Context. The derivation of accurate and precise masses and radii is possible for eclipsing binary stars, allowing for insights into their evolution. When residing in star clusters, they provide measurements of even greater precision, along with additional information on their properties. Asteroseismic investigations of solar-like oscillations offers similar possibilities for single stars.
Aims. We wish to improve the previously established properties of the Hyades eclipsing binary HD 27130 and re-assess the asteroseismic properties of the giant star ϵ Tau. The physical properties of these members of the Hyades can be used to constrain the helium content and age of the cluster.
Methods. New multi-colour light curves were combined with multi-epoch radial velocities to yield masses and radii of HD 27130. Measurements of Teff were derived from spectroscopy and photometry, and verified using the Gaia parallax. We estimated the cluster age from re-evaluated asteroseismic properties of ϵ Tau while using HD 27130 to constrain the helium content.
Results. The masses, radii, and Teff of HD 27130 were found to be M = 1.0245  ±  0.0024 M⊙, R = 0.9226  ±  0.015 R⊙, Teff = 5650  ±  50 K for the primary, and M = 0.7426  ±  0.0016 M⊙, R = 0.7388  ±  0.026 R⊙, Teff = 4300  ±  100 K for the secondary component. Our re-evaluation of ϵ Tau suggests that the previous literature estimates are trustworthy and that the HIPPARCOS parallax is more reliable than the Gaia DR2 parallax.
Conclusions. The helium content of HD 27130 and, thus, of the Hyades is found to be Y = 0.27 but with a significant model dependency. Correlations with the adopted metallicity result in a robust helium enrichment law, with ΔY/ΔZ close to 1.2 We estimate the age of the Hyades to be 0.9 ± 0.1 (stat) ±0.1 (sys) Gyr, which is in slight tension with recent age estimates based on the cluster white dwarfs. The precision of the age estimate can be much improved via asteroseismic investigations of the other Hyades giants and by future improvements to the Gaia parallax for bright stars.


The aim of this work is to assess the cerebrovascular reserve capacity (CVRC) by MR PWI and photoacoustic brain imaging with "ACZ" tolerance test in mouse and rat, and to compare their role in evaluating the CVRC. Experimental animals included 2 groups: Wistar-Kyoto rats (WKY) (12-week-old, 235~265g) were assessed by MRI and BALB/c mice (4-week-old, 25~35g body weight) were assessed by our photoacoustic imaging system. On photoacoustic imaging, the diameter of the vascular in the superficial layer of the mouse cortex were measured and compared between the resting and acetazolamide (Acz)-activated mice, which reflected cerebral blood flow (CBF) without blood sampling. MR PWI was performed respectively before and after acetazolamide administrated orally on a clinical 1.5 Tesla GE Signa MR fx/i whole-body MR system. The region of interest (ROI) was chosen in the bilateral frontal lobe to measure the value of rCBV, rCBF and MTT. The results show that there was statistical difference between the resting and acetazolamide (Acz)-activated animals in the values of the diameter of the vascular in the superficial layer of the mouse cortex by photoacoustic imaging and in the values of rCBV and rCBF(P>0.05)of the rat by MRI. It was concluded that the method of PWI and photoacoustic imaging combined with the "ACZ stress test" can be used to evaluate the CVRC by measuring values of rCBV and rCBF and diameter of the vascular, respectively.


Visiting wellness centres is considered safe and relaxing and might provide health benefits for visitors with certain cardiovascular, dermatological or respiratory diseases. On the other hand, wellness centres could pose health risks, especially with respect to Legionnaires' disease. We investigated the role of wellness centres in the occurrence of Legionnaires' disease by analysing the data of eight years (2002–2010) of source investigation in the Netherlands. There were 15 wellness centres identified as potential sources of infection for a total of 35 Legionnaires' disease patients. Twelve of these centres were positive for Legionella spp.: six for Legionella pneumophila, six for non-pneumophila Legionella spp.. Of the 65 positive environmental samples found during the wellness centre investigations, 41 were derived from shower heads. For two centres, the Legionella pneumophila strains in the collected samples had a genotype that was indistinguishable from the patient isolates. These results show that wellness centres are potential sources of Legionnaires' disease.


Stem cell contamination by tumor is common in many diseases for which autologous bone marrow transplantation is used. In in vitro models chemotherapeutic purging reduces contamination and may have an impact on clinical outcome. Purging, however, delays engraftment. Little is known about the ability of granulocyte colony-stimulating factor (G-CSF) to accelerate myelopoiesis after purged autologous bone marrow transplantation. We treated 22 women with metastatic breast cancer with high-dose cyclophosphamide and thiotepa and, following the infusion of 4-hydroperoxycyclophosphamide-purged marrow, administered G-CSF, 16 micrograms/kg daily, from day 0 to engraftment. Results were compared with a control population of 24 women with breast cancer who received identical chemotherapy and purged marrow but not growth factor. Neutrophil recovery was accelerated in the G-CSF-treated population. An absolute neutrophil count of 500 was reached in 19 days compared with 29 for the historic controls. The median number of days febrile was reduced (8 versus 5.5) as were the number of days of hospitalization from marrow infusion (33 versus 25). There was no difference in the number of days on antibiotics or time to last platelet transfusion. G-CSF was administered without any notable toxicity. G-CSF accelerates myelopoiesis following the infusion of 4-hydroperoxycyclophosphamide-purged autologous marrow and shortens hospitalization.


A three-dimensional kinetic Monte-Carlo technique has been developed for simulating the growth of thin Cu films. The model involves incident atom attachments, diffusion of the atoms on the growing surface, and the detachment of the atoms from the growing surface. Related effects due to surface atom diffusion was taken into account. A great improvement was made on calculation of the activation energy for atom diffusion based on a reasonable assumption of interaction potential between atoms. The results showed that as the substrate temperature is raised or the deposited rate decreased, the diffusion of particles causes the particles grouping into islands (more than three atoms). The higher the temperature or the lower the deposition rate, the larger the size of the islands. Also we observed the island shape transition from two-dimensional islands to three-dimensional ones. There exist three optimum growth temperatures at a given deposition rate, namely Tn at which the nucleation rate is maximum, Tr at which the surface roughness minimizes and Td at which the relative density approaches to saturation. They all increase with the increase of substrate temperature, and these variations almost superpose on each other. The simulation results also showed that the relative density decreases with increasing deposition rate. But the nucleation rate is close to a steadiness at a lower temperature while it increases at a higher temperature. The surface roughness increases at a lower temperature while it decreases at a higher temperature.


Introduction: Increased cathepsin levels and activity have been shown to play a role in a variety of tumors, including lung and breast malignancies, and are correlated to poor patient prognosis. Proteolytic activity of cathepsins S, L, B and K may play a role in degradation of the basement membrane and extracellular matrix allowing a loss of cell adhesion and facilitating tumor metastasis. Cathepsin K inhibition has been reported to suppress bone resorption in women with breast cancer by inhibiting osteoclast function. Studies with cathepsin S inhibitors have demonstrated a reduction in nociception in animals, suggesting a role for cathepsin S in tumor-associated neuropathy. We report the efficacy of the spectrum-selective cathepsin inhibitor VBY-825 in a mouse model of metastatic breast cancer. Results and Discussion: VBY-825 is a potent ketoamide-based inhibitor of cathepsins S, B, K, V, and L with pM or single digit nM affinity on this spectrum of cysteine proteases. VBY-825 has been shown to have potent anti-tumor activity in a spontaneous mouse model of pancreatic cancer (Elie et al, 2010, Biochimie). VBY-825 potently inhibited angiogenesis in tumor cell lines, endothelial cell co-cultures and tumor matrix invasion when assayed in an in vitro 3D tumor cell growth assay. Pharmacokinetic behavior of VBY-825 supported once daily dosing resulting in plasma levels sufficient for sustained inhibition of the target cathepsins. Efficacy of VBY-825 was assessed in a murine bone cancer model in which murine 66.1 breast cancer cells are injected and confined to the intramedullary space of the femur of non-immunocompromised mice. Beginning on post surgical day 7 animals received either VBY-825, zoledronic acid, or 5% dextrose vehicle once daily for 14 days. Similarly to the bisphosphonate, VBY-825 in this model significantly reduced bone matrix degradation. VBY-825 also reduced behaviors associated with spontaneous pain including flinching and guarding with significantly greater efficacy than zoledronic acid suggesting that VBY-825 may also induce analgesia against bone cancer pain. Conclusions: These studies demonstrate that the cathepsin inhibitor VBY-825 is effective in a model of bone cancer and associated chronic pain, demonstrating both analgesic activity as well as protection from bone matrix loss and remodeling. These studies support the role of multiple cathepsins as therapeutic targets in metastatic and primary bone cancer. Citation Format: {Authors}. {Abstract title} [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the AACR-NCI-EORTC International Conference: Molecular Targets and Cancer Therapeutics; 2011 Nov 12-16; San Francisco, CA. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Mol Cancer Ther 2011;10(11 Suppl):Abstract nr A219.


In these essays, I identify the effects of earnings seasons (i.e., the clustering of earnings releases), on stock market liquidity and asset pricing. In the first essay, I document strong seasonal regularities associated with aggregate earnings announcements. Applying the large body of literature linking earnings announcements to liquidity effects, I argue that these earnings seasons create market-wide liquidity shocks and I show that both liquidity betas and liquidity risk change during earnings seasons In the second essay, I test the impact of earnings seasons on commonality in liquidity as measured by both spreads and depths. I find that commonality significantly decreases during the four weeks of each calendar quarter when most companies release their earnings. These findings contribute to the literature by identifying and examining the clustering effect of firm-specific information on commonality in liquidity. In the third essay, I extend the study of the liquidity effects of earnings seasons to a sample of 20 countries. I find that the international data corroborate both hypotheses. I also find that the aggregate quality of accounting information, and the duration and frequency of interim reporting periods are important determinants of the liquidity effects (both liquidity betas and commonality in liquidity) during earnings seasons.


