Investigating muscle activity and coactivation with surface electromyography (sEMG) gives insight into pathological muscle function during activities like walking in people with neuromuscular impairments, such as children with cerebral palsy (CP). There is large variation in the amount of coactivation reported during walking in children with CP, possibly due to the inconsistent handling of sEMG and in calculating the coactivation index. The aim of this study was to evaluate how different approaches of handling sEMG may affect the interpretation of muscle activity and coactivation, by looking at both absolute and normalized sEMG. Twenty-three ambulatory children with CP and 11 typically developing (TD) children participated. We conducted a three-dimensional gait analysis (3DGA) with concurrent sEMG measurements of tibialis anterior, soleus, gastrocnemius medialis, rectus femoris, and hamstring medialis. They walked barefoot at a self-selected, comfortable speed back and forth a 7-m walkway. The gait cycle extracted from the 3DGA was divided into six phases, and for each phase, root mean square sEMG amplitude was calculated (sEMG-RMS-abs), and also normalized to peak amplitude of the linear envelope (50-ms running RMS window) during the gait cycle (sEMG-RMS-norm). The coactivation index was calculated using sEMG-RMS-abs and sEMG-RMS-norm values and by using two different indices. Differences between TD children's legs and the affected legs of children with CP were tested with a mixed model. The between-subject muscle activity variability was more evenly distributed using sEMG-RMS-norm; however, potential physiological variability was eliminated as a result of normalization. Differences between groups in one gait phase using sEMG-RMS-abs showed opposite differences in another phase using sEMG-RMS-norm for three of the five muscles investigated. The CP group showed an increased coactivation index in two out of three muscle pairs using sEMG-RMS-abs and in all three muscle pairs using sEMG-RMS-norm. These results were independent of index calculation method. Moreover, the increased coactivation indices could be explained by either reduced agonist activity or increased antagonist activity. Thus, differences in muscle activity and coactivation index between the groups change after normalization. However, because we do not know the truth, we cannot conclude whether to normalize and recommend incorporating both.


The aim of this study was to analyze the clinical results of endovascular treatment for occlusion of longsegment iliac artery (>10 cm). The clinical data of endovascular treatment for 20 patients (29 limbs) with occlusion of long-segment iliac artery were performed retrospective analysis during December, 2012 and December, 2015. 15 cases were performed direct balloon-expandable stent implantation, and 5 cases were performed balloon-expandable stent implantation after thrombolysis. All patients were performed outpatient follow-up and the follow-up rate of 15 cases (18 limbs) was 75%. The re-canalizing rate of iliac artery was 100%, the combined groin following lesion re-canalizing rate was 72.7%. The average ankle-brachial index (ABI) in preoperative and postoperative week were (0.28 ± 0.12) and (0.72 ± 0.21), the difference was statistically significant (P<0.05). The follow up rate of 15 cases (18 limbs) was 83.3%, up for 3-24 months. The re-canalizing rate of iliac artery in the first phase was 94.4% (17/18), and 100% for the second. The endovascular treatment for occlusion of long-segment iliac artery was minimally invasive, effective and safe, the recent re-canalizing rate and the limb salvage rate were high, which can be used as the preferred treatment for occlusion of long-segment iliac artery.


Selecting nodes based on their position in the network is a basic building block for many distributed systems. This paper describes a peer-to-peer overlay network for performing position-based node selection. Our system, Meridian, provides a lightweight, accurate and scalable framework for keeping track of location information for participating nodes. The framework consists of an overlay network structured around multi-resolution rings, query routing with direct measurements, and gossip protocols for dissemination. We show how this framework can be used to address three commonly encountered problems in large-scale distributed systems without having to compute absolute coordinates; namely, closest node discovery, central leader election, and locating nodes that satisfy target latency constraints. We show analytically that the framework is scalable with logarithmic convergence when Internet latencies are modeled as a growth-constrained metric, a low-dimensional Euclidian metric, or a metric of low doubling dimension. Large scale simulations, based on latency measurements from 6.25 million node-pairs, and an implementation deployed on PlanetLab both show that the framework is accurate and effective.


Objectives Therapeutic drug monitoring of infliximab (IFX) is important to optimise treatment of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). A recent IBD consensus statement recommends targeting trough serum concentrations of >3 μg/mL, higher than our local recommendation of >1 μg/mL. We therefore investigated the relationship between IFX trough concentrations and C reactive protein (CRP), faecal calprotectin (FCP), clinical outcomes and anti-IFX antibody (AB) development as well as the influence of concomitant thiopurine treatment. Methods Observational data, prospectively collected in a cohort of adult patients with IBD newly initiated on IFX at a single centre. Results IFX concentrations >3 μg/mL were associated with a greater reduction in CRP (% change from baseline) and lower FCP; mean (SD) 47 (33.8) % vs 102.3 (136.9) % and 233.9 (505.1) μg/g vs 416.3 (613.5) μg/g, respectively. Lower IFX concentrations were observed in patients who developed AB than those who did not, mean (range) 6.2 (1.1–10) μg/mL vs 0.9 (0.4–4.9) μg/mL, respectively, and also in patients who stopped/switched therapy compared with those who continued, 2.4 (2.9) μg/mL vs 6.5 (2.8) μg/mL; p=0.0002. Patients taking a concomitant thiopurine were found to have higher IFX concentrations; mean (range) 6.4 (0.7–10) μg/mL vs 3.9 (0.4–10) μg/mL. Conclusions IFX concentrations are correlated with biomarkers, clinical response and AB development in patients with IBD. Concomitant thiopurine therapy appears to be associated with higher IFX concentrations and reduced likelihood of AB development.


The millennial generation, a generation marked as self-entitled; having to grow up surrounded by social media and still seek happiness on a day to day basis (Park et al., 2014). Social media in many ways makes happiness much more difficult to achieve for the younger generations (Bertoncini & Schmalz 2013). This research aims to explore millennials' lived experience of happiness from their own perspective. Using photo elicitation, this study aimed to delve into what the modern definitions of happiness are and what makes a millennial happy. Using disposable cameras and semi-structured interviews, an Interpretive Phenomenological Analysis (IPA) was conducted to explore the lived experiences of happiness in a millennial generation. Themes were explored; the main ones being escapism, nostalgia, accessibility and acceptance in negativity. These themes were supported by current literature and show that millennials' happiness is complex and unique to each individual. Even though the participants gain happiness from feeling connected, social media and growing up alongside technology can be overwhelming and the findings from this study suggest that there is a need for escape in order to feel happiness in a fast paced and technologically driven society.


Regulatory information and sensing information are used to determine available spectrum (white spaces) and to facilitate dynamic spectrum access. This paper analyses the effect of a local white spaces database called sensing database (SDB) which relays regulatory information from regulatory database and contains sensing related information obtained by distributed sensing schemes. Since the SDB is deployed in local networks, it can be accessed at low latency and the amount of signaling traffic to global network can be reduced. Performance evaluation shows that, by deploying the proposed SDB a system can achieve up to 20% of reduction of sensing activities and maximum 1.3 times higher sensing quality.


The year 1874 saw the conclusion in London of a much publicized court case involving an unlikely pretender to an English baronetcy. Trollope responded to the public's interest in scandal with this novel, which traces the claim of a shadowy figure to the marquisate of Brotherton. The novel is full of sensational elements and is highly revealing of the social issues of the mid-1870s.


Gradient-based meta-learning approaches have been successful in few-shot learning, transfer learning, and a wide range of other domains. Despite its efficacy and simplicity, the burden of calculating the Hessian matrix with large memory footprints is the critical challenge in large-scale applications. To tackle this issue, we propose a simple yet straightforward method to reduce the cost by reusing the same gradient in a window of inner steps. We describe the dynamics of the multi-step estimation in the Lagrangian formalism and discuss how to reduce evaluating second-order derivatives estimating the dynamics. To validate our method, we experiment on meta-transfer learning and few-shot learning tasks for multiple settings. The experiment on meta-transfer emphasizes the applicability of training meta-networks, where other approximations are limited. For few-shot learning, we evaluate time and memory complexities compared with popular baselines. We show that our method significantly reduces training time and memory usage, maintaining competitive accuracies, or even outperforming in some cases.


A successful strategy for prediction of crop yield that accounts for the effects of genotype and environment will open up many opportunities for enhancing the productivity of agricultural systems. Crop growth models (CGMs) have a history of application for crop management decision support. Recently whole genome prediction (WGP) methodologies have been developed and applied in breeding to enable prediction of crop traits for new genotypes and thus increase the size of plant breeding programs without the need to expand expensive field testing. The presence of Genotype-by-Environment-by-Management (G×E×M) interactions for yield presents a significant challenge for the development of prediction technologies for both product development by breeding and product placement within agricultural production systems. The integration of a CGM into the algorithm for whole genome prediction WGP, referred to as CGM-WGP, has opened up the potential for prediction of G×E×M interactions for breeding and product placement applications. Here a combination of simulation and empirical studies are used to explain how the CGM-WGP methodology works and to demonstrate successful reduction to practice for applications to maize breeding and product placement recommendation in the US corn belt.


BACKGROUND
Bedside ultrasound examination could be used to assess jugular venous pressure (JVP), and thus central venous pressure (CVP), more reliably than clinical examination.

METHODS
The study was a prospective, blinded evaluation comparing physical examination of external jugular venous pressure (JVPEXT), internal jugular venous pressure (JVPINT), and ultrasound collapse pressure (UCP) with CVP measured using an indwelling catheter. We compared the examination of the external and internal JVP with each other and with the UCP and CVP. JVPEXT, JVPINT, UCP, and CVP were compared graphically using Bland-Altman plots, and correlation coefficients were calculated.

RESULTS
The correlation coefficients comparing CVP to UCP, JVPEXT, and JVPINT were 0.62, 0.57, and 0.50, respectively. When UCP was compared with JVPEXT and JVPINT, correlation coefficients were 0.91 and 0.81, respectively. Last, the correlation coefficient comparing JVPEXT and JVPINT was 0.98. The Bland-Altman graphical comparison of methods technique revealed that CVP was often underestimated by UCP, and clinical examination of JVPEXT and JVPINT. In contrast, there was no systematic bias between UCP and either JVPEXT or JVPINT, nor between JVPEXT and JVPINT.

