OBJECTIVES
To investigate the prevalence and risk factors of bacterial vaginosis (BV) in a pregnant population of Barcelona (Spain).

MATERIAL AND METHODS
301 pregnant women controlled in the Hospital Clinic i Provincial (HCP) of Barcelona were enrolled in the study. Complete epidemiological information, and vaginal samples were available in 293 women. BV was diagnosed by Gram stain of vaginal smear (Nugent's criteria).

RESULTS
BV was detected in 22 pregnant women (7.5%; 95% CI: 4.6-10.5%). There was no association between race, parity, education, marital status, smoking and drug use, and the presence of BV. Non-use of birth control method (72.3% vs 34.4%; p < 0.0001), presence of sexually transmitted diseases (STD) during pregnancy (22.7% vs 3.7%; p < 0.0001), HIV seropositivity (13.6% vs 2.9%; p = 0.041) and presence of symptoms of vaginitis (40.9% vs 13.3%; p = 0.009) were significantly associated with the presence of BV.

CONCLUSIONS
The prevalence of BV in a pregnant population of Barcelona (Spain) is 7.5%. Further work is needed to evaluate the usefulness of BV as a prescreening marker for STD and HIV infection. The Gram stain provides an inexpensive, fast and easy method to diagnose BV, and may allow us to screen, treat and prevent the morbidity and mortality associated with it.


To investigate the involvement of cyclic AMP phosphodiesterase in the antigonadotrophic actions of prostaglandin F2 alpha (PGF2 alpha), human granulosa cells were cultured in serum-supplemented medium for 72 h, treated for 30 min with cloprostenol or phorbol myristate acetate (PMA) and then exposed to human chorionic gonadotrophin (hCG) +/- isobutyl-methylxanthine (IBMX) for a further 4 h. In the absence of IBMX, cloprostenol and PMA inhibited hCG-stimulated progesterone production. However, in the presence of 0.5 mM IBMX, inhibition of phosphodiesterase prevented these antigonadotrophic effects. Phosphodiesterase activity was assessed by a novel direct assay performed on intact cells after 3 days of culture. PGF2 alpha, cloprostenol and 4 beta-PMA all enhanced cAMP degradation whilst an inactive phorbol ester (4 alpha-PMA) had no effect. Down-regulation of protein kinase C by 4 beta-PMA pre-treatment prevented the subsequent stimulation of phosphodiesterase activity by both cloprostenol and 4 beta-PMA. We conclude that the antigonadotrophic actions of PGF2 alpha in cultured human granulosa cells involve a stimulation of cAMP phosphodiesterase mediated via protein kinase C.


Rapid advances in Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning are creating products and services with the potential not only to change the environment in which actuaries operate, but also to provide new opportunities within actuarial science. These advances are based on a modern approach to designing, fitting and applying neural networks, generally referred to as "Deep Learning". This paper investigates how actuarial science may adapt and evolve in the coming years to incorporate these new techniques and methodologies. After providing some background on machine learning and deep learning, and providing a heuristic for where actuaries might benefit from applying these techniques, the paper surveys emerging applications of AI in actuarial science, with examples from mortality modelling, claims reserving, non-life pricing and telematics. For some of the examples, code has been provided on GitHub so that the interested reader can experiment with these techniques for themselves. The paper concludes with an outlook on the potential for actuaries to integrate deep learning into their activities.


This article explains the complex process of strategic demand management by developing a comprehensive theoretical framework that integrates research focused on diverse aspects of demand management such as product characteristics, environmental uncertainties, operational strategies, integration between supply and demand processes, and performance outcomes. Over 100 academic works were synthesized following a structured literature review process. A holistic definition of demand management is presented. Demand management concepts and relationships were investigated and organized in a comprehensive theoretical model. Competitive orientation and strategic consensus emerged as a fundamental construct to understand the demand management process. It was found that consensus among the environment, competitive orientation, and operational strategies supporting demand management would lead to superior performance. Six operational strategies— information sharing, integration, inventory, sourcing, manufacturing, and distribution—were analyzed with respect to the competitive orientations. This analysis can assist managers in choosing the right portfolio and objectives of the operational strategies to support their demand management goals. The comprehensive demand management framework, six operational strategies and objectives of each operational strategy, and links to performance provides a rich background for conducting empirical research in future.


We present observations of ≳10–100 keV nucleon−1 suprathermal (ST) H, He, O, and Fe ions associated with crossings of the heliospheric current sheet (HCS) at radial distances of <0.1 au from the Sun. Our key findings are as follows: (1) very few heavy ions are detected during the first full crossing, the heavy-ion intensities are reduced during the second partial crossing and peak just after the second crossing; (2) ion arrival times exhibit no velocity dispersion; (3) He pitch-angle distributions track the magnetic field polarity reversal and show up to ∼10:1 anti-sunward, field-aligned flows and beams closer to the HCS that become nearly isotropic farther from the HCS; (4) the He spectrum steepens either side of the HCS, and the He, O, and Fe spectra exhibit power laws of the form ∼E −4–E 6; and (5) maximum energies E X increase with the ion's charge-to-mass (Q/M) ratio as EX/EH∝(QX/MX)δ , where δ ∼ 0.65–0.76, assuming that the average Q states are similar to those measured in gradual and impulsive solar energetic particle events at 1 au. The absence of velocity dispersion in combination with strong field-aligned anisotropies closer to the HCS appears to rule out solar flares and near-Sun coronal-mass-ejection-driven shocks. These new observations present challenges not only for mechanisms that employ direct parallel electric fields and organize maximum energies according to E/Q but also for local diffusive and magnetic-reconnection-driven acceleration models. Reevaluation of our current understanding of the production and transport of energetic ions is necessary to understand this near-solar, current-sheet-associated population of ST ions.


Nitric oxide (NO) has been postulated to be required, together with reactive oxygen species (ROS), for the activation of the hypersensitive reaction, a defense response induced in the noncompatible plant-pathogen interaction. However, its involvement in activating programmed cell death (PCD) in plant cells has been questioned. In this paper, the involvement of the cellular antioxidant metabolism in the signal transduction triggered by these bioactive molecules has been investigated. NO and ROS levels were singularly or simultaneously increased in tobacco (Nicotiana tabacum cv Bright-Yellow 2) cells by the addition to the culture medium of NO and/or ROS generators. The individual increase in NO or ROS had different effects on the studied parameters than the simultaneous increase in the two reactive species. NO generation did not cause an increase in phenylalanine ammonia-lyase (PAL) activity or induction of cellular death. It only induced minor changes in ascorbate (ASC) and glutathione (GSH) metabolisms. An increase in ROS induced oxidative stress in the cells, causing an oxidation of the ASC and GSH redox pairs; however, it had no effect on PAL activity and did not induce cell death when it was generated at low concentrations. In contrast, the simultaneous increase of NO and ROS activated a process of death with the typical cytological and biochemical features of hypersensitive PCD and a remarkable rise in PAL activity. Under the simultaneous generation of NO and ROS, the cellular antioxidant capabilities were also suppressed. The involvement of ASC and GSH as part of the transduction pathway leading to PCD is discussed.


This study looks at power laws, specifically Zipf 's law and Pareto distributions, previously used to describe city size distribution, income distribution within firms, and word distribution within languages and documents among other things, and Gibrat's law describing growth rate. This study seeks to discover if Zipf 's law can also be used to model the distribution of GDP's worldwide using Gibrat's law as a justification. The simplest method to determine Zipf 's law's applicability, and the one used in this study, was to create a log log plot, plotting rank versus size of the GDPs. Using that plot, Zipf 's law was verified through two criteria. First the plot must appear linear and second it must have a slope of -1. For the purpose of this study, the data looked at was for all countries and then countries split into categories of emerging economies and advanced economies for the years 2005, 2006, 2007, and 2008. The results of this study showed that all countries and countries with emerging economies did not appear linear on the log log plot while advanced economies appeared linear with a slope roughly -.70, suggesting that GDP distribution of advanced economies instead follow a Pareto distribution. Advanced economies also showed a significantly smaller variation in growth rates over the four years as implied by Gibrat's law. This was used as a possible explanation for the distribution discovered.


With this anthology, the voices of fourteen major Argentinean women writers will be heard for the first time in English. Along with their short stories and novel segments, the collection includes an interview with each author and a bibliography of her work. Since its original publication in Spanish, the collection has been expanded and includes a new introduction that deals with Argentinean history of the past decades as well as current literary production there, with special emphasis on the position of women writers.


Date Presented 04/04/19
 Executive function (EF) deficits following traumatic brain injury (TBI) negatively affect independence in daily living. The use of performance-based assessments are recommended. This cross-sectional study compared the performance of the Internet-based bill-paying task in adults with TBI to healthy adults and correlated this task to WebNeuro computerized assessment and independence in daily living. The bill-paying task has construct and initial criterion validity to assess EF deficits after TBI.
 Primary Author and Speaker: Yael Nadler Tzadok
 Additional Authors and Speakers: Rotem Eliav
 Contributing Authors: Sigal Portnoy, Debbie Rand


We present the first realistic lattice QCD calculation of the γW-box diagrams relevant for beta decays. The nonperturbative low-momentum integral of the γW loop is calculated using a lattice QCD simulation, complemented by the perturbative QCD result at high momenta. Using the pion semileptonic decay as an example, we demonstrate the feasibility of the method. By using domain wall fermions at the physical pion mass with multiple lattice spacings and volumes, we obtain the axial γW-box correction to the semileptonic pion decay, □_{γW}^{VA}|_{π}=2.830(11)_{stat}(26)_{syst}×10^{-3}, with the total uncertainty controlled at the level of ∼1%. This study sheds light on the first-principles computation of the γW-box correction to the neutron decay, which plays a decisive role in the determination of |V_{ud}|.


