BACKGROUND: Human-inflicted bite wounds to the hand are serious injuries that may result in significant morbidity and permanent impairment. Irrespective of the mechanism, they are associated with a high complication rate and this has been attributed to the unique anatomy of the hand and the pathogens involved in human bites. HIV (human immunodeficiency virus) infection is known to compromise the immune system through immune exhaustion and senescence. This potentially increases the risk of complications following human bites to the hand in HIV-positive patients. The aim of this study was to determine if HIV infection is associated with an increased risk for the development of early complications following human bites to the hand.
PATIENTS AND METHODS: We retrospectively reviewed the records of a cohort of consecutive patients treated between June 2013 and October 2014. Patient charts were reviewed and information extracted with regard to demographics, the location and mechanism of the bite, occurrence of complications, HIV status and CD4 counts, as well as whether they were taking ARV (antiretroviral) medication at the time. The time from injury to presentation was recorded, as well as the time from injury to surgical intervention.
RESULTS: Thirty-nine patients were included in the study and there were no exclusions. The mean age of patients was 31.5 years (range 14-60 years), with an approximately equal distribution between males and females. Sixteen patients (41%) in our study cohort were found to be HIV-positive, 15 patients were HIV-negative (38%), and in eight cases (21%) the HIV status was unknown. Of the HIV-positive patients, 44% had CD4 counts below 350 cells/mm3 but only four (25%) were on ART (anti-retroviral therapy) at the time of injury. Complications occurred in 88% (14/16) of the HIV-positive patients compared to 80% (12/15) in the HIV-negative group (risk ratio [RR] = 1.09; 95% confidence interval [CI] = 0.8-1.5; p=0.65.
CONCLUSIONS: HIV infection was not associated with an increased risk of developing complications following human bites to the hand in this series. An increase in the time from injury to presentation was however associated with an increased risk of amputation.


To solve a problem without any knowledge of its solution, a variety evolutionary computation approach based automatic programming methods have been developed. Artficial Bee Colony Programming (ABCP) is one of the recently proposed automatic programming methods. ABCP has been preferred and applied to various problems by researchers from different disciplines like other evolutionary computation approach based algorithms. In this study, a cloud-based web application (ABCPWeb) that allows to use the ABCP with no need to have any programming knowledge is proposed. ABCPWeb is tested on the benchmark problems that are previously solved by ABCP. The success of ABCPWeb is revealed by comparing the experimental results with the results of basic ABCP.


In this paper, we consider the problem of insufficient runtime and memory-space complexities of contemporary deep convolutional neural networks in the problem of image recognition. A survey of recent compression methods and efficient neural networks architectures is provided. The experimental study is focused on the visual emotion recognition problem. We compare the computational speed and memory consumption during the training and the inference stages of such methods as the weights matrix decomposition, binarization and hashing in the visual emotion recognition problem. It is experimentally shown that the most efficient recognition is achieved with the full network binarization and matrices decomposition.


To understand the in vivo function of the unique and conserved carboxy-terminal repeat domain (CTD) of RNA polymerase II largest subunit (RpII215), we have studied RNA polymerase II biosynthesis, activity and genetic function in Drosophila RpII215 mutants that possessed all (C4), half (W81) or none (IIt) of the CTD repeats. We have discovered that steady-state mRNA levels from transgenes encoding a fully truncated, CTD-less subunit (IIt) are essentially equal to wild-type levels, whereas the levels of the CTD-less subunit itself and the amount of polymerase harboring it (Pol IIT) are significantly lower than wild type. In contrast, for the half-CTD mutant (W81), steady-state mRNA levels are somewhat lower than for wild type or IIt, while W81 subunit and polymerase amounts are much less than wild type. Finally, we have tested genetically the ability of CTD mutants to complement (rescue) partially functional RpII215 alleles and have found that IIt fails to complement whereas W81 complements partially to completely. These results suggest that removal of the entire CTD renders polymerase completely defective in vivo, whereas eliminating half of the CTD results in a polymerase with significant in vivo activity.


OBJECTIVES The commonly employed outcome measures on disability and relapse rates in treatment trials of relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis have well demonstrated sensitivity to treatment effects, but their clinical interpretation is problematic. An alternative method of analysis, which is more clinically meaningful and statistically appropriate to a condition with a fluctuating disease course, uses the summary measure statistic "area under the disability/time curve (AUC)", to estimate each patient's total in trial morbidity experience. METHODS The AUC technique was applied in an intention to treat analysis of serial disability data derived from the expanded disability status scale (EDSS), the Scripps neurologic rating scale (SNRS), and the ambulation index (AI), collected during a double blind, randomised, placebo controlled, phase III trial of subcutaneous interferon β-1a (INFβ-1a) in relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis (PRISMS Study). The results were compared with the often quoted "conventional" end point of mean change in rating scores from baseline to trial completion. Analyses were also carried out on subgroups with entry EDSS stratified above and below 3.5. RESULTS EDSS data analysed by AUC normalised to baseline scores disclosed that both doses of IFNβ-1a (22 or 44 μg) were superior to placebo (p= 0.008 and 0.013, respectively). In addition, the high dose (44 μg) was more beneficial than placebo using SNRS (p= 0.038) and AI data (p= 0.039). AUC analysis of SNRS scores also showed that for patients with baseline EDSS>3.5, the 44 μg (but not the 22 μg) dose was more advantageous than placebo (p=0.028). CONCLUSIONS Summary measure analysis using the AUC of serial disability/time plots, confirms and extends the results of conventional end point analysis of disability from the PRISMS Study data. AUC evaluations show that high dose INFβ-1a (44 μg three times weekly) was beneficial on all of the clinical rating scale scores used in this study. This method provides a statistically powerful and clinically meaningful assessment of treatment effects on in trial disability in patients with multiple sclerosis with fluctuating and highly heterogeneous disease courses.


Introduction: Audit tools have evolved as a useful means of assessing the obesogenicity of an environment. Previously adapted audit tools have relied mainly on individual observations and recordings, and whether the findings are conveyed to the individuals involved in the audit has not been reported. We conducted an audit of the obesogenicity of five primary school environments in Brunei Darussalam, and explored the effect of using a direct-questioning approach combined with reporting the audit outcome back to the schools involved. Methods: A multi-site case study research design was used, using qualitative methods. We used a modified version of the PSEA tool to conduct the audit. A single researcher completed the audit via observations and direct questioning of relevant school community stakeholders. The outcome of the audit was communicated back to the individuals at the schools in the form of a simple report using visual data and a short presentation. Results: The use of direct questioning as part of the audit tool improved participation or discussion between the researcher and stakeholders. The feedback session proved useful, as new information emerged that enhanced data collection. Furthermore, during the feedback session, the school administration had the opportunity to moderate the information collected, and to provide any feedback they may have had. Conclusions: The innovative components of the audit tool used in our study resulted in enhanced data trustworthiness and community engagement, which may be applicable to other communitybased research.


Whole genome sequencing has recently identified DIS3 as a novel tumour suppressor gene in multiple myeloma. DIS3 is a conserved RNA exonuclease and catalytic subunit of the exosome, a protein complex involved in the 3' to 5' degradation and processing of messenger RNA and small RNAs. Messenger RNA processing and degradation is important in controlling gene expression and therefore cellular function, however the role DIS3 plays in the pathogenesis of haematological cancer remains unclear. Using RNAi as a means to knock-down DIS3, I have performed various functional assays to investigate the consequences of DIS3 loss-of function on myeloma cells. I have investigated cell viability, drug-sensitivity, mitotic errors, apoptosis and the generation of double-strand breaks in both transiently transfected myeloma cells and stable transfected adherent cells. I have also performed transcript profiling experiments in the form of RNA-sequencing to identify possible targets of DIS3 as well as synthetic lethality screens to identify proteins that may be cooperating with DIS3 mutations in myeloma pathogenesis. Overall, DIS3 knock-down did not appear to affect cellular phenotype in these assays, possibly indicating that DIS3 may be conferring a competitive advantage to cancer cells through a mechanism that only occurs in vivo. Alternatively, DIS3 mutations may not be driving tumourigenesis on their own but may either require another cellular pathway to be disrupted, or, may only be required to maintain the tumour rather than initiate it. In addition to investigating the role of DIS3 in oncogenesis, I have also studied the normal physiological role of DIS3 within the cell. I have confirmed the presence of two alternatively spliced, protein-coding transcripts of DIS3 that differ in the size of their endoribonucleolytic PIN domain. My work has characterised the levels of these two isoforms in cell lines and in tissues from humans with various haematological cancers. Isoform 1 appeared to be the principal transcript in cell lines as well as myeloma and AML patient cells. However, in CMML and healthy controls, the ratios of each isoform are more equal and often isoform 2 is more highly expressed than isoform 1. Activity assays indicated a difference in the ability
of the shorter isoform to degrade circular RNAs, suggesting isoform 2 may have
reduced endonucleolytic function. Initial work has also identified a link between
the higher expression of isoform 2 in CMML patients and common mutations in the
splicing gene SRSF2. This suggests the expression of the endonucleolyticallyreduced
DIS3 isoform 2, may contribute towards a CMML phenotype.
Although this project was unable to identify the role of DIS3 in myeloma
development, there is strong evidence that mutations in this gene are being
positively selected and confer an advantage to cancer cells. More sophisticated
experiments may need to be conducted whereby the in vivo environment is
mimicked more effectively, through the generation of a mutant mouse model. Only
once we understand the picture more fully, can we begin to design targeted
molecular therapies for affected patients.


