Background: As the accumulation of fluid in the pleural cavity is a common finding in patients with cancer, its diagnosis deserves careful consideration. The aim of this study was to compare the diagnostic value of pleural fluid cytology and biopsy to surgical biopsy in patients with suspected malignant pleural effusions.

Materials and Methods: During a cross-sectional study, patients with exudative pleural effusion admitted to the Massih-Daneshvari hospital (Tehran) during an 18-month period were enrolled to determine the diagnostic value of pleural fluid cytology, closed needle biopsy and surgical biopsy in suspicious cases of malignant pleural effusion followed by a six-month final diagnosis.

Results: A total of 318 patients (218 men and 100 women, aged 15-85) with a mean age of 59 years were recruited in this study. The sensitivity and negative predictive value of cytology; for diagnosis of malignant pleural effusion were 32.4% and 65.6%; for closed needle biopsy 65.9% and 63.2%, and for surgical biopsy 87.8% and 80%, respectively.

Conclusion: A combination of pleural fluid cytology and biopsy has diagnostic value in 80% of cases of malignant pleural effusion and considering its simplicity, availability and low cost, these methods have acceptable diagnostic values compared to surgical biopsy.
Keywords: Biopsy, Cytology, Diagnostic value, Malignant pleural effusion,


Objective: To investigate the effectiveness of sterilization of different weighty surgical instrument packages and their effect on packing experience such as operators' working satisfaction and acceptance.
Methods: Orthopedic surgical instruments of the same material were grouped into 8 different weight groups: 7 kg, 9 kg, 11 kg, 13 kg, 15 kg, 17 kg, 19 kg, 21 kg. Class 4 multi-variable CI, Class 5 integrating indicator and biological indicators were put at the least favorable position for sterilization within the packages and the monitoring results were interpreted after normal sterilization cycle to assess the sterilization performance. The operators packed the instrument with the same packaging materials, and then investigators evaluated the acceptability of the instrument package weights to the operators.
Results: Instrument packages weighing between 7 kg and 11 kg produced acceptable results in chemical and biological monitoring using the normal sterilization procedure. Package weight exceeding 11 kg indicated uneven color change in Class 4 multi-variable CI, while Class 5 integrating indicator and biological monitoring produced acceptable results only with some wet packs. Instrument packages exceeding 11 kg made packing difficult for operators and resulted in low satisfaction.
Conclusion: Package weights not exceeding 11 kg were associated with effective sterilization in normal sterilization procedures, and with good operator satisfaction.


Iron (Fe) is one of many heavy metals that is corrosive resistant, dense, and has a low melting point. If accumulated in the body, the metal can cause some medical conditions, such as irritation to skin and eyes, breathing problems, and in the long term, cancer. This research aims to know generally the spread of metallic iron (Fe) in the river Pasar in Belangwetan, Klaten. This study was conducted using an observational method in which researchers did not examine the effects of interventions. Sampling was done using purposive sampling method taken from three points, namely the upper, middle, lower. Determination of iron levels by Atomic Absorption Spectrophotometer (AAS) obtained a positive result, and the data was processed using SPSS to determine the Mean and Standard Deviation. Of the research result, it could be known the Mean score was 2.33 ppm and SD was 0.0352. The result of this research indicated that the levels of iron in the river Pasar in Belangwetan were 2.33 ppm. It means that the levels violate the regulation of the Minister of Health of the Republic of Indonesia, which is not more than 1mg/L (1ppm) in the clean water


This report was a public deliverable of the EC funded CHILD project G3RD-CT-2002-00791 (Advanced Methods for Improved Child Safety). It provides a review of the research and public information relating to the extent of use and misuse of child restraints in the participating countries, including the UK. Whilst the rates of child restraint use are improving the prevalence of misuse is high and the consequences of misuse are not well understood and continue to contribute to the casualty figures for children in cars. The results from this study, together with cases from the CHILD Accident Database, were used to determine the terms of reference for a programme of testing to investigate the injury consequences of various types of misuse. This testing programme has produced results which are being used to inform the child restraint design and manufacturing community of the effects of misuse in order to assist them in improving the design of child restraints to minimise the possibility and consequences of misuse. In addition the information is being used to develop and target public information to inform users of the importance of correct use and the potential consequences of misuse. This work has been particularly important in the light of the introduction of the new seatbelt/child restraint wearing law in the UK in September last year (and equivalent laws in the other EU member states) requiring all children under 12 years of age and less than 135cm in height to use a child restraint. As many more children will be using child restraints, with an associated increase in misuse, the consequences in terms of injuries needs to be avoided with the improvement in child restraint design and the education of the users.


BACKGROUND: Lung ultrasonography is superior to clinical examination and chest X-ray (CXR) in diagnosis of acute respiratory pathology in the emergency and critical care setting and after cardiothoracic surgery in intensive care. Lung ultrasound may be useful before cardiothoracic surgery and after discharge from intensive care, but the proportion of significant respiratory pathology in this setting is unknown and may be too low to justify its routine use. The aim of this study was to determine the proportion of clinically significant respiratory pathology detectable with CXR, clinical examination, and lung ultrasound in patients on the ward before and after cardiothoracic surgery. METHODS: In this prospective observational study, patients undergoing elective cardiothoracic surgery who received a CXR as part of standard care preoperatively or after discharge from the intensive care unit received a standardized clinical assessment and then a lung ultrasound examination within 24 hours of the CXR by 2 clinicians. The incidence of collapse/atelectasis, consolidation, alveolar-interstitial syndrome, pleural effusion, and pneumothorax were compared between clinical examination, CXR, and lung ultrasound (reference method) based on predefined diagnostic criteria in 3 zones of each lung. RESULTS: In 78 participants included, presence of any pathology was detected in 56% of the cohort by lung ultrasound; 24% preoperatively and 94% postoperatively. With lung ultrasound as a reference, the sensitivity of the 5 different pathologies ranged from 7% to 69% (CXR), 7% to 76% (clinical examination), and 14% to 94% (combined); the specificity of the 5 different pathologies ranged from 91% to 98% (CXR), from 90% to 99% (clinical examination), and from 82% to 97% (combined). For clinical examination and lung ultrasound, intraobserver agreements beyond chance ranged from 0.28 to 0.70 and from 0.84 to 0.97, respectively. The agreements beyond chance of pathologic diagnoses between modalities ranged from 0.11 to 0.64 (CXR and lung ultrasound), from 0.08 to 0.7 (CXR and lung ultrasound), and from 0 to 0.58 (clinical examination and CXR). CONCLUSIONS: Clinically important respiratory pathology is detectable by lung ultrasound in a substantial number of noncritically ill, pre or postoperative cardiothoracic surgery participants with high estimate of interobserver agreement beyond that expected by chance, and we showed clinically significant diagnoses may be missed by the contemporary practice of clinical examination and CXR.


