neutrons) source. Copyright 2006 by ASTM International.


In this paper we propose a fast image reconstruction procedure for dynamic images from gated SPECT acquisition. We divide the cardiac cycle into a number of gate intervals as in gated SPECT, but treat the tracer distribution for each gate as a time-varying signal. To speed up the reconstruction procedure, we derive an ordered-subset version of the dynamic expectation-maximization (dEM) algorithm, and apply motion- compensated temporal filtering to enforce the correlation among the different gates. We simulated gated cardiac perfusion imaging using the gated mathematical cardiac-torso(gMCAT) phantom with Tc99m-Teboroxime dynamics. Our experimental results demonstrate that the proposed method can reconstruct gated dynamic images faster than the regular dEM algorithm, and that temporal smoothing is more effective than spatial smoothing for noise reduction.


Numerous drugs are currently under accelerated clinical investigation for the treatment of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID‐19); however, well‐established safety and efficacy data for these drugs are limited. The goal of this study was to predict the potential of 25 small molecule drugs in clinical trials for COVID‐19 to cause clinically relevant drug‐drug interactions (DDIs), which could lead to potential adverse drug reactions (ADRs) with the use of concomitant medications. We focused on 11 transporters, which are targets for DDIs. In vitro potency studies in membrane vesicles or HEK293 cells expressing the transporters coupled with DDI risk assessment methods revealed that 20 of the 25 drugs met the criteria from regulatory authorities to trigger consideration of a DDI clinical trial. Analyses of real‐world data from electronic health records, including a database representing nearly 120,000 patients with COVID‐19, were consistent with several of the drugs causing transporter‐mediated DDIs (e.g., sildenafil, chloroquine, and hydroxychloroquine). This study suggests that patients with COVID‐19, who are often older and on various concomitant medications, should be carefully monitored for ADRs. Future clinical studies are needed to determine whether the drugs that are predicted to inhibit transporters at clinically relevant concentrations, actually result in DDIs.


OBJECTIVE
Recently, the Th1/Th2 paradigm has been expanded by the discovery of Th17 cells, a subset of CD4+ memory T cells characterized by their unique ability to secrete interleukin-17 (IL-17) family cytokines. Importantly, Th17 cells appear to be intimately involved in autoimmunity. We undertook the present study to investigate whether the Th17/IL-23 system is up-regulated in Sjögren's syndrome (SS).

METHODS
Sera, saliva, and salivary glands from C57BL/6.NOD-Aec1Aec2 mice (a model for primary SS), as well as sera, saliva, and salivary gland biopsy specimens obtained from patients with primary SS, were evaluated for IL-17 and IL-23 expression by immunohistochemistry, real-time polymerase chain reaction, and the Luminex system.

RESULTS
Immunohistochemical stainings of submandibular glands from C57BL/6.NOD-Aec1Aec2 mice and of salivary gland biopsy specimens from SS patients revealed strong positive staining for both IL-17 and IL-23 within lymphocytic foci and diffuse staining on epithelial tissues. Temporal expression of IL-17 and IL-23 in submandibular glands of C57BL/6.NOD-Aec1Aec2 mice correlated with expression of retinoic acid-related orphan receptor gammat, the Th17 cell master control gene. While IL-17 could not be detected in saliva from 4-20-week-old C57BL/6.NOD-Aec1Aec2 mice, this cytokine was present in the blood of mice up to age 16 weeks. This contrasted with sera and saliva from SS patients, in which IL-17 and IL-6 were present at varying levels.

CONCLUSION
These results suggest that the Th17/IL-23 system is up-regulated in C57BL/6.NOD-Aec1Aec2 mice and SS patients at the time of disease. A correlation between up-regulated IL-17/IL-23 expression and specific clinical manifestations of SS has yet to be identified.


Here we report that synapses in the adult dorsal vagal complex, a gateway for many primary afferent fibers, express a high level of the polysialylated neural cell adhesion molecule (PSA-NCAM). We show that electrical stimulation of the vagal afferents causes a rapid decrease of PSA-NCAM expression both in vivo and in acute slices. Inhibition of NMDA receptor activity completely prevented the decrease. Blockade of calmodulin activation, neuronal nitric oxide (NO) synthase, or soluble guanylyl cyclase and chelation of extracellular NO mimicked this inhibition. Our data provide a mechanistic framework for understanding how activity-linked stimulation of the NMDA–NO–cGMP pathway induces rapid changes in PSA-NCAM expression, which may be associated with long-term depression.


Appearing livestock modernity due to a greater dependency on the market and actions follows the capitalistic logic of production. This study focuses on the mode of production in developing dairy cattle in the modernity era. Data collection was carried out through observations, recordings, and deep interviews for key informants using the snowball technique. The data were compiled in forms of field notes and audio records transferring into written transcription. Those data were then analyzed using thematic analysis. This study found out that the forces of production in dairy farms are based on simple technology, and subsistence needs orientation. Also, this study becomes aware of the social relations of production in dairy farms are based on a low division of labor and combine morality and rationality based on production organizations. Thus, the mode of production of dairy farming is a non-capitalistic. This research contributes to the modernization theory that the modernization process is not always displayed by changes from non-capitalistic to capitalistic modes of production. It is expected that dairy farming is no longer considered a side job, but is a promising and attractive job for the younger generation. Thus, this condition encourages the emergence of young breeders who certainly have better abilities than the current breeders. The increasing entrepreneurial spirit of farmers, it is expected to have an impact on increasing income and employment. Production mode also plays an essential function to assist in increasing output per labor unit. Labor productivity is projected to rise through innovation and technology.


The popular image of the winery remains the picturesque European chateau, but a growing number of winemakers around the world are seeking a fresh approach. Architects are being challenged to rethink the winery as a bold contemporary expression of tradition and innovation, agriculture and technology, production and hospitality: powerful architecture with a serious purpose. This refreshing book by well-known architectural writer Michael Webb contains a selection of wineries designed by architects such as Frank Gehry, Zaha Hadid, Renzo Piano, Steven Holl, Herzog & de Meuron, Santiago Calatrava, Rafael Moneo, Glenn Murcutt, Norman Foster, and more. Each project has been carefully chosen for its architectural excellence and offers a new perspective on an age-old craft and an adventurous approach to building. The locations are evocative: California, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Italy, Austria, Spain, Chile, and Argentina. The featured projects provide an introduction to the neophyte and are a delight for the connoisseur. Award-winning architectural photographer Erhard Pfeiffer's spectacular photography leads the reader to some of the most idyllic places on earth.


The Northeast Asia Economic Forum (NEAEF) is a regional nongovernmental organization created in 1991 to sponsor and facilitate research, networking, and dialogue relevant to the economic and social development of Northeast Asia. The Forum is also committed to promoting understanding and relations among the peoples of Northeast Asia, North America, and Europe. NEAEF's main objective is to conduct research and conference activities aimed at functional economic cooperation such as cross-border energy, transportation and logistics infrastructure development, and capital mobilization. The Forum holds annual conferences, workshops, and seminars for planning, facilitating, coordinating, and implementing international and interdisciplinary solutions to common policy problems. It is the only nongovernmental regional organization in which all the nations of Northeast Asia and the US are consistent and active participants. For the year 2016, NEAEF in collaboration with the Korea Institute for International Economic Policy (KIEP), carried out activities aimed at building a Northeast Asian economic community. NEAEF has established the basis of a strong network for functional cooperation, for example, regular discussions among stakeholders on financing cross border infrastructure development. For the year 2016, the goal was to take more concrete steps toward a Northeast Asian economic community including efforts to increase dialogue with North Korea, with a view to future functional cooperation. NEAEF has continued to maintain a cooperative networking approach and exchanges with North Korea regarding the Tumen River Area and North Korean special economic zones. This year's volume titled, Consensus Toward a Northeast Asian Economic Community presents the results of a project implemented in 2016 that includes the planning meeting discussions as well as the presentations and summaries of the 2016 NEAEF Annual Conference in Changchun, China.


