Background: Psychological distress in the general population during the COVID-19 pandemic and the lockdown measures represents an important public health issue. Aim: We studied psychological distress during the COVID-19 pandemic and the lockdown measures in the general population in Greece and Cyprus. Also, we investigated several demographic, clinical and job characteristics of the participants as possible determinants of distress. Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted in Greece and Cyprus. Data collection was performed during lockdown measures and in particular during April 21st to May 4th 2020. We used the Greek version of the Impact of Event Scale-Revised (IES-R-Gr) to measure the distress in response to the COVID-19 pandemic and lockdown measures. Also, we collected data regarding the demographic, clinical and job characteristics of the participants. All participants provided informed consent to participate in the study. Results: Seventeen point four percent of the participants had overall IES-R score from 24 to 32 indicating that posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is a clinical concern, while 33.5% had overall IES-R score >32 indicating that PTSD is a probable diagnosis. Females, Cyprus residents, participants that live with elderly people or patients with a chronic disease in home, participants with a mental health disease or/and chronic disease, participants under pharmaceutical treatment, participants that lost their work due to the pandemic and participants that work in hospital experienced greater distress. Also, increased age and decreased educational level was associated with increased distress. Conclusions: Findings suggest that our sample experienced great distress and this distress was affected by several demographic, clinical and job characteristics. Appropriate interventions should be established in order to support psychologically high risk groups and decrease their distress.


The performance of an ultrasonic cutting device critically relies on the interaction of the cutting tool and the material to be cut. A finite element (FE) model of ultrasonic cutting is developed to enable the design of the cutting blade to be influenced by the requirements of the toolmaterial interaction and to allow cutting parameters to be estimated as an integral part of designing the cutting blade. In this paper, an application in food processing is considered and FE models of cutting are demonstrated for toffee; a food product which is typically sticky, highly temperature dependent, and difficult to cut. Two different 2D coupled thermal stress FE models are considered, to simulate ultrasonic cutting. The first model utilises the debond option in ABAQUS standard and the second uses the element erosion model in ABAQUS explicit. Both models represent a single blade ultrasonic cutting device tuned to a longitudinal mode of vibration cutting a specimen of toffee. The model allows blade tip geometry, ultrasonic amplitude, cutting speed, frequency and cutting force to be adjusted, in particular to assess the effects of different cutting blade profiles. The validity of the model is highly dependent on the accuracy of the material data input and on the accuracy of the friction and temperature boundary condition at the blade-material interface. Uniaxial tensile tests are conducted on specimens of toffee for a range of temperatures. This provides temperature dependent stress-strain data, which characterises the material behaviour, to be included in the FE models. Due to the difficulty in gripping the tensile specimens in the test machine, special grips were manufactured to allow the material to be pulled without initiating cracks or causing the specimen to break at the grips. A Coulomb friction condition at the bladematerial interface is estimated from experiments, which study the change in the friction coefficient due to ultrasonic excitation of a surface, made from the same material as the blade, in contact with a specimen of toffee. A model of heat generation at the blade-toffee interface is also included to characterise contact during ultrasonic cutting. The failure criterion for the debond model assumes crack propagation will occur when the stress normal to the crack surface reaches the tensile failure stress of toffee and the element erosion model uses a shear failure criterion to initiate element removal. The validity of the models is discussed, providing some insights into the estimation of contact conditions and it is shown how these models can improve design of ultrasonic cutting devices.


Acquiring nutrients from the environment is essential for all microbes, and the ATP‐binding cassette (ABC) transporters are one of the major routes by which bacteria achieve it. In this issue of Molecular Microbiology, Chen et al. describe their characterization of what appeared at first glance a simple ABC transporter for acquisition of quaternary ammonium compounds (QACs) in Pseudomonas sp., but their persistence in fully determining the properties of this system led to the experimental demonstration that QAC uptake utilizes three different substrate‐binding proteins (SBPs), two of which are encoded at remote locations on the genome as 'orphan' SBPs that are each able to function with a single core ABC transporter. Building on the unusual nature of this system, in which multiple SBPs with non‐overlapping substrate specificities compete for the same transporter binding site, they designed elegant in vivo experiments that suggest that only substrate‐bound SBPs are able to form functional complexes with the membrane domains. This new finding provides an important piece of in vivo data leading to further insight into how this ubiquitous family of transporters operates.


Objective: This was a prospective comparative study carried out from April 2011 to February 2012 to assess the growth pattern of exclusively breast fed (EBF) and non-exclusively breast fed infants (NEBF) in the first six months of life. Methods: A total of 213 lactating mothers and their neonates (less than 7 days) weighing 2.5kg were consecutively recruited into the study and followed up at 614 and 24 weeks Infants were classified into EBF and NEBF groups based on their current feeding pattern during the follow up. Anthropometric measurements of weight and length were taken and compared with WHO reference curves. Data analysis was carried out using frequencies percentages means (SD) and t-test. Results: The rate of exclusive breastfeeding declined from 82.5% at delivery to 23% at the end of 24 weeks. The NEBF infants were heavier and longer at birth (P>0.05). The EBF Infants had higher weight (28 vs 22 g/day) and length gain of (0.77 Vs 0.70 cm/week) from 0 to 14 weeks than their NEBF counterpart (p>0.05). Despite a decline in weight gain of EBF infants after the 14 week they retained the higher mean weight achieved earlier. Average cumulative weight and length gain of 3.71 kg Vs 3.31 kg and 15.33 cm vs 14.56 cm were recorded for EBF and NEBF infants respectively during the 24 weeks follow up. The mean weight and length of the EBF infants was comparable to the World Health organization (WHO) reference curve than for the NEBF infants. Conclusion: This study has shown that exclusive breastfeeding supported adequate growth in infants studied during the first six months of life.


Objective— An abnormal circadian blood pressure (BP) profile is associated with adverse cardiovascular and all-cause outcomes. It is highly prevalent after heart, liver and kidney transplantation. We aimed to assess the prevalence of an abnormal ambulatory BP pattern in lung transplant recipients (LTx). Methods— Ambulatory BP monitoring (ABPM) was performed in 53 LTx and compared to those of 42 control subjects matched for age, gender and daytime BP. In 19 patients in whom at least two recordings were performed, we compared the first and the last one. Results— The non-dipping pattern (a less than 10% reduction in nocturnal BP) was more prevalent in LTx than in control subjects (89 versus 64%, P < 0.01). Nighttime BP was higher in LTx than in control subjects (P < 0.01 and < 0.001 for systolic BP (SBP) and diastolic BP (DBP), respectively). The nocturnal reduction of BP was lower in LTx than in control subjects (3 versus 8% for SBP and 6 versus 13% for DBP, both P < 0.001). These results remained significant after adjustment for the presence of diabetes mellitus and creatinine clearance. In the 19 patients in whom ABPM was performed twice (mean interval between the two recordings was 22 months), ambulatory BP values remained unchanged between the two recordings, although the number of antihypertensive agents was significantly higher. Conclusion— An abnormal circadian BP profile is highly prevalent after lung transplantation. It is observed consistently over prolonged periods of time.


This paper exploits the predominance of embedded memories in current and emerging wireless transceivers as a means to save power via channel state aware voltage scaling. The paper presents a statistical model that captures errors in embedded memories due to voltage over-scaling and maps the errors to a Gaussian distribution that represents a combination of communication channel noise and hardware noise. Designers can use the proposed model to investigate different power management policies, that capture the performance of the system as a function of both channel and hardware dynamics, thus creating a much richer design space of power, performance and reliability. A case study of a DVB receiver is presented and the validity of the proposed model is confirmed by simulations.


We address the issue of variable selection in the regression model with very high ambient dimension, \textit{i.e.}, when the number of covariates is very large. The main focus is on the situation where the number of relevant covariates, called intrinsic dimension, is much smaller than the ambient dimension. Without assuming any parametric form of the underlying regression function, we get tight conditions making it possible to consistently estimate the set of relevant variables. These conditions relate the intrinsic dimension to the ambient dimension and to the sample size. The procedure that is provably consistent under these tight conditions is simple and is based on comparing the empirical Fourier coefficients with an appropriately chosen threshold value.


The craft sciences have emerged as a field of academic research in Finland, Sweden and Norway since the early 1990s. In Finland, craft research has examined various aspects of crafts using a multidisciplinary approach, adapting a range of methods from other academic disciplines according to the research topic. Another source has been the schools of domestic sciences in which craft research has been a recognized field. In Sweden and Norway, craft research has developed strongly in architectural conservation and cultural heritage with a focus on traditional craftsmanship and the performative elements of intangible cultural heritage. This article offers an overview of the developments and progress of the field of craft sciences in these countries, including its methodological approaches, with a focus on Ph.D. theses. Through mapping recurrent methodological approaches, the following categories were derived: craft reconstruction, craft interpretations, craft elicitation, craft amplification and craft socialization. The aim of the classification, and the model derived from it, is to help researchers and students understand better how different types of knowledge relate to different research methods and apply them within their own research. The purpose of the research is to create a common infrastructure for research and education in order to connect and strengthen the dispersed academic communities of craft research and to establish craft science as a formally recognized discipline within the academic system. This work is licensed under Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial No  Derivatives (CC BY-NC-ND). To view a copy of the licence, visit https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/


The syndrome of ovarian hyperstimulation is an exceptional aetiology of pleural effusion. It should be thought of any young women who are under treatment to induce ovulation. The effusions are exudates and not transudates as occurs in Demons-Meigs syndrome. The regression of effusions is usual.


