BACKGROUND
An estimated 1.5 to 2 million people sustain a traumatic brain injury (TBI) each year in the United States. Impairments in attention following TBI severely limit everyday functioning in a multifaceted manner. A precise assessment is critical in identifying the types of attention impairments and in recommending appropriate tasks to aid in attention rehabilitation. A Music-based Attention Assessment (MAA) was developed to fill this need and revised to reflect variations of attention ability that exist in the general population.

OBJECTIVE
The purpose of the study was to investigate the theoretically-based constructs of the Music-based Attention Assessment-Revised (MAA-R) using a factorial approach and to examine item properties and test reliability in relation to the exploratively-derived factor constructs.

METHODS
The MAA-R is a 54-item multiple-choice, melodic contour identification test, designed to assess three different types of auditory attention including sustained, selective, and divided attention. The psychometric validation of the MAA-R was conducted with healthy adults (n = 165) and patients diagnosed with a moderate to severe TBI (n = 22).

RESULTS
Exploratory factor analysis identified five factor constructs, including Sustained-Short, Sustained-Med to Long, Selective-Noise, Selective & Divided, and Divided-Long. After item elimination, the final 45-item MAA-R provided evidence of high internal consistency as computed by split-half reliability coefficients (r = .836) and Cronbach's alpha (alpha = .940).

CONCLUSION
The aggregate findings suggest that the MAA-R is a valid and reliable measure that provides assessment information in regards to the different types of auditory attention deficits frequently observed in patients with TBI. Development and revision issues as well as the use of melodic contours in auditory attention assessment are discussed along with suggestions for future research.


This article is primarily concerned with how government webpages in Hong Kong claiming to embrace social inclusion and provide services and support for persons with disabilities construct issues relating to disability. These texts are not read in isolation. Instead, they are considered in conjunction with discourse produced in several United Nations documents, especially the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, to which Hong Kong is a signatory. These documents appear to both proffer and retract social inclusion in ways that complicate, if not undermine entirely, their purportedly inclusionary intentions. This article also reflects upon commentary produced by university students at a public university in Hong Kong responding to government discourse. Such focus upon 'non-disabled' readers reveals how texts do more than merely mediate pre-existing messages. Instead, they constitute a "social location and organizer for the accomplishment of meaning", thereby counting as "a form of social action" (Titchkosky, 2007, p. 27). Through the texts they conspire to make about disability, authors and readers become complicit in the production, maintenance, and reinforcement of non-disabled (or abled)/disabled identities and dis/ableist ideology in ways that implicate the entire population in exclusionary processes.


Film conformality is one of the major drivers for the interest in atomic layer deposition (ALD) processes. This work presents new silicon-based microscopic lateral high-aspect-ratio (LHAR) test structures for the analysis of the conformality of thin films deposited by ALD and by other chemical vapor deposition means. The microscopic LHAR structures consist of a lateral cavity inside silicon with a roof supported by pillars. The cavity length (e.g., 20–5000 μm) and cavity height (e.g., 200–1000 nm) can be varied, giving aspect ratios of, e.g., 20:1 to 25 000:1. Film conformality can be analyzed with the microscopic LHAR by several means, as demonstrated for the ALD Al2O3 and TiO2 processes from Me3Al/H2O and TiCl4/H2O. The microscopic LHAR test structures introduced in this work expose a new parameter space for thin film conformality investigations expected to prove useful in the development, tuning and modeling of ALD and other chemical vapor deposition processes.


Visual grounding (VG) aims to establish fine-grained alignment between vision and language. Ideally, it can be a testbed for vision-and-language models to evaluate their understanding of the images and texts and their reasoning abilities over their joint space. However, most existing VG datasets are constructed using simple description texts, which do not require sufficient reasoning over the images and texts. This has been demonstrated in a recent study [27], where a simple LSTM-based text encoder without pretraining can achieve state-of-the-art performance on mainstream VG datasets. Therefore, in this paper, we propose a novel benchmark of Scene Knowledge-guided Visual Grounding (SK-VG), where the image content and referring expressions are not sufficient to ground the target objects, forcing the models to have a reasoning ability on the long-form scene knowledge. To perform this task, we propose two approaches to accept the triple-type input, where the former embeds knowledge into the image features before the image-query interaction; the latter leverages linguistic structure to assist in computing the image-text matching. We conduct extensive experiments to analyze the above methods and show that the proposed approaches achieve promising results but still leave room for improvement, including performance and interpretability. The dataset and code are available at https://github.com/zhjohnchan/SK-VG.


Einstein resolves the issue of whether or not light travels with the velocity of a moving source by assuming time dilates (and length contracts) in a moving inertial reference frame. Based more on belief than empirical evidence, this resolution enables the theory of special relativity to claim validity, even though there are other explanations and interpretations that are simpler and more consistent with Occam's Razor. Some dissident physicists counter Einstein both by assuming the constant velocity of light is preserved, albeit without time dilation, as well as assuming light travels with the velocity of its source. While I am in the latter camp, I attempt to examine both sides of the argument from a non-relativistic perspective.


ABSTRACT Commencing in the 1980s and picking up pace over the last two decades, there has been a systematic campaign to construct a specific form of labour market in the South Pacific. Unskilled and semi-skilled workers are recruited on short-term contracts to work in agricultural industries in Australia and New Zealand. While the employment is on a casual basis, with workers required to return to home countries upon the completion of contracts, there is nothing temporary about the intent behind what are termed labour mobility programmes. This article examines the conditions in countries from which workers are recruited, where non-development reigns. Continuing internationalisation of agriculture, logging, mining, oil and gas production has undercut whatever existed as late colonial policy to bring national development. Low rankings on international indicators of health and literacy, widespread unemployment and under-employment, characterise populations where majorities are reproduced for the forms of labour required by labour mobility programme recruiters, local and international. Continuous shortages of labour for fruit picking and packing in the region's two largest economies are joined with relative surplus populations in nearby South Pacific countries. Temporary work is married to permanent accumulation on a road with no obvious end.


Abstract Local cutaneous injuries induced by ionizing radiation (IR) are difficult to treat. Many have reported local injection of adipose-derived stromal vascular fraction (SVF), often with additional therapies, as an effective treatment of IR-induced injury even after other local therapies have failed. The authors report a case of a locally recurrent, IR-induced wound that was treated with autologous, non-cultured SVF without other concurrent therapy. A nondestructive testing technician was exposed to 130 kVp x rays to his non-dominant right thumb on 5 October 2011. The wound healed 4 mo after initial conservative therapy with oral/topical &agr;-tocopherol, oral pentoxifylline, naproxen sodium, low-dose oral steroids, topical steroids, hyperbaric oxygen therapy (HBOT), oral antihistamines, and topical aloe vera. Remission lasted approximately 17 mo with one minor relapse in July 2012 after minimal trauma and subsequent healing. Aggressive wound breakdown during June 2013 required additional therapy with HBOT. An erythematous, annular papule developed over the following 12 mo (during which time the patient was not undergoing prescribed treatment). Electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR) done more than 2 mo after exposure to IR revealed dose estimates of 14 ± 3 Gy and 19 ± 6 Gy from two centers using different EPR techniques. The patient underwent debridement of the 0.5 cm papular area, followed by SVF injection into and around the wound bed and throughout the thumb without complication. Eleven months post SVF injection, the patient has been essentially asymptomatic with an intact integument. These results raise the possibility of prolonged benefit from SVF therapy without the use of cytokines. Since there is currently no consensus on the use of isolated SVF therapy in chronic, local IR-induced injury, assessment of this approach in an appropriately powered, controlled trial in experimental animals with local radiation injury appears to be indicated.


Background/aim: different guidelines provide similar, but not identical, therapeutic targets for HbA1c in type 2 diabetes. These targets can also depend on the different pharmacological strategies adopted for intensifying glycemic control. This editorial is aimed at providing a reference for the choice of glycemic targets in patients with type 2 diabetes, as recommended by the new Italian guidelines for the treatment of type 2 diabetes. Methods and results: the present paper revised the recently published Italian guidelines for the treatment of type 2 diabetes (outpatients), either in primary care or specialist referral. The guideline has been developed following the methods described in the Manual of the National Guideline System (http://www.snlg-iss.it) by a panel nominated by the Società Italiana di Diabetologia (SID) and Associazione Medici Diabetologi (AMD).


A critiquing system helps designers improve their design artifacts by providing feedback. Computer-aided critiquing systems have been built in many fields and provide us with useful lessons. In this paper we analyze existing critiquing systems in terms of (1) critiquing process, (2) critiquing rules, and (3) intervention techniques. Based on this analysis, we suggest new research directions for critiquing systems in the domain of architectural design.


Background: Efficient hospital bed utilization is an important function of hospital administrators. Scarcity of beds, overcrowding, and flooring are often the picture of tertiary hospitals. Objectives: This study aims to find out hospital bed utilization indicators such as average daily census, bed occupancy rate (BOR), average length of stay (ALS), bed turnover rate (BTR), and bed turnover interval (BTI) in Medicine ward of a tertiary hospital in West Bengal, India. Methods: A descriptive cross-sectional study was conducted in acute male and female as well as chronic male and female wards under medicine department of a tertiary hospital in West Bengal from June to August 2018.The record of active beds, patient days, daily admissions and discharge were reviewed for May 2018 by complete enumeration method from admission, discharge and death registers and recorded in a pre-designed pretested checklist. Average daily census, BOR, ALS, BTR, and BTI were computed using standard formula. Pabon Lasso model was used to analyse the performance of the nedicine ward. Results: Average daily census, ALS, BOR, BTR, BTI in medicine ward were 261.81 patients, 8 days, 108.55%, 4.22 patients/ bed and -0.63 days respectively. Pabon Lasso graph reflected high BOR and high discharges per bed (productivity) in acute medicine wards reflecting good quantitative performance in contrast to chronic medicine wards with low discharges per bed (productivity or BTR) and higher ALS. Conclusion: Medicine ward reflected higher BOR and ALS but lower BTR (productivity) as per the Pabon Lasso graph. Efforts must be made to reduce ALS in chronic medicine wards.


