Introduction: There is need to improve glucose control and QoL for type 1 diabetes (T1D) using automated insulin delivery (AID) . We evaluated non-glucose signals in subjects with T1D on AID using the multi-functional Empatica E4 device (E4) .
 Method: During a 2-week prospective AID study for 12 participants with T1D, pharmacological stress was induced with three doses of hydrocortisone delivered at 9 am (40 mg) , 1 pm (20 mg) , and 5 pm (20 mg) . Frequent salivary cortisol measurements confirmed pharmacologic stress. The correlation of normalized power spectral density (PSD) of Electrodermal activity (EDA) data from E4 with the salivary cortisol (SC) gold standard was evaluated. EDA PSD was computed at min windows before and after the hydrocortisone administration. Subsequently, the impact of SC and EDA PSD on CGM and insulin delivery data was analyzed. Pearson's moment (R value) was utilized to evaluate correlation between two variables.
 Results: Significant change in SC was observed after each dosage: 159.6 ±88.6 ng/dL before to 18247.6 ±18834 ng/dL after (Dose 1/D1) , 1911.9 ±7ng/dL to 7716.1±4485 ng/dL (D2) , and 798.4 ±629 ng/dL to 7458.1±9995 ng/dL (D3) . A positive change was also noted in the EDA PSD with all three doses: -96.5±13.9 dB/Hz to -95.5 ±21.2 dB/Hz (D1) , -96.1±14.02 dB/Hz to -94.6 ±9.1db/Hz (D2) , and -85.9 ±23.6dB/Hz to -81.6 ±23.6dB/Hz (D3) . R value between EDA PSD and SC was 0.82 (p = 0.015) . The post lunch time in hyperglycemia was 78.7 %±9.7 (p = 0.0paired t-test) with an average insulin delivery of 10.36 U±2.24
 Conclusions: There is significant effect of pharmacological stress on cortisol and EDA PSD. AID has poor postprandial glycemic outcomes with pharmacological stress indicating need for detecting stress and updating control strategy. E4 EDA can be utilized to monitor pharmacological stress and can be incorporated for testing in Next Gen AID.

 A.Banerjee: None. R.Kaur: None. I.Zaniletti: None. M.Church: None. S.K.Mccrady-spitzer: None. D.Desjardins: None. S.Gupta: None. Y.C.Kudva: Advisory Panel; Novo Nordisk, Research Support; Dexcom, Inc., Hemsley Charitable Trust, JDRF, National Institutes of Health, Roche Diabetes Care, Tandem Diabetes Care, Inc.

 JDRF grant (2-SRA-2017-503-M-B)


In austenitic steam generator (SG) tubes installed in nuclear power plants (NPP), wall thinning and crack formation caused by stress corrosion cracking have been observed. These cracks are manly orientated in longitudinal direction of the tube but also in a few cases circumferential oriented cracks nave been found. Because of the small crack depths and wall thickness, the application of fracture mechanics assessments of the load-bearing capacity of these cracks is very limited. Equally it is almost impossible to determine the necessary fracture mechanics parameters for such component geometries.Damage mechanics models are able to describe the experimentally observed processes in smooth and cracked specimens. They have no restrictions like fracture mechanics models.In this paper, the damage model of Rousselier was used to describe the failure behavior and load-bearing capacity of cracked steam generator tubes. The operation temperature of these tubes is about 300 °C. The Rousselier parameters for the austenitic steel X 2 NiCrAlTi 32-20 (1.4558) of the tubes were determined by using tensile tests and burst tests at temperatures of 20 °C and 300 °C. With this damage model it is possible to evaluate the existing limit values for burst pressures and necessary safety factors for the plugging of steam generator tubes in nuclear power plants. These results can also contribute to the safety evaluation of stress corrosion cracking in steam generator tubes.© 2013 ASME


A methodology for the measurement of height in water reservoirs is developed. It is based on Sentinel 2 imagery and aerial LiDAR data. The methodology is automatized using Matlab software and focused on image processing techniques (equalization, binarization, and edge detection) combined with LiDAR data processing (near neighbour search and height averaging). It is applied in a region of interest selected by the user characterized by a water–land interface. Results are validated in the As Conchas water reservoir (Spain) using an in situ sensing system provided by the Hydrographic Mino-Sil Confederation. The duration of the experiment was one year. The Sentinel 2 bands B2, B3, B4, and B8 were tested during this study. The best results for water height evaluation were obtained for band B8 (842 nm) with an error of 0.20 m and a standard deviation of 0.17 m. The time resolution of the technique depends on the Sentinel 2 revisit time. The time resolution and height accuracy could be improved using complementary satellite systems.


CO2 serves as one of the fundamental regulators of cerebral blood flow (CBF). It is widely considered that this regulation occurs through pCO2-driven changes in pH of the cerebral spinal fluid (CSF), with elevated and lowered pH causing direct relaxation and contraction of the smooth muscle, respectively. However, some findings also suggest that pCO2 acts independently of and/or in conjunction with altered pH. This action may be due to a direct effect of CSF pCO2 on the smooth muscle as well as on the endothelium, nerves, and astrocytes. Findings may also point to an action of arterial pCO2 on the endothelium to regulate smooth muscle contractility. Thus, the effects of pH and pCO2 may be influenced by the absence/presence of different cell types in the various experimental preparations. Results may also be influenced by experimental parameters including myogenic tone as well as solutions containing significantly altered HCO3− concentrations, i.e., solutions routinely employed to differentiate the effects of pH from pCO2. In sum, it appears that pCO2, independently and in conjunction with pH, may regulate CBF.


Health authorities in Australia must carefully monitor the use of L-tryptophan and the source or sources of products sold in this country should be traced. Until it can be unequivocally shown that the "local" product does not cause the eosinophilia-myalgiasyndromeand is substantially free of its side effects the use of Ltryptophan should be curtailed. Denis Wakefield, MD, FRACP, FRCPA Department 01 Immunopathology Pnnce Henry Hospital Anzac Parade, l.inle Bay, NSW 2036 1. Centers for Disease Control. Update: analysis of L·tryptophan for the etiology of eosinophilia-myalgiasyndrome MMWR 1990; 39: 789-790.


Our murine models of human monocytic ehrlichiosis (HME) have shown that severe and fatal ehrlichiosis is due to generation of pathogenic T cell responses causing immunopathology and multi-organ failure. However, the early events in the liver, the main site of infection, are not well understood. In this study, we examined the liver transcriptome during the course of lethal and nonlethal infections caused by Ixodes ovatus Ehrlichia and Ehrlichia muris, respectively. On day 3 post-infection (p.i.), although most host genes were down regulated in the two groups of infected mice compared to naïve counterparts, lethal infection induced significantly higher expression of caspase 1, caspase 4, nucleotide binding oligomerization domain-containing proteins (Nod1), tumor necrosis factor-alpha, interleukin 10, and CCL7 compared to nonlethal infection. On day 7 p.i., lethal infection induced highly significant upregulation of type-1 interferon, several inflammatory cytokines and chemokines, which was associated with increased expression levels of Toll-like receptor-2 (TLR2), Nod2, MyD88, nuclear factor-kappa B (NF-kB), Caspase 4, NLRP1, NLRP12, Pycard, and IL-1β, suggesting enhanced TLR signals and inflammasomes activation. We next evaluated the participation of TLR2 and Nod2 in the host response during lethal Ehrlichia infection. Although lack of TLR2 impaired bacterial elimination and increased tissue necrosis, Nod2 deficiency attenuated pathology and enhanced bacterial clearance, which correlated with increased interferon-γ and interleukin-10 levels and a decreased frequency of pathogenic CD8+ T cells in response to lethal infection. Thus, these data indicate that Nod2, but not TLR2, contributes to susceptibility to severe Ehrlichia-induced shock. Together, our studies provide, for the first time, insight into the diversity of host factors and novel molecular pathogenic mechanisms that may contribute to severe HME.


Short precorneal residence time and poor transocular membrane permeability are the major challenges associated with topical ocular drug delivery. In the present research, the efficiency of the electrolyte-triggered sol-to-gel–forming system of natamycin (NT) transfersomes was investigated for enhanced and prolonged ophthalmic delivery. Transfersomes were optimized by varying the molar ratios of phospholipid, sorbitan monostearate (Span) and tocopheryl polyethylene glycol succinate (TPGS). NT transfersome formulations (FNs) prepared with a 1:1 molar ratio of phospholipid-to-Span and low levels of TPGS showed optimal morphometric properties, and were thus selected to fabricate the in situ gelling system. Gellan gum–based (0.3% w/v) FN-loaded formulations (FNGs) immediately formed an in situ gel in the simulated tear fluid, with considerable viscoelastic characteristics. In vitro cytotoxicity in corneal epithelial cells and corneal histology studies demonstrated the ocular safety and cytocompatibility of these optimized formulations. Transcorneal permeability of NT from these formulations was significantly higher than in the control suspension. Moreover, the ocular disposition studies of NT, from the FNs and FNGs, in New Zealand male albino rabbits demonstrated the superiority of the electrolyte-sensitive FNGs in terms of NT delivery to the ocular tissues.


By focusing on the impacts on students, research on education abroad has been largely one-sided. In contrast, anthropological research indicates that cross-cultural encounters in the context of tourism (especially the cultural variety) lead to impacts on both hosts and guests. Therefore, the author contends that education abroad needs to consider the host perspective as well. To that end, this study takes the perspective of host families in Cuenca, Ecuador, and asks questions about why locals decide to host foreign students, what occurs in the host family-student encounter, and whether host families perceive a sociocultural impact. Fieldwork involved participant-observation, key consultants, and semi-structured interviews with both hosts and guests, as well as an extensive review of the literature on education abroad and tourism. Through ethnographic analysis focusing on fictive kinship and economic exchange, the findings suggest that education abroad has various sociocultural (and economic) impacts on host families, especially children. Of these, some are temporary in nature, while others are more durable.