Basic deep learning classifiers used for medical images often produce global labels. While annotation for localized disease detection might be costly, the knowledge of prevalence of conditions in different anatomical areas can help improve the accuracy by limiting the classifier to relevant areas. However, this improvement provided by context knowledge, is usually offset by the errors of the segmentation map used to isolate the area of interest. This paper proposes a framework for disease classification consisting of a segmentation network, a segmentation quality assessment network, and two separate classifiers on whole image and relevant segmented area. The quality assessment network controls the impact of the two disease classifiers on the final outcome, utilizing the masked image only when segmentation is acceptable. We show that in a very large dataset of chest X-ray images, this framework produces a 2% increase in the area under ROC curve for classification compared to a baseline.


Gastrointestinal stromal tumors (GISTs) are the most common primary mesenchymal neoplasias of the gastrointestinal tract, typically expressing c-kit (CD117) and CD34. Recently, it was reported that nestin and caveolin-1 are also expressed in some human sarcomas, GISTs included. We performed a retrospective study on formalin fixed, paraffin embedded samples from 81 cases of confirmed GISTs, aiming to characterize their immunohistochemical profile, including nestin and caveolin-1 expressions. Tissue samples were evaluated immunohistochemically for CD117, CD34, nestin and caveolin-1. The patients (M:F 36:45), aged 46 to 84 years, had spindle cell type GISTs in 56.7% of cases, epithelioid in 30.8% and mixed pattern in 12.3%. Immunohistochemically, CD117 was positive in 88.9% of GISTs, CD34 in 85.1%, nestin in 77.7% and caveolin-1 in 71.6% of the tumors. Of nine c-kit negative GISTs, 66.7% expressed nestin, the same as caveolin-1 and 44.5% expressed both nestin and caveolin-1. Statistical analysis using Kendall's and Spearman's tests revealed significant correlations between nestin and caveolin-1 expressions (p=0.024). Our results suggest that nestin and caveolin-1 could be considered sensitive markers in GISTs, together with CD117 and CD34, for diagnostic purposes. Their significant expression in CD117 negative GISTs could represent an immunohistochemical alternative in establishing the diagnosis of these tumors.


A networked set of agents holding binary opinions does not seem to be able to compute its majority opinion by means of local binary interactions only. However, the majority problem can be solved using two or more bits, instead of one (F. Bénézit , "Interval consensus: From quantized gossip to voting", Apr. 2009, pp. 3661-3664). Pairs of agents asynchronously exchange their states and update them according to a voting automaton. This paper presents binary voting automata as well as solutions to the multiple voting problem, where agents can vote for one candidate among |C| ≥ 2 candidates and need to determine the majority vote. The voting automata are derived from the pairwise gossip algorithm, which computes averages. In the binary case (|C|=2), we focus on averages in dimension 1, but in the multiple case (|C| ≥ 2) we quantize gossip in dimension |C| - 1 , which is larger than or equal to 1. We show in particular that a consensus on majority can be reached using 15 possible states (4 bits) for the ternary voting problem, and using 100 possible states (7 bits) for the quaternary voting problem.


In order to investigate the large errors which sometimes characterize fundamental-mode attenuation coefficient determinations, we have made many such determinations in the Basin and Range province and have plotted particle motion for the observed three-component seismograms. Rayleigh wave attenuation coefficient values determined for four two-station paths across the Basin and Range province fluctuate between about −2.0 × 10−3 km −1 and +3.0 × 10−3 km −1 at periods between 6 and 33 s. Partide motion plots indicate that many of those determinations are contaminated by arrivals from non-great circle paths and from waves generated at heterogeneities along the path, factors which lead to systematic errors in the measured attenuation coefficient values. Attenuation coefficient determinations for the path MNV to ELK, which is within 20° of being normal to the structural trends of the Sierra Nevada and Great Valley, are, however, relatively free from such contamination. Mean values for that path decrease rapidly with period from about 3.0 × 10−3 to about 0.7 × 10−3 km −1 between 6 and 10 s and then decrease slowly to about 0.3 × 10−3 km −1 at 33 s. Standard deviations range between 0.2 × 10−3 and 0.3 × 10−3 km −1 for most of the period range, but increase to about 0.4 × 10−3 at periods between 6 and 8 s. These results indicate that careful screening, based upon criteria such as three-dimensional particle motion, are necessary to obtain surface wave attenuation data of sufficient quality to use for inverting for crustal anelasticity in complex regions.


A United Ireland is inevitable. Or at least that appears to be the consensus from a string of commentators, keen to outdo each other with predictions about the post-Brexit era. Even those who do not tout the inevitability of a United Ireland, suggest that we should at least prepare for its potentiality. Indeed, this was this basis of a surprising intervention by the former DUP leader Peter Robinson on the subject. Speaking recently at the MacGill Summer School, in County Donegal, Robinson stated: "I don't believe Northern Ireland will want to leave the United Kingdom, but if it does happen we would be in a terrible fix because we would be in the same situation as leaving the EU where nothing was negotiated or decided about what was going to happen after." Robinson suggested, following this, that Unionists should engage in a discussion as to what a post united Ireland might look like. "I don't expect my own house to burn down, "he told his audience, "but I still insure it."


Switchgrass low-land ecotypes have significantly higher biomass but lower cold tolerance compared to up-land ecotypes. Understanding the molecular mechanisms underlying cold response, including the ones at transcriptional level, can contribute to improving tolerance of high-yield switchgrass under chilling and freezing environmental conditions. Here, by analyzing an existing switchgrass transcriptome dataset, the temporal cis-regulatory basis of switchgrass transcriptional response to cold is dissected computationally. We found that the number of cold-responsive genes and enriched Gene Ontology terms increased as duration of cold treatment increased from 30 min to 24 hours, suggesting an amplified response/cascading effect in cold-responsive gene expression. To identify genomic sequences likely important for regulating cold response, machine learning models predictive of cold response were established using k-mer sequences enriched in the genic and flanking regions of cold-responsive genes but not non-responsive genes. These k-mers, referred to as putative cis-regulatory elements (pCREs) are likely regulatory sequences of cold response in switchgrass. There are in total 655 pCREs where 54 are important in all cold treatment time points. Consistent with this, eight of 35 known cold-responsive CREs were similar to top-ranked pCREs in the models and only these eight were important for predicting temporal cold response. More importantly, most of the top-ranked pCREs were novel sequences in cold regulation. Our findings suggest additional sequence elements important for cold-responsive regulation previously not known that warrant further studies.


Proteins are known to form functional clusters in plasma membranes. In order to identify individual proteins within clusters we developed a method to visualize by atomic force microscopy (AFM) the cytoplasmic surface of native plasma membrane, excised from Xenopus laevis oocyte and spread on poly-L-lysine coated glass. After removal of the vitelline membrane intact oocytes were brought in contact with coated glass and then rolled off. Inside-out oriented plasma membrane patches left at the glass surface were first identified with the lipid fluorescent marker FM1-43 and then scanned by AFM. Membrane patches exhibiting the typical phospholipid bilayer height of 5 nm showed multiple proteins, protruding from the inner surface of the membrane, with heights of 5 to 20 nm. Modelling plasma membrane proteins as spherical structures embedded in the lipid bilayer and protruding into the cytoplasm allowed an estimation of the respective molecular masses. Proteins ranged from 35 to 2,000 kDa with a peak value of 280 kDa. The most frequently found membrane protein structure (40/μm2) had a total height of 10 nm and an estimated molecular mass of 280 kDa. Membrane proteins were found firmly attached to the poly-L-lysine coated glass surface while the lipid bilayer was found highly mobile. We detected protein structures with distinguishable subunits of still unknown identity. Since X. laevis oocyte is a generally accepted expression system for foreign proteins, this method could turn out to be useful to structurally identify specific proteins in their native environment at the molecular level.


An implementation of an inter-cell interference control algorithm in a LTE network is presented. The proposed procedure takes advantage of collaborative self-organizing functions among neighbouring cells to improve the performance of conventional ICIC (Inter-Cell Interference Coordination) algorithms. In particular, the sharing of resource occupation information between adjacent cells is exploited to coordinate resource allocation for users. The proposed algorithm has been tested on a link-level simulator using a physical layer abstraction based on data from a real network scenario. Both deployment and traffic data is used, so the technique is tested beyond canonical implementations and results can be considered as more realistic. Results show an enhancement in Signal-to-Interference ratio (SINR) and throughput for cell-edge users compared to similar procedures not based on self-organizing techniques. In addition, a decrease in the blocking probability for those users far away from base station has been observed. Finally, the quality of service for users close to cell centre remains unchanged, and in some cases, becomes improved. These effects are more notorious in medium-loaded situations, especially in unb//alancedtraffic cases. These results support the feasibility of the implementation of this procedure for future LTE deployments.


Public e-Procurement can be used as a tool to minimize corruption in public procurement. The aim of this research is to determine the perceived anti-corruption benefits of public e-Tendering which can help to minimize the human interference in public contracts. Structured questionnaire was designed for collecting primary data and telephone interview was conducted with the representatives of different government departments and their suppliers in Nepal. The results show that e-Tendering System has potential for to provide more transparency and accountability, especially by reduces the chances of corruption in public contracts in particular about 90% respondents agreed that automation capabilities of e-Tendering significantly increase the transparency and accountability in public sectors.


This study introduces readers to the eighteenth-century novel through a consideration of contemporary social issues. Eighteenth-century authors grappled with very similar problems to the ones we face today such as: what motivates a fundamentalist terrorist? What are the justifiable limits of state power? What dangers lie in wait for us when we create life artificially? The book discusses key authors from Aphra Behn in the late seventeenth century to James Hogg in the 1820s, covering the 'long' eighteenth century. It guides readers through the main genres of the period from Realism, Gothic romance and historical romance to proto-science fiction. It also introduces a range of debates around race relations, anti-social behaviour, family values and born-again theology as well as the power of the media, surveillance, political sovereignty and fundamentalist terrorism. Each novel is shown to be directly relevant to some of the most urgent moral issues of our own time.