The Zwicky Transient Facility (ZTF) has been observing the entire northern sky since the start of 2018 down to a magnitude of 20.5 (5σ for 30 s exposure) in the g, r, and i filters. Over the course of two years, ZTF has obtained light curves of more than a billion sources, each with 50–1000 epochs per light curve in g and r, and fewer in i. To be able to use the information contained in the light curves of variable sources for new scientific discoveries, an efficient and flexible framework is needed to classify them. In this paper, we introduce the methods and infrastructure that will be used to classify all ZTF light curves. Our approach aims to be flexible and modular and allows the use of a dynamical classification scheme and labels, continuously evolving training sets, and the use of different machine-learning classifier types and architectures. With this setup, we are able to continuously update and improve the classification of ZTF light curves as new data become available, training samples are updated, and new classes need to be incorporated.


The paper describes results obtained investigating the problems of adaptation to climate change of Italian agriculture. It specify a choice process that explicitly considers that farmers base their planning on an awareness of the inherent variability in the climatic conditions of their territories. The expectations on climatic variables, and the consequent conditions for crop, are represented under various hypotheses of climate stability, or cognition of a change achieved by observing the current weather conditions, or even in full knowledge of the actual probability distributions of climate events. The choices due to those expectations are simulated with a model of Discrete Stochastic Programming. The results suggest that it may be interesting to better investigate the hypothesis that, even in a relatively short time and, especially, already in the current period, are in place climate changes significant for the agricultural activities, especially when poor of water resource and in marginal areas. Failure to understand these changes can lead farmers to a wrong choices: on one hand, may prevent from taking advantage of existing opportunities for income improvements,; on the other hand, may induce farmers to misconceptions on the way to defend from the negative effects of climate change. This suggests that among the most effective strategies for adapting to climate change, there is support for farmers to improve their ability to assess the new and changing climate framework.


Author(s): Sater, Ali Abbas Abdul | Advisor(s): Ojcius, David M. | Abstract: Inflammasomes have been extensively characterized in monocytes and macrophages, but not in epithelial cells, which are the preferred host cells for many pathogens. Here we show that cervical epithelial cells express a functional inflammasome. Infection of the cells by Chlamydia trachomatis leads to activation of caspase-1, through a process requiring the NOD-like receptor family member NLRP3 and the inflammasome adaptor protein ASC. Secretion of newly synthesized virulence proteins from the chlamydial vacuole through a type III secretion apparatus results in efflux of K+ through glibenclamide-sensitive K+ channels, which in turn stimulates production of reactive oxygen species. Elevated levels of reactive oxygen species (ROS) are responsible for NLRP3-dependent caspase-1 activation in the infected cells. In monocytes and macrophages, caspase-1 is involved in processing and secretion of proinflammatory cytokines such as interleukin-1β. We demonstrate that C. trachomatis or C. muridarum infection of a monocytic cell line lead to caspase-1 dependent interleukin-1β (IL-1β) secretion in a NLRP3 inflammasome dependent manner that requires Syk signaling. However, in epithelial cells, which are not known to secrete large quantities of IL-1β, caspase-1 has been shown previously to enhance lipid metabolism. Here we show that, in cervical epithelial cells, caspase-1 activation is required for optimal growth of the intracellular chlamydiae. Given the importance of ROS-induced caspase-1 activation in growth of chlamydial inclusion, we further investigate the sources of ROS production in epithelial cells following infection with C. trachomatis. In this study, we provide evidence that NLRX1-dependent mitochondrial generation of ROS is one of the two sources of ROS production induced by chlamydial infection; the other source being NADPH oxidase.


To address the shortage of personal protective equipment (PPE) that occurred as a result of Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), three first-year medical students at Western University developed an initiative to deliver handmade gowns to primary care providers in London, Ontario, Canada. They partnered with the local branch of the Canada Sews organization to sew the gowns, and created a gown order form which was distributed in the community. Following gown delivery by the authors, an optional feedback form was sent to the gown recipients for quality assurance purposes. As of June 10, 2020, 411 gowns were delivered to medical and dental locations, long-term care homes, emergency shelters, and pharmacies. Feedback from the recipients indicated that the gowns were comfortable to wear and consistently useful to primary care practices. The successful execution of the initiative within a month of its inception, the delivery of more than 400 gowns within the subsequent month, and the positive feedback from the gown recipients, indicates that medical students can play an important role during the COVID-19 pandemic, and other periods of crisis, even outside of clinical settings. Specifically, they are able to demonstrate the qualities of leadership, collaboration, and advocacy to spearhead initiatives to fulfill unmet community needs. They are also uniquely situated to help their communities due to factors such as the skills and knowledge they have attained in their academic training. Thus, the ability of medical students to assist primary care providers should be taken into consideration for future pandemics.


This article analyses two novels, Hanif Kureishi's The Buddha of Suburbia (1990) and Andrea Levy's Small Island (2004), to elaborate on how they form postcolonial literary visions of metropolitan Britain, in resistance to colonialist depictions of the setting which have been disseminated across the world. The two works share related themes and motifs in their representations of the experiences of first- and second-generation migrants from Britain's (former) colonies. Kureishi's novel, set in the 1970s, relates the teenage life of Karim, the son of an Indian migrant, Haroon, as he navigates his sense of being a "funny kind of Englishman" (3). Levy's novel, on the other hand, relates the experiences of a Jamaican couple, Hortense and Gilbert, as they arrive in Britain in 1948 within a fictionalised representation of the Empire Windrush. Comparable images within their works, including allusions to George Lamming's writing from the 1950s and Stuart Hall's depiction of the West End as it has existed in colonial imaginings, demonstrate how the two novelists participate in – and, therefore, help construct – a counter-canon of writing about post-war and postcolonial Britishness.


A proposed timber plantation site (approximately 1,900 hectares) located in the forest-savanna transition zone of the Ashanti Region, Ghana was surveyed. The objectives of the study were (1) to analyze the present stand structure (2) and to assess the tree regeneration potential on the plantation site. The forest assessment used systematic sampling design which revealed an open and fire disturbed stand structure with an estimated average basal area per hectare (α = 0.05) of 9.89±1.94 m2. The forest vegetation comprises of a single layer and features an average top height (α = 0.05) of 17.7 ± 0.8 m. The assessment of the tree species composition indicated a relatively homogeneous floristic composition with an average tree species number per sample plot of 10.0±1.0. A total of 65 tree species belonging to 48 genera and 25 families was recorded. Tree regeneration from seeds and resprouts recorded an average number per hectare (α = 0.05) of 3.884 ± 746 with a total of 38 species regenerating. The remnant forest vegetation is assumed to be in a regressive succession stage towards savanna vegetation. A conversion of the remnant forest vegetation to production forest seems to be possible, if the existing socio-economic pressure on the forest resources can be reduced and wildfires can be prevented.

 Key words: Savanna, fire, forest regeneration, stand structure, Ghana.


Electrical impedance spectroscopy is expected to use for quality estimation of agricultural product. In this study, changes in moisture content, porosity and electrical and mechanical properties of sweet potato heated in hot water at 50, 55, 60, 65, and 70 °C were investigated. Additionally, the tissue structure was scanned by X-ray computerized tomography (CT). As a result, the porosity of the sample decreased with treatment time at every temperature while the moisture content changed at only 70 °C. This decrease in the porosity greatly affected the extracellular resistance and the elastic modulus. Moreover, the elastic modulus could be expressed by a logarithmic equation of the extracellular resistance with the high determination coefficient (R2 = 0.91). Average CT values calculated from the scanned images of the tissue also indicated good correlations with porosity and elastic modulus. These results indicated that the extracellular resistance and the average CT value were effective for the estimation of elasticity as well as porosity.

Practical applications
Sweet potato (Ipomoea batatas (L.) Lam.) is one of the most popular vegetables in Japan with its highly nutritional value and sweet taste. It is widely used for processed foods and shochu (Japanese liquor). To make these products, sweet potato is heated by hot water immersion or steaming in the process lines. Because the processes have been mechanized, technological development which enables to estimate inner state of sweet potato during heating is required. This research investigated potential of electrical impedance spectroscopy and CT scanning as the quality estimation technique for heated sweet potato. The results presented here clarified relationships between electrical properties and other physical properties, and CT value and the properties. The knowledge will contribute to design a quality control system based on the automatically quality estimation.


Abstract Coarctation of the aorta (AoCo) accounts for 6–10% of congenital heart diseases in infants. We analysed echocardiographic findings of patients operated on for AoCo in the University Hospital for Children in Riga during the first year of life to evaluate the long-term findings. Fifty-nine children underwent surgical correction of AoCo at the age of 55 ± 61 days. The methods of surgical correction were anastomosis end-to-end (ETE) in 29% (n = 17), subclavian flap aortoplasty (SFA) in 64% (n = 38) and extended anastomosis end-to-end (EETE) in 7% (n = 4). Recoarctation developed in 15 patients (25%) with no difference between surgical techniques (P > 0.05). The recoarcation patients had left ventricle hypertrophy (left ventricle mass index (LVMi) 76 ± 19 g/m2.7) normalising after angioplasty (LVMi 42 ± 7 g/m2.7). Patients with recoarctation had a decreased pulsed wave (PW) Doppler systolic/diastolic ratio in abdominal aorta 2.3 ± 0.4 versus patientswithout recoarctation 5.3 ± 1.2 and the control group 6.3 ± 1.4 (P < 0.05). A high incidence of recoarctation exists in patients operated on for AoCo as small infants. Life-long surveillance is required to monitor and to intervene in a timely way. Supplementation of the echocardiographic protocol with an evaluation of PW Doppler flow pattern in abdominal aorta can provide additional information about the presence of obstruction.