This paper offers a critique and reformulation of the data-information-knowledge-wisdom (DIKW) pyramid. Today, collection of personal, business, industrial, and other types of data has never been more pervasive and invasive. Data storage now is measured in yottabytes (56 septillion bits of data) and beyond. This collected data is interrogated, monetized, hacked, and otherwise handled and mishandled around the world at an increasingly rapid pace due to improvements in technology. The interrogated data becomes information, but whether this information is useful or valuable depends entirely on the manner of interrogation and the accuracy of the underlying data. In turn, information could become knowledge but not necessarily, and not necessarily useful knowledge either. Knowledge and wisdom are also closely related, but wisdom typically contains a volume and longevity of collected knowledge and a purpose. Are humans more knowledgeable or wiser for today's massive amounts of collected data? This paper examines the traditional DIKW pyramid and proposes a revised DIKW relationship based on a Venn diagram to better reflect the relationship between data, information, knowledge, and wisdom.


The Witsenhausens counterexample (1968) is a difficult nonconvex functional optimization problem which has been outstanding for more than 30 years. Considerable amount of literature has been accumulated, but optimal solutions remain elusive. In this paper, we develop a framework that allows one to gain additional new insights to the properties of a better solution for a benchmark instance. Through our approach, we are able to zero in on a solution that is 13% better than the previously known best solution, and more than 54% better than previous results obtained by other authors. More importantly, we demonstrate that our approach, called hierarchical search, can be useful in general optimization problems.


NeoRealismo Virtuale (NeRVi) is an innovative approach through which digital ubiquitous technologies are used to create, access and visualize additional layers to the ordinary reality, creating stratified continums in which digital content is interconnected interactively with the physical world. Mobile devices, wearable technologies, interactive architectures, Spimes and wide tagging techniques are used for this purpose, creating environments that describe new forms of urban scenarios that encompass the possibility to represent augmented information and communication practices, creating innovative opportunities for relation and interaction. The city becomes a layered reality, creating connections among quantitative information sources, interpretative layers, emotional and relational domains: traversing urban spaces can in turn, become a form of writing, reading and relating/interacting with both humans and information systems. NeoRealismo Virtuale (a mobile application using the same name of the theory) enacts such processes in visual ways; Holo enacts them using spatialized sounds and audio. Both revolve around augmented reality applications that implement ubiquitously accessible sensorial Social Networks in which digital contents can be published by multiple authors and agents in physical spaces of urban environments, and experienced by using extremely accessible mobile interfaces, creating new forms of information, communication, relation and interaction.


Ecosystem restoration, and satisfactory revegetation of strip-mined areas provides an amiable complement to the disposal of treated sewage sludge. Although surface mining is often the most economical method for removing mineral resources, its detrimental impacts on the land surface landscape and ecological environment is and will continue to be a concern. The problem of reclaiming lands disturbed by mining activities is extremely important, as is the sustainability of these reclaimed lands. Stringent regulations, in combination with aie cost of commercial fertilizers, make the search for fertilizer substitutes and alternate soil amendments vital. The use of anaerobically digested de-watered sewage sludge as both a fertilizer source and a soil organic matter amendment in mine reclamation can provide the solution to two pressing and use-related problems: the disposal of treated sewage sludge in a beneficial re-use function and the reclamation and revegetation of mine spoils. Sewage sludges can be regarded as a recyclable source of nutrients and organic matter, and can aid in revegetation and initiation of a sustainable soil humus complex. The purpose of this symposium submission is to review the current state of knowledge on the use of sewage sludges for revegetation and reclamation of surface/strip mines and mine spoils. The long-term sustainability of reclamation efforts utilizing sludges will be detailed by assessing related research projects and operational trials. Results of a joint GVRD/UBC investigation of the use of sewage sludge as an organic forest fertilizer will be presented. Potential environmental impacts are reviewed including effects on vegetation, soil properties, water quality and animal health.


The aim of this longitudinal ecological study was to analyze the trend in the proportion of low birth weight in Rio Grande do Sul State, Brazil, from 1994 to 2004 by panel data analysis and multilevel linear regression (two levels: by micro-region and time in years) to estimate risk factors associated with low birth weight. The proportion of low birth weight increased by 1.2% per year, and the multilevel model showed that the proportions differed between the micro-regions and increased over time, with the increase in the percentage of premature newborns, with the increase in the infant mortality rate, and with the increase in the cesarean rate. Among the micro-regions, the proportions of low birth weight varied positively with the urbanization rate and expenditures in the Unified National Health System and negatively with rate of participation in the workforce. According to the multilevel model, most of the variation in proportions of low birth weight was due to the effects of the micro-region of residence of the newborn's mother.


It is known that Logistic Regression coupled with Partial Least Squares dimension reduction (PLSDR-LD) is capable of extracting a great deal of useful information for classification from gene expression profile and getting a rather high classification accuracy rate. In this study, we replace the logistic function of Logistic Regression with several functions which are similar to logistic function in appearance, and apply these functions to the analysis of microarray data sets from two cancer gene expression studies. We compare these newly introduced models with PLSDR-LD proposed in the literature. The most effective models with good prediction precision are lastly provided through analyzing the results of two experiments.


Summary The cervical lymph nodes of pigs, the retropharyngeal and submandibular lymph nodes of cattle and faecal samples from both animal species were examined for the presence of Corynebacterium equi. The organism was recovered from 19 (35 per cent) of 54 porcine cervical lymph nodes and from 0 of 54 bovine retropharyngeal and submandibular lymph nodes. Fifteen (50 per cent) of 30 bovine faecal and 11 (35 per cent) of 31 porcine faecal samples yielded C. equi.


Since the 1970 s, study from neurophysiology cognitive have found that animals' position representation and direction representation in navigation tasks have different neural mechanisms. For example, place cells in hippocampus fire selectively in specific locations (O'Keefe & Dostrovsky, 1971), and head-direction cells in the postsubiculcum fire when the animal face specific orientations (Ranck, 1984). These studies have demonstrated the functional division of labor in animals' cells responsive to different types of representations in space. However, no research has yet focused on the contrast between these two types of representations, and further the development trajectory of position and direction representations. In the present study, two map tasks were used to explore the developmental trajectory of position and direction representations in human children aged from 4 to 6. In each task, two map-to-space problems and two space-to-map problems were resolved by each child, which were conducted in a symmetrical-furnished square room. For the map-to-space problems of the location task, children were asked to indicate their own locations in the room by placing a cylinder object in the map, whereas for the space-to-map problems, they were given a map with a cylinder object in a specific position and asked to go to the corresponding location in the room. In the direction task, children were asked to indicate their orientations by placing a doll facing the corresponding direction in the map (space-to-map problems), or facing the corresponding direction in the room as the doll indicated in the map (map-to-space problems). We found that 4-year-old children began to perform better than chance in the location task. However, children did not show the ability to solve the direction problems until 5 years old. Besides, the 4-year-olds performed better in the pattern of map-to-place in the location task. These results demonstrated that the ability of using map to represent position and that to represent direction were dissociable in the development. Specifically, the ability of representing one's own location in a map developed earlier than that of representing one's own direction. Our study provides novel evidence on the dissociation of position representation and direction representation, extending previous neurophysiological studies. Additionally, the benefit of map-to-space pattern suggested that this pattern might provide a better global understanding of spatial relations in map task and favor young children's location representation when they start to understand map.


Being able to predict radiated emissions before using an accredited laboratory can be both time-effective and cost-effective. This study presents a model for predicting radiated emissions from power converters by measuring the common mode current in the attached cable. When power converters are tested for radiated emissions, the attached cables tend to be thick because of the high currents they carry. Ideally, these cables leave the chamber through connectors in an opening positioned precisely at the middle of the bottom of the turntable in keeping with CISPR 32. However, these connectors are typically not intended for currents higher than 16 A. Consequently, such cables are usually inserted through the side wall of the chamber and are necessarily laid horizontally on the chamber floor. When the turntable is to be rotated with a device on it during a test, the length of the cable attached to the device can exceed 10 meters. The proposed model in this study is based on the transmission line model of a cable loaded with reactive impedance and the assumption that the current distribution along the cable follows a sinusoidal distribution law, much like in dipole antenna theory. The analytic equation of the radiation pattern is derived, and a simplified approximation equation has also been presented. The proposed model also works with short, attached cables and is thus universal. The Maxima software code for automated calculation of the radiated field from measurement data is supplied as supplemental material. The proposed model was experimentally validated by running the fuel cell converter module at 5 kW output power.


The research study was designed to examine the leadership styles adopted by head teachers and the influence on staff performance in primary schools of Tehsil Burewala cluster in District Vehari. The research design used was a mixed method that incorporated both the quantitative and qualitative approaches. The target population consisted of head teachers, teachers and non-teaching staff from which a sample of five head teachers from five schools, thirty teachers and twenty non-teaching staff were involved in the study through purposive and random sampling. The research instruments used to collect data were open and close format questionnaire, in-depth interview and document analysis. The study findings showed that the overwhelming majority of head teachers employ democratic leadership style in Tehsil Burewala cluster primary schools which enhances positive school staff performance. Regarding to major factors that influence negatively the staff performance, the majority of the respondents highlighted lack of motivation, pupils' incompetence, low remuneration, coercive measures and lack of in-service training for professional development. It was evident from the findings that through democratic approach, staff participation and involvement in school matters and positive interpersonal relationship between school staff and head teachers influence the staff performance in various primary schools in Tehsil Burewala cluster. The study also established that there is a significant relationship between democratic leadership style and school climate. The main recommendations were addressed to the District Services of Education, youth and technology of Tehsil Burewala that should sensitise head teachers to apply democratic leadership style to enhance positive school staff performance, to run periodically in-service training to head teachers in collaboration with local universities which could adopt them with competence-based approach, towards management and leadership skills so that they improve the performance of their schools, to find ways of increasing school income for paying incentives and monetary reward so that it motivates the school staff


'It is late October, and the temperature is already --40C...My thoughts are filled with frozen rivers that may or may not hold my weight; empty, forgotten valleys haunted by emaciated ghosts and packs of ravenous, merciless wolves.' In 2004 Rob Lilwall arrived in Siberia equipped only with a bike and a healthy dose of fear. CYCLING HOME FROM SIBERIA recounts his epic three and a half year, 30,000 mile journey back to England via the forboding jungles of Papua New Guinea, an Australian cyclone and Afghanistan's war-torn Hindu Kush.A gripping story of endurance and adventure, this is also a spiritual journey giving a poignant insight into life on the road in some of the world's toughest corners.www.cyclinghomefromsiberia.com


We estimate gravity-type models to assess the effects of financial market development in the host and source countries on bilateral FDI stocks. We address potential reverse causality, inter alia by performing instrumental variable estimations and restricting the sample to observations where reverse causality, if existent, should be less relevant. Our major and robust finding is that bilateral FDI increases with better developed financial markets in both the host and the source country. Furthermore, for developing host countries, we find evidence that financial market development in source and host countries function as substitutes for each other.