1975-1985-1995-2005 — the decennial Aarhus conferences have traditionally been instrumental for setting new agendas for critically engaged thinking about information technology. The conference series is fundamentally interdisciplinary and emphasizes thinking that is firmly anchored in action, intervention, and schol- arly critical practice. With the title Critical Computing – between sense and sen- sibility, the 2005 edition of the conference marked that computing was rapidly seeping into everyday life. In 2015, we see critical alternatives in alignment with utopian principles—that is, the aspiration that life might not only be different but also radically better. At the same time, radically better alternatives do not emerge out of nowhere: they emerged from contested analyses of the mundane present and demand both commitment and labor to work towards them. Critical alternatives matter and make people reflect. The fifth decennial Aarhus conference, Critical Alternatives, in 2015 aims to set new agendas for theory and practice in computing for quality of human life. While the early Aarhus conferences, from 1975 and onwards, focused on computing in working life, computing today is influencing most parts of human life (civic life, the welfare state, health, learning, leisure, culture, intimacy, ...), thereby calling for critical alternatives from a general quality of life perspective. The papers selected for the conference have undergone a meticulous reviewing process looking at methodical soundness as well as potentials for the creating alternatives and provoking debate. Among 71 full and short paper submissions 21 were accepted. The accepted papers span a broad range of positions and concerns ranging from play to politics. We would like to express great thanks for help and support to the numerous peo- ple who have contributed to making the conference possible. In particular we want to thank Marianne Dammand and Ann Molhave for secretarial help, including reg- istration and hotel arrangements. We want to thank the center for Participatory IT (PIT) and the Department of Computer Science, University of Aarhus for providing resources for the planning and operation of the conference. We hope that the conference will inspire critical and alternative thinking and action for the next decennium.


Full adders are important components in applications such as digital signal processors (DSP) architectures and microprocessors. In this paper, we propose a technique to build a total of 41 new 10-transistor full adders using novel XOR and XNOR gates in combination with existing ones. We have done over 10,000 HSPICE simulation runs of all the different adders in different input patterns, frequencies, and load capacitances. Almost all those new adders consume less power in high frequencies, while three new adders consistently consume on average 10% less power and have higher speed compared with the previous 10-transistor full adder and the conventional 28-transistor CMOS adder. One draw back of the new adders is the threshold-voltage loss of the pass transistors.


Background and Goal of Study: Noninvasive ventilation (NIV) is of ten used in hypoxemic acute respiratory failure (ARF) while controversial [1]. NIV failure (i.e. intubation) can be over 60 % [2]. The lack of early clinical and oxygenation improvement is a strong predictor of failure [3]. High flow nasal cannula oxygen therapy (HF-O2, OptiflowTM) could improve oxygenation and help retain the benefit from one NIV session to the other. The aim of the study was to determine whether HF-O2 in alternation with NIV could improve clinical status and gas exchange and avoid intubation. Materials and Methods: The hospital ethics commit tee approved the protocol. This one-centre study investigated on non-COPD patients admit ted in the ICU with an isolated ARF and a PaO2/FiO2 ratio< 200 using a standard face mask. The strategy consisted in cycles that included, in this order, a HFO2 session (1h) and a NIV session (1 to 2h). The primary outcome was the response to the treatment af ter 2 cycles, defined by a PaO2/FiO2 ratio> 200 or by a respiratory rate (RR)< 25 breaths/min or decreased by 20 % from baseline. Objective criteria for intubation had been defined. RR, heart rate, blood pressure and arterial blood gas were recorded at baseline and at the end of each session. Results: During 12 months, 28 patients (age 61, SAPS II 36, medians) were eligible. Diagnoses included pneumonia (n=18), postoperative ARF (n=3), cardiogenic pulmonary edema (n=2) and others (n=5). The strategy allowed a quick and sustained improvement in PaO2/FiO2 (187 vs 132, p< 0.001) and tachypnea (26 vs 31 breaths/min, p=0.002) af ter 2 cycles (medians). PaCO2 and arterial pH did not vary. 20/28 (71 %) patients were responders. Nonresponse was not correlated with subsequent need for intubation (p=0,09). Intubation was avoided in 18/28 (64 %) patients. Patients who did not require intubation had a lower RR at baseline (p=0,02) and af ter 2 cycles (p< 0,01) than intubated patients, a shorter ICU length of stay (p=0,003) and fewer severe infectious complications (p=0,003). Conclusion: The association HF-O2/NIV improves gas exchange and tachypnea. It could reduce the need for intubation. A multicentre randomized controlled trial comparing this strategy with conventional treatment is underway to assess the reality of this benefit. References: 1. Crit Care Med. 2004;32:2516-23 2. SchetCrit Care Med. 2008;36:441-7 3. Intensive Care Med. 2001;27:1718-28


To study whether glucose affects total islet Ca content, 45Ca content was measured in isolated pancreatic islets, loaded with 45Ca++, during up to 48 h in tissue culture conditions. In islets maintained in 2.8 mM or 8.3 mM glucose the 45Ca content did not increase further after 24 h, indicating that, at this time point, islets are in isotopie equilibrium. Islets maintained in 8.3 mM glucose had a significantly higher Ca content of 9 pmol/islet than the 5 pmol of islets maintained in 2.8 mM glucose. An increase in the glucose concentration from 2.8 mM to 8.3 mM after 24 h, in the continued presence of 45Ca++, caused a significant and rapid augmentation of the Ca content (+ 2.5 pmol/islet/5 min). Conversely, a decrease of the glucose concentration from 8.3 mM to 2.8 mM resulted in a rapid loss of cellular Ca. Thus, glucose rapidly affects the total Ca content of islets, the turnover of Ca amounting to approximately 10% of the total content per minute. Islets maintained in 8.3 mM glucose for 24 h exhibited a greater insulin release in response to 16.7 mM glucose than islets maintained for 24 h in 2.8 mM glucose. The increased response, however, was not correlative with the difference in Ca content.


Background Current immunotherapy for patients with high-risk neuroblastoma involves the therapeutic antibody dinutuximab that targets GD2, a ganglioside expressed on the majority of neuroblastoma tumors. Opsonized tumor cells are killed through antibody-dependent cellular cytotoxicity (ADCC), a process mediated by various immune cells, including neutrophils. The capacity of neutrophils to kill dinutuximab-opsonized tumor cells can be further enhanced by granulocyte-macrophage colony-stimulating factor (GM-CSF), which has been shown in the past to improve responses to anti-GD2 immunotherapy. However, access to GM-CSF (sargramostim) is limited outside of Northern America, creating a high clinical need for an alternative method to stimulate dinutuximab responsiveness in the treatment of neuroblastoma. In this in vitro study, we have investigated whether clinically well-established granulocyte colony-stimulating factor (G-CSF) can be a potentially suitable alternative for GM-CSF in the dinutuximab immunotherapy regimen of patients with neuroblastoma. Methods We compared the capacity of neutrophils stimulated either in vitro or in vivo with GM-CSF or G-CSF to kill dinutuximab-opsonized GD2-positive neuroblastoma cell lines and primary patient tumor material. Blocking experiments with antibodies inhibiting either respective Fc gamma receptors (FcγR) or neutrophil integrin CD11b/CD18 demonstrated the involvement of these receptors in the process of ADCC. Flow cytometry and live cell microscopy were used to quantify and visualize neutrophil-neuroblastoma interactions. Results We found that G-CSF was as potent as GM-CSF in enhancing the killing capacity of neutrophils towards neuroblastoma cells. This was observed with in vitro stimulated neutrophils, and with in vivo stimulated neutrophils from both patients with neuroblastoma and healthy donors. Enhanced killing due to GM-CSF or G-CSF stimulation was consistent regardless of dinutuximab concentration, tumor-to-neutrophil ratio and concentration of the stimulating cytokine. Both GM-CSF and G-CSF stimulated neutrophils required FcγRIIa and CD11b/CD18 integrin to perform ADCC, and this was accompanied by trogocytosis of tumor material by neutrophils and tumor cell death in both stimulation conditions. Conclusions Our preclinical data support the use of G-CSF as an alternative stimulating cytokine to GM-CSF in the treatment of high-risk neuroblastoma with dinutuximab, warranting further testing of G-CSF in a clinical setting.


Understanding relationships between sets is an important analysis task that has received widespread attention in the visualization community. The major challenge in this context is the combinatorial explosion of the number of set intersections if the number of sets exceeds a trivial threshold. In this paper we introduce UpSet, a novel visualization technique for the quantitative analysis of sets, their intersections, and aggregates of intersections. UpSet is focused on creating task-driven aggregates, communicating the size and properties of aggregates and intersections, and a duality between the visualization of the elements in a dataset and their set membership. UpSet visualizes set intersections in a matrix layout and introduces aggregates based on groupings and queries. The matrix layout enables the effective representation of associated data, such as the number of elements in the aggregates and intersections, as well as additional summary statistics derived from subset or element attributes. Sorting according to various measures enables a task-driven analysis of relevant intersections and aggregates. The elements represented in the sets and their associated attributes are visualized in a separate view. Queries based on containment in specific intersections, aggregates or driven by attribute filters are propagated between both views. We also introduce several advanced visual encodings and interaction methods to overcome the problems of varying scales and to address scalability. UpSet is web-based and open source. We demonstrate its general utility in multiple use cases from various domains.


