Abstract The load values corresponding to the compressive strength of high-bush blueberry and redcurrant fruits during the compression test between two rigid plates were measured. The changes of coefficient of elasticity and coefficient of viscosity values during the creep and the relaxation tests were studied in the selected interval of time, also direction of load application in relation to the longitudinal axis of fruit was considered. The creep and relaxation tests were carried out with the load of 40% of determined compressive strength of berries. To describe behavior of testing the material rheological standard, Maxwell and Kelvin models as well as experimental models were used. Comparatively small changes of parameter values of assumed empirical models were reported in the course of tests. It may be recognized as characteristic for the investigated material.


Israeli war films of the 1950s and 60s focused on the typically male fantasy in which a soldier is prepared to sacrifice his body to torture and harm—and sometimes even to death—in order to serve national ideals. Masochistic enjoyment is a substantial component in the construction of the fighting male body as a war machine, but in the 50s war films this component was absent. The materiality of bodily pain appeared as a representation of an abstract national idea. What was omitted in these films becomes a spectacle of pain in Amos Gitai's film, Kippur (2000). The film constructs a masochistic fantasy whereby the fighting male body is stripped of its metaphoric national meaning, turning now to its bodily corporality, to flesh, blood, and bone. Gitai's film exposes the violence and suffering that are denied by Israel's culture of war, and which are required for the very construction of nationalism.


ABSTRACT Drawing on data from the 2006 China General Social Survey, propensity score matching was used to investigate the impact of rural-to-urban migration on family and gender values in China at distinct stages of the migratory process. Little evidence of ideational difference is found between rural natives who intend to migrate to urban areas and those who intend to stay in rural China. However, rural-to-urban migration has significant, diverse and gendered impacts on various domains of family and gender values at distinct migratory stages. The results also cast light on the important roles played by hukou status and various forms of socioeconomic and cultural status, such as education and occupation, in mediating the impact of rural-to-urban migration on family and gender values. The ideational impact of migration is shown to be shaped by China's distinctive institutional features.


Corrosion is responsible for industrial maintenance and industrial accidents costs. A helpful way to prevent corrosion is to develop advanced materials with highly anti-corrosive properties. The electrodeposition is one of the most attractive methods for obtaining these materials. This work deals with evaluation of the tribological and corrosion behaviour of electrodeposited Fe-W and Fe-W-P alloys. Electrodeposits were obtained from 4 different baths and were characterized by means of scanning electron microscopy; X-ray dispersive energy spectroscopy; X-ray diffraction spectroscopy. The hardness was determined by Micro-indentation carried out at normal forces varying from 98 mN up to 980 mN with a loading rate of 1961 mN/min. A ball-disc tribometer was used to study the tribological properties at 90 °C. A diamond indenter, having a radius of 100 µm, was used to carry the scratch test. Corrosion behaviour was studied using polarization and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy technique. It was investigated that in all cases Fe-W and Fe-W-P alloy coatings exhibit greater micro-hardness than the stainless steel substrate. The amorphous-like ternary Fe-W-P alloy coatings demonstrate higher wear and corrosion resistance and lower friction coefficient compared to binary Fe-W alloy coating. DOI:  https://doi.org/10.15544/balttrib.2015.29


Objective To explore genes of the killer-cell immunoglobulin-like receptor (KIR) and of the HLA ligand and their relationship with the outcome of metastatic colorectal cancer (mCRC) patients treated with first-line 5-fluorouracil, leucovorin, and irinotecan (FOLFIRI). Methods A total of 224 mCRC patients were screened for KIR/HLA typing. The determination of the KIR/HLA combinations was based upon the gene content and variants. Genetic associations with complete response (CR), time to progression (TTP) and overall survival (OS) were evaluated by calculating odds and hazard ratios. Multivariate modeling with prognostic covariates was also performed. Results For CR, the presence of KIR2DL5A, 2DS5, 2DS1, 3DS1, and KIR3DS1/HLA-Bw4-I80 was associated with increased CR rates, with median ORs ranging from 2.1 to 4.3, while the absence of KIR2DS4 and 3DL1 was associated with increased CR rates (OR 3.1). After univariate analysis, patients that underwent resective surgery of tumor, absence of KIR2DS5, and presence of KIR3DL1/HLA-Bw4-I80 showed a significant better OS (HR 1.5 to 2.8). Multivariate analysis identified as parameters independently related to OS the type of treatment (surgery; HR 2.0) and KIR3DL1/HLA-Bw4-I80 genotype (HR for T-I80 2.7 and for no functional KIR/HLA interaction 1.8). For TTP, no association with KIR/HLA genes was observed. Conclusion This study, for the first time, evidences that the genotyping for KIR-HLA pairs are found predictive markers associated with complete response and improves overall survival prediction of FOLFIRI treatment response in metastatic colorectal cancer. These results suggest a role of the KIR/HLA system in patient outcome, and guide new research on the immunogenetics of mCRC through mechanistic studies and clinical validation.


Abstract:This report presents the results of excavations of a ringfort, an enclosure and two fulachtaifia (popularly known as fulachta fiadh). Pre-enclosure settlement on the ringfort site comprised an oval-shaped house dating to the early sixth-early seventh century period. An enclosing bank and ditch were subsequently constructed and two structures of late sixth-early seventh century were associated with the ringfort phase. The ringfort ditch also appears to have become redundant and was partly back-filled in antiquity. The surviving material culture was poor although there was evidence for iron-working on the site. The enclosure was large and surrounded by a deep ditch that was back-filled in antiquity, and the upper levels were infilled in modern times. There was no evidence for the date or function of the site and it may be early medieval or earlier in date. Modern features to the north included four lime-kilns of unusual morphology. Two spreads of burnt stone were excavated and one site had the remains of a trough and is dated to the early Bronze Age.


This paper shows how the study of the integral process of HP's becoming and the differential contributions of successive CEOs to that process can be combined to create an evolutionary framework of the role of strategic leadership in corporate becoming. This conceptual framework reflects the paradox of corporate becoming and the conditions that govern it, highlights the existential situation facing successive CEOs chartered with sustaining the process, and indicates that strategic leadership of long-lived companies involves an imperfect across-CEO tenures learning process. It offers strategic leadership advice for founders of new companies as well as for CEOs and boards of directors of existing companies who intend to create, run or oversee long-lived companies.


Lanthanide complexes emit as sharp emission bands, have long luminescence lifetimes for temporal discrimination from background fluorescence and strong resistance to photobleaching. These attractive properties make lanthanide compounds potentially applicable in a variety of devices, including optical displays and sensors. However, luminescent lanthanide cations weakly absorb light, and require proximal chromophores to absorb excitation light. Energy is subsequently transferred to the lanthanide cations, resulting in the sensitization of their emission.Usually, the energy levels in a given chromophore are fixed and cannot be adjusted. In this thesis, oligofluorene ligands, comprised of either one (mono) or three (ter) fluorene units in the backbone, exhibited a tunable nature of their electronic levels directly controlled by the number of fluorene units. By varying the length of the fluorene backbone in these ligands, the donating level(s) of the chromophore was (were) discretely tuned to the accepting level(s) of a particular lanthanide (Eu and Tb). Furthermore, the lanthanide cation was coordinated to a cage-like polyaminocarboxylate moiety within the ligand, which protected the cation from non-radiative deactivation. Matching the energies of the donating electronic states of an oligofluorene ligand with the appropriate accepting levels of a lanthanide cation lead to efficient oligofluorene to lanthanide energy transfer with quantum yields of 7%, such as in the TF1:Eu3+ complex. The efficiency in these novel lanthanide complexes is comparable to established lanthanide compounds used today in fluoroimmunoassays.


We investigated the influence of the sleep/waking cycle, the effects of paradoxical sleep deprivation (PSD) and of the vigilance-promoting drug modafinil on the amino acid contents of rat brain cortex. No significant nycthemeral variations in amino acid levels could be detected. PSD (12-24 hours), using the water tank method, significantly increased the levels of glutamate and glutamine. The increase was still observed after the sleep rebound period. ),-Aminobutyric acid (GAB A) levels did not change significantly during the instrumental sleep deprivation but increased during the rebound period. Control experiments indicate that the increase in glutamate and glutamine levels is due to PSD rather than to the stress associated with the experimental procedure. The increase in glutamate content cannot arise only from transamination reactions, because the levels of other amino acids (such as aspartate) did not decrease. Modafinil treatment did not significantly modify the brain cortex content of any of the amino acids tested.


Helicobacter pylori is highly adapted for colonization of the human stomach and is present in about half of the human population. When present, H pylori is usually the numerically dominant gastric microorganism. H pylori typically does not cause any adverse effects, but it is associated with an increased risk of noncardia gastric adenocarcinoma, gastric lymphoma, and peptic ulcer. Disorders such as esophageal diseases and childhood-onset asthma were recently reported to occur more frequently in individuals who lack H pylori than in H pylori-positive persons. In this review, we discuss biologic factors that allow H pylori to colonize the human stomach, mechanisms by which H pylori increases the risk of peptic ulcer disease and noncardia gastric adenocarcinoma, and potential benefits that H pylori might confer to humans.