PURPOSE The HLA-B gene is one of the susceptibility genes for inflammatory bowel disease. Previous association studies of HLA-B showed several associated alleles and haplotypes of HLA-B in patients with ulcerative colitis, and among the associated alleles HLA-B*52 is well known to be strongly associated with ulcerative colitis in Japanese patients. However, there are no convincing reports about HLA-B including the B*52 allele in patients with Crohn's disease. The purpose of this study was to determine if HLA-B, especially the B*52 allele, confers susceptibility to Crohn's disease or determines the disease phenotype of Crohn's disease. METHODS A total of 195 patients with Crohn's disease (49 ileitis, 106 ileocolitis, 34 colitis, 6 uncertain) and 185 healthy controls were studied in this case-controlled study. All patients and healthy controls were Japanese. Genotyping of the HLA-B gene was performed by a polymerase chain reaction, sequence-specific primer that can classify the gene into 23 allele groups. Allele frequencies were compared between patients with Crohn's disease and healthy controls with chi-squared test using a 2 × 2 contingency table. P value was corrected by the number of allele groups (n = 23) observed in the Japanese population or the number of clinical subgroups. Corrected P values of <0.05 were considered to be statistically significant. RESULTS Before the correction for multiple testing, B*4001 and B*44 were associated with patients with Crohn's disease, positively and negatively, respectively. However, after the correction there were no significant differences in any HLA-B alleles between patients with Crohn's disease and healthy controls. In the subgroup analysis according to clinical phenotypes (disease location, anal lesion, age at diagnosis, need for surgery), none of the HLA-B alleles except B*52 showed any disease phenotype-genotype associations. The allele frequency of B*52 in the colitis type (16.2 percent; corrected P = 0.011) was significantly higher than that in the combined group of the ileitis (7.1 percent) and ileocolitis (5.2 percent) types. CONCLUSIONS These results demonstrated that HLA-B did not confer overall susceptibility to Crohn's disease in Japan, but the B*52 allele may affect the location of the disease.


Galaxy groups are not scaled down versions of massive galaxy clusters - the hot gas in groups (known as the intragroup medium, IGrM for short) is, on average, less dense than the intracluster medium, implying that one or more non-gravitational processes (e.g., radiative cooling, star formation, and/or feedback) has had a relatively larger effect on groups. In the present study, we compare a number of cosmological hydrodynamic simulations that form part of the OverWhelmingly Large Simulations project to isolate and quantify the effects of cooling and feedback from supernovae (SNe) and active galactic nuclei (AGN) on the gas. This is achieved by comparing Lagrangian thermal histories of the gas in the different runs, which were all started from identical initial conditions. While radiative cooling, star formation, and SN feedback are all necessary ingredients, only runs that also include AGN feedback are able to successfully reproduce the optical and X-ray properties of groups and low-mass clusters. We isolate how, when, and exactly what gas is heated by AGN. Interestingly, we find that the gas that constitutes the present-day IGrM is that which was not strongly heated by AGN. Instead, the low median density/high median entropy of the gas in present-day groups is achieved by the ejection of lower entropy gas from low-mass progenitor galaxies at high redshift (primarily 2 . z . 4). This corresponds to the epoch when supermassive black holes accreted most of their mass, typically at a rate that is close to the Eddington limit (i.e., when the black holes are in a 'quasar mode').


Conventional wisdom holds that American courts historically deferred to institutions of higher learning in most matters involving student conduct and access. Historian Scott M. Gelber upends this theory, arguing that colleges and universities never really enjoyed an overriding judicial privilege. Focusing on admissions, expulsion, and tuition litigation, Courtrooms and Classrooms reveals that judicial scrutiny of college access was especially robust during the nineteenth century, when colleges struggled to differentiate themselves from common schools that were expected to educate virtually all students. During the early twentieth century, judges deferred more consistently to academia as college enrollment surged, faculty engaged more closely with the state, and legal scholars promoted widespread respect for administrative expertise. Beginning in the 1930s, civil rights activism encouraged courts to examine college access policies with renewed vigor. Gelber explores how external phenomena-especially institutional status and political movements-influenced the shifting jurisprudence of higher education over time. He also chronicles the impact of litigation on college access policies, including the rise of selectivity and institutional differentiation, the decline of de jure segregation, the spread of contractual understandings of enrollment, and the triumph of vocational emphases.


Focused on the facial feature points localization, the enhance ASM algorithm based on modeling texture by the DCT-SVM is proposed. First, the statistical shape model is built. Then, some key feature points are selected and their texture models are built by the DCT-SVM. In the subsequent searching, the feature points are divided into two classes based on their reliability gained by DCT-SVM detector, by combining the reliable feature points to the shape constraint, the original shape can finally match to the target face. Experiments show the algorithm is robust to the expressions change and can better locate the features than the traditional ASM.


Cardiac arrhythmias during ischemia–reperfusion (I/R) are believed to be related to free radicals generated in the heart especially during the period of reperfusion. The pineal secretory product, melatonin, is known to be a potent free radical scavenger and its pharmacological concentrations have been shown to reduce the I/R‐induced arrhythmias in isolated rat hearts. However, the physiological role of melatonin in the prevention of these arrhythmias is unknown. Rats were pinealectomized (Px) or sham‐operated (non‐Px) (control) 2 months before the I/R studies. To produce arrhythmias, left main coronary artery was occluded for 7 min, followed by 7 min reperfusion, in anesthetized rats. The incidence of mortality resulted from irreversible ventricular fibrillation (VF) was found significantly higher in the Px rats (63%) than in the control group (25%). Melatonin administration (0.4 mg/kg, either before ischemia or reperfusion) to Px rats significantly reduced the incidence of total (irreversible plus reversible) and irreversible VF and returned them to control values. On the other hand, melatonin administration (0.4 and 4 mg/kg) to non‐Px rats failed to attenuate the I/R arrhythmias, significantly. These results suggest that physiological melatonin concentrations are important to reduce the I/R‐induced VF and mortality, while pharmacological concentrations of melatonin did not increase its beneficial effect on these arrhythmias. As melatonin levels have been reported to decrease with age, melatonin replacement therapy may attenuate the incidence of sudden cardiac death especially in older patients.


We introduce genomic tableaux, with applications to Schubert calculus. We report a combinatorial rule for structure coefficients in the torus-equivariant $K$-theory of Grassmannians for the basis of Schubert structure sheaves. This rule is positive in the sense of [Anderson-Griffeth-Miller '11]. We thereby deduce an earlier conjecture of [Thomas-Yong '13] for the coefficients. Moreover, our rule specializes to give a new Schubert calculus rule in the (non-equivariant) $K$-theory of Grassmannians. From this perspective, we also obtain a new rule for $K$-theoretic Schubert structure constants of maximal orthogonal Grassmannians, and give conjectural bounds on such constants for Lagrangian Grassmannians.


This paper presents an overview and recent advances on the usage of Fuzzy ARTMAP artificial neural network architecture (and its variants) for mapping purposes using remotely sensed data. It aims to offer a perspective into the past and ongoing developments of this specific research field. Moreover, this paper suggests initial pathways for those who intend to perform a scientific investigation using this artificial neural network architecture. Some applications of this architecture in other research fields are highlighted for general knowledge purposes, as well as suggestions of code repositories to implement it. Possible gaps in the literature related to Fuzzy ARTMAP classifier usage for mapping are suggested, leading to paths for future developments in this field of research.


Requirements Engineering and Software Testing are mature areas and have seen a lot of research. Nevertheless, their interactions have been sparsely explored beyond the concept of traceability. To fill this gap, we propose a definition of requirements engineering and software test (REST) alignment, a taxonomy that characterizes the methods linking the respective areas, and a process to assess alignment. The taxonomy can support researchers to identify new opportunities for investigation, as well as practitioners to compare alignment methods and evaluate alignment, or lack thereof. We constructed the REST taxonomy by analyzing alignment methods published in literature, iteratively validating the emerging dimensions. The resulting concept of an information dyad characterizes the exchange of information required for any alignment to take place. We demonstrate use of the taxonomy by applying it on five in-depth cases and illustrate angles of analysis on a set of thirteen alignment methods. In addition, we developed an assessment framework (REST-bench), applied it in an industrial assessment, and showed that it, with a low effort, can identify opportunities to improve REST alignment. Although we expect that the taxonomy can be further refined, we believe that the information dyad is a valid and useful construct to understand alignment.