Here we describe character animation production in the intelligent multimedia storytelling system, CONFUCIUS, which presents natural language stories as 3D animation, speech and non-speech audio. The modelling of animated characters in CONFUCIUS follows the H-Anim standard LOA1. It uses keyframing technology to perform the actions specified in story scripts, and has low-level autonomy such as path finding and collision reaction. Compared with other related virtual human modelling systems, CONFUCIUS' character animation focuses on the language-to-humanoid animation process rather than considering human motion solely. We present the architecture of CONFUCIUS, and explain in detail design and implementation issues with illustratrative examples and the processes of how to get from semantics down to actual human motions.


In the early days of the Industrial Revolution, no one would have thought that their burning of fossil fuels would have an almost immediate effect on the climate. But our new study, published today in Nature, reveals that warming in some regions actually began as early as the 1830s. That is much earlier than previously thought, so our discovery redefines our understanding of when human activity began to influence our climate.


Until April 2011, every federal habeas court in America could conduct hearings and consider new evidence when reviewing a state court's interpretation of federal law under AEDPA. When state proceedings did not allow a petitioner a fair chance to develop the factual record, federal courts could, and sometimes did, fill the gap. The Court's opinion in Pinholster v. Cullen significantly altered this landscape. By limiting federal review to the state record for claims already adjudicated in state court, Pinholster places an enormous premium on the adequate development of that record. In the wake of the decision, petitioners denied the ability to develop their claims in state court will seek alternative solutions. Indeed, several state defendants already have begun to pursue some of the potential paths around Pinholster, suggesting what is to come. The resulting challenges will raise fundamental, unanswered questions about AEDPA, the Suspension Clause, and the role of due process in postconviction review. This Article explores likely paths forward, filling the gaps that Pinholster, together with the Court's recent decisions in Boumediene v. Bush, District Attorney's Office v. Osborne, and Skinner v. Switzer, has created in both the literature and the jurisprudence.


Swarming behavior of Armigeres subalbatus was observed in Pondicherry, South India. Swarming occurred both at dawn and dusk over stationary markers. The duration of swarming was longer at dust (135 minutes) and shorter at dawn (75 minutes). Higher intensity in terms of relative density of participating males was observed at dusk when compared to dawn. Peak swarming activity was observed at light intensity ranging between 10 and 183 lux. Response to low light intensity of 1-10 lux was different during dawn and dusk. At this intensity initiation took place at dawn and termination was seen at dusk. Mating pairs were seen in the swarm. Analysis of the composition of swarms showed a male to female ratio of 1:0.01 at dusk and 1:0.02 at dawn. Besides nulliparous females, a few one parous and two parous females were also obtained from the swarm.


The autoxidation process, mechanism of action of radical-trapping antioxidants and the problem of textile yellowing are described and reviewed. Structures implicit in the function of an antioxidant by promotion of radical stabihsation are identified and textile yellowing is attributed largely to reactions of antioxidants with NO2. The reaction of ethanolic solutions of 2,6-di-r-butyl-4-methylphenol (BHT) with several concentrations of gaseous NO2 are investigated. The main products are 2,6-dir-butyl-4-methyl-4-hydroxy-2,5-cyclohexadienone (MQOL) and 2,6-di-r-butyl-4-methyl-4-nitro-2,5-cyclohexadienone (MQN). Additional products are observed when lower- concentrations of BHT and NO2 are employed. The major product, MQN, is shown to be unstable in aqueous ethanohc solutions and the yellowing component of the reaction solutions is identified as 2,6-di-r-butyl-4-nitrophenol (NP). Two methods for screening potential compounds for antioxidant activity involving the inhibition of BHT product formation and the NO2-/NO3-ratio are described. They indicate that kojic acid, maltol and 2,5-dimethyl-4-hydroxyfuranone possess similar degrees of antioxidant activity to BHT. This is shown to be consistent with antioxidant function being promoted by the structural features identified. A quantitative NO2-yellowing test is described which allows rapid determination of the yellowing indices (OUYI) of test compounds. The results support the use of kojic acid and maltol as alternatives to BHT. An investigation of kojic acid indicates that it is both nitrosated by gaseous NO2, and undergoes a complicated series of reactions. Investigations with 3-methylcyclopentane-1,2-dione confirm that cychc 1,2-diones both reduce and trap gaseous NO2, a possible strategy for reducing yellowing. The foregoing studies indicate possible structural requirements for a NO2yellowing antioxidant and the synthesis of several N-(3,5-di-r-butyl-4-hydroxyphenyl) cyclic imides has been accomplished. This has provided a group of new compounds which show similar antioxidant activity to BHT, but are less prone to NO2-yellowing than 4-substituted hindered phenols possessing labile hydrogen atoms. Studies on the solvolysis of these cyclic imide compounds suggest that sufficient stability to obtain a commercially useful antioxidant may be imparted by the bulky alkyl substituents in the imide ring, as in the case of N-(3,5-di-f-butyl-4-hydroxyphenyl)-3,3-dimethylglutarimide and N-(3,5-di-tbutyl-4-hydroxyphenyl)-2,3-diethyl-2,3-dimethylsuccinimide which have been successfully prepared.


Human exposure to Bisphenol A (BPA) and phthalates is a growing concern due to their association with harmful effects on human health, including a variety of disorders of the female reproductive system. The objective of this study was to investigate the association between food intake and urinary BPA and phthalates in Korean women of reproductive age. A cross-sectional study was conducted with 305 reproductive aged (30–49 years) females in Korea. Dietary intake was assessed using 24 h dietary recall, and urinary BPA and particular phthalates were measured using high performance liquid chromatography tandem mass spectrometry. After adjusting for covariates, beverage intake was positively associated with urinary BPA, and egg and egg product intake was negatively associated with urinary mono-n-butyl phthalate (MnBP) as well as mono (2-ethyl-5-oxohexyl) phthalate (MEOHP). Odds ratio for high BPA level (≥90th percentile) in women with >100 g of beverage consumption was significantly higher than for those who consumed ≤100 g. These results suggest that, in Korean women of reproductive age, some foods such as beverages and egg may be associated with body burdens of BPA, MnBP, MEHHP and MEOHP.


: We studied clinical characteristics of voiding disorders to improve treatment results in patients with Parkinson's disease (PD) in 64 PD patients (28 women and 36 men aged 45 to 76 years, mean age 62.5 +/- 9.4 years). Duration of PD was 8.0 +/- 3.4 years, history of voiding disorders--2.1 +/- 0.8 years. Hyperactive urinary bladder was the cause of voiding disorders in all the patients. The examinees have undergone physical examination, microscopic and cultural examination of the urine, ultrasound investigation of the kidneys, urinary bladder and prostate with determination of residual urine, urodynamic examination of the lower urinary tracts. All the patients were divided into four groups. Group 1 of 10 patients received antiparkinsonian therapy which corrected voiding disorders. Group 2 (n = 26) received tolterodin in a dose 4 mg/day, group 3 (n = 14) received oxibutinin in a dose 5 mg/day, group 4 (n = 14) were treated with trospium chloride in a dose 30 mg/day. Thus, initial correction of antiparkinsonian therapy was made in 64 patients, after this correction voiding disorders reduced in 10 patients and no further treatment was needed. Voiding disorders reduced in all 3 groups of patients given the drugs. Cystometric capacity of the bladder increased in all 4 groups from 155 (86-450) ml to 220 (105-530) ml, on the average, and unstable contractions of the urinary bladder decreased from 3.1 (1-8) to 1.6 (0-5). Quality of life in the examinees improved considerably. The data obtained evidence for M-cholino-blockers efficacy in PD patients with unstable detrusor after correction of antiparkinsonean therapy. Two-month course of tolterodin, oxibutinin and trospium chloride significantly reduced symptoms of urination disorders.


The third crystal structure containing the hydroxo-bridged cis-diammineplatinum(II) dimer has been determined for a perchlorate salt of the complex, [Pt(2)(NH(3))(4)(micro-OH)(2)](ClO(4))(2). However, the dinuclear cations in the nitrate and the carbonate salts, [Pt(2)(NH(3))(4)(micro-OH)(2)](NO(3))(2) [Faggiani, Lippert, Lock & Rosenberg (1977). J. Am. Chem. Soc. 99, 777-781] and [Pt(2)(NH(3))(4)(micro-OH)(2)](CO(3)).H(2)O [Lippert, Lock, Rosenberg & Zvagulis (1978). Inorg. Chem. 17, 2971-2975], were reported to possess a nearly planar geometry. The cation in the title perchlorate salt has been found to possess an exceptional bent form in which two Pt coordination planes within the dimer are tilted at an angle of 151.7 (1) degrees to one another. The diplatinum entity has a syn orientation with regard to the conformation of two hydroxo bridges, in part due to the one-dimensional hydrogen-bonding network achieved in the crystal structure. DFT MO investigations have also been carried out to reveal that the planar-bent selection could be induced by the anti-syn selection at the H(hydroxo) atoms. Comparison has also been made between the geometrical features of the three salts from the viewpoint of the orientation of H(hydroxo) atoms.


Project-based learning is one of the main successful student-centered pedagogies broadly used in computing science courses. However, this approach can be insufficient when dealing with practical subjects that implicitly require many deliverables and a great deal of feedback and organizational resources. In this paper, a worked e-portfolio is presented as an approach to improve the teaching/learning and evaluation processes in project-based learning environments needing considerable resources. To validate this approach, a practical project-based software engineering course supported by a Moodle-based e-portfolio was designed and taught. The results obtained corroborated the effectiveness of the e-portfolio in practical software engineering teaching; this approach can be extended to similar subjects in other studies and/or curricula.