Despite a number of reforms to education, concern over teachers' knowledge and confidence to teach physical education persists. This thesis examines the process of becoming a primary physical educator at the initial stage of a teacher's career. The aim of which is to consider the ways beginning teachers source their professional knowledge and the implications this has on their confidence to teach. The study argues for a clear articulation of the subject's knowledge-base and proposes a framework for the development of knowledge in primary physical education initial teacher education. Participants were drawn from a range of providers in England and were in the final year of their programme. The research adopted a mixed method approach using an online survey to obtain quantitative data and interviews to elicit constructs about beliefs from four case-study participants. The study identified that beginning teachers had perceived high levels of confidence across the subject's knowledge-base, but areas of most and least confidence were varied and personal to the individual. The sourcing of knowledge was mainly drawn from school and university settings, but in many cases personal interests and prior experiences formed a central role in sourcing content knowledge when no opportunity was presented. Despite the varying routes that exist to become a primary physical educator, this research argues that all beginning teachers require a breadth of knowledge during initial teacher preparation, with university and school partnerships offering explicit roles in developing professional knowledge to a secure level. It further argues that it is through a focus on individual teacher transformation, not merely reflection that will ensure inherent challenges faced by primary physical education will be addressed.


Research into students' first-year university experiences suggests that student perceptions during the transition period in the first semester at university may be critical in their decision to continue or discontinue tertiary studies. Understanding what enables successful transition informs and provides insights into student experiences, expectations and outcomes. The research uses a pragmatic approach with mixed methods. Firstly, through qualitative research, students' perceptions are obtained by in-depth interviews and focus groups that capture the first and second-order perspectives of existing students at the end of first-year studies. The second stage uses the themes emerging from interviews and focus groups to develop and inform an 80-item questionnaire. The instrument developed is used to collect data from students (n=771) in a large first-year core business course during the first few weeks of students' university life. Key findings from the research are the identification of seven enabling factors that fall into two main groups, intrinsic or student-centred and extrinsic or university-led. Identifying enablers of transition as multi-dimensional provides universities with the opportunity to concentrate on extrinsic elements in order to assist successful transition to higher education.


The demand for more reliable methods of predicting the stress-strain relationship of large particle soils, and for more realistic assessment of the influence of grain characteristics on the shear behavior of cohesionless materials, makes it very important that the geotechnical profession develop a reliable modeling technique to accurately evaluate the effects of test and specimen variables. Large size particles in a soil matrix make it difficult to determine the strength parameters using conventional laboratory equipment. The relevant properties of the prototype materials (which contain large size particles) could be evaluated by using laboratory-reconstructed specimens with smaller particle sizes. Traditionally, shear strengths of different types of cohesionless soils were compared using a constant relative density or void ratio. It was found that because of the differences in the range of limiting densities, soils with a constant relative density or void ratio but with different grain sizes would undergo different behavior during shear. At a constant void ratio or a constant relative density, some soils may experience volume increase; others may undergo a volume decrease; still others may experience no volume change during shear. Thus, comparing the shear strengths of different types of soils (that is, different grain size materials) based on the soils' relative densities or void ratios may led to inaccurate conclusions. The model should be based instead on the soils' response under the applied loads rather than their states of compaction. This paper presents a new model (percent dilatation) whereby the shear strength of cohesionless soils, comprised of different particle sizes, can be compared and studied based on their behaviors during shear. The percent dilatation (PD) model was developed using data from 178 drained static triaxial tests, designed and conducted to study the effects of soil density, confining pressure, moisture content, and grain characteristics (size, gradation, shape, and particle angularity) on the shear strength of cohesionless soils.


We have used two different sets of assimilated input wind fields (United Kingdom Meteorological Office (UKMO), NASA) to drive the transport in a three-dimensional global chemical transport model. In a first experiment the distribution of carbon 14 after nuclear bomb testing in the early 1960s was simulated. The second, more comprehensive experiment consists of a comparison of simulated nitrous oxide (N 2 O) distributions for both input wind fields against CLAES satellite measurements. Both experiments show that the NASA winds are producing too much upward transport in the equatorial area. By analyzing the Eulerian-mean conservation equation for zonal mean mixing ratios, we were able to show that these model differences are initially caused by differences in the mean residual circulations in the two different wind field sets but that because the latitudinal gradients remain steeper in the NASA results, differences in isentropic mixing rates are also evident. The NASA residual mean circulation in the equatorial lower stratosphere in the model is higher than the UKMO residual mean circulation by about a factor of 2. However, there is also evidence that isentropic mixing rates are too large in the subtropics in both models, and there is evidence from the N 2 O comparisons of overly large amplitudes of wavenumbers 4 to 7 in the tropics and subtropics in the models. Filtering the incoming wind fields to eliminate wavenumbers larger than 10 resulted in only minor improvements in the model comparisons against CLAES observations. Because of the significant discrepancies between the model simulations, using either one of the wind field sets, and the observations, we recommend care in using these assimilated winds for long-term model studies in general. Both wind field sets, however, produced good simulations of strong intrusions of tropical air into midlatitudes of the upper stratosphere in September 1992.


Barleys studied (Chariot and Delibes) contained different levels of extractable β-amylase enzymes. The potential levels of β-amylase enzymes of the two varieties studied were similar at 1.4 to 1.7% total nitrogen. Higher values of potential β-amylase enzyme were observed in the Delibes barley of higher total nitrogen of 1.9%. The higher level of β-amylase found in the barleys with the highest total nitrogen was not reflected in the protein banding patterns as revealed by SDS-PAGE protein fractionation. Extraction of barley proteins was largely influenced by the different extractants used. The alcohol soluble proteins, M r 97 kDa (D-hordeins), were only extracted when mercaptoethanol was included in the extracting solution. Although barleys with the highest nitrogen (1.9%) had the highest apparent potential to develop β-amylase enzymes, the better modified low nitrogen barleys produced higher levels of β-amylase and α-amylase when malted. Dehusking revealed that the high nitrogen barleys contained more steely grains. In contrast, the low nitrogen barleys contained more mealy grains. Steely grains contained more nitrogen than mealy grains and had the greater potential to develop β-amylase. Notwithstanding, the results of this study suggested that the proteins of the lower nitrogen barleys (1.4-1.7%) were capable of producing higher levels of β-amylase and α-amylase than the higher nitrogen barleys (1.9%) over comparable periods of malting. The high apparent β-amylase potential of the barley was linked to high nitrogen levels and associated high levels of steeliness, whilst the corresponding high β-amylase levels of malt were linked to the efficiency of endosperm modification of the malted grain.


To the Editor.—Silverstein et al1report that in their clinic, breast cancers diagnosed in women with augmentation mammoplasties were more advanced than in nonaugmented patients. They imply that the delay in diagnosis is due to the implant obscuring and compressing the breast, thus reducing the effectiveness of mammography. In light of published evidence that they did not discuss, and in light of potentially serious design flaws in their study, their data do not support their conclusions and should be considered with great skepticism. Specialty clinics in large urban areas are exceptionally vulnerable to referral bias that can produce overestimations or underestimations of associations. No referral information is provided, and the fact that none of the augmented patients presented until their masses had been palpable for up to two years (mean, 123 days) suggests that the behavior of these patients may be much different from that of the nonaugmented


The Lewis Research Center cold-flow model externally blown flap (EBF) noise research test program is summarized. Both engine under-the-wing and over-the-wing EBF wing section configurations were studied. Ten large scale and nineteen small scale EBF models were tested. A limited number of forward airspeed effect and flap noise suppression tests were also run. The key results and conclusions drawn from the flap noise tests are summarized and discussed.


Abstract : Development of improved computer codes for solving the MHD problem has led to improved techniques for inverting the large matrixes that appear in the formulation and application of STD Research Corporation's direct solution of the electrical part of the MHD problem. Application of the STD Research MHD-generator-simulation computer codes to real MHD channels has verified the validity and accuracy of these codes by direct comparison with large-scale experiments. The influence of wall roughness on MHD channel performance has been studied theoretically and it has been found that roughness effects are calculable and in good agreement with experiments. A new phenomenon peculiar to MHD flows, electromagnetic roughness, has been discovered but its investigation was limited to qualitative predictions. The influence of electrode coatings, electron temperature elevation, thermochemistry and transport property changes in the boundary layer was investigated and it was concluded that most losses in MHD generators originate in the boundary layer and electrode voltage drops are calculable with high accuracy. Methods for significantly improving the performance and longevity of MHD generators by boundary layer and surface coating control were investigated theoretically and small-scale experiments for verifying these results are recommended.