Background: Developmental dysplasia of the hip (DDH) is the second-most common pediatric orthopedic condition in our country. The management of children presenting with DDH in the walking stage is primarily by surgical approach due to the changes in the femoral head, acetabulum, and other soft tissues surrounding the joint. This study evaluated the functional and radiological outcome of children with DDH in the walking age group who underwent open reduction with or without femur or pelvic osteotomy. Materials and Methods: Retro-prospective Cohort Study was conducted in tertiary care hospital. All children underwent open reduction through a standard anterior approach. The hip was reduced, and stability was assessed intraoperatively, and osteotomy was performed. The functional and radiological outcome was assessed at the end of follow-up; various variables which influence the outcome were looked. Chi-square test was used to measure the association between the types of surgery with the outcome, Tonnis grade with the outcome, and these are expressed as frequency and percentage. Results: Sixty-six percent of hips in our study had excellent functional outcomes, 27% had a good outcome. About 68% of hips in our study had excellent, and 2.5% of hips in our study had a poor radiological outcome. Conclusions: The assessment of outcomes suggested that appropriate surgery based on age and intraoperative assessment will give satisfactory functional outcome, irrespective of whether acetabular/femoral procedures are done. The re-surgeries rate in our study was low as all of them had single staged combined surgical intervention.


Purpose: The present study examined the absolute behavior and the relative contributions to poling power of 1) joint-specific powers and 2) total body power (Pbody, i.e. the rate of change in total body mechanical energy) at increasing intensities while ergometer double poling.Methods: Nine male elite skiers (body mass 81.7 ± 6.5 kg, height 1.86 ± 0.06 m) performed three 4-min submaximal trials at low (LOW), moderate (MOD), and high (HIGH) intensity, and one 3-min all-out peak test (MAX). All trials were performed standing on a force plate and the ergometer was equipped with a force cell in order measure all external forces acting on the body. Reflective markers were placed on anatomical landmarks. Kinetics and kinematics were synchronized and recorded. By applying inverse dynamics, joint-specific powers (elbow, shoulder, trunk, hip, knee and ankle) and Pbody was calculated for the poling and retrieval phase, and for the complete cycle.Results: As net cycle poling power increased (116 ±16 W. 166 ± 36 W, 214 ± 38 W, and 306 ± 38 W at LOW, MOD, HIGH, and MAX, respectively; all p < 0.05) the relative contribution of the lower extremities increased from 39 ± 14 % at LOW to 65 ± 11 % at MAX (p < 0.05). The relative contribution of the upper extremities was stable at ~28 ± 6 %. Pbody fluctuated over the cycle, being generated during the retrieval phase (~100% of lower extremities positive power) and partly transferred to poling power during the poling phase. More specifically, Pbody was the main contributor to poling power (66 ± 13 % at LOW and 54 ± 7 % at MAX). Overall, most power was produced by the body's core, i.e. the hip, trunk, and shoulder joints.Conclusion: The lower extremities generate an increasing amount of Pbody during the retrieval phase, which was thereafter partly transferred to poling power during the poling phase. Enhancing the lower extremities' work as a way of increasing Pbody during the retrieval phase seems crucial for optimal utilization of Pbody during poling phase.Key words: double poling, biomechanics, inverse dynamics, energy, cross-country skiing


This article will discuss how children and adults experience a certain outdoor environment as part of an educational practice, through the activities the adults and children have. It will further discuss how these activities realize cultural values through the educators' and children's activities. In Norway the use of outdoor environments has become increasingly central as part of the pedagogical/educational practice (in both schools and kindergartens). The outdoor kindergartens in Norway are organized in different ways, the common feature being that the educationist and the children are outdoors the most of the day, every day, in all sorts of weather. The outdoor kindergartens leave traces in natural environments surrounding rural and urban districts that signify educational practice that can seem as opposed to ordinary kindergartens. This article is based on fieldwork in a Norwegian outdoor kindergarten. Room and place are crucial to people who inhabit them. Gagen (2000, 213) says the following: Learning environments, then, are often places through which children become aware of, and begin reproducing, social identities that circulate through broader social space. Natural environments can be thought of as places free of defined structures that dictates how the place is used. But as soon as a place is populated certain structures will be established. My study of an outdoor kindergarten shows that children structured the place and the artefacts so that they became part of the children's understanding of the social life they were a part of. Through play children make connections between the forest space and 'the modern world', building bridges between different contexts, or one could say recontextualize the given space. At the same time as children were seen to cross boarders, they also seemed to hold on to other social contexts, gender being one of them. So nature can constrain given notions instead of freeing them, maybe because nature as such has a conservative influence, by not having any structures that provoke common thinking? The last sentences omitted


The conjugate gradient boundary iteration (CGBI) is a domain decomposition method for symmetric elliptic problems on domains with large aspect ratio. High efficiency is reached by the construction of preconditioners that are acting only on the subdomain interfaces. The theoretical derivation of the method and some numerical results revealing a convergence rate of 0.04-0.1 per iteration step are given in this article. For the solution of the local subdomain problems, both finite element (FE) and spectral Chebyshev methods are considered.


The polycrystalline V2O5 films as the anode in V2O5 /LiPON /LiCoO2 lithium microbattary were prepared by RF magnetron sputtering system. The V2O5 films' crystal structures, surface morphologies and composition were characterized and analyzed by X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS). The microbatteries were fabricated by micro electro-mechanical system (MEMS) technology. The battery active unit area is 500μm×500μm, and the thickness of V2O5, LiPON and LiCoO2 films was estimated to be 200, 610, and 220nm, respectively. The discharge volumetric capacity is between 9.36μAhcm-2μm-1 and 9.63μAhcm-2μm-1 after 40 cycles.


Amphidromous gobioid fishes have colonized streams on tropical and subtropical volcanic islands across the globe. Such streams are often characterized by steep gradients, high velocity currents, and even waterfalls as in-stream obstacles; however, the ability to climb waterfalls has evolved in many goby species, allowing juveniles returning from the ocean to penetrate upstream reaches. Past studies of Hawaiian gobioid fishes have identified two functionally differ - ent climbing techniques that were characterized by differing kinematics: a style described as 'powerbursting' among spe- cies with small juveniles (~1.5 cm body length), and a style described as 'inching-up' among species with large juveniles (~2.2 cm body length). These results suggested a potential size limit to the use of powerburst climbing, and indicated that functional diversity can exist even in extreme environments. In this study, we used standard- and high-speed video to assess kinematic and performance parameters of juvenile and adult Sicydium punctatum from the caribbean island of Dominica, and compared the results with data previously obtained for two species of climbing gobioid fishes from the Hawaiian Island chain, Sicyopterus stimpsoni and Lentipes concolor. Although nearly as large as the 'inching' climber S. stimpsoni, climb- ing kinematics of juvenile S. punctatum were similar to those of powerbursting juvenile L. concolor. nonetheless, adults of all three species converged on a climbing style similar to that of the inching-up climber S. stimpsoni, still suggesting a size limit for the powerburst climbing style of L. concolor and S. punctatum. Results of this study provide for a refined understanding of how functional diversity can be maintained in extreme environments across a broad geographic range and taxonomic diversity, and shed light on ontogenetic constraints in locomotor function.


Soft tissues from amputation sites of mice were examined at both light and electron microscope levels to determine whether features of growth buds (blastemas), which are necessary for amphibian limb regeneration, exist in nonregenerating mice. Several such features were found. A small area of the wound bed was covered by wound epithelium which, as in regenerating newt limbs, initially lacked an underlying basement membrane. Serially sectioned digits revealed blastemalike growth in the subdermal layer surrounding periosteal chondrogenic cells. Mesenchymelike cells were seen among the fibroblasts and leucocytes within the proliferating tissues. However, no evidence of dedifferentiation was seen in the dermis, which persisted as an apparent intact obstruction to growth bud formation. Existence of the essential ingredients of growth buds and soft‐tissue proliferation adjacent to chondrogenic cells proximally suggest that the tissues of mammalian healing may differ quantitatively rather than qualitatively from tissues of appendage regeneration. This premise is encouraging for efforts at growth enhancement in mammals.


Abstract Influenza A viruses cause widespread human respiratory disease. The viral multifunctional NS1 protein inhibits host antiviral responses. This inhibition results from the binding of specific cellular antiviral proteins at various positions on the NS1 protein. Remarkably, binding of several proteins also requires the two amino-acid residues in the NS1 N-terminal RNA-binding domain (RBD) that are required for binding double-stranded RNA (dsRNA). Here we focus on the host restriction factor DHX30 helicase that is countered by the NS1 protein, and establish why the dsRNA-binding activity of NS1 is required for its binding to DHX30. We show that the N-terminal 152 amino-acid residue segment of DHX30, denoted DHX30N, possesses all the antiviral activity of DHX30 and contains a dsRNA-binding domain, and that the NS1-DHX30 interaction in vivo requires the dsRNA-binding activity of both DHX30N and the NS1 RBD. We demonstrate why this is the case using bacteria-expressed proteins: the DHX30N-NS1 RBD interaction in vitro requires the presence of a dsRNA platform that binds both NS1 RBD and DHX30N. We propose that a similar dsRNA platform functions in interactions of the NS1 protein with other proteins that requires these same two amino-acid residues required for NS1 RBD dsRNA-binding activity.


In an effort to reduce the expensive resource requirements in courseware production and to allow effective management of, and communication and collaboration between authors, a model is needed to harmonize the diverse theoretical backgrounds such a process requires. To this end we look at five abstract models which where chosen for their apparent appropriateness within the general area of collaborative authoring and reuse of multimedia courseware. These models consist of a functional model of hypertext, an infrastructure model for an open collaborative authoring system, two object-oriented communication models, and a courseware production model. We attempt a consolidation of these models and ultimately make several conclusions, which are exposed during a conceptual harmonisation. The principal conclusion is that a hypermedia logical model is not by itself adequate to support collaboration and reuse. Our modeling conclusions have driven the design of a system which will be implemented and tested.


