This paper describes an efficient motion estimation algorithm, the predictive line search (PLS), for real-time implementations of MPEG-4 encoder on multimedia processors. The motion vector predictor position is used as the starting point in the search process because the correlation between neighboring motion vectors is strong. The line search pattern is used in the proposed algorithm to reduce the memory access as well as to exploit the special multimedia processor instructions for SAD calculations. Experimental results show that the performance of the predictive line search is very close to the full search algorithm with a speed up of 10. Compared with the well-known diamond search, the predictive line search shows better performance and robustness especially for high motion sequences. prototype MPEG-4 encoding system is implemented on a 216 MHz multimedia processor with VLIW (very long instruction word) architecture to verify the effectiveness of the predictive line search. Real-time encoding of MPEG-4 Simple Profile Level 3 (CIF, 30 fps) can be achieved with only 63% of the processor load.


This paper explores critical issues surrounding language rights in multicultural Canada and how language rights are connected to ethnic identity, representation, boundaries, and belonging. This paper focuses on language rights of allophones (those whose first language is neither English nor French) from the perspective of Canada's language policies, including the socioeconomic and political values that allophone immigrants place on Canada's official languages. Changes to Canada's language policies since the 1970s have created alternative spaces for allophone groups to challenge the dominant status of English and French and to recreate ethnolinguistic identities and belonging simultaneously from various locations. Increases in international migration, in conjunction with changes to Canadian language policies over recent years, have generated new discussions and debates about language rights and the socioeconomic and political values that allophone immigrants place on English and French, Canada's official languages. Canada is currently facing new challenges in ensuring that the identities of linguistic groups are recognised and that members of these groups are guaranteed equal participation in all social, economic, and political activities. Accordingly, the Canadian federal government has made important changes to its language policies. This paper will argue that changes to Canada's language policies since the 1970s provide allophone immigrants with new opportunities to challenge the dominant status of English and French, as well as enabling them to reconstruct new identities and belonging simultaneously from multiple locations. Issues around language rights in multicultural and multilingual societies like Canada are significant, because these rights are connected to ideas about ethnic identity, belonging, representation, and boundaries.


Understanding the drivers of international production fragmentation is an important issue for Latin American and Caribbean countries because participation in global production networks can help mitigate instability due to dependence on natural resources and can provide opportunities for further exports diversification and increased growth. This paper contributes to the literature on global value chains by analyzing two case studies that examine the experience of Colombian firms that have successfully penetrated international markets through participation in global production networks. The stories of these firms are contrasted within the framework of the global value chain literature. A series of policy implications are drafted as a result of this exercise


The purpose of this article is to set in context the launch of University College London Press (UCL Press), which describes itself as the UK's first fully open access (OA) university press. The drivers for this launch are bound up with the global movement towards open access and open science – developments in which UCL is acknowledged as a European leader. The first part of the article looks at these movements and relates them to the relaunch in May 2015 of the UCL Press imprint as an OA imprint. This analysis has been undertaken by Dr Paul Ayris, Director of UCL Library Services and Chief Executive of UCL Press.  The second half of the article is a personal account by Lara Speicher, Publishing Manager at UCL Press, of the relaunch of the Press. This section looks at staffing structures, business models, technical infrastructures, publishing programmes and content.  In the final part of the article, Paul Ayris draws some conclusions from the history of the relaunch of UCL Press and sets these in the context of the global open science discussion.


The rapidly increasing production and application of graphene oxide (GO) calls for much-needed attention to aspects related to the environmental implications of this unique nanomaterial. To date, very little is known about the transformation of GO when exposed to electromagnetic radiation at different wavelengths, which can occur in natural water systems. This study explored the changes in the physicochemical properties of GO when exposed to the UV and visible wavelength ranges of simulated solar light. Irradiation, especially under UV light, led to remarkable changes in the surface oxygen (O)-functionalities of GO, and cleavage of GO's graphitic bond. The carbon/oxygen (C/O) ratio of GO increased by 41% and 31% after irradiation with simulated solar light and UV irradiation, respectively. Visible light also changed the morphology of GO, but the C/O ratio only increased by 5.5%. The formation of hydroxyl radicals (˙OH), superoxide (O2˙−) and singlet oxygen (1O2) by GO was observed during irradiation with both UV and visible lights, but the proportions were different. 1O2 was primarily formed during visible light irradiation, while O2˙− and ˙OH were mostly formed under UV light. ˙OH hydroxylated GO, which mainly resulted in the decomposition of GO. The changes in O-containing functional groups on GO by irradiation influenced the colloidal stability of GO in aqueous media, but the physical wrinkle on GO surface may strongly affect its interactions with other organic materials.


Objective: To examine retinal nerve fiber layer (RNFL) thickness, macular volumes (MV), and visual acuity in multiple sclerosis (MS) eyes, with and without history of acute optic neuritis (ON). Methods: RNFL thickness was measured in 326 MS and 94 control eyes using optical coherence tomography (OCT). MV and vision testing were done in a subset of the cohort. MS subtype was classified as relapsing-remitting (RRMS, n = 135), primary progressive (PPMS, n = 12), and secondary progressive (SPMS, n = 16). Results: MS ON eyes had decreased RNFL thickness (84.2 μm) compared to controls (102.7 μm) (p < 0.0001). Unaffected fellow eyes of MS ON eyes (93.9 μm) (p < 0.01) and patients with MS with no history of ON (95.9 μm) (p < 0.05) also had decreased RNFL. RRMS (94.4 μm) (p < 0.001), PPMS (88.9 μm) (p < 0.01), and SPMS (81.8 μm) (p < 0.0001) (adjusted for age and duration of disease) had decreased RNFL compared to controls. There were significant differences in RNFL thickness within quadrants of peripapillary retina comparing relapsing to progressive MS subtypes. MV was decreased in MS ON eyes (6.2 mm3) (p < 0.0001) and SPMS subjects (6.2 mm3) (p < 0.05) compared to controls (6.8 mm3). Conclusion: Retinal nerve fiber layer (RNFL) is significantly decreased in multiple sclerosis (MS) optic neuritis (ON) eyes, unaffected fellow eyes of patients with MS ON, and MS eyes not affected by ON in our cohort. Macular volumes (MV) showed a significant decrease in MS ON eyes. Progressive MS cases showed more marked decreases in RNFL and MV than relapsing-remitting MS. OCT is a promising tool to detect subclinical changes in RNFL and MV in patients with MS and should be examined in longitudinal studies as a potential biomarker of retinal pathology in MS.


Purpose The purpose of this study was to describe the association between adherence to antipsychotic medication and quality of life (QoL) in a sample of individuals diagnosed with schizophrenia. Methods Two hundred fifty-three patients were included from three public mental health services from Bolivia, Peru, and Chile. Data were collected using the Drug Attitude Inventory (DAI-10) and the Schizophrenia Quality of Life short-version questionnaire (SQoL-18), which considers 8 dimensions. Results Significant associations were found between adherence to antipsychotic medication treatment and QoL (S-QoL-18 index: β = 0.26, p = 0.004; self-esteem: β = 0.37, p = 0.000; and sentimental life: β = 0.20, p = 0.033). Associations of clinical and socio-demographic variables with QoL were identified: severity of psychotic symptoms, awareness of the disease, gender, age, and ethnicity were found to be associated with a lower level of QoL (β from 0.14 −0.56). Conclusion This study provides evidence of the association between adherence to treatment and quality of life in patients diagnosed with schizophrenia. Therefore, as in developed countries, improving adherence to antipsychotic medication would appear to be an important issue to address to improve patients' QoL in Latin American countries.


We study empirical scaling laws for transfer learning between distributions in an unsupervised, fine-tuning setting. When we train increasingly large neural networks from-scratch on a fixed-size dataset, they eventually become data-limited and stop improving in performance (cross-entropy loss). When we do the same for models pre-trained on a large language dataset, the slope in performance gains is merely reduced rather than going to zero. We calculate the effective data"transferred"from pre-training by determining how much data a transformer of the same size would have required to achieve the same loss when training from scratch. In other words, we focus on units of data while holding everything else fixed. We find that the effective data transferred is described well in the low data regime by a power-law of parameter count and fine-tuning dataset size. We believe the exponents in these power-laws correspond to measures of the generality of a model and proximity of distributions (in a directed rather than symmetric sense). We find that pre-training effectively multiplies the fine-tuning dataset size. Transfer, like overall performance, scales predictably in terms of parameters, data, and compute.


Recent photoluminescence studies report that the bandgap energy Eg ≈ 1.0 eV of CuInSe2 is stable for Cu-poor compounds [Cu]/[In] < 1, despite the fact that Cu vacancies and (InCu + 2VCu) complexes increase the energy gap. In this work, the impact on Eg due to the presence of native defects is analyzed using a screened hybrid density functional approach. We demonstrate that the formation energy of neutral (CuIn + InCu) anti-site dimers decreases for CuInSe2 compounds when [Cu]/[In] decreases. This is explained in terms of the octet rule for the Se atoms next to the (InCu + 2VCu) defects. As a consequence, Cu-poor CuInSe2 involves the large [(InCu + 2VCu) + (CuIn + InCu)] complexes where the anti-site defects stabilize Eg, in agreement with experimental findings.


The purpose of this study was to explore parents' experience and perceptions of smoking in the presence of children. Findings regarding patterns of parents' smoking in the presence of children were situation specific. When thinking of smoking with children around, parents engaged in a process of weighing the importance of the need to smoke and adverse effects from exposure to environmental tobacco smoke, a consideration based mostly on their experience. A pattern of correspondence was identified between family's level of concern and promoting change among smokers. Many strategies participants used to prevent children's environmental tobacco smoke exposure were relatively ineffective and needed to be addressed.