Experimental autoimmune anterior uveitis (EAAU) serves as an animal model for human idiopathic AU, the most common form of intraocular inflammation of significant morbidity whose recurrence can lead to permanent vision loss. This study was undertaken to inhibit EAAU by inducing tolerance to melanin-associated antigen (MAA) and to investigate the underlying mechanisms responsible for tolerance induction. Intravenous administration of MAA both induced tolerance and inhibited EAAU in Lewis rats. Flow cytometric analysis revealed that the proliferation of lymph node cells in response to antigenic stimulation was drastically reduced in the state of tolerance both in vivo and in vitro. Our results from co-culture experiments demonstrated that intravenous administration of MAA led to the generation of T-regulatory cells that suppress T-cell proliferative responses and induce tolerance. Expression levels of both interleukin-10 and transforming growth factor-beta2 were elevated whereas reduced levels of tumor necrosis factor-alpha, interferon-gamma, and interleukin-2 were detected in tolerance-induced animals. Tolerance was reversed by replenishing these animals with recombinant interleukin-2. Tolerance could be adoptively transferred by removing lymph node cells from tolerance-induced donors and giving them to recipient rats. Interestingly, adoptive transfer of tolerance failed when lymph nodes cells were depleted of CD4(+)CD25(+) T cells. In conclusion, T-cell nonresponsiveness because of active suppression mediated by T-regulatory cells facilitates the development of tolerance to MAA in EAAU.


Development co-operation has traditionally been the playing field of governments, multilateral institutions, and established development NGOs. In the past decade, however, other actors in Northern countries (such as businesses, migrants' organisations, professional groups, and schools) have shown active interest in development-related activities. Although they do not belong to the epistemic community of development specialists and are often overlooked in the discourse and literature on development co-operation, their number and importance are growing. These novel approaches to development co-operation give rise to some important reflections about their methodologies, potential impact, and fundraising. Based on the authors' experiences and research in Belgium, the article raises some issues about what they term the fourth pillar of development co-operation, with the aim of stimulating the academic and policy-oriented debate.


Traditional crafts exhibit tangible and intangible dimensions. Intangible dimensions include the practitioner's gestural know-how in craft practice and have received smaller attention than tangible dimensions in digitization projects. This work presents the process of representation and presentation of the glasswork and is exemplified in the re-creation of a historical object. Following an articulated pipeline approach for data collection, annotation, the crafting process is represented visually and semantically in a way that can be meaningfully presented and utilized in craft training and preservation. The outcomes of the proposed approach were used to implement a Mixed Reality installation. The installation targets craft presentation through an exploration of the workspace, as well as craft training through an interactive experience where users re-enact gestures of a glass master holding a tool and receiving audiovisual feedback on the accuracy of their performance. Preliminary evaluation results show high acceptance of the installation and increased user interest.


China's Taiwan policy has been one of coupling intimidation (the "stick" approach) with coercion (the "carrot" approach), a policy mix which, in the near term, is not likely to change, as is evidenced by the passage of the "Anti-Secession Law" in March, 2005. However, under Hu Jintao, the focus has been on pragmatism. The warm atmosphere that presently reigns in the Taiwan Strait area is unprecedented. Further talks are expected before the two cross-Strait leaders are slated to step down, simultaneously, in 2012. An era of reconciliation and negotiations has dawned. For the first time there is consensus regarding norms of interaction between the two sides. Cross-Strait relations have stabilized after years of tumult. More open, stable and predictable cross-Strait relations are in the interests of both sides. Difficulties surely lie ahead, but they will be dealt with in a different manner than what has been witnessed in the past.


Background: E-cadherin is the major adhesion receptor in epithelial adherens junctions (AJs). On established epidermis, E-cadherin performs fine-tuned cell-cell contact remodeling to maintain tissue integrity, which is characterized by modulation of cell shape, size and packing density. In zebrafish, the organization and distribution of E-cadherin in AJs during embryonic epidermis development remain scarcely described. Methods: Combining classical immunofluorescence, deconvolution microscopy and 3D-segmentation of AJs in epithelial cells, a quantitative approach was implemented to assess the spatial and temporal distribution of E-cadherin across zebrafish epidermis between 24 and 72 hpf. Results: increasing levels of E-cadh protein parallel higher cell density and the appearance of hexagonal cells in the enveloping layer (EVL) as well as the establishments of new cell-cell contacts in the epidermal basal layer (EBL), being significantly between 31 and 48 hpf . Conclusions: Increasing levels of E-cadherin in AJs correlates with extensive changes in cell morphology towards hexagonal packing during the epidermis morphogenesis.


This feature in each issue of the journal, will serve to indicate a main direction of thought about palliative care, somewhat as the compass and map offer guidance in the sport after which this section is titled.


This research examines the analysis of teaching-learning interactions in higher education teaching settings. To date, the majority of research in this area views the knowledge transfer process from the perspective of either instructor or student, leading to a lack of evaluation of the dynamic interaction that occurs between both parties during knowledge transfer. Yet, by its nature, teaching is a complex and dynamic process with many impacting factors. Therefore, this thesis argues that any knowledge transfer performance measurement system needs to be based on an analysis of the processes involved and have a high level of flexibility, simplicity and measurement built in. As a result, this research uses performance measurement tools that assist in analysing feedback from both student and instructor during the knowledge transfer process, in a combined qualitative and quantitative approach based on systems theory. This research has developed a multi-disciplinary framework that includes constructs and concepts from learning theories, knowledge transfer, performance measurement, systems theory and uses concepts from cognitive psychology as a linking tool. It has been designed to improve the efficiency of the analysis process, while increasing the supporting information available for use by stakeholders. The methodology includes best practice traits and checklists for knowledge transfer, key performance indicators in cost, quality and time, and an implementation methodology. The framework was found to facilitate the analysis of complex teaching setting processes, providing greater support for analysts in the identification of potential weaknesses and vulnerabilities than previously applied tools, which supports the identification of potential improvements and opportunities for corrective actions. The framework was validated using the Validation Square, and tested using three distinct theory-testing case studies: composite learning environment, classroom based lecture and large lecture theatre lecture. The case studies revealed that the framework provides a high level of detail, scalability, accuracy, reliability, and usability.


We present the software design principles, algorithms, and utilities of a general weighted grammar library, the GRM Library, that can be used in a variety of applications in text, speech, and biosequence processing. Several of the algorithms and utilities of this library are described, including in some cases their pseudocodes and pointers to their use in applications. The algorithms and the utilities were designed to support a wide variety of semirings and the representation and use of large grammars and automata of several hundred million rules or transitions.


Summary

Low- (5%) and high-fat (20%) chicken and turkey hotdogs were formulated in three groups: no antimicrobials (control), chemical preservatives (potassium lactate and sodium diacetate) alone and partial replacement of chemical preservatives by green tea (GTE) and grape seed extracts (GSE), surface inoculated (c. 103 CFU g−1) with Listeria monocytogenes, treated with or without heat treatment (65 °C for 104 s) to determine the growth of L. monocytogenes until spoilage (28 days). Maximum growth inhibitions (c. 2.0 CFU g−1) were observed in the treatments having chemical preservatives and plant extracts regardless of the meat and fat type. Furthermore, plant extracts along with chemical preservatives demonstrated additional inhibitory effect on the growth of L. monocytogenes survivors in chicken hotdog samples followed by postpackaging heat treatment. Results demonstrated that natural GTE and GSE can partially replace the chemical preservatives and further enhance the antilisterial activities when combined with heat treatment.


BACKGROUND Anti-tumor necrosis factor agents were the first biologic therapy approved for the management of Crohn's disease (CD). Heart failure (HF) is a rare but potential adverse effect of these medications. The objective of this report is to describe a patient with CD who developed HF after the use of infliximab. CASE SUMMARY A 50-year-old woman with a history of hypertension and diabetes presented with abdominal pain, diarrhea, and weight loss. Colonoscopy and enterotomography showed ulcerations, areas of stenosis and dilation in the terminal ileum, and thickening of the intestinal wall. The patient underwent ileocolectomy and the surgical specimen confirmed the diagnosis of stenosing CD. The patient started infliximab and azathioprine treatment to prevent post-surgical recurrence. At 6 mo after initiating infliximab therapy, the patient complained of dyspnea, orthopnea, and paroxysmal nocturnal dyspnea that gradually worsened. Echocardiography revealed biventricular dysfunction, moderate cardiac insufficiency, an ejection fraction of 36%, and moderate pericardial effusion, consistent with HF. The cardiac disease was considered an infliximab adverse effect and the drug was discontinued. The patient received treatment with diuretics for HF and showed improvement of symptoms and cardiac function. Currently, the patient is using anti-interleukin for CD and is asymptomatic. CONCLUSION This reported case supports the need to investigate risk factors for HF in inflammatory bowel disease patients and to consider the risk-benefit of introducing infliximab therapy in such patients presenting with HF risk factors.