We investigated the influence of spatial aggregation on modeled forest responses to climate change by applying the process-based Terrestrial Ecosystem Model (TEM) to a fine resolution spatial grid (100 km2) and to a coarse resolution spatial grid (2500 km2). Three climate scenarios were simulated: baseline (present) climate with ambient CO2 and 2 future climates derived from the general circulation models OSU and GFDL-Q with elevated atmospheric CO2. For baseline climate, the aggregation error of the national (U.S.) study area was very small, –0.4%. Forest-level aggregation error ranged from –1.6 to 11.8%, with the largest aggregation error occurring in boreal forest types. Coarse grid resolution inputs underestimated production for boreal and forested boreal wetland forests and overestimated net primary production (NPP) for temperate conifer, temperate deciduous, and temperate forested wetland forests. Aggregation error for coarse grid cells ranged between –25.6 and 27.3%. Aggregation errors were especially large in transition regions between temperate and boreal forest types. An analysis that homogenized inputs for the 10 km grid cells within a 50 km grid indicated that aggregation of forest types and air temperature from fine to coarse grid cells contributed most to the spatial aggregation error. The aggregation error for the OSU climate was similar to the GFDL-Q climate and both results were similar to the aggregation error of the baseline climate in magnitude, sign, and spatial pattern. While aggregation error was similar across the baseline, GFDL-Q and OSU scenarios, NPP response to the GFDL-Q and OSU climates increased 13 to 30% above the baseline NPP. Within each climate scenario, the estimated NPP response to climate change differed by less than 1% between the coarse and fine resolutions. Except for transition regions and regions with substantial variability in air temperature, our simulations indicate that the use of 0.5° resolution provides an acceptable level of aggregation error at the 3 scales of analysis in this study. Improvements could be made by focusing computational intensity in heterogeneous regions and avoid computational intensity in regions that are relatively homogeneous with respect to vegetation and air temperature.


In this work, we evaluate the performance of relay selection over Nakagami-m fading channels in the presence of a cluster of full-duplex decode-and-forward relays with selfinterference. Specifically, we derive the exact cumulative distribution function of the end-to-end signal-to-interference-plus-noise ratio in the presence of a direct source-destination link. When a direct link exists, all dual-hop paths become mutually correlated due to the common direct-link interference. The presented exact results enable the evaluation of the outage performance and system throughput for fixed-rate transmission systems. The theoretical findings are verified by numerical simulations, where the severity of fading effect in the residual self-interference link is also discussed. Keywords—Full-Duplex; Opportunistic Relay Selection; Outage Probability; Self-Interference.


The phonological inventories of the world's languages vary remarkably in their size and constituency, when modeled as sets of phonemes or systems of distinctive features. An alternative approach to the analysis of inventories can be made, based on the premise that the phonological primitives represented in the inventory, the lexicon and the speech signal are one and the same – coordinated actions of the vocal tract. Described in articulatory terms, the differences between inventories of different languages may not be as significant as feature and segment-based characterizations suggest. Comparative estimates of the entropy of different inventory structures suggest that an articulatory model may provide a more parsimonious account of the salient contrasts than a feature-based approach. Under an articulatory account, both consonantal and vocalic inventories can be explained using the same theoretical apparatus, and 'complex' segments can be explained in temporal terms.


Developing durable and efficient doped-type carbon electrocatalysts with diverse heteroatoms or transition metals for oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) has captured increasing attention for their incredible electrocatalytic properties. However, compared to multiple-atom-doped carbon matrix, the introduction of single-type atoms into carbon skeletons provides little benefit to enhancing ORR activity. On the basis of this consideration, we successfully fabricated a cobalt (Co) and nitrogen (N) dual-doped porous carbon (Co@C-N) hybrid with multiple active sites by a facile strategy of combined hydrothermal reaction with thermolysis. As a comparison, porous nitrogen-doped carbon (C@N) was obtained by a similar method. Electrochemical tests confirm that the Co@C-N-120-900 exhibits the best ORR performance in alkaline media with the positive onset potential (Eonset) of 0.956 V vs. RHE (only 12 mV more negative than Pt/C), the high half-wave potential (E1/2) of 0.851 V vs. RHE (24 mV more positive than 20 wt% Pt/C), superior selectivity (a four-electron-dominant process), and smaller Tafel slope (57 mV dec−1). Meanwhile, as-synthesized Co@C-N-120-900 catalyst shows greater durability and significantly greater methanol tolerance than Pt/C catalyst. Our experiments indicate that the better overall ORR performance for Co@C-N-120-900 could be caused by the synergistic effect of multiple active components (single Co atom, Co–Nx and plentiful pyridinic-N), high BET specific surface area (1080 m2 g−1) and porous structures. Thus, the Co@C-N-120-900 catalyst is expected to be a cost-efficient and promising electrocatalyst in the field of the sustainable energy application, and this work might provide some directions for fabricating advanced energy storage materials.


Contemporary research in the area of renewable energy-based entrepreneurship has largely ignored studying the effects of women led solar businesses in a regional context, particularly rural areas. While there are studies recognising entrepreneurship as a key instrument in bringing in regional transformation and thereby development, very little insight has been provided to gain an understanding of solar entrepreneurship and its effect at regional levels. This research explores the community level impact of women led solar businesses by using an exploratory qualitative method and carrying out semi-structured interviews and participant observation on solar entrepreneurs in rural Odisha, India. The paper offers empirical analysis from discussions led by thematic analysis method that introduces the varied impact of women led solar entrepreneurship on rural Odisha and how that is evidently realised at various levels as well as time scales.


To examine the origin of increased urinary dopamine excretion (UDAV) during high salt intake, we measured UDAV from the innervated (INN) or the chronically denervated (DEN) kidney in rats fed either a high-salt (HS) or low-salt (LS) diet. UDAV of DEN [3.50 +/- 0.46 ng. min-1.inulin clearance (CIN)-1] and INN (4.00 +/- 0.59 ng. min-1.CIN-1) kidneys in the HS group showed a significant increase compared with that of the respective kidney in the LS group (DEN 1.42 +/- 0.12, INN 1.44 +/- 0.09 ng.min-1.CIN-1), whereas the effect of denervation on UDAV was not significantly different between two groups. We determined aromatic L-amino acid decarboxylase (L-AADC) activity and dopamine degradation rate of microdissected proximal convoluted tubules to study the changes in dopamine metabolism. L-AADC activity in the HS group showed a significant increase compared with that in the LS group, although there was no significant change in dopamine degradation rate. We conclude that the increase in UDAV during high salt intake was mainly caused by the enhancement of extraneural dopamine production by the kidney in rats. Dopamine-producing enzyme, but not its degradation in the tubular cells, plays a role in the regulation of extraneural dopamine production.


Clinico-experimental studying the immunomorphological reactions variants in the prosthesis of anterior abdominal wall using synthetic polypropylene mesh was conducted. In 70 patients, operated on for postoperative hernia of abdominal wall using "on lay" method and the immune state were studied up by means of investigation of proinflammatory and anti-inflammatory cytokines content, in part, of tumor necrosis factor-alpha; (TNF-alpha), IL-8, IL-4. Morphological investigations were conducted in experiment on 100 the Vistar line mices, there were studied reactions of fibroblasts, macrophages, lymphocytes and leucocytes. The results of the immunological and morphological reactions on polypropylene obtained trust the necessity of differentiated approach application for the choice of the synthetic prosthesis kind, taking into account its biocompatibility, physical properties, the hernial defect size etc.


Fluorescence immunoassays (FIA) have strong potential in enabling rapid quantitative immunological testing at point of care. Existing state of the art instruments employ laser scanning of FIA test kits, which require the use of electromechanical systems, making the instrument bulky, heavy and less reliable in the long term. There is a growing need for an extremely compact and reliable, motion-free, automated reader for accurate quantification of immunoassays. Here, we present ImQuant, an image based FIA reader with integrated monochromatic excitation source, optical filtering and real time image capture, assisted with an intuitive graphical user interface. A 12bit dynamic range RAW ouput CMOS camera with 1/3" sensor format and a sharp cut off wideband filter were utilized to ensure improved accuracy. A laboratory prototype was constructed and tested using a set of stable reference cartridges that provided repeatable fluorescent lines. The ImQuant could capture the lines and measure area ratios with coefficient of variation (CV) less than 2%. Further, tests with blood samples on Quanti® HbA1C test kits also demonstrated good repeatability with CV<;2%. The ImQuant is a novel platform of motion-free fluorescent scanning of FIA immunoassays and is being used for developing a variety of test kits and instruments.


Introduction: Ocular surface squamous neoplasia(OSSN) is an encompassing term for pre-cancerous and cancerous epithelial lesions of the conjunctiva and cornea which includes Dysplasia, Carcinoma in-situ (CIS) and Invasive Squamous Cell Carcinoma. OSSN is mostly unilateral, occurs in middle aged to older patients. It is associated with factors such as HIV and xeroderma pigmentosum.
Aims and Objectives:
1) To evaluate incidence of Dysplasia and Squamous Cell Carcinoma in biopsies received
2) To study the spectrum of histopathological findings in Ocular Surface Squamous Neoplasia
Materials and Method: We examined 52 ocular surface biopsies received in our tertiary care centre during the period of 22 months (August-2015 to May-2017). Slides stained with Hematoxylin and Eosin were examined and dysplasia found in biopsies were categorized into mild, moderate and severe. Invasive squamous cell carcinomas were again categorized according to differentiation into well differentiated, moderately differentiated and poorly differentiated. In addition to these 52 biopsies, 10 biopsies were excluded from the study which showed normal or only hyperplastic squamous epithelium.
Results: Out of 52 biopsies examined, 2 cases showed squamous papilloma,13 cases showed dysplasia-mild being the commonest and 37 cases showed invasive carcinoma, moderate differentiation being the commonest.
Conclusion: OSSN is common in middle age and male gender and usually occurs in limbal conjunctiva. Histopathology remains the gold standard for accurate diagnosis and grading of OSSN. Despite increasing awareness, Invasive carcinoma is more prevalent than dysplasia. Prognosis largely depends upon grade and differentiation of tumor and specific microscopic type.