This is a preliminary and comparative report of a randomized prospective study in which 14 unselected women with a proven histological diagnosis of endometrial adenocarcinoma were subjected to a course of external irradiation treatment with total 1,500 rad mid-pelvic dose delivered on five consecutive days followed by total abdominal hysterectomy and bilateral salpingo-oophorectomy. Surgery was performed within 1 week after the completion of radiation therapy. At the same time, 15 additional patients with identical histological diagnosis were treated with the conventional external irradiation technique of 5,000 rad delivered in 5 weeks followed by surgery 6 weeks later. The stage indicates no significant differences between these two radiotherapeutic modalities in regard to survival rate, recurrences or complications. The short course-low dose approach markedly reduces the cost and overall treatment time.


Purpose: The main purpose of the article was to present the results of research on the competencies of transition managers (TMs) in the process of creating shared service centers (SSC). Design/Methodology/Approach: The first stage of the research was literature review. Then, an analysis of the data collected in the previous study was performed, special focus was on data on deep lesions. The obtained results were confronted with the opinions of TMs. These opinions were collected using the Computer-Assisted Web Interview (CAWI) and in-depth interviews. Findings: Based on the theoretical analysis, a definition of transition was developed and classified into the thematic group of management sciences dealing with project management and change management. It was not found necessary to separate the "transition manager" as a new profession. However, differences between the scope of competences of the project manager and the TMs were noticed, especially in the field of substantive knowledge of the processes taken over. It is also important to list the components of the competence referred to as "leadership", important in the transition process, namely, solution-oriented attitude, ability to cope with stress, the ability to flexibly operate under various conditions, accurate prediction of problems that may occur during the implementation of changes, mental resilience, building positive cooperation within the team. Originality/Value: The subject of research is very interesting, namely the growing professional group of transition managers. If their distinctiveness in terms of competencies is noticed, and they will be properly lead through the development path, these people may be a key resource of global enterprises reporting a constant need for specialists in change management, multiculturalism and projects. Practical implications: The conclusions formulated in the article can therefore improve the management of competencies of TMs, facilitate the development of competency profiles for the recruitment and selection of project team members, or the creation of training strategies for project managers to prevent professional burnout.


Three serological tests: Immunodiffusion (ID), Counterimmunoelectrophoresis (CIEP) and Enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) were used to study the role of crude adult worm antigen (CAWA) of Toxocara canis and each of its purified fractions in the serodiagnosis of human toxocariasis. Sensitivities of the three tests were lower in the ocular than in the visceral group, using different antigens. Purified fraction 1 showed more sensitive and specific reactions in the three tests, compared to CAWA or purified fraction 2 (P-F2) antigen. The other purified fractions (P-F3, P-F4 and P-F5) gave no positive reactions in any of the three tests. Using P-F1 antigen, ELISA was the most sensitive technique for diagnosis of both visceral and ocular toxocariasis followed by CIEP and then ID and the difference was statistically significant. However, CIEP was the most specific test followed by ELISA and lastly ID test. The ELISA test using Excretory-Secretory (E-S) larval antigen of Toxocara canis was less sensitive than the ELISA test using P-F1, although it was 100% specific. Thus, ELISA test using P-F1 is the test of choice for diagnosis of human toxocariasis, but when the specificity of a reaction is in doubt, CIEP test using the same antigen can be of value.


Objectives To explore if community embedded discussions with local community members reshape the social imaginary of medicine among students and contribute positively to their professional identity Methods This explorative, qualitative study involved 35 first-year medical students who volunteered to attend a 2-hour forum at a local church to ask community members about their experiences with doctors and healthcare systems. Student participants were asked to reflect on five structured questions. The written reflections were submitted for analysis, de-identified, and analyzed using Glaser's classic grounded theory, constant comparative analysis, and Taylor's model of modern social imaginaries as an analytical lens. Results The results indicate that student participants identified seven main themes regarding what community members expect from their doctors, including active listening (n=22), physical touch (n=18), and compassion (n=16). Responses also indicated that only 5.6% of the students felt that the preclinical curriculum was adequately preparing them for what local community members identified as important to patient care. However, students recognized that two aspects of the curriculum, Physical Diagnosis (n=12) and volunteering/community engagement (n=9), were congruent with the expectations of future patients. Conclusions The results suggest that students identified educational experiences that were congruent with the social imaginary of patients. However, patient expectations were discordant to some aspects of the medical imaginary of medical students. The experience and subsequent reflections may be salient to contributing to each student's professional identity and provide a model for other medical schools to explore how the curriculum is fulfilling the community's perception of ideal patient care.


Objective: To assess the effect of a publicly funded domestic heating programme on self-reported health. Design, setting and participants: A prospective controlled study of 1281 households in Scotland receiving new central heating under a publicly funded initiative, and 1084 comparison households not receiving new heating. The main outcome measures were self-reported diagnosis of asthma, bronchitis, eczema, nasal allergy, heart disease, circulatory problems or high blood pressure; number of primary care encounters and hospital contacts in the past year; and SF-36 Health Survey scores. Results: Usable data were obtained from 61.4% of 3849 respondents originally recruited. Heating recipients reported higher scores on the SF-36 Physical Functioning scale (difference 2.51; 95% CI 0.67 to 4.37) and General Health scale (difference 2.57; 95% CI 0.90 to 4.34). They were less likely to report having received a first diagnosis of heart disease (OR 0.69; 95% CI 0.52 to 0.91) or high blood pressure (OR 0.77; 95% CI 0.61 to 0.97), but the groups did not differ significantly in use of primary care or hospital services. Conclusions: Provision of central heating was associated with significant positive effects on general health and physical functioning; however, effect sizes were small. Evidence of a reduced risk of first diagnosis with heart disease or high blood pressure must be interpreted with caution, due to the self-reported nature of the outcomes, the limited time period and the failure to detect any difference in health service use.


Adults with Down syndrome (DS) develop Alzheimer disease (AD) pathology progressively with age but clinical signs of dementia are delayed by at least 10 years after the first signs of disease. Some individuals with DS do not develop dementia despite extensive AD neuropathology. Given the discordance between clinical decline and AD neuropathology, compensatory events may be of particular relevance for this group. Imaging studies using PET suggest compensatory increases in metabolic rate in vulnerable brain regions in DS prior to the development of dementia. Neurobiological studies of similarly aged DS autopsy cases provide further evidence of activation of plasticity mechanisms. Genes that are overexpressed in DS (APP, DSCAM, MNB/DYRK1A, and RCAN1) produce proteins critical for neuron and synapse growth, development and maintenance. We present the hypothesis that these genes may lead to developmental cognitive deficits but paradoxically with aging, may participate in molecular cascades supporting neuronal compensation. Enhancing or supporting compensatory mechanisms in aging individuals with DS may be beneficial as suggested by intervention studies in animal models. In combination, adults with DS may be a unique group of individuals well-suited for studies involving the manipulation or upregulation of compensatory responses as an approach to promote successful brain aging in the general population.


ABSTRACT The transitions associated with forced migration create extensive disruption to the daily lives of refugees. Such change affects opportunities, expectations, and identity in ways associated with the concepts of occupational and biographical disruption. Biographical disruption reflects the way an individual's life path is changed by illness, injury, or social circumstances; and occupational disruption focuses on the impact of change on occupational aspects of the individual's life path. This article explores the findings from a phenomenological study of the lived experiences of 10 refugees from Africa and the Middle East who had sought asylum in the United Kingdom. They were invited to share their experiences through a series of up to three conversational interviews, which were analysed using the Stevick-Colaizzi-Keen method. Findings illustrate the impact of disruption and the potential for occupation to help promote a sense of constancy and biographical repair. Participants highlighted how important occupation was to their experience of biographical disruption. They reflected on how their drive to achieve constancy across their life path encouraged their return to valued, familiar occupations, which provided a means of repair following disruption. This information offers insight into the scope of disruption faced by refugees, and how the major changes in their life path influence and are influenced by occupation. Readers are encouraged to consider how they could help to reduce feelings of disruption and enable refugees to retain a better sense of their imagined future.


: Data obtained in experiments in 80 rats and in clinical observations of 24 patients with burns of the II and IIIA degrees showed the activation of vasculo-thrombocytic and procoagulant links of the hemostasis system with a simultaneous depression of the anticoagulative blood system. The thermal trauma is followed by a dramatic decrease of the concentration of heparin, fibrinogen, decreased activity of antithrombin-III, fibrinolysis and plasminogen activators. There was a simultaneous growth of concentration of antiplasmins (alpha 2-macroglobulin and alpha 1-antitrypsin).


This study used the five dimensions of practice identified by Carey, Fan, He, and Jin (2020) to describe the preferred mode of practice of US school-based counselors and compare this mode of practice with nine other countries. A total of 380 US school counselors completed the International Survey of School Counselor Activities-United States. Mean item ratings and mean BART scores were used for both descriptions and comparisons. US counselors indicated that Counseling Services; Advocacy and Systemic Improvement; Prevention Programs; and, Educational and Career Planning were all important aspects of their role. In comparison to international counterparts, US counselors placed greater emphasis on Advocacy and Systemic Improvement and Prevention Programs. Results confirmed previous scholarship suggesting that counselors in the US have a very broad role. Any reformulation of this role would benefit from comparative international research on the strengths and limitations of different modes of practice.