Within the field of Human Resources there is a significant gap between academic
and professional writings. This was also noticeable when we looked at the subject of
Human Resources Shared Service Centers (HR SSCs). The lack of academic
writings contrasted sharply with the professional attention it got over the last few
years. In this research a literature study was conducted to develop an insight into the
professional findings about HR SSCs. To conduct this study we used professional
writings and thus evaded the gap of academic research. As such, the interrelated
research questions were:
"What are the lessons learned from the professional HR literature about HR SSC?"
"In which way can HR SSCs be modelled on the basis of those lessons?"
34 Articles from professional HR journals were selected out of a sample of 78. These
articles were then analyzed with the Grounded Theory (GT) method. With this
method we interpreted the articles according to our own insights and developed
categories and properties around the mentioned phenomena. By connecting these
categories and properties we made a conceptualization of the practitioner findings.
The conceptualization led to the following conclusions:
'Brand development' or 'Service Improvement' motivations for deploying a HR
SSC led to more positive impacts and a higher success rate;
Solely 'Economical' motivations were not enough to achieve positive impacts;
Risks anticipated were a good predictor for eventual impacts;
HR SSCs had more strong impacts as they grew over time.
Thus if organizations wanted to have a better operating HR SSC, the focus should
not be on economical motivations. Instead, to leverage the full advantage of a HR
SSC, organizations should operate a HR SSC out of a differed motivation. It was
mentioned however that all the results were influenced by the interpretations of the
author and the articles used.
Finally we tried to close the gap between professionals and academics by giving
recommendations to academics for future research on the basis of the practitioner
writings. The first recommendation was to examine what will actually change when
different risks were anticipated. A second recommendation was to research why HR
SSCs, which were deployed for economical motives, did not achieve as many
positive aspects as HR SSCs which were deployed for different motivations. The
third and last recommendation was to research the development of HR SSCs
through time. In our research it was perceived that they seemed to have more
positive impacts when time passed by. The question was raised if this was truly the
case.


Abstract. Within the framework of the European Interreg IIIb Medocc program, the HYDROPTIMET project aims at the optimization of the hydrometeorological forecasting tools in the context of intense precipitation within complex topography. Therefore, some meteorological forecast models and hydrological models were tested on four Mediterranean flash-flood events. One of them occured in France where the South-eastern ridge of the French "Massif Central", the Gard region, experienced a devastating flood on 8 and 9 September 2002. 24 people were killed during this event and the economic damage was estimated at 1.2 billion euros. To built the next generation of the hydrometeorological forecasting chain that will be able to capture such localized and fast events and the resulting discharges, the forecasted rain fields might be improved to be relevant for hydrological purposes. In such context, this paper presents the results of the evaluation methodology proposed by Yates et al. (2005) that highlights the relevant hydrological scales of a simulated rain field. Simulated rain fields of 7 meteorological model runs concerning with the French event are therefore evaluated for different accumulation times. The dynamics of these models are either based on non-hydrostatic or hydrostatic equation systems. Moreover, these models were run under different configurations (resolution, initial conditions). The classical score analysis and the areal evaluation of the simulated rain fields are then performed in order to put forward the main simulation characteristics that improve the quantitative precipitation forecast. The conclusions draw some recommendations on the value of the quantitative precipitation forecasts and way to use it for quantitative discharge forecasts within mountainous areas.


We propose a computationally intensive method, the random lasso method, for variable selection in linear models. The method consists of two major steps. In step 1, the lasso method is applied to many bootstrap samples, each using a set of randomly selected covariates. A measure of importance is yielded from this step for each covariate. In step 2, a similar procedure to the first step is implemented with the exception that for each bootstrap sample, a subset of covariates is randomly selected with unequal selection probabilities determined by the covariates' importance. Adaptive lasso may be used in the second step with weights determined by the importance measures. The final set of covariates and their coefficients are determined by averaging bootstrap results obtained from step 2. The proposed method alleviates some of the limitations of lasso, elastic-net and related methods noted especially in the context of microarray data analysis: it tends to remove highly correlated variables altogether or select them all, and maintains maximal flexibility in estimating their coefficients, particularly with different signs; the number of selected variables is no longer limited by the sample size; and the resulting prediction accuracy is competitive or superior compared to the alternatives. We illustrate the proposed method by extensive simulation studies. The proposed method is also applied to a Glioblastoma microarray data analysis.


This study explored the memory conformity effect in children. Younger (6–7 years; n = 60) and older (11–12 years; n = 62) children watched a video individually (individual witness condition) or in dyads (co-witness condition). The dyads believed that they were viewing the same video as the other member of the pair while in fact the saw different versions. Next, children in the individual witness condition answered questions, whereas children in the co-witness condition discussed the event on the video with each other. Finally, all children completed an individual free and cued recall task. In the co-witness condition, more than 60% of the children recalled at least one detail from the alternative video, whereas over 23% of the children in the individual witness condition reported such a detail. Moreover, in free recall—but not in cued recall—the memory conformity effect was stronger for older than for younger children. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.


Studies on enterprise IT innovations have established the relationships between a number of determinants and enterprise innovativeness. However, such studies in general have been conducted in developed economies. Recent literature has called for broadening innovationrelated research to other contexts, such as emerging economies. It must be noted that emerging economies suffer from several innovation-related limitations, including poor innovation infrastructure, weak legal system, among others. Yet, practice suggests that in recent times, emerging economies are demonstrating high levels of innovativeness. However, to our knowledge, little or no studies have been conducted on this topic till date. Using a multimethodology approach (including case studies, a pilot survey and a large scale survey) within the ICT industry in India, This proposed study aims at examining what factors will impact the development of four types of innovations for IT enterprises in India, one of the largest emerging economies in the world.


Aim: Most of targeted cancer drugs are developed in the clinical setting as single agent or as add-on of a standard treatment. Indeed, scarce data are available about the interaction effect in terms of synergism or antagonism for combinations of targeted agent or of targeted agents and cytotoxics at different doses. We studied the interaction effects of combinations of BKM120, MEK162 and SN38 (the active metabolite of irinotecan) on CRC cell lines. Materials and methods: A combination drug screening was performed on 7 CRC cell lines, 2 of which previously made resistant to irinotecan. For each cell line the combinations of BKM120 and MEK162, of BKM120 and SN38, and of MEK162 and SN38 were tested. Cell survival was assessed by sulforhodamine B cytotoxic assay in matrices of full-range dose combinations for both drugs. We compiled an R script to perform a synergy analysis according to a modified version of the method proposed by Lehar and al. (Nat Biotechnol 2009;27:659-666). Our version of the Lehar method allows quantification of synergism or antagonism for each dose combination point in dose matrices of two or more drugs, and yields a synthetic interaction parameter, the combination index (CI). A CI of > 0 indicating synergy, a CI of Results: We could detect a pronounced synergism between BKM120 and MEK162, with a mean combination index of 1.82 for the 7 cell lines tested. Drug combinations including chemotherapy showed less positive interactions. A moderate synergistic interaction was detected between SN38 and MEK162, with a mean CI of 1.16. Combinations of SN38 and BKM120 were mainly additive, with a mean CI of 0.17. Interestingly, the distribution of synergistic effect was not homogeneous over the dose matrices. Analysis of matrices for the BKM120/MEK162 combination showed focal areas high synergy, which were quite constantly located in dose regions corresponding to IC10-IC30 for BKM120 and IC20-IC35 for MEK162. On the contrary, analysis of matrices for the BKM/SN38 combination showed focal areas of intense antagonism located in dose regions corresponding to IC15-IC30 for BKM120 and IC5-IC30 for SN38. No clear correlation was detected between, on the one side, the type of pharmacological interaction for all drug combinations tested and, on the other side, the mutational status of KRAS and p53, or sensitivity to irinotecan. Conclusions: Our data show the importance of an extensive preclinical testing of the interaction effects of drug combinations at different doses. We are now performing synergism analysis of three dimension matrices for three-drug combinations. Phosphoproteomic analysis of drug combination effect on this high synergism areas compared to other dose matrix areas is ongoing, with the aim to elucidate the underlying molecular mechanism(s). Citation Format: Diego Tosi, Salima Atis, Caroline Mollevi, Nadia Vie, Pierre Martineau, Celine Gongora. Synergism analysis of dose matrices for combinations of BKM120 (a PI3K inhibitor), MEK162 (a MEK1/2 inhibitor) and chemotherapy in colorectal cancer (CRC) cell lines. [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the AACR Precision Medicine Series: Drug Sensitivity and Resistance: Improving Cancer Therapy; Jun 18-21, 2014; Orlando, FL. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Clin Cancer Res 2015;21(4 Suppl): Abstract nr A40.


In this thesis, we focused on the subject of bilingualism from a theoretical point of view, adding a case study to it as a part of research. Choosing from numerous approaches to bilingualism, we had finally opted for the neurolinguistic one, therefore the first four chapters, ie. the theoretical part of this thesis, deal with some of the key topics concerning neurolinguistics in general. We have discussed the models of bilingual language representation and processing, starting with Weinreich's and Ervin and Osgood's models and on to some more recent ones, like Kroll and Stewart's or De Groot's. We have highlighted the importance of different types of memory, namely the procedural and declarative memory, and their role in language acquistion and language production, which is an inevitable topic if we are to get a detailed view into language organization in brain. We have also taken a closer look at aphasia as one of the key resources of information not only for bilinguals but for monolinguals as well. The main focus was on different recovery patterns, which has proved to be instrumental in explaining the various neural mechanisms participating in language processing. In the last chapter of the theoretical part we have compared monolingual and bilingual children. We have also briefly discussed the nature of simultaneous bilingual acquistion from an early age.
For the purpose of this thesis, a short case study had been done. The case study involved two preschool italian-croatian bilingual children as participants. In a short introduction we described and presented the participants' biographical data and language history. After recording and transcribing their spontaneous speech, we formed a corpus, which was later analysed at the morpho-syntactic level. As the corpus contained a lot of examples of language interference, we included those examples in our analysis as well. The aim of our analysis was to examine the most frequently occurred types of errors in participants' speech all together and then to compare the individual errors. Within each type of error examples from the corpus were added to support it. The results obtained from the analysis were later shown in diagrams with added explanations.