The effects of incorporating various concentrations of bacterial cellulose (BC) (1.7 and 3.5% w/v) on the physicochemical and sensorial properties of low-fat soft cheese Turkish Beyaz were investigated during a 60-day ripening period. Control cheeses were produced using nonfat, half-fat (1.7% fat) and full-fat milk, for comparison. Depending on changing fat percentage, some physicochemical properties of cheeses, such as moisture, pH and salt showed significant differences, but BC had no influence on these properties. Fat content and BC altered the textural and sensory properties. These results indicated that BC improved the quality of reduced-fat and low-fat Turkish Beyaz cheeses.


Background and Objectives: Silica is an inorganic material that found in the nature in various forms. The hazards of crystal of silica or α-quartz (free silica) is greater than other forms. Exposure to dust that contains free silica result to pulmonary injury and result to silicosis and death finally. The present research was conducted in order to evaluate the level of workers exposure to free silica in air of Khaf Iron stone quarries. Materials and methods: The exposure level to total and respiratory dust measured based on personal and environmental sampling methods and concentration of dust determined based on gravimetric method. For determination of amounts of free silica, dust samples analyses based on X-ray diffraction (XRD) method, and results compared with standard levels. Results: The maximum amount of total dust and free silica measured in stone breaking station (800±155mg/m3 and 26.11±6.7 mg/m3) and minimum of them measured in official and safeguarding station (8.28±2.2 mg/m3 and 0.012±0.0019 mg/m3). The maximum amount of respiratory dust and free silica measured in red mound digging number 1 (66.14±13.45 mg/m3 and 1.48±0.39 mg/m3) and minimum of them measured in air hammer machine station (5.26±2.62 mg/m3 and 0.01±0.005 mg/m3). Conclusion: Amount of total dust only in official and safeguarding station was lower than standard levels of Iran. Amount of respiratory dust in all stations was greater than Iran standard levels. Furthermore the level of respiratory free silica only in airy hammer machine station was lower than standard level of Iran. Regarding to this amounts it is so essential to that with applying different methods generation and emission of dust protected.


This paper considers the problem of finding minimum-energy cooperative routes in a wireless network with variable wireless channels. We assume that each node in the network is equipped with a single omnidirectional antenna and, motivated by the large body of physical layer research indicating its potential utility, that multiple nodes are able to coordinate their transmissions at the physical layer in order to take advantage of spatial diversity. Such coordination, however, is intrinsically intertwined with routing decisions, thus motivating the work. We first formulate the energy cost of forming a cooperative link between two nodes based on a two-stage transmission strategy assuming that only statistical knowledge about channels is available. Utilizing the link cost formulation, we show that optimal static routes in a network can be computed by running Dijkstra's algorithm over an extended network graph created by cooperative links. However, due to the variability of wireless channels, we argue that a many-to-one cooperation model in static routing is suboptimal. Hence, we develop an opportunistic routing algorithm based on many-to-many cooperation, and show that optimal routes in a network can be computed by a stochastic version of the Bellman-Ford algorithm. We use static and opportunistic optimal algorithms as baselines to develop heuristic link selection algorithms that are energy efficient while being computationally simpler than the optimal algorithms. We simulate our algorithms and show that while optimal cooperation and link selection can reduce energy consumption by almost an order of magnitude compared to non-cooperative approaches, our simple heuristics achieve similar energy savings while being computationally efficient as well.


Lead-free piezoelectric ceramics have received more attention due to the environmental protection of the earth. Niobate ceramics such as NaNbO3 and KNbO3 have been studied as promising Pb-free piezoelectric ceramics, but their sintering densification is fairly difficult. In the present study, Spark Plasma Sintering (SPS) was applied to the sintering of Na0.5K0.5NbO3 ceramics, whose powder was synthesized by the conventional oxide mixing method. No loss of sodium and potassium were found in the SPS sintering process, by which the density of the K0.5Na0.5NbO3 solid solution ceramics was raised to 4.21g/cm3 (>93% of the theoretical density) at temperatures as low as 920°C. The crystal phase of the Na0.5K0.5NbO3 is an orthorhombic structure. The piezoelectric parameter (d33) of the K0.5Na0.5NbO3 ceramics reached 49 pC/N.


Bends in volcanic hotspot lineaments, best represented by the large elbow in the Hawaiian-Emperor chain, were thought to directly record changes in plate motion. Several lines of geophysical inquiry now suggest that a change in the locus of upwelling in the mantle induced by mantle dynamics causes bends in hotspot tracks. Inverse modeling suggests that although deep flow near the core-mantle boundary may have played a role in the Hawaiian-Emperor bend, capture of a plume by a ridge, followed by changes in sub-Pacific mantle flow, can better explain the observations. Thus, hotspot tracks can reveal patterns of past mantle circulation.


A new set of acoustical physical constants for ZnO was obtained by ultrasonic microspectroscopy (UMS) using very conductive and resistive (001), (100), and (101)ZnO specimens, grown by the hydrothermal method. The specimens were selected from a lot of small ZnO crystals evaluated with the velocity of leaky surface acoustic waves (LSAWs) on a water-loaded specimen surface, in order to identify proper specimens or proper measurement positions for bulk-wave velocity measurements. The constants were determined with measured bulk-wave velocities, according to the determination procedures developed previously. Their accuracies were estimated by comparing the measured LSAW velocities with the calculated ones using the determined constants, within 3.1 m/s. We observed LSAW velocity distributions and bulk-wave velocity dispersions for some specimens that were related to the resistivity distributions on the specimen surfaces and inside the specimens. We established experiment procedures to apply our UMS technology to ZnO crystals in this study. This ultrasonic method is useful for further understanding ZnO crystal growth processes in the hydrothermal method. This application is extended to other class-6mm crystals.


ABSTRACT Mortality related to bacteremic pneumonia remains high, and the role of sepsis in inflammation, pulmonary injury, and death remains unclear, mostly in leukopenic states. In the present study, the microbiology, histopathology, and host response to Streptococcus pneumoniae and Klebsiella pneumoniae infection were determined in an experimental model of bacteremia in immunocompetent and leukopenic mice. Leukocyte depletion by cyclophosphamide did not impair the early clearance of pneumococci from blood but facilitated growth in lungs. By contrast, klebsiellae rapidly grew in blood of leukopenic mice. These observations suggest that tissue-based phagocytes and circulating leukocytes, respectively, play prominent roles in S. pneumoniae and K. pneumoniaeeradication. The kinetics of leukocyte recruitment in lungs duringS. pneumoniae bacteremia suggested early strong inflammation in immunocompetent mice that is associated with tumor necrosis factor alpha release and histological disorders, including cell debris and surfactant in alveolar spaces. Leukocyte depletion further stimulated pulmonary capillary leakage both in S. pneumoniae and K. pneumoniae bacteremia, which seemed attributable to bacterial virulence factors. Nitric oxide production did not differ significantly among groups. Leukopenia and low platelet counts characterized the late stage of bacteremia for both strains, but only K. pneumoniae altered renal function. Understanding the pathogenesis of bacteremia will help establish beneficial therapies for both sepsis and pneumonia.


There are many native species that are important to local communities globally. There have been studies on the importance of these plant species for many uses by local communities. Though, there is scanty information on these species' recognition by researchers. Despite the harsh climatic conditions in Turkana (semi-arid to arid), the community has over the years developed strategies for conservation of some sections of important woodland and riparian zones that provide multiple goods and services for the people and livestock. This study seeks to appraise the plant species preferred for construction and related cultural uses by pastoral communities in Northern Kenya where Turkana county in situated. The key results are list of plant species and their uses in regard to housing as well as the relative importance of the plant species to the Turkana pastoral community for housing. This will inform on priority species for conservation and also emphasize on key areas that this knowledge can be used.

 Key words: Turkana pastoralists community, housing, indigenous knowledge, plant species.


KaRimizadeh, R., m. mohammadi, m. aRmion, m. K. Shefazadeh and h. ChalajouR, 2012. determining heritability, reliability and stability of grain yield and yield-related components in durum wheat (Triticum durum l.). Bulg. J. Agric. Sci., 18: 595-607 The major objectives of the study were to (1) evaluate genotypic yield performances of eighteen durum wheat genotypes, (2) determine their reliability and stability parameters and (3) estimate variance components and heritability of yield and yield-related traits. eighteen durum wheat genotypes were evaluated in two conditions (rainfed and well watered) in ilam and Gachsaran agricultural research stations of iran during from 2009 to 2011 to identify patterns of genotype by environment interactions and their stabilities in terms of seed yield and yield-related components. Seed yield and its components are affected by plant genotype and environmental conditions. There were significant differences between genotypes of one or two years at each location for all the traits. Significant differences among years or between conditions were obtained in terms of all traits. Genotypes x environment interactions at all the traits were highly significant. Thus, the stabilities of eighteen durum wheat genotypes were different for all the traits. according to the stability parameters, G6 and G12 genotypes were stable for grain yield. Genotypes, Ga//2*Chen/ alTaR84 and ShaG_26/SniT an were considered as having high adaptability to both rainfed and irrigated conditions while ouaSeRl -1(G5) and oSSl-1/4/mRBSh/3/RaBi//GS/CR/5/ hna (G8) were considered as having low adaptability to both rainfed and irrigated conditions. The estimates of heritability values with limited phenotypic variance definition were 0.006, 0.163, -0.025, 0.396, 0.327, 0.346 and -0.075 for grain yield, plant height, test weight, thousand kernel weight, peduncle length, spike length, and number of grains per spike ranged respectively. The heritability with complete phenotypic variance definition were 0.001, 0.025, -0.006, 0.040, 0.114, 0.164 and -0.024 for the same traits, respectively. moderate or low heritability values estimated for all the traits showed that family selection method could be used instead of individual selection in the breeding programs for improving grain yield and its components.