It is possible to distinguish three main channels whereby income growth affects the quality of the environment as first suggested by Grossman (1995). These are (1) scale effect, (2) composition effect and (3) techn ologi cal
pr ogr ess. A recent resear ch criticism by Cole (2003 and 2004) of the environmental Kuznets curve (EKC) hypothesis is based on the occurrence of foreign direct investment and international trade. In the previous EKC literature. EKC is always estimated in the form of a single equation. However,
since both income and environmental quality are endogenous variables in which they impact upon each other, the estimation of single equation relationships where simultaneity exists will produce biased and inconsistent
estimates. The general objective ofthis study is to measure the relationship between economic growth and different indicators ofair pollution in Malaysia. Air pollution indicators were assessed on a number of measures: Carbon
Monoxide (CO), Sulfur Dioxide (SO). Nitrogen Dioxide (NO). Ozone (0) and Particulat e Matter (PM,). The income level per capita GDP (Gross Domestic Product) were measured from the year 1996 to 2006 quarterly. This study contributes to the available literature by Hung et al (2004) AND Shen
(2006), This study also estimates population density as an endogenous variable. It formulates a four- equation simultaneous model for empirical research. It tests for exogeneity using the Hausman test and estimates the
simultaneity model using the two-stages least squares method. The EKC hypothesis is supported in the cases ofso] and PM/oand there are several differences found between single polynomial equation estimators commonly used in EKC literatures and simultaneous equation estimators.


Acholeplasma strains were isolated from the nasopharynx of a horse (strain PN525T [T = type strain]) and the feces of a rabbit (strain B1). One clone of strain PN525T and one clone of strain B1 were examined in detail. These clones were indistinguishable from each other and were serologically distinct from the previously described Acholeplasma and Mycoplasma spp. The strains had the following properties: guanine-plus-cytosine content of 31 mol%; sterol was not required for growth, which occurred under both aerobic and anaerobic conditions; glucose was metabolized; and arginine was hydrolyzed. Strain PN525 (= NCTC 11723) is the type strain of a new species, Acholeplasma multilocale.


This paper presents a novel linear time-varying model predictive controller (LTV-MPC) using a sparse clothoid-based path description: a LTV-MPCC. Clothoids are used world-wide in road design since they allow smooth driving associated with low jerk values. The formulation of the MPC controller is based on the fact that the path of a vehicle traveling at low speeds defines a segment of clothoids if the steering angle is chosen to vary piecewise linearly. Therefore, we can compute the vehicle motion as clothoid parameters and translate them to vehicle inputs. We present simulation results that demonstrate the ability of the controller to produce a very comfortable and smooth driving while maintaining a tracking accuracy comparable to that of a regular LTV-MPC. While the regular MPC controllers use path descriptions where waypoints are close to each other, our LTV-MPCC has the ability of using paths described by very sparse waypoints. In this case, each pair of waypoints describes a clothoid segment and the cost function minimization is performed in a more efficient way allowing larger prediction distances to be used. This paper also presents a novel algorithm that addresses the problem of path sparsification using a reduced number of clothoid segments. The path sparsification enables a path description using few waypoints with almost no loss of detail. The detail of the reconstruction is an adjustable parameter of the algorithm. The higher the required detail, the more clothoid segments are used.


In this study we assessed the occurrence, diversity and conjugative potential of plasmids in integron-carrying Aeromonas and Enterobacteriaceae from wastewaters. Sixty-six strains were included as donors in mating assays using rifampicin-resistant Escherichia coli and Pseudomonas putida recipient strains. The diversity of plasmids from donors and transconjugants (resistant to tetracycline or streptomycin) was evaluated by restriction analysis and replicon typing targeting 19 incompatibility groups. Restriction patterns revealed a diverse plasmid pool present in these strains. Plasmids were assigned to FrepB (Aeromonas salmonicida, Aeromonas veronii, Aeromonas sp., E. coli, Enterobacter sp.), FIC (A. salmonicida, Aeromonas sp.), FIA (Shigella sp.), I1 (A. veronii, Aeromonas sp., E. coli), HI1 (E. coli) and U (Aeromonas media) replicons. Nevertheless, 50% of the plasmids could not be assigned to any replicon type. Among integron-positive transconjugants, FrepB, I1 and HI1 replicons were detected. Results showed that wastewaters enclose a rich plasmid pool associated with integron-carrying bacteria, capable of conjugating to different bacterial hosts. Moreover, replicons detected in this study in Aeromonas strains expand our current knowledge of plasmid diversity in this genus.


Backgrounds Treatment for end-stage heart failure has been shifting from inpatient care to domiciliary treatment according to the commence of health insurance reimbursement for implantable left ventricular assist device (LVAD). Majority of patients with LVAD treatment are able to enjoy better quality of life and rehabilitation in society, which was not achievable with conventional medical treatment. Current status and management We established the ventricular assist device center at Tohoku University Hospital in April, 2013, and have dedicated ourselves to manage domiciliary treatment for patients with LVAD. There have been currently three so-called LVAD nurses belonging to the VAD center, and all are qualified with a certificate for LVAD specialist. The LVAD nurses play a role as a contact person and a coordinator for outpatient clinic for patients and their family including emergent occasion. They are also in charge of home anti-coagulant management utilizing a coagucheck XS○R personal. Infection control of drive-line exit site is another area of important management by them. When infection is suspected, the patients are required to send them some photographs of the exit site which are then meticulously assessed along with the updated information on each patient obtained over the phone. Selected surgical dressings and instruction on sterilization technique for patients are also provided by the LVAD nurses. Summary The number of patients requiring LVAD treatment has been increasing and the number of available devices has also been expanding over the last three years. Accordingly, medical professionals are requested to provide individualized care and management for each patient. The VAD center has undoubtedly played a central role to enable the patients with LVAD to live their lives at home by a team effort with integrated knowledge and expertise shared among LVAD specialists.


ABSTRACT Background: Berberine has several preventive effects on cardiovascular diseases. Increased expression of miR-29b has been reported to attenuate cardiac remodeling after myocardial infarction (MI). We hypothesized that berberine via an miR-29b-dependent mechanism promotes angiogenesis and improves heart functions in mice after MI. Methods: The MI model was established in mice by ligation of left anterior descending coronary artery. The expression of miR-29b was examined by RT-qPCR. Angiogenesis was assessed by immunohistochemistry. Results: Berberine increased miR-29b expression and promoted cell proliferations and migrations in cultured endothelial cells, which were abolished by miR-29b antagomir or AMP-activated protein kinase inhibitor compound C. In mice following MI, administration of berberine significantly increased miR-29b expressional level, promoted angiogenesis, reduced infarct size, and improved heart functions after 14 postoperative days. Importantly, these in vivo effects of berberine were ablated by antagonism of miR-29b. Conclusion: Berberine via upregulation of miR-29b promotes ischemia-induced angiogenesis and improves heart functions.


A new band pass narrow band, miniaturized and single resonance within a wide range of frequency band frequency selective surface structure loaded with surface mount capacitors suitable for low frequency and narrowband waveguide filter applications is presented. The filter structure consists of five unit cells in one direction with notch square ring elements each consists of two lumped capacitors placed on the transverse plane of the rectangular waveguide. To reduce the simulation time in design procedure, split-field update FDTD method is used for the analysis of the unit cell of the analogous infinite frequency selective surface at different oblique incidence of plane waves to predict the FSS performance in the waveguide. As an application, a waveguide filter has been designed to be used in an easy to fabricate and inexpensive S-band band-pass filter. By using surface mount capacitors, several undesirable higher order resonance frequencies near the dominant resonance frequency are eliminated and the waveguide filter dimensions are reduced considerably in one direction compared with the analogous waveguide filter without lumped capacitors.


Abstract. Knowledge of major gene effects for quantitative traits (e.g. milk performance traits) and the consequent selection of animals with desirable genotypes can accelerate breeding progress and can therefore equal large gain in profits. It is generally accepted that in most cases, the total breeding value for quantitative traits of any animal can be divided in one or some major gene effects and a pure random polygenic component, in which the latter results from a finite number of remaining loci (FERNANDO et al. 1994). Thus, the aim of this study was to investigate, how the estimation of heritability is influenced by the application of two different models, one of them containing a major single gene effect. The myostatin gene ( MSTN ) was chosen because the knowledge of this gene effect is used for selection decisions in the Dual Purpose Belgian Blue Breed (DP-BBB) in the Walloon Region of Belgium.


Introduction Extra-genital tests for gonorrhoea (NG) and chlamydia (CT) are important in MSM and increasingly in women as vulvovaginal swabs (VVS) alone can miss infections but rectum, pharynx and urogenital swabs treble the diagnostic cost.Self-sampling is frequently used despite no robust RCT assessing its efficacy. We compared clinician-taken extra-genital samples with self-taken samples analysed both separately and as pooled samples for diagnostic accuracy. Methods Women and MSM attending a sexual health clinic were recruited. Clinician and two self-samples (analysed separately and pooled) from the pharynx and rectum (plus VVS or FCU in MSM) tested for NG and CT using Aptima Combo 2. Sampling order was randomised. Patient infected status was defined as at least two positive confirmed samples. Results 1795 (1284 women, 509 MSM) recruited. Overall prevalence: NG 9.0%, VVS/FCU 4.2% (75), rectum 4.6% (83), pharynx 4.0% (72); 9.4% females and 66.7% MSM were VVS/FCU negative. CT 15.4%, VVS/FCU 12.1% (217), rectum 13.9% (249), pharynx 3.5% (63); 13.1% females and 71.8% MSM were VVS/FCU negative. Sensitiviities, specificities, PPVs and NPVs:NG Rectum Clinician: 93.98, 99.94, 98.73, 99.71 NG Rectum Self: 96.39, 99.77, 95.24, 99.82 NG Pharynx Clinician: 93.06, 99.94, 98.53, 99.71 NG Pharynx Self: 95.83, 99.94, 98.57, 99.83 NG Self Pooled: 98.25, 99.94, 99.12, 99.88CT Rectum Clinician: 95.95, 99.87, 99.16, 99.35CT Rectum Self: 97.17, 99.81, 98.77, 99.55 CT Pharynx Clinician: 92.06, 99.94, 98.31, 99.71CT Pharynx Self: 93.65, 99.83, 95.16, 99.77 CT Self Pooled: 96.01, 99.60, 97.79, 99.28. There was no difference between clinician and self-taken extra-genital samples or between self-taken analysed separately or pooled by McNemar test. Conclusion This is the first RCT showing self-taken extra-genital samples are comparable to clinician-taken and can be analysed accurately as a pooled sample. High levels of infections are missed with just VVS/FCU. Trebling diagnostic costs would be unaffordable for many health systems but a pooled sample has the same cost as the current VVS/FCU.