Abstract Resource access and livelihood flexibility have been identified in the literature as two critical determinants of adaptive capacity. This paper shows that these aspects play important roles in reindeer herding in Nordland County, Norway, in terms of resilience to changes in social-ecological systems. Throughout history, reindeer herders have been able to draw on a broad range of adaptation options, but increased pasture fragmentation and loss of grazing land increasingly affect herders' adaptability to weather variability and climate change impacts. Our analysis of empirical material from three adjacent reindeer herding districts illustrates the linkages between socio-economic and environmental exposure sensitivities, how the herders adapt by exploring patterns of differential adaptive capacity, and how adaptive capacity is impacted. Two socio-economic (pasture encroachment and insufficient human resources) and two environmental (locked pastures and predation) exposure sensitivities emerged as the most prominent affecting pasture access, which was the most critical factor for ensuring the adaptive capacity of reindeer herders. Flexibility to alternate between adaptation strategies was another important characteristic. Adapting to these exposure sensitivities engenders benefits and unintended negative consequences for the herders. The key components to adaptive capacity identified in this paper provide an evidence-based focus for management action by those seeking to improve resilience of socio-ecological systems at the community level.


: This study explores several possible mechanisms by which dietary retinoic acid may cause the previously described reduced intestinal absorption of alpha-tocopherol. Measurement of fecal excretion of rats showed that dietary retinoic acid caused twice as much alpha-tocopherol to be excreted as when retinol was the source of vitamin A. Excretion was the same for free and esterified alpha-tocopherol, thus, the retinoic acid effect originally observed was not due to impaired hydrolysis of the ester. There was no effect of retinoic acid on triglyceride absorption. Collection and analysis of bile from rats fed either form of vitamin A showed no difference in bile volume or bile acid composition. The addition of 0.2% taurocholic acid to the diet, however, reversed the effect of retinoic acid on tocopherol absorption. In vitro studies of mixed micelles containing 3H-alpha-tocopherol and retinoic acid or retinol showed no difference in size due to the form of vitamin A in the micelles.


Indocyanine green (ICG) fluorescence angiography has recently been reported useful as a method for predicting intestinal blood flow and may reduce anastomotic leakage. However, the quantification method for ICG fluorescence angiography has not been established. We usually measure the tissue oxygen saturation (StO2) in the intestinal tract via near‐infrared spectroscopy, as it is able to measure the oxygen concentration accurately and immediately shows objective data. In this study, we propose that the time to reach the anastomotic site after intravenous ICG injection is an effective parameter for quantifying ICG fluorescence angiography from the comparison to the data of StO2 in the intestinal tract.


Background Shoulder arthrodesis is a unique procedure, which has shifted from a well-established procedure for osteoarthritis to a salvage procedure. In the present retrospective study, functional outcome and morbidity in shoulder arthrodesis using combined plate/screw fixation versus screw fixation alone were evaluated. Materials and Methods Shoulder arthrodesis was performed on 28 shoulders: 16 cases with only cancellous screws and 12 cases with combined plate/screw fixation. At a mean follow-up of 6.8 years (range 1 years to 20.4 years), patients were invited for clinical follow-up, with evaluations of visual analogue scale for pain, function and satisfaction, Constant–Murley scores, and recorded complications. Results All patients had severe limitations in the use of their shoulder, although they had little pain and were satisfied. The overall Constant–Murley score increased significantly from 33.4 to 52.2. In eight cases with combined plate/screw arthrodesis and nine with screw arthrodesis, there was persistent pain, which resolved after removal of osteosynthesis material. Non-union was only found in five patients with screw arthrodesis. Conclusions Although the risk of a second operation for removal of osteosynthesis material in combined plate/screw arthrodesis is equal to screw fixation alone, for complete glenohumeral fusion, a combined plate/screw fixation appears to be superior to screw fixation alone.


The study of drying and wetting cycles in soils is important due to their effects on plant nutrition and soil fertility as well as environmental issues. Therefore, a laboratory experiment was set up with a completely randomized design and factorial arrangement in three replications to identify the influence of wetting and drying cycles in combination with or without application of organic acids on release of silicon, magnesium, and iron from bentonite mineral. Treatments included two organic acids (citric, oxalic) and five drying and wetting cycles (0, 1, 3, 6 and 9). The concentration of Si was measured using colorimetry and those of Mg, and Fe were measured by atomic absorption spectrometry (GBC Savant AA machine). Results showed that the amount of released elements is highly affected by the type of organic acids, and drying and wetting cycles. Among the organic acids, the amount of Mg released from bentonite in citric acid treated samples was greater than those from oxalic acid samples. However, oxalic acid was found to be more effective for extraction of Si and Fe from the bentonite. Results obtained from the wetting and drying experiments showed that with increasing the number of wetting and drying cycles the release of all elements was considerably increased. However, organic acids increase the release of all elements from the mineral. Based on the results, citric and oxalic acids are suggested for extraction of Mg and Fe from the mineral structure of bentonite, respectively.


In pattern recognition and related fields, graph-based representations offer a versatile alternative to the widely used feature vectors. Therefore, an emerging trend of representing objects by graphs can be observed. This trend is intensified by the development of novel approaches in graph-based machine learning, such as graph kernels or graph-embedding techniques. These procedures overcome a major drawback of graphs, which consists of a serious lack of algorithms for classification. This paper is inspired by the idea of representing graphs through dissimilarities and extends our previous work to the more general setting of Lipschitz embeddings. In an experimental evaluation, we empirically confirm that classifiers that rely on the original graph distances can be outperformed by a classification system using the Lipschitz embedded graphs.


Stature can be a useful indicator of living standards, particularly when income and wage data are scarce or of poor quality, as is often the case for undeveloped rural economies with large self-employed sectors. This study shows that Indian height data provide some supporting evidence for widening inequality in the initial phase of the development process. This corresponds to the more contentious part of the "Inverted U" hypothesis, which asserts that income inequality initially increases, then declines, during the development process.


The appearance of orthodontic appliances has been improved by the introduction of tooth coloured brackets. Aesthetic archwires are highly desirable to complement aesthetic brackets in clinical orthodontics. The objective of this study was to characterise the elastic behaviour of aesthetic archwires and determine whether their behaviour was modified following intraoral use. The load-deflection behaviour of five types of coated and uncoated 0.014" NiTi archwires in their as-supplied condition and following 6 weeks of intra-oral use was characterised using 3 point wire bending tests (n=10 per group). Representative archwires from each group were examined using Scanning Electron Microscopy. The results indicated that the archwires behaviour after 6 weeks of clinical use was more unpredictable than that of unused archwires. In addition the retrieved PTFE coated archwires produced lower unloading forces than unused archwires. The force generated by the uncoated and PTFE coated archwires was comparable. The coated archwires undergo significant delamination of the coating after 6 weeks of clinical use. Within the confines of the limitations of this study the clinical implications are that the PTFE coated archwires moved teeth at comparable rates to their uncoated counterparts. However the coating did degrade and the archwires behaved less predictably after 6 weeks of clinical use.


OBJECTIVE
In cardiac I-123 (123I) imaging downscatter from high energy emissions degrades the image and introduces distortion of semi-quantitative analysis when using a low energy collimator. The effect of a triple energy window (TEW) scatter correction technique, using windows immediately above and below the principal window centered on 159keV, was examined.

MATERIALS AND METHODS
A hemispherical cardiac phantom was inserted into a cylindrical phantom and both were filled with radioactive 123I water solutions. Phantoms were submitted to planar and tomographic scintigraphy under various acquisition and processing conditions, including the use of medium energy (ME) and low energy (LE) collimation.

RESULTS
In planar imaging, there was a distance dependent count loss with the LEHR collimator which was partly restored with TEW correction. There was minimal dependence of count rate with distance in using ME collimation. Conversely, the heart to background (H/B) ratio increased with increasing distance with the LEHR collimator, but in applying the TEW correction that ratio paralleled the minimally affected values obtained with the ME collimation. In tomographic imaging the acquired H/B ratio was lower with LE collimation alone, in comparison to the ME collimator, but it was raised significantly when applying the TEW scatter correction. Quantitative measurements also depended on the background method and the reconstruction algorithm applied.

CONCLUSION
In cardiac 123I imaging with a LE collimator the use of TEW scatter correction provides a semi-quantitative assessment comparable to that attained with ME collimation and may moderate inter-institutional inconsistencies.


Norfloxacin-imprinted sol-gel materials were prepared by molecular imprinting technique in combination with sol-gel process. In this process, Norfloxacin was applied as the template, 3-aminopropyltriethoxysilane (APTES) as function polymer, tetracethoxysilicane (TEOS) as cross linker. The materials were characterized by FT-IR spectra and N2 adsorption. Kinetic binding, loading isotherm and competitive loading of NFXS,OFX and CLX by the imprinted and nonimprinted materials were also studied. The experiments showed that the imprinted materials had high selectivity of norfloxacin.


As our understanding of heart rate and rhythm disorders is changing, so too is the terminology. Hence, the words in the title of this article are "cardiac dysrhythmias" rather than "cardiac arrhythmias." The word "arrhythmia" means totally without rhythm. The only rhythm abnormality that fits this definition is fibrillation, either atrial or ventricular. The word "dysrhythmia," meaning an abnormal rhythm, conveys our meaning more precisely.
 FREQUENCY
 The number of pediatric patients with cardiac dysrhythmias is increasing, mainly because a common sequela of cardiac surgery is damage to the specific conduction system and working myocardium. Dysrhythmias also are being recognized more frequently in children who have no structural heart disease. This discovery is probably due to increased awareness on the part of pediatricians that certain cardiac dysrhythmias in otherwise normal children are important. We must not let this new awareness lead to overenthusiasm that might label a child with a benign dysrhythmia a "cardiac patient." A basic tenet in evaluating the pediatric patient with a dysrhythmia is that very few dysrhythmias in children with otherwise normal hearts are life-threatening, although some are persistent and even disabling. On the other hand, any rhythm abnormality in a child with an abnormal heart should be viewed with concern.


