textabstractThe incidence of esophageal carcinoma has been steadily increasing in many western countries in the last 30 years. A current hypothesis is that the majority of the adenocarcinomas arise in Barrett's esophagus (BE), following a sequence of metaplasia through dysplasia to carcinoma. When BE progresses to high grade dysplasia or adenocarcinoma, esophageal resection is the treatment of choice in patients fit for surgery. However, most patients with esophageal adenocarcinoma have not been recognized with BE previously, and the majority of patients with BE will not develop esophageal adenocarcinoma. Therefore less invasive endoscopic therapy has been used for treatment of BE with dysplasia for patients unfit for surgery. Also, endoscopic therapy has been used as preventive strategy for development of esophageal cancer by ablation of the premalignant Barrett's epithelium.
Photodynamic therapy (PDT) with use of 5-aminolevulinic acid (ALA) is a relatively new treatment option ideally leading to endoscopic ablation of the Barrett's mucosa. At present, results of clinical ALA-PDT are suboptimal. Removal of dysplasia has been successful, but residual BE remains. In order to optimize ALA-PDT for treatment of BE, more accurate light dosimetry and monitoring of PpIX fluorescence decay may be valuable tools. Light dosimetry, standardized for all patients in vivo and adjusted to tissue optical properties, may improve outcome of ALA-PDT. With PpIX fluorescence monitoring, ALA-PDT can be monitored during treatment. In this thesis, these parameters have been studied using the rat as experimental model.


A balance trial was performed with two groups of Topigs hybrid pigs (n=4) and DanВred hybrid pigs (n=4). Each trial was of 10-day duration (5 days preliminary and 5 day experimental period, during which urine and faeces were collected). The pigs were fed total mix rations prepared in the Experimental base. DanBred hybrid pigs were fed in compliance to Nutrients Standards for pigs in Denmark, 12-th edition, Copenhagen, July 2005. Feeding of Topigs hybrid pigs was done according to recommendations of Guideline for feeding Topigs sows (Topigs International, BV, 2001). Over the entire fattening period, DanBred hybrid pigs exhibited a higher daily nitrogen retention compared to Topigs pigs - by 5.5% on the average. Because of the higher nutrition norms during the different fattening stages DanBred pigs consumed more expensive compound feeds - by 10% on the average. The average costs for lean meat gain produced from Topigs pigs were by 8% lower than those from DanBred pigs. Provided that the other production costs in farms are identical, the rearing of Topigs hybrid pigs was evaluated as more profitable.


Summary This study was undertaken in a society without psychiatric services to assess the economic losses associated there with major mental disorder. Such data are important in assessing the cost/benefit of services for major mental disorders. A survey was conducted in 27 representative villages of Laos, each containing about 200–300 people; 35 mentally ill subjects were identified. Data were obtained on expenditure for treatment, loss of productivity, and other economic losses (eg., destruction of property); demographic data and clinical rating scales were also obtained, and compared with economic variables. The data show wide variability in expenditures for treatment, but losses of productivity were consistently high; acute losses, while impressive due to their suddeness and obvious wastefulness, were comparatively small relative to others. Demographic data were not associated with loss in productivity. Certain psychopathological parameters, ie., more psychopathology, less productivity, were inversely correlated with productivity. Psychosocial function scales were strongly and directly correlated with productivity.


AIM
Endoluminal Loco-Regional Resection (ELRR) by Transanal Endoscopic Microsurgery (TEM) may be considered a valid alternative surgical treatment in patients with rectal cancer. Aim of this study is to evaluate the short and medium term Quality of Life (QoL) from prospectively collected data in patients who underwent ELRR by TEM.

MATERIAL OF STUDY
From May 2010 to June 2013, 31 patients with iT1-iT2-iT3N0 rectal cancer were enrolled in this study. Patients with T1 rectal cancer underwent ELRR by TEM. Patients with iT2-iT3 rectal cancer underwent neoadjuvant radio-chemoterapy (n-RCT) before surgery. QoL was evaluated by EORTC QLQ-C30 and QLQ-CR38 questionnaires before surgery and 1, 6, and 12 months after surgery.

RESULTS
Mean distance from the anal verge was 5.4 cm (range 1-10). Mean operative time was 145.8 minutes (range 60-300). Pathological staging was as follows: pT0N0 (6), pT1N0 (18), pT2N0 (7). At 1 month after surgery, in QLQC30 questionnaire, significant worsening was observed in Global Health Status (p=0.0028), Physical Functioning (p=0.0016), Role Functioning (p=0.0004), Fatigue (p=0.0024), Pain (p=0.0003) and Dyspnoea (p=0.0192). In QLQCR38 questionnaire significant worsening at 1 month was observed in Defecation Problems (p=0.0005) and Weight Loss (p=0.0008). At six and twelve months after surgery, no significant differences were observed in QLQ-C30 and in QLQCR38 questionnaires.

DISCUSSION
QoL evaluation showed worsening results at 1 month after ELRR by TEM, in QLQ-C30 and in QLQCR38 questionnaires.

CONCLUSIONS
At 6 and 12 months after surgery, no significant differences in QoL as compared to preoperative status were observed.


Background
Adolescent athletes are experiencing an increased number of concussions. There is currently a debate within the medical community regarding the most effective and safe treatment approach for this population, post-concussion. Interventions currently range from cognitive and physical rest to various types of physical activity, including aerobic exercise. While there are systematic reviews that focus on rest as the main intervention, there are no other systematic reviews that focus on the effects of aerobic exercise on concussion recovery in adolescent athletes.

Purpose
The aim of this systematic review and meta-analysis was to investigate the effectiveness of aerobic exercise on concussion recovery for adolescent athletes compared to an alternate intervention.

Study Design
Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.

Methods
A computer-based search (population: adolescent athletes with concussions, intervention: aerobic exercise, comparator: non-aerobic interventions, outcome: symptom severity and recovery time) was performed. Databases including PubMed, CINAHL, SPORTdiscus, ProQuest, and Scopus were searched up to December 2019 for randomized controlled trials published since 1965. A hand search of relevant articles and exploration of grey literature was also completed. Data were extracted for the following information: interventions prescribed, outcome measures, and overall results of the study. A meta-analysis was performed for aerobic interventions using standardized mean difference as the summary measure of effect.

Results
Five studies, which all held a moderate to low risk of bias according to the PEDro scale, met the inclusion criteria for this systematic review and meta-analysis. Overall results favored aerobic exercise for both acute and prolonged recovery symptoms as demonstrated by a decrease in symptom severity and improved recovery time. The meta-analysis revealed a moderate effect size in favor of the intervention group (SMD: 0.51, CI: 0.02, 0.81, p=0.00) when looking at the three outcome measures combined: Post-Concussion Symptom Scale, Post-Concussion Symptom Inventory, and recovery time.

Conclusion
The results of this systematic review and meta-analysis indicate that there is currently moderately significant evidence in support of implementing an aerobic exercise program for adolescent athletes with both acute and prolonged recovery concussion symptoms. Additional higher quality studies are needed to continue to study the effectiveness of aerobic exercise in post-concussion treatment of adolescents.

Level of Evidence
1a.


We present enhancements to a speech-to-speech translation pipeline in order to perform automatic dubbing. Our architecture features neural machine translation generating output of preferred length, prosodic alignment of the translation with the original speech segments, neural text-to-speech with fine tuning of the duration of each utterance, and, finally, audio rendering to enriches text-to-speech output with background noise and reverberation extracted from the original audio. We report and discuss results of a first subjective evaluation of automatic dubbing of excerpts of TED Talks from English into Italian, which measures the perceived naturalness of automatic dubbing and the relative importance of each proposed enhancement.


We address channel code rate optimization for transmission of non-scalable coded video sequences over orthogonal frequency division multiplexing networks. A slice loss visibility (SLV) model is used to evaluate the visual importance of each H.264 slice. Based on both the SLV model and the frequency diversity order available from the channel, we propose a cross-layer technique to allocate video slices within a 2-D time-frequency resource block, and optimize the unequal channel code rate profile, in order to better protect more visually important slices. The proposed algorithm outperforms baseline ones which do not take into account the SLV.


The object-oriented approach is promising in the rapid development of application software for either sequential or distributed parallel systems. Although automation in object-oriented code generation has been realized by various CASE tools, automation in object-oriented analysis is still immature. In this paper, a framework for building an integrated tool set for providing partial automation in object-oriented analysis is presented for significantly reducing the development effort. The analyses starts from the initial problem statements with user's close participation and the support of CASE tools. Then, the corresponding results are further verified and updated by examining the graphical representations generated from the textual specifications. These analysis diagrams can be passed to the object-oriented design phase for further refinement.


Summary

Ultrastructural morphometric investigation of peroxisome development in piglets during the first 4 weeks of life

The number of hepatic peroxisomes, cores, marginal plates, and microperoxisomes in piglets increases from a low level at birth, compared with other species e. g. the rat, to day 28 of life. The number of peroxisomes is correlated to the activity of uricase, but morphometry alone is not sufficient to quantitate uricase activity. These findings might explain the occurence of renal uric acid deposition (infarction) during a catabolic state, where body protein is metabolized to an increased extent and purine levels rise. Due to a relative lack of uricase uric acid is not completely oxidised to allantoin.


The use of ultrasound in air as a means of communicating digital signals is demonstrated. The work uses capacitive transducers with a useful bandwidth to transmit digitally coded signals across an air gap in the laboratory, using three of the common methods used in digital communications. These are on-off keying (OOK), binary frequency-shift keying (BFSK), and binary phase shift keying (BPSK). All three methods are simulated numerically using the available bandwidth of the transducer systems and are compared to results obtained experimentally. It is demonstrated that BPSK can be used to transmit signals with a low bit error rate.