2017 Background: Preclinical GBM data targeting the checkpoint molecules Lag-3 and CD137 have shown promising anti-tumor immune response with resultant improved survival when combined with anti-PD-1. Here we report our experience from a multi-arm safety study in patients with recurrent GBM treated with anti-Lag-3 and anti-CD137. Methods: The Adult Brain Tumor Consortium (ABTC) 1501 trial is a phase I, open label, multicenter, multi-arm dose-finding/safety study of anti-LAG-3 (BMS-986016) or anti-CD137 (BMS-663513) alone and in combination with anti-PD-1 in patients at first recurrence of GBM. The primary objective is to define MTD for the mono and combinational treatment. The major secondary objective is to explore for a signal in efficacy. The key inclusion criteria are adults, first recurrence of GBM following RT+TMZ, TLC≥1000/ul, KPS≥ 60%, stable corticosteroid regimen, measurable disease, and written informed consent. Sequential allocation was used for the treatment assignment at starting dose of 80mg for anti-LAG-3 and 8mg for anti-CD137. Anti-PD-1was given at a flat dose of 240 mg in the combination treatment arms. The 3+3 design is used for the dose finding with a target DLT rate < 33%. Results: to date 44 patients were enrolled into the trial with median age at 57, median KPS at 90. Median treatment cycle was 3 and 39% tumors were MGMT methylated. The highest safe dose for Anti-LAG-3 alone is 800 mg without a DLT. The safe dose for anti-CD137 alone arm is 8mg with 1 DLT, and 2 grade 3 elevated serum ALT at end of cycle 2. Combination arms of Anti-LAG-3 +anti-PD-1 (160 mg/240mg as the highest dose combination) had one DLT (hypertension) and no toxicities were seen in the combination arm of Anti-CD137+Anti-PD-1 (3 mg/240 mg). mOS was 14 months for anti-CD137 alone, 8 months for Anti-Lag-3, and 7 months for Anti-Lag-3 + Anti-PD-1. Correlative data will be discussed. Conclusions: The trial is ongoing. The RP2D is 800mg for anti-LAG-3 as a monotherapy and 8mg for anti-CD137. For the combination arms, 160 mg of Anti-LAG-3 and 240 mg of anti-PD-1 and 3 mg of anti-CD137 and 240 mg antiPD-1 were the RP2D. Clinical trial information: NCT02658981.


The content of polyenic fatty acids in lipids of nuclear membranes and chromatin of albino rat liver cells is established to decrease considerably in the process of ageing. It is also shown that the RNA-polymerase activity lowers with the animal age. With an increase of the content of polyunsaturated fatty acids in lipids of nuclear structures of liver cells in old animals with the aid of diet and phospholipid liposomes the RNA-polymerase activity enhances up to the level of young rats aged three months and older. However, if the relative content of polyunsaturated fatty acids in lipids of old test rats decreases with the aid of the diet to the level of the control rats aged 26 months, then the activity of RNA-polymerases falls to the level of activity in control rats of the given age group and younger.


ABSTRACT Divergent Toll-like receptor 7 (TLR7) and TLR9 signaling has been proposed to distinguish pathogenic from nonpathogenic simian immunodeficiency virus infection in primate models. We demonstrate here that increased expression of type I interferon in pathogenic rhesus macaques compared to nonpathogenic African green monkeys was associated with the recruitment of plasmacytoid dendritic cells in the lymph nodes and the presence of an inflammatory environment early after infection, instead of a difference in the TLR7/9 response.


In this article, the author sets up a dialogue between Marxist thinking and psychoanalysis, both of which currently tend to be considered outdated, despite the fact that nothing remotely comparable has been proposed to take their place. Thus, the primary reference is Marx's Manuscripts of 1844, an early work in which he develops what we could call a 'theory of the subject', which is why it is chosen as a reference text for this dialogue with Freudian thinking. The article begins with an account of the first scenes of a Cuban film that masterfully poses the conflict between subjective needs and the communist social pact. It continues by searching for a dimension of desire in Marx's ideas on the human subject, which could provide a link with Freud's thinking. This dialogue ultimately reveals that the discursive potential of these two giants of modern thinking go beyond what most thinkers would effectively see as an insurmountable barrier: the 'worker' and the 'hysteric' - both names of subjects that Marx and Freud, respectively, launched to the world - find the ways forward for a possible dialogue.


In aviation sector safety is a prime concern. Temperature sensitive items such as aircraft rubber equipment, aircraft Propellant Actuating Device (PAD) items (such as Fire Extinguishing Cartridges, Ejection Seat Cartridges, Signal Cartridges etc.) are to be stored in controlled temperature in store houses. Storing of such valuable aircraft items in inappropriate temperature may affect their service life and the resultant serviceability of the aircraft. In this project, a system has been developed which will monitor the temperature in the storehouses and send a message to the concerned person when temperature crosses the maximum storage temperature level. This circuit can be used to build a temperature based alarm system where an SMS will be sent or a buzzer will be turned 'ON', when temperature goes above a particular level. For implementing this project, GSM Module – SIM900, Atmega328p-pu microcontroller based Arduino Uno, LM35 temperature sensor, DHT22 humidity sensor have been used. The data from the sensors is processed and displayed on a LCD display. Code and algorithms are developed which enables combining all of the required sensors and innovations to provide data in a controlled manner in order to build the real time package. This device is portable and can be shifted easily by changing maximum setting temperature manually using push button switch. Thus, this system can be installed in different storehouses even in industries to monitor the temperature rising and give signal to the user to activate the temperature controlling system if required. 


In anticipation of the new farm bill, seventeen representative rice farms from six different rice-producing states have been analyzed to compare the continuation of the FAIR Act provisions with the House proposal, H.R. 2646. Each farm was simulated assuming each policy would be in place for the next five-year period, or 2002-2006. A full description of each of the farms can be found in the Appendix.


The most significant disadvantage in the use of MOOCs is their high drop out rates, which reaches between 88.3% and 90%. This research examined the desertion from 15 MOOCs, the following factors and their relation to desertion were assessed, characteristics of the students (gender, language, educational level, age, interest in the final certificate) and aspects of the courses (data lost at the time of registration, duration of the MOOC, course discipline, number of total questions and by evaluation). The results, based on survival analysis, indicate the probability of desertion is the highest on the first and last weeks of the MOOC. Our findings show that the probability of dropout is affected by the number of questions in each evaluation, the educational level of the participants, their age and their interest in the certificate. Missing data in the registration form was found to be associated with desertion being a significant pre-dictor of risk of quitting. Finally, the lack of interest in the certificate was found to be a predictor of the highest risk of dropping out. Possible strategies to reduce the desertion behavior at MOOCs are discussed.


We present a novel binary convex reformulation of the sparse regression problem that constitutes a new duality perspective. We devise a new cutting plane method and provide evidence that it can solve to provable optimality the sparse regression problem for sample sizes n and number of regressors p in the 100,000s, that is two orders of magnitude better than the current state of the art, in seconds. The ability to solve the problem for very high dimensions allows us to observe new phase transition phenomena. Contrary to traditional complexity theory which suggests that the difficulty of a problem increases with problem size, the sparse regression problem has the property that as the number of samples $n$ increases the problem becomes easier in that the solution recovers 100% of the true signal, and our approach solves the problem extremely fast (in fact faster than Lasso), while for small number of samples n, our approach takes a larger amount of time to solve the problem, but importantly the optimal solution provides a statistically more relevant regressor. We argue that our exact sparse regression approach presents a superior alternative over heuristic methods available at present.


The cost of healthcare has been escalating globally during the last two decades, and this has prompted efforts in most countries to reduce those costs. Because of the importance of generic drugs in healthcare, it is imperative that the pharmaceutical quality and in vivo performance of generic drugs be reliably assessed. Because generic drugs would be interchanged with innovator products in the market place, it must be demonstrated that the safety and efficacy of generics are comparable to the safety and efficacy of the corresponding innovator drugs. The concept of bioavailability (BA) and bioequivalence (BE) has been accepted worldwide by the pharmaceutical industry and national regulatory authorities for over 20 years and is applied to new as well as generic products. As a result, thousands of high-quality generic drugs at reduced costs have become available in every corner of the globe. The assessment of BE is not a simple issue, however, and much of the research has been done in recent years to develop new and more effective approaches to the assessment of BE. There are several approaches to assess BE and each regulatory authority has its own regulations/guidance for conducting BA/BE studies before approving generic products for marketing in their country. Therefore, a thorough understanding is required of these BA/BE concepts and basic regulatory requirements for conduct of BA/BE studies. In this article, the regulatory guidelines are compared on the basis of various parameters involving the clinical conduct of the BA/BE studies. Harmonization of these approaches may decrease the number of in vivo bioequivalence studies and avoid unnecessary drug exposure to humans. Another upcoming approach for conduct of bioequivalence studies is Adaptive design, which is a relatively new approach. This innovation is becoming accepted by the regulators and has been taken up by the pharmaceutical industry to reduce product development times and costs. There is a need for raising the awareness of these design approaches because they could be used to make dramatic improvements to clinical research in developing countries.


: Religious beliefs are known to correlate with a wide range of socio-economic behaviors. The aim of this study is to investigate the relation between religious beliefs and entrepreneurship. Empirical evidence that entrepreneurship rates differ among religions suggests that religious beliefs influence the pursuit of entrepreneurship. However, how and which specific religious beliefs play a role in this relationship remains unknown. Therefore, we study the relation between two key religious beliefs and entrepreneurship within one specific branch of Christianity, namely, Protestantism. Using a unique sample of 756 Christian protestant entrepreneurs and employees from the Netherlands, we show that protestant entrepreneurs have a stronger belief than comparable protestant employees that their work is a calling from God and that protestant entrepreneurs are more likely to perceive a duty to add value to society through their occupational work.


With a germanium detector array (Hyperball), we observed two gamma-ray peaks corresponding to the two transitions (5/2(+)-->1/2(+) and 3/2(+)-->1/2(+)) in the (9)(Lambda)Be hypernucleus which was produced by the 9Be(K-,pi(-)) reaction. The energies of the gamma rays are 3029 +/- 2 +/- 1 keV and 3060 +/- 2 +/- 1 keV. The energy difference was measured to be 31.4(+2.5)(-3.6) keV, which indicates a very small Lambda-spin-dependent spin-orbit force between a Lambda and a nucleon. This is the smallest level splitting by far ever measured in a hypernucleus.