There is considerable evidence that people with disability are at a heightened likelihood of experiencing disadvantage in many facets of life. A greater likelihood of disadvantage may in turn increase the risk of exclusion from a range of opportunities, including social participation. However, factors that may lead to 'double disadvantage' among people with disability – such as living outside major cities – have not been well assessed in Australia in relation to social connectedness. The current study compared various socioeconomic, life satisfaction, community participation and social support measures among prime working age regional people with and with no disability. People with disability experienced greater relative disadvantage and reported lower levels of perceived social support compared with people with no disability. Irrespective of disability status, men in regional Australia reported lower levels of social support than women. However, engagement in community activities such as volunteering did not differ as a function of disability status. This in turn suggests potential avenues for consideration in terms of strengthening social connectedness among regional people with disability, and addressing the risk of social exclusion for this group.


GPs serve in a double role of treatment provider and expert in certain social insurance systems, such as the Norwegian one. Some physicians assert that the ethical obligations of the two roles conflict with each other. The objective of this article is to show that social insurance medical ethics (SIME), which are based on recognised principles of medical ethics, unite the physicians' obligations associated with these roles. The method applied is a medical ethics conceptual analysis. The material consists of literature on normative SIME. The study shows that SIME expands the role of the treatment provider to a wider societal context. Here, physicians should attempt to balance the perspectives of sympathy with empathy, as treatment providers, with the impartiality in their role as experts. Five principles of medical ethics are fundamental. Respect for human dignity is the overarching principle of medical ethics. The four others are nonmaleficence, beneficence (including soft paternalism), autonomy, and social justice. The article discusses two areas where it is asserted that the roles of treatment provider and expert conflict with each other: the application of beneficence and justice, and the duty of confidentiality versus the duty to provide information to the National Insurance service. The study concludes that there are no basic ethical conflicts between the two roles. The ethical problems that may arise when exercising this duality should be viewed in the same way as other ethical problems in medicine. Actual application and balancing of the principles may necessitate negotiations between patients and physicians.
Keywords: dual roles, professionalism, deliberation, impartiality, medical principle ethics, values of welfare state


Length dependence of the thermal conductivity of (5, 5) carbon nanotube at 300 K and 1000 K is studied by nonequilibrium molecular dynamics simulations. At room temperature the thermal conductivity shows linear length dependence for the tube length less than 40 nm, which shows completely ballistic transport. The calculated ballistic thermal conductance per unit area is 5.88×10 9 Wm -2 K -1 . The thermal conductivity increases with the increase of the nanotube length, but the increase rate decreases as the length increases. It shows that the phonon transport is in the ballistic-diffusive regime, and transits from ballistic to diffusive with increase of the tube length. The thermal conduction is close to completely diffusive transport and the ballistic transport can be ignored when the nanotube is longer than 10 μm. In the simulations, the power exponent of the thermal conductivity of carbon nanotube to the tube length decreases by decaying exponential function as the tube length increases. Different from one-dimensional material, in the thermodynamic limit, a completely diffusive transport will dominate the thermal transport in carbon nanotubes, and the thermal conductivity will converge to a finite value.


PURPOSE To evaluate the effect of prolonged sandblasting on the bond durability of dual-cure adhesive resin cement to computer-aided design and computer-aided manufacturing (CAD/CAM) restoratives. MATERIALS AND METHODS Nano-ceramic LAVA Ultimate and hybrid-ceramic VITA Enamic CAD/CAM blocks were used for this study. Each CAD/CAM block was sectioned into slabs of 4-mm thickness for the microtensile test (µTBS) test and 2-mm thickness for the surface roughness test. Three groups were created according to the sandblasting protocols; group 1: specimens were sandblasted for 15 seconds, group 2: specimens were sandblasted for 30 seconds, and group 3: specimens were sandblasted for 60 seconds. After sandblasting, all specimens were luted using RelyX Ultimate Clicker. Half the specimens were subjected to µTBS tests at 24 hours, and the other half were subjected to tests after 5000 thermocycles. Additionally, a total of 96 CAD/CAM block sections were prepared for surface roughness tests and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) evaluations. The Mann-Whitney U test, Kruskal-Wallis one-way analysis of variance, and Dunn's post hoc test were used to compare continuous variables among the groups. RESULTS At baseline, group 1, group 2, and group 3 exhibited statistically similar µTBS results for LAVA. However, group 3 had significantly lower µTBS values than groups 1 and 2 for VITA. After 5000 thermocycles, µTBS values significantly decreased for each block (P<.05). CONCLUSION It is important to perform controlled sandblasting because it may affect bond strength results. Sixty seconds of sandblasting disturbs the initial µTBS values and the stability of adhesion of CAD/CAM restoratives to dual-cure adhesive resin cement for VITA Enamic.


In this paper, an adaptive control algorithm via delayed dynamical neural nets (DDNNs) for a class of nonlinear systems is presented. We identify the nonlinear system by updating the weights of the DDNNs and then design the controller adaptively based on the neural networks model to achieve the model following purpose. An analysis via Lyapunov stability criteria shows that the proposed control algorithm guarantees parameter estimation convergence and system stability, with the output of the system following the specified reference model. Finally, a series of simulations are performed to demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed scheme.


Over the past century, humans have molded the Colorado River to serve their own needs, resulting in significant impacts to the river and its ecosystems. Today, many scientists, public officials, and citizens hope to restore some of the lost resources in portions of the river and its surrounding lands. Environmental restoration on the scale of the Colorado River basin is immensely challenging; in addition to an almost overwhelming array of technical difficulties, it is fraught with perplexing questions about the appropriate goals of restoration and the extent to which environmental restoration must be balanced against environmental changes designed to promote and sustain human economic development."Restoring Colorado River Ecosystems" explores the many questions and challenges surrounding the issue of large-scale restoration of the Colorado River basin, and of large-scale restoration in general. Robert W. Adler evaluates the relationships among the laws, policies, and institutions governing use and management of the Colorado River for human benefit and those designed to protect and restore the river and its environment. He examines and critiques the often challenging interactions among law, science, economics, and politics within which restoration efforts must operate. Ultimately, he suggests that a broad concept of restoration is needed to navigate those uncertain waters, and to strike an appropriate balance between human and environmental needs.While the book is primarily about restoration of Colorado River ecosystems, it is also about uncertainty, conflict, competing values, and the nature, pace, and implications of environmental change. It is about our place in the natural environment, and whether there are limits to that presence we ought to respect. And it is about our responsibility to the ecosystems we live in and use."


This paper presents the challenges faced during micro-tunnelling process in Emirates of Dubai. In permeable grounds, the loss of slurry increases the cutter head torque and reduces penetration rates. Overcut is formed to provide space for converging ground and enables the evenly circulation of lubricant flow on the pipe line, as such buoyancy effects of fluid lubrication act on the pipe to lessen the drag during jacking. Micro-tunnelling techniques are used to reduce penetration resistance within the pipe string by providing sufficient uniform overcut and continuously injecting polymer lubricants. It is also observed that as the Urban area in Dubai is surrounded by built structures and numerous underground services, a special consideration is required to protect these services especially DEWA ED Cables. Also, the high ground water table, fractures within the rock and proximity of creek makes things very difficult to reduce the water table level in launching / receiving Pit and have difficulties in breaking the hard ground within the Pit. At Wafi Interchange, proposed development for the extension of interchange had to be incorporated in the alignment and accordingly standard pipe fittings to be introduced in the alignment. There are services towards Sheikh Butti palace (launching pit side) and on the other side (receiving pit). Ongoing construction of Al Jaliliya children's hospital requires close coordination and safety related issues to be addressed prior to mobilization of heavy equipment at the proposed micro-tunnelling area. The receiving pit at Emarat petrol pump was also critical and special approval from RTA is required to close one lane at the heavy traffic along the service road, parallel to sheikh Rashid road. The removal of ground water was another challenge because near Sheikh Butti palace the drainage network was not completed and hence special arrangement was to be made to discharge the water near the creek, for which DM environment approval are to be sought.


The urban population in Ethiopia is increasing rapidly. If managed proactively, urban population growth presents a huge opportunity to shift the structure and location of economic activity from rural agriculture to the larger and more diversified urban industrial and service sectors. If not managed proactively, rapid urban population growth may pose a demographic challenge as cities struggle to provide jobs, infrastructure and services, and housing. The central challenge for the Ethiopian Government is to make sure that cities are attractive places in which to work and live, while fostering smart urbanization. Making urbanization a national priority will accelerate Ethiopia's progress towards reaching middle-income status. The government has already taken steps to make evidence-based, informed decisions for well-managed urban growth, and this report aims to contribute to those efforts.


The Feynman path integral does not allow a one real path interpretation, because the quantum amplitudes contribute to probabilities in a non-separable manner. The opposite extreme, all paths happen , is not a useful or informative account. In this paper it is shown that an intermediate parsing of the path integral, into realistic non-interfering possibilities, is always available. Each realistic possibility formally corresponds to numerous particle paths, but is arguably best interpreted as a spacetime-valued field. Notably, one actual field history can always be said to occur, although it will generally not have an extremized action. The most obvious concerns with this approach are addressed, indicating necessary follow-up research. But without obvious showstoppers, it seems plausible that the path integral might be reinterpreted to explain quantum phenomena in terms of Lorentz covariant field histories. Quanta 2016; 5: 1–11.