Research on indirect organogenesis of cucumber apple (Cucumis sp.) was conducted from March to May 2020. This study aims to find the best combination between Benzyl Amino Purine (BAP) and Naphthalene Acetic Acid (NAA) on the growth of cucumber apple (Cucumis) sp.) on Gamborg media (B5) by organogenesis. The callus used came fromcucumber seeds explants with a concentration of NAA 2,0 mg/l + BAP 0,2 mg/l using Murashige and Skoog media. The research method used is an experimental method with nonparametric statistics with 24 treatments repeated three times and analyzed descriptively using the Kruskal Wallis test. The results showed that the best treatment of cucumber apple shoots was the combination of NAA and BAP, namely the B4N2 treatment (2,5 ppm BAP + 0,20 ppm NAA) with shoot height (0,45 cm). At a single concentration, a concentration of 1 ppm BAP was able to provide a faster effect on shoot formation time, namely at 24 days after initiation (hsi) and the best response to shooting height (0,5cm).


Baboons implanted with intragastric catheters were given diazepam (10 milligrams per kilogram of body weight) twice daily for 45 consecutive days. On days 7 and 35, they were given intramuscular injections of the benzodiazepine receptor antagonist Ro 15-1788. Mild and intermediate withdrawal signs, including retching and vomiting, were observed after 7 days of diazepam, and more frequent and intense withdrawal signs, including tremor and convulsion, occurred after 35 days of diazepam. With the termination of the diazepam injections after 45 days, a mild to intermediate withdrawal syndrome was observed over the next 15-day period.


Writing or sketching on whiteboards is an essential part of collaborative discussions in business meetings, reading groups, design sessions, and interviews. However, prior work in collaborative virtual reality (VR) systems has rarely explored the design space of multi-user layouts and interaction modes with virtual whiteboards. In this paper, we present CollaboVR, a reconfigurable framework for both co-located and geographically dispersed multi-user communication in VR. Our system unleashes users' creativity by sharing freehand drawings, converting 2D sketches into 3D models, and generating procedural animations in real-time. To minimize the computational expense for VR clients, we leverage a cloud architecture in which the computational expensive application (Chalktalk) is hosted directly on the servers, with results being simultaneously streamed to clients. We have explored three custom layouts – integrated, mirrored, and projective – to reduce visual clutter, increase eye contact, or adapt different use cases. To evaluate CollaboVR, we conducted a within-subject user study with 12 participants. Our findings reveal that users appreciate the custom configurations and real-time interactions provided by CollaboVR. We have open sourced CollaboVR at https://github.com/snowymo/CollaboVR to facilitate future research and development of natural user interfaces and real-time collaborative systems in virtual and augmented reality.


Policy search methods can allow robots to learn control policies for a wide range of tasks, but practical applications of policy search often require hand-engineered components for perception, state estimation, and low-level control. In this paper, we aim to answer the following question: does training the perception and control systems jointly end-to-end provide better performance than training each component separately? To this end, we develop a method that can be used to learn policies that map raw image observations directly to torques at the robot's motors. The policies are represented by deep convolutional neural networks (CNNs) with 92,000 parameters, and are trained using a partially observed guided policy search method, which transforms policy search into supervised learning, with supervision provided by a simple trajectory-centric reinforcement learning method. We evaluate our method on a range of real-world manipulation tasks that require close coordination between vision and control, such as screwing a cap onto a bottle, and present simulated comparisons to a range of prior policy search methods.


The most common framework under which ungulate migration is studied predicts that it is driven by spatio– temporal variation in plant phenology, yet other hypotheses may explain differences within and between species. To disentangle more complex patterns than those based on single species/ single populations, we quantified migration variability using two sympatric ungulate species differing in their foraging strategy, mating system and physiological constraints due to body size. We related observed variation to a set of hypotheses. We used GPS-collar data from 537 individuals in 10 roe Capreolus capreolus and 12 red deer Cervus elaphus populations spanning environmental gradients across Europe to assess variation in migration propensity, distance and timing. Using time-to-event models, we explored how the probability of migration varied in relation to sex, landscape (e.g. topography, forest cover) and temporally-varying environmental factors (e.g. plant green-up, snow cover). Migration propensity varied across study areas. Red deer were, on average, three times more migratory than roe deer (56% versus 18%). This relationship was mainly driven by red deer males which were twice as migratory as females (82% versus 38%). The probability of roe deer migration was similar between sexes. Roe deer (both sexes) migrated earliest in spring. While territorial male roe deer migrated last in autumn, male and female red deer migrated around the same time in autumn, likely due to their polygynous mating system. Plant productivity determined the onset of spring migration in both species, but if plant productivity on winter ranges was sufficiently high, roe deer were less likely to leave. In autumn, migration coincided with reduced plant productivity for both species. This relationship was stronger for red deer. Our results confirm that ungulate migration is influenced by plant phenology, but in a novel way, that these effects appear to be modulated by species-specific traits, especially mating strategies.


This Article reconsiders the drugs-for-the-developing world debate that has taken place in the shadow of free trade liberalization. For the last twenty years, this debate has centered on a supposedly zero-sum conflict between access to drugs for residents of the "third world" and incentives for pharmaceutical multinationals to invest in research and development. Underlying this debate is the assumption that the developing-world health crisis involves primarily a crisis of infectious disease. Because drugs for such ailments lack developed world markets, it is easy to imagine that robust pharmaceutical patents are globally necessary if the poor are to obtain any drugs at all. Global public health reality, however, is quite different. Mortality and morbidity in developing countries are increasingly attributable to those same non- communicable diseases ("NCDs") that plague developed countries. Drugs for such conditions already have highly profitable developed world markets. Therefore, making developing-world populations pay patent-inflated prices encourages rent-seeking by multinationals rather than incentivization. While little noticed in the developed world, the importance of the NCD crisis has not been lost on developing world actors. This Article is the first to document a recent worldwide trend of developing-world courts and administrative agencies breaking with strict patent rights for NCD drugs. It argues that attentive policy makers can seize the opportunity provided by the crisis that developed world populism is creating for liberalizing globalization. If renegotiating free trade is back on the agenda, they need only look to what developing countries have already been doing, at least in the realm of intellectual property rights.


The Syariah Institution in Indonesia have a rapid growth from time to time, especially Syariah Bank. At this time, Indonesia is fourth country that have a great potential for development of syariah financial institute. The difference of principal and system is one of the reason that makes the public have an interest to invest in Syariah Institution, especially deposit investment that use mudharabah system for calculating profit. In 2009, after do spin off, PT Bank BNI Syariah successfully developed their business with adding more branch and increase the number of third party deposits. The objective of this research is to know Mudharabah deposit system, and how costumer's interest to invest in Syariah Bank. And to know influence of the system that makes public interested in the deposit product. The location of this research is on PT Bank BNI Syariah Cabang Bogor as one of Syariah Bank that public has interest in it. This research uses descriptive method to know and show the relation  between profit sharing system deposit system of mudharabah to the costumer's interest to invest. The result of the research shows that the system to calculating profit that used by PT Bank BNI Syariah is revenue sharing, with deposit contract that they used is Mudharabah Mutlaqah. Based on examination to PT BNI Syariah's annual report in 2010 – 2012, the number of deposits is increasing. It is because the product of PT Bank BNI Syariah is trusted by the customer. And beside that, the costumer knowing about Islamic Economic that uses profit sharing system is getting better. So, we can conclude that the profit sharing system of mudharabah deposits can affect the costumer's interest to invest to deposit


The geology and reservoir-engineering data were integrated in the 2002 U.S. Geological Survey assessment of the National Petroleum Reserve in Alaska (NPRA). Whereas geology defined the analog pools and fields and provided the basic information on sizes and numbers of hypothesized petroleum accumulations, reservoir engineering helped develop necessary equations and correlations, which allowed the determination of reservoir parameters for better quantification of in-place petroleum volumes and recoverable reserves. Seismic- and sequence-stratigraphic study of the NPRA resulted in identification of 24 plays. Depth ranges in these 24 plays, however, were typically greater than depth ranges of analog plays for which there were available data, necessitating the need for establishing correlations. The basic parameters required were pressure, temperature, oil and gas formation volume factors, liquid/gas ratios for the associated and nonassociated gas, and recovery factors. Finally, the results of U.S. Geological Survey deposit simulation were used in carrying out an economic evaluation, which has been separately published.


Tumor necrosis factor (TNF) production following X-irradiation has been implicated in the biological response to ionizing radiation. Protein kinase C (PKC) is suggested to participate in TNF transcriptional induc tion and X-ray-mediated gene expression. We therefore studied radiationmediated TNF expression in HL-60 cells with diminished PKC activity produced by either pretreatment with protein kinase inhibitors or pro longed 12-0-tetradecanoylphorbol-13-acetate treatment. Both treatments resulted in attenuation of radiation-mediated TNF induction. Consistent with these results, we found no detectable induction of TNF expression following X-irradiation in the HL-60 variant deficient in PKC-mediated signal transduction. The rapid activation of PKC following -y-irradiation was established using an in vitro assay measuring phosphorylation of a PKC specific substrate. A 4.5-fold increase in PKC activity occurred 15 to 30 s following irradiation, which declined to baseline at 60 s. Twodimensional gel electrophoresis of phosphoproteins extracted from irra diated cells demonstrated in vivo phosphorylation of the PKC specific substrate M, 80,000 protein at 45 s following X-irradiation. These findings indicate that signal transduction via the PKC pathway is required for the induction of TNF gene expression by ionizing radiation.


To achieve restorative success for esthetic cases a process is needed that can be reproduced repeatedly. As with any process there are critical steps that must be followed to ensure accurate and precise results. This article outlines a verification process of provisional restorations in order to obtain appropriate esthetics, phonetics, and function. Additionally, the article discusses how newly created contours can be transferred intraorally to the laboratory benchtop and then to the final restorations. Through the process of verification, the clinician can establish restorative predictability to enhance the restorative success of any esthetic case.