This thesis was about investigating if it is feasible to implement an IP-forwarding data plane on a GPU. A GPU is energy efficient compared to other more powerful processors on the market today and should in theory be efficient to use for routing purposes. An IP-forwarding data plane consist of several things where we focused on some of the concepts. We have implemented IP-forwarding lookup operations, packet header changes, prioritization between different packets and a traffic shaper to restrict the packet throughput. To test these concepts we implemented a prototype, on a Tegra platform, in CUDA and evaluated its performance. We are able to forward 28 Mpackets/second with a best case latency of 27 µS given local simulated packets. The conclusions we can draw of this thesis work is that using a GPU for IP-forwarding purposes seems like an energy efficient solution compared to other routers on the market today. In the thesis we also tried the concept of only launching the GPU kernel once and let it be infinite which shows promising results for future work.


The transmission of video over time-varying wireless communication channels can benefit from the use of joint source-channel (JSC) coding methods. We survey relevant research in JSC code design and discuss how this work can be used for video compression and transmission. A main focus is the use of estimation-based techniques to take advantage of the residual redundancy present at the output of the source encoder. As noted in previous work, the combination of the source encoder and channel can often be modeled as a hidden Markov model. This statistical framework is the basis for state estimation and minimum mean-square error estimation procedures for JSC decoding, and it can also be used to develop channel state and channel parameter estimation methods. We discuss these approaches, along with work that also incorporates modulation, channel coding, and rate allocation within the JSC design. The integration of these methods into video compression standards is considered.


Abstract:The authors outline how multiple dimensions—historical and contemporary; global and local; political, economic, social, and cultural—inform an understanding of the super-rich. Recent super-rich scholarship is reviewed with regard to three themes: discourses and representations; mechanisms and structures; experiences and identities. The empirical and conceptual insights of the contents are then highlighted, with regard to the significance of discourses of legitimacy, namely, those of meritocracy, civility, and luxury; the intersections of race and class that underpin assumptions about and representations of wealth; institutional and political-economic dynamics, in relation to international financial systems and property markets; and experiences and attitudes, examined via elites' professional identities and cultural practices. The authors suggest that questioning the super-rich provides an avenue for the study of power in society, how it is reproduced, and how global hierarchies may be shifting. To that end, the articles attempt to make visible the brute force of the infrastructures (politics and policy, cultural and occupational conventions, financial devices and systems) that are occluded by the tendency to focus on the gloss of super-rich lifestyles; to draw attention to the long-term and newly emerging tensions within and between categories of wealth and of elites, and spheres of political, economic, and cultural activity; and to contribute to an understanding of how the accumulation of wealth is perpetuated and excused through discourses of legitimation, structural dynamics, and lived identities. These are much-needed critical interventions at a time of escalating inequality.


Vias are typical discontinuities for high-speed signal transmission in printed circuit boards (PCBs). This paper proposes an equivalent multiconductor transmission-line model for via structures in multilayer PCBs. The proposed model is based on the physic-based circuit model, taking into account distributed effects. Various via structures with arbitrary via number, trace connections, and via stubs can be effectively handled in the equivalent transmission-line model, which is sufficiently accurate and fast to be integrated into circuit simulators for via and link-path analysis. With the proposed model, well-known transmission-line theories can be borrowed for via modeling and characterization for signal integrity in high-speed digital circuits. The proposed model is validated with both full-wave simulations and measurements for multilayer PCBs with different via structures.


Perturbation-based attacks, while not physically realizable, have been the main emphasis of adversarial machine learning (ML) research. Patch-based attacks by contrast are physically realizable, yet most work has focused on 2D domain with recent forays into 3D. Characterizing the robustness properties of patch attacks and their invariance to 3D pose is important, yet not fully elucidated, and is the focus of this paper. To this end, several contributions are made here: A) we develop a new metric called mean Attack Success over Transformations (mAST) to evaluate patch attack robustness and invariance; and B), we systematically assess robustness of patch attacks to 3D position and orientation for various conditions; in particular, we conduct a sensitivity analysis which provides important qualitative insights into attack effectiveness as a function of the 3D pose of a patch relative to the camera (rotation, translation) and sets forth some properties for patch attack 3D invariance; and C), we draw novel qualitative conclusions including: 1) we demonstrate that for some 3D transformations, namely rotation and loom, increasing the training distribution support yields an increase in patch success over the full range at test time. 2) We provide new insights into the existence of a fundamental cutoff limit in patch attack effectiveness that depends on the extent of out-of-plane rotation angles. These findings should collectively guide future design of 3D patch attacks and defenses.


Hypothesis test are widely used in data analysis but, in general, the random nature of p value is not consider in such applications. Power function and p-value probability distribution are strongly related, this relationship should be a component in both hypothesis testing conclusions and sample size calculation. However, this is not the case, possibly due of to two factors: first many people ignore the random nature of p-value and second there is a lack of information in the subject. Some papers introduced some characteristics of p-value distribution as mean value and median, but such values were not obtained for every parametric test in normal populations. This paper contains a full characterization of p-values probability distribution for both one and two sided hypothesis test for parameters in one or two normal populations. P-value probability distribution and their percentiles are presented, emphasizing in median value. Additionally the paper introduces approximate criteria for calculating both distribution function and percentiles, and highlight the relationship between power function and p-value.


The maritime industry is experiencing one of its longest and fastest periods of growth. Hence, the global maritime surveillance capacity is in a great need of growth as well. The detection of vessel activity is an important objective of the civil security domain. Detecting vessel activity may become problematic if audit data is uncertain. This paper aims to investigate if Bayesian networks acquired from expert knowledge can detect activities with a signature-based detection approach. For this, a maritime pilot-boat scenario has been identified with a domain expert. Each of the scenario's activities has been divided up into signatures where each signature relates to a specific Bayesian network information node. The signatures were implemented to find evidences for the Bayesian network information nodes. AIS-data with real world observations have been used for testing, which have shown that it is possible to detect the maritime pilot-boat scenario based on the taken approach.


Measurement of shape and dimension of pits and cracks formed in corrosion fatigue tests of a high-strength aluminium alloy, 7075-T651 were conducted by computed-tomography using ultra bright synchrotron radiation X-ray. Complex corrosion process could be observed and detail shapes of corrosion pits could be identified. Sometimes, corrosion pit and corroded area were formed under passive film, and those were not observed from the surface.


This article evaluates the nine empirical studies that have been conducted on expert versus lay judgments of risk. Contrary to received wisdom, this study finds that there is little empirical evidence for the propositions (1) that experts judge risk differently from members of the public or (2) that experts are more veridical in their risk assessments. Methodological weaknesses in the early research are documented, and it is shown that the results of more recent studies are confounded by social and demographic factors that have been found to correlate with judgments of risk. Using a task‐analysis taxonomy, a template is provided for the documentation of future studies of expert–lay differences/similarities that will facilitate analytic comparison.