This address explores a broad framework for thinking sociologically about emancipatory alternatives to dominant institutions and social structures, especially capitalism. The framework is grounded in two foundational propositions: (1) Many forms of human suffering and many deficits in human flourishing are the result of existing institutions and social structures. (2) Transforming existing institutions and social structures in the right way has the potential to substantially reduce human suffering and expand the possibilities for human flourishing. An emancipatory social science responding to these propositions faces four broad tasks: specifying the moral principles for judging social institutions; using these moral principles as the standards for diagnosis and critique of existing institutions; developing an account of viable alternatives in response to the critique; and proposing a theory of transformation for realizing those alternatives. The idea of "real utopias" is one way of thinking about alternatives and transformation.


: Hepatitis B virus (HBV) causes one of the most widespread infections worldwide. We report a family outbreak where a male with Down's syndrome attending an open institution for mentally retarded individuals probably was the source of the infection. We consider the prevention as the only means to attack the infection with intervention on the transmission mechanisms and immuniprophylaxis. We emphasize eh need of a perfect communication between the several institutions involved in epidemiological surveillance. This might have prevented the present outbreak. Finally, we insist on the importance that the primary care physician could have in the prescription and indication of immunoprophylaxis. To this end, the disappearance of the administrative barriers established by the Secretaria General de Asistencia Sanitaria from the Health Ministry would be needed.


A set of enantiopure carbohydrate mimetics has been synthesized via Lewis acid promoted cyclization of 1,3-dioxolanyl-substituted enol ethers as a crucial new step providing highly functionalized 3,6-dihydro-2H-pyran derivatives. The flexible approach starting from glyceraldehyde-derived nitrone is comprised of only six simple steps smoothly allowing synthetic modifications at the different stages of the sequence. All reactions proceeded with good to excellent stereocontrol and can be performed with either of the two enantiomers.


Corrado B\"ohm once observed that if $Y$ is any fixed point combinator (fpc), then $Y(\lambda yx.x(yx))$ is again fpc. He thus discovered the first "fpc generating scheme" -- a generic way to build new fpcs from old. Continuing this idea, define an $\textit{fpc generator}$ to be any sequence of terms $G_1,\dots,G_n$ such that \[ Y \in FPC \Rightarrow Y G_1 \cdots G_n \in FPC \] In this contribution, we take first steps in studying the structure of (weak) fpc generators. We isolate several robust classes of such generators, by examining their elementary properties like injectivity and (weak) constancy. We provide sufficient conditions for existence of fixed points of a given generator $(G_1,\cdots,G_n)$: an fpc $Y$ such that $Y = Y G_1 \cdots G_n$. We conjecture that weak constancy is a necessary condition for existence of such (higher-order) fixed points. This statement generalizes Statman's conjecture on non-existence of "double fpcs": fixed points of the generator $(G) = (\lambda yx.x(yx))$ discovered by B\"ohm. Finally, we define and make a few observations about the monoid of (weak) fpc generators. This enables us to formulate new a conjecture about their structure.


Early studies of rest cerebral metabolism and perfusion reported no association with intellectual capacity. We revisit this issue using a larger sample (N=146) and a continuous arterial spin labeling technique to measure perfusion, and working memory capacity as a measure of intellectual capacity. In the cortex, working memory capacity correlated diffusely and negatively with perfusion. This negative association was more marked in the prefrontal and temporal cortex of the left hemisphere. However, there were also weak positive correlations in the auditory areas, accompanied by analogous correlations in all other areas associated with sensory modalities, with a preference for right lateralization. These findings are discussed in terms of the cortical and vascular organization of the brain.


Differential privacy (DP) allows the quantification of privacy loss when the data of individuals is subjected to algorithmic processing such as machine learning, as well as the provision of objective privacy guarantees. However, while techniques such as individual R\'enyi DP (RDP) allow for granular, per-person privacy accounting, few works have investigated the impact of each input feature on the individual's privacy loss. Here we extend the view of individual RDP by introducing a new concept we call partial sensitivity, which leverages symbolic automatic differentiation to determine the influence of each input feature on the gradient norm of a function. We experimentally evaluate our approach on queries over private databases, where we obtain a feature-level contribution of private attributes to the DP guarantee of individuals. Furthermore, we explore our findings in the context of neural network training on synthetic data by investigating the partial sensitivity of input pixels on an image classification task.


The "Minorities at Risk" (MAR) project and data have offered an innovative, systematic view of communal and ethnic groups. By collecting detailed information on groups that are mobilized and/or discriminated against, and thus "at risk," MAR has allowed researchers to offer new insights in many areas dealing with relationships among groups. However, scholars have also used this dataset in ways for which it was not designed or is hardly appropriate. This article offers an overview of the main contributions of MAR and identifies research questions for which the MAR data have to be used with care.


BACKGROUND: Anticitrullinated protein antibodies (ACPAs) are serological biomarkers associated with early, rapidly progressing rheumatoid arthritis (RA), including more severe disease and joint damage. ACPA testing has become a routine tool for RA diagnosis and prognosis. Furthermore, treatment efficacy has been shown to vary by ACPA-positive status. However, it is not clear if the economic burden of patients with RA varies by ACPA status. OBJECTIVE: To determine if the economic burden of RA varies by patient ACPA status. METHODS: IMS PharMetrics Plus health insurance claims and electronic medical record (EMR) data from 2010-2015 were used to identify patients with incident RA. Patients were aged ≥ 18 years, had ≥ 1 inpatient or ≥ 2 outpatient claims reporting an RA diagnosis code (ICD-9-CM code 714.0), and had an anticyclic citrullinated peptide (anti-CCP; a surrogate of ACPA) antibody test within 6 months of diagnosis. Incident patients were defined as those who had no claims with an RA diagnosis code in the 6 months before the first observed RA diagnosis. The primary outcome of interest was RA-related medical expenditures, defined as the sum of payer- and patient-paid amounts for all claims with an RA diagnosis code. Secondary outcomes included health care utilization metrics such as treatment with a disease-modifying antirheumatic drug (DMARD) and physician visits. Generalized linear regression models were used for each outcome, controlling for ACPA-positive status (defined as anti-CCP ≥ 20 AU/mL), age, sex, and Charlson Comorbidity Index score as explanatory variables. RESULTS: Of 647,171 patients diagnosed with RA, 89,296 were incident cases, and 47% (n = 42,285) had an anti-CCP test. After restricting this sample to patients with a linked EMR and reported anti-CCP test result, 859 remained, with 24.7% (n = 212) being ACPA-positive. Compared with ACPA-negative patients, adjusted results showed that ACPA-positive patients were more likely to use either conventional (71.2% vs. 49.6%; P < 0.001) or biologic (20.3% vs. 11.8%; P < 0.001) DMARDs during the first year after diagnosis and had more physician visits (5.58 vs. 3.91 times per year; P < 0.001). Annual RA-associated total expenditures were $7,941 for ACPA-positive and $5,243 for ACPA-negative patients (Δ = $2,698; P = 0.002). RA-associated medical expenditures were $4,380 for ACPA-positive and $3,427 for ACPA-negative patients (Δ = $954; P = 0.168), whereas DMARD expenditures were $3,560 and $1,817, respectively (Δ = $1,743; P = 0.001). CONCLUSIONS: RA-related economic burden is higher for patients who are ACPA-positive compared with those who are ACPA-negative. Providers may wish to inform patients diagnosed with ACPA-positive RA about the likely future disease and economic burden in hopes that both stakeholders can be more proactive in addressing them.


This dissertation focuses on syntactic comprehension problems in patients with Broca's aphasia from an electrophysiological perspective. The central objective of this dissertation was to further explore what syntax-related event-related brain potential (ERP) effects can reveal about the nature of the deficit that underlies syntactic comprehension problems in patients with Broca's aphasia. Chapter two to four describe experiments in which event-related brain potentials were recorded while subjects (Broca patients, non-aphasic patients with a right-hemisphere lesion, and healthy elderly controls) were presented with sentences that contained either violations of syntactic constraints or were syntactically correct. Chapter two investigates ERP effects of subject-verb agreement violations in the different subject groups, and seeks to answer the following questions: Do agrammatic comprehenders show sensitivity to subject-verb agreement violations as indicated by a syntax-related ERP effect? In addition, does the severity of the syntactic comprehension impairment in the Broca patients affect the ERP responses? Chapter three describes an investigation of whether Broca patients show sensitivity to violations of word order as indicated by a syntax-related ERP effect, and whether the ERP responses in the Broca patients are affected by the severity of their syntactic comprehension impairment. Chapter four reports on ERP effects of violations of word-category. In addition, also a semantic violation condition was added to track possible dissociations in the sensitivity to semantic and syntactic information in the Broca patients. Chapter five describes the development of a paradigm in which the electrophysiological approach and the classical sentence-picture matching approach are combined. In this chapter, the ERP method is applied to study on-line thematic role assignment in Broca patients during sentence-picture matching. Also the relation between ERP effects and behavioral responses is pursued. Finally, Chapter 6 provides a summary of the main findings of the experiments and a general discussion.


An investigation has been made into the effects of prestraining on the impact response and twinning structure of 304L stainless steel by means of a split Hopkinson bar and TEM metallography. Annealed 304L stainless steel was pre-deformed at prestrains of 0.15 and 0.3 using a Saginomiya 100 metal forming machine, providing specimens with different microstructural parameters and mechanical properties. Cylindrical specimens were machined from the pre-deformed material and tested at room temperature at strain rates of 10 -3 , 8 x 10 2 , 2.3 × 10 3 and 4.8 x 10 3 s -1 , with the true strains varying from 0.1 to 0.3. The results indicate that the overall stress-strain response was strongly dependent on applied strain rate and prestrain level. Flow stress increased with strain and strain rate for each prestrain condition. The higher prestrain specimen was generally stronger because of the different initial microstructure and degree of work hardening. Strain-rate sensitivity and activation volume varied with prestrain and work hardening stress (a - σ y ). Increased prestrain and work hardening stress resulted in increased strain-rate sensitivity, but the inverse was observed for activation volume. TEM thin foil observation revealed deformation twinning was operative in 304L stainless steel over a broad strain and strain rate range, and can combine with prestrain effects for different work hardening characteristics and impact strength enhancement. Twin density was observed to increase with prestrain and work hardening stress.