Seed dispersal plays critical roles in determining species survival and community structures. Since the dispersal is biologically under maternal control, it is hypothesized that intraspecific variation of dispersal potential and associated traits of seeds (diaspores) should be influenced by maternal habitat quality. We tested this hypothesis by examining the effects of maternal environmental light condition on morphological traits and descending performance of nearly 1800 wind-dispersed samaras collected from maple species Acer palmatum. Results showed that samaras produced by trees from shaded microhabitats had greater dispersal potential, in terms of slower terminal velocity of descent, than those produced in open microhabitats. This advantage was largely attributed to morphological plasticity. On average, samaras produced in shaded microhabitats, as compared to those produced in open habitats, had lower wing loading by only reducing weight but not area. In allometric details, in the large size range, samaras from shaded microhabitats had larger areas than those from open microhabitats; in the small size range, samaras from shaded microhabitats had wider wings. These findings suggest that greater dispersal potential of samaras in response to stressful maternal light environment reflected an active maternal control through the morphological allometry of samaras.


Quantum Heating Mesoscopic wires exhibit peculiar properties at low temperatures. Their electric conductance can show plateaus at evenly spaced values, which reflects the sequential opening of "quantum transport channels," each of which can only carry a finite amount of charge or heat. Whereas the step size for the electric conductance depends on the type of the particle carrying the charge, for heat conduction this "quantum" is universal. Jezouin et al. (p. 601, published online 3 October; see the Perspective by Sothmann and Flindt) measured the quantum of heat conduction through a single electronic channel by comparing the amount of heat needed to heat a small metal plate to a constant temperature, while varying the number of electronic channels through which the heat was dissipated from the plate. Encouragingly, the measurement was in agreement with the theoretical prediction. The unit of heat carried by electrons is measured using noise thermometry and found to be consistent with predictions. [Also see Perspective by Sothmann and Flindt] Quantum physics predicts that there is a fundamental maximum heat conductance across a single transport channel and that this thermal conductance quantum, GQ, is universal, independent of the type of particles carrying the heat. Such universality, combined with the relationship between heat and information, signals a general limit on information transfer. We report on the quantitative measurement of the quantum-limited heat flow for Fermi particles across a single electronic channel, using noise thermometry. The demonstrated agreement with the predicted GQ establishes experimentally this basic building block of quantum thermal transport. The achieved accuracy of below 10% opens access to many experiments involving the quantum manipulation of heat.


Leucosporidium scottii , for many years considered to be an asporogenous yeast in the genus Candida , is now known to have a heterobasidiomycetous life-cycle. Although morphologically similar to ascomycetous yeasts such as Saccharomyces cerevisiae , budding cells of L. scottii have a strikingly different type of mitosis. In L. scottii , mitosis is not intranuclear as it is in S. cerevisiae . Neither does the nucleus constrict and separate into daughter nuclei in the neck region between mother cell and bud. In L. scottii the chromatin-containing portion of the nucleus moves into the bud before division. There is partial breakdown of the nuclear envelope and the chromatin divides along a spindle apparatus formed inside the bud within remnants of nuclear envelope. A portion of the nucleus containing the nucleolus is left behind in the mother cell and disintegrates there when the envelope breaks down. After division, the nuclear envelope reforms around daughter nuclei and one daughter moves back to the mother cell. These events have been established on the basis of 3 types of observation: on living cells with phase-contrast microscopy; on cells stained for chromatin and studied with light microscopy; and on glutaraldehyde-fixed cells studied with electron microscopy. As in L. scottii , breakdown of nuclear envelope during division has been reported in several mycelial basidiomycetes. The sequence of chromatin movement into the bud of L. Scottii division inside the bud, and return of one daughter nucleus to the mother cell, is closely comparable to the movements of chromatin in and out of clamp connexions known to occur in dikaryotic hyphae of Polystictus versicolor . These mitotic similarities are in accord with the taxonomic relationship of L. scottii to the basidiomycetes. Observations on a cytoplasmic organelle located outside interphase nuclei of L. scottii have convinced us of its considerable importance during mitosis. This structure consists of 2 globular electron-dense ends joined by a bridge-like middle piece. It accompanies the advancing tips of nuclei which enter the bud. After breakdown of the nuclear envelope, the 2 spherical components of this organelle are seen at opposite poles of the mitotic spindle. Therefore we refer to it as the 'microtubule organizing centre' (MTOC). We have also speculated about a possible role for the organelle in the regulation of nuclear envelope growth, breakdown, and reformation.


Systolic arrays have proved to be well suited for Very Large
Scale Integrated technology (VLSI) since they:
- Consist of a regular network of simple processing cells,
- Use local communication between the processing cells only,
- Exploit a maximal degree of parallelism.
However, systolic arrays have one main disadvantage compared with
other parallel computer architectures: they are special purpose
architectures only capable of executing one algorithm, e.g., a
systolic array designed for sorting cannot be used to form matrix
multiplication.
Several approaches have been made to make systolic arrays more
flexible, in order to be able to handle different problems on a
single systolic array.
In this thesis an alternative concept to a VLSI-architecture
the Soft-Systolic Simulation System (SSSS), is introduced and
developed as a working model of virtual machine with the power to
simulate hard systolic arrays and more general forms of concurrency
such as the SIMD and MIMD models of computation.
The virtual machine includes a processing element consisting of
a soft-systolic processor implemented in the virtual.machine language.
The processing element considered here was a very general element
which allows the choice of a wide range of arithmetic and logical
operators and allows the simulation of a wide class of algorithms
but in principle extra processing cells can be added making a library
and this library be tailored to individual needs.

The virtual machine chosen for this implementation is the
Instruction Systolic Array (ISA). The ISA has a number of interesting
features, firstly it has been used to simulate all SIMD algorithms
and many MIMD algorithms by a simple program transformation technique,
further, the ISA can also simulate the so-called wavefront processor
algorithms, as well as many hard systolic algorithms. The ISA removes
the need for the broadcasting of data which is a feature of SIMD
algorithms (limiting the size of the machine and its cycle time) and also presents a fairly simple communication structure for MIMD
algorithms.
The model of systolic computation developed from the VLSI
approach to systolic arrays is such that the processing surface is
fixed, as are the processing elements or cells by virtue of their
being embedded in the processing surface.
The VLSI approach therefore freezes instructions and hardware
relative to the movement of data with the virtual machine and softsystolic
programming retaining the constructions of VLSI for array
design features such as regularity, simplicity and local communication,
allowing the movement of instructions with respect to data. Data can
be frozen into the structure with instructions moving systolically.
Alternatively both the data and instructions can move systolically
around the virtual processors, (which are deemed fixed relative to
the underlying architecture).
The ISA is implemented in OCCAM programs whose execution and
output implicitly confirm the correctness of the design.

The soft-systolic preparation comprises of the usual operating
system facilities for the creation and modification of files during
the development of new programs and ISA processor elements. We allow
any concurrent high level language to be used to model the softsystolic
program. Consequently the Replicating Instruction Systolic
Array Language (RI SAL) was devised to provide a very primitive program
environment to the ISA but adequate for testing. RI SAL accepts
instructions in an assembler-like form, but is fairly permissive
about the format of statements, subject of course to syntax.
The RI SAL compiler is adopted to transform the soft-systolic
program description (RISAL) into a form suitable for the virtual
machine (simulating the algorithm) to run.
Finally we conclude that the principles mentioned here can form
the basis for a soft-systolic simulator using an orthogonally
connected mesh of processors. The wide range of algorithms which the
ISA can simulate make it suitable for a virtual simulating grid.


As buildings are becoming larger, demand for mega-sized composite columns (over 1-meter diameter) is increased. We have developed and commercialized welded built-up CFT column (ACT Column I) since 2005 which are structurally stable and economical using cold-formed steel with rib. However, there has a limit in size of cross section (618 X 618mm) by a fabrication facilities. And due to charateristics of closed cross section, there has a limit to construction of connection of moment frame. Composite mega column (ACT Column II) has same concept of forming closed cross section. But in order to enlarge cross sectional size, thick plate is inserted between cold-formed steels. Since composite mega column can control thickness and width of thick plate, steel or composite beams can be directly attached to the connection. In this study, we propose strength formula of composite mega column to beam connections with T-shaped stiffener as internal diaphragm and verified through finite element analysis and simple tensile experiment.


Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease is progressive and is characterized by abnormal inflammation of the lungs in response to inhalation of noxious particles or toxic gases, especially cigarette smoke. Although this infirmity primarily affects the lungs, diverse extrapulmonary manifestations have been described. The likely mechanisms involved in the local and systemic inflammation seen in this disease include an increase in the number of inflammatory cells (resulting in abnormal production of inflammatory cytokines) and an imbalance between the formation of reactive oxygen species and antioxidant capacity (leading to oxidative stress). Weakened physical condition secondary to airflow limitation can also lead to the development of altered muscle function. Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease presents diverse systemic effects including nutritional depletion and musculoskeletal dysfunction (causing a reduction in exercise tolerance), as well as other effects related to the comorbidities generally observed in these patients. These manifestations have been correlated with survival and overall health status in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease patients. In view of these facts, the aim of this review was to discuss findings in the literature related to the systemic manifestations of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, emphasizing the role played by systemic inflammation and evaluating various therapeutic strategies.