FrancoAngeli La passione per le conoscenze This book contains the proceedings of the LIV Conference SIDEA and the XXV Convention SIEA, which were organized by the Department of Economics of the University of Foggia, for the first time, with the formula of a joint Conference titled "Cooperative strategies and value creation in sustainable food supply chain", held in Bisceglie-Trani, from September 13th to 16th, 2017. Cooperation in all its forms represents a valuable paradigm to define new horizons of development and build new organizational models of value creation according to a sustainable approach not referred to a single unit, but to the entire supply chain. Consequently, research perspectives affect the value added distribution issues along the value chain, the agricultural supply regulation, the social responsibility, the ability to offer a higher degree of food safety, and the promotion of organizational and social innovation. Nevertheless, these concepts, which are valid in themselves, risk being infected by an exasperating interpretation of the current productivist logic and, thus, lose sight of the same value of those cooperative strategies and of the logic of fair distribution of the value, generated within the agri-food supply chains, and that this conference has debated. Compared to all this, Italian agricultural economists wanted to reflect on how to bring the issue of cooperation back to the centre of economic logic and the governance of agri-food supply chains, also in relation to the use of environmental factors, which must be increasingly aimed at respecting the principles and values of the circular economy. In this framework, the thematic areas, in which the First Joint SIDEA-SIEA Conference were structured, have allowed us to investigate the issue in all its aspects, starting from the analysis of the main production and consumption models, up to organizational models, forms of territorial, sectoral and environmental cooperation, and policies with which to add value to the supply chain.


Metabolic control, as assessed by glycosylated hemoglobin (HbA1c), has been reported to have a relationship to various submaximal exercise responses. However, due to the narrow range of HbA1c and the limited exercise data from previous studies on individuals with diabetes, little support for the above statement exists in the literature. The current study assessed the relationship between HbA1c and submaximal, or ventilatory threshold (VT), and maximal exercise (VO2 peak) responses in subjects with non-insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus (NIDDM). Sixteen subjects (age = 56.5 +/- 14.4 yrs; Wt = 82.6 +/- 17.2 kg; B.M.I. = 29.5 +/- 2.7 kg.m-2) performed a ramp (20 watts.min-1) leg cycle ergometer test (GXT). Their HbA1c was 11.8 +/- 2.8% (range 6.5 to 16.6%). Breath by breath respiratory analysis was performed using a Med Graphics 2001 cart. Ventilatory threshold (VT) was determined using the V-slope method. The VT was 1,151 +/- 487 ml.min-1 or 70.2 +/- 10% VO2peak; VO2peak was 1,645 +/- 740 ml.min-1. There were no significant relationships found between HbA1c and the VO2 at the VT (r = 0.04), the % of VO2peak at the VT (r = 0.23), and the VO2peak (r = 0.17). In conclusion, metabolic control, as assessed by HbA1c, did not influence selected submaximal and maximal exercise responses in NIDDM. Therefore, exercise prescription for individuals with NIDDM may not need to consider the individual's HbA1c concentration as a modifier of their exercise response.


In this paper, we present a novel architecture for personalized information retrieval (IR) and a simple scenario that illustrate the contribution of this architecture compared to current personalized IR. We use an extension of a Dung argumentation framework in order to improve the precision of our personalized information retrieval. We use also social media and search history to define the user-profile.


The development of real-time 3-D underwater imaging is restricted by the huge hardware cost and the computational burden associated with a large number of transducers. In this paper, a low-complexity real-time 3-D sonar imaging system with a cross array is proposed. The low complexity, in both hardware cost and computational load, is achieved by an innovative method of signal processing in the far field and the advantages of the cross array in minimal transducer numbers. The method consists of two parts: a multifrequency (MF) algorithm for the transmitting process and a parallel subarray (PS) algorithm for the receiving beamforming. The MF algorithm solves the real-time problem of the cross array by reducing the scanning time that is proportional to the number of transmissions. The PS algorithm improves the computational efficiency using a two-stage parallel and pipeline framework. The PS algorithm is an approximate method, and its precision is analyzed in this paper. The computational efficiency of the proposed method is compared with the direct method (DM) beamforming in both cross and planar arrays. A prototype, based on the innovative method, was designed and tested in pool and lake trials. The results demonstrate that the low-complexity system can satisfy the real-time requirement of 3-D underwater imaging applications with an acceptable imaging quality.


Peutz‐Jeghers' syndrome (PJS) is a disease with autosomal dominant inheritance, which is characterised by gastrointestinal hamartomata and characteristic melanin pigmentation. Three candidate sites for a PJS locus have recently been proposed, chromosomes 1p31‐p32, 6q25 and 6p11‐cen. At the first of these sites, a multipoint LOD score of 4.00 had been found, strongly suggesting genetic linkage to PJS. The last two candidate sites were suggested by the chromosomal breakpoints of a patient with an inv(6) and PJS. We have analysed up to 34 families in order to test each of the three candidate sites for linkage to PJS. No evidence was found in support of a Peutz‐Jeghers' syndrome locus on chromosome 1p31‐p32. The candidate region on 6q25 was also excluded. The region close to the centromere of chromosome 6 has not been excluded and there is some evidence of linkage to a marker near 6cen, although genetic heterogeneity in PJS must be proposed to account for a gene at this site.


Management of business processes is typically performed on multiple levels, each with different granularity, language constructs, and abstraction. Starting from an initial sketch of the activities to be performed, several refinements are made to entirely specify the business process, its artifacts, and participants. Then, information relevant for process execution can be added to enable efficient automation in the context of a service-oriented architecture (SOA). However, dealing with changes initiated by business or technology is a key difficulty in this approach. If change management is not performed properly then process models become out of sync which results in losing the alignment of business and IT. To address this challenge, we propose a synchronization method based on model element correspondence that considers change management between process models on different abstraction levels. We show how synchronization can be established and changes are propagated using a change queue for synchronization continuity. Finally we present a prototypical implementation of the key concepts.


Sixteen milk-based starting formulas were analyzed with the aim of calculating their "true protein" content and assessing "in vitro" protein digestibility, in order to estimate levels of potentially available protein. Ten of them were designed for term infants: 7 had a casein:whey protein ratio 40:60 (adapted formulas) and 3 a ratio 80:20 (non-adapted); the 6 remaining formulas (all adapted) were for preterm infants. Nitrogen was determined by the Kjeldahl method. True protein was calculated as (total N--non-protein N) x 6.25. NPN was determined in the soluble fraction, after protein precipitation with 24% trichloroacetic acid and centrifugation. Digestibility was assessed by digestion with pepsin and pancreatin, and defined as the increase in non-protein N after enzymatic digestion. Values for true protein were from 1.3 to 2.3 g/dL and for non protein N, from 4.5 to 13.7%. Digestibility values varied between 59.0 and 92.5%; an inverse trend was observed between protein digestibility and protein content. Considering both the "true protein" levels and their digested proportions, all preterm and 60% of the term formulas would present potentially available amounts below those recommended. These observations constitute an alert, even though this method of assessing "in vitro" protein digestibility represents only an approximation to physiological processes; however, it could be useful in order to evaluate the intensity of the heat treatments to which these formulas were subjected. On the other hand, since NPN allows the estimation of the true protein provided by the formulas, either its percentage or the true protein content could be included on the label.