The concept of academic integrity has been resurrected in both literature and practice in response to a perceived problem of student academic dishonesty. Most specifically, academic integrity advocates suggest changing the student academic culture to normalize academic integrity and reduce occurrences of academic dishonesty. Theories of organizational culture and change (e.g., Schein, 1992) suggest, however, that such a change process will be complex. This study fills a void in the literature by providing an examination of the integrity culture change process at one case institution and offering considerations for the facilitation and empirical investigation of integrity culture change.


Power conversion in increasingly constrained systems [1–3] requires extremely low quiescent power in sleep mode to enhance lifetimes. At the same time, a wide dynamic range [5,6] without compromising efficiency is required to handle heavily duty-cycled loads or varying power from energy-harvesting sources. In this paper, we present an inductive Buck converter operating on inputs of 1.2 to 3.3V, outputs of 0.7 to 0.9V, and delivering from 100pA to 1mA with a peak efficiency of 92% and a quiescent power of 240pW. Figure 10.8.1 shows the block diagram of the chip, which includes clock generation, output regulation, a discontinuous conduction mode (DCM) power stage with zero-current switching (ZCS) and input under-voltage (UV) checking.


Abstract. The mid- to lower reaches of the Yangtze River valley are located within the typical East Asian monsoon zone. Rapid urbanization, industrialization, and development of agriculture have led to fast and complicated land use and land cover change in this region. To investigate land–atmosphere interaction in this region where human activities and monsoon climate have considerable interaction with each other, micrometeorological elements over four sites with different surface types around Nanjing, including urban surface at Dangxiao (hereafter DX-urban), suburban surface at Xianling (XL-suburb), and grassland and farmland at Lishui County (LS-grass and LS-crop), are analyzed and their differences are revealed. The impacts of surface parameters of different surface types on the radiation budget and land surface–atmosphere heat, water, and mass exchanges are investigated and compared. The results indicate the following. (1) The largest differences in daily average surface air temperature (Ta), surface skin temperature (Ts), and relative humidity (RH), which are found during the dry periods between DX-urban and LS-crop, can be up to 3.21 °C, 7.26 °C, and 22.79 %, respectively. The diurnal ranges of the above three elements are the smallest at DX-urban and the largest at LS-grass, XL-suburb, and LS-crop. (2) Differences in radiative fluxes are mainly reflected in upward shortwave radiation (USR) that is related to surface albedo and upward longwave radiation (ULR) that is related to Ts. When comparing four sites, it can be found that both the smallest USR and the largest ULR occur at the DX-urban site. The diurnal variation in ULR is same as that of Ts at all four sites. (3) The differences in daily average sensible heat (H) and latent heat (LE) between DX-urban and LS-crop are larger than 45 and 95 Wm−2, respectively. The proportion of latent heat flux in the net radiation (LE/Rn) keeps increasing with the change in season from the spring to summer. (4) Human activities have obvious effects on microclimate. The urban heat island (UHI) effect results in a Ta 2 °C higher at the urban site than other sites in the nighttime. At the crop site, LE is dominant due to irrigation, and negative H is observed since evaporation cooling leads to low Ts. Although Ts is higher at XL-suburb than that at LS-grass, there is no large difference in Ta between the two sites due to the distinct effects of the planted forest.


There is evidence that consumers are increasingly purchasing food directly from local producers, but little is understood about which market-specific, intrinsic, extrinsic, and demographic attributes influence the probability of preferring to purchase fresh produce through direct-market channels. A multinomial logit model is used to analyze a national dataset of fresh produce consumers with a focus on exploring differences among those that prefer to purchase direct always, occasionally (seasonally and as a secondary source), and never. Results suggest that to increase patronage and loyalty of current customers, producers may emphasize the availability of fresh, superior, vitamin-rich, and locally-grown produce at market locations through booth displays, ads in magazines, radio spots, and electronic newsletters. To attract new customers who do not currently admit a preference for purchasing direct, producers may find greater success by locating in convenient-to-reach venues, showcasing a variety of colorful offerings, and working to enhance the overall aesthetic appeal of market locations.


Conformational communication across the plasma membrane between the extracellular and intracellular domains of integrins is beginning to be defined by structural work on both domains. However, the role of the α and β subunit transmembrane domains and the nature of signal transmission through these domains have been elusive. Disulfide bond scanning of the exofacial portions of the integrin αIIβ and β3 transmembrane domains reveals a specific heterodimerization interface in the resting receptor. This interface is lost rather than rearranged upon activation of the receptor by cytoplasmic mutations of the α subunit that mimic physiologic inside-out activation, demonstrating a link between activation of the extracellular domain and lateral separation of transmembrane helices. Introduction of disulfide bridges to prevent or reverse separation abolishes the activating effect of cytoplasmic mutations, confirming transmembrane domain separation but not hinging or piston-like motions as the mechanism of transmembrane signaling by integrins.


Sedentary lifestyles and bad eating habits influence the onset of many serious health problems. Healthy behavior change is an arduous task, and requires a careful planning. In this thesis, we propose that behavior recommenders can help their users achieve healthy behavior change. Such a system should inspire its users with small, incremental and achievable goals. For this, it must resolve a trade-off between two opposing objectives: help the user achieve a steady improvement in target behavior, and avoid extreme goals that may injure or discourage the user. This is an unprecedented challenge in the recommender systems research. If the system understands the impacts of past interventions for behavior change, it can determine its users' behavioral responses to its own recommendations. This implies a specific data curation, in which we not only measure people's behavior but also deliberately introduce an intervention to monitor its effect on people's patterns. In turn, the system can use these existing users' information to derive the right procedure for effective recommendations. In this study we capitalize on this insight and develop InspiRE - our behavior recommender framework. Through InspiRE we propose the following contributions: 1) We design the data curation. 2) We develop the novel approaches for behavior profiling 3) We develop an evaluation process for this novel type of recommender system, and also compare it with traditional, similarity-based recommendation approach. We curate a dataset that contains information of daily step counts and social intervention for 83 people. InspiRE successfully uses the observations from this dataset, and proposes recommendations that are both effective and feasible. We also show that InspiRE can generalize to other dimensions of well being: we demonstrate this through a dataset that contains the snacking patterns of 73 people, who receive message-based interventions. We observe that InspiRE's recommendation strategy is in line with theories of behavior change.


Although drug courts were intended to reduce the justice system involvement of drug offenders, a recent study found evidence that drug courts were associated with increased (rather than decreased) arrests for minor misdemeanor drug offenses (Lilley, 2017; Walsh, 2011). However, the previous study did not utilize an equivalent comparison group and may have relied on a large sample size to generate findings. The current study tested the robustness of those findings by analyzing only cities with over 50,000 population, including four additional years of data, and utilizing a more equivalent comparison group that was propensity-matched to reduce the possibility that a preexisting difference may have generated higher arrest outcomes among drug court jurisdictions. Net-widening, arrest, and crime challenges and implications for drug court policies and law enforcement roles are also discussed.


The paper focuses on information seeking behavior of library and information science students related to their process of scholarly activities. The study will investigate the ways in which LIS students at the Department of Information Sciences, Faculty of Philosophy in Osijek, Croatia, seek and utilize information for their final papers. In the first phase of the study, authors will, using quantitative methodology, analyse reference lists of students' final papers written in 2010 and find answers to the following research questions: How many sources did students on avarage use? What types of information sources (print, online) and what types of publications (monographs, journal articles, conference proceedings, grey literature etc.) did students use? What was the avarage age and the predominant language of the publications/sources used? In the second phase of the study, in-depth interviews with LIS students who finished their final papers in 2010 will be carried out. Qualitative data gathered in face-to-face interviews with students will provide deeper understanding of the respondents information seeking experiences and influences on their information behavior. Qualitative research will describe the respondents' information pathways (sequence of information sources used) and the selection criteria. It will also explain what role do the people (teachers, librarians, peers), Internet and academic library have on their information-seeking behavior.Research results will provide LIS teachers and librarians at the Faculty of Philosophy in Osijek with data that can help them in re-evaluation of their instructional program (e.g. in information literacy) and provision of library resources and services.


The tobacco retrotransposon Tto1 is one of a few active retrotransposons in plants. Its transposition is activated by tissue culture and is primarily regulated at the transcriptional level. Here we demonstrate that Tto1 introduced in Arabidopsis is also activated by tissue culture. Transcription of Tto1 was induced by tissue culture and driven by its LTR promoter. Transposed copies of Tto1 were observed in almost all of the plants regenerated from the explants cultured for only 1 week. A total of 255 independent regenerated lines have been produced, and the average copy number of transposed Tto1 in these lines is estimated to be 3.2. Sequences flanking Tto1 were amplified by thermal asymmetric interlaced (TAIL)-PCR. Of 165 independent amplified products, 123 showed significant homology to known genes or hypothetical protein genes. The insertion sites of Tto1 are spread over all chromosomes and the target site sequence shows moderate consensus. Taken together, these results indicate that Tto1 can be used as a tool for efficient insertion mutagenesis of Arabidopsis which is especially suitable as a reverse genetics system.