CONCLUSIONS
Ultrasound examination is capable of measuring accurately the JVP as judged from the internal or external jugular vein. However, like the JVP, ultrasound typically underestimates CVP. A systematic bias between UCP and CVP suggests the presence of a variable degree of venous tone, possibly signaling contraction of jugular venous smooth muscle.

TRIAL REGISTRY
ClinicalTrials.gov; No.: NCT01099241; URL: clinicaltrials.gov.


Abstract—A modified bioassay system was designed to demonstrate the diffusible nature of endothelium-derived contracting factor(s) released by acetylcholine in the aorta of spontaneously hypertensive rat. In "sandwich"-like layered preparation, isometric tension was recorded from a bioassay strip (without endothelium) in the presence of NG-nitro-l-arginine and tetrahydrobiopterin to selectively potentiate endothelium-dependent contractions. A donor strip (with or without endothelium) was stitched on the bioassay tissue so that it did not directly contribute to the recorded contractions. Acetylcholine induced contractions that occurred only when the donor strip was with endothelium. Superoxide dismutase did not affect but catalase and the combination of superoxide dismutase plus catalase significantly decreased the endothelium-dependent contraction. The contractions in the layered preparations were abolished when the donor strip with endothelium was treated previously with valeryl salicylate, an irreversible cyclooxygenase-1 inhibitor, but remained unaffected when the bioassay strip was treated with the compound. Previous treatment of the bioassay strip alone with S 18886 abolished the contractile response, whereas treatment of the donor strip with endothelium by the selective TP receptor antagonist only produced a moderate inhibition. These results indicate that in the aorta of spontaneously hypertensive rats, endothelium-dependent contractions to acetylcholine involve a diffusible substance(s) released by the endothelium. The production of this contracting factor(s) requires the activation of endothelial cyclooxygenase-1, and its action the activation of TP receptors on the vascular smooth muscle cells.


According to the 2011 Dutch guideline on Cardiovascular risk management 1 in 5 hypertensive patients are eligible for blood pressure lowering treatment. The Dutch guideline recommends striving for a systolic blood pressure (SBP) of < 140 mmHg in adult patients who have no cardiovascular disease or diabetes mellitus, while the recent American guideline now recommends an SBP target value of < 130 mmHg for all adult patients. An important reason for using a stricter SBP target value are the results of randomised studies and meta-analyses that looked at the effect of intensive antihypertensive therapy on the risk of mortality and cardiovascular disease. Based on the literature, there appears to be sufficient evidence that intensive antihypertensive therapy (SBP target value of < 130 mmHg) is useful in patients with cardiovascular disease and in patients with high cardiovascular risk. Currently, there is insufficient evidence that intensive antihypertensive therapy is useful in patients who have diabetes mellitus or who are over 80 years old.


Disaster risk reduction and management, which includes flood risk management, is among the top priorities in the Philippines. In the process of contributing to flood monitoring and public awareness, FloodPatrol, an Android mobile phone application, allows the "crowd" to report flood levels in various locations. However, a crowdsourcing-based approach poses the challenge to the credibility of the crowdsourced data. Towards the goal of having a validation model using crowdsourced flood level reports, this study presents two results. First, that there is a significant difference between "No Flood" reports and "Flood-leveled" reports. Second, that there are four possible distinct groups shown in profiling the flood reports by location.


Chimeric REpressor gene-Silencing Technology (CRES-T) is a reverse genetic method that converts transcriptional factors (TFs) to chimeric repressors by fusion with an ethylene-responsive element-binding factor (ERF)associated amphiphilic repression domain. The plant expressing chimeric repressor is expected to show loss-of-function phenotype of the original TF even in the presence of other functionally redundant TFs. We used the CRES-T system for modification of flower shape in transgenic Ipomoea nil (formally Pharbitis nil). I. nil is emerging as a model plant for ornamental flowers because it has produced a wide variety of historical mutants, and it has been chosen to be a part of the National BioResource Project in Japan. We used cDNAs of TFs of Arabidopsis thaliana with the CRES-T system because A. thaliana TFs are well characterized compared with I. nil TFs. For this study, we selected two TCP (TEOSINTE BRANCHED1, CYCLOIDEA, and PCF) TFs, TCP3 and TCP5, because overexpression of these chimeric repressors TCP3SRDX and TCP5SRDX causes severe morphological alterations in A. thaliana. We found that these chimeric repressors cause morphological alterations, an undeveloped corolla and wavy petals in I. nil. In addition, the sympetalous corolla was easily disrupted to form choripetalous corolla. Although several TCP3SRDX transgenic ornamental flowers were reported, typical sympetalous flowers like I. nil have not yet been presented.


Homeopathy is one of the applications in structured water influencing human health. The objective is to search for the physical basis of homeopathy. This methodology includes a study of absorption in the far IR spectral range, absorption and refraction in THz diapason, dynamic light scattering in the UV–near IR spectral range for the blinded samples of homeopathic-like preparations (HLP) of several parent substances and hidden/apparent controls, and statistical analysis on the significance of distinctions in spectral data between ensembles of HLP of each parent substance and ensembles of hidden/apparent controls. The analysis of nine independent blind studies of aqueous HLP of several parent substances gave statistically significant spectral differences in some preparations with an apparent control (25 comparisons of 35) and a hidden control (11 comparisons of 40). The revealed dominance in the occurrence frequency of differences in any HLP with an apparent control can be treated as involving most of these changes to the samples by the spectral measuring process. This allows interpreting the main mechanism of manifestation of the spectral changes found as the "observer effect". The therapeutic effect of HLP may be assumed as a combination of the "observer effect" from the physician side and a "placebo effect" from the patient side.


Laboratory studies suggest that earthquake nucleation involves a transition from quasi-static slip when inertial effects are negligible to inertia-driven, dynamic motion. This transition occurs via quasi-dynamic motion, during which the effects of inertia become increasingly important. The characteristics of this transition, which depend on frictional properties of the fault, determine the observability of earthquake nucleation by seismic, geodetic, or other means. By investigating the role of inertia during nucleation, we obtain a quantitative definition of the limiting velocity Vin, which marks the end of quasi-dynamic motion and the onset of instability. For reasonable friction parameters and fault widths, we obtain estimates of Vin for crustal faults. To study the roles of inertia, stiffness, and friction parameters on preseismic motion, we simulate triggered instabilities in a one-dimensional model of a homogeneous fault, with rate and state variable friction. In most of our simulations, triggering is achieved by applying a stress perturbation to an initially creeping fault under steady state friction. We also investigate triggering on faults which are initially locked and overstressed compared to their nominal frictional strength, due to time-dependent healing. We study the amount, Up, and duration, Tp, of preseismic slip as a function of system mass m and other model parameters. For crustal faults, we interpret the relevant mass as a product of density and fault width and find that wider fault zones result in smaller Up and larger Tp. Both Up and Tp are proportional to the system stiffness K, the characteristic slip distance Dc, and the friction constitutive parameter a and inversely proportional to the size of the triggering event. We find greater Up and Tp for constitutive laws which allow strengthening at zero velocity, compared to laws that require slip or a combination of slip and aging for state evolution. In contrast to quasi-static modeling, our simulations suggest a minimum stress perturbation criterion for instability, which may be interpreted in terms of a strain threshold for triggered seismicity.


ATP and several congeners were applied to locus coeruleus neurons in slices cut from rat pons. Whole-cell recording of membrane current showed that ATP caused an inward current at -60 mV. Effective concentrations (applied by superfusion) were 3-300 microM, and the peak current was about 150 pA at -60 mV. 2-Methylthioadenosine 5′- triphosphate was slightly more potent than ATP, adenosine 5′- diphosphate was about equipotent with ATP, alpha,beta-methylene adenosine 5′-triphosphate was slightly less potent than ATP, and beta,gamma'-methylene adenosine 5′-triphosphate and adenosine 5′- monophosphate had little or no effect. Adenosine (100 microM) caused small outward currents (40 pA). By changing the ionic composition of the pipette and extracellular solution, it was shown that the inward current resulted from both an increase in conductance to sodium ions and a reduction in conductance to potassium ions. It is concluded that rat locus coeruleus neurons express P2 purinoceptors, activation of which depolarizes the cells predominantly by increasing a conductance that allows sodium ions to enter the cell.


Abstract Drawing on discursive psychology this article examines the understandings teachers and principals in Danish Public Schools have regarding Somali diaspora parenting practices. Furthermore, the article investigates what these understandings mean in interaction with children in the classrooms and with parents in home–school communication. It is argued that in a society with increased focus on parental responsibility the teachers and principals draw on a deficit logic when dealing with Somali diaspora parents and children which consequently leads to teachers either transmitting their expertise by educating parents or compensating for perceived deficiencies in parental practices. Both these strategies result in significant marginalizing consequences where 'difference' is understood as 'wrong' or 'inadequate'.


Acrylates and methacrylates with pyrimidine rings were synthesized starting from 1,3-bis(hydroxyalkyl) 5,5-diethylbarbiturates and acrylic or methacrylic acids. Then these monomers containing pyrimidine rings were subjected to radical polymerization. The values of thermal stability of the polymers were enhanced in comparison with those of common polyacrylates and polymethacrylates obtained from aliphatic diols.