Subcellular localization of mRNAs within the Drosophila oocyte is an essential step in body patterning. Yps, a Drosophila Y-box protein, is a component of an ovarian ribonucleoprotein complex that also contains Exu, a protein that plays an essential role in mRNA localization. Y-box proteins are known translational regulators, suggesting that this complex might regulate translation as well as mRNA localization. Here we examine the role of the yps gene in these events. We show that yps interacts genetically with orb, a positive regulator of oskar mRNA localization and translation. The nature of the genetic interaction indicates that yps acts antagonistically to orb. We demonstrate that Orb protein is physically associated with both the Yps and Exu proteins, and that this interaction is mediated by RNA. We propose a model wherein Yps and Orb bind competitively to oskar mRNA with opposite effects on translation and RNA localization.


This paper reports our laboratory's latest wireless-driven LED lighting system, which adopted wireless electrical energy transmission technology. Wireless power transfer technology is the transmission of electrical energy from a power source to an electrical load without man-made conductors. Traditional LED lighting system sensitive to rigid environment such as humidity, corrosive and flammable. Combining the advantages of wireless electrical power transfer and LED semiconductor lighting technology, the wireless-driven LED (WD-LED) lighting system has advantages of electrical shock protection, convenient, reliable, portable and environmentally sound. The wireless-driven LED lighting source will gain increasing attention in the civilian consumer electronics market, military area and special lighting areas. To achieve wireless electric power transfer in LED lighting system, the wireless-driven LED lighting system should contain LED lighting module, wireless electrical power transfer system, LED driving circuit and electrical energy storage system. The LED lighting module was driven by the electrical power, which was transferred from a contact free system. Either inductive coupling or magnetic resonance coupling is responsible for transferred the electrical power. Wireless-driven LED lighting system has a good market prospects, this new technology will make these innovative LED lighting products more available, convenient and reliable. In this paper, we mainly research in wireless electrical energy transmission tech, LED integrated package tech, LED driver circuit tech. Finally, we introduce several wireless-driven LED lighting products in different application areas.


Introduction: Fournier's gangrene is a rare but fast deteriorating and serious condition with high mortality. In most cases, it is characterized as necrotizing fasciitis of the perineum and external genitals. Amyand's hernia is a rare condition where the appendix is contained in the sac of an inguinal hernia. Inflammatory alterations in the appendix account only for 0.1 % of the cases when Amyand's hernia is verified. Fournier's gangrene as a complication of a late diagnosis of appendicitis located in the inguinal canal is described in the literature as rare case reports.
Case report: The case report of a 70-year-old patient with Fournier's gangrene resulting from gangrenous appendicitis of Amyand's hernia.
Conclusion: Fournier's gangrene as a complication of Amyand's hernia is a rare condition. Only sporadic case reports thereof can be found in the literature. Because of the rarity of this pathology and the lack of randomized controlled studies, it is difficult to determine the optimal treatment according to the principles of evidence-based medicine. An appropriate approach for this condition appears to be the combination of guidelines developed in Amyand's therapy according to Losanoff and Basson, along with the recommended "gold standard" therapy for Fournier's gangrene. This means early and highly radical surgical debridement, adequate antibiotic therapy and intensive care.


ABSTRACT A global challenge concerns reconciling population growth and increasing built infrastructure with foreshore ecosystems that are 'squeezed' against a rising sea levels, hampering their ability to deliver life-sustaining ecosystem services. This paper tests established sea-level rise strategies – fortification, accommodation, and retreat – using a city-centre adjacent estuarine case study in Western Australia to understand the implications for foreshore ecosystem service provision. The results indicate that some retreat of urban areas will be required, combined with the migration of the foreshore reserves landward, to maintain ecosystem service functions over the longer term.


Abstract The Hebrides and West Shetland shelves were extensively glaciated on several occasions during the mid- to late Pleistocene, with grounded ice locally reaching the shelf edge and depositing vast amounts of sediment directly on to the adjacent slopes. On the Hebrides Slope, the discrete, slope-front depocentre of the Sula Sgeir Fan has accumulated a thick (200 m) succession of interbedded debris-flow diamictons, turbidite sands and muds. This contrasts with a 'between fan' area to the south, where a thinner (< 100 m) sediment drape of glaciomarine ice-rafted and suspended sediment, deposited partly under the influence of alongslope currents, is preserved. On the West Shetland Slope, the slope-apron may consist of several coalescing wedges of sediment which form a laterally more extensive, albeit thinner (up to 100 m) succession of mass flow deposits. On both slopes the glacigenic deposits can be separated into discrete mass-flow packages bounded by thin, occasionally slope-wide, prograding clinoforms. Accumulation of these packages was episodic and related to specific rapid phases of downslope sedimentation, concomitant with maximum glaciation and glacio-eustatic lowstand. The thin clinoform units reflect intervals of reduced sediment supply to the slope. The 'between fan' area of the Hebrides Slope has been a region of relatively persistent sediment bypass. Analagous deposits preserved on other mid to high-latitude continental margins, such as the East Greenland, Barents Sea and East Canadian margins, highlight the regional importance of glacigenic processes to late Cenozoic slope-apron development in the North Atlantic region. In particular, they demonstrate the influence that climate can have on the stratigraphical and sedimentological record.


The roles played by environmental factors in seasonal changes in microbial populations were investigated in the Tvärminne area, off the southern coast of Finland. Surface-layer samples were collected at 1- or 2-week intervals in 1976-78, and 14 microbiological and 10 environmental parameters were determined. Stepwise multiple regression analysis was used to explain seasonal variation in the microbiological parameters. Separate analyses were made of the data from the open-water and ice-cover periods. In analyses of data from both periods, the environmental factors included accounted for a significant proportion of the variation in the parameters for community respiration (90%) and bacterial spores (80%), and a smaller proportion (60 to 65%) of the variation in total counts of bacteria and plate counts of psychrophiles and yeasts. Lower values (40 to 55%) were obtained for the variation in the other microbiological parameters. The environmental factors with maximal contributions were organic matter, water temperature, chlorophyll a, and salinity, but rainfall and winds also explained part of the variation in some microbiological parameters. In the winter analysis the results differed from those obtained for the other seasons, the variation being governed by parameters indicating freshwater outflows, namely, humic matter, salinity, water temperature (positive regression coefficient), and rainfall (negative regression coefficient).


The purpose of this paper is to investigate statistical properties of risk minimization based multi-category classification methods. These methods can be considered as natural extensions of binary large margin classification. We establish conditions that guarantee the consistency of classifiers obtained in the risk minimization framework with respect to the classification error. Examples are provided for four specific forms of the general formulation, which extend a number of known methods. Using these examples, we show that some risk minimization formulations can also be used to obtain conditional probability estimates for the underlying problem. Such conditional probability information can be useful for statistical inferencing tasks beyond classification.


Adopting dynamic substructuring schemes is a common practice in the field of structural dynamics, where the dynamic behaviour of a structure is predicted by combining the multiple subsystems that are analysed individually. This paper investigated the dynamic behaviour of a structure with doubled bolted joints using the frequency based substructuring (FBS) method. In the attempt, the substructures were combined with the frequency domain that can be numerically derived or experimentally measured. However, the applicability of this method suffered from several issues where most of them were related to the frequency response function (FRF) of the rotational degree of freedom (DOF) at the subsystem's interface. In some cases, the system's interface vibrated in the rotary motion of certain modes, for instance, a car side rear view mirror. Therefore, excluding the rotational FRF during the coupling process could lead to a completely different result. This paper presents the use of the FBS method for a structure with double bolted joints by using the equivalent multipoint constraint (EMPC) method through which rotational DOFs can be completely neglected. The actual tested structure for this study was an assembled structure consisting of two substructures: a simple beam and an irregular plate steel structure. The FRFs of both substructures were derived from using the FRF synthesis from finite element models and combined together via the FBS method. This study reveals that the use of the FBS method with the EMPC method for a structure double bolted joints has led to very promising results.


Despite continuous efforts in automating experimental structure determination and systematic target selection in structural genomics projects, the gap between the number of known amino acid sequences and solved 3D structures for proteins is constantly widening. While DNA sequencing technologies are advancing at an extraordinary pace, thereby constantly increasing throughput while at the same time reducing costs, protein structure determination is still labour intensive, time-consuming and expensive. This trend illustrates the essential importance of complementary computational approaches in order to bridge the so-called sequence-structure gap.

About half of the protein families lack structural annotation and therefore are not amenable to techniques that infer protein structure from homologs. These protein families can be addressed by de novo structure prediction approaches that in practice are often limited by the immense computational costs required to search the conformational space for the lowest-energy conformation. Improved predictions of contacts between amino acid residues have been demonstrated to sufficiently constrain the overall protein fold and thereby extend the applicability of de novo methods to larger proteins. Residue-residue contact prediction is based on the idea that selection pressure on protein structure and function can lead to compensatory mutations between spatially close residues. This leaves an echo of correlation signatures that can be traced down from the evolutionary record. Despite the success of contact prediction methods, there are several challenges. The most evident limitation lies in the requirement of deep alignments, which excludes the majority of protein families without associated structural information that are the focus for contact guided de novo structure prediction. The heuristics applied by current contact prediction methods pose another challenge, since they omit available coevolutionary information.