Objectives The postpartum period represents a crucial transition period in which weight gain or loss can affect lifetime obesity risk. This study examined the prevalence of obesity and the influence of childhood abuse and family conflict on postpartum weight among low-income Mexican-origin women. Depressive symptoms and partner support were evaluated as mediators. Methods At a prenatal assessment, low-income Mexican-origin women (N = 322; mean [SD] age, 27.8 [6.5]) reported on childhood abuse and family conflict. Weight was measured 7 times between 6 weeks and 2 years postpartum and calculated as body mass index. Regression and growth models were used to estimate the impact of childhood abuse, childhood family conflict, partner support, and depressive symptoms on weight and weight change. Results Higher family conflict predicted higher weight across the first (&bgr; = .12; p = .037) and second (&bgr; = .16; p = .012) postpartum years. Family conflict (&bgr; = .17; p = .018) and low partner support (&bgr; = −.16; p = .028) also predicted increasing weight in the first year. Partner support partially mediated the effect of childhood abuse on weight change in the first year (p = .031). Depressive symptomatology mediated the effects of childhood abuse and family conflict on weight status in the second year (abuse: p = .005; conflict: p = .023). Conclusions For low-income Mexican-origin women with a history of childhood abuse or high family conflict, depression and low partner support may be important targets for obesity prevention efforts in the postpartum period.


The Journal is soliciting contributions from the members of the AI and engineering research communities for this section. Please send information on the research you or your colleagues are currently working on or have just completed. The types of research relevant to the mission of this Journal would be appropriate. The topics included, but not limited to, are: expert (knowledge-based) systems and expert system shells; spatial reasoning and the integration of graphics and solid modelers; AI languages and machines; AI in planning and design; simulation; process planning; optimization; and manufacturing. The format of contributions should be as follows:


The article considers the results of analysis of concentration of IgA, IgM, IgG, IgE, sIgA, sICAM-1 in non-stimulated saliva of female workers of poultry sector who underwent aerogenic impact of complex of occupational factors. The changes in indicators are analyzed depending on intensity of sensitization. The study demonstrated that the greatest changes in concentration of sICAM-1 are detected primarily in case of fungous infection.


The processor identity problem is the problem of assigning unique identifiers to processors that communicate through shared memory. Solutions to fundamental multiprocessor coordination problems such as the mutual exclusion problem and the choice coordination problems often rely on unique identifiers. A solution to the processor identity problem simplifies shared memory processor design by eliminating the need to encode processor identifiers in system hardware or software structures. The original solution to the processor identity problem required O(n/sup 2/) space. Further refinements lowered the space requirements to O(n log/sup 2/n). This paper presents a protocol which only requires O(n) space.<<ETX>>


Consider a polynomial optimisation problem, whose instances vary continuously over time. We propose to use a coordinate-descent algorithm for solving such time-varying optimisation problems. In particular, we focus on relaxations of transmission-constrained problems in power systems. On the example of the alternating-current optimal power flows (ACOPF), we bound the difference between the current approximate optimal cost generated by our algorithm and the optimal cost for a relaxation using the most recent data from above by a function of the properties of the instance and the rate of change to the instance over time. We also bound the number of floating-point operations that need to be performed between two updates in order to guarantee the error is bounded from above by a given constant.


Abstract Human rights protect the conditions of a minimally decent life of which mental health is an indispensable element. Adequate care for mental health is thus recognized as part of the human right to health. However, for populations living far from urban centers, adequate in-person (mental) health care is often extremely costly and thus not provided. Digital mental health care options have become an effective alternative to in-person treatment. Benefitting from these new digital opportunities, though, requires sufficient access to the internet. Because everyone has a human right to adequate health care, and digital mental health care is now an effective option for progressively realizing this human right for people who live in remote regions, these people also have to be understood to have a right to access to the internet. This right to internet access creates duties for public authorities and the international community to create the required digital infrastructure and (where needed) to cover the costs of internet access where this is the only feasible way of delivering, or progressively realizing, the mental health care that is indispensable for having the opportunity to lead minimally decent lives.


Motivated by the advances of quantum Darwinism and recognizing the role played by redundancy in identifying the small subset of quantum states with resilience characteristic of objective classical reality, we explore the implications of redundant records for consistent histories. The consistent histories formalism is a tool for describing sequences of events taking place in an evolving closed quantum system. A set of histories is consistent when one can reason about them using Boolean logic, i.e., when probabilities of sequences of events that define histories are additive. However, the vast majority of the sets of histories that are merely consistent are flagrantly nonclassical in other respects. This embarras de richesses (known as the set selection problem) suggests that one must go beyond consistency to identify how the classical past arises in our quantum universe. The key intuition we follow is that the records of events that define the familiar objective past are inscribed in many distinct systems, e.g., subsystems of the environment, and are accessible locally in space and time to observers. We identify histories that are not just consistent but redundantly consistent using the partial-trace condition introduced by Finkelstein as a bridge between histories and decoherence. The existence of redundantmore » records is a sufficient condition for redundant consistency. It selects, from the multitude of the alternative sets of consistent histories, a small subset endowed with redundant records characteristic of the objective classical past. Furthermore, the information about an objective history of the past is then simultaneously within reach of many, who can independently reconstruct it and arrive at compatible conclusions in the present.« less


The Florida Keys form a crescentic chain of small limestone islands which extend from near Miami to Key West, a distance of about 150 miles. They are made of two main formations of Pleistocene age—the Key Largo Limestone and the Miami Limestone. The former, named and described by Sanford, is an elevated coral reef rock, and the latter, also described by Sanford, is an oolitic limestone in this area. The Key Largo Limestone is the surface rock of the Upper Keys, and the Miami Limestone covers the Lower Keys. A contact found at Big Pine Key shows that the oolitic limestone overlaps the Key Largo, and core borings show that the Key Largo underlies the oolitic cover for the entire area of the Lower Keys. The Key Largo, therefore, extends for the total length of the Keys. A core placed at Dry Tortugas, 70 miles west of Key West, encountered it at 30 feet below sea level. The Key Largo has a maximum thickness of over 200 feet. The fact that the Keys are located about 5 miles from the seaward edge of the Florida coral reef platform creates an interesting problem. They may be (1) remnants of an ancient outer reef similar to that found today bordering the living coral reef tract, or (2) they may have become established as a line of patch reefs in the back reef zone of a pre-existing platform which extended seaward some distance, possibly as far as the present platform. It is believed that the answer to this problem can be found through an understanding of what was happening seaward and leeward of the old reef at the time its corals were flourishing. Consequently, the composition and structure of the reef platform seaward of the Keys and the geologic history of the rocks of the Florida mainland immediately behind the Keys were studied. Information thus obtained plus observations on the composition, especially the coral content, of the Keys themselves have led the authors to believe that the Keys were formed as a line of patch reefs in a back reef area which was bordered on its seaward edge by an outer reef which has since been lowered, chiefly by erosion, and covered by more recent material.


The plasma filtration and formation of the urine is a very complex process necessary for the elimination of metabolites, toxins, and excessive water and electrolytes from the body. The initial process of urine formations is done by the glomerular filtration barrier inside the glomeruli. This specialized barrier consists of three layers, fenestrated endothe‐ lium, basement membrane, and podocytes, which ensure that water and small molecules pass through while cells and large molecules are retained. The glomerular filtration barri‐ er is found with abnormal morphology in several diseases and is associated with renal malfunction; thus, it is interesting to study these structures in different experimental and clinical conditions. The normal glomerular barrier and its alterations in some conditions (hypertension, diabetes, and fetal programming) are discussed in this chapter. Further‐ more, some methods for studying the glomerular filtration barrier by electron microsco‐ py, both by qualitative and quantitative methods, are present.


This is a case study in a rural Southeastern school district of the effectiveness of STEM guest speaker sessions at increasing pre-K–12 student interest in STEM and STEM careers, which traditional STEM education fails to adequately do. I attempt to determine whether STEM guest speaker sessions improve student attitudes; whether they empower teachers and speakers; and whether the results depend on teacher, speaker, or student/school demographics. Voluntary response samples of public school teachers and area STEM professionals (employees and university students) filled out pre-session and post-session surveys. Pre-session surveys consisted of demographic questions as well as Likert questions about students' attitudes toward STEM and the participant's attitude toward his or her role in STEM education. After a session, teacher and speaker answered the same attitude questions as well as some Likert questions about how the speaking session went. I find statistically significant (α = 0.05) changes in several mean ratings for the Likert attitude questions, suggesting that speaking sessions are effective at improving student attitudes and that they do empower teachers in STEM education. Responses to the pre-session speaker survey suggest little room for speaker attitude improvement. However, a small sample size and homogeneity of the teacher sample prevents analysis based on demographics. Likewise, results cannot be safely generalized beyond grades 2–4 at high-poverty rural schools with few STEM opportunities. The promising results suggest similar studies with different demographics or more diverse samples. Keywords: STEM education, guest speakers


Fault-injection (FI) based techniques for dependability assessment of distributed protocols face certain limitations in providing state-space coverage and also incur high operational cost. This is mainly due to lack of complete knowledge of fault-distribution at the protocol level which in turn limits the use of statistical approaches in deriving and estimating the number of test cases to inject. In practice, formal techniques have effectively being used in proving the correctness of dependable distributed protocols, and these techniques  traditionally have not been directly associated with experimental validation techniques such as FI-based testing. There exists a gap between these two well-established approaches, viz. formal verification and FI-based validation  techniques. If there exists an approach which utilizing a rich set of information pertaining to the protocol operation generated through formal verification process can provide guided-support to perform FI-based validation, then the overall effectiveness of such validation techniques can be greatly improved. With this viewpoint, in this paper, we propose a methodology which utilizes the theorem-proving technique as an underlying formal-engine, and is composed of two novel structured and graphical representation schemes (interactive user-interfaces) for (a) capturing/visualizing information generated over the formal verification process, (b) facilitating interactive analysis through the chosen formal-engine (any theorem-proving tool) and database, and (c) user-guided identification of influential parameters, those eventually used for generating test cases for FI-based testing. A case study of an on-line diagnosis protocol is used to illustrate and establish the viability of the proposed methodology.