The Center for Minority Health at the University of Pittsburgh aims to eliminate racial and ethnic health disparities especially in the areas of diabetes and hypertension. One avenue for eliminating racial and ethnic health disparities is through biomedical and public health research. The CMH strives to increase African American participation in research through community outreach programs including the Healthy Black Family Project. The HBFP is a community based intervention created to promote health and prevent disease through lifestyle behavior change in the African American community in Pittsburgh. The present study recruited individuals from the HBFP for focus groups to assess the perceptions of African Americans in the Pittsburgh area toward genetics and genetics research. Specifically, the study sought to characterize the willingness of African Americans to donate DNA for research examining the roles of genes and environment in disease development. The CMH is interested in this research because it has been suggested that uncovering the genetic and environmental contributions to common diseases such as diabetes and hypertension may help illuminate causes of racial and ethnic health disparities and allow for more effective strategies for prevention and treatment. Transcripts from four focus groups attended by 43 people were read and coded using thematic analysis. Findings suggest participants are acutely aware of potential negative consequences of donating genetic material however, cautious optimism was expressed when discussing benefits of research. Additionally, the results suggest that researchers must actively work to build trust with potential research participants to increase willingness to participate. The findings also suggest a strong association of the term genetics with family history, a limited understanding of the biological aspects of genetics, and a sensationalized view of genetics research. These last three issues may be addressed through a genetics education outreach program. This study is relevant to the field of public health because it provides researchers with direction in their effort to better characterize the willingness of African Americans to donate DNA for genetics research.


Devil facial tumour disease (DFTD) is a recently emerged fatal transmissible cancer decimating the wild population of Tasmanian devils (Sarcophilus harrisii). Biting transmits the cancer cells and the tumour develops in the new host as an allograft. The literature reports that immune escape mechanisms employed by DFTD inevitably result in host death. Here we present the first evidence that DFTD regression can occur and that wild devils can mount an immune response against the disease. Of the 52 devils tested, six had serum antibodies against DFTD cells and, in one case, prominent T lymphocyte infiltration in its tumour. Notably, four of the six devils with serum antibody had histories of DFTD regression. The novel demonstration of an immune response against DFTD in wild Tasmanian devils suggests that a proportion of wild devils can produce a protective immune response against naturally acquired DFTD. This has implications for tumour–host coevolution and vaccine development.


The present paper is devoted to the study of a new triggering scheme for discharge initiation which allows low triggering delay times and jitters. The device, which mainly comprises a carbon bridge is characterized by its low dimension and energy consumption. Fast imaging techniques coupled to electric measurements and spectroscopic investigations have allowed us to characterize the spatio-temporal evolution of the physical processes resulting in the triggering.


This essay examines the relations between Italian populisms and religion. In the first place, after a reconstruction of the concept of «populism», it surveys the main Italian populisms, which mainly include Forza Italia, Lega Nord and Movimento 5 stelle. In the second place, it examines these parties' "religious strategy", in order to understand whether religion occupies a role in their political action and in their communication activity, and whether Italian populisms may be regarded as the expression of a cultural blacklash


Development of module has great impact on literacy today. This paper highlights the challenges and experiences of the researchers in an academic institution where the research project which initially began as part of an academic research initiative expanded to helping a marginalized community in need.Literacy pedagogy has to be relevant to the needs of the pupils who come from diverse contexts.As such there is a need for a method and module to design an appropriate pedagogy to improve literacy among these pupils.In this paper, we share the conception of instilling literacy by utilizing the Developmental Module Approach (DMA), an example of a systematic approach in improving literacy among a group of indigenous pupils specifically the Semai community from Terisu in Cameroon Highland,Pahang.In contrast, Malay Language is used as a medium in teaching across schools in Malaysia including elementary school of Orang Asli and a more significant second language use in the classroom by Orang Asli pupils. The finding has provided important insights for the development of the pedagogical module and may offer a clear understanding of reasons Orang Asli pupils lag behind in their academic attainment.Based on the interviews we found
that among the problems faced in the Malay Language literacy are closely related to cultural and environment issues and how such disparities affect drop-out rate among Orang Asli pupils.The study is expected to provide input to the curriculum development center, educational administrators and teachers.


Allergic alveolitis (hypersensitivity pneumonitis) developed in two patients who were exposed to home humidifiers contaminated by thermophilic actinomycetes. Diagnosis was difficult because severe dyspnea was chronic and not easily associated with specific environmental exposure. Furthermore, chest roentgenograms were normal for long periods despite severe physiologic abnormalities. After several years of disabling symptoms, open lung biopsy findings suggested allergic alveolitis rather than sarcoidosis because a mononuclear interstitial infiltrate overshadowed the granulomas. Also, plasma cells were prominent and there was an intense bronchiolitis. Cultures of the humidifier water grew thermophilic organisms to which the patient's sera formed precipitins. Both patients experienced notable subjective and objective improvement following removal of the contaminated appliances. The ultrastructure of alveolar macrophages and basement membranes was similar to that described in animal models, suggesting cell-mediated hypersensitivity in the patients.


With the increasing demand for deeper understanding of users» preferences, recommender systems have gone beyond simple user-item filtering and are increasingly sophisticated, comprised of multiple components for analyzing and fusing diverse information. Unfortunately, existing frameworks do not adequately support extensibility and adaptability and consequently pose significant challenges to rapid, iterative, and systematic, experimentation. In this work, we propose OpenRec, an open and modular Python framework that supports extensible and adaptable research in recommender systems. Each recommender is modeled as a computational graph that consists of a structured ensemble of reusable modules connected through a set of well-defined interfaces. We present the architecture of OpenRec and demonstrate that OpenRec provides adaptability, modularity and reusability while maintaining training efficiency and recommendation accuracy. Our case study illustrates how OpenRec can support an efficient design process to prototype and benchmark alternative approaches with inter-changeable modules and enable development and evaluation of new algorithms.


It is highly challenging to construct a durable superhydrophobic coating for practical applications since the coating is easily destroyed by mechano-chemical attack. To address this issue, a "PDMS-in-water" emulsion approach is for the first time adopted to design a mechanochemically robust superhydrophobic cotton fabric with intelligent self-healing nature, without using any fluorine-containing components. With this approach, PDMS molecules firstly penetrate into the cotton fiber, and then graft onto the surface of the cotton fabric with a strong binding force, creating hierarchical rough structures and lowering the surface energy simultaneously. Benefitting from this design, the PDMS@cotton fabric exhibits high superhydrophobicity with a water contact angle over 155°, surpassing all the PDMS-in-organic solvent based approaches. Impressively, the surface repairs its superhydrophobicity throughout the whole lifetime though damaged by machine washing or abrasion (>100 cycles), due to the self-diffusion process of PDMS molecules from the inner part to the outer surface of the cotton fibers to minimize surface free energy. Besides, the superhydrophobic coatings display superior chemical stability in strongly acidic and alkaline solution, and maintain similar textile physical properties of the cotton fabric, such as elongation at break, tensile strength, etc. Our environment-friendly "PDMS-in-water" approach can be easily integrated into industrial textile finishing treatment and is promising to apply to various substrates with robust superhydrophobic surfaces.


ABSTRACT Weather conditions have considerable influence on cycling travel behavior, especially in tropical countries such as Singapore, which has a hot, humid, and rainy climate. This study examined the effects of weather conditions and weather forecasts on cycling travel behavior in Singapore. Cyclists (n = 553) answered a questionnaire on their perceptions of weather conditions, travel accident risk, pre-trip and during-trip acquisition of weather information, possible travel plan changes, trip duration, trip purpose, trip frequency, and respondents' social demography. The questionnaires were administrated directly on sites around mass rapid transit (MRT) stations and bike parking areas during daylight hours (08:00–18:00 h) and in dry as well as wet weather conditions. Concurrently, real-time weather information from the nearest weather measurement station and weather forecast information were collected from a smart phone application furnished by the National Environment Agency. Cyclists were found to prefer relatively lower temperature (29.5–31.5°C) and humidity (52.3%–62.7%) and no rainfall (in past 60 min). Higher temperature (>30.9°C), humidity (>55.8%), and rainfall (>0.28 mm in past 60 min) tended to elevate cyclists' self-estimated level of traffic accident risk. Nearly 30% of participating cyclists checked the weather forecast information before the onset of the trip, in which internet, radio, and smart phone applications were the main media sources. Social/leisure trip was the main purpose for cyclists during wet weather. Irregular trips were clearly underrepresented during wet weather conditions, suggesting that some trips were postponed or cancelled. Cyclists with before-trip information of wet weather forecast were more likely to change their travel mode, but such influence was weaker for adverse weather forecast acquired during the trip. Research results suggested that the authorities could provide real-time and predicted weather information, especially during wet weather conditions, to help travelers adjust their travel plan in time and improve the level of travel safety.


Non‐response bias is rarely explored in business research utilising annual reports. Such studies may reach incorrect conclusions in instances where there are systematic differences between companies who respond and those who do not. A global study into airline accounting practices by Tan, Tower, Hancock and Taplin (2002) enabled examination of this important research issue because a database provided an independent source of annual reports. The results indicate minimal response bias in a sample of annual reports obtained from a mail request. Publically listed airline companies that did not respond to a request for their annual report tended to use accounting methods that are considered least favourable by the industry. Therefore, caution needs to be exercised and the assumption that non‐respondents' accounting policy choices are aligned with those of respondents should be tested. Increased availability of annual reports on the internet also raises questions of possible database bias.