This work presents two different approaches for addressing the limitations of contact prediction methods. Instead of inferring evolutionary couplings by maximizing the pseudo-likelihood, I maximize the full likelihood of the statistical model for protein sequence families. This approach performed with comparable precision up to minor improvements over the pseudo-likelihood methods for protein families with few homologous sequences. A Bayesian statistical approach has been developed that provides posterior probability estimates for residue-residue contacts and eradicates the use of heuristics. The full information of coevolutionary signatures is exploited by explicitly modelling the distribution of statistical couplings that reflects the nature of residue-residue interactions. Surprisingly, the posterior probabilities do not directly translate into more precise predictions than obtained by pseudo-likelihood methods combined with prior knowledge. However, the Bayesian framework offers a statistically clean and theoretically solid treatment for the contact prediction problem. This flexible and transparent framework provides a convenient starting point for further developments, such as integrating more complex prior knowledge. The model can also easily be extended towards the Derivation of probability estimates for residue-residue distances to enhance the precision of predicted structures.


In this work we develop a new method to turn a state-of-the-art hydrodynamical cosmological simulation of galaxy formation (HYD) into a simple semi-analytic model (SAM). This is achieved by summarizing the efficiencies of accretion, cooling, star formation and feedback given by the HYD, as functions of the halo mass and redshift. The SAM then uses these functions to evolve galaxies within merger trees that are extracted from the same HYD. Surprisingly, by turning the HYD into a SAM, we conserve the mass of individual galaxies, with deviations at the level of 0.1 dex, on an object-by-object basis, with no significant systematics. This is true for all redshifts, and for the mass of stars and gas components, although the agreement reaches 0.2 dex for satellite galaxies at low redshift. We show that the same level of accuracy is obtained even in case the SAM uses only one phase of gas within each galaxy. Moreover, we demonstrate that the formation history of one massive galaxy provides sufficient information for the SAM to reproduce the population of galaxies within the entire cosmological box. The reasons for the small scatter between the HYD and SAM galaxies are as follows. (i) The efficiencies are matched as functions of the halo mass and redshift, meaning that the evolution within merger trees agrees on average. (ii) For a given galaxy, efficiencies fluctuate around the mean value on time-scales of 0.2–2 Gyr. (iii) The various mass components of galaxies are obtained by integrating the efficiencies over time, averaging out these fluctuations. We compare the efficiencies found here to standard SAM recipes and find that they often deviate significantly. For example, here the HYD shows smooth accretion that is less effective for low-mass haloes, and is always composed of hot or dilute gas; cooling is less effective at high redshift, and star formation changes only mildly with cosmic time. The method developed here can be applied in general to any HYD, and can thus serve as a common language for both HYDs and SAMs.


The commercial shipbuilding industry and the U.S. Navy have decreed that the aim of the "all electric ship" power system design will be for survivability and continuity of electrical power supply. In general, ship service electric power and electric propulsion power requirements are approaching hundreds of megawatts. There are major challenges to the use of standard cable at medium voltage levels onboard due to cable stiffness, and cable bend radius requirements for distributing very high current around the ship. This paper examines the practical design and installation benefits associated with IBP as a possible alternative to shipboard electric power cable. Although IBP is widely used in the utility industry, the shipboard use of IBP is limited to several passenger cruise ships. IBP is considered a more efficient medium & high voltage transmission line over cable for integrated power system (IPS) ships due to cable size, quantity, and installation time. There are technical issues that must be resolved before advocating the use of IBP onboard Navy ships. This paper presents an overview of IBP technology, examines IBP technical issues and presents probable solutions for Navy and commercial shipboard applications. One of the probable solutions that are discussed is a new type of insulating material for IBP that should significantly enhance the Navy 3 hour gas flame circuit integrity flame test withstand capability. This paper recommends that the proven IBP prototypes and their models be the procurement specifications. The paper also recommends: (1) inclusion of IBP application recommended practices in shipbuilding standards such as IEEE-45 and IEEE-1580 (2) inclusion of IBP in ABS rules for commercial ships, ABS NVR for naval vessels, and other national and international shipbuilding rules and regulations.


Creativity is imperative to the progression of human civilization, prosperity, and well‐being. Past creative researches tends to emphasize the default mode network (DMN) or the frontoparietal network (FPN) somewhat exclusively. However, little is known about how these networks interact to contribute to creativity and whether common or distinct brain networks are responsible for visual and verbal creativity. Here, we use functional connectivity analysis of resting‐state functional magnetic resonance imaging data to investigate visual and verbal creativity‐related regions and networks in 282 healthy subjects. We found that functional connectivity within the bilateral superior parietal cortex of the FPN was negatively associated with visual and verbal creativity. The strength of connectivity between the DMN and FPN was positively related to both creative domains. Visual creativity was negatively correlated with functional connectivity within the precuneus of the pDMN and right middle frontal gyrus of the FPN, and verbal creativity was negatively correlated with functional connectivity within the medial prefrontal cortex of the aDMN. Critically, the FPN mediated the relationship between the aDMN and verbal creativity, and it also mediated the relationship between the pDMN and visual creativity. Taken together, decreased within‐network connectivity of the FPN and DMN may allow for flexible between‐network coupling in the highly creative brain. These findings provide indirect evidence for the cooperative role of the default and executive control networks in creativity, extending past research by revealing common and distinct brain systems underlying verbal and visual creative cognition. Hum Brain Mapp 38:2094–2111, 2017. © 2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.


The study used Structural Equation Modeling partial least squares (SEM-PLS)to investigate the influence of Entrepreneurial Orientation on Firm Performance of Kenya's Agro Processing SMEs. The study was undertaken on Agro Processing SMEs registered with Kenya Association of Manufacturers operating with Nairobi and its environs. The questionnaires were self-administered on owner/managers of agro processing SMEs. Entrepreneurial Orientation was conceptualized and analyzed as a latent second-order construct comprised of innovativeness, proactiveness and risk taking. The study results revealed that Entrepreneurial Orientation has a positive and statistically significant influence on firm performanceof Kenya's agro processing SMEs. The study concludedthat Entrepreneurial Orientation as a uni-dimensional construct is an important predictor of firm performance, in terms of growth and profitability.The implication of this finding for managerial practice and future research is discussed.


Objectives Mucinous ovarian carcinoma (MOC) is a rare ovarian cancer subtype that responds poorly to conventional chemotherapy. Recurrent and advanced disease have poor survival and there are no specific guidelines for their treatment. We used a large cohort of genomic and immunohistochemical data to evaluate the likelihood of success of possible therapeutic interventions. Methods We used DNA sequencing data (n=185) and genome-wide copy number (n=199) from primary MOC to identify key genetic events, homologous recombination deficiency scores and mismatch repair deficiency. Immunohistochemistry data was obtained for CK7, CK20, PAX8, p16, CDX2, HER2 and ER (n=162–256) and tumour infiltrating lymphocytes were counted on H&E stained slides (n=40). Results Therapies exploiting homologous recombination deficiency are unlikely to be effective in MOC, as only 1.5% had a homologous recombination deficiency score of more than 50. Mismatch repair deficiency was very rare (<1%). Most cases had low lymphocytes counts, corresponding to a moderate mutation load. Events that suggest an existing targeted therapy include: ERBB2 amplification(26%), ERBB3 mutation(4%) and BRAF mutation(9%). Novel agents currently in clinical trials targeting genetic events such as TP53 missense mutation(46%), RNF43 mutation(11%), PIK3CA mutation(8%) and KRAS/NRAS mutations(66%). Conclusions MOC is genetically diverse but with a number of potential targets. Importantly, the clinically observed lack of response to cisplatin is supported by a corresponding lack of a genomic signature, and MOC are unlikely to respond to PARP inhibitors. The role of immunotherapy is unclear. Testing novel therapeutic options in appropriate patient-derived models will be crucial and we are currently developing organoid cultures from this disease.


The article is based on the system approach and the analysis of ensuring economic security as well as on the developed conceptual techniques devoted to the security of regional enterprises. We consider the issues of the interaction of subsystems of the general system of national security in regions. The purpose of the study is to develop a comprehensive methodology for the assessment of the national security in regions including all main directions: economy, ecology, information, etc. Currently, the need for a theory of security of regional enterprises has, first of all, an applied nature. At the same time, without basic fundamental knowledge of the theory of comprehensive security, it is impossible to provide sustainable development of regional enterprises. We conduct a comprehensive research of all types of security on the basis of the system approach and the analysis. Furthermore, we move from task-specific study to the system research of the examined objects and systems. It has allowed analysing the internal interrelations of subsystems including the subsystems of economic security in the framework of the general system of national security. We propose the method, which substantiates the quality of enterprise security using the fuzzy set method and fuzzy multi-criteria method in relation to the paper's topic. Moreover, we apply the Bellman and Zadeh's principle allowing to choose an option, which satisfies all criteria in the maximum degree. The developed approach to the formation of a comprehensive assessment of all types of security will allow providing sufficient explanations to the influence and interaction of subsystems within the national security's general system as well as will significantly increase the economic stability of regional enterprises and organizations.


Antimicrobial potential of different plant parts (needle, stem and bark) of Himalayan yew (Taxus wallichiana Zucc.) has been investigated with particular reference to selection of solvents and extraction methods. Two extraction methods (maceration and soxhlet), seven solvents (methanol, ethanol, acetone, chloroform, ethyl acetate, di chloro methane and petroleum ether), and 3 groups of microorganisms (bacteria, actinobacteria and fungi) were considered for detection of antimicrobial activity. While qualitative estimations were done using agar well diffusion method, quantitative analysis was based on dilution method. All the plant part showed significant activity against all 3 groups of microorganisms in qualitative bioassays; maximum being in case of needles. Among solvents, ethanolic extract of needles (maceration) showed highest antibacterial activity (15.33 ± 0.25 mm). Growth of actinobacteria was inhibited maximum (22.0±0.26 mm) by the methanolic extracts of needles (maceration). Ethyl acetate extract of needles (soxhlet) showed higher antifungal activity (8.67±0.23 mm). Antibacterial and antifungal activities were higher in maceration and soxhlet methods, respectively. The most affected group among the test microorganisms was bacteria which may be due to their prokaryotic organization. This was also supported by the low minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) values. Di chloro methane and petroleum ether did not show any antifungal activity. The antimicrobial activity of various plant parts of T. wallichiana varied with respect to the solvent as well as the extraction method. The study will have implications in selection of the use of solvent and the extraction procedure in obtaining the antimicrobial metabolites from various plant parts of T. wallichiana.