Objectives: Data demonstrated a relationship between obesity and increasing the risk of mortality and morbidity of chronic diseases. Inconsistent data regarding the association between adherence of Healthy Eating Index-2015 (HEI-2015) and obesity is identified. Thus, this study intends to address this relationship among a large sample of both urban and suburb areas of Iranian adults.Methods: This cross-sectional study was performed by 10693 participants of Shahedieh cohort study (n=3943) and TAghzieh Mardom-e-Yazd (TAMYZ) which was conducted on Yazd Health Study participants, (n=6750) living in urban and suburb areas. Dietary intake was assessed by using a validated Food Frequency Questionnaire (FFQ). In all participants, anthropometric indices including body mass index were measured. Multivariate logistic regression analysis was utilized to assess the relationship of HEI-2015 with obesity.Results: No significant association was found between adherence to the HEI-2015 diet and odds of general and central obesity. Conclusions: Our findings showed adherence to HEI-2015 might have no protective effect on odds of general obesity. Also, in suburb region and whole population of both urban and suburb regions greater compliance of men to HEI-2015 diet might have a positive effect on odds of central obesity. Moreover, in suburb area participants in the highest quintile significantly were smoker and had higher level of SES. Finally, the casual effect of HEI-2015 on obesity needs to be investigated further in prospective studies and among different populations.


Unhealthy lifestyle choices, such as bad eating behaviors and cigarette smoking, have major detrimental impacts on health. However, the inter-relations between obesity and smoking are still not fully understood. We thus developed an experimental model of high-fat diet-fed obese C57BL/6 male mice chronically exposed to cigarette smoke. Our study evaluated for the first time the resulting effects of the combined exposure to unhealthy diet and cigarette smoke on several metabolic, pulmonary, intestinal, and cardiac parameters. We showed that the chronic exposure to cigarette smoke modified the pattern of body fat distribution in favor of the visceral depots in obese mice, impaired the respiratory function, triggered pulmonary inflammation and emphysema, and was associated with gut microbiota dysbiosis, cardiac hypertrophy and myocardial fibrosis.


The mechanisms underlying phenacetin-induced toxicity and carcinogenicity are not clear. In particular, it is not known whether these effects are mediated by metabolic activation of the drug. CYP1A2 is known to metabolize phenacetin in vitro. To determine the role of this enzyme in vivo, the toxicity and carcinogenicity of phenacetin was examined in Cyp1a2-null mice (that lack CYP1A2). Six- to 8-week-old wild type (+/+) or null (-/-) mice were fed either a control diet, or one containing 1.25% phenacetin, ad libitum for up to 67 weeks. Representative groups of mice were examined for phenacetin-induced toxicity and carcinogenicity after 36, 48, 58, or 67 weeks of feeding. Consistent with the known role of CYP1A2 in phenacetin metabolism, plasma levels of phenacetin were higher and acetaminophen levels lower in the (-/-) mice fed phenacetin compared to phenacetin-fed (+/+) controls. Weight gain was significantly depressed in both groups of phenacetin-fed mice after 4 weeks of feeding, and continued to be lower for the remainder of the experiment, compared to controls. Hepatomegaly and splenomegaly were more severe in (-/-) mice but present in both genotypes fed phenacetin at all time points assessed. Histological analysis of liver, kidney, spleen, and urogenital tract also revealed a differential response in the (-/-) mice fed phenacetin compared to (+/+) mice fed the same diet. Further, mortality was the most severe in the (-/-) mice fed phenacetin than in all other groups. Despite significant toxicity in (-/-) mice fed phenacetin, only one renal carcinoma was found among them. Results from this work demonstrate that, in the absence of CYP1A2, phenacetin is more toxic than in controls. This provides evidence that metabolism of phenacetin by CYP1A2 alters toxicity in vivo, and suggests that alternate CYP1A2-independent metabolic pathways contribute to its toxicity.


In this paper we present astrophysical parameters of the very old open star cluster Berkeley 39 using 2MASS JHK data and observation of BV CCD photometry (V ~ 21.5 mag) in Johnson-Cousin filters. We have derived reddening, distance, metallicity and age etc. using two color diagrams in near-infrared and optical bands. We have found EB-V = 0.099 ± 0.02, EJ-H = 0.018 ± 0.001 and EJ-Ks = 0.016 ± 0.001 mag, and the distance modulus of (m-M) 0 = 13.24 ± 0.03 mag, which give a distance of 4.2 ± 0.04 Kpc, and the age of the cluster is 5.6 Gyr with metallicity; Z = 0.008 (obtained from fitting of the observed CMDs with Padova iso-chrones). The radius of the cluster obtained from the analysis of 2MASS data is equal 9.0 ± 0.13 arc minutes; it reflects that the cluster have large radius with new cluster center. Luminosity and mass functions have been investigated as well as the dynamical relaxation time of the cluster Berkeley 39.


How "public" is public international law? Despite its natural law origins, international law has long privileged the role of the state. Today, NGOs and civil society actors play an increasingly important role — offering a voice for the disenfranchised through their advocacy, and a helping hand for the disadvantaged through their operations. Calls for accountability of these actors are understandable, but often founder on their diversity. This paper therefore develops a typology of such actors, based on their activities and their drivers. That typology better reflects the reasons for and circumstances in which accountability is appropriate. In addition, it suggests a possible evolution in the international order where the status of an actor (state, intergovernmental organization, NGO, etc) is less important than its function.


The purpose of this study was to assess the relationship between progression‐free survival (PFS) in patients treated with DFMO + PCV (procarbazine, CCNU, vincristine) chemotherapy for malignant gliomas with tumor cell ornithine decarboxylase (ODC) activity. Formalin‐fixed slides were obtained for study patients with anaplastic gliomas (AGs) and glioblastoma treated on protocol DM92‐035. ODC levels were measured using an antibody to ODC coupled to Alexa 647 dye (Ab‐ODC‐Alexa 647). Ab‐ODC‐Alexa 647 intensity in transgenic murine hearts of differing ODC activity was used to calculate ODC activity in tumor cell nucleoplasm. In total, tumor specimens for 31 of 114 (27%) patients treated on the AG strata and 10 patients from the GBM strata were obtained. We found that tumor ODC level heterogeneity increased with increasing tumor malignancy. In a Cox proportional hazards model, PFS was found to be inversely related to median tumor ODC activity, with an unadjusted hazard ratio for median ODC group (>3.3 vs. ≤3.3 nmol/30 min/μg protein) of 5.8 (p < 0.0001); a median PFS of 522 weeks for patients with AGs with median ODC activity ≤ 3.3 and 31 weeks for the 8 AG and 10 glioblastoma patients with ODC activity > 3.3 nmol/30 min/μg protein. Of AG tumors in which ODC activity was evaluated, 26% had ODC levels > 3.3 nmol/30 min/μg protein. This study shows that Ab‐ODC‐Alexa 647 fluorescence intensity can be used as a surrogate marker of ODC biochemical activity in AGs and can predict PFS to DFMO‐based chemotherapy. © 2007 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.