Diabetic ketoacidosis (DKA) and the hyperosmolar hyperglycemic state (HHS) are the two most serious acute metabolic complications of diabetes. DKA is responsible for more than 500,000 hospital days per year (1,2) at an estimated annual direct medical expense and indirect cost of 2.4 billion USD (2,3). Table 1 outlines the diagnostic criteria for DKA and HHS. The triad of uncontrolled hyperglycemia, metabolic acidosis, and increased total body ketone concentration characterizes DKA. HHS is characterized by severe hyperglycemia, hyperosmolality, and dehydration in the absence of significant ketoacidosis. These metabolic derangements result from the combination of absolute or relative insulin deficiency and an increase in counterregulatory hormones (glucagon, catecholamines, cortisol, and growth hormone). Most patients with DKA have autoimmune type 1 diabetes; however, patients with type 2 diabetes are also at risk during the catabolic stress of acute illness such as trauma, surgery, or infections. This consensus statement will outline precipitating factors and recommendations for the diagnosis, treatment, and prevention of DKA and HHS in adult subjects. It is based on a previous technical review (4) and more recently published peer-reviewed articles since 2001, which should be consulted for further information.

View this table:

Table 1
Diagnostic criteria for DKA and HHS

Recent epidemiological studies indicate that hospitalizations for DKA in the U.S. are increasing. In the decade from 1996 to 2006, there was a 35% increase in the number of cases, with a total of 136,510 cases with a primary diagnosis of DKA in 2006—a rate of increase perhaps more rapid than the overall increase in the diagnosis of diabetes (1). Most patients with DKA were between the ages of 18 and 44 years (56%) and 45 and 65 years (24%), with only 18% of patients <20 years of age. Two-thirds of DKA patients were considered to have type 1 diabetes and …


Author(s): Zhang, Wei | Advisor(s): Cooter, Robert D | Abstract: Built on the theories about talent competition between rent-seeking and entrepreneurship, and the theories about constitutional environment and rent-seeking, this dissertation explores empirically the effects of a country's constitutional settings on entrepreneurship, in terms of the quantity of entrepreneurs and the quality of their performance. Both the de facto and de jure constitutional environments are studied. In particular, with respect to the de facto constitutional environment, I considered the property rights protection, decentralization, and the factors suggested by the "selectorate theory". In relation to the de jure constitutional environment, I focused on six aspects including electoral rules, form of government, federalism, property rights protection, judicial independence and antidiscrimination provisions. Three indexes were constructed to measure the de jure property rights protection, judicial independence and antidiscrimination provisions, using the data set provided by the Comparative Constitution Project.The empirical study first shows that the quantity of entrepreneurs is inversely correlated with the quality of entrepreneurship in a country. If entrepreneurship does serve as the engine of economic growth, it is perhaps the quality, rather than quantity, that matters. This study then demonstrates that the de facto property rights protection is associated negatively with the quantity of entrepreneurs, but positively with the quality of entrepreneurship. The effects of the two key factors of the selectorate theory, the size of the winning coalition and the ratio of this size to the size of the selectorate, also appear to be compatible with what the theory is to predict. On the other hand, neither fiscal nor political decentralization is found to significantly affect entrepreneurship. Among the de jure constitutional features, two have significant influence on entrepreneurship. First, the constitutional design of judicial independence has a negative effect on the quantity of entrepreneurs, but a positive one on the quality of their performance. Second, majoritarian electoral rules, compared with non-majoritarian rules, have a negative effect on the quality of entrepreneurship. In contrast, the presumed effects of the other three formal constitutional attributes, federalism, presidentialism and property rights protection, cannot be ascertained.Apart from the cross-country study, I also conducted a detailed research on China. Entrepreneurship in China is a case of entrepreneurial development in an authoritarian state lack of secure property rights and the rule of law, hence afflicted with profuse rent-seeking activities. Under these circumstances, entrepreneurship hinges on both the rent-seeking and the entrepreneurial abilities. Drawing on the private enterprise surveys, I found that, in China, the politically connected were systematically advantaged in terms of bank finance, entry to regulated industries and judicial treatment, when they plunged into the business world. The Chinese case also indicates that, when entrepreneurs cannot trust the commitment made by the state in the constitution, they will be eager to scoop profits as soon as possible and exit swiftly with accumulated wealth.Finally, this dissertation concludes by suggesting that a healthy development of entrepreneurship should be sustainable rather than aiming merely at quick money and instant success. It should allow all talented people to reach their full potentials, rather than keep the politically disconnected away from resources needed to make the best use of their potentials. Above all, it wants a constitutional environment with reliable property rights and equal access to opportunities, neither of which is seen in today's China.


We propose a model independent coordination strategy for multi-agent formation control. The main theorem states that under a bounded tracking error assumption our method stabilizes the formation error. We illustrate the usefulness of the method by applying it to rigid body constrained motions.


This article focuses on the practice of French cuisine in Shanghai and questions the permanence of this professional niche. It combines an anthropological approach to culinary techniques with a sociological approach to workforce migration, tracing the ways in which the discourse and practices of chefs and maitres d'hotel working in French cuisine's restaurants employ forms of ethnocultural and technical legitimacy. The case of Shanghai, a city undergoing rapid transformation in its modes of consumption, provides a clear illustration of the shifts that have occurred over the last ten years in the hierarchy of Western migrants and Chinese locals: the symbolic and material privileges offered to the former are beginning to disappear, and professional recognition is increasingly becoming based on savoir-faire and a strong work ethic.


Today there is a growing demand among international students to study in Hungary, more specifically with the launching of Stipendium Hungaricum program in 2013. The number of international scholarship holders increases each year, but till now, we have no significant research results about their study motivations, research has focused only on institutional perspectives (Kasza, & Hangyal 2018). The motivation of students is an important research field in higher education, particularly because there could be various factors to motivate students studying abroad. The motives can be categorised as intrinsic and extrinsic. Our research question is, what are the main intrinsic and extrinsic motivational factors that encourage students to study in Hungary? We performed 15 qualitative interviews among international scholarship holders on postgraduate levels. We gathered semi-structured interviews with the help of an interview scheme with five main questions. The investigated dimensions include the following: 1. introduction and context of interviewees, 2. Reasons for leaving the country of origin, 3. Reasons for country choice, 4. Preliminary knowledge about Hungary, 5. Personal expectations. After the data collection, we analysed texts with open coding process in which line by line and word for word was analysed (Khandkar, 2009). Then we were able to form a typology of motivations and we found subcategories within the intrinsic and extrinsic classification.


The e-Government Project in Fiji started in the year 2007. eGov as it is commonly referred to in Fiji was introduced as a means to improve economic development by providing Fiji government services online to businesses, citizens and government employees. The Fiji e-Government project covers the following aspects, which are the eGov consulting, applications, data centre, government info-communications, infrastructure, ICT Competency Development and Training. Since 2007, many e-Government applications have been developed and rolled out, with various degrees of awareness and acceptance by users. You will still find a queue of citizens waiting in frustration at government ministries and departments for information and services. Among the many promises of the digital revolution is its potential to strengthen democracy and make governments more responsive to the needs of their citizens. E-government is the use of information and communications technologies (ICT) to transform government by making it more accessible, effective and accountable. E-government includes: providing greater access to government information; promoting civic engagement by enabling the public to interact with government officials; making government more accountable by making its operations more transparent and thus reducing the opportunities for corruption; and providing development opportunities, especially benefiting rural and traditionally underserved communities. In this research paper, I am going to look at Fiji's e-Government status and evaluate it against the e-Government Benchmarking that is used by the United Nations [UN]. The UN Report on Benchmarking e-Government Progress evaluates the following 5 sequential stages for a country: Stage 1. "Emerging" – an official government online presence is established; Stage 2. "Transactional" – users can actually pay for services and other transactions online; Stage 3. "Interactive" – users can download forms, e-mail government officials and interact via the web; Stage 4. "Enhanced" – government sites increase – information becomes more dynamic; Stage 5. "Seamless" – full integration of e-services across administrative boundaries.