We have isolated a human probe specific for the beta B3 crystallin gene (CRYB3) and hybridized it to Southern blots of human X rodent cell hybrids with known human chromosomal constitution. In this way we could directly assign CRYB3 to chromosome 22. Cell hybrids with translocation chromosomes containing distinct portions of chromosomes 22 were used to regionally localize the gene to 22q11.2----q12. Owing to its known close proximity to the beta B3 crystallin gene, the beta B2-1 crystallin gene (CRYB2-1) also maps in this region. A second beta B2 crystallin gene, beta B2-2 (CRYB2-2), not linked to the CRYB2-1/CRYB3 cluster, could be localized in the same region. This implies that the three known beta B crystallin genes are all within 22q11.2----q12. This small region contains D22S1, the only marker that shows no recombination with neurofibromatosis 2. Therefore, the beta B crystallin genes on chromosome 22 might be markers for this disease. Two DNA fragments revealing useful polymorphisms associated with the beta B crystallin genes were identified. One detects a two-system MspI restriction fragment length polymorphism specific for the CRYB2-1/CRYB3 cluster. The other detects an informative PstI polymorphism that is in linkage equilibrium with the MspI polymorphism.


The aims of the study were to evaluate the quality of selected vegetables waste offered to lactating dairy
cows as silage. Completely Randomized Block Design was used in this experiment. Three kinds of rations
namely R1: control ration (concentrate and forage was offered separately); R2: hay complete ration; and
R3: silage complete ration containing 50% water were assigned randomly to fifteen of lactating dairy cows.
Ration and drinking water were offered ad libitum. The results showed that the quality of silage was good
in term of total number of lactic acid bacteria (1.76x 10 6 ), pH (3.80 – 4.51), and smell. Dry matter
digestibility of silages complete ration ranged from 56 to 60%. Feeding the silage to lactating dairy cows
improved butter fat content from 3.37 to 4.00%, but decreased milk yield from 7.82 to 6.74 kg/head. Pesticide
residues was not detected in the milk. It was concluded that the selected vegetables waste could be used as
a component of lactating dairy cows ration without affecting milk quality. Low milk yield may be corrected
by the increasing of feed intake.
Keywords: Vegetable, Silage, Ration, Milk, Dairy


This study conducted with the aim of examining the implementation of AISs in large and medium scale manufacturing enterprises of metropolitan cities of Amhara region by postulating seven hypothesis of accounting information system (organizational structure, financial capacity, employee's attitude, environmental factors, compatibility, complexity and relative advantage of AISs). To find out the research conclusion census was employed. In order to collect data, self-administered questionnaire were used and an in-depth unstructured interview was conducted about the subject of the study with key informants. The statistical society includes all large and medium scale manufacturing enterprises of Gondar and Bahirdar cities. Collected data is analyzed using SPSS software version 20 tool and regression and correlations are made to find answers for specific objectives on the basis of the result obtained from the software. Given the dichotomous response to the dependent variable (AISs implementation), binary logistic regression model was used to identify the influencing factors of AISs implementation in study area. According to the study, implementation of AISs is at its lowest level among manufacturing enterprises of Amhara region and factors such as organizational structure, financial capacity, environmental factors and relative advantage of AISs are found positively significantly influencing factors while complexity of AISs is found negatively influencing factor for AISs implementation. The study therefore recommends that these factors should be taken into account by those enterprises at the time when they decide to implement AISs. Key words: Accounting information systems (AISs), Attributes of AISs, Implementation of     AISs, Manufacturing, Large and Medium enterprises, Binary logistic regression.


According to the multi-performance degradation of the bipolar transistor in the accelerating storage process, an extrapolation model of the storage lifetime is proposed. In this model, using the Wiener process simulates the mono-degradation process of each feature degradation; using the copula function describes the correlation among these feature degradations. The Wiener process and parameters in the copula function are considered to associate with the temperature, and their relationships can be represented by the converted equations. Through the maximum likelihood estimation, the parameters in the Wiener process can be found; introducing Kendall's tau,those in the copula function can be estimated. By conducting the regression analyses of the estimated values of the parameters in each stress, their corresponding converted equations can be shown. Based on the storage test data of bipolar transistors, with the estimation method, the storage lifetime is found. The findings show that the model is reasonable for the prediction of storage lifetime.


Supercompilation is a powerful program transformation technique with numerous interesting applications. Existing methods of supercompilation, however, are often very unpredictable with respect to the size of the resulting programs. We consider an approach for controlling result size, based on a combination of multi-result supercompilation and a specific generalization strategy, which avoids code duplication. The current early experiments with this method show promising results - we can keep the size of the result small, while still performing powerful optimizations.


This paper investigates numerically a wave energy harness device-water interaction system excited by a wave maker motion in order to extract maximum wave energy.
The model of the energy harness device consists of a moving coil connected to a magnetic body floating on the water surface of the towing tank. At one end of the towing tank, a wave maker produces waves to excite the device-water interaction system. The motion of the coil relative to the magnetic body produces an electromagnetic induction voltage added to an energy collection circuit, so that the kinetic energy of the coil motion is transformed to electric energy. To extract maximum energy from the wave requires a large relative motion between the coil and the magnetic body of the energy harness device. To this end, the natural frequency of the wave energy harness device should be so close to the wave frequency that a resonance of the wave energy device can be reached. Since the wave energy device floats on the water surface, its dynamic behaviour is affected by the water motion. Therefore, it is necessary to consider fluid-structure interactions to design an effective wave energy device. This problem is addressed in this paper.
In this numerical simulation, the water is considered as a compressible fluid satisfying a wave equation in the water domain in association with the boundary conditions on the free surface, wall and bottom of the towing tank. The wave maker motion is simulated by a given boundary acceleration on the wet interface of the wave maker. The energy harness device is treated as a two masses connected by four springs between them. The spring stiffness can be adjusted to obtain an effective energy extraction device. On the interface between the magnetic body and the water, the equilibrium and motion consistent conditions are required. The governing equations describing the fluid-structure interaction dynamics of the integrated system are presented. A corresponding variational principle is formulated and a mixed finite element model is established. The developed computer program-FSIAP is used to complete the numerical simulations. Suitable parameters of the energy harness device are obtained. The dynamic responses of the integrated fluid-structure interaction system excited by the wave maker motions are calculated. It is shown that the designed energy harness device can extract maximum wave energy using the resonance principle. The results obtained are compared and discussed. Some guidelines for engineering applications are provided.


One of the primary advantages of estimation of distribution algorithms (EDAs) over many other stochastic optimization techniques is that they supply us with a roadmap of how they solve a problem. This roadmap consists of a sequence of probabilistic models of candidate solutions of increasing quality. The first model in this sequence would typically encode the uniform distribution over all admissible solutions whereas the last model would encode a distribution that generates at least one global optimum with high probability. It has been argued that exploiting this knowledge should improve EDA performance when solving similar problems. This paper presents an approach to bias the building of Bayesian network models in the hierarchical Bayesian optimization algorithm (hBOA) using information gathered from models generated during previous hBOA runs on similar problems. The approach is evaluated on trap-5 and 2D spin glass problems.


Background: The prevalence of children's blindness in developing countries is still high especially in Asian countries. This children's blindness influences their motoric, social and emotional developments and their chances to get education. One of the causes is steroid-induced glaucoma. The aim of the study was to identify the characteristics of childhood steroid-induced glaucoma in National Eye Center, Cicendo Eye Hospital, Bandung, Indonesia. Methods : A descriptive study was conducted to 22 medical records of childhood steroid-induced glaucoma patients in National Eye Center, Cicendo Eye Hospital Bandung from 2007−2011. The inclusion criterias were medical records contained complete demographic (age, sex, address and socioeconomic status), clinical (visual acuity, intraocular pressure, cup-disc ratio, underlying eye disease, working diagnosis, treatment and patient's compliance to follow up) and risk factor (type and route of administration of steroid and duration of steroid usage). Results : Majority of patients were boys (73%), aged 4−7 years old (41%), from Bandung (55%), with moderate socioeconomic condition (73%). Most of the patients experienced blindness (64%), intraocular pressure around 20−30 mmHg (33%), cup-disc ratio above 0.4 (77%). The underlying eye disease was conjunctivitis vernalis (95%). They were treated by medicamentosa or trabeculectomy. The most common used steroid contained dexamethasone (100%) for more than 1 year of usage (64%). Patients's compliance to follow up was mostly good (59%). Conclusions: Most of the patients with steroid-induced glaucoma is still very young and the use of topical dexamethasone to treat conjunctivitis vernalis for a long time leads to steroid-induced glaucoma. DOI : 10.15850/amj.v2n3.558


We hypothesize that the neuromuscular system is designed to function effectively in accomplishing everyday movement tasks. Since everyday movement tasks may vary substantially in terms of speed and resistance, we speculate that agonistic muscles contribute differently to varying movement tasks such that the mechanical, structural, and physiological properties of the system are optimized at all times. We further hypothesize that a mechanical perturbation to the musculoskeletal system, such as the loss of an important joint ligament or the change of a muscle's line of action, causes an adaptation of the system aimed at reestablishing effective function. Here. we demonstrate how the specificity of the cat ankle extensors is used to accommodate different locomotor tasks. We then illustrate how the loss of an important ligament in the cat knee leads to neuromuscular adaptation. Finally, we discuss the adaptability of skeletal muscle following an intervention that changes a muscle's line of action, moment arm, ...