Connective tissue diseases are characterized by different organ disorders due to loss of immune system tolerance to autoantigens. Peripheral neuropathy is one of the features of these diseases with variable frequency; it is more prevalent in Sjögren syndrome. Peripheral neuropathy is often seen in the course of the disease. Nonetheless, it may be also a presenting sign or the unique feature of immune system dysfunction. Neuropathies in connective tissue diseases are related mainly to vasculitic disorder. It requires prompt diagnosis and treatment to improve its outcome. Peripheral neuropathy in connective tissue diseases could be multifocal and asymmetric, or confluent and symmetrical. This chapter reviews the clinical, diagnostic and therapeutic features of neuropathies associated with the common diffuse connective tissue diseases.


Stratified rocks of early and middle Paleozoic age form a belt of northeast-trending anticlinoria and synclinoria of middle Paleozoic age, in northern Vermont and adjacent parts of southern Quebec. The foreland margin of this belt, in the Champlain and St. Lawrence valleys to the west, is cut by eastward-dipping thrust faults of middle Paleozoic age and by later northeast-trending normal faults. The Green Mountain anticlinorium, which is the dominant structure of the region, is flanked to the west, on the foreland, by the St. Albans-Hinesburg-Middlebury synclinorium and to the east, in the midst of the folded belt, by the Connecticut Valley-Gaspe synclinorium. The principal thrust faults, notably the Champlain and Philipsburg thrusts, are in the west limb of the St. Albans-Hinesburg-Middlebury synclinorium. East of the Connecticut Valley-Gaspe synclinorium is the Boundary Mountain anticlinorium, in eastern Vermont and adjacent New Hampshire and along the international boundary between Quebec and Maine. Two contrasting intergradational lithic assemblages, the graywacke-shale assemblage and the carbonate-quartzite assemblage, characterize the protolith of the bedded rocks. The graywacke-shale assemblage includes thick sections of lower Paleozoic strata, portions of which lap both gradationally and unconformably westward on the foreland, particularly in Quebec; it also includes middle Paleozoic strata that offlap eastward away from the foreland. The carbonate-quartzite assemblage laps both unconformably and gradationally eastward over the graywacke-shale assemblage in sections of the middle Paleozoic east of the axis of the Green Mountain anticlinorium. Stratigraphic correlation has become well established in the foreland belt where numerous distinctive and fossiliferous strata, chiefly of the carbonate-quartzite assemblage, have escaped metamorphism. It is also fairly clear in sections in the eastern foreland and western part of the Green Mountain anticlinorium, where the strata of the carbonate-quartzite assemblage extend eastward and interfinger with rocks of the graywacke-shale terrane. Rocks that are entirely of the graywacke-shale assemblage have been correlated in the present study. The stratified rocks west of the axis of the Green Mountain anticlinorium are of Cambrian(?), Cambrian, and Ordovician age; those to the east range in age from Cambrian to Devonian. The geotectonic setting of the region is the once mobile belt of the Appalachian orthogeosyncline, which is at the southeastern margin of the stable continental block, or craton, of North America. The orthogeosyncline was a belt, chiefly of subsidence, that embraced two parallel and adjoining longitudinal zones: the eugeosynclinal zone, which was more mobile, and the miogeosynclinal zone, which was less mobile. Second- and third-generation geosynclines are superimposed not only on the orthogeosyncline but also on adjoining parts of the craton. Uplift, and finally folding, gradually superseded subsidence in the orthogeosyncline. Local uplift, chiefly within the eugeosynclinal zone, provided most of the clastic sediments, principally those of the graywacke-shale assemblage. General stabilization of the western part of the orthogeosyncline at the end of the Ordovician was accompanied by eastward migration of the miogeosynclinal zone. Localized uplift within the eastern part of the orthogeosyncline at this time is marked by unconformities referred to the Taconic disturbance. Folding and uplift after the Early Devonian is shown by angular unconformities referred to the Acadian and Appalachian orogenies. The interpretation of the geotectonic relations of the bedded rocks is aided by critical features of the magmatic activity that began with, accompanied, and followed the diastrophism.


BACKGROUND
Cancer-induced bone pain (CIBP) is a common chronic pain characterized by 2 components, ongoing pain and breakthrough pain. Tanshinone IIA (TSN IIA) is a bioactive constituent of the traditional Chinese medicine Danshen, which has been reported to have an antinociceptive effect on neuropathic and inflammatory pain through downregulation of the late proinflammatory cytokine high-mobility group protein B1 (HMGB1).

OBJECTIVE
To assess the antinociceptive effect of TSN IIA on CIBP.

STUDY DESIGN
A randomized, double-blind, controlled animal trial was performed.

SETTING
University lab in China.

METHODS
A rat CIBP model was established by injecting Walker 256 mammary gland carcinoma cells into the intramedullary cavity of the tibia. Both ongoing pain, e.g., flinching and guarding, and breakthrough pain, e.g., limb use and von Frey threshold, were evaluated. The effects of intraperitoneally administered TSN IIA on pain behavior and the expression levels of spinal HMGB1, interleukin (IL)-1beta, tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-alpha, and IL-6 were determined. The effect of TSN IIA on the electrically evoked response of spinal wide-dynamic range (WDR) neurons was performed in vivo.

RESULTS
TSN IIA dose-dependently inhibited cancer-induced ongoing pain and breakthrough pain. The expression levels of spinal HMGB1 and other inflammatory factors (IL-1beta, TNF-alpha, and IL-6) were increased in the rat model, but they were suppressed by TSN IIA in a dose-dependent manner. Moreover, TSN IIA significantly inhibited the neuronal responses of WDR neurons in spinal deep layers.

LIMITATIONS
Further studies are warranted to ascertain how TSN IIA attenuates cancer-induced ongoing pain.

CONCLUSIONS
Our results indicate that TSN IIA attenuates cancer-induced ongoing pain and breakthrough pain, possibly via suppression of central sensitization in CIBP rats. Therefore, we have provided strong evidence supporting TSN IIA as a potential and effective therapy for relieving CIBP.

KEY WORDS
Cancer-induced bone pain, high-mobility group protein B1, Tanshinone IIA, ongoing pain, breakthrough pain.


ABSTRACT Research on meaning has begun to assess the specific facets of meaning in life. Few studies have examined the extent to which these facets distinguish meaning at the level of individual events. In the present study, participants from Singapore and the U.S. wrote about meaningful and meaningless events and rated the extent to which they experienced purpose, coherence, positive and negative implications for self and others, positive affect, and negative affect. In both samples, meaningful and meaningless events differed most in their levels of positive affect, purpose, and positive implications for the self. When entered as predictors of overall event meaningfulness, purpose and positive affect independently predicted meaning. Measures of coherence did not predict the meaningfulness of event with one exception. The extent to which an event offered a new understanding predicted meaning above and beyond purpose and PA. Implications for meaning assessment and theories of meaning are discussed.


: The basic defects of a number of genetic disorders affecting the connective tissue have been elucidiated during the last few years. A similar progress in understanding the pathobiochemistry of other dermatological diseases is expected. The present review summarizes our knowledge about structure, synthesis, degradation, macromolecular organization and possible function of glycosaminoglycans, which are an important constitutent of the ground substance in the skin. The difficulties of relating the clinical symptoms of diseases with the basic defects are examplified for the mucopolysaccharidoses.