Heat shock activates in somatic cells a set of genes encoding heat shock proteins which function as molecular chaperones. The basic mechanism by which these genes are activated is the interaction of the specific transcription factor HSF1 with a regulatory DNA sequence called heat shock element (HSE). In higher eukaryotes HSF1 is present in unstressed cells as inactive monomers which, in response to cellular stress, aggregate into transcriptionally competent homotrimers. In the present paper we showed that the expression of a transgene encoding mutated constitutively active HSF1 placed under the control of a spermatocyte-specific promoter derived from the hst70 gene severely affects spermatogenesis. We found the testes of transgenic mice to be significantly smaller than those of wild-type males and histological analysis showed massive degeneration of the seminiferous epithelium. The lumen of tubules was devoid of spermatids and spermatozoa and using the TUNEL method we demonstrated a high rate of spermatocyte apoptosis. The molecular mechanism by which constitutively active HSF1 arrests spermatogenesis is not known so far. One can assume that HSF1 can either induce or repress so far unknown target genes involved in germ cell apoptosis.


This inquiry reevaluates the Naboth pericope of 1 Kgs 21 in light of a refined translation of ARM 10.73, a letter written by Inib-Šarri to her father Zimri-Lim, king of Mari. The content of ARM 10.73 permits a comparison between the two texts regarding a form of political intrigue that the principal players exploit to gain advantage. Inib-Šarri details the efforts of her husband, Ibâl-Addu, to incriminate the regional Mari delegate, Itûr-Asdû, in seditious activities. Ibâl-Addu's maneuverings, which Inib-Šarri labels karṣīšu īkulū (lit., "they ate his pieces," that is, denounced him), are remarkably analogous to the steps Jezebel takes against Naboth. Such a correlation reveals an operative relationship between the lu2.meš sarār ("dishonest men") mentioned in ARM 10.73,rev. 21 and the האנשם בנ־בליעל ("worthless men") in 1 Kgs 21:10, 13. Two Amarna letters, EA 160 and 161 confirm the ongoing relationship between the lu2.meš sarrūti and the act of karṣī akālu. Both EA 252 and 254 likewise attest to the abiding relevance of karṣī akālu in the area of Omri's future kingdom. On the basis of the evidence adduced, this study concludes that 1 Kgs 21 records an incident of karṣī akālu without using the expression, and suggests that Jezebel's acts are not the product of authorial imagination but reflect features of the ancient Near Eastern practice of denunciation.


The mechanical gathering of grapes presents some negative aspects due to the must leakage from the grape damage, often stressed by the long period elapsing from harvesting and processing the product, as well as by the high temperature. In addition, the must presence in the harvested product, sometimes reaching 25-30% of the total product, causes inevitable drawbacks. For that reason, an innovative system of handling and grapes transporting was developed in order to separate, once harvested, the liquid part (must) from the solid one (bunch of grapes and single grape), thus to apply different working process on each of them. Thanks to this system, it was possible to isolate the must in a closed tank and thus, immediately, preserve it by dry ice or liquid carbon dioxide, with the addition of enological chemicals to avoid (sulphur dioxide, ascorbic acid and tannin) chemical and microbiological modifications. The evaluation of wines throughout tests and sensorial analysis, highlighted the better quality of the wines obtained by the proposed technique compared to the traditional one cause of higher presence of primary fragrances, better color, and a better balanced structure of the wine preserved by oxidation action.


Social capital is an important characteristic of a community and is one of the components of the asset pentagon of the sustainable livelihood framework. The study aimed at assessing the levels and dimensions of social capital and how social capital influences other livelihood capitals. A Cross-sectional survey of a random sample of 208 households was conducted in Masindi and Hoima Districts in Uganda to assess the current livelihood conditions and strategies for improving rural livelihoods. An Index of social capital was generated using density of group membership and three levels of social capital where generated i.e. high, medium and low. Two dimensions of social capital (bonding and bridging) were considered. Results showed that households with high and medium social capital had enhanced skills to solve problems, do research and bargain with middle men. Social capital empowered more women to participate in decision making, fostered asset base creation and use of natural resource management technologies. There was a significant difference between level of social capital and participation in collective farming. Households with high social capital rated highly the community level of trust, reciprocity, and women's confidence. However, there was no significant effect of social capital on household income. In conclusion, there was a positive relationship between level and dimension of social capital and access to livelihood assets implying that strengthening social capital is a powerful way to improve communities and requires consistent and effective approaches to build and reinforce the social and human capital.


The aim was to define the clinical and histopathologic findings of infants who underwent muscle biopsy and identify the diagnostic yield of muscle biopsy in this cohort. Infants who underwent muscle biopsy from January 2010 to March 2017 at a tertiary hospital were included in the study (N = 87; 64 boys (73.6%), 23 girls (26.4%); age range 0 - 2 years; mean age 9.73 ± 7.04 months). Clinical and histopathologic data were obtained from medical records. Developmental delay (64.4%) and hypotonia (59.8%) were the most frequent clinical findings, and mitochondrial disease (61%) was the most frequent clinical diagnosis, followed by muscular dystrophy (15.9%) and congenital myopathy (11.5%). Creatine kinase level was normal in 65.9% and > 1,000 U/L in 17.1%. Specific pathologic findings were identified from 38 biopsies (43.7%). The most frequent pathologic findings were features compatible with mitochondrial/metabolic myopathy (14 patients, 16.1%) and muscular dystrophy (12 patients, 13.8%). Myopathic changes were present in 7 biopsy samples (8.0%) and neurogenic changes in 5 (5.7%). The clinical and pathologic diagnoses were compatible in 24 patients (63.2%). The diagnostic yield of muscle biopsy remains significant, especially in this age group. Mitochondrial disease is a major diagnostic challenge, and muscle biopsy helps to support the clinical diagnosis and guide further studies.


This paper intends to examine the behavior of students with histories of school failure (WSF) and students without histories of school failure (WTSF) and the coercive and reinforcing behavior of teacher in relation with each group of students. Ten children, ranging 8 to 12 years old, attending a public elementary school, and tree teachers, were the participants of the study. The data was collected through the direct observation of behavior inside the classroom, with report of categories per time interval and the student was the observation focus. The results showed the use of differentiated coercion with WSF, and the positive stimulation with WTSF. The differentiated use of coercive and reinforcing contingencies with both WSF and WTSF students, and its effects in the academic and non-academic behaviors of both groups of students are discussed.


The usefulness of two nucleic acid detection systems in suspected cases of spontaneous canine herpesvirus (CHV) infection in puppies was evaluated. Formalin-fixed, paraffin-embedded tissues from seven 1–3-week-old naturally infected puppies with lesions characteristic of CHV infection were investigated in a retrospective study. Nested polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and nonradioactive in situ hybridization (ISH) were used to detect nucleotide sequences of the CHV thymidine kinase (TK) gene. According to the original necropsy reports, CHV was isolated in four of the seven puppies using primary canine lung and/or kidney cells. In all seven puppies, gross and histologic lesions consisted of disseminated focal necroses and hemorrhages predominantly in kidneys, lung, liver, and spleen. In addition, few small amphophilic intranuclear inclusion bodies were detected by light microscopy mainly in epithelial cells of kidney, lung, and liver. ISH was performed with a 111-base-pair (bp) digoxigenin-labeled double-stranded DNA probe. Viral DNA was detected in the nuclei of cells near and within lesions. Various cell types, including bronchiolar and alveolar epithelial cells, hepatocytes, renal tubular epithelial cells, neurons, fibrocytes, cardiac myocytes, and endothelial cells, were positive for viral DNA. PCR amplification products of the expected length of 168 bp containing the expected cleavage site for the restriction enzyme EcoRI, derived from paraffin blocks containing lung, kidney, and liver tissues, were detected in all seven puppies. The specificity of the obtained amplicon was further confirmed by Southern blot analysis. ISH and PCR are both useful methods for diagnosing CHV infection in formalin-fixed, paraffin-embedded tissues and are highly specific and sensitive methods for further investigations of the pathogenesis of CHV-induced lesions.


In a weak measurement, the average output $\langle p\rangle$ of a probe that measures an observable $\Hat{A}$ of a quantum system undergoing both a preparation in a state $\rho_i$ and a postselection in a state $E_f$ is, to a good approximation, a function of the weak value $A_w=\Tr[E_f\Hat{A}\rho_i]/\Tr[E_f\rho_i]$, a complex number. For a fixed coupling, when the overlap $\Tr[E_f\rho_i]$ is very small, $A_w$ diverges, but $\langle p\rangle$ stays finite, often tending to zero for symmetry reasons. This paper answers the question: which are the extremal values of the output as a function of the weak value? We derive equations for the optimal values of $A_w$, and provide the solutions. The results are independent of the dimensionality of the system.


Effectiveness and acceptance of a 4-week treatment with hypericum extract LI 160 were investigated by 663 Private practitioners. The results of the 3250 patients (76% women and 24% men), were recorded using data sheets. The age of the patients ranged from 20 to 90 years (mean 51 years). Of the patients, 49% were mildly depressed, 46% intermediate, and 3% severely depressed. In about 30% of the patients, the situation normalized or improved during the therapy. Undesired drug effects were reported in 79 (2.4%) patients and 48 (1.5%) discontinued the therapy. Most frequently noted side effects were gastrointestinal irritations (0.6%), allergic reactions (0.5%), tiredness (0.4%), and restlessness (0.3%).


We present a numerical study and analytical model of the optical near field diffracted in the vicinity of subwavelength grooves milled in silver surfaces. The Green's tensor approach permits the computation of the phase and amplitude dependence of the diffracted wave as a function of the groove geometry. It is shown that the field diffracted along the interface by the groove is equivalent to replacing the groove by an oscillating dipolar line source. An analytic expression is derived from the Green's function formalism, which reproduces well the asymptotic surface plasmon polariton SPP wave as well as the transient surface wave in the near zone close to the groove. The agreement between this model and the full simulation is very good, showing that the transient "near-zone" regime does not depend on the precise shape of the groove. Finally, it is shown that a composite diffractive evanescent wave model that includes the asymptotic SPP can describe the wavelength evolution in this transient near zone. Such a semianalytical model may be useful for the design and optimization of more elaborate photonic circuits, whose behavior in a large part will be controlled by surface waves.


We propose several schemes for implementing a fast two-qubit quantum gate for neutral atoms with the gate operation time much faster than the time scales associated with the external motion of the atoms in the trapping potential. In our example, the large interaction energy required to perform fast gate operations is provided by the dipole-dipole interaction of atoms excited to low-lying Rydberg states in constant electric fields. A detailed analysis of imperfections of the gate operation is given.