Prior evidence suggests that managers learn indirectly from stock prices, which contain private information impounded by informed investors' trades. However, stock price is an indirect aggregate signal, which is likely to be insufficient for managerial learning. I propose that managers seek out direct interactions with institutional investors as a further mechanism to learn relevant information about their firms. Using investor conferences and investor days as the medium for direct learning, I find that managers seek more direct interactions when they have a high demand for information concerning industry trends and supply chain dynamics, and when they expect their current base of institutional investors to be knowledgeable. I also predict that information learned through direct interactions will be reflected in the manager's subsequent corporate and personal decisions. I find that the frequency and accuracy of management forecasts increase after direct learning. Comparing insider trades in the same firm-month, trades executed by participating insiders within seven days after a conference earn greater positive abnormal returns, consistent with managers' information set expanding as a result of their direct learning.


Informed by a sociological approach, this thesis provides an account of the theoretical and empirical context of pharmacy students? undergraduate careers, beginning with the decision to enter higher education and ending with the final undergraduate year of a pharmacy student?s education. The main aim of the published work and of the academic field that it contributes to is to advance understanding of why young people choose to study pharmacy (and thus choose pharmacy as a career), and career aspirations and influences over the course of their pharmacy school career. By establishing what influences and shapes pharmacy students? choices this thesis also provides an account of the degree to which career preferences are limited initially by awareness of opportunities, by socialisation and habitus, and how these are related to undergraduate career success.The thesis reports findings from studies using a range of methods including focus groups, surveys, and secondary analysis of pharmacy student data from a number of sources. Subjects investigated by the work are British undergraduate MPharm students and graduates. Numbers applying to study pharmacy, numbers accepted, and numbers entering the MPharm are compared and the relative risk of attrition from the MPharm, are also examined. Findings reported here are relevant to undergraduate pharmacy education policy-makers, heads of pharmacy schools, pharmacist employers, the General Pharmaceutical Council (GPhC) and to those responsible for pharmacy workforce planning.While the primary aim of the thesis is to improve understanding of (undergraduate) pharmacy careers through the application of a number of sociological theories and perspectives, the thesis also considers the ways that findings can usefully inform pharmacy education and policy agendas.


Entrepreneurship is the procedure of a new business development to make a profit in the market. In many countries, Technology Transfer Offices (TTOs) in research-driven universities serve as an intermediary between suppliers of innovations and those who can potentially commercialize them. TTOs are always run as cost-centers on campus, often have business or operation managers, and facilitate intellectual property licensing activities. In the United Arab Emirates (UAE), TTOs are taking an important role in the evolution of a successful spin-off company from innovation to production to sales to sustainable profit. An innovative technology may be a research outcome and seem to have value as an application or product with commercial potential in the market. In this context, TTOs often support spin-off companies becoming a learning organization and easing into an articulated management of activities complementary to the research and design activities that create the innovation and drive the transition from innovation to product lines. That is, even though such academic entrepreneurs have built and run entities that are similar to small businesses, and even though these entrepreneurs have learned how to secure and manage revenues to sustain cash flows for their companies, they still may not be sustainable in the market. The long term of this research study aims to investigate the current situation of research-driven university entrepreneurship in UAE. This paper presents a preliminary study of two TTOs: Etisalat BT Innovation Center (EBTIC) at Khalifa University and Masdar Institute.


Treatment of extracts from the disintegrated mycelium of Penicillium brevi-compactum with antisera against viruses PBV-1 and PBV-3 grown on bacteria results in a considerable decrease in the infectiveness of micellar preparations toward E. coli C. This is a specific reaction since treatment with a heterologic antiserum against phage T2 has no effect on the infectiveness of the micellar extracts. The kinetics of reassociation of DNA from PBV-3 and DNA from Penicillium brevi-compactum has shown that the value of Cot at half-reassociation of these DNAs is 13.3 times higher than the value of Cot at half-reassociation of DNA from PBV-3 and heterologic DNA from chicken embryos. As was found by calculations, DNA isolated from the fungal mycelium contains virus sequences at an amount of 3.7 virus genomes per cell. These data confirm the micellar origin of the viruses PBV-1 and PBV-3. The virus PBV-3 is supposed to be present in the cells in the form of prophage.


Insight into the formation conditions of obsidian lavas may be gained from studying crystals that grow in their interiors during eruption and cooling. We analyzed spherulites in an emergent obsidian dike from Hrafntinnuhryggur, near Krafla volcano, Iceland, in order to quantify their crystallization rates, the relations between spherulites and lithophysae, and how the growth of spherulites may affect the oxidation state of the magma. We measured water concentration profiles around spherulites in rhyolitic obsidian with synchotron Fourier Infrared spectroscopy. The concentration of OH- groups in the glass is elevated by up to 50% above the background level near the spherulite-glass border, and decreases radially away from the spherulite. This pattern reflects expulsion and diffusion of water away from the spherulites as they crystallized an anhydrous assemblage of albite+magnetite+quartz. We modeled the advective and diffusive transport of the water away from the growing spherulites by numerically solving the diffusion equation with a moving boundary. Numerical models fit the natural data best when a small amount (~10%) of post-growth diffusion is incorporated in the model. Comparisons between models and natural data constrain the spherulite growth rate to between approximately 0.1 to 0.3 mm/day for model eruption temperatures of 800 and 850°C. The expulsion of water during spherulite growth may affect the oxidation state of the melt, specifically by causing local reduction of melt adjacent to the spherulite. Optical evidence of this reduction includes clear glass zones enclosing the spherulites; outside of these halos the glass is uniformly brown. Near-infrared spectra and Micro- XANES measurements of the Fe3+/Fe-total ratio in these different color zones confirms that there is an enrichment of ferrous iron in the colorless glass adjacent to the spherulite. We suggest that reduction is driven by the release of water during growth of anhydrous minerals however the exact reduction mechanism remains unclear. A nearly one-to-one correspondence between the molar concentrations of hydroxyl groups and ferric iron that was reduced to ferrous iron in the clear glass zones suggests that the reduction may be due to an interconversion reaction involving molecular water and hydroxyl groups bound in the silicate glass.


There are two cooling systems to maintain the thermal stability of the CSNS H− ion source during its operation: Air-cooling in the source body of the discharging chamber and water-cooling in the flange on which the discharging chamber is installed. The optimal cooling parameters to ensure the operation of the H− ion source are determined through a thermal analysis. In addition, a transient analysis is also performed to know exactly the transient temperature variation during the whole 40 ms period of the pulsed mode operation of the ion source.


By attempting to simultaneously partition both the rows (examples) and columns (features) of a data matrix, Co-clustering algorithms often demonstrate surprisingly impressive performance improvements over traditional one-sided row clustering techniques. A good clustering of features may be seen as a combinatorial transformation of the data matrix, effectively enforcing a form of regularization that may lead to a better clustering of examples (and vice-versa). In many applications, partial supervision in the form of a few row labels as well as column labels may be available to potentially assist co-clustering. In this paper, we develop two novel semi-supervised multi-class classification algorithms motivated respectively by spectral bipartite graph partitioning and matrix approximation formulations for co-clustering. These algorithms (i) support dual supervision in the form of labels for both examples and/or features, (ii) provide principled predictive capability on out-of-sample test data, and (iii) arise naturally from the classical Representer theorem applied to regularization problems posed on a collection of Reproducing Kernel Hilbert Spaces. Empirical results demonstrate the effectiveness and utility of our algorithms.


Abstract The temporal and spatial distribution and abundance of 15 rare to uncommon species of plusiine moths were compared across a watershed landscape dominated by a coniferous forest located on the western slope of the Cascade Mountains in Oregon. The 5-yr study assessed the species in the context of functional roles related to caterpillar host plants categorized into three guilds: conifer, hardwood tree and shrub, and herbaceous-feeding species. Also, the landscape was considered in the context of five geographic zones based on elevation and habitat type. Species richness and abundance were highest within the herb-feeding guild, seven (47%) species and 74 (47%) individuals. The conifer-feeding guild consisted of four species (27%) and 64 (40%) individuals, whereas the hardwood tree and shrub guild consisted of four species (27%) and 21 (13%) individuals. In combination, zones II, III, and IV, high elevation sites with extensive subalpine meadow habitat, exhibited a species richness of 14 (93%) and 119 (75%) individuals. Six species occurred in only one of the five zones, and three of these species occurred in zone II, a mid to high elevation zone with a total of nine plusiine species. Only 3 of the 15 species occurred in all five zones; each of these species represented one of the three feeding guilds and exhibited their highest abundance in zone III, a high elevation site with extensive subalpine meadow habitat. The presence of subalpine meadows contributed to increasing landscape heterogeneity across the watershed and was the primary factor contributing to the overall species richness among the Plusiinae within the H.J. Andrews Experimental Forest by providing a suitable environment for species in the herb-feeding guild. We suggest that, in a context that may be generalized to other environments and other taxa, the additive effects of rare and uncommon species with special or restricted habitat requirements provide an important contribution to the biodiversity within a local landscape. Furthermore, environments with a relatively high degree of temporal variability, such as meadows and other early successional plant communities, can be a major factor in contributing to the biodiversity within a local landscape.


The dynamics of an ultracold dilute gas of bosonic atoms in an optical lattice can be described by a Bose-Hubbard model where the system parameters are controlled by laser light. We study the continuous (zero temperature) quantum phase transition from the superfluid to the Mott insulator phase induced by varying the depth of the optical potential, where the Mott insulator phase corresponds to a commensurate filling of the lattice (``optical crystal''). Examples for formation of Mott structures in optical lattices with a superimposed harmonic trap and in optical superlattices are presented.