Occlusions are a common occurrence in unconstrained face images. Single image 3D reconstruction from such face images often suffers from corruption due to the pres-ence of occlusions. Furthermore, while a plurality of 3D reconstructions is plausible in the occluded regions, existing approaches are limited to generating only a single so-lution. To address both of these challenges, we present Diverse3DFace, which is specifically designed to simulta-neously generate a diverse and realistic set of 3D reconstructions from a single occluded face image. It comprises three components; a global+local shape fitting process, a graph neural network-based mesh VAE, and a determinan-tal point process based diversity-promoting iterative opti-mization procedure. Quantitative and qualitative comparisons of 3D reconstruction on occluded faces show that Di-verse3DFace can estimate 3D shapes that are consistent with the visible regions in the target image while exhibiting high, yet realistic, levels of diversity in the occluded regions. On face images occluded by masks, glasses, and other random objects, Diverse3DFace generates a distri-bution of 3D shapes having ~50% higher diversity on the occluded regions compared to the baselines. Moreover, our closest sample to the ground truth has ~40% lower MSE than the singular reconstructions by existing approaches. Code and data available at: https://github.com/human-analysis/diverse3dface


Objective. To extend the magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) score for assessment of wrist synovitis in juvenile idiopathic arthritis (JIA) by inclusion of the metacarpophalangeal (MCP) joints, and to compare the metric properties of the original and the extended score. Methods. Wrist MRI of 70 patients with JIA were scored by 3 independent readers according to (1) the wrist component of the rheumatoid arthritis MRI synovitis score (comprising distal radioulnar, radiocarpal, and combined midcarpal and carpometacarpal joints); and (2) an extended score including the MCP joints. Thirty-eight patients had a 1-year MRI followup. The concordance between the readers [intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC), 95% limits of agreement (LOA), and weighted Cohen's κ], correlations with clinical variables (Spearman's ϱ), and the sensitivity to change [standardized response mean (SRM)] were calculated for both scores. Results. The interreader agreement was moderate for the original score (ICC 0.77; 95% CI 0.68–0.84) and good for the extended score (ICC 0.86; 95% CI 0.80–0.91). Using 95% LOA, the aggregate score variability was less favorable with relatively wide LOA. Weighted Cohen's κ of the individual joints indicated good agreement for the original score and good to excellent agreement for the extended score. Correlations with clinical variables reflecting disease activity improved for the extended score and its SRM was higher compared to that of the original score. Conclusion. The extended score showed better reliability, construct validity, and sensitivity to change than the original. Inclusion of the MCP joints should be considered for a more accurate assessment of disease activity and treatment efficacy in JIA.


ovarian cyst formation. The first was performed in Northern Ireland when she was 16 years of age. She had had chronic pelvic pain since that time and a pelvic mass had re-formed on three occasions. The most recent "cyst" proved to be an inflammatory mass consisting of chronically infected omentum fixed to her remaining right tube and ovary. The omental mass was removed and the tube and ovary restored to an apparently normal condition. Within five days of operation a tender mass had re-formed. Laparoscopy on the eighth postoperative day confirmed that once more the omentum was matted around the tube and ovary. The tissues were all separated and dye studies showed that the tube was still patent. The patient was discharged the following day. She was seen recently, six months after discharge from hospital. She had been free of pain for the first time in 10 years and vaginal examination showed no obvious pathology. Miarriage is contemplated and were she to conceive one would feel that a further advantage had been obtained. It must be stressed that in each case postoperative problems were present, indicating persistent disease. Each time the laparoscopic procedure has relieved the patient of unpleasant symptoms; there have been no obvious repercussions and all remain symptomfree to the present time. The procedure requires great care and should, I feel, be practised only by surgeons with a wide experience of laparoscopic operating.


Polyclonal rabbit anti-idiotypic (Ab2) antibodies raised against the antiprogesterone mAb DB3 (Ab1) were used to induce an Ab3 antiprogesterone response in BALB/c mice. While the affinity of Ab3 sera for progesterone was 10-50-times lower than that of DB3, their steroid-binding specificity showed considerable similarity to DB3. Two immunoglobulin M (IgM) Ab3 monoclonal antibodies (mAbs), 1A4 and 3B11, were obtained, both of which bound progesterone conjugated to bovine serum albumin (progesterone-BSA). 1A4 also bound free progesterone, although with low affinity and very broad cross-reactivity. Like DB3, 1A4 is encoded by a heavy-chain variable region (VH) gene segment from the small VGAM3.8 family, a restriction that is characteristic of antibodies raised against progesterone-11alpha-BSA. In contrast, 3B11 binds progesterone-11alpha-BSA but not free progesterone and is encoded by an unrelated VH gene from the J558 family. The light chain variable region (VL) of 1A4 lacks the intradomain disulphide bridge owing to replacement of CysL23 by Tyr. Both the 1A4 and 3B11 heavy chains have extremely short complementarity determining region (CDR) H3 loops, comprising three and four amino acids, respectively. Modelling of the combining site of 1A4 from the X-ray crystallographic structure of DB3 indicates that the short H3 loop is a major factor in the loss of affinity and specificity for steroid.


In this prospective study, we determined the value of MR as an imaging technique in diagnosis and therapy with the option of simultaneous assessment of bone and soft tissue. 20 patients with clinical diagnosis of reflex sympathetic dystrophy syndrome (RSDS) and positive results in radiogram and three-phase radionuclide bone scanning were examined by MR, using T1- and T2-weighted images before and after Gadolinium-DTPA i.v. Soft tissue and bone signal intensity changes can be classified in our diagnostic-therapeutic scheme and proven by histopathological changes. The differentiation between clinical stages is possible and allows an evaluation of course and therapy. The higher costs are justified by shorter examination time without using radiation.


The analysis of mechanical behaviour of spinal column is until now still a challenge, in spite of the great amount of research which has been conducted over the last years. It is a particularly complex structure considering number of components, their shapes and mechanical characteristics. The objectives of the presented investigations are to understand the mechanisms of the mechanical behaviour of the spine structure and the role of its components, as well as the factors of its dysfunctions as scoliosis discopathy, spondylolisthesis. Also some mechanical effects of surgical interventions by total disc replacement is considered. To account for the 3D character of the spine system including vertebrae, discs, ligaments, muscles etc. the finite element method (FEM) formulation was used throughout the paper. Some specific features of the structure are included in the models as non-conservative loads and muscular tension control performed by the nervous system. The finite element method together with CAD programs and experimental validation was used in investigations of a new type of artificial disc for lumbar spine. The stress analyses were performed for the prostheses being in clinical use and for some original new designs. The conclusions concern most important determinants of the mechanical behaviour of the system and the quality of the intervertebral disc prosthesis.


during laparoscopy (21%) and the use of an endobag has been observed in only 21% of patients in group 1. Radical treatment was significantly more frequent in group 3 when compared to group 1 (67% vs 23%, p< 0.05). Laparoscopy was questionable for staging since no lymphadenectomy has been carried out by this approach. However, only 27% of patients subjected to an open approach underwent lymphadenectomy and omentectomy. The outcome in terms of survival was similar in the three groups with a mean follow-up period of 1221 days (þ/ 832) (p1⁄4 0.1). Laparoscopic management of stage I ovarian cancer is poorly efficient in staging although disease free survival does not seem to be affected.


In the last decades, several studies have revealed how critical the urban heat island (UHI) effect can be in cities located in cold climates, such as the Canadian one. Meanwhile, many researchers have looked at the impact of the city design over the urban microclimate, and have raised concerns about the development of too dense cities. Under the effect of the "Places to Growth" plan, the city of Toronto is experiencing one of the highest rates of building development in North America. Over 48,000 and 33,000 new home permits were issued in 2012 and 2013 respectively, and at the beginning of 2015, almost 500 high-rise proposals across the Greater Toronto Area were released. In this context, it is important to investigate how new constructions will affect the urban microclimate, and to propose strategies to mitigate possible UHI effects. Using the software ENVI-met, microclimate simulations for the Church-Yonge corridor both in the current situation and with the new constructions are reported in this paper. The outdoor air temperature and the wind speed are the parameters used to assess the outdoor microclimate changes. The results show that the new constructions could increase the wind speed around the buildings. However, high-rise buildings will somewhat reduce the air temperature during day-time, as they will create large shadow areas, with lower average mean radiant temperature.


This paper contrasts and empirically tests two different views of corporate pension policy: the traditional view that pension funds are managed without regard to either corporate financial policy or the interests of the corporation and its shareholders, and the corporate financial perspective represented by the recent theoretical work of Black (1980), Sharpe (1916),Tepper (1981), and Treynor (1971), which stresses the potential effects of a firm's financial condition on its pension funding and asset allocation decisions. We find several pieces of evidence supporting the corporate financial perspective. First, we find that there is a significant inverse relationship between firms' profitability and the discount rates they choose tor eport their pension liabilities. In view of this we adjust all reported pension liabilities to a common discount rate assumption. We then find a significant positive relationship between firm profitability and the degree ofpension funding, as is consistent with the corporate financial perspective. We also find some evidence that firms facing higher risk and lower tax liabilities are less inclined to fully fund their pension plans. On the asset allocation question, we find that the distribution of plan assets invested in bonds is bi-modal, but that it does not tend to cluster around extreme portfolio configurations to the extent predicted by the corporate financial perspective. We also find that the percentage of plan assets invested in bonds in negatively related to both total size of plan and the proportion of unfunded liabilities.The latter relationship shows up particularly among the riskiest firms and is consistent with the corporate financial perspective on pension decisions.


Abstract In this study, the effect of cooling rate on microstructure, mechanical properties and residual stress of 7075 aluminum alloy was investigated. The influence of cooling rate on microstructure, hardness, electrical conductivity of 7075 aluminum alloy was investigated using a Jominy end quench test. Water at three different temperatures (20 °C, 50 °C, 75 °C) and polymer solutions of varied concentrations (5vol.-% and 25vol.-%) were used as a quenching medium. The changes of hardness, electrical conductivity and microstructure properties of the specimens with an increase in distance from the quenched surface were investigated comparatively for different quenching mediums. Tensile tests were applied to determine the effect of the quenching rate on mechanical properties of the specimens. Residual stress was measured using the ESPI hole drilling technique to understand the influence of cooling rate. The results show that the cooling rate decreases as the distance from the quenched surface, water temperature and polymer concentration increases. The changes in material properties such as hardness, electrical conductivity along the material profile decrease as water temperature and polymer concentration increase. Although the hardness and mechanical properties of the material decrease as the cooling rate decreases, the values obtained are convenient for conditions of industrial usage. Residual stress was significantly eliminated by quenching in hot water or polymer solution at a high concentration.


In this paper we present a model for measuring the quality of experience (QoE) of multimedia services. Our model consists of measurable and non-measurable parameters and describes a framework for quantifying the model parameters by transformation into an XML document with discreet values. The model has been validated by running a field trial over 4 weeks using 3G mobile phones for a video on demand service and mobile TV


INTRODUCTION
Idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) is a severe chronic lung disease. Pulmonary rehabilitation could improve the quality of life of patients with this condition.