Presently industrial enzyme companies sell enzymes for a wide variety of applications. The estimated value of world enzyme market is presently about US $ 4.3 billion and it has been forecasted to grow to almost US $ 5.1 billion by 2009. Detergents (37%), textiles (12%), starch (11%), baking (8%) and animal feed (6%) are the main industries; totally these industries use about 74% of industrially produced enzymes. Enzymes are also indirectly used in biocatalytic processes involving living or dead and permeabilized microorganisms. This review concentrates on the use of isolated feruloyl esterases enzyme preparations in large scale and speciality applications and chemical manufacturing.

 Key words: Feruloyl esterases, industry, biotechnology.


As of September 30 1985 1573 cases of acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS) had been reported by the 21 European countries that are participants in the World Health Organization (WHO) European Collaborating Center on AIDS. An average increase of 27 new cases/week has been noted. Of the total cases there have been 792 deaths for a case-fatality rate of 50%. The greatest increases in numbers of AIDS cases have occurred in the Federal Republic of Germany France the UK and Italy. The highest rates exist in Switzerland (11.8) Denmark (11.2) and France (8.5). 65% of European AIDS patients have 1 or more opportunistic infection. 20% had Kaposis sarcoma alone and 13% had opportunistic infections with Kaposis sarcoma. 92% of cases have involved males and 42% fall into the 30-39-year age group. Of the 1330 (85%) cases involving Europeans 78% were homosexual or bisexual men 70% were intravenous drug abusers and 2% had both these risk factors. Africans have contributed 10% of European AIDS cases. A questionnaire on public health measures related to blood transfusion found that systematic screening of blood donors for lymphadenopathy-associated virus/human T-lymphotropic virus type III (LAV/HTLV-III) antibodies became effective in 16 of the 21 European countries between June-November 1985. Screening is compulsory in 13 countries. The test used is the enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). Portugal is the only country to have organized a national register of seropositive blood donors although Norway is considering such a register. Methods to exclude donors at risk have been taken in all the countries except Czechoslovakia Finland and Portugal. Although male homosexuals account for 69% of reported AIDS cases in Europe there has been an increase in cases among intavenous drug abusers from 2% of the total in July 1984 to 8% in September 1985. Over 40% of AIDS cases in Italy and Spain occurred in this group. Moreover several studies carried out in 1985 showed a high frequency (20-50%) of serologic markers of LAV/HTLV-III infection in intravenous drug abusers.


Ion-implantation on high purity iron substrates with nitrogen ions were carried out by using a Cockcroft Walton type accelerator under an accelerating voltage of 150 kV. Hardness measurements on the implanted surfaces showed that hardness effectively increased in the cold rolled specimens by ion-implantation in comparison with in an annealed specimen. Iron nitride, Fe16N2, was formed in the ion-implanted specimens. In the annealed specimen, relatively large particles of Fe16N2 were formed with low number density, while in the deformed specimens, dislocation substructures due to cold rolling were disappeared by ion-implantation and fine particles were densely formed. Strain field around dislocations induced by deformation provides nucleation sites for Fe16N2 particles.


Background Weight loss is a common feature in HD. Disruptive neuropsychiatric symptoms (aggression, agitation) and dysphagia observed in moderate/severe stages often contributing to and exacerbating feeding problems. Aim Assess the efficacy of an individualised nutritional intervention to avoid weight lost in HD patients during hospitalisation. Methods/techniques All HD patients at the Neuropsychiatry Unit are assessed in a comprehensive base within the first 7 days of admission. Nutritional assessment includes weight, height, BMI, Mini Nutritional Assessment (MNA), recent weight loss referred from careers, Determine scale, Dysphagia scale, Barthel scale. Depending on the initial results, a nutritional alert is activated and a HD hypercaloric diet is provided. If required, nutritional supplements are also provided following indications of the Nutritional Support Service of Vall d'Hebrón General Hospital. The goal of the intervention is to avoid significant weight loss during admission considering this to be 5% of the initial weight. Results/outcomes 19 patients consecutively discharged from the Unit during 2013 were included in the retrospective study. 12 men, 7 women; Mean age 51.6 ±. 67 y.; Mean admission duration 144 ± 113.87 d. 84.6% in moderate/advanced stage (TFC III, IV, V). Nutritional characteristics: Mean BMI: 22.26 ± 5.08; Mean MNA total: 14.82 ± 5.97. 10 patients had dysphagia (52.6%), 13 were reported to have weight loss before admission (68.4%). Based on MNA total score, 3 patients had malnutrition, 10 patients were at risk. 13 patients received hypercaloric HD diet (68.4%); 8 of them (42.1%) also received nutritional supplements. The mean weight change was +1.9 kg (±5.25). The number of patients whose weight loss did not exceed 5% of their previous weight was, on average, 94.7%. Conclusions Malnutrition is a challenge in HD especially in those with added disruptive behaviours or dysphagia. Our results show that an individualised nutritional program prevents patients from suffering weight loss even if they have dysphagia or experienced weight loss prior to admission.


BK polyomavirus (BKPyV) is a ubiquitous human pathogen, with over 80% of adults worldwide persistently infected. BKPyV infection is usually asymptomatic in healthy people; however, it causes polyomavirus-associated nephropathy in renal transplant patients and hemorrhagic cystitis in bone marrow transplant patients. BKPyV has a circular, double-stranded DNA genome that is divided genetically into three parts: an early region, a late region, and a non-coding control region (NCCR). The NCCR contains the viral DNA replication origin and cis-acting elements regulating viral early and late gene expression. It was previously shown that a BKPyV miRNA expressed from the late strand regulates viral large T antigen expression and limits the replication capacity of archetype BKPyV. A major unanswered question in the field is how expression of the viral miRNA is regulated. Typically, miRNA is expressed from introns in cellular genes but there is no intron readily apparent in the BKPyV from which the miRNA could derive. Here we provide evidence for primary RNA transcripts that circle the genome more than once and include the NCCR. We identified splice junctions resulting from splicing of primary transcripts circling the genome more than once, and Sanger sequencing of RT-PCR products indicates that there are viral transcripts that circle the genome up to four times. Our data suggest that the miRNA is expressed from the intron of these greater-than-genome size primary transcripts.


Typically, intro-operative respiratory auscultation for ventilated patients is performed periodically by an anesthesiologist using stethoscopes. Continuous monitoring, recording and computer-assisted signal processing of respiratory sounds can provide critical information in assisting diagnosis and anesthesia management. This is especially useful in situations of airway complications such as asthma, pulmonary edema, bronchial intubation, pheumothorax, spasm, tube malfunctioning, etc. Technology development of a sensor and information processing system for continuous respiratory sound monitoring will enhance diagnosis capability that is currently provided by many measured variables such as airway pressure, flow rate, O/sub 2/ and CO/sub 2/ levels, blood O/sub 2/ saturation, etc. This paper reports a preliminary effort towards developing such a system.The system will use multiple acoustic sensors (accelerometers) to measure respiratory sounds at designated auscultation sites. To attenuate noise artifacts in measured signals, noise reference sensors will be applied; Sensor signals will be scaled, synchronized and amplified by a multi-channel sound adaptor, and then inputted into a computer. The signals are first processed for noise attenuation and signal separation. The clarified signals are then combined with other measured signals for information processing and diagnosis.


The Norwegian people have relied on the sea for thousands of years. Fishing was the historical foundation for settlement along the Northern coast, dating back to the Stone Age. Less than 40 years ago, the fish production facility was the center of existence for these villages. However since 1900, great structural changes have taken place, challenging the post-war architecture with a growing capitalized industry driven by improved efficiency. Through research of the coastal production history and interviews with local fish producers, a number of concerns were identified for the project, along with potential ideas for its development. In the process I studied the issues of today's existing facilities in the municipalities Loppa and Hasvik, which were built in the late 70`s, and compared them with a highly efficient and brand new facility in Husoy / Senja. My proposal is a new facility in Sorvaer, where fishing has long been the only occupation for its inhabitants. The project is an attempt to rethink the internal organization of the fish handling facility within a flexible structural framework. It will be designed as a one-off, but could serve as an example for other dense areas along the Norwegian coast, which mainly survive on fish production and where modernization is the only resort for survival in the future.


SIR,-Your leading article on results of vagotomy (15 August, p. 358) offers little advance on the conclusions of six years ago.' The preliminary results of mv own cases of peptic ulcer may therefore be of interest. Since 1967 I have treated, by pyloroplasty alone, 55 patients suffering from chronic peptic ulcer requiring surgery (38 duodenal, 17 gastric). Thirty-seven patients have been followed for more than one year and 15 of these for more than two years. None now suffers any dyspepsia; nor have there been any side effects of the pyloroplasty. A second pyloroplasty was necessarv in five patients before the ulcer healed. The first operation did not produce a wide, incompetent pvlorus, but after a second and effective pyloroplasty the ulcers healed and remain so 20 months (one duodenal), one year (one duodenal, one gastric), and less than one year (one duodenal and one gastric) later. In three cases, preoperative peak acid secretion was high hut fell to within normal range postoperatively. In seven patients eating excessive fat caused symptoms which are fully controlled by a low fat intake. Capoer2 showed that benign gastric ulcer healed following pyloronlasty alone "because a wide, incompetent pylorus does not permit a narrow, forceful regurgitation" of duodenal contents into the stomach. Capper's words-narrow, forceful-led me to apolv his conclusions to duodenal ulcer as well. Farris and Smith' accepted that cure of anatomical obstruction at the pylorus was the most important factor in cure of gastric ulcer but added vagotomy to pyloroplasty for fear that "duodenal ulcer diathesis might recur." Their fears appear to be unfounded. Martin and Burden4 in 1928 considered that failure of cure by pyloroplasty of any peptic ulcer was due to incomplete abolition of sphincter activity at the pylorus, or to postoPerative narrowing of the pyloroplasty. Their views were neglected perhaps because although we can assess the time the stomach takes to empty of barium we cannot see whether it is "swishing like a bath of water"5 through a relaxed, wide-open nvlorus. or is squirting as a narrow, forceful "jet" through a restricted pylorus (restricted by spasm, muscle hypertrophv, inflammation and fibrosis, or even pyloric mucosal dianhragm). Perhans also, because it was possible to "measure" them, however inaccurately, acid levels attained spurious importance. The concept underlying use of pyloroplasty alone is a simple one. If the pylorus does not relax fully the flow becomes narrow and forceful; acid gastric contents are squirted as a "jet" to impinge upon duodenal mucosa, possibly persistently on the same localized area, before mixing with and being neutralized by duodenal contents. If the pylorus does not close completely during duodenal cap systole pyloric reflux occurs. Resistance to flow of gastric contents through the pylorus into the duodenum may stimulate the antrum and cause a rise in gastric acid secretion.67 Anything which diminishes the "jet" itself (for example, by interfering with gastric motility), or which alters pH, can modify the ulcerating effect. Pyloroplasty prevents the formation of a "jet." Pyloroplasty must be adequate to prevent reflux from duodenal cap systole and to decompress the antrum. It is then followed by healing of duodenal and high and low gastric ulcers, high acid secretion levels may become normal, and there are no side effects of the operation. I have not found any kind of vagotomy or gastrectomy necessary to cure any chronic peptic ulcer during the last two-and-a-half years. I have also used effective pyloroplasty alone successfully to cure cases of failed vagotomy and pyloroplasty and failed vagatomy and gastroenterostomy.-I am, etc., PETER CHILDS. Plvmouth General Hospital, Plymouth, Devon.