The concept of company culture is now playing an ever‐increasing role in the continuing endeavour to work towards ever better company management, particularly in the industrial field. This monograph reviews the history and development of both national and company cultures, and then goes on to demonstrate the significance of a culture to proper company management. Well‐managed companies will have both a "quality culture" and a "safety culture" as well as a cultural history. However, it has to be recognised that the company culture is subject to change, and effecting this can be very difficult. Of the many national cultures, that of Japan is considered to be the most effective, as is demonstrated by the present dominance of Japan on the industrial scene. Many industrialised nations now seek to emulate the Japanese style of management, but it is not possible to copy or acquire Japan′s cultural heritage. The text is illustrated by a large number of practical examples from real life, illustrating the way in wh...


This work aims to characterize the arthropods and other biota (lichens, bryophytes, vascular plants and birds) associated with the Azorean endemic tree, Juniperus brevifolia. This is the first of a series of publications that will (i) provide a comprehensive list of all the biota associated with the main Azorean endemic trees and shrubs, (ii) describe in detail the diversity, abundance and spatial patterns of canopy arthropods, and (iii) whenever possible, to extend biodiversity assessments to communities of bryophytes, lichens, vascular plants and vertebrates. We use standardized sampled data from BALA project for canopy arthropods and for the remaining taxa we surveyed literature data and the Herbarium of University of Azores. Juniperus brevifolia occurs in a wide range of elevation belts in Azores and accommodates a remarkable large number of taxa: besides canopy arthropods (161 species) it is also an important substrate to other vascular species (six species), bryophytes (105 species), lichens (106 species) and also birds (four species). In addition, the species richness and particularly the abundance of endemics are dominant, and the number of conservation concern species for bryophytes is noteworthy (30 out of 70). The complexity of the tree and the high diversity of micro-habitats created the conditions for epiphytic species to easily colonize all parts of the tree, from the bottom, trunk and branches. The communities associated with the Azorean cedar are consequently of a high conservation value and should be further investigated in their ecological dynamics.


These last decades, optical telecommunications have made a spectacular success thanks to the explosion of Internet. This development is the fruit of a main effort of research and development in the field of guided optics which led to the improvement of the performances of optical fibers and optoelectronic components able to generate, detect, modulate or commutate light. Consequently, optoelectronic components of any kind at low cost become available in the market pushing the emergence of other applications in various fields. As a matter of fact, today the use of optics includes strategic fields like space and military ones and also fields of everyday life like data storage (CD and DVD), medicine and unsuspected sectors such as car industry. In a competing way, the advent of Nano-Photonics is pushing the limits of photonic devices miniaturization on scales lower than the wavelength. The interest of using the photon rather than the electron comes from the very high optical frequencies of the optical signal which allow a very broad band-width and offer an unequalled data transmission capacity. Ultimately, the 20th century was the century of electronics and the 21st century is expected to be that of photonics. This presentation will give a highlight of the main concepts and the recent development of photonics technology as well as future challanges


Background and Objectives The low number of hematopoietic stem cells (HSCs) in each unit of UCB is a limitation for clinical application of this source of HSCs. Ex vivo expansion of HSCs to obtain a sufficient number for therapeutic purposes is necessary. The sympathetic nervous system (SNS) and neurotransmitters regulate HSCs self-renewality, proliferation and differentiation in the bone marrow. The aim of this study was to evaluate the proliferative effect of NPY on the CB-HSCs in ex vivo condition. Materials and Methods After isolation of HSCs, the comparison of HSCs Ex vivo expansion using 1 μM NPY and cytokine as test group with cytokine as control group was performed . TNC number and CD34 + cell number were calculated on day 7. Colony formation assay was performed in methylcelloluse medium. LTC-IC assay was performed to investigate colonization potential of expanded cells in long time culture. Results Ex vivo expansion of CB-HSCs after 7 days resulted in significant increase in the number of total nucleated cells and CD34 + cells in NPY-treated groups in comparison to control group. The formation of different cell colonies identified as erythrocytic, granulocytic and mix colonies in CFU assay reflect the differentiation potential of expanded CD34 cells. Treated group with NPY also retained their ability to formate colonies in long term culture. Conclusions Our study demonstrated that Neuropeptide Y can successfully support expansion of CD34 + hematopoietic stem cells while retaining their potential of being differentiated into various cell lineages after 7-day culture period with cytokine supplementation.


Although tumors of the brain stem have traditionally been classified as a single entity, these tumors are increasingly being recognized as a heterogeneous group, with some subgroups having better prognoses for long-term survival. Although several systems for classification of brain stem tumors have been proposed, none have been based on data derived from contrast-enhanced magnetic resonance (MR) imaging. In this review, we present a classification scheme based on our review of the literature and of the MR scans of 64 patients with brain stem tumors. In addition, we assess the contribution of gadolinium to the classification of brain stem tumors and correlate the various tumor subtypes, based on MR appearance, with prognosis. Our results suggest that the most important factor in determining prognosis based on MR characteristics is whether the tumor is diffuse or focal. Focal tumors have an excellent prognosis regardless of the site of tumor origin. Diffuse tumors of the mesencephalon and pons have a significantly poorer prognosis than focal tumors (p = 0.0013), with diffuse pontine tumors having the worst prognosis. Differentiation of diffuse and focal medullary tumors was difficult, possibly explaining the lack of significant difference in the survival of patients with diffuse versus focal medullary tumors. The presence or absence of enhancement after the administration of paramagnetic contrast has no significant relation with outcome, overall or within specific tumor subgroups.


The present study investigates the flow physics and the role played by the main coherent structures in the scouring processes around a vertical spur dike in a straight channel at conditions corresponding to the start (flat bed) of the scouring process. Large eddy simulation (LES) is performed at a relatively low channel Reynolds number (Re = 18,000), in the range where most flume studies with clear water scour conditions are conducted. Similar to these studies, the incoming flow is fully turbulent and contains realistic turbulence fluctuations. Visualization experiments are conducted to better understand the nature of the interactions between the dominant coherent structures playing a role in the erosion process. It is found that the structure of the horseshoe vortex (HV) system at the base of the spur dike changes considerably in time and in vertical sections perpendicular to the trajectory defined by the axis of the main necklace vortex. However, its intensity is the largest at vertical sections situated around the tip of the spur dike. It is in this region that the core of the main necklace vortex oscillates aperiodically between two preferred modes. In one of them (zero‐flow mode), the necklace vortex is closer to the spur dike and more compact, and the near‐bed jet flow beneath it is weak. In the other one (back‐flow mode), a strong near‐bed jet flow convects the primary necklace vortex away from the spur dike, and its core is more elongated and less compact. This explains the large amplification (by about 1 order of magnitude compared to the surrounding turbulent flow) of the turbulent kinetic energy and pressure fluctuations inside the HV system in the region situated around the tip of the spur dike and the double‐peak distribution of the turbulent kinetic energy. Past the spur dike, in the legs of the necklace vortex, the intensity of the bimodal oscillations decreases such that they are not observed in spanwise sections situated at more than one channel depth behind the spur dike. It is found that the legs of the horseshoe vortices can interact, at times, with the vortex tubes shed in the detached shear layer (DSL) and with the tip of the spur dike. These events typically result in a significant change in the coherence of the HV system. The largest bed shear stress values in the mean flow are present in the strong acceleration region near the tip of the spur dike, but high bed shear stress values are also observed beneath the upstream part of the DSL. The bed shear stress fluctuations around the local mean values can be very high, especially in the region situated beneath the upstream part of the DSL. At random times, some of the vortices shed in the DSL merge or interact with eddies from the recirculation region. This leads to an increase in their strength and to a large increase of the bed shear stress along their path.


The Service Oriented Computing (SOC) paradigm, defines services as software artifacts whose implementations are separated from their specifications. Application developers rely on services to simplify the design, reduce the development time and cost. Within the SOC paradigm, different Service Oriented Architectures (SOAs) have been developed. These different SOAs provide platform independence, programming-language independence, defined standards, and network support. Even when different SOAs follow the same SOC principles, in practice it is difficult to compose services from heterogeneous architectures. Automatic the process of composition of services from heterogeneous SOAs is not a trivial task.
Current composition tools usually focus on a single SOA, while others do not provide mechanisms for ensuring safety of composite services and their interactions. Given that some services might perform critical operations or manage sensitive data, defining safety for services and checking for compliance is crucial. This work proposes and workflow specification language for composite services that is SOA-independent. It also presents a framework for automatic composition of services of heterogeneous SOAs, supporting web services (WS) and OSGi services as an example. It integrates formal software analysis methods to ensure the safety of composite services and their interactions. Experiments are conducted to study the performance of the composite service generated automatically by the framework with composite services using current composition methods. We use as an example a smart home composite service for the management of medicines, deployed in a regular and in a resource-constrained network environment.