METHODS
We prospectively evaluated the impact of an 8 week home-based pulmonary rehabilitation program over 10 months in stable patients suffering from IPF. Exercise capacity, pulmonary function, dyspnea and quality of life were analyzed before and after the rehabilitation program.

RESULTS
17 patients were included and 13 completed the study. Mean FVC was 2.15+/-0.79 L and mean DLCO was 7.81+/-3.99 ml/min/mmHg. Six patients were treated with low dose oral steroids ($20 mg/day of prednisone) with or without immunosuppressive treatments; 6 were taking part in therapeutic trials. Mean endurance time (7.4+/-9.1 min vs 14.1+/-12.1 min; p<0,01), number of beats per minute on a stepper (322+/-97 vs 456+/-163; p=0.026), 6 min walking distance to heart rate ratio (11+/-6 vs 17+/-12; p=0.006), exercise dyspnea (p=0.026), sensation of physical limitation at the SF-36 (25%+/-26 vs 49%+/-38; p=0.047) and 4 out of 7 visual analog scales were significantly improved after rehabilitation. In contrast, no significant difference was observed in resting pulmonary function or in other items of quality of life questionnaires

CONCLUSION
A home-based program of pulmonary rehabilitation is feasible in IPF patients. It significantly improves endurance parameters and physical limitation in this patient group without changing pulmonary function.


In this study, Acid Blue 25 (AB25), which is a negatively charged synthetic dye was removed from an aqueous solution by adsorption onto agricultural wastes, including banana (BP) and durian (DP) peels. The adsorption performances of AB25 were related to surface characteristics of the agricultural wastes, including their chemical functional groups, net surface charge, surface morphology, surface area, and pore volume. Parameters affecting the adsorption, including contact times, initial concentration, pH, and temperature were investigated. The results revealed that the adsorption of AB25 followed pseudo-second order kinetics, and that the adsorption process was controlled by a combination of intraparticle and film diffusion with a two-step mechanism. The equilibrium data could be simulated by the Langmuir isotherm model, suggesting that AB25 molecules are adsorbed on active sites with a uniform binding energy as a monolayer on the adsorbent surface. The adsorption process was spontaneous and exothermic, and the adsorption capacity decreased with the pH of the medium. The spent adsorbents were best regenerated by acid treatment (pH 2), and could be recycled for several adsorption-desorption processes. Under ambient conditions, the maximum adsorption capacities of AB25 on BP and DP were 70.0 and 89.7 mg g−1, respectively, which is much higher than on a large variety of reported adsorbents derived from other agricultural wastes.


BACKGROUND
Renal involvement is common in multiple myeloma. In this study, we examined kidney biopsy findings in patients with multiple myeloma and correlated them with their clinical renal and hematologic characteristics.

STUDY DESIGN
Case series.

SETTING & PARTICIPANTS
190 Mayo Clinic patients with multiple myeloma who underwent kidney biopsy between 1997-2011 were identified from our kidney biopsy database. Patients had an established diagnosis of multiple myeloma or multiple myeloma was diagnosed shortly after the results of kidney biopsy, which prompted bone marrow biopsy.

PREDICTORS
Myeloma cast nephropathy (MCN), AL amyloidosis, and monoclonal immunoglobulin deposition disease (MIDD).

OUTCOMES & MEASUREMENTS
Renal morphologic changes, clinical renal and hematologic characteristics at kidney biopsy, renal and patient outcomes.

RESULTS
Paraprotein-associated lesions were seen in 73% of patients; non-paraprotein-associated lesions, in 25%; and no pathology, in 2%. The most common paraprotein-associated lesions were MCN (33%), MIDD (22%), and amyloidosis (21%). The most common non-paraprotein-associated lesions were acute tubular necrosis (9%), hypertensive arteriosclerosis (6%), and diabetic nephropathy (5%). Patients with MIDD were younger than those with MCN or amyloidosis. Urine paraprotein size and bone marrow plasma cell percentage were higher in MCN than amyloidosis or MIDD. Nephrotic syndrome was more common in amyloidosis than MIDD. Percentage of albuminuria was highest in amyloidosis and lowest in MCN. Median kidney survival from kidney biopsy was 20, 30, and 51 months for MCN, amyloidosis, and MIDD, respectively (P = 0.2). Median patient survival from multiple myeloma diagnosis was 44, 58, and 62 months for MCN, amyloidosis, and MIDD, respectively (P = 0.4).

LIMITATIONS
Retrospective nature.

CONCLUSIONS
The spectrum of renal lesions in multiple myeloma is more heterogeneous than previously reported. Clinical features favoring amyloidosis over MIDD include older age, absence of kidney failure, presence of nephrotic syndrome, absence of hematuria, and >50% albuminuria.


Background Several markers detected on the routine 12‐lead ECG are associated with future heart failure events. We examined whether these markers are able to separate the risk of heart failure with reduced ejection fraction (HFrEF) from heart failure with preserved ejection fraction (HFpEF). Methods and Results We analyzed data of 6664 participants (53% female; mean age 62±10 years) from MESA (Multi‐Ethnic Study of Atherosclerosis) who were free of cardiovascular disease at baseline (2000–2002). A competing risks analysis was used to compare the association of several baseline ECG predictors with HFrEF and HFpEF detected during a median follow‐up of 12.1 years. A total of 127 HFrEF and 117 HFpEF events were detected during follow‐up. In a multivariable adjusted model, prolonged QRS duration, delayed intrinsicoid deflection, left‐axis deviation, right‐axis deviation, prolonged QT interval, abnormal QRS‐T axis, left ventricular hypertrophy, ST/T‐wave abnormalities, and left bundle‐branch block were associated with HFrEF. In contrast, higher resting heart rate, abnormal P‐wave axis, and abnormal QRS‐T axis were associated with HFpEF. The risk of HFrEF versus HFpEF was significantly differently for delayed intrinsicoid deflection (hazard ratio: 4.90 [95% confidence interval (CI), 2.77–8.68] versus 0.94 [95% CI, 0.29–2.97]; comparison P=0.013), prolonged QT interval (hazard ratio: 2.39 [95% CI, 1.55–3.68] versus 0.52 [95% CI, 0.23–1.19]; comparison P<0.001), and ST/T‐wave abnormalities (hazard ratio: 2.47 [95% CI, 1.69–3.62] versus 1.13 [95% CI, 0.72–1.77]; comparison P=0.0093). Conclusions Markers of ventricular repolarization and delayed ventricular activation are able to distinguish between the future risk of HFrEF and HFpEF. These findings suggest a role for ECG markers in the personalized risk assessment of heart failure subtypes.


The ability to comprehend wishes or desires and their fulfillment is important to Natural Language Understanding. This paper introduces the task of identifying if a desire expressed by a subject in a given short piece of text was fulfilled. We propose various unstructured and structured models that capture fulfillment cues such as the subject's emotional state and actions. Our experiments with two different datasets demonstrate the importance of understanding the narrative and discourse structure to address this task.


A review is given about FEM-techniques to compute the coupled electromechanical boundary value problem of cracks in piezoelectric structures under static and dynamic loads. To calculate the relevant fracture parameters very precisely and efficient, the following numerical techniques are presented: i) Special singular crack tip elements, ii) Modified crack closure integral, iii) Computation of electromechanical J-integral and iv) Usage of interaction integrals. Special emphasis is devoted to different electric crack face boundary conditions. The accuracy, efficiency and applicability of these techniques are examined by various example problems and discussed with respect to their advantages and drawbacks for practical applications.


This qualitative study using a social constructionist epistemology looked at seven ind ividuals' experiences of health anxiety and hypochondriasis. Participants were recruited using advertisements on local public notice boards, word of mouth and a published newspaper interview. Participants self-identified as having health anxiety or hypochondria and ranged between 18-64 years of age. There were three male and four female participants. A thematic narrative analysis was undertaken. Common themes that were identified were: childhood attachment styles, trauma, personal experience with illness, the function of health anxiety, health anxiety developing into adulthood, stigma of being labelled a hypochondriac, participants' positioning of self and others, participants' views on their doctors and communication styles. Also outlined were participants' recommendations for managing symptoms and coping with doctors' consultations. Impl ications include integrating attachment theories into therapy for health anxiety and working towards improving communication skills between medical doctors and health anxious and hypochondriacal patients.


ABSTRACT Background: Autistic children are unique individuals who have different abilities and characteristics, so that they have different ways of interacting with themselves and the environment. The development of interest in children with autism can be hampered. Parenting in children with autism includes parents of autistic children who provide emotional, social, informational and practical support to develop children's interests with autism. Based on the results of a preliminary study conducted by the author at 8 Special Schools (SLB) in Yogyakarta and Ponorogo, East Java, most parents (93%) thought that enrolling autistic children in special schools (SLB) meant that their efforts had been said. enough. The purpose of this study was to analyze the effect of parenting on the development of interest in autistic children in autistic schools. Subject and Method: This was a quasi-experiment pretest-posttest design with control group design conducted at the seven autism schools in Yogyakarta and one autism school in Ponorogo, East Java. A sample of autistic children selected by purposive sampling with the criteria of a pair of parents with autistic children aged 6-12 years. The dependent variable was development of interest in children with autism. The independent variable was parenting. The first observation was to determine the development of interest in children with autism before being given parenting and the second observation after being given parenting. Data was analyzed by bivariate analysis by Wilcoxon Rank Test. Results: The development of interest in autistic children was higher after the intervention with trained parenting than before, and it was statistically significant (p <0.001). Conclusion: Giving trained parenting is effective in increasing the development of interest in children with autism in Autism Schools in Yogyakarta and Ponorogo, East Java. Keywords: Parenting, interest development, autistic children Correspondence: Atik Badi'ah. School of Health Sciences, Yogyakarta. Email: firstname.lastname@example.com. Mobile: +628164267407. DOI: https://doi.org/10.26911/the7thicph.03.83


This paper presents two highly integrated receiver circuits fabricated in InP heterojunction bipolar transistor (HBT) technology operating at up to 2.5 and 7.5 Gb/s, respectively. The first IC is a generic digital receiver circuit with CMOS-compatible outputs. It integrates monolithically an automatic-gain-control amplifier, a digital clock and data recovery circuit, and a 1:8 demultiplexer, and consumes an extremely low 340 mW of power at 3.3 V, including output buffers. It can realize a full optical receiver when connected to a photo detector/preamplifier front end. The second circuit is a complete multirate optical receiver application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC) that integrates a photodiode, a transimpedance amplifier, a limiting amplifier, a digital clock and data recovery circuit, a 1:10 demultiplexer, and the asynchronous-transfer-mode-compatible word synchronization logic. It is the most functionally complex InP HBT optoelectronic integrated circuit reported to date. A custom package has also been developed for this ASIC.