Since time immemorial, alcohol has been used as a "pleasure drink" by humankind. These occasional drinks, slowly over time, do result in addiction due to their rewarding and reinforcing nature. As psychiatrists, we have an important role in alcohol de-addiction, which includes not only implementing pharmacotherapy but also delivering various nonpharmacological interventions as well to prevent relapses. Varying degrees of success have been obtained, however, devising an approach which would work for all individuals of alcohol dependence has been challenging. Motivational enhancement therapy (MET) is one such attempt which employs common principles to address individual patient needs. This article gives an overview of MET; its principles and structure, besides, throwing light on various challenges practically experienced by postgraduates while delivering MET.


Multiferroic Bi1-xGdxFeO3(x=0, 0.05, 0.1, 0.15, 0.2) ceramics were prepared by conventional solid state reaction method. For all the samples prepared, they exhibit magnetoelectric effect at room temperature, and the dielectric constant and dielectric loss decrease with increasing frequency in the range from 10000Hz to 1 MHz from a typical orientational dielectric relaxation process. It has been found that both dielectric constant and dielectric loss are strongly dependent on the Gd3+ content. And substitution of Bi with rare earth Gd helps to eliminate the impurity phase in BiFeO3 ceramics.,


BACKGROUND
Recent studies have demonstrated associations between ABO blood groups and prognosis in various types of cancers. The aim of this study was to investigate the association between ABO blood groups and biochemical recurrence (BCR) after radical prostatectomy (RP).

METHODS
A total of 555 patients with prostate cancer who underwent RP were included in the study. No patients received neoadjuvant and/or adjuvant therapy. The effect of ABO blood groups on BCR was examined using univariate and multivariate analyses.

RESULTS
During the follow-up period (mean, 52.0 months), 166 patients (29.9%) experienced BCR, with a 5-year BCR-free rate of 67.3%. Although the ABO blood group was not a significantly associated with BCR in the univariate analysis, it was an independent predictor of BCR in the multivariate analysis: blood type O patients had a significantly lower risk of BCR compared to type A patients (Hazard ratio, 0.608; 95% confidence interval, 0.410-0.902; P = 0.014). Further analyses revealed that surgical margin status confounded the assessment of the association between the ABO blood group and BCR. In the analyses of patients with a negative surgical margin, the 5-year BCR-free rate in blood type O patients was a significantly higher than that in type A patients (91.2% vs. 71.0%; P = 0.026).

CONCLUSION
Blood type O is significantly associated with a decreased risk of biochemical recurrence after radical prostatectomy. Further studies are needed to clarify the nature of this association.


While the Syriac polymath Gregory Barhebraeus (1225/6–86) is better known for his contributions in other fields, his original training was probably in medicine, and he is known to have written a number of works on the subject. No Syriac work on medicine by Barhebraeus is known to have survived, but four such works written in Arabic have, and references to matters related to medicine are also to be found in his works in other fields. In this article, we present a brief overview of what is known about the medical works of Barhebraeus, along with a somewhat more detailed description of one of the surviving works, namely his abridgement of Ḥunain's Medical Questions.


The McCoy Au-Ag skarn and Cove Au-Ag deposits are located in the northern Fish Creek Mountains, Lander County, Nevada. Through the end of mining in 2001, large-scale open-pit and associated underground production at the two deposits yielded 3.3 million ounces (Moz) of Au and 108 Moz of Ag. Most production was from Cove, making it the fourth-largest Ag producer in the history of Nevada.

Cove is hosted by the middle to early Late Triassic Augusta Mountain Formation, which consists of limestone with lesser dolostone and clastic units. Ore also is present locally in Eocene porphyritic granodiorite dikes and sills. The deposit comprises two distinct ore types: a central core of polymetallic vein-type ore and an outer aureole of relatively Ag rich Carlin-style ore. Polymetallic veins consist of pyrite-sphalerite-galena–dominated Au- and Ag-bearing veins, veinlets, stockworks, crustifications, and disseminations in clastic and carbonate strata and locally in the intrusions. Carlin-style ore comprises disseminated Fe ± As sulfides with arsenian, argentiferous, and auriferous components ± native Au-electrum in silty to sandy carbonate strata. Polymetallic vein-type ore has Ag/Au ratios of >50/1, and Carlin-style ore has Ag/Au ratios that decrease from ~50/1 near the feeder faults to ~1/1 in one of the more distal ore zones. Both types of ore are associated with decarbonatized, silicified, and illitized rocks. New structural and age data for fresh and altered intrusive rocks indicate that mineralization at Cove occurred during active extension and magmatism at ~39 Ma (40Ar-39Ar). Fluid inclusion and δD and δ18O data for polymetallic vein-type ore indicate that the mineralizing fluids had temperatures of 250° to 370°C and were magmatic in origin.

Cove is located 1.6 km northeast of McCoy, where Early Tertiary igneous activity occurred in two pulses. The first pulse consisted of relatively oxidized magnetite-series magma and formed the central stock at McCoy and related dikes that extend to the Cove deposit. This pulse occurred at ~41.5 Ma and produced subeconomic skarn at McCoy. The second pulse consisted of relatively reduced ilmenite-series magma and produced economic skarn ore at McCoy. Adularia from a mineralized skarn assemblage at McCoy was dated at ~39 Ma (K-Ar). The age data indicate that McCoy and Cove formed contemporaneously. The δ34S data for ore-stage sulfides from skarn ore at McCoy, and polymetallic vein-type and Carlin-style ore at Cove indicate a common source for S for the three types of ore. This source is interpreted to have been the pulse of ilmenite-series magma.

Although the volume of the Carlin-style ore at Cove is substantially larger than that of the polymetallic vein-type ore, the relatively high concentrations of base metals and clear associations with igneous activity have made Cove difficult to classify. The new data indicate that Cove is a telescoped system consisting of polymetallic vein-type and porphyry-related, distal disseminated ores. The zonation for the McCoy-Cove system is nearly identical to zonations described by other workers for Au-enriched porphyry systems. In this case, the porphyry center and skarn ore at McCoy comprise the proximal component, and polymetallic vein-type and Carlin-style ores at Cove are the intermediate and distal components, respectively. Economic concentrations of Au occur in all three zones, which are separated from one another by subeconomic concentrations of Au.

The Carlin-style orebodies at Cove share several important similarities with ores in classic Carlin-type deposits, including ore characteristics, associated alteration styles, and host lithologic units. The late Eocene age of the McCoy-Cove system is also a typical age for Carlin-type deposits in the Great Basin. The proposed genetic model for McCoy-Cove may have important implications for the exploration potential of intrusion-related and Carlin-type deposits worldwide.


We report MR imaging characteristics of a prostatic urethral polyp in a 35-year-old man. Traditionally, the methods of diagnosis include computed tomography, transrectal sonography, voiding cysto-urethrography, intravenous pyelography, urethroscopy, and cystoscopy. To our knowledge, MR findings have not been previously described. In this case, MR imaging clearly demonstrated a polypoid tumor located in the prostatic urethra with a stalk connected to the bladder neck. A pathological study revealed the polyp consisted of a fibrovascular core covered with a double layered, prostatic-type epithelium.


This thesis reports on a qualitative study of student interactions in one grade seven mathematics classroom as the students worked through a series of tasks exploring multiple uses of variables. Student tasks were planned out by me, as the teacher and the researcher, and they were executed in my classroom, where I had worked to create a constructivist classroom environment. This study posed two research questions: (1) In what ways do student interactions during group activities promote the development of individual and collective understanding of the concept of variable? and (2) In what ways do student interactions during whole-class discussions promote the development of individual and collective understanding of the concept of variable? I used research methods in which I was a participant. Data was collected in the form of audio taped discussions for the participants (working in three groups of four). Audio files of class discussions were accumulated and stored for later review. Written student work and reflections were collected for all class members at the time of the study. From these data sources, the relevant data set emerged. Analysis came in the form of thick description of eight episodes of importance in which the multiple data sources came together to highlight how student interactions in the form of negotiations may have promoted a shift in understanding of variable. The data showed the complex nature of student interactions along with the potential benefits to student learning. The data showing these benefits were outlined as three patterns of negotiations. These were: negotiations with other students, negotiations with self, and negotiations with the teacher.


Metal sulfides, known as being analogous to metal oxides, have emerged as a new class of materials for energy conversion and/or storage applications due to their low cost and high electrochemical activity. They have shown fascinating properties such as excellent redox reversibility, conductivity, and capacitance. Further, binary metal sulfides have gained enormous attention due to their large redox reaction sites and high electrical conductivity compared to metal sulfides. Recently, use of binary metal sulfides as electrode materials for various applications such as lithium-ion batteries (LIBs), supercapacitors (SC), and solar cells has been extensively studied by various research groups and this review critically overviews the strategies and advances made towards attaining high performances from these sulfides in an effort to provide leads for scale-up and to find long term solutions for energy and environment crisis. Finally, challenges in achieving superior performances and the future scope of research for metal sulfide based energy materials have been outlined.


– Calcium pyrophosphate (CPP) deposition (CPPD) disease is a common form of inflammatory arthritis. Despite its prevalence, it's an under-studied condition and its diagnosis is still challenging. Even if the gold standard for the identification of CPP crystals is still synovial fluid analysis, several different imaging modalities were evaluated and were increasingly used to avoid invasive procedures. Conventional radiography is still considered the first-line radiological investigation thanks to its widespread availability and the long tradition in CPPD disease. However, in the last years major imaging advances have occurred with ultrasound (US) and dual-energy computed tomography (DECT): US has travelled the furthest and is the only validated imaging technique in CPPD; while DECT is the most promising tool for CPPD identification thanks to its capability to discriminate CPP crystals from other calcific deposits. CT is frequently used in case of axial involvement of the disease, and the role of magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) in CPPD has only been marginally studied. All these imaging techniques could support progress in CPPD diagnosis and management, as well as provide a deeper insight into the pathogenesis, clinical manifestation, and the natural history of the disease. The purpose of this review is to highlight the current knowledge and the recent advances on the most used imaging modalities, and their promising value in diagnosing CPPD.