Background: Previous research reveals an association between traumatic stress and an increased risk for numerous diseases, including cancer. At the molecular level, stress may increase carcinogenesis via increased DNA damage and impaired DNA repair mechanisms. We assessed DNA breakage in peripheral blood mononuclear cells from individuals with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and measured the cellular capacity to repair single-strand breaks after exposure to ionizing X-radiation. We also investigated the effect of psychotherapy on both DNA breakage and DNA repair. Methods: In a first study we investigated DNA breakage and repair in 34 individuals with PTSD and 31 controls. Controls were subdivided into 11 trauma-exposed subjects and 20 individuals without trauma exposure. In a second study, we analysed the effect of psychotherapy (Narrative Exposure Therapy) on DNA breakage and repair. Thirty-eight individuals with PTSD were randomly assigned to either a treatment or a waitlist control condition. Follow-up was performed 4 months and 1 year after therapy. Results: In study 1 we found higher levels of basal DNA breakage in individuals with PTSD and trauma-exposed subjects than in controls, indicating that traumatic stress is associated with DNA breakage. However, single-strand break repair was unimpaired in individuals with PTSD. In study 2, we found that psychotherapy reversed not only PTSD symptoms, but also DNA strand break accumulation. Conclusion: Our results show - for the first time in vivo - an association between traumatic stress and DNA breakage; they also demonstrate changes at the molecular level, i.e., the integrity of DNA, after psychotherapeutic interventions.


This paper considers a multiperiod model of a regulated firm that has (stationary) private information which may be revealed through performance. If it cannot make commitments to future policies, the regulator has an incentive to exploit any information the firm reveals, and Laffont and Tirole show that there is no regulatory policy that is separating over any closed interval. A "fairness" arrangement is proposed in which the firm agrees not to quit if in future periods the regulator allows it to earn a nonnegative profit given the type it revealed in earlier periods. The properties of such arrangements are studied, and an example is presented in which both the firm and the regulator prefer a fairness arrangement to a policy feasible without commitment.


ABSTRACT The aim of this study was to analyze the association between adolescents' future orientation and their engagement in gambling and in risk gambling, respectively. The data used come from the Stockholm School Survey, collected in 2016 among students in the ninth grade in elementary school (15–16 years) and in the second grade of upper secondary school (17–18 years) in Stockholm municipality (n = 11,661). The results showed that adolescents who expected their future to be 'much worse' than that of others were more inclined to engage in gambling and in risk gambling compared with adolescents who expected their future to be similar to that of others. Furthermore, adolescents who expected their future to be 'much better' than that of others had an increased likelihood of engaging in gambling but not in risk gambling. The results are discussed in the light of elements from rational choice theory.


A novel configuration for a multirod solid-state laser system is proposed. We stabilize the thermal-lens-dependent variation in the output-beam parameters by extracting the laser beam from the collimating point of periodic beam propagation. The performance is confirmed with a 100-W class diode-pumped Nd:YAG laser-amplifier system to demonstrate tenfold stabilization of the output-beam diameter.


Several studies have emerged on examination misconduct in Nigeria, but "e-cheating" habit of
students, a new form of examination fraud is yet to be given adequate attention in the literature. This
study is provoked to address this problem not only in the country but also in academic scholarship.
Using three selected Universities samples, the study examines methods which students are using in
engaging ICTs to perpetuate examination misconduct. Relying on raw data of one hundred and ninetynine
(199) students retrieved, the study attempted to uncover if a significant difference exists in echeating
habit between ICT-compliant students and other students in rubrics not science-oriented. It
equally tried to discover if there is a significant difference in e-cheatng habit between male and female
students. Drawing on the recorded data in each institution, the study reported five ICT tools associated
with examination misconduct. Using chi-square (X2) to test the hypotheses, the study reported a
significant difference between ICT-complinat students and other students in rubrics not scienceoriented.
Finally, it revealed a significant difference in e-cheating habit between male and female
students.


In this work, a novel supramolecular π-gel has been constructed using a naphthalimide functionalized pillar[5]arene-based gelator (MP5). The gelator MP5 simultaneously contains a naphthalimide moiety as the π⋯π interaction site as well as a fluorophore. Interestingly, the MP5-based supramolecular π-gel (MP5-G) exhibits strong aggregation-induced emission (AIE). MP5-G exhibited good thermal-responsiveness, acid and base-responsiveness and cation and amino acid-responsiveness. Meanwhile, this supramolecular π-gel also shows selective fluorescence sensing for Fe3+via cation–π interactions with high selectivity and sensitivity, and the detection limit of MP5-G for Fe3+ is 6.06 × 10−8 M. Even more meaningfully, MP5-G could remove Fe3+ from water solution with excellent recyclability and ingestion capacity, and the Fe3+ removal rate can reach up to 99.8%. Furthermore, the Fe3+ coordinated supramolecular gel, MP5-FeG, shows selective fluorescence "turn-on" sensing for L-Cys. The detection limit of MP5-FeG for L-Cys is 1.0 × 10−8 M. Simultaneously, thin films based on these supramolecular gels were prepared, which were confirmed to be convenient test kits for detecting Fe3+ and L-Cys. In addition, these supramolecular π-gels could be used as sensitive ion sensors, sensitive logic gates and fluorescent display materials.


To the Editor: I t has been exactly 4 years since our original description of the ''corner pocket'' technique for ultrasound (US)-guided supraclavicular block (SCB) was published. Since January 2007, we have performed more than 3000 US-guided SCBs and have adopted several modifications that, in our opinion, enhance the success and safety of this technique. Chief among these modifications are hydrolocation and hydrodissection. Whether the needle approach is lateral-to-medial or medial-to-lateral relative to the position of the US transducer, constant visualization of the needle tip can be challenging. Hydrolocation involves injecting very small amounts of solution (local anesthetic, normal saline, or dextrose) to visualize the corresponding appearance of a hypoechoic bolus and surrounding tissue distension or displacement. Failure to visualize a new hypoechoic fluid collection necessarily denotes intravascular injection or incorrect plane of imaging. Not only is the appearance of the hypoechoic bolus a surrogate indicator of the needle tip position, it also enhances the visibility of the needle tip by increasing the acoustic mismatch between the needle tip (and shaft) and the surrounding medium, which is now liquid. Instead of aiming toward the corner pocket at the outset, the needle is advanced first to puncture the lower third of the brachial plexus sheath, which is typically accompanied by a palpable ''fascial click'' (Fig. 1A). A small amount (1Y2 mL) of local anesthetic solution is then incrementally injected to ''open'' the perineural space and create a safe pathway for further needle advancement toward the ''corner pocket'' (Figs. 1B, C). We believe that this hydrodissection technique can direct the nerve trunk/divisions away from the advancing needle tip, which then facilitates additional needle manipulation as necessary to reach the corner pocket where 15 to 25 mL of local anesthetic is deposited (Fig. 1D) for reliable surgical anesthesia. While the ulnar nerve still remains the most commonly spared, it has been our experience that the corner pocket technique achieves successful ulnar nerve blockade in at least 85% of patients within 30 mins of local anesthetic injection. Finally, we have encountered only 1 case of symptomatic pneumothorax, which occurred despite careful attention to technique. Postprocedure sonographic examination of the pleura has been advocated by some experienced practitioners and may be useful in certain circumstances.


I would like to recognize the peer reviewers who donated their precious time and effort to reviewing the manuscripts submitted to the Journal of Preventive Medicine and Public Health in 2015. With an ever increasing competition to attract quality research by major journals in our field, we depend on the expertise of the reviewers to critically appraise the papers. Their comments, detailed and extensive, guide authors to polish their work and propel them to strive for excellence. Their commitment and dedication to this hard and time consuming task ensure that published research are relevant, timely, high quality, and applicable.

I would like to extend my sincere gratitude to each and every one of the 64 reviewers.