The Georgia Institute of Technology, a ResearchどExtensive institution located in the center of Atlanta, has a historic mission to create new knowledge and to train students in technological fields. Regulations put forth by the Board of Regents of the University System of Georgia, specifically prohibit Georgia Tech from having a College of Education, so there is no unit on campus with the mission of teaching students about pedagogy, or preparing them for a career in education. Further, there has been a historic institutional paradigm that equates success with placement of Georgia Tech graduates in technical or research positions. However Georgia is in dire need of more wellどtrained STEM teachers to better prepare students to matriculate into college science and engineering programs, or to enroll in the state"s technical and community colleges. There is a strategic imperative for Georgia Tech to promote teaching as a valued career goal and to support those STEM majors who wish to pursue a career in teaching in the Kど12 arena. As part of a new, campus-wide initiative, supported by the NSF, Georgia Tech has implemented a series of activities to promote careers in K-12 teaching, and has set up the infrastructure to track and evaluate these initiatives. This paper will describe the initiatives implemented so far, the types of road blocks encountered, and the numbers of students entering teaching from various engineering fields. Our goal is to change the perceptions among students, faculty and administrators at Georgia Tech; to promote K-12 teaching as a career option for all students, including entering freshmen; and ultimately to help produce 30-50 high school science and math teachers per year. This would make Georgia Tech one of the largest producers of high school STEM teachers in the state.


[article extract] Two great forces appear to be working together to reshape the world: globalisation and American power. In a five part analysis Tom Nairn perceives them to be opponents rather than allies. The leadership of the United States, he suggests, is seeking to limit and control a globalisation process which it initiated but which has begun to turn their country into just one among many.


Menstruation is associated with loss of blood monthly in women of reproductive age. In some women this physiological phenomenon is also associated with some complaints such as menstrual pain, vomiting, and tiredness. We investigated the fasting blood glucose concentration and hemoglobin concentration before and soon after menstruation in fifty women aged 18 to 38 years after obtaining their informed consent. Fasting blood glucose concentration was determined using the glucose oxidase enzymatic method. Hemoglobin concentration was assessed using the non-dilution photometric technique. The mean post-menstrual fasting blood glucose of the women (3.58 ±  0.66mmol/l) was found to be significantly (p<0.05) less than their mean pre-menstrual fasting blood glucose (4.61 ±  0.89mmol/L). Both values were however within the normal range for our environment (3.60-5.80mmol/L). The mean post- menstrual hemoglobin concentration of the women was 11.16 ±  1.12g/dl. This value is lower than normal and it is significantly (p<0.05) less than the means pre-menstrual hemoglobin concentration (12.87 ±  0.99) of the women who participated in the study. Key words: Menstruation, young women, hemoglobin, blood glucose.


In Reply Narozny et al raise an interesting observation about our article,1 which highlights the need for research in sensory impairments. Balance disorder is a major public health concern in the US and significantly contributes to the onset of falls and hip fractures.BalancetestingwasincorporatedintheNationalHealthand Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) from 1999 to 2004 to estimate the prevalence of balance problems in the US general population using the modified Romberg Test of Standing Balance on Firm and Compliant Support Surfaces (the modified Romberg test). Based on this national surveillance, Agrawal and colleagues2 reported an estimated 35.4% of US adults aged 40 years or older (69 million Americans) experienced vestibular dysfunction as determined by the modified Romberg test. Currentclinicalpracticescommonlyadaptcrudebalancetesting (eg, 1-leg standing test) as a part of physical performance assessments made in adults to screen for balance problems that require targeted interventions for fall prevention.3 However, crude balance testing provides limited information on sensory impairments, which may impede the effectiveness of interventions to improve balance function. We acknowledge the limitations in the modified Romberg test as a screening measure for vestibular diseasesandvisual/proprioceptivedisorders; itremainsasimpletool thatprovidesadditional informationonbalanceproblemsrelated to multiple sensory impairments that is better than crude balance testing. Sensory impairments contribute to a wealth of unfavorable health outcomes. Emerging epidemiologic data suggest that deficits in the sensory system were associated with an increased risk ofmortalityandotherdiseases.1,4,5 Becausetheprevalenceofsensory impairments is increasing, accompanied by population agingandcertaindiseases(eg,coronavirusdisease2019),6 enhanced diagnostic assessments of the sensory system should be considered in clinical and research settings. Such assessments will facilitate investigations into the effects of sensory deficits and loss on long-term health outcomes at the population level and facilitate referrals of patients to specialists for targeted interventions.


Modelling surgical size is not inherently meant to replicate the tumor's exact form and proportions, but instead to elucidate the degree of the tissue volume that may be surgically removed in terms of improving patient survival and minimize the risk that subsequent operations will be needed to eliminate all malignant cells entirely. Given the broad range of models of tumor growth, there is no specific rule of thumb about how to select the most suitable model for a particular breast cancer type and whether that would influence its subsequent application in surgery planning. Typically, these models require tumor biologydependent parametrization, which hardly generalizes to cope with tumor heterogeneity. In addition, the datasets are limited in size, owing to the restricted or expensive measurement methods. We address the shortcomings that incomplete biological specifications, the variety of tumor types, and the limited size of the data bring to existing mechanistic tumor growth models and introduce a Machine Learning model for the PRediction of INdividual breast Cancer Evolution to Surgical Size (PRINCESS). This is a data-driven model based on neural networks capable of unsupervised learning of cancer growth curves. PRINCESS learns the temporal evolution of the tumor along with the underlying distribution of the measurement space. We demonstrate the superior accuracy of PRINCESS, against four typically used tumor growth models, in learning tumor growth curves from a set of four clinical breast cancer datasets. Our experiments show that, without any modification, PRINCESS can accurately predict tumor sizes while being versatile between breast cancer types.


Genetic Polymorphisms of renin-angiotensin aldosterone system (RAAS) genes has been extensively studied in relation to the progressive renal disease, hypertension and
cardiovascular disease in various populations with conflicting results. The present study sought to determine the association of Insetion/Deletion (I/D) polymorphisms of the angiotensin converting enzyme (ACE), Gly460Trp of α-adducin and A1166C of angiotensin type 1 receptor(AT1R) of RAAS genes in Malaysian end stage renal subjects. A total of 380 subjects consisted of 190 end stage renal disease (ESRD)patients and 190 unrelated healthy individuals were recruited in this study. Genotypes of RAAS gene polymorphisms were determined using mutagenically separated PCR and PCR-RFLP method. There was significant difference (p 0.05) was found in A1166C polymorphism of AT1R genes between the ESRD and control subjects. The findings of this study indicate that I/D polymorphisms of the ACE gene and Gly460Trp polymorphism of α-adducin gene are a useful marker and are likely to play a major role in determining genetic susceptibility to Malaysian ESRD subjects.


Low and high doses of a dopamine blocking agent had effects on lever pressing for intravenous amphetamine reward which resembled the effects of reward reduction and reward termination, respectively. Noradrenaline blockade had no such effects. A role in central mediation of reward perception is suggested for dopamine but not for noradrenaline.


Responsibility for teaching communication skills often falls to a multidisciplinary group of faculty who lack both a common model for teaching and prior experience teaching communication in small groups. This article describes East Tennessee State University's multifaceted faculty development program in teaching communication skills. The program was developed and implemented in three phases. First, a two-step Delphi approach helped identify core communication skills. Phase two gave faculty the opportunity to practice identifying communication teaching issues and effective strategies for working with small groups. The third phase involved the videotaping of faculty teaching small groups of students. These tapes were reviewed both individually and in faculty groups. The tapes were also reviewed by students, who provided realtime, moment-to-moment feedback to the faculty. Implementation and review of the program has helped to identify new strategies for effectively facilitating small-group teaching of communication skills.


Abstract The paper discusses the issue of the effects of using SRI strategies on performance and risk of investment portfolios. During the research procedure, a number of goals were executed which is reflected by the article's structure. In the first place, potential directions of the effects of using SRI strategies on portfolio parameters were indicated. Generally, these are hypotheses about 1) positive; 2) negative; 3) neutral impacts of SRI on investment portfolio parameters. Then the main streams in the research on SRI were identified. These streams are mainly based on: modern portfolio theory, the costs of an asset selection conception and the analysis of the correlation between CSR policy and company profitability. Moreover, the research stream which focuses on the relationship between the social responsibility of business and its competitive position was identified. The performed wide review of the literature raising the issues of performance and risk of SRI allows us to make an attempt to synthesize the results obtained by various authors. This synthesis is based on criteria such as: subjective scope, geographical span, methodology and findings of particular research. The main finding of the research is that despite many attempts in which various methods were used, so far there is no firm evidence to support or reject any of the above formulated hypotheses.


This study aimed to compile an economic comparison of conventional and modern cold storage facilities in Isparta, Turkey. Primary data were collected by surveys from 59 facilities. Enterprises were examined in two groups according to their cooling system, categorized as conventional and modern. During the surveys, depots with normal atmosphere were categorized as conventional cold storages and those with fully controlled atmospheres and also those with some storage rooms with controlled atmosphere were categorized as modern cold storages. The data used covers the 2010- 2011 storage period. According to research results, total cost were calculated to be 245 117.90 USD per enterprise for the conventional cold storage facilities and 304 814.62 USD for the modern cold storage facilities. For conventional enterprises 60.14% of total costs are fixed costs and 39.86% are variable costs, while these rates are 62.60% and 37.40% for modern ones respectively. It was determined that economic profitability rates are 4.53 on conventional cold storage facilities and 10.39 for modern cold storage facilities; financial profitability rates are 4.91 for conventional cold storage facilities and 10.45 for modern cold storage facilities. The average break-even point was calculated to be 2 680.25 tonnes for the conventional cold storage facilities and 2 848.19 for the modern cold storage facilities. Using 53.84 % of available capacity in conventional facilities and 39.97% in modern facilities was the determined break-even point where income equals costs.