This paper presents a lamb carcass classification system based on image and texture analyses together with multivariate statistical techniques (principal component analysis, cluster analysis and discriminant function analysis). Texture analysis is based on grey level co-occurrence matrix. A set of ninety texture features has been used to extract the texture information from the acquired images. In addition, twelve image area and thickness (geometric) variables have also been calculated. Principal component analysis was used to reduce the dimensionality of the original data set. Two feature sets were generated based on the results. These feature sets comprised of principal component (PC) scores calculated from the original variables and 14 (6 geometric and 8 texture) variables selected from the original set of variables. Both feature spaces were used for discriminant analysis. From the experimental results, it was established that the system enabled 66.3% and 76.9% overall classification based on 6 geometric PC scores and 14 (geometric and texture) PC scores, respectively. The system also enabled 64% and 79 % overall classification of lamb carcasses based on 6 geometric and 14 (geometric and texture) variables, respectively. This study shows the predictive potential of combining image analysis with texture analysis for lamb grading. The addition of carcass weight improved the overall classification accuracy, of both feature sets, to 85%.


NeuroQuant (NQ) is a fully-automated program that overcomes several existing limitations in the clinical translation of MRI-derived volumetry. The current study characterized differences between the original (NQ1) and an updated NQ version (NQ2) by 1) replicating previously identified relationships between neuropsychological test performance and medial temporal lobe volumes, 2) evaluating the level of agreement between NQ versions, and 3) determining if the addition of NQ2 age-/sex-based z-scores hold greater clinical utility for prediction of memory impairment than standard percent of intracranial volume (% ICV) values. Sixty-seven healthy older adults and 65 mild cognitive impairment patients underwent structural MRI and completed cognitive testing, including the Immediate and Delayed Memory indices from the Repeatable Battery for the Assessment of Neuropsychological Status. Results generally replicated previous relationships between key medial temporal lobe regions and memory test performance, though comparison of NQ regions revealed statistically different values that were biased toward one version or the other depending on the region. NQ2 hippocampal z-scores explained additional variance in memory performance relative to % ICV values. Findings indicate that NQ1/2 medial temporal lobe volumes, especially age- and sex-based z-scores, hold clinical value, though caution is warranted when directly comparing volumes across NQ versions.


Neural logic blocks (NLBs) enable the realization of biologically inspired reconfigurable hardware. Networks of NLBs can be trained to perform complex computations such as multilevel Boolean logic and optical character recognition (OCR) in an area- and energy-efficient manner. Recently, several groups have proposed perceptron-based NLB designs with thin-film memristor synapses. These designs are implemented using a static threshold activation function, limiting the set of learnable functions to be linearly separable. In this work, we propose two NLB designs-robust adaptive NLB (RANLB) and multithreshold NLB (MTNLB)-which overcome this limitation by allowing the effective activation function to be adapted during the training process. Consequently, both designs enable any logic function to be implemented in a single-layer NLB network. The proposed NLBs are designed, simulated, and trained to implement ISCAS-85 benchmark circuits, as well as OCR. The MTNLB achieves 90 percent improvement in the energy delay product (EDP) over lookup table (LUT)-based implementations of the ISCAS-85 benchmarks and up to a 99 percent improvement over a previous NLB implementation. As a compromise, the RANLB provides a smaller EDP improvement, but has an average training time of only ≈ 4 cycles for 4-input logic functions, compared to the MTNLBs ≈ 8-cycle average training time.


Introduction Copious researchers have made notable findings on the mental health of cancer patients and effect of various discrete therapies, but still there exist a significant paucity on integrated therapeutic interventions over their mental health. The objectives of this study were to find the prevalence of mental health morbidity and the efficacy of an integrated intervention program comprised of Aaron Beck's Cognitive Behavior Therapy (CBT), Jacobson Progressive Muscle Relaxation Therapy (JPMRT) and self- imagery training on the mental health of cancer patients.
MethodsIn this cross-sectional study, data was collected from 20 patients diagnosed with cancer aged between 40-55 years from an outpatient department of Cancer Institute, India. General Health Questionnaire by Goldberg & Hiller, 1979 (GHQ-28) was administrated to assess the mental health in four domains viz: somatic complaints, anxiety and insomnia, social dysfunction and severe depression. Integrated intervention program was conducted for four days per week for one month. Data was analyzed statistically by using normal probability curve (NPC) and paired t-test.
ResultsAn overall prevalence of negative mental health and significant positive effect by the integrated intervention on the mental health among cancer patients have been statistically corroborated in this pre-post research.
ConclusionIntegrated intervention program is efficacious in improving mental health in cancer patients.


Current theoretical and practical conceptualizations in the field of early childhood special education are limited in their attention to the sociocultural context in which development occurs. This article argues for a paradigmatic shift away from the individualistic models of development and learning to a social constructivist model that stems from views of learning and development first articulated by Vygotsky and since expanded upon by Rogoff and others. Such a shift is supportive of the current press for more inclusive classroom practices through an emphasis on the sociocultural context, the role of social activity—including instruction—in learning, and the contributions of learners to their own development. Principles for inclusive early childhood practice are explicated based on the concepts of classrooms as communities, learning as socially mediated, curriculum as contextually relevant and problem based, and assessment as authentic and personally meaningful.


Akt is a protein kinase that contains a C-terminal pleckstrin homology (PH) domain and an N-terminal kinase domain. The activity of Akt is regulated by PI3-kinases that generate 3 phosphoinositides. Akt activation requires the binding of 3 phosphoinositides to the pleckstrin homology (PH) domain and phosphorylation at residues Thr308 and Ser473. Phosphospecific antibodies that recognise the phosphorylated sites and green fluorescent protein (GFP) fusions with mutated or truncated forms of Akt were used to follow the activation of Akt. Confocal microscopy showed that membrane translocation is required for Akt phosphorylation and is dependent on the PH domain but not kinase activity. A GFP fusion with the PH domain of Akt, termed GFP-AH, was assessed and used as a probe for sites of PI3-kinase activity in cells. GFP- AH was used to locate 3 phosphoinositides in epithelial cells that were plated on collagen to investigate extracellular matrix induced cell survival. GFP-AH localised to sites of cell-cell and cell-matrix contact, distinct from focal adhesions. This suggests that the attachment induced, PI3-kinase mediated, survival signal in epithelial cells is generated not only by cell-matrix but also by cell-cell contact. PI3-kinase activity was monitored during the disruption and formation of cell-cell junctions. Disruption of the junctions by calcium removal decreased PI3-kinase activity, whereas the formation of junctions preceded PI3-kinase activity. Akt became phosphorylated 4 h after junction formation was initiated and correlated with the tyrosine phosphorylation of the cell-cell junctional proteins y-catenin and p120 catenin. As p120 catenin is a substrate of activated Src and Src family kinase inhibitors reduced the cell-cell adhesion induced phosphorylation of Akt, this suggests a role for Src family kinases in the regulation of cell-cell adhesion induced PI3-kinase activity.


Herpes Simplex Virus Type 1 (HSV-1) represents an attractive vehicle for a variety of gene therapy applications. To render this virus safe for clinical use, its cytotoxic genes must be removed without losing its ability to express transgenes efficiently. Therefore, complementing cell lines that can provide high titer virus are essential for clinical application. Manufacturing methods that can purify these vectors of host cell DNA and protein are also necessary for translation of this gene therapy strategy into clinic. In this thesis, I have developed complementing cell lines that allow propagation to up to 1E6 PFU/ml routinely for triple as well as quadruple deleted vectors which are among the most difficult to culture to high titer. Replacement of the ICP4 promoter with the VP16 enhancer element enriched ICP0 IE gene promoter resulted in higher induction levels and faster kinetics of ICP4 expression and a 10 fold increase in vector yield.Along these lines, I investigated the repressive nature of Vero cells to a quadruple IE mutant. A high throughput cell based chemical screen revealed a metal chelator, 1 10 phenanthroline, that was able to derepress EGFP expression not only from the quadruple backbone but of other ICP0 mutant viruses suggesting a unique cell state that was permissive for HSV-1 transgene expression. Interestingly, proteosome inhibition studies reveal that this pathway is essential for this effect not only in Vero cells but also normally permissive U2OS cells. Finally, a systematic study into ion exchange chromatography for purification of these vectors reveals dramatic differences in infectious yield depending on the matrix chosen. Anion exchange resins bound the virus with high affinity and require high salt concentrations to recover adequate titers. Cation exchange chromatography was able to purify HSV-1 to moderate titers while removing a majority of the host contaminating DNA and protein in accordance with FDA standards for clinical grade viral based vaccines.


The development of microelectronics forms new channels of confidential information leakage. The transmission of acoustic information by digitally modulating the light output of LEDs has now become physically realizable. Theoretical calculations showed a high potential sensitivity of MEMS microphones. The combined use of digital MEMS microphones and LED room lighting controllers allows you to transmit a digital data stream of 40 800 Bits / s over 100 meters with minimal signal-to-noise ratios. Conducted research reveals a new information leakage channel and describes its characteristics, which will make it possible to develop administrative and technical
countermeasures.


In a co-fractional vector autoregressive (VAR) model two more parameters are estimated, compared to the traditional cointegrated VAR model. The increased number of parameters that needs to be estimated leads to identification problems; there is no unique formulation of a co-fractional system, though usually one formulation is preferred. This paper has the following contributions: (i) it discusses different kinds of identification problems in co-fractional VAR models; (ii) it proposes a specification test for higher order fractional processes; (iii) it presents an Ox program that can be used for estimating and testing co-fractional systems; and (iv) it uses the above mentioned contributions to analyse a system of Government Bonds in the US and Norway where the results indicates that the level and trend in the yield curve have a longer memory than the curvature (i.e., a linear combination of the yields of the Government Bonds that corresponds to representing the curvature of the yield curve is a co-fractional relationship).