We have examined the role binding proteins have in regulating the clearance of exogenous growth factors from wounds. Hunt-Schilling chambers were subcutaneously implanted in rats, and the clearance of insulin-like growth factor (IGF) I from the chamber wound fluid was compared with IGF-II, LR3-IGF-I, which binds poorly to IGF-binding proteins (IGFBP), or insulin. Elimination rate constants of the slow phase of the decay curves did not differ between IGF-I and IGF-II. However, LR3-IGF-I and insulin were cleared more rapidly from wound fluid than IGF-I so that the half-lives for IGF-I, IGF-II, LR3-IGF-I, and insulin were 872, 861, 563, and 324 min, respectively. In wound fluid, minimal degradation of the IGFs occurred, whereas insulin was degraded considerably. The increased clearance of LR3-IGF-I and insulin equated with a reduced association with wound fluid IGFBPs, and increased amounts of radioactivity of these peptides were detected in the circulation and urine. These results show that this model of wound repair may be of use in examining the kinetics of growth factors and other bioactive molecules in extravascular spaces and support the hypothesis that IGFBPs can be significant regulators of IGF bioavailability in vivo.


Henna plant scientifically known as Lawsonia inermis is an ethno botanical plant used majorly for preparation of dye called henna. The plant contains a pigment called Laws one which makes it suitable for preparation of henna used in painting or beautification of body parts. Henna painting of body parts is an art of beautification which is commonly practised by the people of Lamu County and other parts of the world. However, high levels of toxic heavy metals such as lead (Pb), Cadmium (Cd) and Nikel (Ni) commonly found in henna products pose health threat to users. One of the sources of heavy metals in cosmetic henna products is the henna leaves. The aim of the study was to determine the level of heavy metals; Lead (Pb), Cadmium (Cd) and Nickel (Ni) in henna leaves within Lamu County in order to assess their suitability as raw material for henna products with respect to the international standard limits. A total of 60 henna leaf samples were randomly selected from Mpeketoni, Amu, Pate and Kiunga sampling sites within Lamu County and analysed for heavy metals using Flame Atomic Absorption Spectroscopy (FAAS) after acid digestion of the samples. Analysis of variance (ANOVA) using SPSS version 17.0 was used to analyse the data. The least and highest mean levels (ppm) of heavy metals in the henna leaf samples were as follows: Pb (0.04±0.01 to 0.93±0.04), Cd (0.01±0.00 to 0.09±0.01) and Ni (0.01±0.00 to 0.34±0.02). The pattern of overall mean level of heavy metal accumulation in the henna leaves followed the order: Pb > Ni > Cd. No significant difference in the overall mean level of lead (p=0.155), cadmium (p=0.577) and nickel (p=0.355) in the henna leaves was noted. Among all the sampling sites, a significant difference in the level of nickel (p=0.021) was recorded only within Mpeketoni site. From the results of the study, it showed that henna leaves from Lamu County formed a good raw material for henna products due to their low level of lead, cadmium and nickel in comparison to the standard limits by WHO. Effective quality control measures, proper selection of raw material as well as good manufacturing practises should be enhanced so as to minimise the levels of these metals in henna products.


We introduce a linear measurement-based method for interference estimation in wireless mesh networks. The approach is based on measuring the channel occupancy and requires only O(n) measurements for a network with n nodes, thus making it suitable for large network deployments. We show, how we utilize the carrier sensing mechanism of commodity IEEE 802.11 hardware to measure the channel occupancy. Based on the measurements, we develop the Channel Occupancy Interference Model (COIM). The model is validated in the DES-Testbed, a wireless mesh network with 128 multi-radio network nodes at the Freie Universität Berlin. The validation shows, that the model is capable of predicting interfering nodes in the communication and also in the interference range. Additionally, our evaluation shows that the often used 2-hop interference model is too pessimistic for indoor network deployments, about 60% of the 2-hop neighbors are not interferers in our set-up.


The organic-inorganic hybrid compounds have attracted much attention for their interesting structures and various properties. In present work, we concentrated on the band structures of the hybrid compound (C4H9NH3)2GeI4 and tried to find out the relations between the geometry structure and the properties. The hybrid's primitive cell was large and including too many atoms, so it was difficult to have a direct and clear analysis on the band structure. The hybrids' DOS and PDOS were analyzed instead, as it was another effective way to analyze the band structure of the hybrid especially when the band structure was complicated. The model of (C4H9NH3)2GeI4 was set up, and the program based on the first principle had been employed to calculate its band structure. The difference of iodine's PDOS caused by structure was also discussed.


Background Idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) is a specific form of chronic, progressive fibrosing interstitial pneumonia which primarily affects older adults, for which very few treatments have existed. While attention has been paid to quantifying the rising incidence and prevalence of the disease, little has been done to quantify the impact of this disease on NHS resources and how this impact varies by setting. Objective This study aims to identify health care utilisation patterns in the United Kingdom (UK) following IPF diagnosis. Methods The Clinical Practice Research Datalink (CPRD) GOLD dataset for general practitioner office visits and the linked Hospital Episode Statistics (HES) datasets were analysed, covering the time period from January 1, 2000 to June 30, 2015. A matched cohort analysis was conducted, and frequency counts and regression analyses were used to quantify raw healthcare resource utilisation and understand the proportion of the utilisation that is attributable to IPF. Results The results of this study indicate that IPF patients have significantly higher healthcare utilisation patterns than non-IPF patients. The regression results indicate that IPF leads to roughly 2.2 times as many GP visits, 8.7 times as many inpatient hospitalizations, and 2.4 times as many outpatient hospital visits per year (all p-values <0.0001), as well as increased referrals, prescriptions, and, in the post-diagnosis period, inpatient stay duration. Additionally, healthcare utilisation amongst these patients is dramatically higher in the year prior to IPF diagnosis, a pattern not witnessed in the matched cohort. Conclusions IPF imposes a significant burden on the NHS despite its rare prevalence. IPF patients experience an across the board increase in healthcare utilisation, but the burden is particularly acute in the inpatient hospital setting. Additionally, the large increase in resource utilisation in the year prior to IPF diagnosis is evidence of the potential benefits to refining the diagnostic procedures.


Dependence on rain-fed agriculture and having low adaptive capacity make the country highly susceptible to the adverse impact of climate change and variability. This study sought to find out the determinants of farmers' adaptation strategies to climate change and variability in Mareka District of Dawuro zone, South Ethiopia. A total of 37 kebele of the district were stratified under three dominant agro-ecologies (as highland, midland and lowland).Three kebele (Eyesus, Gozo-shasho and Tarcha-zuriya) was selected randomly from the three agro-ecologies of the district . After households were grouped in to, three socio-economic categories (poor, medium and better-off) 69, 68 and 17 households (i.e. a total of 154 households) were randomly selected from the respective socio-economic category. Both qualitative and quantitative data were collected through key informant interview, focus group discussion and household survey, respectively. Binary logit model was used to examine determinants of adaptation strategies. Accordingly, education, sex, age, productive labor force, wealth, farm experience, farm size, extension contact, soil fertility, access to climate information and credit service were the major determinant factor variables to farmers' adaptation to climate change and variability.


Accurate prediction of water level fluctuation is important in lake management due to its significant impacts in various aspects. This study utilizes four model approaches to predict water levels in the Yuan-Yang Lake (YYL) in Taiwan: a three-dimensional hydrodynamic model, an artificial neural network (ANN) model (back propagation neural network, BPNN), a time series forecasting (autoregressive moving average with exogenous inputs, ARMAX) model, and a combined hydrodynamic and ANN model. Particularly, the black-box ANN model and physically based hydrodynamic model are coupled to more accurately predict water level fluctuation. Hourly water level data (a total of 7296 observations) was collected for model calibration (training) and validation. Three statistical indicators (mean absolute error, root mean square error, and coefficient of correlation) were adopted to evaluate model performances. Overall, the results demonstrate that the hydrodynamic model can satisfactorily predict hourly water level changes during the calibration stage but not for the validation stage. The ANN and ARMAX models better predict the water level than the hydrodynamic model does. Meanwhile, the results from an ANN model are superior to those by the ARMAX model in both training and validation phases. The novel proposed concept using a three-dimensional hydrodynamic model in conjunction with an ANN model has clearly shown the improved prediction accuracy for the water level fluctuation.


Combinatorial identities on Weyl groups of types A and B are derived from special bases of the corresponding coinvariant algebras. Using the Garsia-Stanton descent basis of the coinvariant algebra of type A we give a new construction of the Solomon descent representations. An extension of the descent basis to type B, using new multivariate statistics on the group, yields a reenement of the descent representations. These constructions are then applied to reene well-known decomposition rules of the coinvariant algebra and to generalize various identities.