A wheelchair-mounted robotic arm (WMRA) system was designed and built to meet the needs of mobility-impaired persons with limitations of upper extremities, and to exceed the capabilities of current devices of this type. The control of this 9-DoF system expands on the conventional control methods and combines the 7-DoF robotic arm control with the 2-DoF power wheelchair control. The 3-degrees of redundancy are optimized to effectively perform activities of daily living (ADLs) and overcome singularities, joint limits and some workspace limitations. The control system is designed for teleoperated or autonomous coordinated Cartesian control, and it offers expandability for future research, such as voice or sip and puff control operations and sensor assist functions.


A colloidal BiVO4 solution, prepared from equimolar mixing of Bi(NO3)3·5H2O and NH4VO3 in MeOH containing 15% (v/v) 1-ethyl-3-methylimidazolium trifluoromethanesulfonate (EMI triflate) ionic liquid, was coated on a fluorine-doped tin oxide conducting glass (FTO) with a doctor blade technique; it was sintered at 450 °C for 2 h to produce a super highly mechanically stable film of nanocrystalline scheelite-monoclinic, s-m BiVO4 photoanode. This technique endowed an excellent solar-driven water splitting activity for both the bare photoanode and that modified with tri-layers of non-precious water oxidation catalysts. The presence of EMI triflate in the precursor solution is essential for the mechanical stability of the film. Moreover, carbon, nitrogen, and oxygen of the EMI triflate were left over in the resulting film, and they did not affect its crystalline phase.


As new trends emerge in robotics, autonomous systems, quantum computing and other technological areas transforming our essential habits and the ways in which we learn, think and work, we need to consider changing our educational systems. As the competition among the global powers and the military industrial complexes of regional powers increases, new trends in engineering and technological education must be considered for effectively supporting national goals. Industry is ever more demanding of graduates' innovative problem solving skills, applied math skills, communication skills, employability and value. Innovations are not easy to achieve in engineering and technological projects. This study critically examines alternative trends in higher education and presents new proposals, practices and tools in order to meet industry demand in socio-economic and environmental contexts, ethical standards and stewardship of the future. KeywordsCreative Achievement, Innovative Environment, Learning, Teaching.


Differentiating spermatocytes have been examined in a diploid culture of Pteridium gametophytes. Spermatogenesis is similar to that in haploid antheridia. Although the nucleus of the diploid gamete is larger, no differences have been detected in the dimensions of components such as microtubules and flagella. Microtubules scattered in the cytoplasm of the young spermatocytes follow an irregular course and show no particular relationship to the blepharoplast, even during the differentiation of its periphery into basal bodies with characteristic triplets. Subsequently short lengths of notably straighter microtubules appear in quantity adjacent to the osmiophilic material lying along the microtubular ribbon of the developing gamete. These microtubules are particularly frequent around the distal ends of flagella beginning to develop from basal bodies, and often appear to converge upon them. The view is put forward that the osmiophilic material adjacent to the microtubular ribbon, ontogenetically continuous with that originally at the centre of the differentiating blepharoplast, is responsible for the organization of the flagella. This material remains close to the ribbon throughout the differentiation of the gamete. If contact between the osmiophilic material and the flagella remains essential throughout their development, it would follow that they complete most or all of their growth parallel to the microtubular ribbon, possibly becoming emergent structures only as differentiation of the gamete is completed.


A magnetotactic multicellular prokaryote (MMP) is an assembly of bacterial cells organized side by side in a hollow sphere in which each cell faces both the external environment and an internal acellular compartment in the center of the multicellular organism. MMPs swim as a unit propelled by the coordinated beating of the many flagella on the external surface of each cell. At every stage of its life cycle, MMPs are multicellular. Initially, a spherical MMP grows by enlarging the size of each of its cells, which then divide. Later, the cells separate into two identical spheres. Swimming individual cells of MMPs have never been observed. Here we have used fluorescent dyes and electron microscopy to study the viability of individual MMP cells. When separated from the MMP, the cells cease to move and they no longer respond to magnetic fields. Viability tests indicated that, although several cells could separate from a MMP before completely losing their motility and viability, all of the separated cells were dead. Our data show that the high level of cellular organization in MMPs is essential for their motility, magnetotactic behavior, and viability.


The non-reducing disaccharide trehalose has been long considered only as a reserve carbohydrate. However, recent studies in yeast suggested that this osmolyte can protect cells and cellular proteins from oxidative damage elicited by exogenously added reactive oxygen species (ROS). Trehalose has been also shown to affect stability, folding, and aggregation of bacterial and firefly proteins heterologously expressed in heat-shocked yeast cells. Our recent investigation of how a lifespan-extending caloric restriction (CR) diet alters the metabolic history of chronologically aging yeast suggested that their longevity is programmed by the level of metabolic capacity – including trehalose biosynthesis and degradation – that yeast cells developed prior to entry into quiescence. To investigate whether trehalose homeostasis in chronologically aging yeast may play a role in longevity extension by CR, in this study we examined how single-gene-deletion mutations affecting trehalose biosynthesis and degradation impact (1) the age-related dynamics of changes in trehalose concentration; (2) yeast chronological lifespan under CR conditions; (3) the chronology of oxidative protein damage, intracellular ROS level and protein aggregation; and (4) the timeline of thermal inactivation of a protein in heat-shocked yeast cells and its subsequent reactivation in yeast returned to low temperature. Our data imply that CR extends yeast chronological lifespan in part by altering a pattern of age-related changes in trehalose concentration. We outline a model for molecular mechanisms underlying the essential role of trehalose in defining yeast longevity by modulating protein folding, misfolding, unfolding, refolding, oxidative damage, solubility, and aggregation throughout lifespan.


The absence of online radiation monitoring systems has been observed in the case of Fukushima nuclear accident. As the tsunami destroyed 23 of the 24 status monitoring points, almost no relevant radiation dose measurements data were available. A rapid deployment of a mobile radiological unit that can quickly determine the activity and direction of the radioactive cloud spread on the ground or in the air can prevent unnecessary deaths and related financial losses. Although the design of the current generation of NPPs incorporates features that minimize the risk of large radioactive releases outside the reactor, it is still important to focus on the development of systems that can mitigate the consequences of such events. In situations when the level of radiation does not permit the personal to perform the required measurements, online unmanned radiation monitoring systems may come to the play. For such a purpose the RMS-00x radiation monitoring system could be used, which is a modular system covering the functionality of dose rate measurement, air sampling and radiation map creation without requiring the human personnel to be present at the measurement site. The main purpose of the RMS-00x radiation monitoring system is the rapid deployment of unmanned monitoring devices to reduce the radiation burden on workers and on public. The system can be applied in the vicinity of a nuclear power plant (NPP) or at any location, where source of ionizing radiation could be present. Before this system is used in real conditions, its components must be thoroughly calibrated, based on certified measurement equipment and state-of-art simulation tools. This paper deals with the description of the RMS-00X sensor modules and demonstrates their functionality in combination with UAV. In addition, demonstration of the use of the developed technology was carried out as part of the regular emergency planning and preparedness of EBO NPP on 26th October 2017.


account should be taken of research in a relevant basic science. We recognize that a flexible system must operate. Some investigators will undoub-tedly follow unorthodox paths and we do not wish to discourage this. Their accreditation could be considered on merit suggested in the heavy type on p. 8 of the First Report of the J.C.H.M.T. This reads as follows: "It is not intended, nor is it possible, to lay down rigid prescriptions for the training of specialists. Any suggested framework in the following schedules should be intexpreted flexibly, allowing for variations in time, for the special needs of individuals, and for local circumstances."-I am, etc.,


Gastric cancer tissue-derived MSC-like cells (GC-MSC) share similar characteristics to bone marrow MSC (BM-MSC); however, the phenotypical and functional differences and the molecular mechanism of transition between the two cell types remain unclear. Compared to BM-MSC, GC-MSC exhibited the classic phenotype of reactive stroma cells, a stronger gastric cancer promoting capacity and lower expression of miR-155-5p. Inhibition of miR-155-5p by transfecting miRNA inhibitor induced a phenotypical and functional transition of BM-MSC into GC-MSC-like cells, and the reverse experiment deprived GC-MSC of tumor-promoting phenotype and function. NF-kappa B p65 (NF-κB p65) and inhibitor of NF-kappa B kinase subunit epsilon (IKBKE/IKKε) were identified as targets of miR-155-5p and important for miRNA inhibitor activating NF-κB p65 in the transition. Inactivation of NF-κB by pyrrolidine dithiocarbamic acid (PDTC) significantly blocked the effect of miR-155-5p inhibitor on BM-MSC. IKBKE, NF-κB p65 and phospho-NF-κB p65 proteins were highly enriched in MSC-like cells of gastric cancer tissues, and the latter two were correlated with the pathological progression of gastric cancer. In GC-MSC, the expression of miR-155-5p was downregulated and NFκB p65 protein was increased and activated. NF-κB inactivation by PDTC or knockdown of its downstream cytokines reversed the phenotype and function of GC-MSC. Taken together, our findings revealed that miR-155-5p downregulation induces BM-MSC to acquire a GC-MSC-like phenotype and function depending on NF-κB p65 activation, which suggests a novel mechanism underlying the cancer associated MSC remodeling in the tumor microenvironment and offers an effective target and approach for gastric


Objective: Optimal blood pressure (BP) control in acute intracerebral hemorrhage (ICH) remains controversial. We determined the effects of SBP lowering to 160 mmHg or more using intravenous nicardipine for acute ICH patients. Methods: This is a prospective, multicenter, observational study conducted in Japan, with the lack of control groups. Patients with supratentorial ICH within 3 h of onset, admission SBP 180 mmHg or more, Glasgow Coma Scale (GCS) 5 or more, and hematoma volume less than 60 ml were initially treated with intravenous nicardipine to maintain SBP between 120 and 160 mmHg with 24-h frequent BP monitoring. The primary endpoints were neurological deterioration within 72 h [GCS decrement ≥2 points or National Institutes of Health Stroke Scale (NIHSS) increment ≥4 points; estimated 90% confidence interval (CI) on the basis of previous studies: 15.2–25.9%] and serious adverse effects (SAE) to stopping intravenous nicardipine within 24 h (1.8–8.9%). The secondary endpoints included hematoma expansion more than 33% at 24 h (17.1–28.3%), modified Rankin Scale (mRS) 4 or more (54.5–67.9%) and death at 3 months (6.0–13.5%). Results: We enrolled 211 Japanese patients (81 women, 65.6 ± 12.0 years old). At baseline, BP was 201.8 ± 15.7/107.9 ± 15.0 mmHg. Median hematoma volume was 10.2 ml (interquartile range 5.6–19.2), and NIHSS score was 13 (8–17). Neurological deterioration was identified in 17 patients (8.1%), SAE in two (0.9%), hematoma expansion in 36 (17.1%), mRS 4 or more in 87 (41.2%), and death in four (1.9%). All the results were equal to or below the estimated lower 90% CI. Conclusion: SBP lowering to 160 mmHg or less using nicardipine appears to be well tolerated and feasible for acute ICH.