Several studies showed that sleep loss/fragmentation may have a negative impact on cognitive performance, mood and autonomic activity. Specific neurocognitive domains, such as executive function (i.e.,prefrontal cortex), seems to be particularly vulnerable to sleep loss. Pearson et al.(2006) evaluated 16 RLS patients compared to controls by cognitive tests, including those particularly sensitive to prefrontal cortical (PFC) functioning and sleep loss. RLS patients showed significant deficits on two of the three PFC tests.
It has been recently reported that RLS is associated with psychiatric manifestations. A high prevalence of depressive symptoms has been found in patients with RLS(Rothdach AJ et al., 2000).
RLS could cause depression through its adverse influences on sleep and energy. On the other hand, symptoms of depression such as sleep deprivation, poor nutrition or lack of exercise may predispose an individual to the development of RLS. Moreover, depressed patients may amplify mild RLS, making occasional RLS symptoms appear to meet threshold criteria. The specific treatment of depression could be also implicated, since antidepressant compounds may worsen RLS and PLMD(Picchietti D et al., 2005; Damsa C et al., 2004). Interestingly, treatments used to relieve RLS symptoms (dopamine agonists) seem to have an antidepressant effects in RLS depressed patients(Saletu M et al., 2002&2003).
During normal sleep there is a well-regulated pattern of the autonomic function, modulated by changes in sleep stages. It has been reported that chronic sleep deprivation is associated with cardiovascular events. In patients with sleep fragmentation increased number of arousals and increased cyclic alternating pattern rate is associated with an increase in sympathetic activity. It has been demonstrated that PLMS occurrence is associated with a shift to increased sympathetic activity without significant changes in cardiac parasympathetic activity (Sforza E et al., 2005). An increased association of RLS with hypertension and heart disease has been documented in several studies(Ulfberg J et al., 2001; Ohayon MM et al., 2002).


Erdheim-Chester disease (ECD), first described by Jakob Erdheim and William Chester in 1930, is a rare form of non-Langerhan's cell histiocytosis with unknown aetiology, is charaterized by systemic xanthogranulomatous infiltrative disease. To date, about 350 cases of ECD have been described in the medical literature. The typical ECD diagnostic triad is bone pain, diabetes insipidus and bilateral exophthalmos. A 24 years old man came at our attention for polydipsia with nocturnal and diurnal polyuria, anorexia, febrile episodes (38(o)C), and arthromyalgia especially in the knees. Physical examination showed bilateral periorbital xanthelasma. Blood exams showed increase of plasma osmolarity, haematocrit, sodium and urea and decrease of potassium. Urine exams showed just decreased urine specific gravity, (1.001;normal range: 1.010-1.030) suggestive for central diabetes insipidus (CDI). Brain magnetic resonance with gadolinium enhancement showed the presence of multiple hyperintense lesions expecially in neurohypophysis (swollen and with markedly contrast enhancement). All these data raised the suspision of neurosarcoidosis, so a chest and abdomen contrast enhancement computed tomography was performed, which didn't show abnormalities, making less possible the diagnosis of sarcoidosis. Two weeks later, whole-body (from head to pelvis) plus lower limbs 18-fluorine-labelled 2-deoxy-2-fluoro-D-glucose positron emission tomography/computed tomography ((18)F-FDG PET/CT) was performed. Uptake of (18)F-FDG was observed in the upper portion of the midbrain area (SUV(max) 7.1) and the pituitary gland (SUV(max) 7.3), and diffuse bone marrow uptake of (18)F-FDG in the proximal epiphysis and metaphysis of both humeri and thigh bones (SUV(max) 6.5), shoulder blades, pelvis bones and the L2 vertebral body (SUV(max) 3.9). This (18)F-FDG PET/CT confirmed the presence of brain lesion seen in MRI , the absence of visceral lesions, but also showed the presence of an atypical bone uptake of (18)F-FDG, leading to the suspision of ECD. A technetium-99m-methyl-diphosphonate skeletal scintigraphy ((99m)Tc-MDP) scan showed diffuse uptake of the radiopharmaceutical, in the diaphysis of long bones and in the left portion of the body and the spinous process of L2. Considering the difficulties of an osteomedullary or brain biopsy, biopsy was performed on a right anterior thoracic cutaneous xanthelasma. Histology showed lipid-laden histiocytes (CD1a-, CD68+, S-100 protein -) with small nuclei, Touton giant, lymphocytic infiltrates, eosinophils and fibrosis, ECD gold standard patterns as reported in literature. The patient was discharged with the diagnosis of ECD with central nervous system (CNS) manifestations, and treatment started. The diagnosis can be lead by the most charateristic bone findings of symmetrical osteosclerosis of the long bones, especially the lower limbs (tibia and fibula), involving metaphyses and diaphyses but sparing epiphyses. The typical pattern of osteoscerosis of the long bones reflects increased osteoblastic activity. About half of all ECD patients may experience extraskeletal manifestations, including CNS. Visceral involvement in ECD is not specific, and this enforces the diagnostic value of skeletal imaging findings. Furthermore xanthomas can be found at any location on the skin, especially the eyelids as in our patient. For visceral involvement, CT is most useful, while MRI is more sensitive for CNS lesions. Involvement of CNS may be frequently revealed clinically by diabetes insipidus. Few case reports have shown that (18)F-FDG PET/CT scanning could be useful in assessing the extension of ECD lesions. Both radiography and (99m)Tc-MDP skeletal scintigraphy may reveal osteosclerosis of the long bones, which is a typical finding in ECD. The typical bone pattern of (18)F-FDG PET/CT scan is specific for ECD and (99m)Tc-MDP skeletal scintigraphy may be performed in patients in whom initial (18)F-FDG PET/CT scans present the possibility of ECD diagnosis. Others reported that (18)F-FDG PET/CT scans had good sensitivity (66.7%) and specificity (92.3%) as compared with MRI of the CNS involvement or lesions. In conclusion, the (18)F-FDG PET/CT scan and the (99m)Tc-MDP scan depicted many of the most relevant lesions of ECD for the initial assessment of ECD in our patient.


Two mammalian genes encode the SURx (SUR1, Abcc8 and SUR2, Abcc9) subunits that combine with Kir6.2 (Kcnj11) subunits to form the ATP-sensitive potassium (KATP) channel in cardiac myocytes. Different isoform combinations endow the channel with distinct physiological and pharmacological properties, and we have recently reported that the molecular composition of sarcolemmal KATP channels is chamber specific in the mouse heart. KATP channel composition is determined by what subunits are expressed in a cell or tissue. In the present study, we explore the role of CpG methylation in regulating SUR1 and SUR2 expression. In HL-1 cardiomyocytes, as in atrial myocytes, SUR1 expression is markedly greater than SUR2. Consistent with CpG methylation-dependent silencing of SUR2 expression, bisulfite sequencing of genomic DNA isolated from HL-1 cells demonstrates that 57.6% of the CpGs in the promoter region of the SUR2 gene are methylated, compared with 0.14% of the the CpG residues in the SUR1 sequence. Moreover, treatment with 10 µM 5-aza-2′-deoxycytidine (Aza-dC) significantly increased both the unmethylated fraction of the SUR2 CpG island and mRNA expression. However, we cannot rule out additional mechanisms of Aza-dC action, as Aza-dC also causes a decrease in SUR1 expression and lower doses of Aza-dC do not alter the unmethylated DNA fraction but do elicit a small increase in SUR2 expression. The conclusion that DNA methylation alone is not the only regulator of SUR subunit expression is also consistent with observations in native myocytes, where the CpG islands of both SUR genes are essentially unmethylated in both atrial and ventricular myocytes. Collectively, these data demonstrate the potential for CpG methylation to regulate SURx subunit expression and raises the possibility that regulated or aberrant CpG methylation might play a role in controlling channel structure and function under different physiological conditions or different species.


The ongoing pandemic COVID-19 is caused by Severe Acute Respiratory Coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2), has wreaked havoc globally by affecting millions of lives. Although different countries found the implementation of emergency measures useful to combat the viral pandemic (first wave), many countries are now experiencing the resurgence of COVID-19 even after following strict containment guidelines (second wave). Country-specific lessons learned from the first wave of infection appeared to be useful in the successful battle of possible second wave outbreak. In this article, we examined the situation in Bangladesh during the first wave COVID-19 outbreak and discussed the demographic, political, economic, social and environmental influences on the mitigation strategies employed by the country to combat the pandemic. We also tried to explore the preparedness and precautionary measures taken by responsible authorities, choice of strategies implemented and effectiveness of response from government and relevant agencies. Finally, we discussed the possible strategies that might help Bangladesh survive a second wave outbreak based on the experiences from the first wave of the ongoing pandemic.


Turbidity plumes of Sao Francisco, Caravelas, Doce, and Paraiba do Sul river systems, located along the NE/E Brazilian coast, are analyzed for their dispersal patterns of Total Suspended Solids (TSS) concentration using Landsat images and a logarithmic algorithm proposed by Tassan (1987) to convert satellite reflectance values to TSS. The TSS results obtained were compared to in situ collected TSS data. The analysis of the satellite image data set revealed that each river system exhibits a distinct turbidity plume dispersal pattern. The behavior, dimension and degree of turbidity of the Sao Francisco River plume have been greatly altered by the construction of a cascade of hydroelectric dam reservoirs in its hydrological basin. The plume has lost its typical unimodal seasonal pattern of material dispersion and its turbidity has decreased due to the regulation of river flow by the dams and TSS retainance by the reservoirs. In contrast, the Doce and Paraiba do Sul river plumes are still subject to seasonal pulsations and show more turbid conditions than the SF plume, as dams are less numerous, set in the middle river sections and the natural river flow has been maintained. The Caravelas Coastal System river plume is restricted to near shore shallow waters dominated by resuspension processes. During austral spring and summer when NE-E winds prevail, all plumes generally disperse southward. Short-term northward reversals may occur in winter with the passage of atmospheric cold fronts. The Sao Francisco and Doce river plumes tend to disperse obliquely to the coast and transport materials further offshore, while the Caravelas and Paraiba do Sul plumes tend to disperse mainly parallel to the coast, enhancing TSS retention nearshore.