This study develops two efficient static output feedback (SOF) control approaches for a class of constrained non-linear processes represented by uncertain piecewise affine models. The parameter uncertainties in the piecewise affine models are assumed to be time varying and norm bounded. With the aid of the congruence transformation, degenerate ellipsoids-based S-procedure, and some bounding inequalities, the piecewise SOF controller can be easily obtained by solving a convex semi-definite programming problem subject to some linear matrix inequalities. The resulting closed-loop system stability can be guaranteed as well as the H ∞ control performance, and the stabilising design is less conservative owing to the piecewise quadratic Lyapunov functions. The performance of the proposed control approaches are demonstrated by simulation results on a non-linear benchmark plant.


TPS9595 Background: Basal cell carcinoma (BCC) is the most common human cancer. Although laBCC and mBCC are rare (<10,000 cases per year in the US), tumors are typically locally invasive and often destroy skin and surrounding structures, leading to substantial morbidity. Standard-of-care therapies include hedgehog pathway inhibitors (HhPi) (e.g., vismodegib, sonidegib), but these medications may be poorly tolerated due to side effects (e.g., muscle spasms, alopecia, dysgeusia), and anti-tumor responses often lack durability. Several published reports have described patients with advanced HhPi-refractory BCC who experienced durable, objective tumor regressions after administration of anti-PD-1, which may be better tolerated than HhPi. The purpose of this study is to evaluate the efficacy of NIVO (anti-PD-1) alone and in combination with IPI (anti-CTLA-4) in patients with laBCC or mBCC, either in the first-line setting or after HhPi therapy. Methods: NCT03521830 is an open-label, phase 2 study of NIVO alone (cohort A) and plus IPI (cohort B) for patients with laBCC or mBCC. Subjects enrolled to cohort A (treatment-naïve or after HhPi therapy) will receive NIVO 480mg IV q4 weeks for up to 48 weeks. Subjects with progressive BCC after anti-PD-1 +/- HhPi will enroll to cohort B and receive NIVO 240mg + IPI 1mg/kg IV q3 weeks x 4 doses followed by NIVO 480mg IV q4 weeks x 7 doses. The primary endpoint is objective response rate (ORR) per RECIST v1.1. Secondary endpoints are duration of response, progression-free and overall survival, and disease control rate (i.e., % of patients with stable disease lasting ≥26 weeks or complete or partial response). Exploratory studies will include assessment of changes in immune cell subsets and immune checkpoint expression in pre- and on-treatment tumor biopsies, correlated with clinical outcomes. A Simon's two stage design is planned for each cohort, testing for 15% null vs. 40% alternative ORR for cohort A, and 5% null vs. 20% alternative ORR for cohort B. The study will enroll up to 19 patients on cohort A and 21 patients on cohort B. Subject accrual began in November 2018. Clinical trial information: NCT03521830.


There are many ways to define richness of a discrete time signal. This paper considers a particular definition and explores the conditions under which a linear time invariant system preserves the richness property. Several examples are presented to clarify the issues involved in the problem. Some sufficient conditions are presented. Also presented are necessary and sufficient conditions for some special cases. A set of necessary and sufficient conditions for the most general case is not known at this time.


Fuchs endothelial corneal dystrophy (FECD) is the most common late-onset, vision-threatening corneal dystrophy in the United States, affecting about 4% of the population. Advanced FECD involves a thickening of the cornea from stromal edema and changes in Descemet membrane. To understand the relationship between FECD and central corneal thickness (CCT), we characterized common genetic variation in COL8A2 and TCF4, genes previously implicated in CCT and/or FECD. Other genes previously associated with FECD (PITX2, ZEB1, SLC4A11), and genes only known to affect CCT (COL5A1, FOXO1, AVGR8, ZNF469) were also interrogated. FECD probands, relatives and controls were recruited from 32 clinical sites; a total of 532 cases and 204 controls were genotyped and tested for association of FECD case/control status, a 7-step FECD severity scale and CCT, adjusting for age and sex. Association of FECD grade with TCF4 was highly significant (OR  = 6.01 at rs613872; p = 4.8×10−25), and remained significant when adjusted for changes in CCT (OR  = 4.84; p = 2.2×10−16). Association of CCT with TCF4 was also significant (p = 6.1×10−7), but was abolished with adjustment for FECD grade (p = 0.92). After adjusting for FECD grade, markers in other genes examined were modestly associated (p ∼ 0.001) with FECD and/or CCT. Thus, common variants in TCF4 appear to influence FECD directly, and CCT secondarily via FECD. Additionally, changes in corneal thickness due to the effect of other loci may modify disease severity, age-at-onset, or other biomechanical characteristics.


This article uses a reflexive, autoethnographic, and explanatory approach to suggesting assessment design for practical performing arts in higher education. Focusing on the communication of critical accounts of practice, rather than the assessment of practice itself, the idea considers how to create equitable opportunities to excel amid mixed-level starting points upon entry to the university. Imagining an "art first" environment that views assessment activity as a moment of knowledge transmission, this working example is supported by the history of Artistic Research and Practice-Research, given the basis in knowledge transmission and documentation. The idea around critical accounts of practice is driven by a desire to clear more time and space for practice as it exists as an artform in a necessarily time-based way, where skills and training are acquired over long periods of sustained practice. A case study is offered from the point of view of the author, based on the making of and featuring in Exhaustion V from The Exhaustion Series (2015-2018) by Sandy Williams IV, with the aim of providing example content for learning and assessment in this way.


Summary

In Japan, pollen from Japanese cedar (Cryptomeria japonica) and Japanese cypress (Chamaecyparis obtusa), species that have been planted in approximately 4.5 and 2.6 million ha, respectively, is spread wide through aerial dispersion in spring. Consequently, Japanese cedar/cypress pollinosis (JCCP) is the major phenotype of allergic rhinitis (AR) in Japan, and significantly impairs the quality of life (QOL). Compared with Japanese cedar pollinosis, the pathogenesis and management of Japanese cypress pollinosis remain unclear. Cha o 1 and Cha o 2 are major allergens in Japanese cypress pollen, and have considerable homology with Cry j 1 and Cry j 2, respectively, in Japanese cedar pollen. Several other components were recently identified in Japanese cypress pollen, and may facilitate allergic inflammation via IgE-independent mechanisms. Allergen-specific CD4+Th2 cells producing interleukin (IL)-4, IL-5, IL-13 and IL-31 are believed to play central roles in the pathogenesis of AR. The major human T cell epitopes in Cha o 1 and Cha o 2 have been identified. Compared with those in Cry j 1 and Cry j 2, both common and unique T cell epitopes in the cypress allergens have been characterized. Peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) produced these Th2-type cytokines in response to a crude extract of Japanese cypress pollen. Among these cytokines, induction of antigen-specific IL-5 and IL-31 production is closely associated with the onset and exacerbation of Japanese cypress pollinosis, respectively. Allergen-specific immunotherapy using a standardized extract of Japanese cedar pollen is effective in controlling both naso-ocular symptoms and QOL during the period of cedar pollen dispersion, although the significant efficacy tends to be reduced during the period of cypress pollen dispersion, especially when the pollen dispersion is high. IL-5 production by PBMCs in response to the crude extract of Japanese cypress pollen did not differ significantly between patients with and without the immunotherapy, suggesting that unique component(s) in Japanese cypress pollen can induce IL-5 production, which is not fully suppressed by immunotherapy with the standardized extract of cedar pollen. The Practical Guideline for Management of Allergic Rhinitis in Japan recommends that patients who experience severe symptoms of pollinosis every year should receive early interventional treatment. Although early interventional treatment with a histamine H1 receptor antagonist (H1RA) is effective for Japanese cedar pollinosis, especially at the beginning of the season, this treatment has limitations for Japanese cypress pollinosis when exposure to the pollen is high. Combined therapy with a leukotriene receptor antagonist and/or intranasal corticosteroids may be required to fully control the worsening of JCCP during the cypress pollen season.


Cervical cancer is a major cause of death in adult women. However, many women do not undergo cervical cancer screening for the following reasons: fear, shame, physical limitations, cultural or religious considerations and lack of access to health care services. Self-collected vaginal smears maybe an alternative means of including more women in cervical cancer screening programs. The objective of this systematic review was to evaluate the acceptability of vaginal smear self-collection for cervical cancer screening. We selected articles from PubMed, the Cochrane Library and Embase that were published between January 1995 and April 2016. Studies written in English, French, Italian, Portuguese or Spanish that involved women between 18 and 69 years of age who had engaged in sexual intercourse were included in this review. The review was performed in accordance with the PRISMA (Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses) statement. Nineteen studies were ultimately evaluated in this review. Most of the included studies (n=17) demonstrated that the self-collection method exhibited outstanding acceptability among women with respect to cervical cancer screening, and only two studies indicated that self-collection exhibited low acceptability among women in this context. The acceptability of self-collection was determined subjectively (without standardized questionnaires) in 10 studies (53%) and via structured and validated questionnaires in the remaining studies. The results of our review suggest that the self-collection method is well-accepted and may therefore encourage greater participation in cervical cancer screening programs. However, additional studies are required to verify these results.


Every published volume has a reason, a history, a conceptual underpinning as well as an aim that ultimately the editor or editors wish to achieve. There is also something else in the creation of a volume; that is the larger goal shared by the community of authors, artists and critics that take part in it. This volume of LEA titled Not Here, Not There had a simple goal: surveying the current trends in augmented reality artistic interventions. There is no other substantive academic collection currently available, and it is with a certain pride that both, Richard Rinehart and myself, look at this endeavor. Collecting papers and images, answers to interviews as well as images and artists' statements and putting it all together is perhaps a small milestone; nevertheless I believe that this will be a seminal collection which will showcase the trends and dangers that augmented reality as an art form faces in the second decade of the XXIst century.