Transgenic CBA (H‐2k haplotype) mice expressing the H‐2 Kb major histocompatibility complex (MHC) class I gene under control of transcriptional promoter elements from a milk protein gene display high‐level H‐2 Kb transcription in lactating mammary glands and low‐level transcription in skin and thymus of male and virgin female transgenic mice. However, H‐2 Kb antigen could be detected only in lactating mammary gland epithelial cells by immunohistological methods. All transgenic mice are tolerant of H‐2 Kb since they fail to reject skin grafts from mice expressing H‐2 Kb molecules. Furthermore, anti‐H‐2 Kb cytotoxic responses could not be generated using responder T cells from transgenic mice but T cells from the same mice proliferated, in the presence of interleukin‐2, in response to stimulator cells expressing H‐2 Kb. Tolerance to H‐2 Kb is induced in the thymus since CBA mice grafted with thymus tissue from transgenic mice fail to reject H‐2 Kb disparate skin grafts. However, experiments with double‐transgenic mice also expressing a T cell receptor with anti‐H‐2 Kb specificity reveal that tolerance induction is not brought about by elimination of thymocytes bearing H‐2 Kb‐reactive receptors. Instead, a non‐deletional mechanism which results in down‐modulation of both CD8 and T cell receptor expression in peripheral T cells correlates with the induction of tolerance in these mice. These data reveal that extremely low levels of self‐antigen expression in the thymus are sufficient to induce tolerance via non‐deletional mechanisms.


BACKGROUND
A novel microsampling device, Mitra(TM), was evaluated for bioanalysis of E6005 and its O-desmethylated metabolite in human whole blood using an UPLC-MS.

RESULTS
A constant volume of blood samples was absorbed onto the tip of Mitra, the analytes were extracted by various solvents and then detected by UPLC-MS. Recovery of the analytes was high in acetonitrile-water (1:1, v/v) but was dependent on hematocrit (Hct) without sonication process, which led to biased accuracy at low and high Hcts. Inclusion of sonication process in extraction improved recovery at high Hct to yield acceptable accuracy across Hcts.

CONCLUSION
Optimization of extraction process to achieve high recovery regardless of Hct is critical in accurate bioanalysis via Mitra.


IntroductionFees for recreation on public land have a long and controversial history (Driver, Bossi, & Cordell, 1985). The appropriateness and impacts to users of charging fees to recreate on public lands has generated considerable discussion in the literature. Often cited rationale in support of fees include ideas that fees may provide a more efficient allocation of recreation resources, increase equity by having only those who benefit from recreation pay for its provision, control congestion, reduce vandalism and other undesirable behavior, provide revenue to increase the quality of recreation facilities, and allow recreation provision to become more self sufficient (Binkley & Mendelsohn, 1987; Ellerbrock, 1982; Harris & Driver, 1987). Alternatively, it has been suggested that recreation fees result in an inequity for socio-economic groups of lower status (More & Stevens, 2000) and may also represent double taxation (Harris & Driver, 1987). Recreation, by definition, is a self rewarding, spontaneous experience with freedom from constraint. Fees might commercialize these experiences and threaten the realization of benefits derived from these experiences (Schultz, McAvoy, & Dustin, 1988; Cockrell & Wellman, 1985). Outdoor recreation has also been viewed as a merit good, providing benefits to society, and, thus, should subsidized (Harris & Driver, 1987). Others have suggested that a carefully designed fee program (e.g., using fees only in conditions of scarcity, limiting the amount of annual fee increases, and phasing in increases) may minimize the potential negative impacts (McCarville, 1995).Effective fee programs have been hindered by the historic structure of fee collection/revenue allocation. Fees collected by federal agencies were traditionally sent to the general treasury and did not necessarily contribute to maintenance at the site where collected. The fee demonstration program, established by Congress in 1996 and pertaining to the National Park Service, Bureau of Land Management, US Forest Service, and US Fish and Wildlife Service, represented a new approach to recreation user fees. At least 80% of the revenue collected was to be used for projects in the area where the fee was collected (U.S. Department of Interior & U.S. Department of Agriculture, 1999). The Fee Demonstration Program sparked renewed research interest in the impacts of fees, resulting in two special topics Journal issues. Both published in 1999, a special topics issue of the Journal of Leisure Research (Volume 31(3)) focused on societal responses to fees and the Journal of Park and Recreation Administration (Volume 17(3)) addressed public sector fees and pricing (Watson, 1999). Research published in those special topics issues, along with other research specific to the fee demonstration project has added to the literature seeking to understand why recreationists may find fees acceptable or unacceptable.Williams, Vogt, and Vitterso (1999) explored factors that explained responses to wilderness camping fees in the Desolation Wilderness Area. Explanatory variables included previous use of wilderness, residential proximity, income and respondents' perceived fee benefits, measured by a scale of four questions. Overall, 78% of the respondents found wilderness camping fees acceptable. A structural equation model was used to explore the relationship between wilderness trips, previous Desolation Wilderness Area trips, residential proximity, income and fee support. Fee payment history, perception of wilderness problems and perceived fee benefit served as mediating variables. Results showed perceived benefits fully mediated the relationship between trips and residential proximity; perceived fee benefit was the strongest predictor of fee support.Studies of visitors' acceptance to fees at National Wildlife Refuges also found variables related to beliefs about the fee program to be the best predictors of acceptance of fees. …


Various types of time interval distributions are calculated assuming a compound Poisson law for the photoelectron emission. The experimental results obtained with the high gain first dynode photomultiplier RCA C 31000 D are discussed with reference to an exponential illumination function. Time resolution curves are measured by performing first photoelectron triggering.


Recent social media trends have demonstrated increased interest in dancing during the final weeks of pregnancy and labor. However, there is limited evidence about dancing during labor and its impact on labor pain and duration as well as patient satisfaction. Before conducting a prospective study, given that enrollment is often challenging, our feasibility study aimed to assess the willingness of pregnant women to participate in a future study evaluating low-impact dance during labor. We anonymously surveyed a convenience sample of English-speaking/reading pregnant women who presented for prenatal care at 1 of 3 clinics from June 2019 to July 2019. Questions related to women's interest in dancing during labor and limited demographic information were collected and analyzed. Overall, 88.6% of pregnant women who completed the survey expressed interest in participating in a future study on low-impact dance during labor, with Caucasian patients and those ≥35 years of age being less interested in future participation (P<0.05 for both). Interest in participating was not influenced by any other demographic characteristic, pregnancy history, or current activity level. Given sufficient interest among pregnant women in participating in a study aimed at evaluating the potential benefits of low-impact dance during labor, enrollment numbers may be easier to achieve than previously expected.


BACKGROUND: The treatment of melanoma is rapidly evolving, with many recently introduced systemic therapies. The management of individual patients, however, remains challenging. Decisions on when to initiate and discontinue specific treatments rely on imprecise methods such as imaging studies, and patient outcomes often remain less than optimal. An assay that can be performed conveniently, safely, and serially could usefully complement current assessments of disease burden. Circulating tumor cell (CTC) analysis fulfills all these criteria and may assist in determining true disease status and risk stratification. However, commercial CTC assays that target epithelial cell markers are ineffective for melanoma. We, therefore, investigated the use of a novel telomerase-based assay for melanoma CTCs. METHODS: The assay utilizes an adenoviral vector that, in the presence of elevated human telomerase (hTERT) activity, drives the expression of green fluorescent protein (GFP). This confers sensitivity and specificity, as telomerase activity is elevated in almost all cancer cells but not elevated in almost all normal cells. The tumor cells are identified via an image processing system that applies cutoff criteria of fluorescent intensity and size. The cells are co-stained with anti-Melan-A to confirm their melanoma origin. The assay was tested on melanoma cells in culture, in control blood, and on samples from 10 patients with metastatic melanoma. RESULTS: The assay was effective for all melanoma cell lines tested with sensitivity of 92% (95% confidence interval (CI) 84.4-99.1%) and specificity of 99% (95%CI 99.5-99.6%). It was also effective in control blood from healthy volunteers (limit of detection = 1.1 CTCs/mL). In a pilot trial of patients with metastatic disease, CTCs were identified in 9 of 10 patients (the tenth patient was without evidence of disease after treatment) with mean count of 6.0 CTCs/mL (range 0.7-27.1 CTCs/mL). In a linear regression model, CTC counts were significantly increased in patients with greater burden of disease (p = 0.02) and significantly decreased in patients with current or recent cytotoxic chemotherapy (p = 0.02). Interestingly, prior or active immunotherapy did not significantly affect CTC levels. Patient demographics, primary tumor location, and sites of metastases also did not appear to significantly affect CTC levels. CONCLUSIONS: To our knowledge, this is the first report of a telomerase-based assay for detecting melanoma cells. This assay was effective in identifying melanoma cells in culture and in the peripheral blood of patients with metastatic melanoma. Greater disease burden appears to be associated with increased CTC levels while cytotoxic chemotherapy appears to be associated with decreased CTC levels. Longer term follow-up and serial assays may validate the ultimate usefulness of this assay in the management of patients with melanoma. Citation Format: Melody Ju, Gary D. Kao, Charles B. Simone, David Steinmetz, Xiangsheng Xu, Louise Aguarin, Wei Xu, Edmund Bartlett, Stephen M. Hahn, Jay F. Dorsey, Giorgos Karakousis. "Capturing the elusive foe": A novel telomerase promoter-based approach to detect melanoma circulating tumor cells. [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the 105th Annual Meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research; 2014 Apr 5-9; San Diego, CA. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2014;74(19 Suppl):Abstract nr 1871. doi:10.1158/1538-7445.AM2014-1871


1Division of Urology, Department of Surgery, School of Medicine, University of Missouri, Columbia, Missouri, USA; 2Department of Health Management and Informatics, University of Missouri, Columbia, Missouri, USA Purpose: To evaluate patient satisfaction (with emphasis on preoperative education) with radical cystectomy for bladder cancer at our institution, the University of Missouri Hospital, qualitatively in order to identify specific areas where improvements can be made. Materials and Methods: We developed a patient survey that used open-ended questions to identify positive and negative experiences that contributed to patient satisfaction. We administered the survey to radical cystectomy patients who met inclusion criteria and agreed to participate. We recorded, transcribed and qualitatively coded the responses. We identified four themes under which both positive and negative responses were placed, and constructed two diagrams to better illustrate contributors to patient experience and satisfaction. Results: We identified 25 patients who met inclusion criteria. Of those, 13 participated in the survey. Regarding overall experience, 92.3% of patients rated their care as excellent or good. Regarding preoperative education, 76.9% of patients reported they definitely or somewhat received enough information on what to expect after surgery, and 76.9% definitely received enough guidance on how to care for themselves after surgery. From qualitative coding of patient responses to open-ended questions, we identified preoperative preparation, delivery of care, caregiver availability, and patient-centered care as themes that contributed positively and negatively to patient experience. Conclusion: Although the overall patient satisfaction could be perceived as high (92.3%), qualitative analysis revealed several areas where improvements can be made to improve patient experience with radical cystectomy at our institution. As previously expected, preoperative preparation was a contributor.