Background: One-lung ventilation in children remains a specialized practice with low case numbers even at tertiary centers, preventing an assessment of best practices. The authors hypothesized that certain case factors may be associated with a higher risk of intraprocedural hypoxemia in children undergoing thoracic surgery and one-lung ventilation. Methods: The Multicenter Perioperative Outcomes database and a local quality improvement database were queried for documentation of one-lung ventilation in children 2 months to 3 yr of age inclusive between 2010 and 2020. Patients undergoing vascular or other cardiac procedures were excluded. All records were reviewed electronically for the presence of hypoxemia, oxygen saturation measured by pulse oximetry (Spo2) less than 90% for 3 min or more continuously, and severe hypoxemia, Spo2 less than 90% for 5 min or more continuously during one-lung ventilation. Records were also assessed for hypercarbia, end-tidal CO2 greater than 60 mmHg for 5 min or more or a Paco2 greater than 60 on arterial blood gas. Covariates assessed for association with these outcomes included age, weight, American Society of Anesthesiologists (Schaumburg, Illinois) Physical Status 3 or greater, duration of one-lung ventilation, preoperative Spo2 less than 98%, bronchial blocker versus endobronchial intubation, left operative side, video-assisted thoracoscopic surgery, lower tidal volume ventilation (tidal volume less than or equal to 6 ml/kg plus positive end expiratory pressure greater than or equal to 4 cm H2O for more than 80% of the duration of one-lung ventilation), and type of procedure. Results: Three hundred six cases from 15 institutions were included for analysis. Hypoxemia and severe hypoxemia occurred in 81 of 306 (26%) patients and 56 of 306 (18%), respectively. Hypercarbia occurred in 153 of 306 (50%). Factors associated with lower risk of hypoxemia in multivariable analysis included left operative side (odds ratio, 0.45 [95% CI, 0.251 to 0.78]) and bronchial blocker use (odds ratio, 0.351 [95% CI, 0.177 to 0.67]). Additionally, use of a bronchial blocker was associated with a reduced risk of severe hypoxemia (odds ratio, 0.290 [95% CI, 0.125 to 0.62]). Conclusions: Use of a bronchial blocker was associated with a lower risk of hypoxemia in young children undergoing one-lung ventilation. In a retrospective multisite cohort study in children aged 2 months to 3 yr having one-lung ventilation for thoracic surgery, hypoxemia was common. Bronchial blocker use as well as left-sided surgeries were associated with a lower risk of hypoxemia during one-lung ventilation. Supplemental Digital Content is available in the text.


Background: Coumarin moiety is found in many naturally occurring products that have been used for many decades in traditional medicine around the world. Coumarin has distinctive physicochemical properties and can be easily transformed into a wide range of functionalized coumarins. As a result, a large number of coumarin derivatives have been designed, synthesized, and evaluated to attack a variety of pharmacological targets selectively. These targets may include various selective enzyme inhibitors and the targets, tagged as multitarget-directed ligands, found in diseases like Parkinson's and Alzheimer's, which are considered as multifactorial diseases. Objectives: The most widely used synthetic methods leading to coumarins, besides the major biological routes for their metabolic transformations and biosynthesis, are highlighted and reviewed. Also, the focus was concentrated on some pharmacological activities of coumarin derivatives involving those related to the selective inhibition of cholinesterase and monoamine oxidase enzymes and targeting specific ligands of neurodegenerative diseases. Conclusion: The impacts of substituents pattern/type on the selectivity and potency of the studied coumarins were explained to determine the main structural and molecular factors that may affect the activity and performance of the directed targets.


Jatropha curcas is an important plant belonging to the family Euphorbiaceae which is a potential candidate for biofuel production. Genetic transformation protocol for J. curcas callus mediated by Agrobacterium tumefaciens were optimized using a pCAMBIA1303 plasmid which carries green fluorescent protein (GFP) gene as a reporter. Results obtained were based on the highest percentage of GFP expression which was observed three days post-transformation. Immersion of callus into 1×105 cfu ml-1 (OD600nm 0.6) of A. tumefaciens LBA4404 with addition of 300 µM of acetosyringone for 45 min, two days of pre-culture and three days of co-cultivation periods were determined to be ideal for J. curcas callus transformation. Putative transformants were selected in the presence of 25 mg/l hygromycin. Surviving calli were transferred into proliferation media (MS with 1 mg/l NAA and 1 mg/l BAP) to proliferate the callus for further molecular analyses and to confirm the presence of the target GFP transgene in the putative transformants. Polymerase chain reaction (PCR) was carried out using a 35S specific primer pair confirmed the presence of the 454 bp of 35S promoter region from the transformed callus. Quantitative real-time PCR (qRT-PCR) was carried out to demonstrate the integration and copy number of the 35S promoter in the putative tranformants. The 35S promoter gene (178 bp) as a target gene and J. curcas actin gene (179 bp) which functions as reference gene was designed to detect the positive transformants and control sample in real-time PCR reaction analysis. The results indicated that the actin specific PCR product was present in both the control and transformed calli, however the 35S PCR product was found only in the positive transformants. The similarity in CT values confirmed that both the genes were present as single copy thus confirming a single integration event.


Books annotated in this supplement are additional to those listed in A Language-Teaching Bibliography, compiled and edited by CILT and ETIC and published by the Cambridge University Press in August 1968. The section therefore acts as a quarterly supplement to the Bibliography. In response to requests, prices of books will now be given where possible. These are the prices marked on the covers at the time of purchasing in London, and should therefore be treated only as a guide.


In order to obtain detailed information about the relationship between structure and function in antibody molecules, a method called affinity labeling has been devised to attach chemical labels specifically to amino acid residues in the active sites of antibody molecules. With antibodies to three different haptens, highly specific labeling of the active sites has been achieved. Tyrosine residues on both heavy and light polypeptide chains have been labeled in a molar ratio close to 2:1, and labels on the two chains are equally specific to the active sites. Peptide fragmentation studies of the labeled chains of one antibody system have shown that: (i) within 25 amino acid residues of the labeled tyrosine on either chain, substantial chemical heterogeneity exists among different antibody molecules of the same specificity; and (ii) the labeled peptide fragments from both chains are very similar in physicochemical characteristics, including average size, heterogeneity, and unusual hydrophobicity. These experimental results have led us to the view that a particular region of the heavy chain and a particular region of the light chain are utilized to construct the active sites of the three different antibodies, differences in specificity arising from chemical perturbations in these two regions. Correlated structural studies of affinity-labeled antibodies and of the homogeneous light chains (Bence Jones proteins) and heavy chains produced in multiple myeloma may permit the identification of these special active-site regions. The view that active sites of different specificity are chemical perturbations of a particular region of the antibody molecule has a possible close analogue in enzyme systems, particularly among the esterases. The marked chemical similarities we have observed between the active site regions of heavy and light chains indicate to us that chemical homologies, but not identities, exist between the chains. This is reinforced by recently obtained amino acid sequence data which reveal homologies between the two chains near their carboxyl-terminals. These results indicate that the structural genes which code for the synthesis of heavy and light chains are related, presumably having arisen from some common ancestral gene during evolution. This conclusion strongly suggests that both heavy and light chains determine antibody specificity, and has important implications for the still-unknow mechanisms of antibody biosynthesis.


Multiprocessor system-on-chip (MPSoC) architectures are increasingly used in modern embedded systems. MPSoCs are used for confidential and critical applications and hence need strong security and reliability features. Software attacks exploit vulnerabilities in the software on MPSoCs. In this paper we propose two MPSoC architectural frameworks, tCUFFS and iCUFFS, for an Application Specific Instruction set Processor (ASIP) design. Both tCUFFS and iCUFFS employ a dedicated security processor for detecting software attacks. iCUFFS relies on the exact number of instructions in the basic block to determine an attack and tCUFFS relies on time-frame based measures. In addition to software attacks, reliability concerns of bit flip errors in the control flow instructions (CFIs) are also addressed. Additional method is proposed to the iCUFFS framework to ensure reliable inter-processor communication. The results for the implementation on Xtensa processor from Tensilica showed, worst case runtime penalty of 38% for tCUFFS and 44% for iCUFFS, and worst case area overhead of 33% for tCUFFS and 40% for iCUFFS. The existing iCUFFS framework was able to detect approximately 70% of bit flip errors in the CFIs. The modified iCUFFS framework proposed for reliable inter-processor communication was at most 4% slower than the existing iCUFFS framework.


Pulmonary endarterectomy offers a symptomatic and survival benefit in patients with chronic thromboembolic pulmonary hypertension through sustained improvement in right ventricular function. However, its role in patients with symptom limitation, chronic thrombotic obstruction, and a normal pulmonary hemodynamic profile is less clear. Cardiopulmonary exercise testing (CPET) stresses the cardiopulmonary system and has a characteristic response in pulmonary hypertension. CPET may therefore reveal abnormalities in patients with chronic thrombotic obstruction where hemodynamic investigations conducted at rest are reassuring. Using incremental CPET, we demonstrated improvements in right ventricular performance and ventilatory efficiency following pulmonary endarterecomy in a patient with preoperative exercise limitation and normal pulmonary hemodynamics. Careful evaluation of exercise responses may extend the potential benefit offered by pulmonary endarterectomy in patients with chronic thromboembolic obstruction irrespective of their resting hemodynamic profile.


OBJECTIVE This study compared the hemoglobin levels and the occurrence of anemia in pregnant women before and after the fortification of flours and characterized the eating habits of pregnant women who currently use the service. METHODS This cross-sectional study analyzed the hemoglobin data of pregnant women seen by two public services with greater prenatal demand in the city of Teresina, Piaui. The data were obtained from 854 medical records of the women distributed into two groups: not fortified (427 women who would deliver before June 2004) and fortified (427 women whose last menstruation was after June 2005). Women with a hemoglobin level <11.0g/dL were considered anemic. Food intake was analyzed by a semiquantitative food frequency questionnaire. RESULTS Mean hemoglobin levels increased significantly from 11.7g/dL, SD=1.2, to 12.4g/dL, SD=1.3 (p<0.001) after fortification. The prevalence of anemia decreased from 27.2% in the non-fortified group to 11.5% in the fortified group (p<0,001). CONCLUSION Anemia improved significantly after fortification of the flours, suggesting that the intervention effectively controlled iron deficiency. However, it is not possible to attribute the improved iron levels on this measure alone, even though analysis of their eating habits showed that pregnant women from Teresina (PI) presented unusual food habits, with frequent consumption of natural iron sources and foods that facilitate its absorption, in addition to the fortified foods.