: Anoles are regarded as important models for understanding dynamic processes in ecology and evolution. Most work on this group has focused on species in the Caribbean Sea, and recently in mainland South and Central America. However, the Eastern Tropical Pacific (ETP) is home to seven species of anoles from three unique islands (Islas Cocos, Gorgona, and Malpelo) that have been largely overlooked. Four of these species are endemic to single islands (Norops townsendi on Isla Cocos, Dactyloa agassizi on Isla Malpelo, D. gorgonae and N. medemi on Isla Gorgona). Herein, we present a phylogenetic analysis of anoles from these islands in light of the greater anole phylogeny to estimate the timing of divergence from mainland lineages for each species. We find that two species of solitary anoles (D. agassizi and N. townsendi) diverged from mainland ancestors prior to the emergence of their respective islands. We also present population-wide morphological data suggesting that both display sexual size dimorphism, similar to single-island endemics in the Caribbean. All lineages on Isla Gorgona likely arose during past connections with South America, and ecologically partition their habitat. Finally, we highlight the importance of conservation of these species and island fauna in general.


Aims: Psoriasis is a chronic, inflammatory, hyperproliferative skin disease with etiopathogenesis not fully understood. The zinc transporter ZIP2 is associated with keratinocyte differentiation, whereas ZIP3 is associated with T-lymphocyte maturation. In our study, we aimed to show the correlation between psoriasis and ZIP2 and ZIP3 zinc transporters in psoriasis patients. Subjects and Methods: The patient group in the study included 60 patients aged with psoriasis vulgaris and a control group of 60 healthy adults. The levels of ZIP2 (SLC39A2) and ZIP3 (SLC39A3) zinc transporters were determined with the ELISA method. Results were compared with control group values and statistically assessed. Results: When the ZIP2 and ZIP3 levels are compared in controls and psoriasis patients, the levels were observed to significantly increase compared to controls (P < 0.05). When compared to the control group, the results appeared to be statistically significant (P < 0.05). Conclusions: With etiopathogenesis not fully known, there may be an important relationship between psoriasis development and ZIP2 (SLC39A2) and ZIP3 (SLC39A3) zinc transporters in psoriasis vulgaris patients. This situation may be an important result for understanding how the disease develops and in creating new approaches in terms of treatment for this disease without full cure available.


Aims. As a well-established procedure for the vast majority of normal main-sequence stars, determination of atmospheric and stellar parameters turns to be a challenging process in case of magnetic chemically peculiar stars. Inhomogeneous distribution of chemical elements and strong magnetic fields make most of the standard photometric and spectroscopic calibrations inapplicable for this class of stars. In this work we make use of available observed energy distributions calibrated to absolute units, stellar parallaxes, high-resolution spectroscopic observations, and advanced stellar atmosphere models to derive parameters of three bright Ap stars: 33 Lib, gamma Equ, and beta CrB. Methods. Model atmospheres and fluxes were computed with the LLmodels code. SYNTH3 and SYNTHMAG codes were used to compute profiles of individual spectral lines involved in abundance analysis. Results. For each of the stars, we construct a self-consistent atmospheric models assuming normal and depleted helium compositions and derive empirically stratification profiles of certain elements. The effective temperatures and surface gravities are found from the simultaneous fit to spectroscopic, photometric, and spectrophotometric observations calibrated to absolute units. We show that using advanced model atmospheres and accurate stellar parallaxes allows one to derive stellar radii with high accuracy, and these are consistent with those obtained from independent but more complicated interferometric observations.


Abstract Purpose: To investigate the relationship between autophagy and radiation damage of human hepatoma cells and to explore the role of reactive oxygen species (ROS). Materials and methods: HepG2 cells were exposed to X-rays, then the protein expressions of microtubule-associated protein 1 light chain 3 (LC3) and poly ADP-ribose polymerase-1 (PARP-1) were measured by Western blot assay, the formation of autophagosomes was detected by an autophagy detection kit, the intracellular ROS level was measured by flow cytometer, and DNA damage was evaluated by the incidence of micronuclei (MN). A CCK-8 kit was used to measure the proliferation ability of irradiated cells with or without N-acetyl-l-cysteine (NAC) treatment. In some experiments, the hepatoma cells were transferred with LC3 siRNA or PARP-1 siRNA before irradiation. Results: The protein expressions of LC3 and PARP-1 and the inductions of autophagosomes and intracellular ROS were increased in the irradiated HepG2 cells. Pretreatment of cells with NAC relieved the irradiation-induced inhibition of cell proliferation. When HepG2 cells were transfected with the LC3 siRNA, the over-expression of PARP-1 was diminished in the irradiated cells. Compared with the control group, the inhibitions of LC3 and PARP-1 increased ROS level in the irradiated HepG2 cells and hence sensitized radiation responses of both proliferation inhibition and MN induction. Conclusion: Autophagy upregulates the expression of PARP-1 and relieves radiation damage by reducing the generation of ROS.


We propose the system that offers only the article that is the relation to topics to the user in this research. When the user wants to read the article that is the relation to topics, the user must click the link to the article. Therefore, it is difficult for the user to read only the article related to topics. Moreover, there is the article that is similar to each other content or article. Therefore, user must read the article that is similar to other article. We propose the algorithm to find similar articles. For the proposed system, we use the feature of reported articles. There is an outline of the entire article at the beginning of reported articles. Keyword:


: Using bronchospirometry and rheography the external respiration and hemodynamics of the minor circulatory circuit were studied in 164 patients with suppurative processes in the lung. Ventilatory-respiratory indices were found to be reduced in the affected and "healthy" lung. A correlative dependence between the gravity of respiratory disorders and the state of the minor circulation hemodynamics was proved statistically.


Prediction of ground-level ozone concentrations is very important due to the negative impacts of this pollutant on human health and environment. Multiple linear regression (MLR) and principal component (PCR) regression were used as statistical models for the forecasting of ozone concentrations. The aim of this study was to predict the next day maximum ozone concentration. The studies were performed considering separately the year 2002 and the respective four trimesters. A subset of the last 10 and 30 days was used, respectively, for each trimester and for the year to validate the models. The predictor variables were inferred by the analysis of the linear correlation with ozone. For that, maxima hourly values for ozone, ratio of nitrogen dioxide and nitrogen monoxide, temperature, wind velocity and the minima hourly values for carbon monoxide and relative humidity were used. The main results achieved were: i) the performance indexes obtained for validation datasets were usually higher with PCR; ii) the number of principal components considered to develop the PCR was dependent of the dataset considered; iii) the PCR is more robust than MLR because collinearity effects are accounted with the first approach; iv) PCR model is shown to be a useful tool to provide protection for the public, through the use of early warnings for the population.


Couples often seek marital education to strengthen their relationships. This article explores the program effectiveness of a multiyear, multicounty marriage enrichment event. Analysis of retrospective "pre-then-post" evaluations across 2 years of the event (N = 480 in 2015; N = 554 in 2016) suggests that participant knowledge increased but that middle-aged participants showed lower levels of perceived knowledge following program participation as compared to younger and older attendees. Future researchers may consider exploring the trend of younger and older audiences reporting higher levels of knowledge following such events. Overall, we determined that practitioners should consider date night events to be an effective channel for relationship education.


Pesticides are considered hazardous chemicals that pose potential health risks upon exposure, either acutely in high doses or chronically in low doses. Drinking contaminated water is one of the ways of chronic exposure to low doses. This occurs due to herbicide leaching from agricultural lands to the groundwater (which varies according to soils and rocks properties) and has been reported in many areas worldwide. Environmental agencies have provided threshold values for exposure doses and concentrations; when herbicides concentrations in groundwater exceed these values, potential health risks intensify.

Herbicides have never been monitored in the Darling-Downs groundwater. However, it has been detected many times in the Condamine River, which drains the same agricultural areas. These findings, the proximity of domestic bores to the fields and the general heavy use of herbicides for the area's major crops (cotton), potentially increases the exposure, risk and health impacts in the local population.
As a first step to address these concerns, A pilot water-quality study was conducted during February 2015 near Ellangowan, SE Queensland. The study comprises 12 bores (domestic, irrigation and monitoring) in a relatively small locality. Groundwater samples were analyzed by accreditae labs for general composition and herbicides. The latter includes 50-54 analytes (Appendix A). In additions, while collecting the water sampling, the local participants filled out questionnaire regarding pesticides use and water quality.

The findings are generally encouraging (see following section), and dismissed any major concern regarding regional exposure to herbicides due to drinking the underground water. It can be concluded that despite the intensive farming, the potential leaching of herbicides to the groundwater table in the studied area is low. Nevertheless, local actions can contribute to different results in individual bores.