Based on a broad investigation of the appropriations of digital social networks in the mediatized daily life, this article seeks to investigate the use of audiovisual narratives to constitute fake news about the Covid-19 pandemic in Brazil. The main objective is to identify the occurrence of audiovisual use by producers/spreaders of fake news on digital social networks, considering the entire narrative repertoire of disinformation on the subject (audiovisuals, texts, photographs/illustrations/prints, audios). The study on what is called perverse audiovisuality was carried out from the set of investigations carried out by the Comprova Project, to verify suspicious content that goes viral on the networks, formed by 40 Brazilian journalistic vehicles. The analyzes cover two years of work of this collaborative investigative journalism, from the first verification, on March 25, 2020, right at the beginning of the pandemic, to March 25, 2022, already with confrontation also made through vaccines. The methodology also included a literature review. The research identified the significant use of audiovisual narratives in order to disinformation about the pandemic, highlighting the context of a perverse sociability, one that, among other limitations, despises factual truth as a social bond.


Abstract: This novel joint feature issue on "Hybrid organic–inorganic materials for photonic applications" in Applied Optics and Optics Materials Express comprises 14 papers on liquid crystals, polymers, photoconductive materials, and gratings and filters. It is hoped that this feature issue encourages and stimulates further research to into hybrid materials with enhanced linear and nonlinear optical properties, their mechanisms of operation, and their applications.


Structural safety can be threatened by the failure of one member of the structure if it fails other members of the structure. This phenomenon, which has recently attracted the attention of designers and engineers, is known as progressive collapse. Progressive collapse, especially during a severe earthquake, could threaten the general stability of structures and lead to their collapse. This research has been aimed to investigate the performance of the isolated cable-stayed bridges with modern Rolled-N-Cage (RNC) isolators under near-fault seismic loads and after losing a cable. In this regard, Bill Emerson isolated Cable-Stayed Bridge is implemented under three near-fault seismic events and assessed the results of the cable loss. Then, the buffer mechanism of the RNC isolator and its effects against preventing the progressive collapse is evaluated on preventing progressive collapse of the bridge. The results indicate that the RNC isolator with an activated buffer mechanism appropriately decreases the permanent displacement under near-fault seismic loads. While, not using the RNC isolator and buffer mechanism, causes the damage propagation and progressive collapse of the bridge. Review History:


Cancer is not just one disease, but a large group of almost one hundred diseases. Its two main characteristics are uncontrolled growth of the cells in the human body and the ability of these cells to migrate from the original site and spread to distant sites. If the spread is not controlled, cancer can result in death. There has been continuous progress in the development of therapy for cancer. The successful treatment of cancer still remains a challenge. A new series of pyrido[2,3-c]pyridazine derivatives (8-14) were synthesized and screened for their anticancer activity. Amongst them few of the compounds have exhibited promising cytotoxicity along with good safety index. These compounds could be of use in designing new anti-cancer agents.


ABSTRACT The term 'postmodernism' has recently entered the study of social policy, prompting debate over its usefulness for social policy analysis. Peter Taylor-Gooby's (1994) appraisal of literatures often described as 'postmodern' leads him to reject them as having little to offer the discipline of social policy. This article argues that such a view derives from a confusion about the field of 'postmodernism'; in particular, from a conflation of several different theoretical positions and schools of thought. This article provides a clarification of these literatures in order to argue that the issues they raise have important implications for the way in which we might understand the prospects for policy formulation and implementation. The article distinguishes between the political economy strand of the 'post' literatures – postindustrialism and postfordism – and the cultural studies strand – poststructuralism and postmodernism – showing that the different issues they highlight, and the ways in which they conceptualise power and control will lead to different theoretical connections between social policy and political action.


NADH and NADPH are ubiquitous biological reducing agents essential for both respiration and biosynthesis. The discovery that increased pentose-phosphate pathway activity in cervical cancer cells leads to increased levels of NAD(P)H, emphasises the need for a sensitive detection system as an indication of cellular viability and vitality. The remit of this project was to design and synthesise a novel molecular sensor system whose emissive properties are "switched on" upon reduction by NAD(P)H. Research using the reducible, non-fluorescent dye, resazurin, has shown that, in the presence of a non-enzymic electron transfer agent phenazinium methosulphate (PMS)-NADH can effect reduction to the highly fluorescent dye resorufin. Mechanistic studies have shown that the reduction proceeds via a two-electron hydride transfer to the heterocyclic mediator, followed by a one electron transfer to the dye and disproportionation to furnish the final fluorescent product. It has been shown that direct reduction by NADH does not occur and that the reaction depends upon there being an electron transfer agent present. A new type of reagent for the detection of NAD(P)H has been synthesised, comprising a reducible heterocycle and a masked fluorophore. It has been shown that reduction of the precursor conjugate by NADH results in the release of a detectable fluorescent moiety methylumbelliferone. The synthesis of an analogous conjugate probe containing a known hindered dioxetane moiety is described. Prepared using a previously unreported route, the key vinyl ether intermediate is generated via a Wadsworth-Emmons reductive coupling of an alkoxy phosphonate to 2-adamantanone. Reduction by NADH and subsequent cleavage of a conjugate ether link generates an electron rich phenolate substituted dioxetane which is metastable, resulting in emission from the generated excited product. Work towards a dioxetane containing functionalised alkyl group for conjugation to a fluorophore is also outlined.


This paper presents finite element (FE) based pushover analysis of a reinforced concrete structure with a two-leaf cavity wall (TLCW) to estimate the performance level of this structure. In addition to this, an unreinforced masonry (URM) model was selected for comparison. Simulations and analyses of these structures were performed using the DIANA FE program. The mentioned structures were selected as two storeys and two bays. The dimensions of the structures were scaled 1:1.5 according to the Cauchy Froude similitude law. A shake table experiment was implemented on the reinforced concrete structure with the two-leaf cavity wall (TLCW) at the National Civil Engineering Laboratory (LNEC) in Lisbon, Portugal. The model that simulates URM was not experimentally studied. This structure was modelled in the same manner as the TLCW. The purpose of this virtual model is to compare the respective performances. Two nonlinear analyses were performed and compared with the experimental test results. These analyses were carried out in two phases. The research addresses first the analysis of a structure with only reinforced concrete elements, and secondly the analysis of the same structure with reinforced concrete elements and infill walls. Both researches consider static loading and pushover analysis. The experimental pushover curve was plotted by the envelope of the experimental curve obtained on the basis of the shake table records. Crack patterns, failure modes and performance curves were plotted for both models. Finally, results were evaluated on the basis of the current regulation ASCE/SEI 41-06.


The aim of this study was to develop and validate an indigenous measure of Chinese traditional values using Chinese proverbs. A sample of 363 Mainland Chinese undergraduates participated in Study 1, in which a 26-item Chinese Proverb Scale (CPS) was developed through factor analysis on an initial pool of 118 Chinese proverbs. Four factors were clearly identified: (a) Diligence, (b) Integrity, (c) SelfPreservation, and (d) Self-Interest. The CPS showed satisfactory convergent validity with personal values (S. H. Schwartz, 1992, Advances In Experimental Social Psychology, San Diego, Academic Press) and social axioms (K. Leung et al., 2002, Journal of Cross-Cultural Psychology, 33, p. 286). For incremental validity, the CPS predicted life satisfaction beyond the Big Five personality, personal values, and social axioms. In Study 2, a sample of 239 Mainland Chinese participants completed the CPS across two measurement occasions with an interval of 6 months. Longitudinal structural equation modeling (SEM) revealed the structure of the CPS was robust and invariant over time. In Study 3, a sample of 167 Chinese undergraduates from Hong Kong responded to an adapted version of the CPS. Multigroup SEM showed structural equivalence of the scale across the mainland and Hong Kong samples. The cultural origins of the factors in the CPS and future applications of the scale in various research areas are discussed.


Introduction Hospice patients are highly susceptible to infections of the urinary and respiratory tract.1 2 3 4 The use of antimicrobials for symptom control should be considered against the burden of treatment for the patient as well as antimicrobial resistance.1 3 5 6 7 The Scottish Antimicrobial Prescribing Group produce guidance and targets for hospital based empirical prescribing. The aim is to reduce clostridium difficile infection.7 Empirical prescribing standards state 95% of antimicrobials prescribed should be in line with local policy with rationale for use documented. 7 These hospital targets are applicable to the hospice setting.8 Method A consecutive retrospective case note audit was completed for a four month period at St Vincent's Hospice in Howwood. An audit proforma with data collection parameters was developed during this process. Results Thirty-three case notes were audited: 76.7% of patients received at least one course of antimicrobials during their admission. The main indications for antibiotics were urinary tract(34%) and lower respiratory tract infections (60%). Indications for prescribing were specified in 88% and duration specified in 68% of cases. Of these 38% completed the course, 35% were continued longer and 26% were discontinued early. Antimicrobial selection, dosing and route were in line with the Greater Glasgow and Clyde policy in 78% of prescriptions; however only 51% also included documentation of duration. Of these prescriptions 91% were prescribed empirically without microbiology culture data. Discussion The prevalence of infection rate, antibiotic use and improvement of symptom burden is variable within the literature.1 2 3 4 5 There is scope to improve practice surrounding antimicrobial initiation and documentation. Existing local guidelines are not specific to hospice care and should be adapted. We recommend and are working towards: ▸ Palliative Antimicrobial Guideline development and liaison with local antimicrobial stewards. ▸ Development of St Vincent's Hospice antimicrobial toolkit with inclusion of medical handover tools. Re-audit and education.