Richard and Adolf: Did Richard Wagner Incite Adolf Hitler to Commit the Holocaust? by Christopher Nicholson. Jerusalem & New York: Gefen, 2007. 474 pp. $35.00. The title of this book, a joint biography of Richard Wagner and Adolf Hitler, raises a rhetorical question. The simple answer to that question is that the antisemitism expressed by Richard Wagner did indeed influence Adolf Hitler's political career. But this answer does not take into account many qualifying variables. Christopher Nicholson, a South African lawyer, is an educated man, but this book shows that he is an amateur with interesting theories but not the means of effectively supporting them. The association of these two men as partners, so to speak, is a risky premise. Many biographers of Hitler note his knowledge and admiration of the work of Wagner, but to consider these two men equally in a historical continuum is, at best, only a fraction of the story of antisemitism in the Germanspeaking countries. Furthermore, although the pairing of Wagner and Hitler is supposed to be political, the author attempts to document antisemitism through discussion of music. This is an uncertain method in the case of Wagner, and it is essentially impossible in the case of Hitler, who has not been the subject of musicological research because he was not a musician or composer. It is difficult to define the authence Nicholson had in mind for this book, which tells a story suitable for nonspecialist readers (complete with soap-opera conflicts and sexual hangups), yet occupies almost every page with footnotes intended presumably for the benefit of scholarly specialists. Except for the cover design, which includes several staves of the piano-vocal score of the overture to Wagner's opera Tannhauser, there are no musical examples in this book. This weakens the author's arguments in favor of manifestations of Wagner's antisemitism in his operatic works. Such arguments are speculative, at best, compared to those based on the antisemitism Wagner expressed in his prose essays. The references listed by Nicholson in his footnotes and bibliography are instructive because they demonstrate his purpose in writing this book, and also his limitations. It is self-evident that first-hand accounts constitute the most reliable documentation of history, and both Wagner and Hitler contributed more than their share of such sources to posterity; yet, in Nicholson's bibliography (pp. 451-57), such references are few, and almost all are in English translations rather than the German originals and represent secondary rather than eyewitness accounts. In fact, this bibliography largely comprises books and articles in English, either original to the language or translations of German editions (and even when Nicholson does cite German sources, errors show that his grasp of the German language appears to be limited); this is a serious problem in a book devoted to subjects who recorded their lives in German. It would have been helpful if Nicholson had consulted Richard Wagner: A Guide to Research of Michael Saffle (New York & London: Routledge, 2002), or the bibliographies in some of the books about Hitler he lists (notably those of John Toland and Ian Kershaw), which include extensive listings of eyewitness accounts and scholarly assessmenrs without being pedantic. The substance of this book is further compromised by second-hand accounts of personal relationships between the two subjects and others in their lives, in which Nicholson takes refuge without careful study of sources related to the other parties. A very unfortunate example of this is the author's assessment of the relationship between Wagner and Giacomo Meyerbeer, the German-Jewish composer who greatly influenced Wagner's career in Paris and Berlin. Nicholson dismisses Meyerbeer as a composer, giving no consideration to the quality of his work or its influence on Wagner's own, and also as a man (without taking the trouble to consult the eight-volume critical edition of Meyerbeer's correspondence and diaries). …


Generative cell mitosis was examined in stylar-grown pollen tubes of Nicotiana tabacum using serial sectioning, transmission electron microscopy and computer-assisted reconstruction. Before mitosis, the generative cell has a cage-like organization of cytoplasmic microtubules. The mitotic spindle forms when the cytoplasmic microtubules reduce in frequency and kinetochore microtubules form in an area delimited by sheets of endoplasmic reticulum; no preprophase band of microtubules is observed. At metaphase, 21 pairs of kinetochores are distributed unevenly along the length and depth of the cell without the formation of a strictly planar metaphase plate. The metaphase spindle is highly oblique, with diffuse subpoles distributed along the sides of the cell, colocalized with endoplasmic reticulum lamellae. From these dispersed subpoles the kinetochore bundles emanate, closely associated with tubular endoplasmic reticulum. Anaphase consists of three principal processes: convergence of diffused mitotic poles, shortening of the kinetochore bundles, and the elongation of the spindle by an average of nearly 50%. At mid-anaphase, a phragmoplast begins to form, mainly by the assembly of new microtubules at the equatorial area, which form as a cluster of numerous short microtubules. Cytokinesis is essentially conventional, with centrifugal cell plate formation. Cytoplasmic microtubules are restored in the newly formed "brother" sperm cells in a distribution similar to that in the generative cell but fewer in number.


BACKGROUND
The impaired cardiorespiratory fitness (CRF) status is a hallmark in obese individuals, especially in women around the world. Some field tests have been proposed to evaluate functional capacity in this population. The Six-Minute Step Test (6MST) could be a feasible alternative to cardiopulmonary exercise testing (CPX) if the resources and space are limited. However, an optimal performance cutoff using the 6MST as well as predictive equations of metabolic and cardiovascular responses to CPX from 6MST data have to not been established.

AIM
To assess the 6MST accuracy to determinate CRF and its ability to predict peak oxygen consumption (VO2) and heart rate (HR) achieved during CPX in sedentary obese women.

DESIGN
Observational and cross-sectional study.

SETTING
The study was performed at a Physiotherapy Department of a public University and enrolled individuals from the community.

POPULATION
Fifty-six obese women (35±7 years old).

METHODS
Subjects underwent a clinical evaluation, CPX, and the 6MST. We applied Bland-Altman plots to assess concurrent validity between exercise tests regarding peak VO2 and HR. Receiver operating characteristic curve analysis and stepwise multiple linear regression analysis assessed the predictive accuracy of the 6MST; specifically the ability to predict peak VO2 and HR achieved during CPX. Significance level was P<0.05.

RESULTS
There was a satisfactory concurrent validity between the CPX and 6MST, with a mean difference of 5.1±3.6 mL·kg-1·min-1 and 23±13 bpm in relation to peak VO2 and HR, respectively. The 6MST demonstrated moderate accuracy in predicting CPX responses (area under the curve: 0.72, 95% CI: 0.59-0.83). The number of step cycles and peak HR during the 6MST explained 31% and 39% of the total variance in peak VO2 and HR obtained during CPX, respectively.

CONCLUSION
The 6MST is accurate to discriminate obese women with an adequate CRF from women with a poor status and it can predict metabolic and cardiovascular maximal exercise values.

CLINICAL REHABILITATION IMPACT
Our findings indicate the 6MST is a simple and inexpensive functional evaluation tool and may be a valid means of assessing CRF in sedentary obese women, particularly in clinical settings where space and resources are limited.


Nostalgia is a fond longing for the past that has been shown to increase feelings of meaning, social connectedness, and self-continuity. Although nostalgia for personal memories provides intra- and interpersonal benefits, there may be negative consequences of group-based nostalgia on the perception and acceptance of others. The presented research examined national nostalgia (a form of collective nostalgia), and its effects on group identification and political attitudes in the United States. In a sample of US voters (N = 252), tendencies to feel personal and national nostalgia are associated with markedly different emotional and attitudinal profiles. Higher levels of national nostalgia predicted both positive attitudes toward President Trump and racial prejudice, though there was no evidence of such relationships with personal nostalgia. National nostalgia most strongly predicted positive attitudes toward president Trump among those high in racial prejudice. Furthermore, nostalgia's positive relationship with racial prejudice was partially mediated by perceived outgroup threat. Results from this study will help us better understand how the experience of national nostalgia can influence attitudes and motivate political behavior.


A crack impinging upon a frictional, bimaterial interface is studied theoretically. Specifically we consider the problem of an infinitely long, cracked, two-dimensional fiber, which is embedded in an infinite plane with distinct elastic properties. The composite is subjected to tensile loading parallel to the fiber. An interface integral equation method is developed to solve this problem. This method, involving to-be-determined distributions of line forces, reduces the specific problem considered here to four coupled integral equations which are solved numerically. The bimaterial effect appears to be significant with respect to the length of the slip zone along the interface and the interfacial shear stress. However, the blunting of the crack by the frictional interface is virtually independent of the bimaterial effect.


We present a comprehensive re-analysis of stellar photometric variability in the field of the open cluster M37 following the application of a new photometry and de-trending method to the MMT/Megacam image archive. This new analysis allows a rare opportunity to explore photometric variability over a broad range of timescales, from minutes to a month. The intent of this work is to examine the entire sample of more than 30,000 objects for periodic, aperiodic, and sporadic behaviors in their light curves. We show a modified version of the fast χ2 periodogram algorithm (Fχ2) and change-point analysis as tools for detecting and assessing the significance of periodic and non-periodic variations. The benefits of our new photometry and analysis methods are evident. A total of 2,306 stars exhibit convincing variations that are induced by flares, pulsations, eclipses, starspots, and unknown causes in some cases. This represents a 60% increase in the number of variables known in this field. Moreover, 30 of the previously identified variables are found to be false positives resulting from time-dependent systematic effects. The new catalog includes 61 eclipsing binary systems, 92 multiperiodic variable stars, 132 aperiodic variables, and 436 flare stars, as well as several hundreds of rotating variables. Based on extended and improved catalog of variables, we investigate the basic properties (e.g., period, amplitude, type) of all variables. The catalog can be accessed through the web interface (http://stardb.yonsei.ac.kr/).


Twelve-year-old patient, with congestive heart failure and mild, caused by Ebstein's anomaly with interventricular septal defect, was studied and submitted to surgical correction which consisted in covering the interventricular defect with a path of bovine pericardium and substituting for the tricuspid valve with a biological prosthesis (porcine). After surgical correction, the patient was submitted to strict clinical and laboratorial (echocardiogram and cardiac catheterization) evaluation which presented excellent adjustment of the cardiac antriums, with improvement of myocardial function index. The problems related to the diagnosis of the association of the Ebstein's anomaly with interventricular septal defect can be solved with a well done semiology, helped by accurate laboratorial procedures like echodopplercardiogram and cardiac catheterization. The total surgical correction can be achieved with results and, with this fact, change the natural development of the disease.