Absorptive hypercalciuria (AH) is a kidney stone-forming condition frequently complicated by bone loss. Previously, we mapped the locus for an inherited form of AH to chromosome 1q23.3-q24. We have sequenced a putative gene (subsequently shown by others to be homologous with the rat soluble adenylate cyclase gene) in this region in 12 unrelated Caucasian AH patients. Eighteen base substitutions were identified in the soluble adenylate cyclase human homolog gene. All sequence variations were further evaluated in 3-68 additional unrelated AH patients and 19-132 normal subjects, and 1 additional base substitution was identified. Six of the identified sequence variations occurred with increased frequency in the AH population and tracked with the AH phenotype in AH families. Calculated odds ratios showed that the occurrence of any 4 of these individual base substitutions was associated with a 2.2- to 3.5-fold increase in estimated risk for AH (P < 0.02). In addition, 1 or more base changes was associated with a lower L2-L4 vertebral bone density. Sequence analysis of 3 other genes within the AH linkage interval showed no difference in the distribution of sequence variations between AH and normal populations. This is the first description of a specific gene defect associated with AH.


The purpose of this study was to investigate the persistance of the insecticides aldrin, dieldrin, chlordane, and DDT in water. A small drainage area was sprayed with these compounds, and the insecticides were collected in the runoff water from the area. Laboratory experiments were performed to determine the effectiveness of aeration, adsorption on silt, and adsorption on algae in removing the pesticides from water. All of the pesticides were found in samples of water collected from the area for the full period of the tests. The amounts which were found in a small pond into which the surface water drained was consistently less than that found in the surface runoff water itself. The reduced concentrations in the pond water were apparently the result of a combination of sedimentation, adsorption on algae or silt, or volatilization of the insecticide from the water into the atmosphere. In general, the efficiency of removal of insecticide from water by any one of these processes appears to be low. However, because of the large ratio of absorbant to insecticide, the overall removal is substantial.


The classical method (namely inclining experiment) has been used to estimate the vertical center of gravity (VCG or more often KG) of ships for many years. This method is based on the assumption that the metacenter is unchanged in the calculation of KG when the vessel is heeled. However, ships built today have knuckles, chines, dead-rise which may give rise to excessive change in the water-plane. The location of the metacenter is changed on these vessels when heeled. Therefore, determination of the vertical center of gravity may be somewhat erroneous. In this study, three different methods based on the assumption of unchanged metacenter have been examined. Employing the Graphical method, Polar method and Generalized method, the KG values of all vessels can be calculated without any dependence on the metacenter. The three methods mentioned in this study were studied and applied on ten different ships. Furthermore, the results from the classical method compared with those obtained from the recently developed methods. Based on this comparison, it is observed that the new methods developed have similar results to the classical method. Therefore, these methods may be a good alternative to the inclining experiment in the future. Moreover, uncertainty analyses have been performed for the results obtained from the classical method just to realize if there are any critical GM values within the margin of error.


The relations between literature and the political community have figured prominently on the research agenda in the humanities in the last few decades. The tension between political power and its different rhetorical and literary figurations can be productively explored by focusing on the juncture of two prominent nineteenth-century discourses: those relying on notions of Bildung (a term capturing processes of self-development and organic growth) and the state (which often denotes those aspects of power that cannot be couched in a naturalizing rhetoric of the nation or, indeed, Bildung). This forum traces the mobilization of figures of Bildung for the legitimation of political power in the paradigmatic genre of the Bildungsroman as well as in novelistic, biological, utopian, architectural, educational, and journalistic discourses.


The paper deals with the non destructive monitoring of civil engineering structures by using the time frequency representation. In particular the Acoustic Emission (AE) of the cracks that can occur inside structures can be evaluated for the study of damage growth. This analysis requires high sampling frequency and long time of observation. Therefore the proposed solution consists of two phases. The first one concerns the acquisition of the AE, the second one deals with the analysis of the acquired data by the Time Frequency Representations. The latter phase allows the identification of the frequencies connected to disaster events like the structural subsidence. The test validation in order to asses the effectiveness of the acquiring system set up is performed according with the standard for the AE in the concrete structures.


The JavaScript ecosystem provides equivalent synchronous and asynchronous Application Programming Interfaces (APIs) for many commonly used I/O operations. Synchronous APIs involve straightforward sequential control flow that makes them easy to use and understand, but their "blocking" behavior may result in poor responsiveness or performance. Asynchronous APIs impose a higher syntactic burden that relies on callbacks, promises, and higher-order functions. On the other hand, their nonblocking behavior enables applications to scale better and remain responsive while I/O requests are being processed. While it is generally understood that asynchronous APIs have better performance characteristics, many applications still rely on synchronous APIs. In this paper, we present a refactoring technique for assisting programmers with the migration from synchronous to asynchronous APIs. The technique relies on static analysis to determine where calls to synchronous API functions can be replaced with their asynchronous counterparts, relying on JavaScript's async/await feature to minimize disruption to the source code. Since the static analysis is potentially unsound, the proposed refactorings are presented as suggestions that must be reviewed and confirmed by the programmer. The technique was implemented in a tool named Desynchronizer. In an empirical evaluation on 12 subject applications containing 316 synchronous API calls, Desynchronizer identified 256 of these as candidates for refactoring. Of these candidates, 244 were transformed successfully, and only 12 resulted in behavioral changes. Further inspection of these cases revealed that the majority of these issues can be attributed to unsoundness in the call graph.


An algebraic framework for processing graph signals axiomatically designates the graph adjacency matrix as the shift operator. In this setup, we often encounter a problem wherein we know the filtered output and the filter coefficients, and need to find out the input graph signal. Solution to this problem using direct approach requires O(N3) operations, where N is the number of vertices in graph. In this paper, we adapt the spectral graph partitioning method for partitioning of graphs and use it to reduce the computational cost of the filtering problem. We use the example of denoising of the temperature data to illustrate the efficacy of the approach. Keywords—Graph signal processing, graph partitioning, inverse filtering on graphs, algebraic signal processing.


Introduction: Microscopic evaluation of peripheral blood smear is a very important investigation. Blood for various laboratory analyses are commonly kept in ethylene diamine tetra acetic acid (EDTA). EDTA can however cause morphological and fragility changes in blood cells. However, morphological analyses can be greatly hampered due to occurrence of artefacts.
Aims and Objectives: To identify the storage artefacts and thus avoid misinterpretation of peripheral blood smears.
Materials and Methods: 50 blood samples were obtained using EDTA and 3.5% sodium citrate as anticoagulants. Smears were made immediately as well as after 2, 4 and 6hrs of storage at room temperature. Smears obtained from same patients by finger prick method served as controls.
Conclusion: EDTA has been recommended as the anticoagulant of choice for peripheral smear but should be examined within 1hr of collection to avoid misinterpretation as pathological findings leading to wrong diagnosis.

Keywords: Peripheral smears, Anticoagulant, Platelets, Neutrophils, Artifacts.


The synthesis of two new 9-phenylacridino-18-crown-6 ether type sensor molecules [1 and (R,R)-2] was accomplished. The cation recognition ability of the achiral sensor molecule 1 towards various ions was studied in acetonitrile by UV/Vis and fluorescence spectroscopies. Our studies revealed the binding of Ag+, Cd2+, Ni2+, Pb2+, Zn2+ and NH4 + ions by the latter molecule. Selectivity of the chiral dimethyl-substituted analogue (R,R)-2 was studied toward the enantiomers of the hydrogen perchlorate salts of 1-phenylethylamine, 1-(1-naphthyl)ethylamine, phenylglycine methyl ester and phenylalanine methyl ester using fluorescence spectroscopy.


The article examines the main trends in the use of approaches to risk management of activities of Russian enterprises and organizations. The conclusion was made about the shift in focus in the field of risk management from the theory of calculations to minimization of uncertainty. The range of acceptability of the risk level in terms of economic instability is proved. The results of the study of the degree of readiness of entrepreneurs representing the industrial and commercial sectors of Tyumen economy to work in unstable economic conditions are mentioned. The extent of use of global management decision-making techniques in actual practice is estimated; the reasons for the low level of information support for the risk management process and the dependence of the business risk level on the diversification of activities are revealed. Five main groups of risk management techniques are proposed that predetermine the choice of options for possible actions depending on the likelihood and magnitude of potential damage represented as a "damage-probability" matrix. The impact of the level of information support on the level of uncertainty and risk in the implementation of 196 economic solutions in the field of managing the enterprise economy with a specialization in groups of risk situations was estimated: substantiation of the project of development of the existing production, management of the product life cycle, scheduled and urgent definition of the enterprise place in the competitive market. A risk management approach, which consists in ranking methods in descending order of their effectiveness depending on the action of risk-contributing factors, is proposed. A technology of managing the risks of the enterprise, which allows to achieve efficient allocation of resources to risk management and the best result – the lowest possible or acceptable residual risk level.


Abstract Objective: To describe the body size and weight, and the nutrition and activity behaviours of sexual and gender minority (SGM) students and compare them with those of exclusively opposite-sex-attracted cisgender students. Male and female SGM students were also compared. Design: Data were from a nationally representative health survey. Setting: Secondary schools in New Zealand, 2012. Participants: A total of 7769 students, 9 % were SGM individuals. Results: Overall, weight-control behaviours, poor nutrition and inactivity were common and, in many cases, more so for SGM students. Specifically, male SGM students (adjusted OR; 95 % CI) were significantly more likely to have tried to lose weight (1·95; 1·47, 2·59), engage in unhealthy weight control (2·17; 1·48, 3·19), consume fast food/takeaways (2·89; 2·01, 4·15) and be physically inactive (2·54; 1·65, 3·92), and were less likely to participate in a school sports team (0·57; 0·44, 0·75), compared with other males. Female SGM students (adjusted OR; 95 % CI) were significantly more likely to engage in unhealthy weight control (1·58; 1·20, 2·08), be overweight or obese (1·24; 1·01, 1·53) and consume fast food/takeaways (2·19; 1·59, 3·03), and were less likely to participate in a school sports team (0·62; 0·50, 0·76), compared with other females. Generally, female SGM students were more negatively affected than comparable males, except they were less likely to consume fast food/takeaways frequently (adjusted OR; 95 % CI: 0·62; 0·40, 0·96). Conclusions: SGM students reported increased weight-control behaviours, poor nutrition and inactivity. Professionals, including public health nutritionists, must recognize and help to address the challenges facing sexual and gender minorities.