Relations between Alpine detachment-bounded metamorphic domes, crustal-scale strike-slip fault zones and sedimentary basins in the Internal zones of the Betic cordillera are still matter of debate. Current tectonic interpretations of these basins vary from late-orogenic extensional structures to compressional ones associated with strike-slip motions along major still active faults. Structural investigations including new field mapping, meso-scale faults recognition, palaeostress analysis of brittle small-scale faults systems were performed in the sedimentary cover of the Almanzora corridor and the Huercal-Overa basins, located either in the hanging wall unit of the Filabres extensional shear zone or at the termination of the Alhama de Murcia sinistral fault zone. In parallel, a detailed study of the ductile and the ductile-brittle deformation was carried out in the footwall unit of the Filabres extensional shear zone, in the Nevado-Filabride complex. Three main brittle events were recognised in the basin cover including two extensional events that occurred prior to a weak tectonic inversion of the basin during a third, still active event. The first one, D1b is characterized by the development a first stress regime consistent with ~NW-SE extensional tectonics. Besides, the consistency between the latest ductile and the brittle kinematics for the Filabres extensional shear zone and the activity of meso-scale fault systems that primarily control the main SW-NE depocentres allow concluding to a top-to-the-NW continuum of strain during the final exhumation of the Nevado-Filabride complex. The resulting overall half-graben architecture of the basins is then related to the combination of the formation of the metamorphic domes that added a local control superimposed on the regional deformation. Indeed, after a consistent top-to-the-west shearing prevailing during most of the Nevado-Filabride exhumation, final exhumation stages were in turn, characterised by important kinematics changes with a subordinate top-to-the-NW sense of shear (D1b). The onset of sedimentation in the basins occurred shortly after the crossing of the ductile-brittle transition in the underlying metamorphic domes at ca. 14 Ma into SW-NE fault-bounded troughs. Tectonic subsidence was then maintained during D2b while extensional kinematics changed to N-S or even locally to SSW-NNE. Extensional tectonics then lasted most of the Tortonian during the final tectonic denudation increments of the Sierra de los Filabres achieved at ca. 9-8 Ma. Intramontane basins are therefore genuinely extensional and clearly related to the latest exhumation stages of the Nevado-Filabride complex in the back-arc domain. Conversely, at ca. 8 Ma, basins started to record a ~N-S to NNW-SSE compressional stress regime (D3b) and ceased to be active depocentres while shortening within the Internal zones then recorded only the Iberia/Africa convergence. The weak inversion of the basins however resulted either in the reactivation of originally extensional faults such as the Alhama de Murcia fault or the basin individualisation and a progressive water exchange reduction with the Atlantic ocean and is thus proposed to be directly responsible for the Late Miocene salinity crises.


ABSTRACT Horizontal gene transfer may occur between distantly related bacteria, thus leading to genetic plasticity and in some cases to acquisition of novel resistance traits. Proteus mirabilis is an enterobacterial species responsible for human infections that may express various acquired β-lactam resistance genes, including different classes of carbapenemase genes. Here we report a Proteus mirabilis clinical isolate (strain 1091) displaying resistance to penicillin, including temocillin, together with reduced susceptibility to carbapenems and susceptibility to expanded-spectrum cephalosporins. Using biochemical tests, significant carbapenem hydrolysis was detected in P. mirabilis 1091. Since PCR failed to detect acquired carbapenemase genes commonly found in Enterobacteriaceae, we used a whole-genome sequencing approach that revealed the presence of blaOXA-58 class D carbapenemase gene, so far identified only in Acinetobacter species. This gene was located on a 3.1-kb element coharboring a blaAmpC-like gene. Remarkably, these two genes were bracketed by putative XerC-XerD binding sites and inserted at a XerC-XerD site located between the terminase-like small- and large-subunit genes of a bacteriophage. Increased expression of the two bla genes resulted from a 6-time tandem amplification of the element as revealed by Southern blotting. This is the first isolation of a clinical P. mirabilis strain producing OXA-58, a class D carbapenemase, and the first description of a XerC-XerD-dependent insertion of antibiotic resistance genes within a bacteriophage. This study revealed a new role for the XerC-XerD recombinase in bacteriophage biology.


Family lives have been changed dramatically due to the stay-at-home orders implemented during the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) outbreak. A variety of factors serve to increase the risk for children and adolescents in developing mental health issues during the prolonged stay-at-home period. The primary aim of this study was to examine a complex conceptual model linking daily routines, parent-child conflict, and indices of psychological maladjustment during the COVID-19 pandemic in a large sample of Chinese children and adolescents. Participants were N = 1,594 children and adolescents (50.6% girls; Mage = 13.13, SDage = 1.54) and their mothers, from Zhengzhou in Mainland China. Multisource assessments include youth self-reports of loneliness, depressive symptoms, and perceived conflict with parents during the stay-at-home period, as well as maternal reports of their child's daily routines during this time. Among the results, parent-child conflict mediated the relations between daily routines and indices of psychological maladjustment, such that a lack of routine predicted greater parent-child conflict, which in turn was associated with higher levels of loneliness and symptoms of depression. Further, results from multiple group analyses revealed that associations between daily routines and maladjustment were stronger among boys than girls-as well as stronger among primary school children than middle school adolescents. Findings highlighted the importance of maintaining regular routines for children's and adolescents' mental health during the COVID-19 pandemic. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2021 APA, all rights reserved).


Childhood trauma continues to be a silent epidemic in South Africa. Institutional childcare centres do not have sufficient funding or resources to render daily therapeutic services for abandoned children. The first line of professional care for these children encompasses their daily interactions and relationships formed with the centre caregivers. This article advances a greater understanding of the views, perceptions and experiences of caregivers caring for abandoned infants and toddlers living in institutional care, on the basis of information obtained from 15 participants interviewed through semi-structured interviews in this qualitative study. Understanding their views, perceptions and experiences provides vital information to develop social work practices. Keywords: abandonment, adverse childhood experiences, attachment, caregiver, childhood trauma, infants and toddlers, institutional care, social work support


For pelviscopic removal of ovarian tumours, a puncture or morcellation of the tumour used to be necessary, frequently causing the peritoneal cavity to be contaminated with contents of cysts or tumourous material. This contamination can be avoided safely by placing the intact tumour into a bag, provided that the tumour has been dissected completely. The intact tumour is put into a bag and both are completely removed at the same time through the abdominal wall. This method increases the safety of pelviscopic ovarian surgery, and its indication for use can be broadened.


The article deals with the results of study of chemical composition of solitary cysts and blood serum of 27 patients. The results demonstrated that qualitative composition off content of unicameral bone cysts is identical to chemical composition of blood serum. The results of analysis of total proteolysis activity and acid phosphatase activity in content of cysts can be used as criteria to determine the stage of cyst growth and to evaluate the effectiveness of applied treatment.


Processes of (dis)identification on social media take place in an environment generally described in terms of 'context collapse', whereby various offline audiences (e.g. family members, work colleagues, friends) are brought together into one online space. Linguists working in this area have explored the complex audience design strategies that users of social network sites adopt in targeting their posts at certain users and excluding others, and the diverse array of online resources they exploit in doing so. In this chapter, we extend this research through informant-based data which reveals the extent of people's awareness regarding the likely trajectories and potential accessibility of their postings, and the ways in which this awareness shapes identity constructions and expressions of commonality and/or exclusion.

The sociolinguistics research presented in the chapter draws upon questionnaire data from Facebook users combined with textual analysis of their status updates. It shows that people are highly sensitive to the expectations that they perceive others to have regarding their behaviour online; and that the people they worry about most are those with whom they share relationships offline – in other words, that they continue to negotiate and manage offline social roles online. For example, a father is likely to be restrained in what he posts on a social network site by the knowledge that his children may have access to his posts (even if he is not addressing them directly) and thus he needs to conform to certain expectations of his own parental role. Such practices show how, in contemporary contexts of diversity, social identities – and claims to authenticity – are interactively co-constructed online through responses to perceived social categories and conventions which may at times run counter to traditional perceptions of identity categories such as age and gender. People's various ideas about their social roles, and their perceptions of what they see as emerging social norms about what is appropriate on Facebook, shape people's behaviour and language use online as they seek to negotiate and construct personal and professional identities in this semi-public context.


Reports that ATP promotes proteolysis in tissue homogenates were reinvestigated. Although ATP increased production of material reacting with ninhydrin or Folin-phenol reagent, ATP did not stimulate protein degradation in such extracts. AMP and adenosine acted similarly to ATP. Deamination of the added nucleotides to produce ammonia caused the increase in ninhydrin-positive material.


We report the results of a field experiment where we exogenously vary the use of social comparisons "nudges" and subsidies for participation in an in-home energy audit program, and follow subjects through to the subsequent purchase of durable goods. We therefore can compare the causal effect of financial incentives and nudges along two margins, audits, which we liken to search, and purchase of durables. Using data on nearly 100,000 households, we document an asymmetry; nudges increase audits, but lead to lower rates of purchase. We find no evidence of a differential response for those offered a financial incentive. These differences suggest heterogeneity in the motives of the marginal consumer induced by nudges versus prices.