At the present time, art education is often ignored. Focus on teaching and learning at school seems to accentuate other subjects, such as: science, economics, and technology. This trend is becoming more concerning for the arts is a field of study, which draws attention to the development of perceptual sensitivity, creativity, as well as social responsibility. However, if art education, in this case is music education, is taught theoretically based on other cultural materials, then the consequences will be worse for students. This study is aimed to draw outlines of music education which hopefully can answer the three aspects of music which are previously described. The outlines are arranged based on recent discoveries in audio perceptions.


THE BLOOD of patients with acute disseminated lupus erythematosus has been found to contain a factor which can be detected by adding the whole plasma of these patients to preparations of human or dog bone marrow. This presentation is concerned with the detection of the "L. E. factor," with its disappearance during complete remissions of the disease and with its identification or association with the gamma globulin fraction of the plasma. Study of the bone marrow was introduced as an investigative field in acute disseminated lupus erythematosus by work originally done at the special hematology laboratory of the Mayo Clinic. Richmond1detected a phenomenon of phagocytosis in the bone marrow of a man who was extremely ill with an undetermined disease. Characteristic of this phenomenon was the cell, which she called the "tart cell." This cell is a polymorphonuclear leukocyte which contains a small inclusion. Hargraves


AIM
To investigate the roles of the ribonucleotide reductase M2 (RRM2) subunit in colorectal cancer (CRC) and ultraviolet (UV)-induced DNA damage repair.

METHODS
Immunohistochemical staining of tissue microarray was performed to detect the expression of RRM2. Seven CRC cell lines were cultured and three human colon cancer cell lines, i.e., HCT116, SW480 and SW620, were used. Reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction and Western blotting were performed to determine the mRNA and protein expression levels of RRM2, respectively. Cell proliferation assay, cell cycle analysis were performed. Cell apoptosis was evaluated by double staining with fluorescein isothiocyanate-conjugated Annexin V and propidium iodide (PI) using Annexin V/PI apoptosis kit. The motility and invasion of CRC cells were assessed by the Transwell chamber assay. Cells were irradiated with a 254 nm UV-C lamp to detect the UV sensitivity after RRM2 depletion.

RESULTS
Immunohistochemical staining revealed elevated RRM2 levels in CRC tissues. RRM2 overexpression was positively correlated with invasion depth (P < 0.05), poorly differentiated type (P = 0.0051), and tumor node metastasis stage (P = 0.0015). The expression of RRM2 in HCT116 cells was downregulated after transfection, and HCT116 cell proliferation was obviously suppressed compared to control groups (P < 0.05). In the invasion test, the number of cells that passed through the chambers in the RRM2-siRNA group was 81 ± 3, which was lower than that in the negative control (289 ± 7) and blank control groups (301 ± 7.2). These differences were statistically significant (P < 0.01). Our data suggest that RRM2 overexpression may be associated with CRC progression. RRM2 silencing by siRNA may inhibit the hyperplasia and invasiveness of CRC cells, suggesting that RRM2 may play an important role in the infiltration and metastasis of CRC, which is a potential therapeutic strategy in CRC. In addition, RRM2 depletion increased UV sensitivity.

CONCLUSION
These findings suggest that RRM2 may be a facilitating factor in colorectal tumorigenesis and UV-induced DNA damage repair.


Large, centimeter size, single crystals of the UV nonlinear optical material KSrCO3F were successfully grown by a top seeded solution growth (TSSG) method. The morphology and quality of as-grown single crystals with different rotation speeds are discussed. UV-vis-NIR transmission spectra indicate an absorption edge of 195 nm. In addition, the refractive indices were measured at five different wavelengths from 450.2 to 1062.6 nm and revealed a birefringence of 0.1117 @ 532 nm and 0.1049 @ 1064 nm. The calculated phase-matching curves indicate that KSrCO3F can achieve both type I and type II phase-matching in a broad fundamental wavelength range from 400 to 1200 nm that covers technologically important 532 and 1064 nm radiation. To determine the individual non-linear optical coefficients, Maker-fringe measurements were performed. A value of d22 = 0.50 pm V−1 was measured. Finally, using a 6 ns Nd:YAG laser operating at 15 Hz, a laser damage threshold (LDT) of over 700 MW cm−2 was measured. Our results indicate that single crystal KSrCO3F is an excellent UV second-order nonlinear optical material.


A rare case of an adrenal adenoma that produced virilization by an isolated secretion of testosterone without a concomitant increase in 17-ketosteroids is reported. It was erroneously concluded that the patient's hypertestosteronemia was due to an ovarian disorder because the urinary 17-ketosteroids were normal. It then was speculated that the adenoma's enzyme system was so efficient it was capable of converting the more prevalent androstenedione directly to testosterone without metabolizing it to 17-ketosteroids. Removal of the adrenal adenoma completely cured the patient's hirsutism.


Longitudinal studies of plasma glucose, non-esterified fatty acids (Nefa), and insulin and blood pyruvate levels during oral and intravenous glucose tolerance tests are described in three groups of women treated with combined oral contraceptive preparations: (A) 91 women tested before and during therapy; (B) 39 women tested during therapy and again after this had been discontinued; and (C) 22 women tested twice during therapy. The mean fasting plasma glucose level was unchanged during therapy. In terms of the total area between the plasma-glucose curve and the abscissa, oral and intravenous glucose tolerance deteriorated during therapy in 78% and 70% of group A women, respectively. Thirteen per cent of group A women developed chemical diabetes mellitus during therapy. In group B, oral glucose tolerance improved in 90% and intravenous glucose tolerance improved in 85% after therapy was discontinued. Group C, with an initial mean oral glucose tolerance similar to that of group B during therapy, showed no significant mean change of oral glucose tolerance on retesting. Mean plasma Nefa levels, both before and after oral or intravenous glucose, were unchanged during therapy in groups A and B. During therapy the mean fasting blood pyruvate level was raised in group A and mean blood pyruvate levels were also higher in both groups during oral and intravenous glucose tolerance tests. The mean fasting plasma insulin levels were unchanged during therapy in both groups, but plasma insulin levels were significantly raised in group A after oral and intravenous glucose. Mean plasma insulin levels during oral and intravenous glucose tolerance tests in group B, however, were not significantly different on and off therapy. It is suggested that the impaired glucose tolerance is `steroid diabetes' caused by raised plasma cortisol (hydrocortisone) levels secondary to the oestrogen component of the oral contraceptive. The clinical consequences of these abnormalities remain to be determined. Some individual case studies are presented which exemplify the metabolic abnormalities described above.


Field research and laboratory experiments suggest that, under certain circumstances, people using group support systems (GSS) can be significantly more productive than people who do not use them. Yet, despite their demonstrated potential, GSS have been slow to diffuse across organizations. Drawing on the Technology Transition Model, the paper argues that the high conceptual load of GSS (i.e., understanding of the intended effect of GSS functionality) encourages organizations to employ expert facilitators to wield the technology on behalf of others. Economic and political factors mitigate against facilitators remaining long term in GSS facilities that focus on supporting nonroutine, ad hoc projects. This especially hampers scaling GSS technology to support distributed collaboration. An alternative and sustainable way for organizations to derive value from GSS lies in an approach called "collaboration engineering": the development of repeatable collaborative processes that are conducted by practitioners themselves. To enable the development of such processes, this paper proposes the thinkLet concept, a codified packet of facilitation skill that can be applied by practitioners to achieve predictable, repeatable patterns of collaboration, such as divergence or convergence.A thinkLet specifies the facilitator'schoices and actions in terms of the GSS tool used, the configuration of this tool, and scripted prompts to accomplish a pattern of collaboration in a group. Using thinkLets as building blocks, facilitators can develop and transfer repeatable collaborative processes to practitioners. Given the limited availability of expert facilitators, collaboration engineering with thinkLets may become a sine qua non for organizations to effectively support virtual work teams.


What monetary policy framework, if adopted by the Federal Reserve, would have avoided the Great Inflation of the 1960s and 1970s? We use counterfactual simulations of an estimated model of the U.S. economy to evaluate alternative monetary policy strategies. We show that policies constructed using modern optimal control techniques aimed at stabilizing inflation, economic activity, and interest rates would have succeeded in achieving a high degree of economic stability as well as price stability only if the Federal Reserve had possessed excellent information regarding the structure of the economy or if it had acted as if it placed relatively low weight on stabilizing the real economy. Neither condition held true. We document that policymakers at the time both had an overly optimistic view of the natural rate of unemployment and put a high priority on achieving full employment. We show that in the presence of realistic informational imperfections and with an emphasis on stabilizing economic activity, an optimal control approach would have failed to keep inflation expectations well anchored, resulting in highly volatile inflation during the 1970s. Finally, we show that a strategy of following a robust first-difference policy rule would have been highly successful in the presence of informational imperfections. This robust monetary policy rule yields simulated outcomes that are close to those seen during the period of the Great Moderation starting in the mid-1980s.


Early Opinion as to the Age of the "Orange Sand." In a recent number of the American Journal of Science* President Chamberlin and myself discussed at some length the relationship of certain gravels in the middle Mississippi basin to the loess and to such other formations of that region as were demonstrably of Pleistocene age. In that article we expressed the conclusion that the gravels in question, composed mainly of chert and of other silicious impurities from limestone, were of pre-Pleistocene age. The evidence on which this conclusion was based need not here be repeated. We then believed it adequate to the conclusion reached, and nothing has subsequently been discovered by us to weaken the force of the arguments then used or to alter the conclusions based upon them. Since the discussion referred to was published, some additional facts have come to light which have an important bearing on the . . .


Interventions on infrastructure networks in municipalities cause disruptions to the service provided by the network that requires the intervention. They also cause disruptions to the service provided by other networks that have to be at least partially shut down so that the intervention can be executed. Due to these effects, there is substantial benefit to be obtained by grouping interventions on all networks that are spatially close to one another, i.e. work programs for spatially close networks should be developed together. This benefit is principally due to reduced interruption to services and reduced costs of intervention. The challenge of determining such combined optimal work programs is made more difficult as it requires quantification of the value of lost services, which depends on how different stakeholders value the services as well as how the services are interrupted. In this paper the difference between two methodologies to be used to develop work programs on spatially close infrastructure networks is shown: 1) a traditional methodology based on a grid-cell based grouping method, and 2) a methodology based on a combined topology / Voronoi cell / density based clustering of interventions. Both methodologies exploit recent developments in the area of critical infrastructures and GISs. The differences are illustrated by using both methodologies to determine combined work programs for five spatially close infrastructure networks (electricity, gas, water, sewage, roads) in a municipality with approximately 1'500 inhabitants. The advantages and disadvantages of each are discussed.