This paper shows that credit rationing is endemic to competitive capital markets in which information is symmetrically distributed. Equilibrium contracts may restrict loans to a size well below that at which backruptcy is a threat. The model predicts that credit rationing will be most severe on projects of intermediate risk and decreases the more costly it is for creditors to recover bad debts. However, there is no case for government intervention, despite the usual identification of credit rationing as a per se capital market imperfection.


This paper presents a novel structured knowledge representation called the functional object-oriented network (FOON) to model the connectivity of the functional-related objects and their motions in manipulation tasks. The graphical model FOON is learned by observing object state change and human manipulations with the objects. Using a well-trained FOON, robots can decipher a task goal, seek the correct objects at the desired states on which to operate, and generate a sequence of proper manipulation motions. The paper describes FOON's structure and an approach to form a universal FOON with extracted knowledge from online instructional videos. A graph retrieval approach is presented to generate manipulation motion sequences from the FOON to achieve a desired goal, demonstrating the flexibility of FOON in creating a novel and adaptive means of solving a problem using knowledge gathered from multiple sources. The results are demonstrated in a simulated environment to illustrate the motion sequences generated from the FOON to carry out the desired tasks.


We propose a concept for a novel 'innervated' material that is assembled by addition of a multitude of MEMS to a conventional material. This approach shall enable the material to show specific reactions to external inputs, and make the reaction accessible to external observers. By implementing such innervated material into buildings, clothing or even food, it would be possible to create a virtual neural system in objects. This work introduces the concept, gives an outlook on the potential of such an approach in art, science and technology and the possible impact on the life of future generations.


Objectives: Little information is available concerning PCR-based direct detection of Trichomonas infections on archived Pap (Papanicolaou)-stained smears. This study investigates DNA extraction and amplification from archived Pap smears. Trichomonas vaginalis is a parasitic protozoan that infects the urogenital tract of women. Study Design: DNA from archived Pap-stained smears was successfully amplified using the nested PCR to investigate if it could be used for accurate detection and retrospective epidemiological investigations. Results: In our study, 98 (75.4%) out of 130 specimens of T. vaginalis Pap-stained smears were found to be positive by the nested PCR. Also, direct PCR on the archived Pap smears for identifying T. vaginalis gave a specificity of 100%. Conclusion: PCR-based Pap smears appear to offer an effective method to detect Trichomonas infection in archived samples, being rapid, highly specific and convenient for sampling, particularly in retrospective investigations.


A rescued Indian flying fox (Pteropus giganteus; Brunnich, 1782) was brought to College of Veterinary Science & Animal Husbandry, Anand of Gujarat state, India with a history of dropped right wing and an inability to fly. Diagnostic investigation included anamnesis, clinical examination and radiography. The case was confirmed with complete oblique compound fracture of radius and ulna of the right wing. Ketamine and xylazine combination was utilized as surgical anesthesia intramedullary pinning procedure in the affected bones. Postoperative management included use of antibiotic (ceftriaxone and tazobactam combination), non-steroidal antiinflammatory drug (meloxicam), amino acid supplements and passive range motion physiotherapy. Flying fox recovered uneventfully 21 days post-treatment and was rehabilitated in natural habitat. Since there is a lacuna in diseases and disorders of this species, an effort has been made to utilize available resources to rule out cause of morbidity.


Machine Learning (ML) is increasingly used to automate impactful decisions, and the risks arising from this wide-spread use are garnering attention from policy makers, scientists, and the media. ML applications are often very brittle with respect to their input data, which leads to concerns about their reliability, accountability, and fairness. In this paper we discuss such hard-to-identify data issues and describe mlinspect , a library that enables lightweight lineage-based inspection of ML preprocessing pipelines. The key idea is to extract a directed acyclic graph representation of the dataflow from ML preprocessing pipelines in Python, and to use this representation to automatically instrument the code with predefined inspections based on a lightweight annotation propagation approach. In contrast to existing work, mlinspect operates on declarative abstractions of popular data science libraries like estimator/trans-former pipelines and does not require manual code instrumentation. We discuss the design and implementation of the mlinspect prototype, and give a complex end-to-end example that illustrates its functionality.


This paper proposes a fault diagnosis method for solenoid valves in urban railway braking systems. For dominant failure modes of solenoid valves, sensor signals including electrical current, and input and output pressure were acquired and analyzed. The physical behaviors of the solenoid valves are modeled analytically. Numerous forces including magnetic, elastic, and gravity forces are incorporated in the model. With the analytical model and sensor signals, health indices are defined. The health indices are used to quantify the condition of the solenoid valves with different failure modes. Finally, a fault diagnosis method is proposed with the health indices and failure criteria. We anticipate that this study can help decrease maintenance costs and improve reliability of urban railway braking systems.


Most of California`s light commercial buildings use air transport through ductwork for thermal distribution. The same air distribution systems are often used to provide both thermal comfort and ventilation. Some air distribution ductwork is installed on rooftops, exposed directly to the outside environment. As such, there exist potential energy penalties related to externally installed ductwork. In order to evaluate the magnitude of these penalties, a case study was conducted of a one-story community college building, located in California`s Sacramento Valley. The majority of the building`s air distribution ductwork was located on the roof. Energy-related issues studied in this case included duct-related thermal losses (duct leakage and conduction), delivery effectiveness and efficiency, thermal comfort issues and the effect of a roof retrofit (additional insulation and a reflective coating). The building in this study underwent a retrofit project involving additional insulation and a highly reflective coating applied to the roof and ducts. As part of this project, methods were developed to analyze the air distribution system effectiveness independent of the introduction of outside air through an outside air damper. A simplified model was developed to predict the effectiveness and efficiency of the distribution system. The time frame of the retrofit allowed two separate three week monitoring periods. Despite the fact that the ducts started off with a conduction efficiency of 97%, the delivery efficiency was on average only 73% (with a supply side effectiveness of 78% and return effectiveness of 92%). This is due to the losses from the ducts being located on the roof. The retrofit increased the delivery efficiency to an average of 89% (with a supply side effectiveness of 90% and return effectiveness of 99%), reducing the average energy use for conditioning by 22%. The model predicted, on average, the results within 10%, or better, of measured results.


After F.A. Fallou (1794-1877) introduced the term pedology in Saxony in 1862, it was dormant for some decades. Acceptance and general use of the term began in Russia following development of a new approach to the study of soils by Dokuchaiev and his students in the late 1870s and early 1880s. Soil scientists elsewhere in the world did not pick up the term, however, before the 20th century. Widespread use followed the First International Congress of Soil Science, held in the USA in 1927. The Congress and associated activities gave the term a big boost, not only in the USA. In 1929, the American Soil Survey Association, precursor of the Soil Science Society of America, adopted a resolution urging that pedology be accepted as the proper name for scientific investigations of soils. Teaching of the Dokuchaiev factors of soil formation, which began soon afterward, promoted progressively wider acceptance of the term, especially in the USA. These trends culminated in adoption of pedology as the name for a division of the Soil Science Society of America in 1994. During the same period, acceptance of the term was underway in all parts of the world.


With the help of prioritised polling token and a local synchronisation scheme, this study proposes a quality of service (QoS)-guaranteed scheduling algorithm. It works based on distributed intelligence and schedules both intra-cluster and inter-cluster connections in a cluster-based multihop wireless ad hoc sensor network. Theoretical analyses are employed to derive the bounds for the jitter and delay of each intra-cluster and inter-cluster connection. Based on the obtained jitter bounds and delay bounds, a connection admission control scheme is proposed as the admission criterion for each newly requested connection. Both numerical and simulation results show that by taking the advantages of proposed polling-based QoS scheduling algorithm and the connection admission control jointly, the QoS requirements of all admitted intra-cluster and inter-cluster connections are guaranteed.


'Bound' lipids persist in ester wax sections of tissues fixed in glutaraldehyde. They do not take up Sudan black B. They are unmasked by dilute sodium hypochlorite and then stain readily with the Sudan dye and are extractable in warm chloroform and methanol. Bound lipids have been studied in tissues from the mouse and from the insects Rhodnius, Periplaneta and Calliphora . They are so widely distributed that Sudan staining alone gives an informative histological picture. They occur in nucleoli and the nuclear envelope, in the nuclear matrix and in the cytoplasm (especially when rich in endoplasmic reticulum), in plasma membranes and their invaginations and evaginations (microvilli), in septate desmosomes, and particularly in mitochondria, dictyosomes and myelin. In erythrocytes they are not only concentrated in the surface membrane but are distributed throughout the interior of the cell. In muscle fibrils (papillary muscle of the ventricle and fibrillar flight muscle of Calliphora ) bound lipid occurs in small amounts in the dark regions of the unstained muscle ('A'-bands) but is normally absent from the 'Z'-line and from the 'I'-bands. In highly contracted muscle this relation is reversed: lipid is concentrated around the 'Z'-line. The elastic layers and fibrils in arteries are rich in bound lipid. Bound lipids are presumably lipoproteins. Purified lipoprotein from egg yolk examined histochemically has the same properties.