Infectious gastroenteritis is one of the common causes of tachyarrythmia, malabsorbtion and growth retardation in children. Our recent studies have indicated that neonatal.cryptosporidial gastroenteritis is associated with long-term cardiomyocyte abnormalities. The aim of the present study was to find out how neonatal cryptosporidiosis of various severities affects cardiac anatomy and cardiomyocyte polyploidization, remodeling and HIF-1α expression. Using real-time PCR, cytometry, immunohistochemistry, image analysis and interatrial septum visual examination, we revealed that gradual increase in cryptosporidial invasion was associated with threshold changes. At weak parasitic infection, interatrial septum was entire and there was no statistically significant change in cardiomyocytes. At moderate and severe infection, all changes in cardiac anatomy and cardiomyocytes were statistically significant and demonstrated approximately similar degree. Compared to control, heart were atrophied and elongated, interatrial septum contained a small window (patentforamrn ovale), and cardiomyocytes lost protein, became elongated, thin and accumulated additional genomes. Also we found HIF-1α mRNA hyperexpression. Notable, the threshold response to gradual stimulus is an important criterion of development programming since such a response is commonly a consequence of abnormal anatomic structure formation and cell differentiation failure. Our results can be interesting for physicians because they indicate that even moderate cryptosporidiosis can be dangerous for neonatal heart and can trigger neonatal programming of cardiovascular pathology. Also, our results for the first time demonstrate the association between gastroenteritis, patent foramen ovale and cardiomyocyte malfunction.


The authors used thermally induced surface tension gradients to manipulate aqueous droplets in microchannels. Control of the droplet breakup process was demonstrated. Droplet sorting can be achieved with temperatures above a critical value. Numerical simulation using a two-dimensional model agrees qualitatively well with the experimental results. The used control temperature of less than 55°C shows that this active control concept is suitable for biochemical applications. Thermal control promises to be a simple and effective manipulation method for droplet-based lab on a chip.


In Caring, Peta Bowden extends and challenges recent debates on feminist ethics. She takes issue with accounts of the ethics of care that focus on alleged principles of caring rather than analysing caring in practice. Caring, Bowden argues, must be understood by 'working through examples'.

Following this approach, Bowden explores four main caring practices: mothering, friendship, nursing and citizenship. Her analysis of the differences and similarities in these practices - their varying degrees of intimacy and reciprocity, formality and informality, vulnerability and choice - reveals the practical complexity of the ethics of care.

Caring recognizes that ethical practices constantly outrun the theories that attempt to explain them, and Bowden's unique approach provides major new insights into the nature of care without resorting to indiscriminate unitary models.

It will be essential reading for all those interested in ethics, gender studies, nursing and the caring professions.


Expandable sand screens are a relatively n ovel sand control system, which are used to control the ingress of solids in oil and gas reservoirs with weak and unconsolidated formations. They combine the ease of installation of conventional screens with the borehole support of a gravel pack. There are two different variations of expandable screens; a system based on a slotted basepipe which are easy to expand but relatively low in strength and a system based on a drilled basepipe which are very strong but difficult to expand. FEA has been used to model the slotted basepipe type t o better understand the interaction of the expanded screen with the rock formations. This type of analysis has replaced earlier, simple analytical, models based on tunneling theory. There are many advantages to using FEA. It allows a better choice of material models for the rock such as Drucker Prager and Cap models. It also allows the investigation of a wider range of configurations, such as the effect of an annulus or the interfaces between different formations. The results from the FEA modeling compares favorab ly with data from earlier, large scale, experiments. This satisfactory outcome increases confidence in the modeling and has allowed us to design models for field applications.


A new class of dual hydrophilic diblock copolymers (BCPs) possessing poly(ethylene glycol) (PEG) and zwitterionic polysulfabetaine (PSB) was synthesized by reversible addition–fragmentation chain transfer (RAFT) polymerization. These BCPs formed schizophrenic micelles undergoing core–shell transitions upon changing the medium from deionized water to an electrolyte solution. "Conventional" micelles, i.e. PSB at the core and PEG at the periphery, were formed in deionized water. The micelles "inverted" to form PSB at the shell and PEG at the core in electrolyte solutions. The reversal of core–shell structures was thoroughly studied by 1H-NMR spectroscopic analysis, dynamic light scattering (DLS) and transmission electron microscopic (TEM) techniques. Antifouling evaluation in the sea indicated that BCPs displayed antifouling behaviour to some extent. The dual hydrophilic BCPs reported here are potentially useful as stimuli responsive materials.


As data envelopment analysis (DEA) has been developed both in theory and application, the calculation of models become more and more important.  Although many DEA software tools have been built for the calculation of the DEA models, there are some deficiencies in embedding them into enterprise management information system (MIS). As an extension of this work, an idea was generated in this paper, which could both calculate the DEA and further support the decision making for decision making units (DMUs), i.e., the organizations, in the information environment. This is an attempt to bridge between DEA and MIS. And we could demonstrate this approach for building efficiency evaluation information system. Furthermore, an efficiency evaluation information system of company A, which was built by ourselves, was shown to illustrate our purpose.


The general distribution of the more frequently encountered airborne molds is reviewed. Improved diagnostic and therapeutic mold allergens, a knowledge of botanical relationships among molds and new injection techniques facilitate handling of clinical problems caused by molds.


People need to navigate library spaces to access and use library services and resources. People navigate facilities by wayfinding: figuring out where they are and how to get to what they need. The most commonly used methods to research wayfinding in libraries are interviews, task completion, and observation. Each method has strengths and weaknesses, so understanding which methods are most effective for different research purposes is crucial to future research in this area. There does not appear to be a relationship between method chosen and library type, but there is indication that some methods are preferred for different research goals and that multiple methods are preferred over single methods. All methods appear to be efficacious for answering research questions, but multiple method studies appear to be more efficacious than single method studies.


Cerebral palsy is one of the commonest children's physical handicaps with frequency of 1.5-3/1000. Beside many other disturbances, these children may have serious disorders caused by dental diseases. Concerning this fact, the objective of our study was to examine children with cerebral palsy in our contry and determine condition of dental health and suggest adequate protective measures. A total of 116 children, 3-18 years old, with cerebral palsy were examined and the results were compared to the control group of healthy children of the same age. Among healthy children, 7-10 years old, 66.3% had healthy parodontium, while none of children with cerebral palsy had healthy parodontium. Children, 11-14 years old with cerebral palsy had higher percentage of untreated caries, but lower percentage of filled teeth (18.7%) compared to healthy children (55.0%). Children, 15-18 years old with cerebral palsy had significantly higher percentage of extracted teeth (10.6%) than healthy children (4.1%) and more often orthodontic anomalies (70.6%), compared to healthy children (46.9%). Results of these study indicate that children with cerebral palsy need special and planned dental care.