Steam oxidation behavior of a new Ni-based single crystalline superalloy (TMS-75) developed as the high strength material for the advanced gas turbine which would be cooled by steam was studied in comparison with Inconel 625 alloy which is a representative Ni based superalloy and 12Cr ferritic steel which is conventionally used in boiler tubes and main steam pipes and steam turbines. TMS-75 alloy showed worse oxidation resistance in steam than Inconel 625 alloy, but it had much better oxidation resistance in steam than 12Cr steel. Also, the oxide scale of Inconel 625 alloy is very thin and is mainly composed of Cr2O3. However, the outer scale of TMS- 75 alloy was mainly composed of NiO with Co and a little Al and other elements. The Ni/Co ratio in the oxide scale was a little higher in the outer layer than in the inner layer.


Spontaneous Lorentz symmetry breaking can occur when the dynamics of a tensor field cause it to take on a nonzero expectation value in vacuo, thereby providing one or more 'preferred directions' in spacetime. Couplings between such fields and spacetime curvature will then affect the dynamics of the metric, leading to interesting gravitational effects. Bailey and Kostelecky[Q. G. Bailey and V. A. Kostelecky, Phys. Rev. D 74, 045001 (2006)] developed a post-Newtonian formalism that, under certain conditions concerning the field's couplings and stress-energy, allows for the analysis of gravitational effects in the presence of Lorentz symmetry breaking. We perform a systematic survey of vector models of spontaneous Lorentz symmetry breaking. We find that a two-parameter class of vector models, those with kinetic terms we call 'pseudo-Maxwell', can be successfully analyzed under the Bailey-Kostelecky formalism, and that one of these two 'dimensions' in parameter space has not yet been explored as a possible mechanism of spontaneous Lorentz symmetry breaking.


A wireless sensor network is an enormous assortment of sensor nodes with inadequate power supply and self-conscious computational competence. Due to the circumscribed communication range and high density of sensor nodes, packet dispatching in sensor networks is usually performed through multi-hop data transmission. For that reason, routing in wireless sensor networks has been deliberated as an imperative field of research over the past decade. These days, multipath routing techniques is widely used in wireless sensor networks to improve network performance over and done with efficient utilization of accessible network resources. Consequently, the main intention of this review is to present the conception of the various routing approaches and its fundamental experiments, as well as the basic motivations for exploiting these techniques in wireless sensor networks. Routing procedures for WSNs are responsible for selecting and maintaining the routes in the network and ensure reliable and effective communication in inadequate periods. The energy constriction of WSNs make energy saving become the most significant objective of various routing algorithms. In this paper, a review of routing protocols and algorithms used in WSNs is presented with energy efficiency as the main goalmouth.


With the publication of Fearful Symmetry in 1947, Northrop Frye gained wide renown as a literary theorist, a reputation that continued to build throughout his lifetime. This volume in the Collected Works provides a transcription of the seven books of diaries that Frye kept intermittently from 1942 until 1955. During the period of the final six diaries, 1949 - 1955, Frye was at work on Anatomy of Criticism, and he refers frequently to many of the essays written during this period that became a part of the book that brought him international acclaim. For Frye, diary-writing was a tool for recording .everything of importance. and this ruled out very little. His entries contain a large measure of self-analysis and self-revelation, and in this respect are confessional -- we see his sanguine humour, dark moods and claustrophobia, along with the more self-congratulatory aspects of his character. But the volume also serves as a chronicle. Peering over Frye's shoulder, we watch him teach his classes, plan his career, record his dreams, register his frank reactions to the hundreds of people who cross his path, eye attractive women, reflect on books, music and movies, ponder religious and political issues, consider his various physical and psychological ailments, practise the piano, visit bookstores, frequent Toronto restaurants, and record scores of additional activities, mundane and otherwise. The volume is fully annotated and contains a directory that identifies the more than 1200 people who make an appearance. Published here for the first time, these chronicles provide an unprecedented view of the life and times of this now-legendary scholar.


Who is not afraid of the dentist? Or to be more specific. . . who is not afraid of the dental drill? Caries is a common ailment, that is caused by bacteria in dental plaque. Cavities will form when you do not properly remove the plaque on your teeth. The improvement of caries prevention and treatment techniques is a major issue in dentistry. Preparation of cavities prior to filling is presently done by removing infected and non-remineralizable or demineralized tissue by means of mechanical drilling. During mechanical drilling heating takes place and vibrations are induced. This can cause pain sensation in the patient. Moreover, drilling is often destructive: an excess of healthy tissue must be removed to ensure that the cavity is free of bacteria. In addition, the remaining tooth structure is weakened and prone to fractures. This thesis is about the use of non-thermal atmospheric plasmas in dentistry. The goal of the PhD project is to clean dental cavities in a non-destructive and painless way. The idea is to inactivate bacteria in plaque to stop caries. This cleaning can be done by use of a non-thermal atmospheric micro-plasma. A plasma needle, which is a hand operating tool, is used to generate the non-thermal atmospheric micro-plasma. The plasma needle is a portable device consisting of a tungsten needle confined in a Perspex tube. A radio-frequency voltage of 13.56 MHz is applied at the sharpened tip of this needle to ignite the plasma. The plasma is ignited in helium with a little admixture of air at atmospheric pressure. But what is a plasma and why do we want to use a plasma? A plasma, which is generated by an electrical discharge in a gas, contains free electrons and ions, various active species (e.g. atomic or molecular radicals, for example O and OH radicals, and excited molecules) and energetic UV photons. All these species play an important role in sterilization. The sterilizing properties of plasmas are wellknown and extensively described in literature. Non-thermal atmospheric plasmas are for example used in the sterilization of medical instruments, but also in biological warfare (e.g. against Anthrax). Non-thermal atmospheric micro-plasmas operate at room temperature and do not cause pain and bulk destruction of the tissue. Plasmas can treat and sterilize irregular surfaces; therefore they are very suitable for decontaminating dental cavities as a result of caries. The advantage of this novel tissue-saving treatment is that although the plasma treatment itself is a superficial treatment, the active plasma species it produces can penetrate into hollows, such as cavities. In contrast to dental lasers, plasmas can access small irregular cavity and fissure spaces. Moreover, the use of plasmas is relatively inexpensive. In the future plasmas can also be used in other dental interventions than just caries treatment. One can think of the plasma use in root canal treatments, in periodontitis or in superficial cleaning of dental tools. There are many applications possible. First the project started with creating a radio-frequency plasma at the tip of a needle. The first needle was confined in a closed system filled with helium. But this closed system could not be applied in the mouth, so a portable open system was developed. The plasma needle was born. First we characterized the plasma needle in terms of dissipated and emitted power per unit surface (power outflux) (Chapter 3). A calibrated thermal probe was used to determine the power emitted from the plasma towards treated surfaces. Transmission of the emitted power through various media was studied for a broad range of plasma conditions. These data gave insight into various contributions to the power outflux, as well as the penetration depth of the plasma into treated objects. The power outflux is shown to be a very important parameter, which determines the performance of the plasma tool. Then the temperature in the tooth during plasma treatment and the efficiency of the plasma in killing bacteria were investigated (Chapter 4). We established whether the plasma needle can be safely applied to a tooth. Temperature measurements were performed inside the pulpal chamber using extracted human third molars. A thermosensor was inserted into the pulp chamber and the temperature was recorded during plasma needle treatment. The effects of different treatment times on the survival of Escherichia coli were studied. Bacterial viability was substantially reduced after exposure to the plasma. The plasma operating conditions were optimized for bacterial deactivation (Chapter 5). Plasma power, treatment time and needle-to-sample distance were varied. E. coli films plated on agar dishes were used as a model system for this optimization. Plasma treatment of E. coli films results in formation of a bacteria-free void with a size up to 12 mm. 104 – 105 colony forming units are already destroyed after 10 s of treatment. Prolongation of treatment time and usage of high powers do not significantly improve the destruction efficiency: short exposure at low plasma power is sufficient. Furthermore, we studied the effects of temperature increase on the survival of E. coli and compared it with thermal effects of the plasma. The population of E. coli heated in a warm water bath starts to decrease at temperatures above 40 °C. Sample temperature during plasma treatment has been monitored. The temperature can reach up to 60 °C at high plasma powers and short needle-to-sample distances. However, thermal effects cannot account for bacterial destruction at low power conditions. For safe and efficient in vivo application, the sample temperature should be kept low. Thus, plasma power and treatment time should not exceed 150 mW and 60 s, respectively. After this optimization and characterization, we tested the plasma needle for its bactericidal activity against biofilm cultures of a key cariogenic bacterium Streptococcus mutans grown under different sucrose concentrations (Chapter 6). A chlorhexidine digluconate (CHX) rinse was used as a positive antimicrobial reference. Sucrose and frequency of the plasma treatment were shown to have a significant effect on the degree of response to treatment and bactericidal activity. A single plasma treatment of biofilms cultured with no sucrose yielded a bactericidal effect. Single and repeated plasma treatments of biofilms cultured in 0.15 % sucrose only impaired growth. Then we used an easily reproducible model to replicate dental plaque in vitro, the microplate biofilm microcosm (MBM) model (Chapter 7). The effects of the plasma needle and CHX on the growth of MBMs were studied. Plaque biofilms were grown on coverslips in 24-well microplates from enriched human saliva. After treatment, the growth of the biofilms was studied by monitoring the biomass and the pH. Photomicrographs of the structure of the individual biofilms were taken. The differential effect of the treatments among the species was analyzed by the DNA-DNA checkerboard technique. Furthermore, the biofilms were placed in fixative and observed under transmission electron microscope (TEM). The results showed a complex response ofMBMto plasma and CHX treatments. The TEM images showed that the plasma and CHX treatment damaged bacteria in the biofilms. CKB analyses showed that some species were significantly suppressed by the plasma treatment. The CHX treatment visually changed the structure of the biofilms. The pH of the CHX treated samples changed significantly after treatment and went back to the pH value of the blanks. Furthermore, sucrose concentration had a significant influence on the pH, biomass and the species composition of the MBM. Finally, we investigated surface modification of various materials exposed to the plasma needle (Chapter 8). A number of substrates (Perspex and polystyrene) were treated with the plasma needle. The modification of materials was subsequently identified as hydrophilization of the surface, and experimentally validated by water contact angle measurements. Furthermore, we studied the effect of this modification on growth of two bacterial species, E. coli and S. mutans. Bacteria were cultured on treated and non-treated polystyrene 96-wellplates; the growth of E. coli on treated substrates was enhanced, while for S. mutans it was reduced. The results from this PhD project have indicated that the plasma needle is able to inactivate bacteria in a non-destructive and painless way. Therefore, there will be a role for non-thermal atmospheric plasma therapies in dental procedures. However, in this project we did not investigate the effect of plasma on bacteria in vivo. This should be investigated in future studies.