The advent of colonialism and eventual attainment of independence in the 1960s left indelible marks on the social, cultural, economic and political aspects of the colonized societies. Different genres of arts capture these aspects in varied ways. This project paper analyses political undertones in three novels by Mwangi Ruheni namely; What a Husband! The Mystery Smugglers and Future Leaders. A prolific writer in the popular literature genre, Ruheni has largely been deemed to be addressing issues central to pop literature such as, prostitution, alcoholism, crime and the like that accompany the decay that comes with urbanization. This paper focuses on political voices in Ruheni"s fiction. It examines the artistic strategies employed by the author to voice political comments even as he primarily portrays social challenges of a society in transition. That the novels under the study of this project were written only a decade into independence, in addition to the fact that the author grew and schooled during the colonial regime calls for the paper to further examine transformational effects of characters and institutions during this significant period, politically. The study demonstrates that amid hedonism aptly exemplified by liberal sexuality and alcoholism, the three novels incorporates subtexts that reflect political reality of the time in addition to revealing the political perspective of the pop artist whose works are the focus of this research.


The implications of Value-at-Risk regulations are analyzed in a CARA-normal general equilibrium model. Financial institutions are heterogeneous in risk preferences, wealth and the degree of supervision. Regulatory risk constraints lower the probability of one form of a systemic crisis, at the expense of more volatile asset prices, less liquidity, and the amplification of downward price movements. This can be viewed as a consequence of the endogenously changing risk appetite of financial institutions induced by the regulatory constraints. Finally, the Value-at-Risk constraints may prevent market clearing altogether. The role of unregulated institutions (hedge-funds) is considered. The findings are illustrated with an application to the 1987 and 1998 crises.


Tryptophan metabolism was investigated in 108 patients with renal tumors and 449 controls. Histologically verified (96.2%) hypernephroid cancer and papillary pelvic cancer were recorded in 84.3 and 15.4% of patients, respectively. Endogenic carcinogen 3-oxy-antronilic acid (3-OAA) was found in the urine of 17.6% of patients vs. 5.6% of controls. The difference was statistically significant. 3-oxykinurenin was detected in 6.5% of patients. The difference with controls was insignificant. Tryptophan metabolism was specified in respect to tumor histology and sex.


This study provides an analysis of a random sample of 100 cadets from the United States Coast Guard Academy class of 1993. Emphasis is placed on the cadets' academic achievements, their military performance, and the:r resignation status to determine whether the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI) preferences can be used to predict success in these areas. A brief description is included about the incorporation of the MBTI into the Academy culture, with an attempt to build on the description of applicability to the United States Naval Academy made by Rousch (1989). It is hypothesized that individuals with Introversion (I), Intuition (N), Thinking (T), and Judgment (J) MBTI preferences are more suitable to academic and military success at the U.S. Coast Guard Academy than are individuals with other combinations of type preferences, and that low academic success at the Academy will adversely affect a cadet's military performance, which in turn could lead to resignation. The results of this study do indicate significant correlations among personality preferences, academic success, and military performance, as well as significant correlations between academic success, successful military performance, and persistence at the Academy. (Contains 7 references and 13 tables.) (Author) *********************************************************************** Reproductions supplied by EDRS are the best that can be made from the original document. *********************************************************************** Use of the 1VilEITI as a Predictor of Successful Academic and Military Performance at the United States


The words of Unknown Warriors resonate as powerfully today as when first written. The book offers a very personal glimpse into the hidden world of the military field hospital where patients struggled with pain and trauma, and nurses fought to save lives and preserve emotional integrity. The book's author was one of a select number of fully trained military nurses who worked in hospital trains and casualty clearing stations during the First World War, coming as close to the front as a woman could. Kate Luard was already a war veteran when she arrived in France in 1914, aged 42, having served in the Second Boer War. At the height of the Battle of Passchendaele, she was in charge of a casualty clearing station with a staff of forty nurses and nearly 100 nursing orderlies. She was awarded the RRC and Bar (a rare distinction) and was Mentioned in Despatches for gallant and distinguished service in the field. Through her letters home she conveyed a vivid and honest portrait of war. It is also a portrait of close family affection and trust in a world of conflict. In publishing some of these letters in Unknown Warriors her intention was to bear witness to the suffering of the ordinary soldier.


Background: Cholestasis is a significant life-threatening complication in children on parenteral nutrition (PN). Strategies to prevent/ treat PN-associated cholestasis (PNAC) and intestinal failure–associated liver disease (IFALD) have reached moderate success with little supporting evidence. Aims of this systematic review were (1) to determine the incidence of PNAC/IFALD in children receiving PN for ≥14 days and (2) to review the efficacy of measures to prevent/treat PNAC/IFALD. Methods: Of 4696 abstracts screened, 406 relevant articles were reviewed, and studies on children with PN ≥14 days and cholestasis (conjugated bilirubin ≥ 2 mg/dL) were included. Analyzed parameters were (1) PNAC/IFALD incidence by decade and by PN length and (2) PNAC/IFALD prevention and treatment (prospective studies). Results: Twenty-three articles (3280 patients) showed an incidence of 28.2% and 49.8% of PNAC and IFALD, respectively, with no evident alteration over the last decades. The incidence of PNAC was directly proportional to the length of PN (from 15.7% for PN ≤1 month up to 60.9% for PN ≥2 months; P < .0001). Ten studies on PNAC met inclusion criteria. High or intermediatedose of oral erythromycin and aminoacid-free PN with enteral whey protein gained significant benefits in preterm neonates (P < .05, P = .003, and P < .001, respectively). None of the studies reviewed met inclusion criteria for treatment. Conclusions: The incidence of PNAC/ IFALD in children has no obvious decrease over time. PNAC is directly correlated to the length of PN. Erythromycin and aminoacidfree PN with enteral whey protein have shown to prevent PNAC in preterm neonates. There is a lack of high-quality prospective studies, especially on IFALD. (JPEN J Parenter Enteral Nutr. XXXX;XX:XX-XX)


Considerable experimental evidence suggests that serotonin (5-HT) at sensory neuron→motor neuron (SN→MN) synapses, as well as other neuronal sites, contributes importantly to simple forms of learning such as sensitization and classical conditioning inAplysia. However, the actual release of 5-HT in the CNS induced by sensitizing stimuli such as tail shock has not been directly demonstrated. In this study, we addressed this question by (1) immunohistochemically labeling central 5-HT processes and (2) directly measuring with chronoamperometry the release of 5-HT induced by pedal tail nerve (P9) shock onto tail SNs in the pleural ganglion and their synapses onto tail MNs in the pedal ganglion. We found that numerous 5-HT-immunoreactive fibers surround both the SN cell bodies in the pleural ganglion and SN axons in the pedal ganglion. Chronoamperometric detection of 5-HT performed with carbon fiber electrodes implanted in the vicinity of tail SN somata and synapses revealed an electrochemical 5-HT signal lasting ∼40 sec after a brief shock of P9. 5-HT release was restricted to discrete subregions (modulatory fields) of the CNS, including the vicinity of tail SN soma and synapses ipsilateral to the stimulation. Increasing P9 shock frequency augmented the amplitude of the 5-HT signal and, in parallel, increased SN excitability and SN synaptic transmission onto tail MNs. However, the relationship between the amount of 5-HT release and the two forms of SN plasticity was not uniform: SN excitability increased in a graded manner with increased 5-HT release, whereas synaptic facilitation exhibited a highly nonlinear relationship. The development of chronoamperometric techniques in Aplysia now paves the way for a more complete understanding of the contribution of the serotonergic modulatory pathway to memory processing in this system.


Advances in heating, ventilation and air conditioning (HVAC) technologies have dramatically improved the indoor thermal environment, but attention should be paid on how this would affect building occupants' thermal comfort perception. In this paper, we studied the mutually dependent relationship between indoor climate experience and occupants' comfort expectation. An intriguing experiment was conducted in China where wintertime indoor thermal environments in northern cities (with district heating) are much warmer than in southern region (without district heating). By analyzing the 4411 responses from four college-aged subject groups with different indoor thermal history, two interesting findings emerged. Firstly, people's understandings of thermal comfort change with their indoor thermal experiences. Those permanently live in lower-grade non-neutral thermal environment can achieve similar thermal comfort perception as those who live in long-term comfortable thermal conditions. Secondly, the dynamics of building occupants' thermal comfort adaptation project asymmetric trajectories. It is much quicker for occupants to accept neutral indoor climate than to lower their expectation and adapt to under-conditioned environments. These two phenomena can be well described by the index "demand factor", which can serve as a reference for future thermal comfort study.