The crustal-scale Karakoram shear zone structurally distinguishes the western Himalaya from—and provides an opportunity to compare to— the central and eastern portions of the orogen. To evaluate the tectonic evolution of the western Himalaya, this paper presents granite U/Th-Pb ages and zircon Hf isotopic signatures along the two major structures in northern India: the Karakoram shear zone and the Zanskar shear zone, the westernmost limb of the South Tibetan detachment system. Leucogranites in Zanskar crystallized 27-20 Ma and exhibit Precambrian to Paleozoic inheritance and predominantly negative e Hf (t) values typical of the Greater Himalayan Sequence. Karakoram shear zone leucogran- ites have igneous crystallization ages over a prolonged period from 22 Ma to <13 Ma, contain Late Cretaceous through Paleocene inherited cores, and have e Hf (t) values from +1 to +9. These inherited ages and mostly positive e Hf (t) values compare closely to the adjacent Ladakh batholith, but low e Hf (t) values along the Karakoram shear zone suggest an input of older crustal material from the proximal Karakoram terrane or subducted Indian crust. The Zanskar Greater Himalayan Sequence contains two suites of Paleozoic granites: (1) Pan-African Cambrian- Ordovician granites at the cores of gneiss domes and (2) Mississippian-Permian granites related to magmatism associated with the Panjal Traps. Monazite ages record peak through retrograde metamorphic conditions from 27.3 ± 1.2 Ma to 17.2 ± 0.9 Ma concurrent with anatectic leucogranite crystallization. Cenozoic partial melting in the Greater Himalayan Sequence occurred contemporaneously across the Himalayan orogen, but lower degrees of partial melting and ubiquitous doming distinguish the westernmost Greater Himalayan Sequence in Zanskar.


Flow is a psychological state people experience when performing highly challenging tasks with a high degree of skill. It is related to happiness, creativity, and productivity. In three experiments, we developed a manipulation of flow and assessed its effects on subsequent defensive behavior. In all three experiments, participants who played a game with more features of flow (e.g. engagement, match of challenge and skill, performance feedback) reported more feelings of flow (e.g. enjoyment, concentration and interest) and less downstream defensiveness. The results suggest that we developed a flexible, reliable manipulation of flow, and that inducing people to experience flow may reduce their subsequent defensive behavior.


Sr is known to transform the morphology of the eutectic silicon phase as well as the Fe-rich β phase in Al-Si alloys, improving their mechanical properties. However, little is known about the effect Sr has on the (local) corrosion properties of aluminium alloys. This study investigates the effect of Sr addition to a modi fi ed AA3003 heat exchanger material on the morphology of the different phases present, especially the Fe-rich phases, as well as on the (local) corrosion properties of this material. This work reports the formation of a Sr-rich phase, which slightly increases the macrohardness of the material. The Fe-rich phases are not shown to be re fi ned/in fl uenced by the addition of Sr Potentiodynamic polarization experiments showed an increase in pitting potential by increasing the amount of Sr in the material up to 0.4 wt.%. Nevertheless, the analysis of the corrosion morphology revealed that the Sr-containing particles did not contribute to the corrosion process despite their cathodic behaviour compared to the Al matrix as measured by Scanning Kelvin Probe Force Microscopy. This behaviour was attributed to the thicker oxide layer found on the Sr- rich particles.


Donald Richie's newest collection of travel essays explores all the corners of Asia and slightly beyond as it sweeps through Egypt, India, Bhutan, Mongolia, China, Laos, Cambodia, Vietnam, Borneo, Thailand, Yap, and Japan. Richie is an observer and wanderer, reveling in the freedom to not be himself but always aware of his role as an outsider. Similar to his other works, there remains a sense that these landscapes, these cultures, and these delights will soon be no more. Donald Richieis a film critic, the foremost explorer of Japanese culture in English, and the author of the acclaimed travel diary/novel Inland Sea.


This paper uses an unbalanced panel dataset to evaluate how repeated job search services (JSS) and other personal characteristics affect the quarterly earnings of the prime-age female welfare recipients in the State of Washington. We propose a joint dependent framework for the probability of employment and potential earnings or hours or hourly wage rates to facilitate the investigation of the issues of joint determination of employment and potential earnings and to allow for factors to have different impacts on employment status and on quarterly earnings. We have also suggested formulae to compute the dynamic impact of JSS on duration and earnings. Both the maximum likelihood (ML) and semi-parametric estimates are provided. We find that the results are sensitive to the choice of models and estimation methods. For a randomly assigned individual, the first, second and three or more JSS raised the short-run and long-run earnings by (5%, 0%, 0%) and (1%, 0%, 0%), respectively, based on the MLE, and by (56.6%, 36.2%, 36.9%) and (50.7%, 36.2%, 36.9%), respectively, based on the semi-parametric Tobit model. We have also conducted specification analysis. The results appear to favor semi-parametric Type II Tobit model estimates. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.


Objective: The objective of this study was to evaluate the neuroprotective effect of quercetin with donepezil in scopolamine-induced amnesia in rats. Materials and Methods: Five groups of adult male Wistar rats (12 months old) weighing 180–200 g (n = 6) were used. The normal control group received normal saline and test group animals were pretreated orally with quercetin (25 mg/kg), donepezil (3 mg/kg), and a combination of quercetin (25 mg/kg) with donepezil (3 mg/kg), respectively, dosed at every 24 h interval for 14 consecutive days, afterward amnesia was induced by scopolamine (3 mg/kg) on the 14th day through intraperitoneal route. Cognitive performance was assessed by the Morris water maze, elevated plus maze, and passive avoidance paradigm. Acetylcholinesterase enzyme (AchE) level, biochemical markers such as lipid peroxidase (LPO), glutathione (GSH), β amyloid1-42level, and histopathological study of rat brain were estimated. Statistical analysis was done by one-way analysis of variance, followed by Dunnett's post hoc test. P ≥ 0.05 was considered statistically significant. Results: Pretreatment with quercetin, donepezil, and their combination showed a significant increase in escape latency, step-through latency, and decreased transfer latency in respective cognitive models of the Morris water maze, passive avoidance test, and elevated plus maze. Further coadministration significantly decreased AchE level, β amyloid1-42level as compared to individual therapy. Biochemical markers such as elevated GSH, decreased LPO were observed, and histopathological studies revealed the reversal of neuronal damage in the treatment group (P < 0.05) as compared to scopolamine-treated control group. Conclusion: Pretreatment with quercetin potentiates the action of donepezil in scopolamine-induced amnesia in rats. The improved cognitive memory could be due to the synergistic effect of the drugs by decreasing AchE level, β amyloid1-42level, and antioxidant action in rat brain.


Information System Development (ISD) is a knowledge-intensive activity demanding coordinated application of business and Information Technology (IT) professionals' expertise. However, knowledge transfer between these groups is challenging, requiring the bridging of their different thought worlds. The problem is even more pronounced for project teams involving external IT consultants with whom the business professionals had no prior collaboration history. Therefore, a relevant but understudied issue is the motivations of business and external IT professionals in knowledge transfer. This paper applies the theory of social interdependence, which explains group cooperation, to study the problem. Based on the theory, a model is developed which proposes that goal, task, and reward interdependencies affect the extent of knowledge transfer between these groups during an ISD project. Construct operationalization and plan for data collection are discussed.


ABSTRACT Continued outbreaks of highly pathogenic avian influenza over the past decade have spurred global efforts to develop antivirals and vaccines. As part of vaccine development, standard methods are needed for determining serum antibody titers in response to vaccination. Hemagglutination inhibition (HAI) assays are appropriate for assessing the immunogenicity of pandemic influenza vaccines in support of license approval. We demonstrate that a rigorous qualification of the HAI assay for H5N1 influenza virus, evaluating for precision, intermediate precision, linearity, range, specificity, and robustness, satisfies the intent of regulatory guidance for assay validation despite the lack of availability of specific reference standard antigens and antisera.


The rumen harbours countless bacteria, archaea, ciliated protozoa, fungi and viruses: various microorganisms that have established multiplicity of relationships to efficiently digest complex plant fibres and polysaccharides to produce volatile fatty acids (VFAs), microbial proteins and vitamins, essentials for the host's health, growth and performances. Recent studies using omics-based techniques have revealed that changes in rumen microbiota are associated with changes in ruminants' production and health parameters such as feed efficiency, methane yield, milk composition and ruminal acidity. However, traditionally, rumen microbes were unveiled using anaerobic culture-based techniques, which are at the origin of most of the basic concepts and understanding of the rumen functioning. Isolating and culturing microbes is frequently more difficult and time-consuming and requires more training than molecular techniques, which explains why culture seems to be abandoned in favour of sequencing. Microbial cultures enable the study of substrate preferences and product output, essential growth requirements, biocide production and susceptibilities; obtaining a pure culture also enables genome sequencing of these strains. We propose here, after a brief report of published rumen isolates, a comprehensive review of current advances in molecular methods to identify novel rumen microbes and discuss how culturing and mathematics could enhance our understanding of rumen microbiology.


The Position and orientation accuracy of robot manipulator has long become a major issue to be considered in its advanced application. A linear error model that described the end-effector position and orientation errors of the master salve surgical robot system due to kinematics parameters errors has been presented. A computer program to perform the accuracy analysis has been developed in MATLAB. This methodology and software are applied to the accuracy analysis of a master-slave surgical robot system. The position error in its workspace cross section (XOZ) has been plotted as 3D surface graph and discussed.


Since the identification of the hepatitis C virus (HCV) and subsequent cloning of its genome in 1989, only relatively modest progress had been made in the treatment of its chronic infection until recently. Interferon-alfa was approved in 1991 for the treatment of HCV infection, and provided a sustained virological response (SVR) of 9% for genotype 1, and 20–30% for genotypes 2 and 3. With the addition of ribavirin in 1998, the SVR of interferon-ribavirin combination therapy increased to 29% for genotype 1, and 62% for genotypes 2 and 3. The development of long-acting pegylated (PEG)-interferons plus ribavirin in 2001–2002 increased SVR incrementally to 41% for genotype 1, and 82% for genotypes 2 and 3. After this advance, the situation remained static for almost 10 years without significant breakthroughs, until the advent of the protease inhibitors telaprevir and boceprevir in 2011. These agents represent the vanguard of a new class of HCV drugs, the direct-acting antiviral agents, and a new era in the treatment of HCV. With the triple therapy regimen of PEG-interferon, ribavirin, and either telaprevir or boceprevir, the SVR for genotype 1 HCV ranges from 70 to 80%. Now, for the first time, persons infected with genotype 1 HCV can expect a higher than 50% chance of achieving an SVR to antiviral therapy.