The widened scope of medical research has resulted in the establishment of multiple international, European and national rules and norms. Firm regulation of medical research is especially important when vulnerable people like incapacitated elderly are involved. The protection of incapacitated elderly is at stake when rules and norms are multi-interpretable, unclear and conflicting.


Additive manufacturing (AM) processes are playing a significant role in several industrial sectors such as construction and machine building industries, involving a wide variety of metallic materials. Among these, the AM of aluminium alloys has developed significantly over the last decade, mainly through Powder Bed Fusion (PBF) and Directed Energy Deposition (DED) processes. Despite the many advantages of AM technology, some large or complex products cannot be produced entirely without the use of conventional manufacturing and joining processes, generally for financial or operational reasons. In this way, the ability to join conventionally and additively manufactured components or parts represents a crucial step towards their future use and the consolidation of conventional and additive manufacturing technologies. Despite the growing interest in AM technologies, there is still a significant lack of information on the joining of conventionally and additively manufactured components. The present work proposes a first review of the literature evaluating the weldability of AM aluminium alloys. The focus is on the use of fusion and solid-state welding processes and analysing the achieved microstructural evolution and mechanical properties. A clear relationship is observed between the AM technology used to produce the part, and the physical principles of the joining process. In addition, the gaps in the literature are highlighted to enable focused future work.


OBJECTIVE To report an additional case of nephrogenic adenoma of the bladder. METHODS/RESULTS A case of nephrogenic adenoma of the urinary bladder in a 28-year-old female is described. Patient clinical history and diagnostic imaging findings are presented. CONCLUSIONS Nephrogenic adenoma of the bladder is a rare benign tumor with specific histological features that has been associated with previous surgery, trauma, infections and lithiasis. Although it is currently not considered to be a premalignant lesion, its rate of recurrence is high (37%-49%). The treatment of choice is by transurethral resection and yearly cytological, ultrasound and cystoscopic follow-up evaluation to detect recurrence.


INTRODUCTION Executive functions are defined as a set of skills that are involved in various activities which are novel to the individual and which require a creative solution. It is not easy or straight forward to conceptualise or identify the factors that make up a population of young children. AIM To analyse the components of executive function due to the clinical implications in different neurodevelopmental disorders in a population-based sample of young children. DEVELOPMENT From the body of literature, 35 published papers that used different factor analysis approaches for factor extraction were reviewed. The probability of a study with three factors being undertaken in the stage between 0 to 12 years is 1.44 times higher than studies being undertaken with some focus on another structure. The probability of a study being undertaken that focuses on the Flexibility dimension in the stage between 0 to 12 years is 1.45 times higher than a study being undertaken that focuses on any other dimension. The association between the different structures and dimensions that are analysed with respect to age using the Kendall tau-b indicates a statistically significant association between: studies with three factors and age (tau = 0.29; p = 0.044) and flexibility with age (tau = 0.37; p = 0.012). CONCLUSIONS The diversity of the obtained results can be attributed to, and is in line with, the plurality of theoretical conceptualisations, tests used and statistical analyzes carried out. It can be concluded that working memory, inhibition and flexibility are the executive processes most commonly found in the factorial models of executive control in young children and adolescents.


Urine cytology is still the most commonly used noninvasive test to diagnose bladder cancer. However, cytology's ability to detect low-grade bladder tumors is limited, and its results require interpretation by a pathologist, are not available immediately, and are subjective. Several noninvasive urine-based tests are now available for detection and follow-up of bladder cancer. At least two of these new tests (BTA stat and AuraTek FDP) can easily be performed in the office, and the results are available in about 10 minutes. When choosing a test, physicians should keep in mind that none of the currently available tests is 100% accurate. However, the new urine-based tests are more sensitive than urine cytology and hence more reliable in detecting low-grade bladder cancer. They are useful tools in patients with urinary symptoms or microscopic hematuria or as office-based adjuncts to diagnostic procedures. Some of the markers that are being developed could significantly improve and simplify workup, diagnosis, and follow-up, and they may allow for detection of disease at an earlier stage, thus improving the chances of curative therapy.


Obesity is a state of energy imbalance characterized by inflammation, dysregulated autonomic nervous system function, altered brown adipose tissue activity, basal metabolic rate alterations, and changes at the psychological level. Adipose tissue is not only a metabolic organ but also an endocrine organ. Adipokines released by the fat cells play an important role in regulating the local metabolic processes and maintaining the homeostasis between food intake and energy balance. The most common pro-inflammatory cytokines involved are TNF- α , IL-6, IL-1, leptin, adiponectin, resistin, visfatin, irisin, which are involved in the pathophysiology of obesity. Yoga as lifestyle-based intervention influences the adipokine levels, autonomic nervous system functioning, brown adipose tissue activity, basal metabolic rate, and stress levels in the body. With this, yoga can help bring back the energy balance and weight management in obese individuals.


ABSTRACT Candida albicans is an opportunistic fungal pathogen that resides in the human body as a commensal and can turn pathogenic when the host is immunocompromised. Adaptation of C. albicans to host niche-specific conditions is important for the establishment of pathogenicity, where the ability of C. albicans to utilize multiple carbon sources provides additional flexibility. One alternative sugar is N-acetylglucosamine (GlcNAc), which is now established as an important carbon source for many pathogens and can also act as a signaling molecule. Although GlcNAc catabolism has been well studied in many pathogens, the importance of several enzymes involved in the formation of metabolic intermediates still remains elusive. In this context, microarray analysis was carried out to investigate the transcriptional responses induced by GlcNAc under different conditions. A novel gene that was highly upregulated immediately following the GlcNAc catabolic genes was identified and was named GIG2 (GlcNAc-induced gene 2). This gene is regulated in a manner distinct from that of the GlcNAc-induced genes described previously in that GlcNAc metabolism is essential for its induction. Furthermore, this gene is involved in the metabolism of N-acetylneuraminate (sialic acid), a molecule equally important for initial host-pathogen recognition. Mutant cells showed a considerable decrease in fungal burden in mouse kidneys and were hypersensitive to oxidative stress conditions. Since GIG2 is also present in many other fungal and enterobacterial genomes, targeted inhibition of its activity would offer insight into the treatment of candidiasis and other fungal or enterobacterial infections.


Cholera toxin (CT)-producing Vibrio cholerae O1 and O139 cause acute diarrheal disease and are proven etiological agents of cholera epidemics and pandemics. On the other hand, V. cholerae non-O1/non-O139 are designated as non-agglutinable (NAG) vibrios and are not associated with epidemic cholera. The majority of NAG vibrios do not possess the gene for CT (ctx). In this study, we isolated three NAG strains (strains No. 1, 2, and 3) with ctx from pond water in Kolkata, India, and examined their pathogenic properties. The enterotoxicity of the three NAG strains in vivo was examined using the rabbit ileal intestinal loop test. Strain No. 1 induced the accumulation of fluid in the loop, and the volume of fluid was reduced by simultaneous administration of anti-CT antiserum into the loop. The volume of fluid in the loop caused by strains No. 2 and 3 was small and undetectable, respectively. Then, we cultured these three strains in liquid medium in vitro at two temperatures, 25°C and 37°C, and examined the amount of CT accumulated in the culture supernatant. CT was accumulated in the culture supernatant of strain No.1 when the strain was cultured at 25°C, but that was low when cultured at 37°C. The CT amount accumulated in the culture supernatants of the No. 2 and No. 3 strains was extremely low at both temperature under culture conditions examined. In order to clarify the virulence properties of these strains, genome sequences of the three strains were analyzed. The analysis showed that there was no noticeable difference among three isolates both in the genes for virulence factors and regulatory genes of ctx. However, vibrio seventh pandemic island-II (VSP-II) was retained in strain No. 1, but not in strains No. 2 or 3. Furthermore, it was revealed that the genotype of the B subunit of CT in strain No. 1 was type 1 and those of strains No. 2 and 3 were type 8. Histopathological examination showed the disappearance of villi in intestinal tissue exposed to strain No. 1. In addition, fluid accumulated in the loop due to the action of strain No. 1 had hemolytic activity. This indicated that strain No. 1 may possesses virulence factors to induce severe syndrome when the strain infects humans, and that some strains of NAG vibrio inhabiting pond water in Kolkata have already acquired virulence, which can cause illness in humans. There is a possibility that these virulent NAG vibrios, which have acquired genes encoding factors involved in virulence of V. cholerae O1, may emerge in various parts of the world and cause epidemics in the future.


The construction of a hybrid metal-organo-photoredox catalyst based on the conjugation of an imidazolidinone organocatalyst and Ir(ppy)2(bipy) (ppy = 2-phenylpyridine, bipy = bipyridine) is described. The introduction of the desired organocatalyst into the bipyridine moiety is quite modular, allowing the preparation of different hybrid photocatalysts, and is realized though a simple click reaction. The hybrid photocatalysts obtained were employed in the benchmark photoredox alkylation of aldehydes. Remarkably, the conjugation of a first-generation MacMillan catalyst produces an active and stereoselective hybrid photoredox catalyst.