The use of high performance integrated passive devices (IPD) allows an optimum solution in the tradeoff between integration and flexibility for design modification. The paper presents the integration of sub-circuits into IPD's for WLAN and distributed broadcasting satellite (DBS) applications on liquid polymer crystal (LCP)-based organic substrate technology. An integrated diplexer-coupler-harmonic filter for dual-band WLAN applications and a diplexer-balun chipset for DBS applications are presented. The WLAN IPD measures 5times6mm, exhibits directivities of 27dB and 16dB in the 2.4GHz and 5GHz band, and provides 45dB of second harmonic rejection. The DBS diplexer provides 45dBc rejection. Finally, the 2times1.25mm DBS balun utilizing high-inductive coupling shows a measured amplitude and phase balance of 0.5dB and 5deg and a minimum return loss of 10dB


Unified chaotic system is a newly-suggested chaotic system. By means of generalized synchronization (GS), the synchronized control of unified system is studied. For unified system has good properties of auto-correlation and cross-correlation, it takes advantage of chaotic shift keying (CSK) scheme to make experiments. In this paper, the approach of GS control has been presented. Then the entire scheme of CSK based on unified chaotic system has been detailed. Finally the results o f numerical simuhtions prove the effectiveness about GS of unified chaotic system. The approach i s suitable for the research situation with parameter mismatch and channel distortion.


College students' drinking patterns have been a cause for concern for a
number of years. The present study evaluated the relative effectiveness of
two brief interventions aimed at reducing alcohol consumption among
heavy-drinking students. The first intervention delivered personalised
feedback about students' alcohol use and other alcohol-related
information. The other one delivered nonpersonalised feedback. It was
hypothesised that the personalised feedback would be more successful
than nonpersonalised feedback in motivating heavy-drinking students to
reduce their alcohol consumption. The study began with a large-scale,
screening survey of students' alcohol use. The survey first identified
heavy-drinking students, who then completed a baseline assessment
comprising questionnaire measures related to personality, motivation,
reasons for drinking, high-risk drinking situations, and alcohol-related
problems. Following the baseline assessment, the heavy-drinking
students (n= 111) were randomly assigned to either one of three groups;
personalised feedback, nonpersonalised feedback, or a non-intervention
control group. Students (n= 110) in all three groups were followed-up 12
weeks after the interventions had been delivered. The results showed that
personalised alcohol-related feedback produced the greatest increase in
students' readiness to change their excessive drinking. However, there
was no evidence for an effect of intervention on students' actual
consumption. At baseline it was found that as students' alcohol-related
problems increased there were also increases in (a) the amount of alcohol
that they consumed, (b) the negative-affect situations in which they drank,
and (c) their maladaptive motivational patterns. In fact, each of the latter
three variables contributed uniquely to the variance in alcohol-related
problems. The results were discussed from the perspective of a
motivational model of alcohol use (Cox & Klinger, 1988). It was concluded
that the findings of the present study have important implications for
future brief interventions among students.


Modern networked embedded system design has to cope with multiple design objectives. One major challenge is the determination of optimal routings with respect to these objectives. Existing automatic optimization approaches carry out a two step optimization: First, they perform a multi-objective topology optimization of the networked embedded system. Then, a multi-objective routing optimization for a subset of Pareto optimal solutions obtained from the first step is performed. In general, this may exclude several globally optimal solutions from the optimization process. To overcome this drawback, a unified approach based on multi-objective evolutionary algorithms is presented that ensures a combined optimization of the topology and routing. Since the system topology is varied within the optimization, the main contribution of this paper contribution is a novel routing technique that always samples feasible paths using a topology independent genetic encoding. This encoding preserves optimized routing information when changing the underlying topology. An experimental evaluation shows the effectiveness of the presented approach.


India is developing at an incredible rate. With development, there is an alarming increase in the demand for energy. But at the same time, we as a nation, have to economize on our energy costs to focus on human developmental needs. It is an undeniable fact that we have to strive for energy self-sufficiency to stay relevant in the modern times we live in. In such context, the idea of biomass energy becomes very important and relevant. With its inherent advantages of carbon neutrality and sustainability, biomass energy is the way forward for the nation and the world at large. Biomass energy has the potential and the promise of becoming the prime energy source. Though many forms of bioenergy are in focus of many research and development agencies/organizations, harnessing the biomass energy through combustion is the simplest method. In this project, we attempt to analyse and discuss the feasibility and sustainability of this method. We would have to dwell upon the challenges posed by this method and attempt to quell these in a scientific manner. Abundant land and water resources are the major enabler for adoption of biomass energy, as a principle. But in practice, technical variables such as calorific value, ash content, presence of sulphur, greenhouse gas emissions play a significant role in the actual adoption of biomass as a major source of energy. To study these, we have chosen wastes of six different agriculture based biomass species such as banana (Musa acuminate), coconut (Cocos nucifera), arecanut (Areca catechu), rice (Oryza sativa), wheat (Triticum aestivum) and palm (Borassus flabellifer). The samples were analysed by proximate and ultimate analyses, and further correlation was established through regression analysis. Proximate analysis showed that the coconut has the highest volatile matter content (i.e., 73 wt.%) and banana has the highest fixed carbon content (i.e., 20 wt.%) which indicated higher calorific values. The determination of calorific values validated the former results. Palm exhibited lowest ash content suggesting no ash related problems during combustion. Ultimate analysis performed on some of the selected species showed high carbon and hydrogen contents in the leaves of coconut and arecanut. Out of some selected biomass ashes tested for their fusion temperatures, rice has the lowest initial deformation temperature (i.e., 938 0C) which is substantially above the boiling temperature, suggesting that all the selected biomass samples can be used safely for combustion in boilers up to a temperature of 800 0C. The bulk density of rice husk has been found out to be the highest (i.e., 336.257 kg/m3), suggesting facilitation of higher amount of rice husk in the boiler and, economical transportation and handling. An attempt has been made to develop empirical formulae statistically using regression analysis to predict gross calorific value using proximate and ultimate analyses data. The land requirements for energy plantation with selected biomass species were computed and found that approximately 4931, 524, 1757, 814, 3043 and 1146 hectares of land for harvesting banana, coconut, arecanut, palm, wheat and rice biomass species for assuring a perpetual supply of electricity at the rate of 5475 MWh per year for a group of 10-12 villages consisting of about 2000 households. Further, from the calculations of fuel requirement it was observed that coal requirement can decrease from 4968.0 to 4289.1 t/year and 4968 to 4008.6 t/year with the increase in biomass content from 0 to 15 % in the briquettes of coal with rice husk and coal with palm leaf respectively which suggests that agricultural biomass wastes can be used in co-firing mode for generation of electricity by substituting a portion of coal.


After a decade in which wages and employment fell precipitously in low-skill occupations and expanded in high-skill occupations, the shape of U.S. earnings and job growth sharply polarized in the 1990s. Employment shares and relative earnings rose in both low and high-skill jobs, leading to a distinct U-shaped relationship between skill levels and employment and wage growth. This paper analyzes the sources of the changing shape of the lower-tail of the U.S. wage and employment distributions. A first contribution is to document a hitherto unknown fact: the twisting of the lower tail is substantially accounted for by a single proximate cause − rising employment and wages in low-education, in-person service occupations. We study the determinants of this rise at the level of local labor markets over the period of 1950 through 2005. Our approach is rooted in a model of changing task specialization in which "routine" clerical and production tasks are displaced by automation. We find that in labor markets that were initially specialized in routine-intensive occupations, employment and wages polarized after 1980, with growing employment and earnings in both high-skill occupations and low-skill service jobs.


In this paper, we describe Java software that can be used to expose undergraduates to genomics. The content and software developed provide multidisciplinary knowledge to undergraduates in signal processing, genetics, and statistics. DNA, which is the fundamental storehouse of genetic information, is a linear polymer formed from four sub-units called nucleotides. The Java software is embedded in the ASU J-DSP visual programming environment. We have developed Java-DSP modules to present basic concepts about nucleotide character sequences. Specific J-DSP functions to analyze DNA sequences include: Numerical Mapping, FFT Power Spectrum, and Amino Acid Sequencing. Using the Numerical Mapping function, nucleotide sequences can be transformed into the numerical domain through binary, complex or integer number mappings. The FFT Power Spectrum block is used to compute the power spectrum of mapped sequences, and further classify them as belonging to either protein coding or non-coding regions. The above J-DSP blocks can also be integrated to form an internet visualization tool to identify genes in unannotated DNA sequences. A typical scenario is for a student to read a high-level DNA tutorial and execute our Java simulations. A series of learning modules and accompanying web-based exercises have also been developed. Exercises include: DNA fundamentals, numerical mapping of nucleotides, DNA power spectrum computation, and amino acid sequencing. The software and hands-on exercises have been assigned and assessed in the undergraduate DSP class at ASU.


This paper reports the first detailed experimental evidence of the phenomena of eigenvalue loci veering and vibration mode localization in microelectromechanical resonator arrays subjected to weak electroelastic coupling. A rapid but continuous interchange of the eigenfunctions associated with the eigenvalues is experimentally observed during veering as the variations in the eigenvalues are studied for induced stiffness variations on one of the coupled resonators. It is also noticed that the electrical tunability of the coupling spring constant in such microsystems enables a manipulation of the severity of modal interchange during veering and in consequence, the extent of energy confinement within the system. These results, while experimentally confirming the elastic behavior of such electrical coupling elements, also suggest that such microsystems provide a unique platform for investigating the general nature and properties of these dynamic phenomena under significantly weaker tunable coupling spring constants that are very difficult to implement in corresponding "macroscopic" systems.