In this studio and laboratory research study, the suitability of several glazes for use on the earthenware clays used by local potters in the internal provinces of Oman was investigated. The aim was to develop suitable, economic glazes from local materials for use with Omani earthenware clays that could form an adequate adhesive bond with the clay surface and be used in ceramics decoration in local educational institutions. In particular, the experiments in this study mainly evaluated the use of Ferro Frit 3110 in different glazing recipes. It is a calcium- and sodium-rich frit with oxides that are stable and predictable, and it is more dependable in chemical composition than other raw materials. The final results can help to reduce the cost of importing ready-made expensive glazes from overseas for use in ceramics decoration in Omani higher educational institutions.


The staging and management of Hodgkin's disease has been discussed in relationship to experience obtained over an eight year period in a regional centre. Eighty cases were shown to be evaluable and the data pertaining to them has been discussed. A complete remission has been achieved by either wide-field radiotherapy or combnation chemotherapy in 78 percent of these cases. Sixty-six percent of the evaluable patients were alive and well five years after their diagnosis. The importance of interdisciplinary co-operation in management and the referral of such patients to a regional centre has been stressed.


Robotic mobile fulfillment systems (RMFSs) are a new type of warehousing system, which has received more attention recently, due to increasing growth in the e-commerce sector. Instead of sending pickers to the inventory area to search for and pick the ordered items, robots carry shelves (called "pods") including ordered items from the inventory area to picking stations. In the picking stations, human pickers put ordered items into totes; then these items are transported by a conveyor to the packing stations. This type of warehousing system relieves the human pickers and improves the picking process. In this paper, we concentrate on decisions about the assignment of pods to stations and orders to stations to fulfill picking for each incoming customer's order. In previous research for an RMFS with multiple picking stations, these decisions are made sequentially. Instead, we present a new integrated model. To improve the system performance even more, we extend our model by splitting orders. This means parts of an order are allowed to be picked at different stations. To the best of the authors' knowledge, this is the first publication on split orders in an RMFS. We analyze different performance metrics, such as pile-on, pod-station visits, robot moving distance and order turn-over time. We compare the results of our models in different instances with the sequential method in our open-source simulation framework RAWSim-O.


Studying the radiation effects on electronic devices is essential for avionics and space systems. The shrinking technology nodes and increasing density of devices enhance the sensitivity of electronic systems to ionizing radiation. Due to their crucial role, memories and processors are the highest contributors to soft errors in systems, making them the best candidates for studying these effects. This work introduces the radiation environment in space and atmosphere and the main effects that the different types of ionizing particles that are present in these environments may produce on electronic devices. Furthermore, mainly focusing on Single-Event Effects (SEEs), it presents approaches and tools for modeling SEEs and their impact on memories and microprocessors. Additionally, experimental results targeting a Commercial-Off-The-Shelf self-refresh Dynamic RAM are presented. These experiments are based on radiation test campaigns in particle accelerators with neutrons and protons. Finally, an overview of issues and mitigation techniques for microprocessors is exposed.


Background/Objectives: Since most of the enterprises are still using relational database as the back-end database, XML Enabled Database (XED) plays an important role to ensure the seamless integration of XML technology via the relational database. Methods/Statistical analysis: In this paper, we will compare the features supported in XED product, namely Microsoft SQL Server, Oracle and IBM DB2. In order to do so, we propose and develop XR-Gine to measure the performance of these storages. Findings: Some of the performance comparisons include speed of storing, retrieving, and updating functions in the database approaches. Based on the results obtained, the best performance of storing evaluation is Oracle. On the other hand, in terms of query retrieval, Microsoft SQL Server outperforms especially in supporting huge datasets, which is a necessity with the overwhelming data produced across the web nowadays. Application/Improvements: The results generated by the engine are beneficial to aid the community to choose the appropriate XED database system.


The availability of N limits productivity in tallgrass prairie. Spring burning is common because it results in greater plant productivity despite reducing net N mineralization. To better explain how burning affects inorganic N availability in tallgrass prairie, the partitioning of 15N among plant and soil pools was measured in June and August 1994. Approximately 2.5 microgram N g(-1) soil was injected as either NH4 or NO3 to a depth of 15 cm within cores in burned and unburned prairie. Cores were removed from the field 6 d after injection, and 15N recovery in plant and soil N pools was determined. No more than 14% of the applied 15N remained in inorganic form 6 d after application. The largest portion of the applied 15N (35-80%) was recovered in the soil organic nitrogen pool (N(o)). Burning significantly increased the immobilization of both NH4 and NO3 within N(o), and microbial biomass accounted for greater than or equal to 50% of the 15N recovered in N(o). Accumulation of 15N in plants accounted for less than or equal to 35% of the applied 15N with a majority recovered from roots. Burning had little effect on 15N recovery in plants; however, 15N accumulations in roots were significantly greater when NO3 was used. Results indicate that immobilization within soil organic matter (SOM) controls the availability of both NH4 and NO3 to plants. Increased immobilization in soils with burning probably results largely from increased microbial N demand resulting from greater litter inputs with wider C to N ratios. Further research is needed to determine if abiotic mechanisms for N immobilization also significantly influence N availability in prairie soils.


Abstract Ink particles injected into the hemolymph of the American lobster (Homarus americanus), spiny lobster (Panulirus interruptus), crayfish (Procambarus clarkii), and ridgeback prawn (Sicyonia ingentis) were rapidly removed from circulation, and most were sequestered within nodules in the gills. The morphology of the gills and the nodules were examined from the time of injection until the following molt. The process by which ink was cleared from the gills was the same in all four species. Nodules formed within 10 min after injection and were composed of hemocytes loosely attached to one another and binding small quantities of ink. Within one week, nodules became spherical and more compact with accumulations of ink surrounded by layers of flattened hemocytes. By one month, hemocytes in the nodules had degenerated leaving melanized masses which lay between the gill epithelium and the exoskeleton. Following molting, the gills of both trichobranchiate and dendrobranchiate species were clean or had very reduced numbers of nodules, and melanized masses were seen attached to the inner surface of the shed exoskeletons. A similar mechanism for cleaning the gills has been reported in crustaceans infected with parasites and in necrotic gill tissue caused by exposure to toxic heavy metals. We, therefore, suggest that the ability of the gill epithelium to wall off foreign material so that it is lost during the following molt is a general mechanism to prevent occlusion of the gill and maintain its role in ion regulation and respiration.


Fine-grained fully lamellar (FGFL) structures of XD TiAl alloys (Ti-45 and 47Al-2Nb-2Mn+0.8vol.%TiB2) (at.%) were stabilized to varying degrees by different aging treatments. Specimens with and without aging were creep tested at 760°C and 207 MPa. It was found that during creep deformation, degradation of the lamellar structure involving coarsening within the colonies and spheroidization at colony boundaries occurred, forming fine globular structures at the colony boundaries and increasing the creep rate. Aging treatments stabilized the lamellar structure and retarded the coarsening and spheroidization processes during creep deformation. As a result, the aged specimens exhibited lower minimum creep rates and longer creep lives than the unaged specimens. A multiple step aging stabilized the lamellar structure to the greatest extent and suppressed other degradation processes during aging, resulting in the best creep resistance. These results demonstrate that the multiple step aging is the optimal aging condition for stabilizing FGFL XD TiAl alloys.


A chemotherapeutic triggers the degradation of an oncoprotein by inducing a switch from SUMO2 to SUMO1 at a specific lysine residue. SUMO switching for degradation Promyelocytic leukemia protein (PML) organizes various proteins into structures called PML nuclear bodies. Acute promyelocytic leukemia is caused by a fusion protein consisting of PML and the transcription factor RARα. Degradation of this oncoprotein can be induced by arsenic trioxide chemotherapy through modification of PML by SUMO1, SUMO2, and ubiquitin. Fasci et al. found that in untreated cells, SUMO2 was constantly added to Lys65 in PML and constantly removed from this residue by the deconjugating enzyme SENP1. In cells exposed to arsenic trioxide, SUMO1, rather than SUMO2, was conjugated to Lys65, which led to the formation of SUMO2 chains on a different residue, Lys160, that in turn triggered the ubiquitylation of PML, as well as reorganization of PML nuclear bodies. These results further define how arsenic trioxide induces the degradation of the RARα-PML oncoprotein, by promoting an exchange of SUMO paralogs on a "switch" residue that stimulates SUMO modification on a "chain" residue. Acute promyelocytic leukemia is characterized by a chromosomal translocation that produces an oncogenic fusion protein of the retinoic acid receptor α (RARα) and promyelocytic leukemia protein (PML). Arsenic trioxide chemotherapy of this cancer induces the PML moiety to organize nuclear bodies, where the oncoprotein is degraded. This process requires the participation of two SUMO paralogs (SUMO1 and SUMO2) to promote PML ubiquitylation mediated by the ubiquitin E3 ligase RNF4 and reorganization of PML nuclear bodies. We demonstrated that the ubiquitylation of PML required the SUMO deconjugation machinery, primarily the deconjugating enzyme SENP1, and was suppressed by expression of non-deconjugatable SUMO2. We hypothesized that constitutive SUMO2 conjugation and deconjugation occurred basally and that arsenic trioxide treatment caused the exchange of SUMO2 for SUMO1 on a fraction of Lys65 in PML. On the basis of data obtained with mutational analysis and quantitative proteomics, we propose that the SUMO switch at Lys65 of PML enhanced nuclear body formation, subsequent SUMO2 conjugation to Lys160, and consequent RNF4-dependent ubiquitylation of PML. Our work provides insights into how the SUMO system achieves selective SUMO paralog modification and highlights the crucial role of SENPs in defining the specificity of SUMO signaling.