This paper presents a model predictive current control algorithm that is suitable for multilevel converters and its application to a three-phase cascaded H-bridge inverter. This control method uses a discrete-time model of the system to predict the future value of the current for all voltage vectors, and selects the vector which minimizes a cost function. Due to the large number of voltage vectors available in a multilevel inverter, a large number of calculations are needed, making difficult the implementation of this control in a standard control platform. A modified control strategy that considerably reduces the amount of calculations without affecting the system's performance is proposed. Experimental results for five- and nine-level inverters validate the proposed control algorithm.


With Michael Jordan and the New Global Capitalism, Walter LaFeber has written a biography, a social history, and a far-ranging economic critique. From basketball prodigy to international phenomenon to seductive commercial ideal, Michael Jordan is the supreme example of how American corporations have used technology in a brave, massively wired new world to sell their products in every corner of the globe. LaFeber's examination of Nike and its particular dominion over the global marketplace is often scathing, while his fascinating mini-biography of Michael Jordan and the commercial history of basketball reveal much about American society. For this new paperback edition, LaFeber has added a chapter on globalization in a changed world, after mass protests and since September 11. "Bold, riveting...Brilliantly illuminates how hyper-US capitalism has spread its financial wings around the globe."-Douglas Brinkley "LaFeber brings an impressive intellect to bear on his subject."-Barbara Rudolph, Chicago Tribune


This work presents a stable and reliable turnkey continuous-wave laser system for a Yb/Ba multispecies trapped-ion quantum computer. The compact and rack-mountable optics system exhibits high robustness, operating over a year without realignment, regardless of temperature changes in the laboratory. The overall optical system is divided into a few isolated modules interconnected by optical fibers for easy maintenance. The light sources are frequency-stabilized by comparing their frequencies with two complementary references: 1) a commercial Fizeau wavelength meter and 2) a high-finesse optical cavity. This scheme enables automatic frequency stabilization for days with a sub-MHz precision.


Thirty-four experimental sugar beet cultivars and five commercial check cultivars were evaluated in a commercial sprinkler-irrigated sugar beet field near Declo, ID where winter wheat was grown in 2008. The field trial relied on natural infection for rhizomania development. The plots were planted on 20 Apr 09 to a density of 142,560 seeds/A, and thinned to 47,520 plants/A on 8 Jun. Plots were four rows (22-in . row spacing) and 24 ft long. The experimental design was a randomized complete block design with four replications per cultivar. The crop was managed according to standard cultural practices. The plants were mechanically topped and the center two rows were collected with a mechanical harvester on 13 Oct. At harvest the roots were evaluated for rhizomania (Rz rating) using a scale of 0-9 (0 = healthy and 9 = dead). The percent sucrose at harvest was established based on two eight-root samples from each plot. The samples were submitted to the Amalgamated Tare Lab (determined percent sucrose, conductivity, nitrates, and tare). At harvest, eight roots per plot were also placed in a mesh onion bag, weighed, and placed in an indoor commercial sugar beet storage facility in Paul, ID on 14 Oct set to hold 35°F. On 18 Feb 10, the roots were evaluated for the percentage of surface area covered by fungal growth. On 22 Feb 10 roots were retrieved after 131 days in storage and evaluated for weight and percent sucrose (via gas chromatography). Only samples from the same plots were compared, when establishing percent reduction in sucrose at harvest versus storage. Data were analyzed using the general linear models rocedure (Proc GLM-SAS), and Fisher's protected least significant difference was used for mean comparisons.

Root rots and other disease problems other than rhizomania were not evident in the plot area. Rhizomania was uniform based on foliar symptoms, but root symptom development was minimal. Nevertheless, there were significant differences among cultivars for all variables, except fungal growth on the root surface in storage. B-101 was borderline for rhizomania resistance, since cultivars with ratings over 3.0 are considered susceptible. Root yield averaged 37 tons/A which was higher than Idaho's average of 31 tons/A (USDA-National Ag. Stat. Service). Surface fungal growth ranged from 4 to 30% and surface root rot ranged from 1 to 20%, depending on cultivar. By the end of the storage season, weight loss ranged from 3.1 to 7.1% and sucrose losses ranged from 23 to 57%. Thus, improving storability in sugar beet cultivars to reduce sucrose losses could have considerable economic benefit.


The research was intended to describe the use of Simalungun taboo words across times in Simalungun (1930-2021). The language of Simalungun is spoken by people living outside the district of Simalungun, North of Sumatera and other people. This research was carried out in a multi-case descriptive qualitative design. Descriptual qualitative research design was defined as a social science research approach that emphasised the collection, use of inductive thinking and understanding of descriptive data in natural environments. While multi case is defined as a study which is using two or more subjects, settings, or depositories of data (Bogdan & Biklen, 1982). Documentation, interviews and observations of participants were used to collect data on linguistic taboos. The data sources were collected from 45 informants of different ages (1930-2021) and sexes who reside in Pematangsiantar, Pematangraya and Saribudolok. After having analyzed the collected data, the research finding showed that there were 62 words out of 106 the taboo words of ten categories: sexual organ, sexual activity, cursing, swearing, calling people, action, disease, dwelling ghost and name of God which were  used stably across time (from 1930 to 2021) in Simalungun are 62 words, out of 106 words.


This paper tries to compare knitwear clusters in Ludhiana and Tiruppur. While Ludhiana is producing woolen knitting wear mainly for domestic market, Tiruppur concentrate on cotton knitting wear mainly for export market. There are four similarities between the two clusters. First, vertical networking among units specializing in different parts of the production process is working effectively. Second, information on market is shared among producers through intermediaries such as wholesalers, retailers and other marketing agents. Third, both clusters depend on migrant workers. Fourth, apparel industry contributes to improvement of household income in neighbouring villages. On the other hand, there is difference in the two points. First, while Ludhiana is catering mainly for the domestic market, Tiruppur is export-oriented cluster. Second, communities of owners are different in the two clusters.


In many prediction problems researchers have found that combinations of prediction methods ("ensembles") perform better than individual methods. In this paper we apply these ideas to synthetic control type problems in panel data. Here a number of conceptually quite different methods have been developed. We compare the predictive accuracy of three methods with an ensemble method and find that the latter dominates. These results show that ensemble methods are a practical and effective method for the type of data configurations typically encountered in empirical work in economics, and that these methods deserve more attention.


In order to investigate the levels of antibodies and antigen in sera and in broncho-alveolar lavage fluid (BALF) samples, female rats immunosuppressed or non-immunosuppressed female rats and rats experimentally infected with Strongyloides venezuelensis and their young offspring were used. For this, enzyme-linked immune-sorbent assay (ELISA) was conducted using alkaline parasite extracts and anti-L3 polyclonal antibody produced in rabbits. Findings revealed that young offspring from immunosuppressed females presented significantly higher positivity for IgG detection in serum samples and in BALF. In addition, antigen detection in serum samples was also more evident in offspring from immunosuppressed rats. Thus, we reinforce the transmammalian route of Strongyloides infection in experimental model infection.


STUDY QUESTION
What is the prevalence of chronic endometritis (CE) in women with repeated unexplained implantation failure (RIF) at IVF, and how does antibiotic treatment affect the reproductive outcome?