Aim: This study was conducted to evaluate the early, specific ultrasonographic (USG) findings in clinically suspected dengue hemorrhagic fever (DHF) along with its prognostic value. Methods: From May 2009 to June 2012, 20 patients were referred with high-grade fever and abdominal pain. All the patients underwent immediate abdominal USG. A specific change – "Honeycomb" pattern in the thickened gallbladder (GB) wall (mostly in the fundal area) – on USG suggested the diagnosis of DHF, which was subsequently confirmed by serology in all patients. Treatment was stated on the bases of USG findings before the positive serology report. After starting treatment the USG on the 3rd day showed reduction in GB wall thickening, which was almost cleared by the 7th day in clinically improving patients. Results: All 20 patients had type-2 dengue fever, i.e., DHF Grades I and II, as confirmed after USG by platelet count and serologic tests. USG features included a much-thickened GB wall in all the patients, but showing a "Honeycomb" pattern (proposed as Sachar and Sunder's sign) in 19 patients (95%), multilayered (laminated/onion peel) in 1 patient (5%), ascites in 15 patients (75%), splenomegaly in 8 patients (40%), and pleural effusion in 14 patients (70%). (Pleural effusion was either right-sided or bilateral, but never alone on the left side.) Conclusions: Abdominal emergency USG can be used as a first-line imaging modality in patients with suspected DHF to detect early signs that are suggestive of the disease prior to obtaining serologic confirmation test results, especially in a dengue fever epidemic area. Also, reducing GB wall thickness can be used as a prognostic sign in cases of DHF.


Wayward Monks and the Religious Revolution of the Eleventh Century. By Phyllis G. Jestice. [Brill's Studies in Intellectual History, Volume 76.] (Leiden: Brill. 1997. Pp. x, 309. $115.00.) Dr. Jestice has written a provocative and wide-ranging examination of monastic reform, the role of some monastics in the Church reform of the eleventh century, and the emergence within Benedictine monasticism of some new ideas about monastic spirituality and an expanded role of monks and ascetics in the world. Yet, readers should be warned that the rigor and clarity of Ms. Jestice's argumentation waxes and wanes, she often does not cite the most current scholarship, and the book contains some topographical as well as factual errors. The book contains an introduction, a conclusion, and seven chapters, which form the body of the text. Jestice begins her introduction with a statement of her main argument that "the driving force behind monastic reform was the issue of monks' active involvement in the world:" She addresses the "state of the question" and explains how she intends to provide "an alternative theory on how and why monastic life diversified in the eleventh and twelfth centuries." For this "alternative theory" she offers an altered orientation, choosing to focus on the German empire including Italy during the tenth and eleventh centuries. The first three chapters provide a topical overview of the worldly and spiritual dimensions of monasticism in the tenth century (chap. 1), investigate the changing notion of monastic mission and new interpretations of the concept of stabilitas (chap. 2), and examine recluses as the links between monks, stability, and monastic work in the world (chap. 3). While these chapters present the essential background of emerging ideas, one has to question how widespread some of them were within the broad range of monasticism in the empire. Moreover, the author underestimates the use of monasteries in imperial missionary activity in the tenth century (e.g., St. Maurice, Corvey, and probably Memleben) and perhaps overestimates the number and impact of recluses on monks. Chapters 4 and 5 address monks and monastic reform in the early eleventh century. This reviewer found these chapters to be the most uneven and least rigorous in the book. The first sections of chapter 4 suffer from over-generalizations and lack of focus, whereas the last three sections present interesting ideas and relatively solid scholarship. One senses that Ms. Jestice pushes her hagiographical sources too hard and thus portrays a Benedictinism that was on the verge of collapse from the number of monks about to stream out the doors. Much of this literature indeed does demonstrate a growing diversity of thought and opinions, but the author seems to overstate her case. …


Computer simulations were used to investigate the efficiency of management methods for the conservation of a structured population when local adaptation exists. A subdivided population, with subpopulations adapted to different optima for a quantitative trait under stabilizing selection, was managed in order to maintain the highest genetic diversity in a 10-generation period. Two procedures were compared. For the first, minimum coancestry contributions were carried out independently for each subpopulation, and random migration of individuals was accomplished thereafter. For the second, minimum coancestry contributions from individuals were globally implemented, including an optimal migration design. This optimal method can be adjusted to control local inbreeding to different extents. Adaptation to local optima implies a reduction in the efficiency of the management methods because of the effective failure in the established migrations. For strong selection, the optimal design can be very inefficient, even more than the random migration scheme because the intended migrants have usually low fitness in the recipient subpopulations. However, for more realistic moderate or weak selection, the optimal method is more efficient than random migration, especially if inbreeding depression on fitness is also taken into account. It is concluded that the optimal management method can be recommended in conservation programs with local adaptation of subpopulations, but this issue should be accounted for when designing the management strategies.


The evaluation of quality of the railway passenger service is an important way to know the quality of the railway passenger service. This paper firstly constructs an evaluation indicator system of the quality of the railway passenger service on the foundation of the related literatures, and constructs the multiple-attribute evaluation matrix and indicator weight vector based on the linguistic variables. Then the linguistic variables are transformed to triangular fuzzy numbers, and the priority relation based on the evaluation of the "common rule" is constructed using the improved PROMETHEE-II method. Then the fuzzy positive flux, fuzzy negative flux and fuzzy net flux are calculated. According to the triangular fuzzy number expected value of the net flux, the order of the projects is confirmed. Finally, the evaluation model is used to the evaluation of passenger service quality of three railway station of Ji'nan railway Administration. The application instance shows that this method is easy to use and can be used widely.


Abstract The question of the relationship between the sense of presence and performance in virtual reality is fundamental for anyone wishing to use the tool methodologically. Indeed, if the sense of presence can modify performance per se, then individual factors affecting the human–computer interaction might have repercussions on performance, despite being unrelated to it. After a discussion on the sense of presence and the particularities it provokes, this work studies the psychophysiology of virtual reality. This in virtuo experience is understood according to a constitutive and reciprocal relationship with the subject's cognitive profile, made up of all the human, contextual, and motivational factors impacting the processing of immersion. The role and importance of performance in virtual reality is described in this framework in such a way as to be studied methodologically. The presence–performance relationship is discussed based on previous works and analyzed in terms of attentional resources. Finally, the degree of ecological validity of the performance is described as the factor modulating the relationship between the sense of presence and performance (the Phi Angle). Limitations, applications, and test hypotheses of the model are presented. This work not only aims to help explain the conceptualization of virtual reality, but also to improve its methodological framework.


Objectives
Osteoporosis has significant public health importance for both women and men, where 54% of the U.S. population age 50 and older have low bone mineral density (BMD). Chronic inflammation alters bone remodeling, which is one contributor to bone loss; therefore, foods rich in antioxidants, such as dried plums (DP, Prunus domestica L.), are of great interest for preventing chronic inflammation. Previously, dietary intervention with DP has been shown to prevent orichidectomy-induced decreases in BMD, microstructure, and biomechanics in male rats; however, this has yet to be studied in a clinical setting in adult males.

Methods
One-hundred and sixty osteopenic men are being recruited from the greater Tallahassee, Florida area to examine the effects of DP on BMD, bone biomarkers, and inflammation after one year of regular consumption. The present analysis is of a subset of this population, documenting the effects of two doses of DP on biomarkers of inflammation and bone metabolism in men after three months of consumption. Twenty-seven men between the ages of 55 and 80 with moderate bone loss (T-score between -0.1 and -2.5 SD below the mean) were included. The men were randomized into one of three groups: 100 g DP, 50 g DP, or control group, with all three groups given a multivitamin containing 450 mg calcium and 800 IU vitamin D (Shaklee Corporation). Serum samples from the baseline and three-month time points were analyzed for C-reactive protein (CRP) and bone-specific alkaline phosphatase (BAP). DXA scans of the lumbar vertebrae alongside TBS iNnsight® software were used to generate trabecular bone score (TBS).

Results
Three months of DP consumption was associated with numerical increases in BAP in both the 100 g (6.5%, P = 0.14) and 50 g (6.3%, P = 0.3) DP groups, numerical decreases in CRP in both the 100 g (-8.8%, P = 0.75) and 50 g (-8.5%, P = 0.71) DP groups, and minimal change in TBS in both the 100 g (0.37%, P = 0.71) and 50 g (-0.55%, P = 0.44) DP groups.

Conclusions
Regular consumption of either 100 g or 50 g DP for three months may contribute to increases in bone formation and decreases in inflammation, however not to an extent that affects bone quality. Three months of consumption may not be long enough to manifest changes in bone; therefore, further analysis of data after six months and one year of DP consumption in a larger number of men is warranted.

Funding Sources
USDA-NIFA, Shaklee Corporation, California Dried Plum Board.


This article draws from practitioners' experience and from scholarship in a variety of disciplines to construct a rationale for incorporating what we call "critical roleplay" in the English-for-academic-purposes (EAP) classroom. We discuss the historical significance of role-play in TESOL and explore why this type of pedagogy has become less prominent in scholarship from recent decades. We argue for a new direction in role-play pedagogy that foregrounds critical thinking as essential to academic literacy. We describe several role-play activities that were successfully implemented in college-level EAP classes to demonstrate that academic role-play can be both cognitively challenging and linguistically relevant.


The goal of this research project was to determine the water transport behaviour of earlywood versus latewood in the trunk of 21-year-old Douglas-fir [Pseudostuga menziesii (Mirb.) Franco] trees. Specific conductivity (k(s)) and the vulnerability of xylem to embolism were measured on a single growth ring and in a subset of earlywood and latewood samples within the same ring. Earlywood/latewood ratio, trunk water potential (Psi) and relative water content (RWC) were used to predict differences in conductivities and vulnerability to embolism. Earlywood has about 11 times the k(s) of latewood, and up to 90% of the total flow occurred through the earlywood. Earlywood's vulnerability to embolism followed the same trend as that of the whole wood, with 50% loss of conductivity at -2.2 MPa (P(50)). Latewood was more vulnerable to embolism than earlywood at high Psi, but as Psi decreased, the latewood showed very little further embolism, with a P(50) <-5.0 MPa. The lowest trunk Psi estimated in the field was about -1.4 MPa, indicating that latewood and earlywood in the field experienced about 42% and 16% loss of k(s), respectively. The higher vulnerability to embolism in latewood than in earlywood at field Psi was associated with higher water storage capacity (21.8% RWC MPa(-1) versus 4.1% RWC MPa(-1), latewood and earlywood, respectively). The shape of the vulnerability curve suggests that air seeding through latewood may occur directly through pores in the margo and seal off at lower pressure than earlywood pores.