The development of current protease inhibitors exemplifies translational research at its best. Fundamental structural crystallographic data on HCV proteases led to an understanding of the dimensions and chemical environment of the catalytic area. Based on these details, molecules were synthesized with peptide-like backbones containing several non-natural side chains arranged to optimally interact with catalytic domains of the HCV protease. Binding assays permitted screening of molecules capable of tight interactions with the protease. This, coupled with advances in the development of cell culture systems, allowed identification of agents that effectively inhibited HCV replication. Use of model human serine proteases permitted large-scale screening, and exclusion of molecules with the potential for causing side effects through the unintended interactions with host serine proteases. Development of these agents represents the translation of research on molecules at the bench to highly effective drugs at the bedside, and US FDA approval has made these new powerful agents available to the public as the first true "designer" drugs for the treatment of hepatitis C.

Perhaps even more exciting than these advances in the understanding of the virus, and development of hepatitis therapeutics is evidence that research activity is continuing at a feverish pace, in both academic and commercial laboratories, with large financial commitments. Breakthroughs are continuing to be made on many fronts contributing to anti-HCV drug development. Having achieved this first quantum leap forward, the main goal of future research will be to develop new agents that will have fewer side effects, especially those attributed to interferon-like immune modulators, and broader specificity in terms of HCV genotypes, decreased drug-drug interactions, and especially decreased likelihood of the development of drug resistance.

The objective of the Journal of Clinical and Translational Hepatology is to identify and publish articles that represent similar translations of fundamental research to contributions of direct practical value. Therefore, we believe that it is entirely fitting that we devote the theme of the inaugural issue of the Journal of Clinical and Translational Hepatology to drug development in hepatology.

In the coming months, we intend to apply the same approach to the selection of articles of translational importance to other areas of hepatology. In particular, the increased understanding of the mechanisms of development of autoimmune liver and biliary diseases, and powerful agents for their treatment will be addressed. Infectious and inflammatory, as well as nutritional and neoplastic conditions of the liver will be areas of thematic emphasis for future issues.

These are exciting times for clinicians and investigators who are interested in the liver and its diseases. We are thrilled to share the excitement by bringing to your attention the latest advances in translational research in hepatology through the pages of this new journal!

Farmington, CT

June 2013


A modification of the Poliqarp corpora search tool is described, which
is oriented towards searching scanned texts with dirty OCR (i.e. the
fully automatic Optical Character Recognition without any
proof-reading). This search tool, called Poliqarp for DjVu, operates since
December 2009 and is available at http://poliqarp.wbl.klf.uw.edu.pl/.
The two-level regular expressions, which can be used in the queries,
allow at least in principle to circumvent the OCR errors.

The crucial property of the search engine is to highlight the hits on
the original scans stored in the DjVu format. Although the feature is
not original, as it has been used for the first time for the Century
Dictionary (http://global-language.com/CENTURY/) and later for
Jamieson's Etymological Dictionary of the Scottish Language
(http://www.scotsdictionary.com/), it is substantially augmented by
allowing so called graphical concordances and providing a convenient
way to bookmark the hits.

Our system handles now several dictionaries. One of them is so
called Warsaw Dictionary, published in 8 volumes in 1900-1927,
comprising almost 8000 pages, in particular 7541 pages with entries.
It has been scanned and OCRed by the library of the University of
Warsaw (http://ebuw.uw.edu.pl/publication/254). Another one is the
monumental dictionary of 16th century Polish, which is still the work
in progress. Our system handles 33 already published volumes, three of
them are digitally born, the rest has been scanned by
Kujawsko-Pomorska Digital Library
(http://kpbc.umk.pl/publication/17781). The volumes comprise together
almost 20000 pages, in particular 18296 pages with entries. Our case
study will be focused on the very dictionary, because it allow us to
demonstrate the use of regular expressions in the queries to account
for the pecularities of the 16th century Polish spelling.

Although at first our system (called at first marasca) was just a modification of Poliqarp, we
contribute in return to the original project. Since March 2010
National Corpus of Polish uses our version of the WWW Poliqarp
client.


This is the standard Book of Common Prayer and Administration of the Sacraments and Other Rites and Ceremonies of the Church together with The Psalter or Psalms of David according to use in the Episcopal Church in the United States as authorized in 1979.


This paper considers the role of covariates when using predicted probabilities to interpret main effects and interactions in logit models. While predicted probabilities are very intuitive for interpreting main effects and interactions, the pattern of results depends on the contribution of covariates. We introduce a concept called the covariate contribution, which reflects the aggregate contribution of all of the remaining predictors (covariates) in the model and a family of tools to help visualize the relationship between predictors and the predicted probabilities across a variety of covariate contributions. We believe this strategy and the accompanying tools can help researchers who wish to use predicted probabilities as an interpretive framework for logit models acquire and present a more comprehensive interpretation of their results. These visualization tools could be extended to other models (such as binary probit, multinomial logistic, ordinal logistic models, and other nonlinear models).


Application of magnetically treated water to seedlings production has shown beneficial results in several crops. The objective of study was to evaluate the effect of magnetically treated water on germination, growth and development of eggplant seedlings. Three experiments were conducted and the water was treated with 1000 G magnetic field during 24 h. In the first experiment, the treatments tested were applications of magnetically treated water and magnetically untreated water in trays filled with soil and commercial substrate. In the second experiment, the same water treatments were applied, but the trays were filled only with commercial substrate. In the third experiment, two factors were tested, the water treatments (magnetically treated water and untreated water) and two water replacement frequencies (daily and every two days), and the plastic cups were filled with only commercial substrate. In the first experiment, the magnetic treatment of the irrigation water contributed with the growth of the seedlings. However, in the second and third experiments that were conducted on substrate, there was growth reduction of eggplant seedlings with application of magnetically treated water. There were more occurrences decreasing than increasing of substrate water evaporation with the magnetically treated water. There were no significant differences for the seedling growth under different irrigation frequencies.

 Key words: Germination, magnetism, seeds, Solanum melongena L.


It is our pleasure to welcome you to the Seventh International Conference on Knowledge Capture (K-CAP2013). The K-CAP conference series provides a forum that brings together members of several research communities and practitioners who are interested in efficiently capturing knowledge from a variety of sources and in creating representations that can be useful for automated reasoning, analysis, and other forms of machine processing. Therefore, research in knowledge capture is at the intersection of areas such as knowledge engineering, machine learning, big data, natural-language processing, human-computer interaction, Artificial Intelligence, and the Semantic Web. K-CAP 2012 follows on the success of six previous conferences in 2011 (Banff, Alberta Canada), 2009 (Los Angeles, California, USA), 2007 (Whistler, British Columbia, Canada), in 2005 (Banff, Alberta, Canada), in 2003 (Sanibel Island, Florida, USA), and 2001 (Victoria, British Columbia, Canada), and of the series of Knowledge Acquisition Workshops (KAW), the first of which took place in the same location (Banff, Alberta, Canada) in 1986. The theme of this seventh edition of K-CAP is: Knowledge Capture in the Age of Massive Web Data, reflecting the times we are living in. The call for papers attracted 60 submissions from Europe, America, Asia, and Oceania. The program committee accepted 13 full papers, 4 short papers and 3 application papers, that cover a variety of topics, including ontology engineering, ontology learning, linked open data, information extraction for knowledge capture, and knowledge capture from web data including online textual and multimedia resources. In addition, this volume includes descriptions of 8 posters and demos presented at the conference. In this seventh edition of the conference we have tried to innovate in several ways Rather than only aiming at research papers, we introduced an applications track for practitioners to present application-oriented contributions. We issued a call for participation for the first K-CAP "Datathon", a "hackaton" based on Open Data. Acknowledging the worldwide economic down turn, and the pressure many research and company budgets are suffering, we set up a crowdfunding initiative to help K-CAP 2013 with extra funds (http://www.indiegogo.com/projects/k-cap- 2013). Through this initiative as well as through a standard sponsoring program, we have tried to keep the participation costs as low as possible.


This paper deals with the extraction of L-theanine containing Aliquat 336 and Di(2-ethylhexyl)phosphate(P204) as combined carriers and cyclohexane as solvent across bulk liquid membrane. A mathematical model of transport process was deduced, the forward and the backward interfacial reaction rate constants between the feed phase, the receiving phase and the membrane phase were taken into account. Using the experimental results, several parameters of the proposed model have been achieved by a nonlinear fitting method. It is a simply mathematical model which can be easily used to predict the concentration of the extraction process.


The improvement of wrapped big bale silage quality by increasing bale densities should be an important target. The objectives of this research were to evaluate the effects of the use of a cutting system (15 knives spaced 93 mm apart) installed behind the windrow pickup of a fixed chamber round baler. Three field trials were conducted near Turin, Italy (44°50′ N, 7°40′ E) by ensiling wrapped round bale of first- and second-cutting alfalfa (Medicago sativa L.) at different dry matter (DM) concentrations. The DM and crude protein (CP) losses at baling, forage mean particle length, wet and dry bale weights, bale density, fermentation pattern, and the conservation losses were evaluated. The DM losses at baling ranged from 0.5 to 2.0% and from 0.7 to 4.7% of DM yield at cutting for unchopped and chopped treatments, respectively. The chopping system increased the percentage of stems shorter than 10 cm from 14 to 38% on a DM basis. Chopping increased DM bale density by about 4% in all the trials. After 140 d of conservation the final fermentation quality of silages was not consistently improved by chopping.