The way we speak to our friends, colleagues, or partners is different in both the explicit context, what we say, and the implicit, how we say it. Understanding these differences is important because it provides additional information that can be used in natural language processing tasks. For example, knowing the relationship between interlocutors can help to narrow the range of topics and improve automatic speech recognition system results. Unfortunately, the lack of corpora makes exploration of this problem intractable. In this work, we release a set of interpersonal relationship labels between conversation participants for the CALLHOME English corpus. We make the labels freely available for download on our website and hope that this effort can further boost research in this area.


Resonant tunneling diodes have been fabricated using graded Si1−xGex (x=0.3→0.0) spacer wells and strained Si0.4Ge0.6 barriers on a relaxed Si0.7Ge0.3 n-type substrate which demonstrates negative differential resistance at up to 100 K. This design is aimed at reducing the voltage at which the peak current density is achieved. Peak current densities of 0.08 A/cm2 with peak-to-valley current ratios of 1.67 have been achieved for a low peak voltage of 40 mV at 77 K. This represents an improvement of over an order of magnitude compared to previous work.


The SSR (Simple Sequence Repeat) markers allow the discrimination of the cultivars and determination its specific DNA fingerprints. The aim of this research was to evaluate fifteen apricot (Prunus armeniaca L.) and fifty-one peach (Prunus persica L.) genotypes cultivated in Hungary to obtain their DNA fingerprints in 6 SSR (Simple Sequence Repeats) loci by allele numbers and sizes.
DNAs were extracted from leaves. PCR was carried out with CY-5 fluorescent labeled Prunus microsatellite markers and the products were separated on polyacrylamide gel with ALF (Automated Laser Flourometer)-Express II.
According to our results, in the case of peach genotypes, all 6 SSRs were able to amplify alleles. UDP 96 005 was the most informative marker and UCDCH 17 was the least due to its monomorphic pattern. Regarding the apricot samples BPPCT 041 did not amplify any allele. In the case of P. armeniaca UDP 96 005 had the highest heterozygosity index as well and the highest number of alleles. The least informative marker was the UCDCH 17. Since the 6 SSR were not enough to discriminate the apricot and peach genotypes, it is suggested to use more SSR primers.


Abstract. The purpose of this paper is to present new concepts for designing fully-compliant statically-balanced mechanisms without prestressing assembly. A statically-balanced compliant mechanism can ideally provide zero stiffness and energy free motion like a traditional rigid-body mechanism. These characteristics are important in design of compliant mechanisms where low actuation force, accurate force transmission or high-fidelity force feedback are primary concerns. Typically, static balancing of compliant mechanisms has been achieved by means of prestressing assembly. However, this can often lead to creep and stress relaxation arising in the flexible members. In this paper two concepts are presented which eliminate the need for prestressing assembly of compliant mechanisms: (1) a weight compensator which employs a constant-force compliant mechanism, (2) a near-zero-stiffness mechanism which combines two multistable mechanisms. In addition to the advantages provided by statically-balanced compliant mechanisms, two other notable features of these statically-balanced mechanisms are their ability to be monolithically fabricated and to return to their as-fabricated position without any disassembly when not in use.


The use of statistical classification techniques in classifying loan applications into good loans and bad loans gained importance with the exponential increase in the demand for credit. It is paramount to use a classification technique with a high predictive capacity to ensure the profitability of the business venture. In this study we aim to compare the predictive capability of three classification techniques: 1) Logistic regression, 2) CART, and 3) random forests. We apply these techniques on German credit data using an 80:20 learning:test split, and compare the performance of the models fitted using the three classification techniques. The probability of default pi for each observation in the test set is calculated using the models fitted on the training dataset. Each test set sample xi is then classified into a good loan or a bad loan, based on a threshold , such that xi bad loan class if pi > . We chose several thresholds in order to compare the performance of each of the three classification techniques on five model suitability statistics: Accuracy, precision, negative predictive value, recall, and specificity. None of the classifiers turned out to be best at all the five cross-validation statistics. However, logistic regression has the best performance at low probability of default thresholds. On the other hand, for higher thresholds, CART performs best in accuracy, precision, and specificity measures, while random forest performs best for negative predictive value and recall measures.


What came first, heresy or orthodoxy? Walter Bauer's book Orthodoxy and Heresy in Earliest Christianity, published in 1934, seems to have unleashed the demons of scholars of early Christianity. Partisanship has, however, starkly coloured the still ongoing discussion. Denominational and scholarly belonging, as the work of Bart Ehrman and of his opponents like Andreas Köstenberger and Darrell Bock has widely shown, has so taken the upwind and signed this discussion that a full investigation into the meaning and the history of the concepts at hand has been 'forgotten'. The customary and common understanding of the concepts of orthodoxy and, in particular, heresy, are, however, completely inadequate for this discussion. Ignoring the enormous cultural heritage of the concept of heresy (αἵρεσις) – which we intend to unveil in this article – has made for the word-bullets in this historical battle to turn out to be little more than blanks in a sham-war. Time has come to end this battle, which is the scope of this article.


The general increase of the cultivation and trade of Bt transgenic plants resistant to Lepidoptera pests raises concerns regarding the conservation of animal and plant biodiversity. Demand for biofuels has increased the cultivation and importation of oilseed rape (Brassica napus L.), including transgenic lines. In environmental risk assessments (ERAs) for its potential future cultivation as well as for food and feed uses, the impact on wild Brassicaeae relatives and on non‐target Lepidoptera should be assessed. Here we consider the potential exposure of butterflies as results of possible cultivation or naturalization of spilled seed in Sicily (Italy). Diurnal Lepidoptera, which are pollinators, can be exposed directly to the insecticidal proteins as larvae (mainly of Pieridae) through the host and through the pollen that can deposit on other host plants. Adults can be exposed via pollen and nectar. The flight periods of butterflies were recorded, and they were found to overlap for about 90% of the flowering period of B. napus for the majority of the species. In addition, B. napus has a high potential to hybridise with endemic taxa belonging to the B. oleracea group. This could lead to an exposure of non‐target Lepidoptera if introgression of the Bt gene into a wild population happens. A rank of the risk for butterflies and wild relatives of oilseed rape is given. We conclude that, in environmental risk assessments, attention should be paid to plant–insect interaction especially in a biodiversity hotspot such as Sicily.


A 6.5-year-old, spayed female Siberian husky presented with signs of cardiac tamponade and weakness. Pleural, pericardial, and abdominal effusion were identified with radiographs and ultrasound. Pericardiocentesis relieved signs of tamponade, and the dog was clinically improved. Pericardial effusion recurred, and pericardiectomy was performed. Histopathological examination of excised tissues failed to reveal evidence of infectious or neoplastic disease. After pericardiectomy, clinically apparent thoracic effusion persisted. The dog was euthanized, and postmortem histopathological examination revealed emboli of metastatic carcinoma cells in the epicardium. The location of intrathoracic disease in this dog made antemortem diagnosis difficult, if not impossible.


Ultra-wide band (UWB) pulse Doppler radars provide range-time-frequency information which enables the target localization and vital sign monitoring of a subject. One challenge for UWB radar systems is accurately detecting the heartbeat of a subject, i.e. recording the small displacements of thorax caused by heartbeat due to its poor S/N ratio. Given that the phase-based algorithms are more robust against noise in heartbeat detection so it could lead to better demodulation of micro displacements. In this paper, two algorithms based on complex signal demodulation and arctangent method are extended here to UWB radars to detect the phase variation of reflected pulses caused by cardiac motions, results will be presented.


Regardless of the network loss process, a central problem in rate-distortion optimized video streaming is the modeling of the resulting distortion associated with the loss of different subsets of data units. When the dependency among data units is modeled by a directed acyclic graph, previous work has modeled the distortion contribution of a data unit based on only two events: whether or not the data unit and all its dependent data units are available. The restriction to only two events allows the use of a single scalar to represent the distortion contribution of a data unit, and at the same time limits its accuracy. We consider the general case when a data unit can assume different distortion contributions when different subsets of its dependent data units are available. Rate-distortion optimized streaming using the general model is performed to demonstrate the possible gains.


This study was conducted to evaluate and compare the anti-allergenicity effect of rice and wheat hydrolysates in food allergic subjects. Totally fifty food allergic subjects (confirmed by allergic score) were recruited and divided into 2 groups as rice hydrolysate (RH; n = 40) and wheat hydrolysate (WH; n = 10) and asked to take either rice or wheat hydrolysate formula for 4 weeks. After 4 weeks of intervention with RH, the levels of the allergic score, allergic inflammatory markers like eosinophil count (EC) and eosinophil cation protein (ECP), as well as in total IgE, total nasal symptom score (TNSS) were significantly reduced as compared to the baseline. However, WH supplemented (4 weeks) group showed a mild increase in total IgE, EC (but no change in inflammatory markers, ECP, TNSS) along with decreased SCORAD (SCORing Atopic Dermatitis) index as compared to the baseline. Overall, the subjects that consumed the RH formula for 4 weeks showed a marked decrease in the allergic parameters except for the SCORAD index and thus endorsing its potent anti-allergenicity property better than WH (which indeed aggravated EC, IgE levels). Therefore, RH might be recommended with other standard anti-allergic drugs to delay or suppress allergic symptoms and its related allergic responses.


The Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA), P.L. 111-353, is the most significant reform of the U.S. food safety laws in over 70 years. After less than two years in Congressional development, it was signed into law by President Obama on January 4, 2011. The law shifts the focus from responding to contamination to preventing it. The "Final Rule" was published on November 27, 2015, becoming effective on January 26, 2016. The lengthy period of time in rule development is, in part, explained by the complexity of our food supply system, and the implications for food safety from farm-to-table. Adding to the challenge is a decentralized division of labor for ensuring a safe food supply among governmental agencies. The modern food supply system is a complex and diverse supply chain, including significant imports, science-based knowledge, and an engaged consumer. While potential benefits have been at least partially documented, the benefits of safer food are not without cost. Some of the costs will initially be borne by the agricultural sector. This collection of articles in Choices focuses on likely impacts on the agricultural sector due to implementation of the FSMA rules.