The Dutch perinatal mortality rate is relatively high when viewed in a European perspective. There appear to be also substantial differences in perinatal mortality between provinces, large cities and even between neighbourhoods. Accumulation of obstetric risk factors as well as socioeconomic and urban risks seems to be involved as well. This should be taken into account in the process of risk selection to define a high risk population needing hospital care. In 85% of all cases of perinatal mortality, one or more of the following perinatal morbidities are present, designated as the 'Big 4': congenital abnormalities, preterm birth, intrauterine growth restriction and low Apgar score (< 7; 5 min after birth). Differences in perinatal mortality, the evaluation of organisational features of care and determinants like travel time from home to hospital should always be related to the case mix represented by this 'Big 4'.


The focus of this thesis is to offer a theory of the constitutive value of intellectual character due to its transformative influence. The specific transformative influence ascribed to intellectual character is that it counteracts self-deceptive mechanisms and disposes agents to obtain true beliefs and to avoid false beliefs. The true beliefs such character reliably produces are accurate representations, and not merely of empirical inputs but also conceptual schemes. Agents do not appear to require such accurate representations to fulfill various desires, or to achieve certain aspects of mental, social and physical well-being as identified by some psychologists. Consequently, agents do not require intellectual character to achieve a variety of things some have identified as good. Nonetheless, a distinction can be made between achieving the good and identifying the good, and it can also be acknowledged that the good is itself a matter of dispute. That is, there are a number of competing notions of the good, which appear to be influenced by various conceptual schemes, and this makes the identification of the good difficult. Intellectual character can fulfill a valuable role in the attempt to settle such disputes through its ability to facilitate true beliefs concerning the good. In fact, intellectual character is necessary to assure agents that their beliefs concerning the good are true due to the imperceptible mechanisms of selfdeception. This assurance is itself valuable for any agent who wants to identify the good due to the indispensable role of true belief in attempts to identify the good. Even further, identification of the good is valuable for any agent who wants to achieve the good, since the attempt to identify the good better facilitates achievement of the good. Consequently, the assurance that intellectual character is necessary for is valuable for agents who both want to identify and achieve the good, and for this reason such character is constitutively valuable.


Model driven development is gaining momentum, and thus, larger and more complex systems are being represented and developed with the help of modeling. Complex systems often suffer from a number of problems such as difficulties in keeping the model understandable, long compilation times and high coupling. With modeling comes the possibility to validate the models against constraints, which makes it possible to handle problems that traditional static analysis tools can't solve. This thesis is a study on to what degree the usage of automatic model validation can be a useful tool in addressing some of the problems that appear in the development of complex systems. This is done by compiling a list of validation constraints based on existing problems, implementing and applying fixes for these and measuring how a number of different aspects of the model is affected. After applying the fixes and measuring the impact on the models ,it could be seen that validation of dependencies can have a signicant impact on the models by reducing build times of the generated code. Other types of validation constraints require further study to decide what impact they might have on model quality.


Mechanosensing is an integral part of many physiological processes including stem cell differentiation, fibrosis, and cancer progression. Two major mechanosensing systems—focal adhesions and mechanosensitive ion channels—can convert mechanical features of the microenvironment into biochemical signals. We report here unexpectedly that the mechanosensitive calcium-permeable channel Piezo1, previously perceived to be diffusive on plasma membranes, binds to matrix adhesions in a force-dependent manner, promoting cell spreading, adhesion dynamics, and calcium entry in normal but not in most cancer cells tested except some glioblastoma lines. A linker domain in Piezo1 is needed for binding to adhesions, and overexpression of the domain blocks Piezo1 binding to adhesions, decreasing adhesion size and cell spread area. Thus, we suggest that Piezo1 is a previously unidentified component of focal adhesions in nontransformed cells that catalyzes adhesion maturation and growth through force-dependent calcium signaling, but this function is absent in most cancer cells.


A traffic performance measurement system, PeMS, currently functions as a statewide repository for traffic data gathered by thousands of automatic sensors. It has integrated data collection, processing and communications infrastructure with data storage and analytical tools. In this paper, we discuss statistical issues that have emerged as we attempt to process a data stream of 2 GB per day of wildly varying quality. In particular, we focus on detecting sensor malfunction, imputation of missing or bad data, estimation of velocity and forecasting of travel times on freeway networks.


Democratic stability is one of the key challenges of contemporary politics. This article contributes to our understanding of this challenge by comparatively examining the sources of democratic stability and instability in India and Pakistan. The article will use a small N comparison with a most similar design to it, since India and Pakistan are similar but with different outcomes. The goal is to show that certain main factors affect the uneven development of democracy and then generalize the results, so it can be applied to Asia as a whole. The factors examined are; decolonization and partition, critical junctures affecting political parties and institutions, the modernization theory, security problems and international actors. Upon examination of these factors, it becomes clear that all these different components demonstrate changes in regime outcomes and the analyses provides an explanation of why there can be an uneven development of democracy.


"They join the greatest boldness in thought to the most obedient character". So Madame de Stael described German intellectuals at the close of the 18th century, and her view of this schism between the intellectual and the political has stood virtually unchallenged for 200 years. This book lays to rest Madam de Stael's legacy, the myth of the apolitical German. In a narrative history of ideas that proceeds from his book "The Fate of Reason", Frederick Beiser discusses how the French Revolution, with a rationalism and an irrationalism that altered the world, transformed and politicized German philosophy and its central concern: the authority and limits of reason. In Germany, three antithetical political traditions - liberalism, conservatism, and romanticism - developed in response to the cataclysmic events in France. "Enlightenment, Revolution and Romanticism" establishes the genesis and context of these traditions and illuminates their fundamental political ideas. Moving from such well-known figures as Kant, Fichte, Jacobi, Forster, and Moser, Beiser summarizes responses to the French Revolution by the major political thinkers of the period. He investigates the sources for their political theory before the 1790s and assesses the importance of politics for their thought in general. By concentrating on a single formative decade, Beiser aims to reveal the political values and purposes underlying German thought in the late 18th century and ultimately to clarify the place of practical reason in the German philosophical tradition.


: The chief residency in pediatrics, with its variety of functions, can be both a rewarding and trying experience. The author conducted two surveys of pediatric chief residents, which were taken at the beginning and end of their terms, in order to gauge how various educational, interpersonal, and clinical factors changed in importance during the course of their residencies. From these findings and from his own personal experiences, the author offers ways to improve the quality of a chief resident's tenure.


Chevkinite-group minerals were sought in 26 granitic bodies from the Palaeogene sequences of Scotland and Northern Ireland, ranging from biotite ± amphibole granites through fayalite-ferrohedenbergite granites to alkali amphibole granites. Chevkinite-(Ce) was found, and analyzed by electron microprobe, in 20 of the bodies, confirming that it is a ubiquitous accessory phase in these rocks. The abundance of the chevkinite is highest in the latter two granite types, sometimes forming more than 50 crystals per thin section. Textural evidence indicates that they crystallized from early- to late-magmatic stages. Compositional variation within and between crystals in the same rock may have resulted partly from fractional crystallization and/or magma mixing and partly from element mobility during metamictization. In some rocks, subsequent hydrothermal alteration affected the composition of the chevkinite-(Ce), in extreme cases leaving totally pseudomorphed material. Apart from mirroring a small enrichment of the LREE in the peralkaline host rocks, there are no systematic changes in chevkinite composition with different bulk-rock compositions.


The disequilibrium combination of abundant methane and carbon dioxide has been proposed as a promising exoplanet biosignature that is readily detectable with upcoming telescopes such as the James Webb Space Telescope. However, few studies have explored the possibility of nonbiological CH4 and CO2 and related contextual clues. Here we investigate whether magmatic volcanic outgassing on terrestrial planets can produce atmospheric CH4 and CO2 with a thermodynamic model. Our model suggests that volcanoes are unlikely to produce CH4 fluxes comparable to biological fluxes. Improbable cases where volcanoes produce biological amounts of CH4 also produce ample carbon monoxide. We show, using a photochemical model, that high abiotic CH4 abundances produced by volcanoes would be accompanied by high CO abundances, which could be a detectable false-positive diagnostic. Overall, when considering known mechanisms for generating abiotic CH4 on terrestrial planets, we conclude that observations of atmospheric CH4 with CO2 are difficult to explain without the presence of biology when the CH4 abundance implies a surface flux comparable to modern Earth's biological CH4 flux. A small or negligible CO abundance strengthens the CH4+CO2 biosignature because life readily consumes atmospheric CO, while reducing volcanic gases likely cause CO to build up in a planet's atmosphere. Furthermore, the difficulty of volcanically generated CH4-rich atmospheres suitable for an origin of life may favor alternatives such as impact-induced reducing atmospheres.


BACKGROUND
 Evidence-based practice refers to building clinical decisions on credible research evidence, professional experience, and patient preferences. However, there is a growing concern that evidence in the context of electronic health (eHealth) is not sufficiently used when forming policies and practice of health care. In this context, using evaluation and research evidence in clinical or policy decisions dominates the discourse. However, the use of additional types of evidence, such as professional experience, is underexplored. Moreover, there might be other ways of using evidence than in clinical or policy decisions.

 OBJECTIVE
 This study aimed to analyze how different types of evidence (such as evaluation outcomes [including patient preferences], professional experiences, and existing scientific evidence from other research) obtained within the development and evaluation of an eHealth trial are used by diverse stakeholders. An additional aim was to identify barriers to the use of evidence and ways to support its use.