Self-sensing intelligent composite materials with state-sensing and awareness capabilities constitute the future of aerospace structures. The objective of this work is to develop technologies that will lead to the next generation of intelligent aerospace structures that can sense the environmental conditions and structural state, effectively interpret the sensing data to achieve real-time state awareness, and employ appropriate self-diagnostics under varying operational environments. In this paper, the design, integration, and experimental identification of the structural dynamics and aeroelastic properties are presented for an intelligent composite UAV wing. Bio-inspired stretchable sensor networks, including integrated piezoelectric, strain, and temperature sensors are monolithically embedded in the composite layup to provide the sensing capabilities. Stochastic signal processing and identification techniques are employed in order to accurately interpret the sensing. The experimental evaluation and assessment is demonstrated via a series of wind tunnel experiment under varying angles of attack and airflow velocities for the identification of the coupled airflowstructural dynamics and strain distribution. The obtained results demonstrate the successful integration of the micro-fabricated stretchable sensor networks with the composite wing, as well as the effectiveness of the stochastic data interpretation approaches. This study constitutes a significant step in proving the integration potential of the approach for the next generation of fly-by-feel UAVs. doi: 10.12783/SHM2015/163


ABSTRACT In the eastern United States, two invasive specialist insects share a native host plant, Eastern hemlock, Tsuga canadensis. In recent years, much research has focused on the impacts of the hemlock woolly adelgid (Adelges tsugae) because of the detrimental effects it has on hemlock growth and survival. In contrast, the invasive elongate hemlock scale (Fiorinia externa) is thought to have only minor impacts on hemlock. We infested hemlock saplings with each insect and compared them with control (i.e., neither insect herbivore) saplings to assess how early infestations impact Eastern hemlock health (measured using new branch growth, foliar %N, and C:N ratio). Our study showed that, at equal densities, the two insects differed in their effect on Eastern hemlock. F. externa did not impact plant growth or foliar chemistry over the course of the 2-yr experiment. A. tsugae significantly reduced plant growth and caused a reduction of %N in the first year of the experiment. By the end of the experiment, A. tsugae trees had the same %N in their foliage as control and F. externa trees but drastically reduced growth patterns. The most likely explanation for this result is the greater growth in control and F. externa saplings during the second year resulted in the dilution of available foliar N over a larger amount of newly produced plant tissue. For early infestations of both insects, our study suggests that management plans should focus on the more detrimental A. tsugae.


In Dutch integration policy, ethnic concentration is assumed to have negative effects on the integration of ethnic minorities, the most important cause being the lack of contact with native Dutch. Although research on concentration effects has increased, empirical evidence to support this isolation thesis is still insufficient. This paper contributes by testing the assumption that ethnic concentration hinders the existence of ethnic bridges-i.e. the informal ties between ethnic minorities and native Dutch. Moreover, it checks for different effects for deprived and non-deprived households. Findings indicate that one's neighbourhood plays a significant role in social inclusion into Dutch society and that this effect is stronger for the non-deprived.


It has been recently claimed that the first order hydrodynamics can be stable and casual in a general frame other than the usually used Landau or Eckart frames. We investigate the implications of the general frame approach for Bjorken flow. We show that certain transport coefficients that are introduced in this approach act as regulators similar to the Muller-Israel-Stewart parameters. The stable first-order hydro in the general frame approach gives rise to a non-linear equation of motion whose solutions decay to an attractor at late-times. We find an analytical approximation form for the attractor and show that its early-time behavior is consistent with the stability and casualty conditions proposed by Bemfica, Disconzi, Noronha, and Kovtun.


Various morphologies of silver films fabricated by the thermal decomposition of silver behenate have been studied. The morphological structures of silver behenate films at different heating temperatures are characterized by using SEM, IR and XRD. It is found that, while heating the silver behenate films, the formed silver particles are stabilized by the other thermal decomposition products in the range of 193°C∼320°C. The influence of silver behenate concentration in organic solvent on the formation and packing density of as-fabricated silver films by thermal treatment on the silver behenate films at 500°C has been studied. The results show that the silver film fabricated by a millimolar solution of silver behenate possesses a silver monolayer; the silver thick film can be formed at high concentration, and interestingly, silver particles with regular triangular or truncated triangular shape in the silver thick film are also obtained.


This article focuses on findings from a subgroup of African-American
male students as part of a broader qualitative dissertation research study, which explored how exclusion and marginalization in schools impact the lives of African-American students. The study focused on the perspectives of youth attending both middle and high schools in Michigan, and investigated how students who have experienced forms of exclusion in their K–12 schooling viewed their educational
experiences. Key themes that emerged from the study were lack of care, lack of belonging, disrupted education, debilitating discipline, and persistence and resilience. These themes were analyzed in relation to their intersectionality with culture, ethnicity, race, class, and gender.


Existing methods of adversarial attacks successfully generate adversarial examples to confuse Deep Neural Networks (DNNs) of image classification and object detection, resulting in wrong predictions. However, these methods are difficult to attack models of video object tracking, because the tracking algorithms could handle sequential information across video frames and the categories of targets tracked are normally unknown in advance. In this paper, we propose a Unified and Effective Network, named UEN, to attack visual object tracking models.
There are several appealing characteristics of UEN:
(1) UEN could produce various invisible adversarial perturbations according to different attack settings by using only one simple end-to-end network with three ingenious loss function;
(2) UEN could generate general visible adversarial patch patterns to attack the advanced trackers in the real-world;
(3) Extensive experiments show that UEN is able to attack many state-of-the-art trackers effectively (e.g. SiamRPN-based networks and DiMP) on popular tracking datasets including OTB100, UAV123, and GOT10K, making online real-time attacks possible. The attack results outperform the introduced baseline in terms of attacking ability and attacking efficiency.


In this chapter, we review the recent literature on conflict and appropriation. Allowing for the possibility of conflict, which amounts to recognizing the possibility that property rights are not perfectly and costlessly enforced, represents a significant departure from the traditional paradigm of economics. The research we emphasize, however, takes an economic perspective. Specifically, it applies conventional optimization techniques and game-theoretic tools to study the allocation of resources among competing activities— productive and otherwise appropriative, such as grabbing the product and wealth of others as well as defending one's own product and wealth. In contrast to other economic activities in which inputs are combined cooperatively through production functions, the inputs to appropriation are combined adversarially through technologies of conflict. A central objective of this research is to identify the effects of conflict on economic outcomes: the determinants of the distribution of output (or power) and how an individual party's share can be inversely related to its marginal productivity; when settlement in the shadow of conflict and when open conflict can be expected to occur, with longer time horizons capable of inducing conflict instead of settlement; how conflict and appropriation can reduce the appeal of trade; the determinants of alliance formation and the importance of intra-alliance commitments; how dynamic incentives for capital accumulation and innovation are distorted in the presence of conflict; and the role of governance in conflict management.


The present paper aimed at identifying and analyzing the opinions of beneficiaries of MGNREGS and its implementing agencies on planning, implementation and hurdles in implementation of the scheme in Karimnagar and Medak districts of Telangana state. For the purpose of the study, two mandals where comparatively highest amount of money was spent by the government on the scheme and two mandals where lowest amount of money was spent were selected from each district. Again from each mandal, two villages were selected randomly. From each selected village, 4 farmers and 4 labourers were selected who were MGNREGS beneficiaries. The perspectives of the sample people were recorded, analyzed and found that planning process in MGNREGS was very good, a majority of 34.4% of respondents in HEMs and 37.5% in LEMs of Karimnagar expressed it whereas in Medak, 46.9% in HEMs, 34.4% in LEMs felt the same. Regarding implementation, a majority in Karimnagar was not happy with the frequency of payments and staff dedication in implementation in HEMs and it was low in LEMs. Whereas in Medak, both in HEMs and LEMs, they were happy with the frequency of payments. Staff dedication in implementation was at middling level. Effect of social auditing was very high in HEMs and it was moderate in LEMs in both the districts. The major difficulties appeared to be finding out the appropriate and sufficient amount of work for all applicants, preparation of action plans, verification and issuing of job cards, elimination of fake and undeserved candidates respectively in both the districts and when it comes to constraints, illiteracy of the beneficiaries, inadequate professional and administrative staff were found to be the major ones in successful implementation of the scheme and suggested to overcome the same for successful implementation of MGNREGS. K e y w o r d s


The object of this study was to determine the normal circadian rhythm of serum melatonin and prolactin in mature female Rhesus monkeys. Animals were housed in a light : dark cycle of 14: 10 (lights on at 0600) and bled over a 28 hr period at 0800, 1200, 1600, 2200, 0200, 0400, 0800 and 1200. Serum concentrations of melatonin and prolactin were determined by radioimmunoassay. The mean nighttime level of melatonin was three times higher than the mean daytime level of melatonin (P <0.0l). Only three of the eight monkeys, however, showed a distinctly nocturnal melatonin rise. Mean nighttime levels of prolactin were three times higher than mean daytime levels of prolactin (P <0.0l). Each monkey presented a distinct circadian rhythm of prolactin secretion. These data indicate that the Rhesus monkey has circadian rhythms of melatonin and prolactin secretion typical of other mammalian species. It is concluded that additional studies testing for possible interactions between melatonin and prolactin in the Rhesus monkey are warranted.


Many G-protein coupled receptors (GPCRs) undergo ligand-dependent homologous desensitization and internalization. Desensitization, defined as a decrease in the responsiveness to ligand, is accompanied by receptor aggregation on the cell surface and internalization via clathrin-coated pits to an intracellular endosomal compartment. In this study, we have taken advantage of the trafficking properties of GPCRs to develop a useful screening method for the identification of receptor mimetics. A series of studies were undertaken to evaluate the expression, functionality, and ligand-dependent trafficking of GPCR-green fluorescent protein (GFP) fusion conjugates stably transfected into HEK 293 cells. These GPCR-GFP expressing cells were then utilized in the validation of the ArrayScantrade mark (Cellomicstrade mark, Pittsburgh, PA), a microtiter plate imaging system that permits cellular and subcellular quantitation of fluorescence in whole cells. These studies demonstrated our ability to measure the internalization of a parathyroid hormone (PTH) receptor-GFP conjugate after ligand treatment by spatially resolving internalized receptors. Internalization was time- and dose-dependent and appeared to be selective for PTH. Similar results were obtained for a beta(2)-adrenergic receptor (beta(2) AR)-GFP conjugate stably expressed in HEK 293 cells. The internalized GFP-labeled receptors were visualized as numerous punctate ³spots² within the cell interior. An algorithm has been developed that identifies and collects information about these spots, allowing quantification of the internalization process. Variables such as the receptor-GFP expression level, plating density, cell number per field, number of fields scanned per well, spot size, and spot intensity were evaluated during the development of this assay. The method represents a valuable tool to screen for receptor mimetics and antagonists of receptor internalization in whole cells rapidly.