Automatic test-case generation from Prolog specifications encounters problems due to recursion, evaluable predicates, and term ordering. A metainterpreter that controls recursion by using a deterministic automaton to monitor its progress through the specification is presented. The automaton is also used to define which paths through the specification are to be used as test cases, so the metainterpreter can compare where it is, with where it needs to go. The efficacy of the approach in dealing with evaluable predicates and term ordering problems is also examined.<<ETX>>


Background: Breast cancer is the second leading cause of death for woman. Within breast cancer subtypes, those classified as Triple Negative Breast Cancer (TNBC) exhibit dismal survival rates due to their propensity to develop distant metastases. Tumors contain heterogeneous cell populations and it has numerically rare cancer stem cells with indefinite proliferative potential that is responsible for tumor invasiveness, heterogeneity, and therapy resistance. Heat shock protein 90 (Hsp90) is a molecular chaperone that aids in the folding and maturation of various proteins involved in breast cancer progression and resistance to therapy. The aim of this study was to elucidate whether the two natural inhibitors of Hsp90, celastrol and triptolide inhibit triple negative breast cancer growth. Both these compounds are terpenoids and were obtained from the Chinese herb "Thunder God of Vine" ( Tripterygium wilfordii ). Methods: BT20, BT549, MDA-MB-231 and MDA-MB-157 cells (all TNBC cells) were obtained and grown in DMEM containing 10% FBS as per ATCC recommendations. Cell proliferation was assessed by hexoseaminidase activity, and IC50 values calculated using GraphPad Prism5. For clonogenicity, 500 cells were treated with IC50 concentration of each compound for 24h, and then allowed to grow and form colonies. Mammosphere assay was performed using 5000 cells/ml in ultra low attachment plates. Images were captured after 5 days. For in vivo, BT20 cells were injected into flanks of athymic nude mice and treated with celastrol and triptolide at 3 mg/Kg bw and 0.25 mg/Kg bw, respectively. Results: Celastrol and triptolide treatment suppressed the proliferation and colony formation ability of all four TNBC cell lines BT20, BT549, MDA-MB-231 and MDA-MB-157. Interestingly, the mammosphere assay (an assay used to evaluate the self-renewal capacity of the cancer stem cells) revealed that celastrol or triptolide significantly reduces the size and number of spheroids. Furthermore, expression of breast cancer stem cell markers ALDH1 and CD133 were significantly reduced in BT20 cells upon the treatment. Recently, Notch signaling has been shown to be critical for self-renewal of cancer stem cells. Activation of the Notch receptor, a membrane spanning receptor involves the interaction with a ligand resulting in a series of proteolytic cleavage events culminating in the release of the Notch intracellular domain (NICD). This NICD translocates to the nucleus, and together with its interacting partner CSL/RBPJ binds to cognate element and activates the expression of downstream target genes such as Hes-1. In cells treated with either celastrol or triptolide, there was a significant reduction in NICD, and its downstream target Hes-1. Furthermore, there was a reduction in ALDH+ cells. However, in cells where we ectopically overexpressed NICD, neither compound was as potent as control vector transfected cells in reducing proliferation, colony formation or mammosphere formation, suggesting the direct role for inhibiting Notch activation as a mechanism of action for the two compounds. We confirmed these finding in vivo using BT20 tumor xenografts grown in athymic nude mice. There was a reduction in the size of tumors in mice treated with celastrol or triptolide. In addition, western blot and immunohistochemistry analyses demonstrated a reduction in the number of ALDH+ and CD133+ cells. Conclusion: Taken together these data suggest that both celastrol and triptolide affect cancer stem cells in TNBC, in part through inhibition of Notch signaling. This abstract is also presented as Poster B31. Citation Format: Prabhu Ramamoorthy, Sydney Byrne, Satish Ramalingam, Parthasarathy Rangarajan, Dharmalingam Subramaniam, Scott Weir, Shrikant Anant, Roy Jensen. Effects of Hsp90 inhibitors on triple-negative breast cancer: Notch as a therapeutic target for stem cells. [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the Twelfth Annual AACR International Conference on Frontiers in Cancer Prevention Research; 2013 Oct 27-30; National Harbor, MD. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Can Prev Res 2013;6(11 Suppl): Abstract nr PR05.


Utility indifference net present value (UNPV) method is a risk assessment method proposed by Miyahara [8], which is based on utility indifference pricing theory and net present value theory. Setting utility function as that of an exponential type, we formulate a special type of UNPV which is called a risk sensitive value measure (RSVM). With RSVM, the risk to investors caused by uncertainty about future cash inflow as well as scale effect which influence the valuation of investments has been investigated. In this paper, we adopt RSVM method and mean-variance (MV) approach into Hong Kong REITs to observe the advantage and effectiveness of RSVM method. In particular, we focus on the performance of risk-sensitivity parameter and scale effect parameter in RSVM and MV. Then, as a new index of risk valuation, the inner rate of risk aversion (IRRA) is defined and it is shown that the index is useful for rating REITs and measuring scale effect of REITs. Finally, we treat the rating valuation of Hong Kong REITs investment by RVSM method under consideration of default risk. Then, the IRRA also effectively works on the decision-making of investment, choosing and rating of the commodities to invest in consideration of default risk.


Background Diagnostic decision support systems (DDSS) are computer programs aimed to improve health care by supporting clinicians in the process of diagnostic decision-making. Previous studies on DDSS demonstrated their ability to enhance clinicians' diagnostic skills, prevent diagnostic errors, and reduce hospitalization costs. Despite the potential benefits, their utilization in clinical practice is limited, emphasizing the need for new and improved products. Objective The aim of this study was to conduct a preliminary analysis of the diagnostic performance of "Kahun," a new artificial intelligence-driven diagnostic tool. Methods Diagnostic performance was evaluated based on the program's ability to "solve" clinical cases from the United States Medical Licensing Examination Step 2 Clinical Skills board exam simulations that were drawn from the case banks of 3 leading preparation companies. Each case included 3 expected differential diagnoses. The cases were entered into the Kahun platform by 3 blinded junior physicians. For each case, the presence and the rank of the correct diagnoses within the generated differential diagnoses list were recorded. Each diagnostic performance was measured in two ways: first, as diagnostic sensitivity, and second, as case-specific success rates that represent diagnostic comprehensiveness. Results The study included 91 clinical cases with 78 different chief complaints and a mean number of 38 (SD 8) findings for each case. The total number of expected diagnoses was 272, of which 174 were different (some appeared more than once). Of the 272 expected diagnoses, 231 (87.5%; 95% CI 76-99) diagnoses were suggested within the top 20 listed diagnoses, 209 (76.8%; 95% CI 66-87) were suggested within the top 10, and 168 (61.8%; 95% CI 52-71) within the top 5. The median rank of correct diagnoses was 3 (IQR 2-6). Of the 91 expected diagnoses, 62 (68%; 95% CI 59-78) of the cases were suggested within the top 20 listed diagnoses, 44 (48%; 95% CI 38-59) within the top 10, and 24 (26%; 95% CI 17-35) within the top 5. Of the 91 expected diagnoses, in 87 (96%; 95% CI 91-100), at least 2 out of 3 of the cases' expected diagnoses were suggested within the top 20 listed diagnoses; 78 (86%; 95% CI 79-93) were suggested within the top 10; and 61 (67%; 95% CI 57-77) within the top 5. Conclusions The diagnostic support tool evaluated in this study demonstrated good diagnostic accuracy and comprehensiveness; it also had the ability to manage a wide range of clinical findings.


Cerebral venous thrombosis is a rare but a serious complication of spinal anesthesia. It usually occurs in the presence of predisposing factors such as pregnancy, puerperium, use of oral contraceptive drugs, malignancies, thrombocytopenia and the most frequent symptom is headache. Twenty-two years of age, pregnant woman had a complaint of headache after spinal anesthesia for caesarean section and diagnosed as post-dural puncture headache, the treatment was begun. After detecting responsiveness to treatment, radiological imaging procedures were performed and subdural hematoma and transverse sinus thrombosis were detected. In this case report, it was concluded under current literatures that the subdural hematoma and transverse sinus thrombosis should be kept in mind during the diagnosis of post-dural puncture headache.


Stephanie Kirk brings an interdisciplinary approach to the study of convents in colonial Mexico by studying texts such as instruction manuals for nuns, admonitory letters written by male clerics, as well as poems, sermons, and official documents, including evidence from Inquisition archives. She argues that we are here speaking of two communities: "the Church's de jure community . . . [and] the nuns' de facto community" (p. 8). In other words: convents as the Church wanted them to be, and convents as they truly were. In pursuit of the former ideal, the male ecclesiastical hierarchy did its very best to control these communities and to coerce their members to live as meek, obedient brides of Christ. The nuns, on the other hand, were skilled resistance fighters and often succeeded in mobilizing their communities against unwelcome intrusions.


Group intelligence emerges from local interactions between independent individuals without explicit communications under small number of fundamental rules of artificial life. This paper presents generation of fundamental rules of A-Life, represented in the form of fuzzy rules, governing group intelligence of multiple autonomous mobile robots. Cooperative behaviors of "flocking" and "arrangement" of autonomous mobile robots are considered as a group intelligence. Number of the fuzzy rules and their parameters are automatically generated from clustering input-output data obtained from the reference group intelligence algorithm. Simulations demonstrate the fuzzy systems successfully realize group intelligence of a group of autonomous mobile robots.


We provide a generic achievability argument for incentives in gossip based p2p streaming by proving that after coupling a randomized optimistic unchoke mechanism to an incentive based gossip streaming algorithm we can (still) distribute a stream from one source to n peers in O(log n) time with high probability. We provide simulation results for a distributed incentive scheme for gossip based p2p streaming and confirm the ability to achieve a constant (per peer in time, not across peers) stream rate to peers that is needed for streaming applications. The scheme differentiates users' download rates based upon how much bandwidth they contribute back to the p2p system.