Importance The number of women in ophthalmology is rising. Little is known about their clinical activity and collections. Objective To examine whether charges, as reflected in reimbursements from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) to ophthalmologists, differ by sex and how disparity relates to differences in clinical activity. Design, Setting, and Participants Retrospective review of the CMS database for payments to ophthalmologists from January 1, 2012, through December 31, 2013. The dates of the analysis were February 1 through May 30, 2016. After exclusion of J and Q codes, the total payments to and the number of charges by individual ophthalmologists were analyzed. The mean values were compared using a single t test, and the medians were compared by the nonparametric Wilcoxon rank sum test. Main Outcomes and Measures Primary outcome measures were the mean and median CMS payments to male and female ophthalmologists in outpatient, non–facility-based settings. Secondary outcome measures included the number of charges submitted by men and women and the types of charges most commonly submitted by men and women. Results This study included 16 111 ophthalmologists (3078 women [19.1%] and 13 033 men [80.9%]) in 2012 and 16 179 ophthalmologists (3206 women [19.8%] and 12 973 men [80.2%]) in 2013. In 2012, the average female ophthalmologist collected $0.58 (95% CI, $0.54-$0.62; P < .001) for every dollar collected by a male ophthalmologist; comparing the medians, women collected $0.56 (95% CI, $0.50-$0.61; P < .001) for every dollar earned by men. Mean and median collections were similar when comparing female vs male ophthalmologists in 2013 (P < .001). The mean payment per charge was the same for men and women, $66 in 2012 and $64 in 2013. There was a strong association between collections and work product, with female ophthalmologists submitting fewer charges to Medicare in 2012 (median, 1120 charges; difference −935; 95% CI, −1024 to −846; P < .001) and in 2013 (median, 1141 charges; difference −937; 95% CI, −1026 to −848; P < .001) than male ophthalmologists. When corrected by comparing men and women with similar clinical activity, renumeration was still lower for women. In both years, women were underrepresented among ophthalmologists with the highest collections. Conclusions and Relevance Remuneration from the CMS was disparate between male and female ophthalmologists in 2012 and 2013 because of the submission of fewer charges by women. Further studies are necessary to explore root causes for this difference, with equity in opportunity and parity in clinical activity standing to benefit the specialty.


The study examines the joint effect of top management team characteristics, corporate governance and corporate social responsibility on organizational performance of large manufacturing firms. The study is guided by the upper echelons, agency, stakeholder and organizational performance theories respectively. A descriptive cross-sectional survey design was adopted. The population was all seventy two large manufacturing firms in Kenya. Primary data was collected using structured questionnaire from Chief Executive Officers. This was analysed through descriptive and multiple regression analysis. Results obtained show that the synergy of top management team characteristics, corporate governance and corporate social responsibility account for 47% of the performance of the firm. The results offer applicability and relevance of upper echelon, agency and stakeholder theories in normal organizational operations. While recruiting top managers, the selection board is guided to match the characteristic profiles of candidates against the members of the existing management team. In practice, firms attain superior performance if they incorporated good corporate governance with an independent board chairman, specialized board committees, and more outside directors on their boards.  Organizations should mainstream corporate social responsibility practices that are consistent with expected societal expectations to stimulate higher performance. Policy makers are encouraged to be support manpower development, encourage improvement in governance and emphasize moral organizational value system as part of institutional conditions that impact on manufacturing performance in the local context as they formulate policies to aid competiveness of the sector projected in Kenya Vision 2030.  The empirical testing in this paper adds to the scholarly knowledge by providing evidence on the synergistic effect of top management characteristics, corporate governance and social responsibility on firm performance. It goes further to contribute to literature on upper echelons theory, agency theory, stakeholder theory and organizational performance theory.


Background/Objective: The aim of this study was to explore the psychometric properties of the Spanish version of the Parenting Interactions with Children: Checklist of Observations Linked to Outcomes (PICCOLO; Roggman et al., 2013a). This observational measure is composed of 29 items that assess the quality of four domains of parenting interactions that promote child development: affection, responsiveness, encouragement, and teaching. Methods: The sample included 203 mother-child dyads who had been video-recorded playing together. Fifty-six percent of the children were male, and 44% were female, aged from 10 to 47 months. Video-recorded observations were rated using PICCOLO items. Results: Confirmatory factor analysis supported that the instrument has four first-order factors corresponding to the hypothesized domains of parenting behaviors, and a second-order factor corresponding to a general factor of positive parenting. Construct validation evidence was compiled by examining the relationship between PICCOLO scores and child age. As expected, teaching domain and total PICCOLO scores were positively correlated with child age. The Spanish PICCOLO also demonstrated good inter-rater reliability (ranging from 0.69 to 0.84) and internal consistency reliability (ranging from 0.59 to 0.88) for the four domain scores and the total parenting score. Concurrent criterion-related validity was examined via correlations between parenting scores and child cognitive, language and motor skills outcomes, measured using the Bayley Scales of Infant Development. Conclusion: The Spanish version of the PICCOLO meets the criteria for a reliable and valid observational measurement of parenting interactions with children. The psychometric properties of the instrument make it appropriate for general research purposes, but also for program evaluation of Early Intervention and other parenting-support interventions. This measure, focused on parent strengths, could be used to facilitate family-centered practices in early intervention and other programs that have parenting as an outcome.


Women are more visible than ever in sports media. Yet, extant research has shown that females have endured an array of issues exclusive to their gender. Consistent research updates on gender in sports media is necessary in order to discover whether an increase in numbers has changed the assessment of women in sports media. This study's objective was to understand how audiences now perceive women in television sports media, specifically as sports reporters covering the NFL. This quantitative experiment employed two current, veteran sports reporters (one female and one male) and pre-tested for the purpose of this study. It is the first known study that utilized professional television sports reporters. Each reporter recorded the same two "stand-ups" with identical backdrops. Survey participants randomly watched a video either of the male or female giving a fact or an opinion report and were then asked questions to measure their perception of the sports reporter's knowledge and credibility. Intriguingly, this study did not replicate results from prior research, and therefore could contribute to literature on women in sports media moving forward.


Fractions of aqueous and water-alcohol extracts of the birch fungus Inonotus obliquus have antiviral effect against the human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1). Antiviral properties of low toxic extracts were manifested in the concentration of 5.0 pg/ml upon simultaneous application with the virus in the lymphoblastoid cells culture MT-4. The extract of the birch fungus can be used for development of new antiviral drugs, inhibitors of HIV-1 replication when used both in the form of individual drugs and as a part of complex therapy.


This research explored how men over the age of 40 narrate the use of Christianity as a coping mechanism throughout major life events. A qualitative approach was foretaken; using the biographic narrative interpretive interview method, five Christian men aged over 40 were interviewed. The research objectives were to understand; how males over the age of 40 story how they use religion throughout life with regards to major life events and experiences, and how these narratives are related to their ability to cope. The developmental approach to narrative analysis was conducted on the data: where the tone throughout was analysed to be optimistic. Three narrative themes derived from analysis also; (1) The need of individualised hope, (2) 'No man is an island' the sense of belonging to the community and (3) Embodying the values of Christianity. The overall analysis suggests that utilising the narrative of the bible to cope with major life events is beneficial for mental health of men aged over 40. Implications are discussed.


Until recently, mutations in histones had not been described in any human disease. However, genome-wide sequencing of pediatric high-grade gliomas revealed somatic heterozygous mutations in the genes encoding histones H3.1 and H3.3, as well as mutations in the chromatin modifiers ATRX and DAXX. The functional significance and mechanistic details of how these mutations affect the tumors is currently under intensive investigation. The information gained from these studies will shed new light on normal brain development as well as increase our understanding of the tumorigenic processes that drive pediatric high-grade gliomas.


OBJECTIVE
To perform a systematic review and meta-analysis to evaluate the impact of body mass index (BMI) on oncological (primary) and surgical (secondary) outcomes of patients who underwent nephrectomy, as obesity or high BMI is a known risk factor for renal cell carcinoma (RCC) and predictor of poorer outcomes.

METHODS
Studies were identified from four electronic databases from database inception to 2 June 2021, according to the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Review and Meta-analysis statement. The review protocol was registered in the International Prospective Register of Systematic Reviews with the identification number: CRD42021275124.

RESULTS
A total of 18 studies containing 13 865 patients were identified for the final meta-analysis. Regarding oncological outcomes, higher BMI predicted higher overall survival (BMI >25 vs BMI <25 kg/m2 : hazard ratio [HR] 0.70, 95% confidence interval [CI] 0.58-0.85), cancer-specific survival (BMI >25 vs BMI <25 kg/m2 : HR 0.60, 95% CI 0.50-0.73; BMI 25-30 vs BMI <25 kg/m2 : HR 0.46, 95% CI 0.23-0.95; BMI >30 vs BMI <25 kg/m2 : HR 0.50, 95% CI 0.36-0.69), and recurrence-free survival rates (BMI >25 vs BMI <25 kg/m2 : HR 0.72, 95% CI 0.63-0.82; BMI 25-30 vs BMI <25 kg/m2 : HR 0.59, 95% CI 0.42-0.82). Those with a lower BMI fared better in surgical outcomes, such as operation time and warm ischaemic time, although the absolute difference was minimal and unlikely to be clinically significant. There was no difference between groups for length of hospital stay, intraoperative or postoperative complications, blood transfusion requirements, and conversion to open surgery.

CONCLUSION
Our study suggests that a higher BMI is associated with improved long-term oncological survival and similar perioperative outcomes as a lower BMI. More research into the underlying biological and physiological mechanisms will enable better understanding of the effect of BMI, beyond mere association, on post-nephrectomy outcomes.