This review summarizes the capabilities and recent developments of nanoporous polymeric template systems directly supported on different substrates for the confined growth of epitaxial ferromagnetic complex oxide 1D nanostructures. In particular, we describe the versatility and potentiality of chemical solutions combined with track-etched polymers to synthesize (i) vertical polycrystalline La0.7Sr0.3MnO3 nanorods on top of single crystal perovskites, (ii) single crystalline manganese based octahedral molecular sieve (OMS) nanowires on silicon substrates, and (iii) the epitaxial directional single crystal OMS nanowires on top of fluorite-type substrates. The influence of the distinct growth parameters on the nanostructural evolution of the resulting nanostructures and their magnetic properties is further discussed in detail.


Abstract Purpose More positive outcome expectations and illness perceptions are associated with better outcomes for patients with several osteoarthritic orthopedic conditions. However, it is unknown whether these factors also influence outcomes of non-operative treatment for first carpometacarpal osteoarthritis (CMC-1 OA). Therefore, we assess the role of pre-treatment outcome expectations and illness perceptions in reports of pain and hand function 3 months after non-operative treatment for CMC-1 OA. Materials and methods We conducted a cohort study with 219 patients treated non-operatively for CMC-1 OA between September 2017 and October 2018. Patients were included in the study if they completed measures of pain and hand function, illness perceptions (scale: 0–10), and expectations (scale: 3–27) as part of routine outcome measurements. Pain and hand function were measured before treatment and 3 months after starting treatment using the Dutch version of the Michigan Hand Outcomes Questionnaire. Multivariable linear regression analysis was used to assess the influence of outcome expectations and illness perceptions on pain and hand function. Results Both positive outcome expectations (B = 0.64; 95% CI [0.1–1.2]) and a better illness understanding (an illness perception subdomain; B = 1.53; 95% CI [0.2–2.9]) at baseline were associated with less pain at 3 months. For hand function, similar estimates were found. Conclusions We found that positive outcome expectations and a better illness understanding, were associated with a better outcome of non-operative treatment for CMC-1 OA. IMPLICATIONS FOR REHABILITATION Non-operative treatment can often be successful for patients with arthritis of the thumb. Outcome expectations and illness perceptions are associated with pain and hand function 3 months after non-operative treatment for thumb base osteoarthritis. Improving the outcome expectations and illness perceptions of patients through better education could improve the outcome of non-operative treatment.


: Acute experiments were conducted on adult cats. Injection of insulin microdose (0.025 U/kg with 0.025 ml of saline) into the posterior hypothalamic nucleus caused an increase in the blood sugar level 10 and 70 min after the injection. Changes of the blood sugar level correlated with the EEG activation of the posterior hypothalamic nucleus in response to the insulin injection, spreading to the lateral hypothalamus. However, hormonal stimulation of the posterior hypothalamic nucleus against the background of bilateral coagulation of the lateral hypothalamus produced no increase in the blood sugar level in 10 min. This is indicative of the participation of the lateral hypothalamus in the realization of hyperglycemic reactions in response to the insulin injection into the posterior hypothalamic nucleus.


: The authors studied the influence of thyroxin and thyroidectomy on adenylate deaminase activity in the liver, the myocardium, the brain and the skeletal muscles of guinea pigs. Thyroxin used in normal animals (200 microgram/100 g of body weight for 7 days) failed to alter the enzymatic activity in the tissues under study, whereas in thyroidectomized guinea pigs (50 microgram/100 g of body weight at the same interval)--it enhanced this activity. Thyroidectomy diminished the adenylate deaminase activity in the skeletal muscles and considerably increased it in the myocardium and in the brain.


Cell seeding in a biomaterial is an important process for tissue engineering applications. It helps to modulate tissue formation or to control initial conditions for mechanobiological studies. The compression release-induced suction (CRIS) seeding technique leads to active infiltration of the cell suspension toward the central region of the scaffold. Its effectiveness, however, may significantly vary depending on several controlling factors such as the rate of loading and unloading or scaffold architecture. We utilized a 2D axisymmetric finite element model to numerically evaluate the influence of a seeding loading regime on suction pressure and infiltration velocity of the cell suspension. The in vitro application of optimized CRIS seeding obtained from simulation showed significant effectiveness over a static seeding method. As simulation results predicted, the permeability of the scaffold directly influenced CRIS seeding effectiveness in vitro. By supplementing an optimized CRIS loading regime with slow rotation after seeding treatment, cell distribution through thickness was improved especially for scaffolds showing low permeability. Finally, we systematically analyzed the relative importance of permeability, thickness, or coating on cell seeding efficiency and uniformity using a full factorial design of experiments. We observed that permeability has a higher impact on the CRIS seeding than scaffold coating and thickness.


Composting and anaerobic digestion (AD) of biodegradable waste were assessed for their benefits from literature and environmental impacts using the life cycle impact assessment (LCIA) procedure. Literature review findings indicate an overall edge for AD over composting largely due to its renewable energy production capabilities, reduced exhaust emissions, and cost effectiveness considering the entire municipal solid waste (MSW) life cycle. LCIA results show that both AD and composting lead to increases across the four impact categories considered namely, global warming, human health, eutrophication, and acidification. AD however showed lower contributions than composting to global warming, human health, and acidification. Composting only showed lower contribution than AD with regards to eutrophication. Overall study results indicate an edge for AD over composting in treating and managing biodegradable fraction of MSW generated in Harare and its surrounding urban and peri urban environments of Chitungwiza, Epworth, Norton, and Ruwa.


OBJECTIVE
Pediatric studies of cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) monoamine metabolites in childhood-onset schizophrenia may help to elucidate both pathophysiology and treatment response in early-onset psychosis.

METHOD
CSF homovanillic acid (HVA), 5-hydroxyindoleacetic acid (5-HIAA), and 3-methoxy-4-hydroxyphenylglycol (MHPG) and serum prolactin were measured during drug-free and antipsychotic medication conditions in 18 patients (mean age = 14.2 years, SD = 1.7) who had onset of schizophrenia by age 12 (mean age at onset = 9.9 years, SD = 1.8). Relationships between changes in CSF monoamines and serum prolactin and clinical outcome were examined, and the degree of change in CSF monoamines in response to clozapine treatment was compared with that for 16 patients with later-onset schizophrenia.

RESULTS
Despite patients' significant clinical improvement with treatment, CSF monoamine concentrations and ratios of HVA/5-HIAA and HVA/MHPG did not significantly change with 6 weeks of either haloperidol or clozapine treatment. Serum prolactin levels increased during haloperidol treatment. Clozapine had similar effects on CSF monoamines in patients with childhood- and later-onset schizophrenia.

CONCLUSIONS
While these data are compatible with continuity between childhood- and later-onset schizophrenia, they also highlight the complexity of the biochemical events mediating clinical changes in schizophrenia.


OBJECTIVE: To find and analyse the views of both health centre users and users of private insurance companies on the quality of services offered. DESIGN: Descriptive, crossover study using qualitative methodology. The views of health centre and private insurance company users on the quality of services delivered were gathered through 8 focus groups. The variables of opinion analysed were defined according to the SERVQUAL model of Parasuraman on perceived quality. SETTING: Three health districts in a health area in Andalusia. PARTICIPANTS: 70 users took part. RESULTS: Accessibility (prior appointment, information and reception service, hours open), capacity for response (speed and efficiency of processing) and internal organisational coordination were considered by health centre users weak-points of the primary care services, which affected negatively their credibility. These variables were identified by private insurance users as the main advantages of the care model for which they had opted. Reliability was valued positively by health centre users, but received a higher valuation from private insurance users. However, the courtesy and friendliness of health centre professionals was seen as an outstanding point of the service, and no different from that of private professionals. The use of clinical records, the competence of the professionals and the tangible aspects of health centres were identified by their users as strong points of the primary care services and give the public care model an advantage over the private one.


BACKGROUND
Recently, it has become a social problem that hydrolyzed wheat protein in facial soap can induce wheat allergy including wheat-dependent exercise-induced anaphylaxis (WDEIA). We described the clinical characteristics of the patients related.

METHODS
We collected 12 cases who had had a medical examination from January to October in 2010.

RESULT
All the patients were female and mean age was 36.0± 9.9 years. All of them had had no prior symptoms history of wheat allergy, they gradually developed wheat anaphylaxis or WDEIA in an average of 2 years after they started to use a soap product in question which contains hydrolyzed wheat proteins. Most patients suffered immediate contact allergic reactions after or at the time of washing their face with the soap product. 10 of 12 patients showed a low level of IgE to CAP-recombinant ω-5-gliadin. Episodes of anaphylaxis were prevented by avoiding both intake of wheat-containing foods and usage of the soap product.

CONCLUSION
We concluded that their wheat anaphylaxis is likely to be caused by epicutaneous sensitization of the hydrolyzed wheat proteins in the soap product. It was important that physicians should know the possibility of sensitization from non-dietary antigen.


In this work, it presents a review on Rerouting model in MPLS Network for reducing traffic. It is based on fault tolerant model concept in MPLS network. This describes the process of routing scheme and link resource distribution. QoS is the mechanism of the network to provide different service level to a different traffic type as business need.The main objective of this work is to improve QoS in network by reducing delay. It provides a distribution of traffic between source and destination so that delays between the paths are minimum between each other. It works on reliability by limited usage of bandwidth. The projected mechanism will be implemented with MATLAB.


Dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane (DDT) is a ubiquitous organochlorine pollutant in the environment and has been associated with colorectal cancer development. The present study investigated the possible effects of p,p′-DDT on the apoptosis of colorectal adenocarcinoma cells and the relevant molecular mechanism. The results indicated that exposure to low concentrations of p,p′-DDT (10−10, 10−9 and 10−8 M) for 96 h markedly inhibited the apoptosis of human colorectal adenocarcinoma DLD1 cells induced by 5-FU. Moreover, p,p′-DDT exposure led to upregulation of Bcl-2 along with downregulation of Bax and procaspase-3 in both DLD1 cells and tumor tissue of a mouse xenograft model. We also found that activated caspase-3 activity was decreased after p,p′-DDT treatment. The addition of estrogen receptor (ER) inhibitor, ICI 182780, had no significant effect on the action of p,p′-DDT. In addition, p,p′-DDT exposure could activate PI3K/AKT and Hedgehog/Gli1 signaling cascades. Treatment with the PI3K inhibitor LY294003 or the Hedgehog/Gli1 inhibitor GANT61 prevented p,p′-DDT-induced signaling pathways of PI3K/AKT and Hedgehog/Gli1, respectively. Consistently, LY294003 or GANT61 attenuated the ability of p,p′-DDT to suppress 5-FU-induced apoptosis in DLD1 cells. Taken together, our results demonstrated that p,p′-DDT inhibited the apoptosis of human colorectal adenocarcinoma DLD1 cells by activating PI3K/AKT and Hedgehog/Gli1 signaling pathways.