Many systemic design processes include the development and analysis of systems models that represent the issue(s) at hand. In causal loop diagram models, phenomena are graphed as nodes, with connections between them indicating a control relationship. Such models provide mechanisms for stakeholder collaboration, problem finding and generative insight and are powerful . These functions are valued in design thinking, but the potential of these models may yet be unfulfilled. We introduce the notion of "leverage measures" to systemic design, adapting techniques from social network analysis and systems dynamics to uncover key structures, relationships and latent leverage positions of modelled phenomena. We demonstrate their utility in a pilot study. By rethinking the logics of leverage, we make better arguments for change and find the place from which to move the world.


The paper analyses the relation between premature deindustrialization in Latin America and what is termed premature financialization. Premature financialization is defined as a turn to finance, organized as an industrial concern, which is a vehicle for accumulation before the process of industrialization has reached maturity. This contrasts with developed countries where financialization occurs after an advanced stage of economic and social development has been reached, and where the growth of the financial sector, beyond a certain threshold, can be detrimental to economic activity. The paper examines the consequences of premature financialization for investment, growth, and financial stability.


Ultrasound remains the most readily available and least expensive of the imaging techniques used in assessment of the upper abdomen. Ultrasound is very useful in the detection of pancreatic tumors as well as in the evaluation of the extent of the disease. If ultrasound fails technically or is inconclusive, CT is recommended. Determination of CA 19-9 may help to decide whether ultrasound should be followed by CT or other examinations (51). Patients with any equivocal or inconclusive abnormality on ultrasound or CT should undergo ERCP. Even when ultrasound and CT of the pancreas appear normal there may be an indication for performing ERCP if the clinical suspicion of pancreatic cancer is still strong (52). Angiography is a reliable method of assessing major vascular tumor involvement, which to most surgeons would be a sign of unresectability. Although for some investigators CT is superior to angiography in assessing vascular involvement, angiography is performed preoperatively in many cases because it delineates the vascular anatomy, which can be abnormal in up to one third of patients. Percutaneous biopsy is an important technique for confirming the radiologic diagnosis of unresectable pancreatic carcinoma, particularly for differentiating pancreas carcinoma from other focal pancreatic lesions such as islet cell tumor, lymphoma, and chronic pancreatitis.


Berkeley DB is an Open Source embedded database system with a number of key advantages over comparable systems. It is simple to use, supports concurrent access by multiple users, and provides industrial-strength transaction support, including surviving system and disk crashes. This paper describes the design and technical features of Berkeley DB, the distribution, and its license.


The purpose of this paper is to establish the influence of shading on a Building Integrated Photovoltaic (BIPV) system ́s performance in an urban context. The PV systems of the Science Center of Complexity (Centro de Ciencias de la Complejidad) Building based in the Main Campus of the National and Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM) in Mexico City was taken as case study. The PV systems are placed on the rooftop and on the south façade of the building. The south-façade PV system, operating as sunshades, consists of two strings: one at the ground floor and the other one at the first floor. According to the building's facility manager, the south-façade PV system generates 42% less electricity per kilowatt peak (kWp) installed than the one on the roof. The methods applied in this study were Solar Radiation Analysis (SRA) simulations performed with the Insight 360 Plug-in from Revit 2018® and an on-site measurement using specialized tools. The results of the SRA simulations showed that the shading casted by the PV system placed on the first floor on top of the PV system of the ground floor decreases its solar incident radiation over 50%. The simulation outcome was compared and validated to the measured data obtained from the on-site measurement. In conclusion, the loss factor achieved from the shading of the PVs is due to the surroundings and the PV system ́s own design. The south-façade BIPV system's deficient design generates critical losses on its performance and decreases its profitability. Keywords—Building integrated photovoltaics (BIPV) design, energy analysis software, shading losses, solar radiation analysis.


The introduction of techniques for treating infertility have given real hope to those who have been unable to have children. It is therefore prudent to review our management of these patients, to be aware of the likelihood of success and to carry out only those investigations and treatments that are likely to be of benefit.

#### Summary points

Investigation of infertility should include both partners, and ideally the same general practitioner should be involved with each partner

It is good practice to consider the welfare of the future child as well as the needs of the couple

Duration of infertility and age of female partner are the most important factors when making a prognosis for treatment

Early referral for specialist assessment is indicated if there is a specific problem or when the female partner is aged over 35 years

Semen analysis should be carried out in all cases, and if the result is abnormal it should be repeated

General advice should be given to all couples on, for example, folic acid supplements, rubella immunity, and stopping smoking

For this review, we made extensive use of background material from a major consultation process commissioned by the European Society for Human Reproduction, in which TBH was involved,1 and also used the review of effective health care itself.1 We have both worked for more than 10 years in the field, and we used our experience to include those aspects of infertility practice relevant to general practitioners and primary care physicians.

If a couple have not conceived within three years of stopping contraception then the chance of a spontaneous (treatment independent) pregnancy in the next year is not more than 25% irrespective of the results of semen analysis (table 1), and it is therefore appropriate to refer them to a specialist clinic. If the female …


Feminist theory's insights into the ways in which domestic and sexual violence reflects and perpetuates sex-based inequality have been critical in advancing both domestic and international advocacy. This essay, part of a symposium on "The Global Impact of Feminist Legal Theory," explores the comparative roles those arguments have played. It first surveys the nature of recent reforms in the United States. Despite the fact that many reforms were grounded in arguments exposing domestic and sexual violence as a manifestation of historic sex-based discrimination, the current landscape of legal remedies and social services, with few exceptions, lack an express acknowledgment of domestic and sexual violence as a problem of sex discrimination. Yet the daily experience of domestic and sexual violence survivors continues to reflect sex discrimination's ongoing legacy. International human rights law contrasts with that of the United States in that it explicitly defines violence against women as a problem of inequality. The essay investigates the impact of that express link by analyzing the steps countries have reported taking to comply with international human rights laws' express anti-discrimination mandates, through the reports of the Special Rapporteur on Violence Against Women. It concludes that international human rights frameworks' structural incorporation of a mandate to address the root causes of domestic and sexual violence holds the potential to ensure that states address prevention and social and cultural transformation in addition to improved social services and criminal interventions.


The identification of cultural groups in the archaeological record, and the reasons for and mechanisms of contact between them, have been major topics of discussion in archaeology since its beginnings as a discipline. The methodological and theoretical aspects of these questions have largely been argued on the basis of ethnographic studies and socio-anthropological theories, but they are notoriously difficult to apply to archaeological research. To bridge this gap between socio-anthropological models and the material record, this dissertation starts from a concrete body of archaeological material that reflects the lives and movements of various groups of people living at a crossroad of different contact routes.The Liangshan area in Southwest China is located at the intersection of several cultural-geographic regions and is crisscrossed by many rivers connecting it to places in the far north and south, while the high mountain ranges divide it into many microclimates. In spite of many different kinds of contact and exchange over long distances, most cultural phenomena therefore tend to be localized, making the Liangshan region an ideal case study for research on cultural groups and their relationship with the local environment on the one hand, and directions and mechanisms of short and long-distance contacts on the other.Research in the region has been hampered by the fact that a multitude of groups that have lived in, passed through, and intermingled here since the late Neolithic, leaving a complex archaeological record that is still not well understood. For the first time, this study compiles a comprehensive catalog of all prehistoric material of the Liangshan area, providing separate analyses of all types of artifacts and archaeological features, and offering a chronological scheme for the whole region. Furthermore, this study relates the archaeological material to the geographical context and discusses local, regional, and supra-regional cultural developments.This study starts at the micro-level of single objects, considering their technical properties of production and function, before widening the scope to the intermediate level of sites and features, and finally moving toward the regional and supra-regional picture. At each level this study questions the geographic preconditions and patterns of human-environment interaction that contribute to the formation of the archaeological record. One of the main methods employed in this endeavor is computer-aided spatial analysis (GIS) together with traditional archaeological methods of typology and statistics. This combined approach gives a third, spatial dimension to problems of chronology and cultural assignation, on which traditional approaches of classification and multivariate analyses provide insight.Through the application of a variety of methods to this very special body of material, this study is able to re-conceptualize the objects and features in their geographical, temporal, and cultural context, and sketch out local developments, while at the same time answer questions about the mechanisms and underlying reasons for inter-group contact. This study thus makes valuable contributions both to theoretical and methodological discussions on the nature of cultural groups and inter-group contacts, and their identification in the archaeological record.


Aim. The study of the mechanisms of atopic disease formation and a model of immunopathogenesis of the atopic diseases. Methods. Determination of surface lymphocytes receptors in peripheral blood of atopic bronchial asthma and atopic dermatitis patients with the help of monoclonal antibodies using the indirect immunofluorescence method. Expression of genes encoding TLR2, TLR4 and TLR9 receptors of airborne epithelial cells by real-time polymerase chain reaction, as well as determination of cytokine TSLP, IL-33, IL-4 and TGF β (eBioscience) in airway flushes in atopic asthma patients and healthy people. Results. During the exacerbation of atopic diseases in peripheral blood lymphocytes, an intensive activation process develops with impaired lymphocytes activating apoptosis aimed at the formation of plasma cells capable of developing intensive IgE synthesis. To search for signals that could explain the mechanism of rearrangement of the B-cell part of the immune system during atopy, the epithelium cells of the airways were examined in a group of patients with atopic asthma and found an increase in gene expression coding for TLR2, TLR4, TLR9 in 6, 3 and 2.5 times respectively. Along with increased expression of TLRs genes in patients with bronchial asthma, an increased content of TSLP and IL-33 cytokines secreted by epithelial cells of the airways was detected. These cytokines have an immunoregulatory action - their nearby antigen presenting functions format the Th2 type of immune response, promote the production of cytokines (IL-4, IL-9, IL-13) and cause the development of an allergic type of inflammation. Conclusion. We suppose that the main link in pathogenesis is a disruption of the interaction of TLRs with the corresponding ligands caused by spontaneous dimerization of TLRs under the malonic dialdehyde influence. The intake of slowly metabolized dimers of TLRs into epithelial cells is a signal for genome activation, which leads to the synthesis of allergic cytokines IL-33 and TSLP. Thus, the main immunopathogenesis pathway of atopic diseases is the pathological functional interaction between epithelial cells and peripheral blood B-lymphocytes.