Stromal cells with myoid features were identified in rat or human lymph nodes and spleen in normal and pathologic conditions, using antibodies to desmin, alpha-smooth muscle actin, and smooth muscle myosin. In normal lymph nodes, myoid cells (MCs) were present in the superficial and deep paracortex as well as in the medulla, and absent in lymphoid follicles. In the spleen, they were numerous in the red pulp, less abundant in periarteriolar lymphocyte sheaths of the white pulp, and absent in lymphoid follicles. On double immunostaining, alpha-smooth muscle actin and smooth muscle myosin were coexpressed with desmin only in the deep paracortex and parafollicular areas of the lymph nodes, as well as in the MCs of the periarteriolar lymphocyte sheaths and marginal zone of the spleen; the remaining MCs expressed only desmin. When examined by means of electron microscopy, MCs showed a dendritic shape and cytoplasmic bundles of microfilaments with dense bodies scattered between them. When compared with normal conditions, MCs showed changes of distribution and number in several pathologic situations. Additional findings were 1) staining of pericytes surrounding high endothelium venules of lymph nodes with alpha-smooth muscle actin antibodies in man and rat and with desmin antibodies in rats; 2) staining of endothelial cells in these venules with desmin antibodies in rats. It is concluded that a subset of reticular cells in lymph nodes and spleen, as well as pericytes and endothelial cells in high endothelium venules display cytoskeletal features suggesting a myoid differentiation and function.


A quantitative model for the conversion of a solid-substrate salt to a solid-product salt in a batch bioreactor seeded with product crystals is presented. The overall process consists of six serial steps (with dissolution and crystallization each in themselves complex multistep processes): solid-salt dissolution, salt dissociation into an ionic substrate and a counter-ion, bioconversion accompanied by biocatalyst inactivation, complexation of the ionic product with the counter-ion, and salt crystal growth. In the model, the consecutive steps are integrated, including biocatalyst inactivation and assuming that salt dissociation and complexation of ions are at equilibrium. Model parameters were determined previously in separate independent experiments. To validate the model, either dissolved or solid Ca-maleate was converted to solid Ca-D-malate by permeabilized Pseudomonas pseudoalcaligenes in a batch bioreactor seeded with Ca-D-malate crystals. The model very well predicted the concentrations of all components in the liquid phase (Ca-maleate, Ca(2+), maleate(2-), D-malate(2-), and Ca-D-malate) and the amounts of the solid phases (Ca-maleate. H(2)O and Ca-D-malate. 3H(2)O), especially when high initial amounts of Ca-maleate. H(2)O and Ca-D-malate. 3H(2)O were present.


Ontology Design Patterns (ODPs) are intended to guide non-experts in performing ontology engineering tasks successfully. While being the topic of significant research efforts, the uptake of these ideas outside the academic community is limited. This paper summarises some issues preventing broader adoption of Ontology Design Patterns among practitioners, suggests research directions that may help overcome these issues, and presents early results of work in these directions.


From 2011 and forwards a new digitization strategy for public systems has been implemented in Denmark. From December 1st 2015, all interaction between social institutions and citizens in its multiple contexts is by law digital and online. The underlying logic is that Denmark is among the most digitally integrated countries around the globe, and digitization has already increasingly been adopted over the past decades by the societal systems, and by groups and individual persons. Overall, Denmark can be characterized as a digital society. The main argument in this presentation is that citizens in their local everyday life deal very differently with the opportunities and challenges that they encounter in their efforts to manage their citizen life in relation to big and small systems. Primarily their citizen agency focuses on their local, personally embedded interests and issues. They need to be and become active, participating citizens, facilitated by digital services and systems, in order to be included and recognized active members of society. To achieve this, all citizens need digital literacy in order to manage their everyday citizen life. Empirically, the paper draws on findings from an extensive study of media competences and media literacy in a Danish context, conducted in fall 2014. The qualitative findings are supported by new quantitative data on digital media use, news media and democracy in a Danish context.


We produced maximal or near-maximal acute intrarenal blockade of the renin-angiotensin system (RAS) by combining inhibitors. Intrarenal infusion of the renin inhibitor, ACRIP, the converting enzyme inhibitor, teprotide, and saralasin were administered individually or combined in random order. The inhibitors were infused for 20 min in doses that did not produce systemic effects in uninephrectomized conscious dogs in sodium balance at 10 meq/day. Significant increases in urine flow rate (UV; F = 97, P less than 0.0001), urinary sodium excretion (UNaV; F = 220, P less than 0.0001), glomerular filtration rate (GFR; F = 64, P less than 0.0001), and renal plasma flow (RPF; F = 108, P less than 0.0001) were observed with each blocker, whether alone or in combination except that ACRIP alone did not alter GFR or RPF. The increase in renal function was related to the number of blockers (3 greater than 2 greater than 1). With the three blockers combined UV increased approximately sixfold (from 0.5 +/- 0.06 to 2.9 +/- 0.03 ml/min), UNaV approximately 10-fold (from 3 +/- 0.4 to 34 +/- 2.8 mueq/min), GFR from 31 +/- 2 to 49 +/- 2 ml/min, RPF from 59 +/- 1 to 120 +/- 4 ml/min, and fractional excretion of sodium from 0.06 +/- 0.01 to 0.5 +/- 0.4% (all P less than 0.001). These changes did not occur where the inhibitors were infused systemically and the changes during intrarenal blocker administration were blocked completely with co-administration of angiotensin II intrarenally. The intrarenal RAS is a potent physiological regulator of renal function.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)


In developing countries, structural transformation started much later, mostly in the 1900s. The structural transformation of the agricultural sector has been characterized by the relative decline of basic agriculture; the rising importance of agribusiness, which includes the value added for agro-related industries and for agricultural trade and distribution services; as well as the growing share of high-value agricultural products in international trade with respect to traditional exports. Agricultural structural transformation has been shaped by three interrelated processes: improvements in productivity; change in composition in production; and change in mode of commercialization.


The present paper proposes a new equation utilizing the nonlocal Euler-Bernoulli beam model to investigate the linear transverse vibration of an embedded single-walled carbon nanotube (SWCNT) which incorporates an extra-added nanoparticle. The elastic behavior of the surrounding medium is simulated by the Pasternak-type foundation model. Hamilton's principle is applied to derive the governing equation, and the natural frequencies are obtained by the Galerkin method. The numerical results are compared with the molecular dynamics (MD) simulation as well as with the local continuum approach in the previous literature, to validate the nonlocal continuum elastic model. Unlike the classical continuum model, the present new approach shows acceptable accuracy and good agreement to the MD approximation. The results indicate that the fundamental frequencies are significantly dependent on the attached mass and boundary conditions. To study the effects of supported end conditions, three typical boundary conditions, namely clamped-clamped, clamped-pinned and pinned-pinned, are simulated. It is found that an attached mass causes a noticeable reduction in natural frequencies, in particular, for the clamped-clamped boundary condition, a stiff medium, stocky SWCNT and a small nonlocal parameter. In addition, when the position of the added nanoparticle is closer to the middle point of SWCNT length, the mass sensitivity is increased. Detailed results demonstrate that the present equation-based nonlocal continuum theory can be utilized for SWCNT-based mass sensor, efficiently.


The efficient coordination of fingertip forces to maintain static equilibrium while grasping an object continues to intrigue scientists. While many studies have explored this coordination, most of these studies assumed that interactions of hands primarily occur with rigid inanimate objects. Instead, our daily interactions with living and nonliving entities involve many dynamic, compliant, or fragile bodies. This paper investigates the fingertip force coordination on a manipulandum that changes its shape while grasping it. We designed a five-finger perturbation system with linear actuators at positions corresponding to each finger that would protrude outward from the center of the handle or retract toward the center of the handle as programmed. The behavior of the perturbed fingers and the other fingers while grasping this device was studied. Based on previous experiments on expanding and contracting handles, we hypothesized that each finger would exhibit a comparable response to similar horizontal perturbations. However, the response of the little finger was significantly different from the other fingers. We speculate that the central nervous system demonstrates preferential recruitment of some fingers over others while performing a task.


The Marble gallwasp Andricus kollari has a native range divided into two geographically separated lifecycles. In Eastern Europe and Turkey, the lifecycle involves a sexual generation on Turkey oak, Quercus cerris, while in Iberia and North Africa the sexual generation host is cork oak, Q. suber. Over the last 500 years, A. kollari has expanded its range into northern Europe, following human planting of Q. cerris from Italy and the Balkans. We ask: (i) what is the genetic relationship between eastern and western distributions of Andricus kollari? Can we determine which lifecycle is ancestral, and how long ago they diverged? (ii) To what extent have eastern and western native ranges contributed to northwards range expansion? (iii) Is there any evidence for hybridization between the two life cycle types? We present analyses of allozyme data for 13 polymorphic loci and of sequence variation for a 433 bp fragment of the mitochondrial cytochrome b gene. These show: (i) that four haplotype lineages (one in Spain, two in Hungary/Italy and one in Turkey) diverged more or less simultaneously between 1 and 2 million years ago, suggesting the existence of at least four refuges through recent ice age cycles. Our data cannot resolve which lifecycle type is ancestral. (ii) Populations north of putative refuges are divided into two sets. Populations in south‐west France are allied to Spain, while all remaining populations in northern Europe have been colonized from Italy and the Balkans. (iii) The transition from one race to another in south‐west France is marked by abrupt transitions in the frequency of refuge‐specific private alleles and corresponds closely to the northern limit of the distribution of cork oak. Although hybrids were detected in north‐west France, none were detected where the two lifecycles meet in south‐western France. The biology of oak gallwasps predicts that any hybrid zone will be narrow, and limited to regions where Q. cerris and Q. suber meet. Our data suggest that eastern and western A. kollari are effectively separate species.