Sung-il Cho, MD, ScD

Editor-in-Chief

Franz Allerberger

Hae-Kwan Cheong

Kyungho Choi

Yong Jun Choi

Jin-Ho Chun

Young Kyung Do

Sang Jun Eun

Mina Ha

Dongwoon Han

Jee Young Hong

Young-Seoub Hong

Seung Sik Hwang

Sun Ha Jee

Gyeong-Suk Jeon

Hyoung-Sun Jeong

Min-Woo Jo

Shin Kam

Yun Sik Kang

Young Ho Khang

Moran Ki

Changhoon Kim

Changsu Kim

Chang-yup Kim

Dong-Hyun Kim

Heon Kim

Ho Kim

Hyeon Chang Kim

Hyung Su Kim

Jang-Rak Kim

Jong Yeon Kim

Kyoo Sang Kim

Myoung-Hee Kim

Tae-Hyun Kim

Yong-Dae Kim

Yoon Kim

Kwang-Pil Ko

Kwang-Wook Koh

Keun Sang Kwon

Sun Seog Kwon

Duk-Hee Lee

Kun Sei Lee

Moo-Sik Lee

Sang Gyu Lee

Soon-Young Lee

Hyun-Sul Lim

Hyunwoo Lim

Jungsu Lim

Baeg-Ju Na

Chung Mo Nam

Hae-Sung Nam

In-Hwan Oh

Byung-Joo Park

Jong Hyock Park

Ki Soo Park

Soon-Woo Park

Aesun Shin

Hee-Young Shin

Hosung Shin

Jeong Woo Sonn

Jae Woong Sull

Jong Min Woo

Seunghyun Yoo

Taiyoung Yoon

Yongwoon Yun


We normally think of viruses in terms of the devastating diseases they cause, from smallpox to AIDS. But in "The Life of a Virus, " Angela N. H. Creager introduces us to a plant virus that has taught us much of what we know about all viruses, including the lethal ones, and that also played a crucial role in the development of molecular biology. Focusing on the tobacco mosaic virus (TMV) research conducted in Nobel laureate Wendell Stanley's lab, Creager argues that TMV served as a model system for virology and molecular biology, much as the fruit fly and laboratory mouse have for genetics and cancer research. She examines how the experimental techniques and instruments Stanley and his colleagues developed for studying TMV were generalized not just to other labs working on TMV, but also to research on other diseases such as poliomyelitis and influenza and to studies of genes and cell organelles. The great success of research on TMV also helped justify increased spending on biomedical research in the postwar years (partly through the National Foundation for Infantile Paralysis's March of Dimes)-a funding priority that has continued to this day.


The proposed mechanism of action in Functional Analytic Psychotherapy (FAP) is therapist-contingent responses to client in-session behavior that parallels out-of-session problematic behavior. In theory, these responses shape adaptive behaviors that generalize into the client's daily life (Tsai et al., 2009). Therefore, the therapist's response repertoire must be ripe with interpersonally effective responses to model and shape client behavior. Thus, trainings in FAP were designed not only to equip therapists with a skillset in implementing the fundamentals of shaping but also to serve several other functions, including facilitating the development of an effective interpersonal repertoire to promote shaping. Kanter, Tsai, Holman, and Koerner (2013) demonstrated that 8-week FAP trainings may increase knowledge of FAP principles as measured through self-report and analogue tasks; however, no research examines reported changes in therapists' interpersonal behavior in or out of session. We believe that an 8-week FAP training will increase therapist use of effective interpersonal behavior (tCRB2) and decrease therapist maladaptive behavior (tCRB1). Four newly graduated and graduate-level therapists attended an 8-week FAP training. Using an AB single-subject design, we examined the frequency of targeted interpersonal behavior. Results indicated that FAP trainings may have an impact on therapists' daily life behaviors as demonstrated through changes in weekly frequency counts. Although the design includes significant limitations (see Discussion), these data provide some support for the utility of 1 theorized function of FAP trainings.


On the foundation of the methods and mechanisms of electrochemical finishing with high-frequency group pulse we studied before, properties of the finishing process with ultrahigh-frequency group pulse were studied, effects of pulse effect on the finishing result were also researched. With the Ultrahigh-frequency group pulse power we designed, we designed a equipment with high precision and easy operation. After some single-factor experiments, we obtained the laws of how the main pulse influenced the result, from the Ra of 2Cr13 stainless steel surface.


This paper describes a new sheet metal forming process for the production of sheet metal components for limited-lot productions and prototypes. The kinematic based generation of the shape is implemented by means of a new forming machine comprising of two industrial robots. Compared to conventional sheet metal forming machines this newly developed sheet metal forming process offers a high geometrical form flexibility and also shows comparatively small deformation forces for high deformation degrees. The principle of the procedure is based on flexible shaping by means of a freely programmable path-synchronous movement of the two robots. The sheet metal components manufactured in first attempts are simple geometries like truncated pyramids and cones as well as spherical cups. Among other things the forming results could be improved by an adjustment of the movement strategy, a variation of individual process parameters and geometric modifications of the tools. Apart from a measurement of the form deviations of the sheet metal with a Coordinate Measurement Machine rasterised and deformed sheet metals were used for deformation analyses. In order to be able to use the potential of this process, a goal-oriented process design is as necessary as specific process knowledge. In order to achieve process stability and safety the essential process parameters and the process boundaries have to be determined.


Background
 Post-ischemic inflammation plays an important role in stroke pathology. Understanding the details and mechanisms of post-stroke inflammation is essential to develop therapeutics that can reduce the damage and promote recovery. Macrophages are known to promote both injury and repair in various pathologies, and these divergent properties may be due to different macrophage subtypes. Here, we identify different macrophage subtypes in the brain after ischemic stroke and investigate their effects on stroke outcome.

 Methods
 C57BL/6 mice (male, 11-14 weeks old) were subjected to left transient middle cerebral artery occlusion (tMCAo). To deplete blood monocytes, clodronate-filled liposomes (CL) were used. Phosphate-buffered saline (PBS)-filled liposomes (PL) served as controls. Behavior was assessed using a neurological score. Infarct size was assessed by TTC at 2d and silver staining at 7d post-stroke. Immune cells in brain, blood, spleen and bone marrow were analyzed by flow cytometry.

 Results
 A time-course analysis of immune cells after stroke identified two macrophage subpopulations in the brain: Ly6Chigh and Ly6Clow. Ly6Chigh macrophages were the dominant cell population early after stroke, peaking by 3d and then decreasing in number by 5d. Conversely, the number of Ly6Clow macrophages were initially low and peaked at 5d. To investigate the effects of these macrophage subpopulations, we used clodronate depletion of monocytes with different injection paradigms. Injecting clodronate just after reperfusion, to target the Ly6Chigh macrophages, had no significant effect on infarct size at 2d and 7d post-stroke, or on functional deficit, compared to the PL group. However, when the injections were given every other day after stroke, from day 0 to day 6, CL-treated mice had significantly larger infarct sizes at 7d post-stroke (48.9±4.3 vs 35.6±5.8, % of contralateral hemisphere, n=10; p<0.01), and worse neurological scores (11.1±1.1 vs 6.2±1.1, n=10; p<0.01) than PL-treated mice. Moreover, the CL group had fewer brain macrophages at 5d. Temporal analysis of the macrophage subpopulations with this treatment paradigm is ongoing.

 Conclusion
 Macrophage can reduce brain damage and play a role in promoting recovery after stroke.


This monograph focuses on media and communicative framing within the context of strategy and strategic interaction as articulated by some major thinkers in both fields. It examines how informational virtual space, through a medium of strategic deception, constructs contextual frames or what may be called master frames, with the purpose of re-positioning an audience, through a process of conversion, in ways that elicit dynamics of fragmentary and oppositional social movements in the service of hegemonic geopolitical and security interests. In the process it attempts to shed light on the meaning and consequences of framing as a substantive form of political communication embedded in the indirect approach of war articulated by British strategist Basil Liddell Hart.Beyond simply being an instrument of propagation and propaganda, media has increasingly evolved into a power and security form of social and political organization. It has become a matter of high politics as it frames and re-frames perceptions, ideas as well as psychological and mental structures along lines that touch upon the very heart of a society's or a country's national security structure. To the extent that media and war increasingly come to share symbiotic forms of strategic interaction, a symbiosis of soft power and hard power respectively, what evolves is a dynamic of framing — a scheme of comprehension that shapes the physical as well as mental and psychological boundaries and limitations of a group, audience or collectivity with or without them necessarily being aware of its structural impact. This condition renders media a potential weapon of war in its own right equal in scope and dimension to those of the actual physical or military.


BACKGROUND
Hydantoin derivatives have important biochemical and pharmacological properties. In the present study, 23 hydantoin compounds were evaluated for their efflux-modulating effects in Salmonella enterica serovar Enteritidis NCTC 13349 using real-time fluorimetry based on the intracellular accumulation of ethidium bromide (EB), a universal substrate of efflux pumps.

MATERIALS AND METHODS
Twenty-three hydantoin derivatives were tested for intrinsic efflux pump modulation in S. enterica Enteritidis NCTC 13349 by an automated real-time fluorimetric method that monitors the intracellular accumulation of ethidium bromide.

RESULTS
None of the compounds were found to have antibacterial activities at concentrations as high as 200 mg/l. Among the hydantoin derivatives tested in our study, only compound SZ7 showed efflux modulating activity on S. enterica Enteritidis NCTC 13349 in the assays that contained or omitted glucose as the singular source of metabolic energy.

CONCLUSION
SZ7 is shown to be non-toxic and it could be evaluated to cure an efflux mediated MDR Salmonella infection, furthermore a quantitative activity-structural relationship is also planned in order to determine the site of the SZ7 molecule responsible for its efflux pump inhibitory activity.