 METHODS
 This study was built on a case of an eHealth trial funded by the European Union. The project included 4 care centers, 2 research and development companies that provided the web-based physical exercise program and an activity monitoring device, and 2 science institutions. The qualitative data collection included 9 semistructured interviews conducted 8 months after the evaluation was concluded. The data analysis concerned (1) activities and decisions that were made based on evidence after the project ended, (2) evidence used for those activities and decisions, (3) in what way the evidence was used, and (4) barriers to the use of evidence.

 RESULTS
 Evidence generated from eHealth trials can be used by various stakeholders for decisions regarding clinical integration of eHealth solutions, policy making, scientific publishing, research funding applications, eHealth technology, and teaching. Evaluation evidence has less value than professional experiences to local decision making regarding eHealth integration into clinical practice. Professional experiences constitute the evidence that is valuable to the highest variety of activities and decisions in relation to eHealth trials. When using existing scientific evidence related to eHealth trials, it is important to consider contextual relevance, such as location or disease. To support the use of evidence, it is suggested to create possibilities for health care professionals to gain experience, assess a few rather than a large number of variables, and design for shorter iterative cycles of evaluation.

 CONCLUSIONS
 Initiatives to support and standardize evidence-based practice in the context of eHealth should consider the complexities in how the evidence is used in order to achieve better uptake of evidence in practice. However, one should be aware that the assumption of fact-based decision making in organizations is misleading. In order to create better chances that the evidence produced would be used, this should be addressed through the design of eHealth trials.


BACKGROUND/AIM
There is a need for culturally appropriate assessments for Australian Indigenous children. This article reports the selection of culturally appropriate and gender-neutral play materials, and changes in administration identified to develop further the Indigenous Child-Initiated Pretend Play Assessment (I-ChIPPA).

METHOD
Twenty-three typically developing children aged four to six years from the Pilbara region in Western Australia participated in the study. Children were presented with four sets of play materials and frequency counts were recorded for each time the child used one of the play materials in a pretend play action. Twelve of the 23 children came to play in pairs.

RESULTS
Both boys and girls used the Pilbara toy set including the dark coloured dolls and Pilbara region animals, more frequently than the standardised play materials from the Child-Initiated Pretend Play Assessment (ChIPPA).

CONCLUSION
This study reports the first steps in the development of the I-ChIPPA. Future development will include the refinement of the administration and scoring with pairs of children, and then validity testing the assessment.


An important component of the beef cow herd is the contribution of the dam to herd profitability. Yet, no research has contributed to valuing the dam's genetic contribution to herd quality performance or profitability. This paper examines how managing for dam genetic pedigree quality grade affected the outcome of calf crop quality, and simulates the economic impact for different levels of quality premium. The results show that managing for dam pedigree genetics beyond three generations in the herd has little economic value for producers.


This work reports the use of a smartphone's ambient light sensor as a valuable tool to study and characterize the efficiency of an optical source. Here, we have measured both luminous efficacy and efficiency of several optical sources (incandescent bulb and halogen lamp) as a function of the electric power consumed and the distance to the optical detector. The illuminance of LEDs as a function of the distance to the optical detector is characterized for different wavelength emissions. Analysis of the results confirms an inverse-square law of the illuminance with the detector–source distance and shows good agreement with values obtained by classical experiments. This experience will trigger awareness in students in terms of sustainability, light propagation and efficiency of different optical sources.


This paper proposes the full interference cancellation (FIC) algorithm to cancel the interrelay interference (IRI) in the two-path cooperative system. Arising from simultaneous data transmission from the source and relay nodes, IRI may significantly decrease performance if it is not carefully handled. Compared with the existing partial interference cancellation scheme, the FIC approach is more robust yet is not as complex. Numerical results are also given to verify the proposed scheme.


Despite extensive research on cryptography, secure and efficient query processing over outsourced data remains an open challenge. This paper continues along the emerging trend in secure data processing that recognizes that the entire dataset may not be sensitive, and hence, non-sensitivity of data can be exploited to overcome limitations of existing encryption-based approaches. We propose a new secure approach, entitled query binning (QB) that allows non-sensitive parts of the data to be outsourced in clear-text while guaranteeing that no information is leaked by the joint processing of non-sensitive data (in clear-text) and sensitive data (in encrypted form). QB maps a query to a set of queries over the sensitive and non-sensitive data in a way that no leakage will occur due to the joint processing over sensitive and non-sensitive data. Interestingly, in addition to improve performance, we show that QB actually strengthens the security of the underlying cryptographic technique by preventing size, frequency-count, and workload-skew attacks.


Peculiarities of auto- and cross-correlation histograms of spike trains of polysynaptically (disynaptically) connected neurones were studied by means of mathematical and biomathematical modelling of neuronal interaction (computer controlled experiment with neurones of a mollusc) in wide physiological diapazons of the values of parameters characterizing the properties and conditions of functioning of the neurones and synapses. A comparison was carried out of manifestations of polysynaptic and corresponding monosynaptic connections in auto- and cross-correlation histograms.


In automotive manufacturing, production systems typically involve multiple robots and, today, are being individualized by utilizing the concept of digital twins. Therefore, the robot programs need to be verified for each individual product. A crucial aspect is to avoid collisions between robots by velocity tuning: This involves an efficient analysis of pairs of robot paths and determining if swept volumes of (sub) paths are disjoint. In general, velocity uncertain motions require disjoint sweep volumes to be safe. We optimize a clearance lower bounding function to provide new sample points for clearance computations. Due to the computational cost of each distance query, our sampling strategy aims to maximize the information gained at each query. The algorithm terminates when robot paths are verified to be disjoint or a collision is detected. Our approach for disjoint paths is inspired by the technique for continuous collision detection known as conservative advancement. Our tests indicate that the proposed sampling method is reliable and computationally much faster than creating and intersecting octrees representing the swept volumes.


The assessment of residual behavior of imidacloprid (Admire 20SL) in the soil of country bean agroecosystem and its risk assessment for consumption was studied. QuEChERS method was used for the extraction and clean-up of samples and the residues of imidacloprid was estimated using Gas Chromatography. The dissipation studies in the soil system were carried out by application of imidacloprid at five different dosages i.e. 100, 200, 300, 400, and 500 g a.i. ha-1. Average initial deposits of imidacloprid were found to be 0.99, 1.33, 1.62, 1.83 and 2.20 mg.kg-1. The residues reached below determination limit (BDL) of 0.01 mg kg-1 in 9 days for recommended dose and 12 days for remaining higher dosages. Half-life (T1/2)) of imidacloprid in the soil was observed to be 1.88, 1.74, 1.73, 1.56 and 1.52 days for 100, 200, 300, 400, and 500 g a.i. ha-1, respectively. The chemodynamics study of imidacloprid spray indicated that only 27.20 -28.40% sprays were deposited to the target site (plant canopy) and 71.60-72.80% were lost to non-target site such as soil and air. The drift of imidacloprid to soil (39.47-40.20%) was higher than the air (32.13-32.60%). Based on degradation pattern and maximum, the recommended preharvest interval (PHI) might be eight 9 days and a waiting period of two days might be suggested for reapplication of the imidacloprid in country bean agroecosystem.
Bangladesh J. Agril. Res. 44(1): 89-101, March 2019


Introduction:
 Time is brain; time is muscle. Faster endovascular reperfusion is associated with better outcome for both acute ischemic stroke due to large vessel occlusion (AIS-LVO) and ST-elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI). However, their relative pace of benefit gain with accelerated time has not been systematically investigated.

 Methods:
 We performed a systematic literature search to identify all multi center studies (RCTs and registries) between 2000-2015 reporting relation between onset to reperfusion (OTR) and clinical outcome for AIS-LVO, or onset to balloon (OTB) and clinical outcome for STEMI. Study sample size weighting was used to produce a combined estimate of outcome change associated with every 15 min reduction in total ischemia time.

 Results:
 Systematic search identified 11 AIS-LVO studies with 611 patients and 8 STEMI studies with 15,827 patients. Across AIS-LVO trials, median OTRs were 132 to 440 minutes; across STEMI trials median OTBs were 75 to 330 minutes. Among all clinical outcomes (Table), the one most responsive to faster treatment was functional independence at 90 days for AIS-LVO: for which every 15 min acceleration in OTR, 37 more of 1000 treated patients achieved functional independence. Degree of mortality reduction with faster treatment was relatively similar for both AIS-LVO and STEMI; for every 15 min acceleration, 2-6 more of 1000 treated patients survived. MI recurrence was insensitive to treatment times. For AIS-LVO, speedier treatment was also associated with reduced intracranial hemorrhage (ICH), with 19 fewer ICHs per 1000 patients with every 15 min acceleration.

 Conclusion:
 Considering important dichotomous clinical outcomes, accelerating onset to endovascular reperfusion time has 7-fold greater benefit in acute ischemic stroke than in acute myocardial infarction. As the nervous system has greater eloquence, functional diversity, and sensitivity to ischemia, time is more brain than muscle.


THE AUBIN ACADEMY MASTER SERIES: REVIT ARCHITECTURE 2013 AND BEYOND combines a straightforward, reader-friendly style with project-focused exercises that encourage learning by doing. You will gain practical, firsthand experience with the powerful, popular Revit Building Information Modeling (BIM) software, which leading architects and engineers are using to move beyond traditional Computer-Assisted Design (CAD) to manage complex projects, foster collaboration, and boost productivity. This completely revised edition covers new features in 2013 such as Stairs and Railings and Materials. The book's tutorial-based lessons cover topics of interest to beginners and seasoned users alike. Learn to set up projects in Revit, creating views and organizing project data for maximum efficiency. Create model elements like Walls, Doors, Roofs and Curtain Walls. Work concurrently on two projects: one residential and one commercial as you create a complete set of documents from initial modeling all the way to detailing and scheduling. Round out your essential Revit skillset with a look at team collaboration (Worksharing), Rendering and outputting data and documents. All required exercise files are available for free download to use with the book's lessons.