It is impossible to imagine a modern medical laboratory without a structured quality management system in place. Nevertheless, this system usually focuses mostly on the analytical part of the total testing process (TTP), despite being aware of the fact that most errors occur in the pre- and post-analytical phases. There are many reasons possibly explaining this fact, one of them being that extra-analytical processes are hard to grasp, since they occur mostly outside of the laboratory and include many different parties. Despite these obstacles, it is mandatory to keep all steps of TTP, potentially influencing the analytical test result or their interpretation, under meticulous quality control and to improve them as much as possible, involving all health care workers contributing to sample quality. Additionally, it is necessary to collect and evaluate all data in a standardized manner, not only within one laboratory, but nationwide and internationally. This is a perquisite for valid data comparison over time (trend analysis) and benchmarking, the basis for threshold definition and continuous improvement. A widely accepted method to meet all these requirements is the concept of quality indicators (QIs). In this review, we provide an overview over this topic and we discuss an easy to use and freely available tool, aiming to aid laboratories in data collection and comparison: The QIs project of the International Federation of Clinical Chemistry and Laboratory Medicine (IFCC) Working Group on "Laboratory errors and patient safety" (WG-LEPS). Additionally, we provide practical suggestions on how to successfully implement QIs within any laboratory.


Current standard-of-care for breast conserving surgery (BCS) procedures relies on post-operative histopathology to provide a microscopic view and assessment of surgical margins. To avoid high reoperation rates there has been a great interest in developing new imaging solutions to visualize tissue intraoperatively, and provide real-time feedback on the margin status. Optical coherence tomography (OCT) is a high-resolution label-free, imaging technology that is the optical analogue to ultrasound imaging, except images are based on backscattered near-infrared light. Fundamentally, the contrast mechanism of OCT relies on the light scattering properties associated with different tissue structures. Unlike normal tissue with well-organized tissue structure, the structure of cancer tissue is often disorganized and typically characterized by variable cell sizes, abnormal shapes, and enlarged nuclei, resulting in different optical scattering properties, and enabling OCT to reveal differences between normal and cancerous tissues with high spatial resolution. We have previously demonstrated OCT for in vivo label-free intraoperative assessment of the breast conserving surgery (BCS) with a hand-held OCT probe that is integrated with a portable OCT system. Despite the technological advance to achieve in vivo OCT imaging during BCS, there remains a critical need to improve the OCT-based detection, differentiation, and diagnosis of breast tumor tissue. Polarization-sensitive optical coherence tomography (PS-OCT) is a functional extension of standard OCT that maps changes in the polarization state of light induced by anisotropic tissue properties. By exploiting the interaction between the polarization state of light and tissue, additional structural and functional information can be extracted. Form birefringence is the main optical property present in tissues responsible for altering the polarization state of light. In breast tissue, birefringent structures include the connective tissue or normal stroma, composed largely of collagen fibers. In the presence of breast cancer, the birefringent collagen fibers are degraded, displaced, reorganized, and/or disrupted in ways that dramatically alter the PS-OCT signal, serving as a fundamentally new optical imaging biomarker for the presence of cancer in the breast. In this study, we report data from 23 cancer surgeries, compared with healthy breast tissue samples obtained from the breast reduction surgeries. Our results show strong correlation of observed tissue birefringence and collagen fiber density, and the lack of the tissue birefringence, due to low collagen fiber density, in the cancerous areas. Our PS-OCT imaging system provides faster and more informative intraoperative tumor margin assessment. It has the potential to determine margin status in real-time during the surgical procedure and reduce reoperation rates. Citation Format: Marina Marjanovic, Jianfeng Wang, Yang Xu, Eric J. Chaney, Darold R. Spillman, Anna M. Higham, Natasha N. Luckey, Kimberly A. Cradock, George Z. Liu, Stephen A. Boppart. Intraoperative breast cancer margin detection via polarization-sensitive optical coherence tomography [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the American Association for Cancer Research Annual Meeting 2018; 2018 Apr 14-18; Chicago, IL. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2018;78(13 Suppl):Abstract nr 3038.


Tissue biopsies are required for diagnosis, prognosis, and to measure individual drug response markers for patient management. For pancreatic adenocarcinoma, surgically harvested tissues are often used to collect data and perform genomic analysis to identify driver oncogenes and specific mutations, or to quantify a handpick of (micro)RNAs and proteins biomarkers. However, such strategy raises many concerns not only because 80% of patients diagnosed with pancreatic adenocarcinoma are not eligible for surgery, meaning that biopsies are not collected, but also because repeated core biopsies are related to higher risk of morbidity, are expensive and logistics can be limiting. Alternative sample collection methods include fine-needle aspirates (FNA) collected under endoscopic ultrasound (EUS). In this chapter, we will describe how EUS-FNA material can be a wealthy source of biomarkers for pancreatic cancer patient management. In greater details, we will review how DNA, micro(RNA), or protein analysis can help stratify pancreatic adenocarcinoma patients, from single events analysis, to cutting-edge, high-throughput studies.


Despite the technical advances in the detachable coils for the treatment of intracranial aneurysm, technical complications, especially herniation of coil in the parent artery still occurs. This can lead to parent vessel occlusion and thromboembolic complications if not managed immediately and properly.[1] This complication is more commonly seen with the endovascular treatment of a wide‐neck aneurysm and with the narrow‐neck aneurysm occasionally. To prevent this, the stable basket should be achieved by using appropriate, longer, and stiffer first coil followed by shorter and softer coils later.[2] Various bailout strategies to deal with this feared complication have been described in the literature including balloon remodelling, stent remodelling, manual aspiration and several types of snares, merci devices, stentrievers, and alligator clamps.[1‐4] Microsurgical extraction of the coil has also been described in the literature in case of failed endovascular removal. However, all these endovascular techniques of coil retrieval can result in more intimal damage and further thromboembolic complication and also further increases the cost of the procedure.[4] We congratulate the authors of "An institutional retrospective study of coil loop herniation and its management" for describing specific rescue strategies according to proper selection criteria.[6] The authors are to be commended for the thoughtful way of describing the three bailout strategies for coil prolapse. Coil prolapse is more commonly seen during the placement of the final coils, but it can also occur during the first coil placement, especially in case of a small aneurysm.[3] Small coil prolapse with no evidence of any vessel occlusion and thromboembolism can be managed by anticoagulation and antiplatelet therapy.[3,4] The stability and positioning of microcatheter is a key factor for successful coiling without intraprocedural complication. Therefore, it is recommended to use preshaped or adopted‐shaped microcatheter to achieve intraaneurysmal stability of microcatheter, which may decrease the chance of coil prolapse.[5] The blank roadmap image can be created with the balloon inflation and deflation which can detect the subtle shift of coil loop and coil mass. If it is evident, it can be repositioned by readjustment of the remaining coil, by balloon inflation and subsequent insertion of additional coils that can displace the loops of previously inserted coils.[3] The third rescue technique although very effective, described to tackle the protrusion of coil loop using the stent for trapping should be cautiously used in the acutely ruptured aneurysms cases which require the administration of anticoagulation and dual antiplatelet therapy (DAT) especially, if the aneurysm starts filling after the coil protrusion which may increase the risk of re‐rupture. Sometimes this may also further complicate, with multiple issues such as extra ventricular drain (EVD) placement, ventriculoperitoneal (VP) shunting and craniotomy for decompression, and hematoma evacuation being required in these patients, as the complication with bailout stent strategy was not anticipated before the start of the procedure. This is a worthwhile contribution from the authors for describing the bailout strategies for coil prolapse. However, the experience of the neuro interventionist is always critical to the final outcome.


In this study, seven diverse 1-[2-substituted ethyl]-2-methyl-5-nitroimidazole derivatives were synthesized by reacting various reagents with metronidazole, miscellaneous derivatives were synthesized that represent different scaffolds. The structure elucidation of the compounds was performed by IR, 1H-NMR, 13C-NMR and EI-MS. Antimicrobial activities of the compounds were examined and notable activities were observed. Although metronidazole had no activities against aerobic bacteria, synthetic benzene sulfonated metronidazole derivative (M1) exerts some inhibition on Staphylococcus aureus (MIC =250 μg/ml) and phenylacetamide metronidazole derivative (M3) exerts certain effect on Streptoccocus B (MIC = 187.5 μg/ml).