Improving the energy efficiency in telecommunication networks has been one of the main research topics of the past few years. As a result, many energy efficient algorithms have been proposed, some focusing on maximizing only the energy savings, others considering also the impact that green strategies have on other network performance metrics, e.g., delay, utilization of network resources, and blocking probability. The aim of this paper is to provide new insight on the impact of energy efficient strategies, i.e., investigating the trade-off between green network operations and the reliability performance of optical backbone devices. The study is motivated by the intuition that energy efficient strategies are usually based on putting unutilized devices in power saving (sleep) mode, which can have some side effects (e.g., frequent on/sleep switching, and/or high fiber link utilization) that may affect the working conditions of a device. To better understand these phenomena, this paper presents a number of models aimed at estimating the reliability performance changes of a device as a function of its average working temperature, of its temperature variations, and of its average occupancy. These models are then used to carry out a study both at the component and at the network levels. The study at the component level shows that erbium-doped fiber amplifiers (EDFAs) are critical devices, i.e., their achievable energy savings might not cover the additional reparation costs resulting from their reliability performance degradation. Similar findings are reached also with the network level study. In summary, it can be concluded that the use of energy efficient routing algorithms based on setting EDFAs in sleep mode may not always be beneficial.


The legal landscape for lawyers' professional liability in the United States is changing. In 2018, Idaho implemented a new rule requiring that lawyers carry legal malpractice insurance. The adoption of the Idaho rule was the first move in forty years by a state to require legal malpractice insurance since Oregon mandated lawyer participation in a malpractice insurance regime. Over the last two years, a few states have considered whether their jurisdictions should join Oregon and Idaho in requiring malpractice insurance for lawyers in private practice. To help inform the discussion, the article examines different positions taken in the debate on mandatory insurance and recent empirical research related to uninsured lawyers and legal malpractice litigation. The article focuses on arguments in favor of mandating insurance and considers approaches that may address particular concerns expressed by those who oppose requiring lawyers to carry professional liability insurance. The article also considers select alternatives to mandatory insurance. After concluding that mandatory insurance better promotes public and lawyer protection than the alternatives, the article examines reasons why decision makers fail to require that lawyers carry a minimum level of insurance. Drawing on ethics scholarship and behavioral psychology research, the article notes that individual uninsured lawyers may fail to see the consequences of their conduct because they have a blind spot. The conclusion also suggests that the bar and judiciary may suffer from a collective blind spot that contributes to lawyers and judges not seeing financial accountability as an ethics issue. The conclusion urges decision makers and insured lawyers to address the blind spots and promote their states joining Oregon, Idaho and countries around the world that recognize that financial accountability is a hallmark of an ethical profession.


The study of this paper focuses on the seismic performance of a new complex tall building-FSRMW (frame-supported-reinforced-masonry-shear-wall).The new structure combines the advantages of RMW (reinforced-masonry-shear-wall) and FSRCW (frame-supported- reinforced- concrete-shear-wall) and have good economic value and extensive use value.Big space can be gained by using the structure, which provide a new appropriate selection for the design of hotel, multifunctional office building and dwelling house with shop at bottom. Substructure pseudodynamic testing were adopted to carrying out the seismic testing of 1:4 Reduced-scale models of FSRMW.Seismic evaluation of this structure has been carried out by substructure pseudodynamic testing of 1/4-scale specimen.The dynamic response of the tested structure under the influence of earthquake excitation is analyzed.The horizontal bearing capacity and the damage degree of the test model are investigated. The testing are cited to illustrate that the seismic performance of the structure(frame-shear-wall-supported reinforced masonry shear wall) is better than that structure(frame- supported reinforced masonry shear wall) and can be satisfied with the design request of 6-8 degree seismic zone.


In , Holwerda uncovered an exceptional primary grave underneath a barrow on the eastern slope of the ice-pushed ridge of the Veluwe. The Niersen Beaker burial contained the human skeletal remains of multiple individuals. The preservation of the bones, extremely rare on the Dutch sandy upland, motivated Holwerda to lift the grave and transport it to the National Museum of Antiquities (RMO). The grave presents a rare insight into Beaker graves in the Netherlands, where skeletal remains are rarely preserved. A new physical anthropological analysis, paying particular attention to the taphonomy in the grave, and a critical review of what Holwerda observed in the field has allowed us to re-interpret the grave. In this article it will be argued that this grave contained not only the remains of a female in crouched position, but also the disarticulated remains of two more individuals placed at the back of the grave. Surprisingly not only human remains were uncovered, but also two bones belonging to a large mammal (a cow or a horse). The specific position of some skeletal remains and the description by Holwerda allow us to interpret the grave as a small open burial chamber on top of which a barrow was constructed.


This paper deals with a task-assignment architecture for cooperative transport by multiple mobile robots in unknown environment. The planner should satisfy three features: to deal with the variety of tasks in time and space; do deal with a large amount of tasks; and to decide behavior in real-time. The authors (1999) have proposed the following approach: 1) based on sensor information, tasks will be dynamically generated using task templates; 2) generation of task is tuned in quality by feeding back executed result and in the number by action suppression; 3) main part of the architecture consists of two real-time planner: priority-based task-assignment planner solved by using a linear programming method and motion planners based on short-time estimation. In this paper, we implement our task-assignment architecture on a real robot system and verify the effectiveness of the proposed method by cooperative transport experiment in unknown environment.


Objective: The study was planned to determine the suitability of using Rockall and Blatchford scoring systems in emergency departments by evaluating their success in estimating the need for endoscopy and hospitalization along with mortality possibilities in upper GIS bleedings.
Material and Method: Hematemesis, melena, gastrointestinal hemorrhage, hemoptysis, nausea and vomiting, syncope ICD 10 diagnosis codes were entered during the application to the emergency department and 644 patients subject to endoscopy were scanned with 644 patient protocol numbers, 188 patients were included in the study. Rockall and Data about Blatchford scores, patient mortality, hospitalization and discharge were entered into the system. The calculated scores were compared.
Results: The general age average was 65.16 ± 16.61 Rockall score average was calculated as 2.75 ± 1.88, Blatchford score average was calculated as 9.72 ± 3.84. Based on the Rockall scores, 86 (45.7%) of 188 patients were low risk, 102 (54.3%) were high risk; whereas based on the Blatchford scores, 9 (4.8%) of the 188 patients were low risk and 179 (95.2%) were high risk. When the reliabilities of the scores were evaluated, it was determined for the Rockall score that the sensitivity value was 73.9% and the specificity value was 45.6%, whereas sensitivity for the Blatchford score was 96.1%and specificity was 10%.
Conclusion: In conclusion, risk evaluations carried out using laboratory and clinical findings (Rockall, Blatchford) may be used to generate prediction models for defining the hemorrhage risk that is life threatening in patients with upper GIS bleeding. Early and effective evaluation of the patients along with proper medical and support treatment are very important for the prevention of advanced morbidity and mortality that might occur as a result of upper GIS bleeding.


The oxidation of pentaamminecobalt(III) complexes of α -hydroxy acids by manganese(IV) heteropolyanion (HPA) in micellar medium yields nearly 100% of carbonyl compounds and 100% Co(II) as ultimate products. In this reaction, the rate of oxidation show s first order kinetics each in [Co(III)] and [HPA]. The unbound α -hydroxy acids yield about 100% of carbonyl compounds in presence of micelles. The rate of oxida tion of Co(III) complexes of both; boun d and unbound α -hydroxy acids are enhanced more in the presence of cati onic micelle of cetyltrimethylammonium bromide (CTAB), when compared to the anionic micelle of sodium dodecyl sulphate (SDS). The 1 mole of cobalt(III) complexes of α -hydroxy acids reacts with nearly 0.5 mole of Mn(IV) heteropolyanion, similarly 1 mole of α -hydroxy acids reacts with nearly 1 mole of Mn(IV) heteropolyanion. The kinetic and stoichiometric results have been accounted by a suitable mechanism.


Micromeria Benth. (Lamiaceae, Nepetoideae) is a very common genus in the Mediterranean region. To test the monophyly of the genus and to elucidate its phylogenetic placement within subtribe Menthinae (Dumort) Endl. of tribe Mentheae Dumort we performed parsimony analysis of trnK intron sequence data of 51 accessions representing 15 genera of Nepetoideae and two genera of subfamily Ajugoideae. Tree topology reveals a well-supported "core group" indicating four distinct lineages. The first one comprises three species of Satureja L. s.str., the second one includes taxa of the genus Clinopodium L. from both the Old and the New World, paraphyletic with respect to Monarda L. and two species of Micromeria section Pseudomelissa Benth. A third group contains all samples of the remaining Micromeria species. Within this monophyly, a western lineage including taxa from NW Africa, the Balearic, and the Canary Islands, is sister to an eastern lineage with species distributed from SE Asia to the western Mediterranean. In a further clade the genera Thymbra L., Thymus L., and Origanum L. are grouped together. Combined analysis using a reduced dataset of trnK/trnL-F sequences increased support for the infrageneric resolution within Micromeria. Based on the phylogenetic reconstructions there is evidence that the genus as currently circumscribed is polyphyletic. Results are discussed in the context of morphology, karyology, and biogeography, outlining the necessity of removing section Pseudomelissa from Micromeria.