Objective: Permanent cardiac pacing improves survival of children with congenital or acquired bradycardia, although mortality after pacing remains relatively high. The aim of this study was to evaluate the long-term outcomes of children who undergo permanent endocardial pacing via the femoral vein, including the identification of associated risk factors for mortality. Method: From 1981 to 2000, 99 patients ranging in ages from one day to 13 years (4.1 ± ± ± ± 3.6 and median = 3 years) underwent permanent transfemoral pacemaker implantation due to congenital (39.4%), post-surgical (54.5%), or nonsurgically acquired bradycardia (6.1%). Results: By the end of 7.1 ± 5.3 years (708.3 patient-years) of prospective follow-up, 18 (18.2%) patients had died. The actuarial survival rates were 85%, 79.5%, and 74.2%, at 5, 10, and 15 years, respectively. Independent predictors of mortality identified by Cox proportional hazards analysis were younger age at implantation (p = 0.028), the presence of untreated cardiac anomalies or intracardiac prostheses (p = 0.0001), and radiographic evidence of cardiomegaly (p = 0.035). Conclusions: Permanent endocardial pacing via the femoral vein presented survival expectance comparable to other techniques with a low rate of pacing complications. Long-term survival was limited by lower ages and cardiac dilatation at the time of implantation as well as by the presence of untreated cardiac defects or valve prostheses. Descriptors: Cardiac pacing, artificial. Pediatrics. Heart


In recent years, the number of reported Human African Trypanosomiasis (HAT) cases caused by Trypanosoma brucei (T.b.) gambiense has been markedly declining, and the goal of 'elimination as a public health problem' is within reach. For the next stage, i.e. interruption of HAT transmission by 2030, intensive screening and surveillance will need to be maintained, but with tools and strategies more efficiently tailored to the very low prevalence. We assessed the sequential use of ELISA and Immune Trypanolysis (ITL) on dried blood spot (DBS) samples as an alternative to the traditional HAT field testing and confirmation approach. A cross-sectional study was conducted in HAT endemic and previously endemic zones in Kongo Central province, and a non-endemic zone in Haut Katanga province in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). Door-to-door visits were performed to collect dried blood spot (DBS) samples on filter paper. ELISA/T.b. gambiense was conducted followed by ITL for those testing positive by ELISA and in a subset of ELISA negatives. In total, 11,642 participants were enrolled. Of these, 11,535 DBS were collected and stored in appropriate condition for ELISA testing. Ninety-seven DBS samples tested positive on ELISA. In the endemic zone, ELISA positivity was 1.34% (95%CI: 1.04–1.64). In the previously endemic zone and non-endemic zone, ELISA positivity was 0.34% (95% CI: 0.13–0.55) and 0.37% (95% CI: 0.15–0.60) respectively. Among the ELISA positives, only two samples had a positive ITL result, both from the endemic zone. One of those was from a former HAT patient treated in 2008 and the other from an individual who unfortunately had deceased prior to the follow-up visit. Our study showed that a surveillance strategy, based on DBS samples and centralized testing with retracing of patients if needed, is feasible in DRC. ELISA seems well suited as initial test with a similar positivity rate as traditional screening tests, but ITL remains complex. Alternatives for the latter, also analyzable on DBS, should be further explored.


To the Editor .—As one of those who for years has beat the distant drum of emergency endoscopy in massive gastrointestinal tract bleeding, it was with surprise and pleasure that I read "Massive Gastrointestinal Bleeding: A Panel by Correspondence" by Dunphy et al ( Arch Surg 107:367-372, 1973). From Silen's, "endoscopy is now becoming the most useful single diagnostic step"; through Moody's, "fiberendoscopy of the esophagus, stomach, and duodenum is the most single [ sic ] valuable step"; and Mikkelsen's, "Once again, endoscopy becomes the key to diagnosis"; to Dunphy's concluding, "we have been brought up to date... particularly on the new and important roles of fiberoptic endoscopy in upper gastrointestinal tract bleeding"; the panelists appear to believe they are calling attention to an important innovation. Important, yes; but new? Following long after Eddy Palmer's pioneering work, 1 in 1966 we reported a series of 323 cases seen at the Massachusetts General Hospital


This paper describes the creation of several word embedding models based on a large collection of diachronic Swedish newspaper material available through Sprakbanken Text, the Swedish language bank. This data was produced in the context of Sprakbanken Text's continued mission to collaborate with humanities and natural language processing (NLP) researchers and to provide freely available language resources, for the development of state-of-the-art NLP methods and tools.


This Work in Progress Paper presents an NSF-funded study focused on understanding the role that makerspaces play in the identity development of engineering students from underrepresented groups (URGs). In recent years, makerspaces have become a popular addition to universities, with an implicit assumption that makerspaces will increase students choosing to major in STEM disciplines. The research question that guided this work is the following: How well do I-poems and thematic analysis help us uncover complex and nuanced understandings of the identities of engineering students and makers who are from URGs? For this paper, we share a passage from an interview and conduct an analysis of that passage using the I-poem analytic strategy and thematic analysis. In particular, we explore the possibilities inherent in using these analytic approaches to understand identity development. We discuss how the I-poem was effective in developing a more complex and nuanced understanding of the identity development of engineering student makers. Further implications of this novel approach are that I-poems show promise to resonate better with the reader and position the researcher and reader as 'standing alongside' the participant, instead of a more traditional approach of 'gazing at' our participants.


Experiments were conducted on albino mice. It was shown that treatment of streptococci with testicular hyaluronidase or a single administration of the enzyme to infected animals failed to inhibit the infectious process. Injection of hyaluronidase solution to every 3 or 4 hours depressed the development of the process and increased the percentage of survived animals during its first stages. A marked intensification of the hyaluronidase action inhibiting the infectious process was observed under conditions of a moderately active or passive immunity and also in the case of preliminary treatment of streptococci with homologous immune serum. The data obtained permit to regard the hyaluronic capsule in the hemolytic streptococci as one of the pathogenicity factors of this microbial species providing survival of the causative agent after its entrance into the macroorganism.


OBJECT
Matrix metalloproteinases (MMPs), particularly MMP-9/gelatinase B, promote early inflammation and barrier disruption after spinal cord injury (SCI). Early blockade of MMPs after injury provides neuroprotection and improves motor outcome. There is recent evidence, however, that MMP-9 and MMP-2/gelatinase A participate in later wound healing in the injured cord. The authors therefore examined the activity of these gelatinases during revascularization and glial scar formation in the contused murine spinal cord.

METHODS
Gelatinase activity was evaluated using gelatin zymography 24 hours after a mild, moderate, or severe contusion injury. The active form of MMP-2 was not detected, whereas MMP-9 activity was evident in all SCI groups and rose with increasing injury severity. The temporal expression of gelatinases was then examined using gelatin zymography after a moderate SCI. The active form of MMP-9 was most prominent at 1 day, extended through the early period of revascularization, and returned to control by 14 days. The active form of MMP-2 appeared at 7 days postinjury and remained elevated compared with that documented in sham-treated mice for at least 21 days. Increased MMP-2 activity coincided with both revascularization and glial scar formation. Using in situ zymography, gelatinolytic activity was detected in the meninges, vascular elements, glia, and macrophage-like cells in the injured cord. Results of immunolabeling confirmed the presence of gelatinase in vessels during revascularization and in reactive astrocytes associated with glial scar formation.

CONCLUSIONS
These findings suggest that although MMP-9 and -2 exhibit overlapping expression during revascularization, the former is associated with acute injury responses and the latter with formation of a glial scar.


A 39 kDa protein copurifies with the low density lipoprotein receptor‐related protein (LRP) and regulates ligand interactions with LRP. In our recent studies on the clearance of the 39 kDa protein in vivo, we demonstrated that once the liver LRP receptors were saturated, the kidney necame the major organ responsible for the 39 kDa protein clearance (Warshawsky et al., 1993, J. Clin. Invest., 92:937‐944). The current study was undertaken in order to investigate the potential binding and cellular processing of the 39 kDa protein by kidney‐derived MDBK cells. Herein we demonstrate specific, high‐affinity, saturable, and Ca2+‐dependent binding of the 125I‐39 kDa protein to MDBK cells (Kd ∼ 10‐15 nM, 50‐70,000 bindings sites per cell). Cellular uptake and degradation of the 125I‐39 kDa protein by MDBK cells was also demonstrated with kinetics typical of receptor‐mediated endocytosis. Using chemical crosslinking we show that LRP in part mediates the binding of 125I‐39 kDa protein to the MDBK cell surface. In addition, the presence of functional LRP on the MDBK cell surface was confirmed by the specific binding of activated α2‐macroglobulin, another ligand of LRP. Our data thus demonstrate the ability of kidney‐derived MDBK cells to specifically bind, endocytose, and degrade the 39 kDa protein. © 1995 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.


Real data often do not approximate the normal distribution. Under nonnormal conditions, psycho-physiologists who use parametric statistics may be testing with inadequate power and/or testing a measure of location (i.e., the mean) that does not represent the desired portion of the distribution for statistical comparison. The purpose of this paper is: first, to provide psycho-physiologists with a method to investigate group distributional characteristics; second, to evaluate the distributional characteristics of heart period and respiratory sinus arrhythmia in human adults and newborns; third, to demonstrate the increased statistical power that can accompany the selection of an alternative statistical analysis for nonnormal data. Suggestions are provided on how to analyze nonnormal data.


Abstract Objective In the management of hyperacusis, the hyperacusis questionnaire (HQ) is a frequently used measure. It is comprised of 14 items, with a total score of 42 points. We have developed the Japanese version of the HQ, but the validity of the factors has not been considered. This study was performed to re-evaluate the HQ to confirm its validity and reliability. Design Exploratory factor analysis was performed and we removed the problematic items with low factor loadings and re-evaluated the reliability and validity. Study Sample Patients with hyperacusis (n = 109) were included. Hyperacusis was confirmed based on the patients' complaint of "intolerance to sound". Patients without hyperacusis but with tinnitus and/or hearing loss (n = 103) were also included. Results Items 1, 5, 6, and 11 had low factor loadings; therefore, we removed these four items. The HQ with 10 items had high internal consistency reliability (Cronbach's α = 0.926). The mean total scores for the patients with and without hyperacusis were 16.3 and 4.0, respectively; the inter-group difference was statistically significant. We found the best score that maximised sensitivity and specificity was 8. Conclusions The HQ with 10 items, up to 30 points and a cut-off score of 8 is appropriate for classifying hyperacusis.