The objective of this study was to assess the association of sex and the apolipoprotein E (APOE) ε4 allele with brain tau deposition and atrophy in older adults with Alzheimer's disease (AD) using quantitative 18F-AV-1451 positron emission tomography (PET) and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). Methods: Preprocessed 18F-AV-1451 tau PET, raw T1-weighted structural MR images, demographic information, cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) total tau (t-tau) and phosphorylated tau (p-tau) measurements from 57 elderly individuals with AD were downloaded from the Alzheimer's Disease Neuroimaging Initiative (ADNI) database. An iteratively reblurred Van Cittert partial volume correction (PVC) method was applied to all preprocessed PET images. MRI images were used for PET spatial normalization and gray matter volume calculation. 18F-AV-1451 PET standardized uptake value ratio (SUVR) was calculated relative to the cerebellum gray matter. The effect of sex and APOE ε4 status on SUVR and gray matter volume were assessed at both region of interest (ROI) and voxelwise levels. Results: Female APOE ε4 carriers (FACs) had significant higher 18F-AV-1451 SUVRs in the lateral temporal, parietal, posterior cingulate, medial temporal, inferior temporal, entorhinal cortex, amygdala and parahippocampal gyrus regions, and exhibited smaller gray matter volumes in the posterior cingulate, medial temporal, inferior temporal and amygdala regions, as compared to the non-FACs (NFACs) comprised of female APOE ε4 non-carriers, male APOE ε4 carriers and male APOE ε4 non-carriers. Voxelwise analysis revealed forebrain and limbic clusters with greater 18F-AV-1451 SUVRs and lower gray matter volume between FACs compared to the NFACs. Negative correlations between ROI 18F-AV-1451 SUVRs and gray matter volumes were significant after adjusting for age and years of education. Conclusions: Among elderly individuals with AD, sex modified the effects of the APOE ε4 allele on region-specific tau deposition and gray matter volume. FACs had elevated brain region-specific tau PET SUVR and decreased gray matter volume in comparison to NFACs. The study provides a basis for the use of precision medicine in the diagnosis of AD and evaluation of therapeutics using 18F-AV-1451 PET and structural MRI.


An efficient and general method for the evaluation of the Gramians of causal, stable, 2D recursive digital filters and systems is proposed. The method is based on a two-stage extension of the Astrom-Jury-Agniel algorithm which was originally used for the evaluation of the scalar loss function of a stationary random process with rational spectral density. The new method is compared with other known methods for the evaluation of 2D Gramians with respect to accuracy and computational efficiency. The results obtained show that the new method leads to an accurate evaluation of the 2D Gramians and, furthermore, it requires only a small fraction of the computation required by existing methods. >


AbstractThis article demonstrates that in many peace-building environments, public administration reform and justice sector reform are promoted as separate projects and underpinned by different paradigms, namely making the administration more effective and efficient while introducing and strengthening rule of law and human rights principles in the justice sector. The reasons for this division include lack of knowledge among international and national policy-makers concerning the relevance of the rule of law for public administration reform, vague and conflicting peace-building mandates and objectives, and differences in topical orientation and 'culture' among the international actors concerned. The resulting rule of law deficit in public administration reform has adverse effects on both states and individuals, not least for the protection of fundamental human rights. This deficit is also symptomatic of an even deeper dilemma: the distinction between ends and means in post-conflict efforts.In order to more closely integrate rule of law dimensions in public administration reform, the article suggests an inventory of possible approaches, and relates these to current and future challenges and needs. The inventory comprises developing concepts of rule of law in public administration, promoting transformation of international rule of law principles to national law, facilitating institutional reforms to ensure the presence of institutions willing and able to adhere to the rule of law; the development of manuals, handbooks and other 'aids' for law-makers and administrators; developing tools for monitoring the 'qualitative' dimensions of public administration; transparency enhancement to enable individuals to enforce their rights; and improving inter-agency/sector cooperation in order to promote coordination and integrated approaches.


OBJECTIVE--To examine whether the observed excess of childhood leukaemia and lymphoma near the Sellafield nuclear plant is associated with established risk factors or with factors related to the plant. DESIGN--A case-control study. SETTING--West Cumbria health district. SUBJECTS--52 Cases of leukaemia, 22 of non-Hodgkin's lymphoma, and 23 of Hodgkin's disease occurring in people born in the area and diagnosed there in 1950-85 under the age of 25 and 1001 controls matched for sex and date of birth taken from the same birth registers as the cases. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES--Antenatal abdominal x ray examinations, viral infections, habit factors, proximity to and employment characteristics of parents at Sellafield. RESULTS--Ascertainment of cases through multiple sources was as complete as possible, and the diagnosis was established for nearly all cases from hospital records and by independent pathological review when suitable material (60% (58) of cases) was available. Identification and tracing of the parents of cases and controls enabled questionnaires to be forwarded to 730 (66%), and 467 (64%) of the questionnaires were returned completed. Obstetric records were located for 481 (44%) of the relevant births, more frequently in recent years. Linkage of study subjects to the Sellafield workforce file enabled dates of employment and records on external doses of whole body ionising radiation to be obtained. Concordance of information from duplicate sources (when available) was reasonably high with no indications of bias. CONCLUSION--Overall the collected data were sufficiently reliable for detailed analysis and careful interpretation.


The authors have convincingly demonstrated that the timeliness of the appointment of a forensic economic examination, the precise formulation of questions and the identification of an exhaustive list of objects submitted to the expert for study are of great importance for the objective and comprehensive investigation of crimes.
The implementation of these proposals will not only optimize the process of appointing and conducting a forensic economic examination, but will contribute significantly to the efficiency of the investigation and judicial review of criminal proceedings. In the authors' view, improvements in the detection, investigation and prevention of crimes through the lens of scientifically grounded forensic expert activity will contribute to the improvement of the efficiency and quality of the execution of forensic examinations.
Without any doubts, the development of forensic science as an institution of evidence and procedural law cannot take place without scientific discussion, discussion of the results of scientific research, exchange of views and practical experience, which will make it possible to find optimum criteria for solving current problems.


A grand challenge for state estimation in newly built smart grid lies in how to deal with the increasing uncertainties. To solve the problem, we propose a data-driven state estimation approach based on recent targeted investment on sensors, data storage, and computing devices. An architecture is proposed to use power system physics and pattern to systematically clean historical data and conduct supervised learning, where historical similar measurements and their states are used to learn the relationship between the current measurement and the state. In order to deal with nonlinearity, kernel trick is used to produce linear mapping in a carefully selected higher dimensional space. To speed up the data-driven approach for online services, we analyze power system data set and discover its clustering property due to the periodic pattern of power systems. This leads to significant dimension reduction and the idea of preorganizing data points in a tree structure for inquiry, leading to 1000 times speedup. Numerical results show that the proposed data-driven approach works well in a smart grid setting with increasing uncertainties and it produces an online state estimate excelling current industrial approach.


New technologies have emerged that have the potential to change many fundamental principles associated with a cash oriented society-indeed, the whole way we conduct all kinds of financial transactions and operate all payment systems. As things stand, law enforcement agencies around the world recognize that "following the money" leads to the top of criminal organizations. Criminals have to move funds through the financial system to hide and use the proceeds of their crimes. Currency is anonymous, but it is difficult to hide and transport in large amounts. New electronic payment systems may well alter this. The speed that makes these systems efficient and the anonymity that makes them secure are desirable characteristics to both the public and law enforcement agencies. Yet the same characteristics make these systems equally attractive to those who seek to use them for illicit purpose. Because of these potential vulnerabilities, the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN), a branch of the US Department of the Treasury, has been meeting with developers of advanced electronic payment systems, our law enforcement and regulatory partners in the United States and abroad, and representatives of the financial services industry to examine how criminals might use these new systems to move and launder the proceeds of their illegal activities.


The purpose of this study was to compare percent fat (% Fat) estimates from anthropometric equations using skinfolds (SKF) in women's ice hockey players to estimates obtained from Lunar iDXA. Data were collected on 19 elite female Swedish hockey players (mean age ± SD = 18.4 ± 2.4 y). Four skinfolds (SKF) (triceps, abdominal, suprailiac, and thigh) were measured within two hours of iDXA assessments. The % Fat estimates from iDXA and four anthropometric equations were compared using paired t-tests, and a one-way ANOVA was used to compare % Fat estimates from the anthropometric equations. Bland Altman analyses were used to assess agreement between % Fat estimates from SKF and iDXA. The significance level was set a priori at p<0.05. The % Fat estimates from anthropometric equations were significantly lower than those from iDXA (mean ± SD: 26.85 ± 4.93%, p=0.000). Bland Altman analyses indicated mean differences of -7.96 to -10.13 percentage points between anthropometric equations and iDXA. Estimates of % Fat from anthropometric equations (range: 16.72% to 18.89%) were within the range reported in earlier studies using the Sum of 7 SKF. Thus, SKF offer a reasonable alternative to iDXA for this population, but result in underestimates of % Fat relative to iDXA. Strength and conditioning coaches should use the same body composition assessment method consistently, and interpret the results with caution, as they are estimates and not true values.