This article explores the application of neuro-linguistic programming (NLP) as a framework through which to map transformative learning. This is original work that makes use of NLP as a methodology for inquiring into subjective experience. The authors outline issues in the theory of and research into transformative learning, introduce the field of NLP, then describe the research design for the empirical work, a longitudinal case study of a manager reflecting on experiences of organizational change. Themes resulting from the analysis comprise the following three main categories: characteristics of the output, or of the emergent understanding of the learner; characteristics of the person's inner process or journey; and characteristics of the interpersonal process between learner and facilitator. The article illustrates the application of NLP to the field of transformative learning, providing an example of its potential for empirical investigation.


: Grading and staging of ulcerations are defined using objective criteria. This allows for the initiation of specific therapies at various times. In addition, essential preoperative examinations are mentioned. The operative techniques, principles, and post-operative care are discussed. In a period of four years time the authors operated on 39 cases with presacral pressure sores. Complications are presented and discussed. Finally, in addition to the precautions required to prevent pressure sores, measures to limit their recurrence are mentioned.


The development of more sustainable and zero-emissions collective transport solutions could play a very important measure in the near future within smart city policies. This paper tries to give a contribution to this aim, proposing a novel approach to fuel cell vehicle design and operation. Traditional difficulties experienced in fuel cell transient operation are, in fact, normally solved in conventional vehicle prototypes, through the hybridization of the propulsion system and with the complete fulfillment of transients in road energy demand through a high-capacity onboard energy storage device. This makes it normally necessary to use Li-ion battery solutions, accepting their restrictions in terms of weight, costs, energy losses, limited lifetime, and environmental constraints. The proposed solution, instead, introduces a partitioning of the hydrogen fuel cell (FC) and novel optimal power control strategy, with the aim of limiting the capacity of the energy storage, still avoiding FC transient operation. The limited capacity of the resulting energy storage systems which, instead, has to answer higher power requests, makes it possible to consider the utilization of a high-speed flywheel energy storage system (FESS) in place of high energy density Li-ion batteries. The proposed control strategy was validated by vehicle simulations based on a modular and parametric model; input data were acquired experimentally on an operating electric bus in real traffic conditions over an urban bus line. Simulation results highlight that the proposed control strategy makes it possible to obtain an overall power output for the FC stacks which better follows road power demands, and a relevant downsizing of the FESS device.


Presented is a noncontact model and radiometric sensor developed to facilitate core body temperature extraction. The system has been designed as a close-proximity sensor to detect thermal emissions radiated from deep inside the human body. The radiometer uses a cavity-backed slot antenna (CBSA) designed to account for performance degradation which occurs in the near field of the human body. Tissue-simulating materials with electrical properties similar to the human body have been identified, and layered configurations of these phantoms are used to mimic the electromagnetic characteristics of a human stomach volume: hence, defines the core model. Positioned approximately 7 mm from the core model, the sensor tracks the change in brightness temperature as the subsurface physical temperature is varied. A mathematical noncontact model (NCM) is subsequently used to correlate the observed brightness temperature to the subsurface temperature, accounting for artifacts induced by the sensor's remote positioning from the specimen. The accuracy of the NCM is validated through an analysis of the measurement data extracted from the test bed before and after applying the model. The results illustrate that the measurement is highly sensitive to the antenna impedance match and atmospheric temperature. The measurement is less sensitive to the physical temperature of the instrument and emissivity of the specimen. The results of this study demonstrate that radiometric sensors are capable of close proximity, subsurface extraction of biological data given that certain parameters are closely monitored.


OBJECTIVE
The purpose of this cross-sectional study was to determine status of smoking among youths in school and to identify both student-level and school-level factors on smoking.

MATERIAL AND METHOD
A stratified two stage cluster sampling was employed to recruit 2,557 students in grades 10-12 and 30 teachers from 30 high schools in academic years 2010 in Buriram province, using a multilevel logistic analysis.

RESULTS
The current smoking status was 9.0% overall, 19.0% and 1.3% for male and female respectively. The results from multilevel logistic analysis revealed that only 10.5% of variation in smoking was associated with difference in school characteristics. The following student-level factors entered into the multilevel logistic regression model according to their importance were self-efficacy-with the moderate and low self-efficacy having a higher risk of smoking compared with high (OR 8.76, 5.80)-alcohol drinking (OR 5.42). Males were more likely to smoke than females (OR 4.56), perceived benefit on non-smoking-with the moderate and low perception having a greater chance of smoking compared with the higher level of perception (OR 2.31, 1.93). School-level factors including type of school, health promoting school policy, student-teacher ratio, proportion of teachers who smoked and availability of cigarettes near the school were also taken into account, but were not related to the status of smoking among the students.

CONCLUSION
The present study confirmed that school factors had no significant relationship to smoking among youths. Strict smoke-free policy at school is recommended. School program should focus more on self-efficacy Social marketing campaign/ education should focus on friends and family as non-smoking role models.


Study Design Secondary analysis of pooled data from 3 cohort and 2 randomised controlled studies. Objectives To evaluate risk factors for ankle sprain injury (ASI) in youth soccer and basketball. Background ASI is the most common injury in youth soccer and basketball. Risk factors for injury in professional soccer and basketball are generally well investigated. However, little is known about the risk factors specifically for ASI at all levels in these sports. Identifying risk factors specific for ASI in youth soccer and basketball will inform explicit recommendations for ankle sprain prevention strategies for players. Methods and Measures We pooled data from a total of 2265 male and female youth soccer and basketball players (11–18 years) in Alberta, Canada (2005–2011) [mean age (SD)=15 (1.45) years; range=11–18 years] with 150,818 hours of exposure. ASI was the primary outcome and was recorded using a validated prospective injury surveillance system consistent in all studies. Potential risk factors evaluated included sex, age, weight, height, BMI, sport, previous ASI, and previous lower extremity injury (LEI) (with or without previous ASI in the past 1 year). Univariate and multivariable Poisson regression, controlling for clustering by team and offset for exposure hours, was used to evaluate all covariates as potential risk factors with considerations for confounding (including exposure to neuromuscular training) and effect modification. Results Independent risk factors for ASI included previous ASI [IRR=1.98 (95% CI; 1.38–2.81)] and participation in basketball vs. soccer [(IRR=1.83 (95% CI; 1.18–2.85)). Sex, age, BMI, and previous LEI (without previous ASI) did not predict ASI (p>0.05). Conclusions Risk of ASI in youth basketball is greater than soccer and players with a history of ASI are at greater risk. Sex, age, BMI, and previous LEI (excluding previous ASI) do not predict ASI in youth soccer and basketball.


STUDY QUESTION
What is the natural conception rate over the course of 12 months in couples with unexplained or mild male subfertility who are scheduled for fertility treatment and have a predicted unfavourable prognosis for natural conception?

SUMMARY ANSWER
The natural conception rate over the course of 12 months in couples who were allocated to treatment was estimated to be 24.5% (95% CI: 20-29%).

WHAT IS KNOWN ALREADY
After starting treatment, couples often perceive unsuccessful cycles as evidence of definitive failure even though they are still able to conceive naturally in between and after treatment. The magnitude of the natural conception rate for couples who chose to commence treatment is unknown, as is whether the calculated prognosis before commencing treatment is still applicable.

STUDY DESIGN, SIZE, DURATION
We performed a secondary analysis of a randomized controlled trial including couples with unexplained or mild male subfertility and an unfavourable prognosis for natural conception. Couples were allocated to either three cycles IVF with single embryo transfer (SET), six cycles of IVF in a modified natural cycle (MNC) or six cycles of IUI with controlled ovarian hyperstimulation (IUI-COH). The detailed data collection in this trial allowed us to study the conception rates in periods that couples were not receiving treatment.

PARTICIPANTS/MATERIALS, SETTINGS, METHODS
We split the dataset into periods during which couples were treated and periods during which they were not treated. Couples could conceive naturally in the periods before, in between and after treatment cycles. The outcome was ongoing pregnancy, thus natural conception rate refers to natural conception leading to ongoing pregnancy. We performed a Cox proportional hazards analysis with female age, duration of subfertility and a time-varying covariate with four categories: IVF-SET, IVF-MNC, IUI-COH and no treatment. We used this Cox model to estimate the natural conception rate over 12 months of no treatment.

MAIN RESULTS AND THE ROLE OF CHANCE
Out of 602 included couples, there were 342 ongoing pregnancies, of which 77 (23%) resulted from natural conception. The estimated natural conception rate over 12 months was 24.5% (95% CI: 20-29%) on cohort level. Estimated rates for female age varying between 18 and 38 years and duration of subfertility between 1 and 3 years ranged from 22 to 35%.

LIMITATIONS, REASONS FOR CAUTION
We considered couples at risk for natural conception when not receiving treatment, whereas they might not have had periovulatory sexual intercourse. As couples were scheduled for treatment, it is possible that these couples were less inclined to try to conceive naturally, potentially leading to an underestimation of their natural conception rate if they kept trying to conceive.

WIDER IMPLICATIONS OF THE FINDINGS
Couples with unexplained subfertility who are about to start fertility treatment, still have about a one in four chance of ongoing pregnancy due to natural conception over 12 months. This information can add to the counselling of couples who commenced fertility treatment after failed cycles and to emphasize not to cease their natural attempts.

STUDY FUNDING/COMPETING INTEREST(S)
The INeS trial was supported by a grant from ZonMW, the Dutch Organization for Health Research and Development (120620027), and a grant from Zorgverzekeraars Nederland, the Dutch association of health care insurers (09-003). The funders had no role in study design, collection, analysis and interpretation of the data. B.W.M. is supported by a NHMRC Practitioner Fellowship (GNT1082548). B.W.M. reports consultancy for ObsEva, Merck and Guerbet. No other potential conflicts of interest reported.

TRIAL REGISTRATION NUMBER
The INeS trial was registered at the Dutch trial registry (NTR 939).