Much empirical research has demonstrated correlations between Total Quality Management and performance, usually within companies. This article focuses on schools for secondary education in the Netherlands. It researched whether the assessment of their quality management systems by the Inspectorate of Education can predict future financial and operational (educational) performance. This led to the following conclusions. The present method of assessment of the inspectorate covers only three of six relevant dimensions of an assessment model like the Baldrige Criteria for Performance Excellence Framework. Especially the Human Resource Focus is lacking from the assessments. Perhaps because of that, the usefulness of the assessment for the prediction of future results, is limited. Financial results cannot be predicted in this way. With regard to educational results, only the systematic analysis of students' results has some predictive power.


from Escherichia coli, Enterobacter cloacae, Proteus morganii and Pseudomonas aeruginosa, but the geometric mean of the inhibition constant Ki used to measure this interaction was 120 and almost 700 times higher with ceftazidime than with cefotaxime and cefuroxime, respectively. Two other beta-lactamases isolated from Pr. vulgaris and Klebsiella oxytoca also showed little or no interaction with ceftazidime. A complementary microbiological technique, the "double-disc" technique, indicated that ceftazidime was more stable than cefotaxime to all beta-lactamases tested. Moxalactam, however, appeared to have slightly greater stability.


There have been growing concerns about the concentration and centralization of Internet infrastructure. In this work, we scrutinize the hosting industry on the Internet by using active measurements, covering 19 Top-Level Domains (TLDs). We show how the market is heavily concentrated: 1/3 of the domains are hosted by only 5 hosting providers, all US-based companies. For the country-code TLDs (ccTLDs), however, hosting is primarily done by local, national hosting providers and not by the large American cloud and content providers. We show how shared languages (and borders) shape the hosting market — German hosting companies have a notable presence in Austrian and Swiss markets, given they all share German as official language. While hosting concentration has been relatively high and stable over the past four years, we see that American hosting companies have been continuously increasing their presence in the market related to high traffic, popular domains within ccTLDs — except for Russia, notably.


The paper presents the results of survey dedicated to the European funds and their role to the development of the local community in Bulgaria. The survey was conducted in the beginning of 2019 among representatives, from different hierarchical level, of the Bulgarian municipalities. The authors claim that for the small municipalities with limited financial budget and lack of well-developed local economy, which is not directly based on the specific location for tourist services or big private investment, the European funding is the major instrument for the realization of local public policy and regional development. The results of survey show the improvement of the positive attitude towards environment and institutional system of management EU funds in Bulgaria in comparison with the previous programming period.


Charge exchange with solar wind protons is the primary ionization process for interstellar hydrogen traveling through the heliosphere. In this study we use Ulysses solar wind observations to examine and quantify variations in charge exchange. We find that these variations are largest within stream interaction regions where the charge exchange rate is tens of times larger in compressional, corotating interaction regions (CIRs) than in rarefactions. Similarly, we find enhanced charge exchange in compression regions ahead of fast CMEs. As a consequence, much of the interstellar hydrogen at low latitudes is picked up in pulses as CIRs and fast CMEs sweep past. Observations over Ulysses' first full polar orbit indicate that the charge exchange rate is higher at low than at high latitudes, and that this rate drops off more slowly than the inverse square of heliocentric distance. We believe that this is due to the growth of CIRs as they propagate out through the inner heliosphere. The variability of hydrogen charge exchange has implications for the analysis of scattered Lyman‐α observations and produces variations in the pickup rates of newly ionized interstellar hydrogen, which is a seed population for anomalous cosmic rays.


Digital revolutions and developments have been changing the way we work, socialize and experience the world. In our complex reality dynamic changes occur with an increasing frequency, where the role of IT is obvious. The COVID pandemic highlighted this development even more and made us realize that the old ways of working are no longer valid. In this conceptual paper we sketch different scientific views to offer practical solutions to deal with challenges. We focus on dynamic developments on concepts from ecology and economics, identify some traps and link the insights to management, leadership, teams and the requirements for a successful cooperation. Our goal is to identify the most crucial elements of sustainability: resilience, people and information, offer organizations developing solutions using the Adaptive Cycle of Resilience and help the reader to develop understanding social responsibility towards resilience and sustainability. © Proceedings of the 2021 AIS SIGED International Conference on Information Systems Education and Research.


A good summary for the uses of TMJ radiographs was presented by Jeff Okeson in 1989 as follows: "Radiographs have limited use in the identification and treatment of TM disorders. Only through collaboration with clinical findings and history do they gain significance. When there is reason to believe that an organic joint pathosis exists, radiographs of the temporomandibular joints are obtained. Transcranial and panoramic views are used as screening devices for general assessment of bony abnormalities and osteoarthritic changes. Functional movements are also evaluated and correlated with clinical findings. Tomography is reserved for patients in whom the screening radiographs reveal a possible abnormality that needs closer visualization and investigation. Arthrography is a specialized diagnostic tool to be used only when significant doubt exists regarding the position of the articular disc. CT and MRI are reserved for when additional information will improve the adequacy of the diagnosis." I could not improve upon this summary but would like to point out that Jeff is labeling both panoramic imaging and transcranial imaging as screening devices to be later followed up with more definitive type imaging.


In order to understand the influence of mixture parameters on concrete behaviour, a factorial design was employed in this investigation to identify the relative significance of primary mixture parameters and their coupled effects (interactions) on fresh properties of SCC that are of special interest to precast, prestressed applications. In addition to the 16 SCC mixtures employed, three SCC mixtures corresponding to the central point of the factorial design were prepared to estimate the degree of the experimental error for each of the modeled responses. The mixtures were evaluated to determine several key responses that affect the fresh properties of precast, prestressed concrete, including filling ability, passing ability, filling capacity, surface settlement, and column segregation. Mixture parameters modeled in this investigation included the binder content, binder type, w/cm, sand-to-total aggregate ratio (S/A), and dosage of thickening-type, viscosity-modifying admixture (VMA). The factorial design can identify potential mixtures with a given set of performance criteria that can be tried in the laboratory, hence simplifying the test protocol needed to optimize SCC.


Since the Supreme Court's decision in FTC v. Actavis, the question that has received the most attention is whether "payment" is limited to cash or encompasses non-cash forms of consideration. The courts, including the Third Circuit in the "King Drug" case, have consistently held that payment includes non-cash transfers. Despite this uniformity, the settling parties sought Supreme Court review of the King Drug decision, and indicating its serious consideration, the Court has requested the views of the Solicitor General.This article, which builds on a letter submitted to the Solicitor General on behalf of 61 professors, offers four reasons why the Court should not grant certiorari: (1) drug patent settlements are not immune from antitrust scrutiny, (2) the arrangement at issue can induce delayed generic entry, (3) this is not an exclusive license, and (4) there is no circuit split or difficult issue presented.Among the complex issues courts have considered after Actavis, the question of whether payment is restricted to cash (and, relatedly, whether an "exclusive license" is immune from antitrust scrutiny) is easy. Rather than opening a completely avoidable can of worms that could lead to mischief by which drug companies disguise anticompetitive settlements in unwitting court-blessed packages, the Court should deny certiorari in King Drug.


Purpose
Generating meaningful employment has become a major concern for countries across the globe to break the vicious circle of poverty. Employment creation becomes more intricate in a developing economy like India where the population is at an incessant rise, without a simultaneous increase in the employment generation. In the event of situations of mounting unemployment, micro small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) being largely labour-intensive have been claimed as a significant contributor in an economy's development to induce employment generation. The study at hand is an attempt to gauge the overall contributions of MSMEs in employment creation in Assam, a developing region of the Indian sub-continent. However, most importantly, the purpose of this paper is to determine if men and women are differently employed in the sample MSMEs and if the pattern of employment creation is different across male and female-owned sample MSMEs.

Design/methodology/approach
The study is based on a uniquely large sample of 320 MSME entrepreneurs with an equal representation of 160 each from male and female entrepreneurs. Secondary data sources were also consulted. Study areas comprising Kamrup-Metropolitan and Kamrup-Rural, depicting both urban and rural Assam, respectively. The choice of activities undertaken by the entrepreneurs includes a wide variety of 12 activities pertaining to all the MSME entrepreneurs in general and certain gender-specific in particular. The two hypotheses (H01 and H02) formulated were tested using the Chi-square test and the Mann-Whitney U test. Furthermore, the growth rate of employment generation in Assam along with the growth rate of the number of MSMEs established and investment made by the MSMEs were computed.

Findings
The calculated growth rate of employment creation, capital investment and MSMEs established were found to be positive. Based on the results of the Chi-Square test and Cramer's V test, this paper establishes a strong association between the MSMEs and the total employment generation by the sample entrepreneurs (H01). The primary data suggested that 320 MSMEs are Employing 2,766 people in the study area with an average of 8 people per unit. Employment in the service sector is higher than the manufacturing units with an average of 4 people per unit. Another vital finding of the study professed that the women-owned MSMEs have a relatively lesser number of people (32.2%) employed than their male counterparts (67.8%). The mean rank of male entrepreneurs is considerably higher (211.49) testifying a higher employment creation by the male-owned MSMEs than the women-owned (H02). Moreover, women (33.4%) are thinly employed than men (66.5%). Women entrepreneurs were seen to have mostly limited themselves in micro-units followed by small-units. In terms of the nature of employment, full-time employees (81.8%) supersede part-time employees (6.6%). The pattern of self-employment is equal (5.8%) across both male and women entrepreneurs. MSMEs have been well identified as an impeccable answer to mitigate the problem of mounting unemployment.

Originality/value
The novelty of the study lies in its meticulous and explicit understanding of the employment scenario in Assam by the MSMEs. Empirical works on employment creation by the MSMEs in Assam were fundamentally based on secondary data sources. The study fills in the gap by providing a holistic picture of employment creation based on both primary and secondary data, but prominently on the primary. The study accounts details about the nature of MSME employment, the gender of the MSME employees, employment creation by male and female MSME entrepreneurs, the growth rate of MSME employment and self-employment to name a few


Sensitive data is a very important to information safety. The real-world sensitive data is often illegally altered because database administrators (DBAs) have special identity and permissions in database system. However, the traditional secure measures, such as user authentication and access control, do not work well for them. For this case, it is necessary to identify effectively whether the sensitive data in database in enterprise trusted domain is illegally altered or not. Therefore, combining active detection at the security server with passive detection at the security client, a detection approach of the tampered sensitive data based on negotiable hash algorithm is proposed in this paper. Experiments show our algorithm can performs well for sensitive data tamper detection, and it is adapt to protect sensitive data in medical database.