Insulin-degrading enzyme (IDE) is central to the turnover of insulin and degrades amyloid β (Aβ) in the mammalian brain. Biochemical and genetic data support the notion that IDE may play a role in late onset Alzheimer disease (AD), and recent studies suggest an association between AD and diabetes mellitus type 2. Here we show that a natively folded recombinant IDE was capable of forming a stable complex with Aβ that resisted dissociation after treatment with strong denaturants. This interaction was also observed with rat brain IDE and detected in an SDS-soluble fraction from AD cortical tissue. Aβ sequence 17–27, known to be crucial in amyloid assembly, was sufficient to form a stable complex with IDE. Monomeric as opposed to aggregated Aβ was competent to associate irreversibly with IDE following a very slow kinetics (t½ ∼ 45 min). Partial denaturation of IDE as well as preincubation with a 10-fold molar excess of insulin prevented complex formation, suggesting that the irreversible interaction of Aβ takes place with at least part of the substrate binding site of the protease. Limited proteolysis showed that Aβ remained bound to a ∼25-kDa N-terminal fragment of IDE in an SDS-resistant manner. Mass spectrometry after in gel digestion of the IDE ·Aβ complex showed that peptides derived from the region that includes the catalytic site of IDE were recovered with Aβ. Taken together, these results are suggestive of an unprecedented mechanism of conformation-dependent substrate binding that may perturb Aβ clearance, insulin turnover, and promote AD pathogenesis.


A model that directly estimates HW coefficients for pipe networks by making tracer concentration measurements at selected nodes is developed utilizing the inverse method. The model considers even-, over- and under-determined cases, depending on the number of measurements and estimated parameters. For the purpose of model verification, tracer concentrations obtained by forward simulation are considered as measurements. Results showed that the model made accurate determinations of the unknown HW coefficients for both even- and over-determined cases for some scenarios and less accurate determinations for other scenarios. The under-determined case made reasonable estimates of the unknown HW coefficient for most of the scenarios considered. Error analysis showed that errors are introduced into the determined HW coefficient as a result of measurement errors and as a result of making the measurements at low sensitive nodes. Error analysis also showed that the determined HW coefficient is more sensitive to the measurement location (sensitivity) than to the measurement error. Both conservative and non-conservative tracers may be used. However, conservative tracers are expected to make better estimation of HW coefficients as they produce larger sensitivities.


The International Solidarity Movement (ISM) was founded as a peaceful resistance to that violence. Its highly visible actions, which have included breaking the sieges in Ramallah and Bethlehem, as well as saving countless lives, have shone a spotlight on Israel's occupation. Outlawed in Israel and nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize, the ISM has threatened the governing coalition with fears that Israeli opinion might at last be turning against them. In showing what risks Palestinians take, ISM volunteers have also tragically been targeted. The deaths of Rachel Corrie and Tom Hurndall, as well as the shootings of Kate Edwards, Caoimhe Butterley and Brian Avery, have never been fully explained, covered up in the US and UK and brushed aside in Israel...an unfortunate consequence of Israel's "war on terror." This collection of accounts, drawn from web-logs and diaries of iSM volunteers, news articles, press releases, writings from the Corrie and Hurndall families, Rachel Corrie's last email home, and cover photograph by Tom Hurndall, reveals the real horror of life under occupation and describes the first signs of a new wave of international solidarity.


INTRODUCTION
There are several sets of criteria for the diagnosis of Amniotic Fluid Embolism (AFE), but little is known about their degree of agreement.

AIM
To evaluate the concordance of the Japan criteria for AFE in comparison with two definitions: the US AFE registration entry criteria (the US criteria) and UK Obstetric Surveillance System criteria for defining cases of amniotic fluid embolism (the UK criteria).

MATERIALS AND METHODS
A retrospective observational study was conducted in which the AFE cases registered in the Obstetrical Gynaecological Society of Kinki District in Japan for the period of April 2005 to December 2012 have been analysed by the expert steering obstetric committee, organized by the members of the Obstetric Research group. Cohen's kappa coefficient was used to calculate the agreement among three clinical diagnoses. For inter-group comparison, the Pearson Chi-square test was used (for categorical) and Mann-Whitney test was used (for continuous variables).

RESULTS
Among the 26 cases registered for this period, a total of 18 women were selected as having AFE according to the Japan criteria. Five women died (case fatality rate 27.8%). Agreement between the Japan criteria and the US and UK criteria was k = 0.453 and k = 0.538, respectively, reflecting moderate agreement. However, only 38.9% were given a diagnosis of AFE according to all three criteria. The factor that most often caused disagreement in diagnosis between the Japan criteria and the US criteria was "onset within 30 minutes postpartum". The UK criteria excluded "women with postpartum haemorrhage as the first presenting feature in whom there was no evidence of cardiorespiratory compromise". The case fatality rates in US and UK are higher than in Japan (50.0% and 38.5% vs 27.8%), but this did not result in a significant difference (p=0.497).

CONCLUSION
The groups of subjects identified as having AFE by the Japan criteria had a medium agreement with the US (k=0.453) or UK criteria (k=0.538). These three definition criteria identified different subgroups of patients. Such disagreement has serious implications for research and treatment.


Evaporation, drainage, and changes in storage for a bare Plainfield sand were measured with a lysimeter during June, July, and August 1967, under natural rainfall conditions. Cumulative evaporation at any stage was proportional to the square root of time following each heavy rainfall. The drainage rate was found to be an exponential function of water storage. Both relations can be predicted from flow theory with knowledge of soil capillary conductivity, diffusivity, and moisture retention characteristics. Using these two relations and daily rainfall data, the water storage in the top 150 cm was predicted over the season to within 0.3 cm.


The present contribution aims at collecting the outcomes achieved by 211 subjects, who are going to teach in primary and children's school, who used the SWOT Analysis as a context investigation tool to plan, implement and evaluate classroom interventions. In particular, this paper analyzes and discusses the effectiveness of a training program for future teachers, attending the 3rd year of university internship, able to strengthen their critical awareness through a functional knowledge of the school environment and of pupils.The pre-experimental research, which covered nine months in the Academic Year 2017-2018, has  actually increased the performance of the sample group, consisting of undergraduate students attending the degree course in Primary Education Sciences of the University of Palermo. Although the findings concern only one experimental situation, that cannot be generalized, the results showed an appreciable increase in the critical awareness of the group of trainee teachers, who have made a careful diagnosis of the educational situation functional to their teaching planning.


Over 50 years ago, an archaeological team initiated the research in the area of the medieval town from Târgsoru Vechi. In 1956 only the ruins of three churches and some fragments of the buildings of the former Voivodal Court and Turnu monastery could still be observed. Those medieval remains were the starting point for the investigation of Târgsoru Vechi town, a town that today celebrates 600 years since it was first mentioned in a medieval document. The Novo Foro, as it was known in the Latin version of the document issued by Mircea cel Bătrân to the merchants of Brasov, was an important custom point, voivodal residence and later on, monastery. Following a project of restoration proposed by the architect C. Hoinărescu, archaeological excavations in the area of the Medieval Court were resumed in 2005. Excavations during two seasons (2005, 2006) aimed to verify and complete the results of the previous research undertook by N. Constantinescu, research that was abruptly stopped in the mid-1960-ies. The recent investigations provided new data about structures from interior of the Voivodal Court area, identifying a first habitation level going back to the 15th century. Also, the existing information referring to the cellar of the Voivodal House was completed with new data and a new chronological interpretation of other structures was proposed. A new opened surface (located in the north-east corner of the second medieval enclosure) allowed the identification a long-term inhabitated area, with the same evolution from the mud-bricks constructions to stone ones.


Some retrospective studies suggest an association between infection with GB virus-C (GBV-C) and non-Hodgkin lymphoma (NHL). We evaluated this association prospectively in a nested case-control study within the U.S. Prostate, Lung, Colorectal and Ovarian (PLCO) Cancer Screening Trial. Cases (N = 658) and controls (N = 1,316) were individually matched by age, sex, race/ethnicity, timing of study entry, and sample selection. Prediagnostic PLCO serum samples were tested for GBV-C RNA (as a measure of active infection) and E2 antibody (active or resolved infection). Logistic regression was used to estimate odds ratios (OR) for the association between GBV-C and NHL overall and NHL subtypes. Twelve cases (1.8%) and seven controls (0.5%) were GBV-C RNA-positive. GBV-C RNA positivity was associated with NHL overall [OR, 3.43; 95% confidence interval (CI), 1.35-8.71] and, based on small numbers, diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (OR, 5.31; 95% CI, 1.54-18.36). The association with NHL persisted when the interval between testing and selection was greater than 4 years (OR, 6.00; 95% CI, 1.21-29.73). In contrast, E2 antibody positivity was not associated with NHL risk (OR, 1.08; 95% CI, 0.74-1.58). Our study demonstrates that GBV-C infection precedes development of NHL. GBV-C infection may play an etiologic role in a small proportion of NHL cases, perhaps by causing chronic immune stimulation or impaired immunosurveillance.


Abstract Objective Angiogenesis is essential for normal lung development. The objective of our study was to test the hypothesis that preeclampsia, an antiangiogenic state, is a risk factor for bronchopulmonary dysplasia (BPD). Design Prospective cohort study of infants less than 32 weeks' gestation born to mothers with preeclampsia between January 2007 and June 2010 at a single tertiary care center. Their BPD outcome was compared with infants born to the next two normotensive mothers with a ± 1 week gestational age difference. BPD was defined as oxygen dependency at 36 weeks' postmenstrual age. Multivariable binary regression was used to estimate the risk ratio (RR) of BPD with preeclampsia exposure and adjust for confounders. Results Of 102 infants in the preeclampsia group, 23 (23%) developed BPD and of the 217 infants in the normotensive group, 56 (26%) developed BPD. On multivariable binary regression modeling, preeclampsia was not a risk factor for development of BPD (RR: 0.5, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 0.20–1.20). Surfactant use, Score for Neonatal Acute Physiology Perinatal Extension-II score, sepsis, blood transfusion, and intrauterine growth restriction (IUGR) were significant risk factors for BPD. Conclusion In our cohort, preeclampsia was not a significant risk factor for BPD. IUGR infants of preeclamptic and normotensive mothers were at higher risk for BPD.