This paper is intended for engineering educators, high school curriculum designers, and high school teachers interested in integrating authentic, project-based learning experiences into their classes. These types of projects may appear complex, but have many advantages. We characterize the successful implementation of one such project, the Virtual Chemical Vapor Deposition (CVD) Laboratory Project, in fi ve high schools. Central to the project is a virtual laboratory that simulates a manufacturing process in the integrated circuits industry. It provides opportunities for students to develop and refi ne solutions to an authentic engineering task through integration of science knowledge, experimentation, analysis, refl ection, and iteration. The fl exibility in instructional design and the robust, no-cost access enables versatility. The authenticity of the project is shown both to motivate students and develop their epistemological beliefs. The project is also shown to promote student cognition through knowledge integration, engineering design strategies, and evaluation and refl ection. In addition, the project allows for teacher assessment of students' progress towards this type of cognition and enables them to identify opportunities to modify their instructional design to promote learning. Finally, we discuss potential barriers to adoption.


In this work we describe an efficient implementation of a hierarchy of algorithms for the decomposition of dense matrices over the field with two elements (GF(2)). Matrix decomposition is an essential building block for solving dense systems of linear and non-linear equations and thus much research has been devoted to improve the asymptotic complexity of such algorithms. In this work we discuss an implementation of both well-known and improved algorithms in the M4RI library. The focus of our discussion is on a new variant of the M4RI algorithm - denoted MMPF in this work -- which allows for considerable performance gains in practice when compared to the previously fastest implementation. We provide performance figures on x86_64 CPUs to demonstrate the viability of our approach.


Background: Globally, heterosexual transmission within serodiscordant relationships is a significant source of new HIV infections. In 2012, there were an estimated 1,350 incident cases of HIV in Cambodia, of which 37% were between heterosexual couples and 30% among sex workers. In combination with antiretroviral therapy (ART), consistent condom use can significantly reduce HIV transmission risk among serodiscordant couples. This study explored determinants of inconsistent condom use among serodiscordant couples in Cambodia. Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted in Battambang, Pursat and Takeo provinces in September 2013. A structured questionnaire was used to collect data on condom use and other HIV-related risk behaviors from HIV-positive partners of 262 serodiscordant couples. A two-stage cluster sampling method was used to randomly select participants from a list of serodiscordant couples who were receiving care and support services from community-based organizations in the selected sites. Multivariate logistic regression analysis was conducted to identify factors associated with inconsistent condom use. Results: In total, 239 respondents were included in the analysis with a mean age of 41.6 years [standard deviation (SD) = 6.7 years], of whom 60.2% were male and 80.3% were consistent condom users. The mean duration of living in the serodiscordant relationship was 13.4 years (SD = 7.8 years). After controlling for other covariates, inconsistent condom users were significantly more likely to be female (OR = 2.8; 95% CI = 1.261, 6.462), to have been living in a shorter HIV serodiscordant relationship (OR = 0.89; 95% CI = 0.902, 0.998), and to be frequent alcohol users (OR = 2.9; 95% CI = 1.323, 6.483). In addition, inconsistent condom users were significantly more likely to agree that ART prevents transmission of HIV (OR = 2.7; 95% CI = 1.344, 5.443). Conclusions: Gender-sensitive interventions to promote consistent condom use and to mitigate alcohol-associated risky sexual behaviors, especially unprotected sex, should form part of HIV prevention interventions for serodiscordant couples in addition to early ART initiation. Further research is required to explore the role of pre-exposure prophylaxis among this population.


In Africa, forest cover and timber resources experienced a sharp decline, especially in the last thirty years. Burkina Faso has experienced major droughts, especially from1965-1966to 1991-1992 and 1994 – 1995 with serious impact on agriculture, water resources and natural vegetation as well as the indirect consequences on health, economy and institutions. The forests are located in areas dominated by subsistence production agricultural and many herds of cattle. The growing needs for firewood leads to anarchic cuts causing the deterioration of forest genetic resources. The Biosphere Reserve of "Mare aux hippopotames (RBMH)" although its International statute knows these phenomena. The study aims generally to contribute to an assessment of the impacts of climate change on the lands occupation of the Biosphere reserve. The specific objectives are: i) understand the perception of the people on climate change and its effects; (ii) study the dynamics of lands occupation in the RBMH and iii) Identify the causes of decline of ecosystems. The approach consisted in a diachronic analysis to assess the dynamics of lands occupation and semi structured interviews to collect the effects and manifestations of climate change with60 men and 40 women from 10 villages of the RBMH.A list of 29 climate resiliencehas beencited by all the villages. The incidence of disease is the largest followed by the lack of drinking water and drought; floods, overload work and drought are the most severe. Our results could contribute to take actions coping with climate change and variability.


The marginal maximum entropy criterion has been used to guide recursive partitioning of a continuous sample space. Although the criterion has been successfully applied in pattern discovery applications, its theoretical justification has not been clearly addressed. In the paper, it is shown that the basic marginal maximum entropy partitioning algorithm yields asymptotically consistent density estimates. This result supports the use of the marginal maximum entropy criterion in pattern discovery and implies that an optimal classifier can be constructed.


An automated method is presented to identify energetically feasible mechanisms of heterogeneous catalytic systems comprising of several thousand reactions and species. Specifically, it combines automated rule-based network generation of complex networks with semi-empirical estimation of thermochemical properties to (a) generate large reaction networks, (b) calculate thermochemistry and activation barriers of each step on-the-fly, and (c) identify energetically feasible pathways and mechanisms to experimentally observed products. This method is applied to analyze the mechanism of glycerol conversion on transition metal catalysts for which a network of 3300 reactions and 500 species was generated. Using (i) group additivity methods for calculating reaction and species energies, (ii) linear free energy relationships for activation barriers, and (iii) linear scaling relationships for comparative assessment of energetics of species on different transition metals, the energetically feasible pathways for forming C–C scission and C–O scission products (syngas and propane diol, respectively) are identified on platinum, palladium, rhodium, and ruthenium catalysts. Our results indicate that (a) C–C scission products are preferred on platinum and palladium, (b) rhodium and ruthenium will have a comparatively higher selectivity for C–O scission products, and (c) glycerol tends to undergo several dehydrogenation steps prior to undergoing C–C scission, which are all consistent with experimental observations and DFT calculations. We propose that this method can be used to screen a large number of pathways in complex catalytic networks and to thereby identify the dominant modes in the system, because it is fast and scalable in handling larger networks, flexible in accommodating different types of semi-empirical correlations, and generic in handling any catalytic chemistry.


Summary
Adsorption of T4 phages or their ghosts to Escherichia coli
b resulted in the following events. (a) Addition of either phage or ghost caused rapid enhancement of potassium efflux and a corresponding decrease in the intracellular concentration of potassium. (b) Within the first 2 min after infection, the intracellular concentration of potassium started to recover in phage, but not in ghost-infected cells. The recovery, which corresponded presumably to some repair process, was completed 4 to 5 min after infections. (c) The K+ influx was enhanced slightly, and reduced 10-fold, in the phage and in the ghost-infected cells, respectively. The repair process in the phage-infected cells was inhibited by pre-treatment of the bacteria with chloramphenicol, or by lowering the temperature from 37 to 20 °C. Formalinized phages affect the bacteria in the same manner as the ghosts. Damage which resulted from ghost adsorption, and was characterized by K+ transport and infective centres experiments, could be repaired to some degree by infective phage adsorption. The effects due to ghost adsorption could be partially reduced by resuspending the treated bacteria in a medium which contained a concentrate of the non-dialysable metabolites that leaked out of the ghost-treated cells.


Method: This study used a 2-step approach. By first we were using a robust DC cell line to identify those miRNA that might be involved in DC activation; then followed by confirmation using monocyte-derived DC which was closer to real-life physiological contexts. THP-1 cell, a human monocytic leukemia cell line, has previously been shown to be useful for the in vitro study of DC. In this study, we identified a number of potential miRNA candidates in the DCs activated by SFI using MicroRNA Array of 381 known human miRNAs (Sanger miR Base, version 14). miR-22, miR-107 and miR-200a were then selected from the over 30 potential miRNA candidates with relative expression fold change >2 indentified in accordance to the computational evidences retrieved in the annotation database pipeline miR Base. These three miRNAs were further examined for any change in expression in a confirmatory study using the monocyte-derived DCs (MDDC) from peripheral blood mononuclear cells of healthy normal subjects (n=7) through the quantification by Real Time RT-PCR quantification. These results were correlated with the expression levels of HLA-DR and CD80 on the MDDCs using flow cytometry. Results: The confirmatory results did not show any consistent up-regulation in the expressions of miR22, miR107 and miR-200a due to SFI across the seven MDDC samples. In addition, test results on MDDCs upon treatment of SFI in two different dilutions of 1/20 and 1/40 respectively for 24 hours incubation also demonstrated insignificant expression changes of HLA-DR and CD80 (p>0.05). Furthermore, the correlation of the expression three mi-RNA and the surface expression levels of HLA-DR and CD80 were not statistically significant for MDDCs with treatment of SFI diluted in 1/20 for 1 hour, SFI diluted in 1/20 for 4 hours, and SFI diluted in 1/40 for 1 hour (p>0.05). Conclusions: Increased expression of miRNA of miR-22, miR-107 and miR-200a were found only in the cell line of THP-1, but failed to be shown consistently in the MDDCs from seven human peripheral blood samples. Thus whether these three mi-RNAs were really important epigenetic regulators during the process of SFI on DC remain unknown; and will require more future investigations by using multiple authentic DC sources.