SUMMARY ANSWER
Chronic endometritis, associated with infection with common bacteria or mycoplasma, is common in women complaining of RIF and antibiotic treatment significantly improves the reproductive outcome at a subsequent IVF cycle.

WHAT IS KNOWN ALREADY
We have reported that CE is a frequent finding in women with repeated pregnancy loss and a significantly higher rate of successful pregnancies was achieved after adequate antibiotic treatment. Moreover, CE was identified in 30.3% of patients with repeated implantation failure at IVF and women diagnosed with CE had lower implantation rates (11.5%) after IVF cycles. In contrast, other authors reported that the clinical implication of CE should be considered minimal and that the reproductive outcome at IVF/ICSI cycles was not negatively affected by CE.

STUDY DESIGN, SIZE, DURATION
A retrospective study was performed from January 2009 through June 2012 on 106 women with unexplained infertility and a history of RIF.

PARTICIPANTS/MATERIALS, SETTING, METHODS
All patients underwent hysteroscopy and endometrial sampling for histology and microbiological investigations. Women diagnosed with CE underwent antibiotic treatment and the effect of treatment was confirmed by hysteroscopy with biopsy. Within 6 months after treatment all women had a further IVF attempt. The IVF outcomes were compared in women without signs of CE (Group 1) and persistent CE (Group 2) after antibiotic treatment. Clinical pregnancy rate (PR), and live birth rate (LBR) were compared at post-treatment IVF attempt.

MAIN RESULTS AND THE ROLE OF CHANCE
Seventy (66.0%) women were diagnosed with CE at hysteroscopy. In 61 (57.5%) CE was confirmed by histology and 48 (45.0%) by cultures. Common bacteria and mycoplasma were the most prevalent agents. In 46 (75.4%) out of 61 women, with diagnosis of CE at hysteroscopy and histology, examinations were normal after appropriate antibiotic treatment control (Group 1) while in 15 (24.6%) cases signs of CE were still present (Group 2). At IVF attempt after treatment, a significantly higher PR and LBR was reported in women from Group 1 compared with women from Group 2 (65.2 versus 33.0% P = 0.039; 60.8 versus 13.3%, P = 0.02, respectively).

LIMITATIONS, REASONS FOR CAUTION
Possible biases related to retrospective studies and to preferential referral of patients with CE, and limited number of cases.

WIDER IMPLICATIONS OF THE FINDINGS
A prospective randomized clinical trial is needed to confirm our findings but in women with RIF a hysteroscopic evaluation of the uterine cavity to exclude CE should be considered and appropriate antibiotic treatment should be given before submitting the patient to a further IVF attempt.


Introduction: Work-related musculoskeletal disorders (WMSDs) are the most common occupational health problems, reported with high costs and loss of productivity in nurses. On one hand, the quality of life is a multidimensional concept that affects factors such as physical and psychological ones. This study aimed to evaluate the relationship between WMSDs and quality of life in nurses. Methods: This descriptive-analytical study was performed on 940 nursing staff in Hospitals of Sari, Iran. The samples were selected by census sampling method. Data were gathered using particular questionnaires of musculoskeletal disorders (Nordic) and quality of life (SF36-). Collected data were analyzed by analysis of variance (ANOVA), t-test and Pearson's correlation using SPSS software (version 18). Results: The results showed that low back disorder with prevalence of %60.9 was the most prevalent disorder among nurses. All aspects of quality of life, except for social functioning, were significantly correlated with WMSDs (P<0.05). In addition, there was a statistically significant relationship in age, gender and education level with WMSDs as well as in gender and work with quality of life (P<0.05). conclusions: According to this study, the prevalence of WMSDs was relatively high in nurses. In the majority of nurses, moderate quality of life was observed. Therefore, any intervention to improve quality of life and prevent WMSDs should be focused on, to reduce the physical needs and psychological pressures. Received: 02.09.2015 Accepted: 08.11.2015


Though α-poly(l-lysine) (APL) has been well-studied in gene delivery, ε-poly(l-lysine) (EPL) with same repeating unit of l-lysine but different structure has been rarely investigated. This study compared various effects of their different structures in gene delivery processes. EPL showed less cytotoxicity and more proton buffering capacity for endosomal release than APL. Also, EPL/pDNA polyplexes represented higher nucleus preference than APL/pDNA polyplexes. However, EPL had weaker affinities with pDNA than APL, leading to formation of larger EPL/pDNA complexes with less compactness and successively faster decomplexation. The resultant difference of their pDNA binding affinity caused lower cellular uptake and lower transfection efficiency of EPL/pDNA complexes than APL/pDNA complexes. Thus, this study confirmed that various effects of gene delivery processes are changed by chemical structure of polymeric gene carriers. Especially, despite the low transfection efficiency of EPL-based polyplexes, the study found potentials of EPL in cytocompatibility, endosomal release, and nuclear import.


The subunit structure of the vacuolar H(+)-ATPase (V-ATPase) membrane sector is not entirely known. The proteolipid is the only subunit that has been implicated in the mechanism of energy transfer in the enzyme. We have identified a protein (M16) that co-purifies with the V-ATPase complex from bovine chromaffin granules. Information obtained from the amino acid sequence of a proteolytic fragment of M16 was used to clone a bovine adrenal cDNA encoding this protein. The cDNA encodes a hydrophilic protein of 118 amino acid residues with a calculated molecular mass of 13682Da. Amino acid sequence analysis revealed that M16 exhibits a significant homology to subunit b of F-ATPases. M16 is smaller than subunit b and contains no apparent transmembrane segment in its N terminus. The remainder of subunit b is related to M16 not only by its amino acid sequence but also in its predicted structure of helix-turn-helix. The structural and evolutionary implications of these findings are discussed.


Hand ischemia due to arterial steal syndrome is an infrequent but potentially serious complication of hemodialysis access procedures. Correction of symptomatic steal syndrome typically involves fistula ligation, arterial banding, or graft lengthening, each of which provides varying degrees of success. The purpose of this study is to evaluate experience in the treatment of dialysis-associated hand ischemia by distal artery ligation and revascularization. A retrospective review was performed on 14 patients over a 6-year period who developed hand ischemia following hemodialysis access construction and underwent distal artery ligation and revascularization. Patient demographic data, operative indications, risk factors, and treatment outcome were noted. There were 10 men and four women, with a mean age of 52 years (range 21 to 73). Hand ischemia occurred in nine patients with arteriovenous grafts and five patients with arteriovenous fistulas. Nine patients developed steal syndrome within 1 month following the hemodialysis access procedure. All 14 patients underwent a surgical procedure for hand ischemia, which included ligation of the artery distal to arteriovenous fistula and arterial bypass, with reverse saphenous vein grafts in 10 patients, reversed cephalic vein grafts in three patients, and polytetrafluoroethylene graft in one patient. One patient with severe digital gangrene also required amputation. There was no perioperative morbidity or mortality. Following operation, all showed immediate improvement of the affected hand and remained free of symptoms. The cumulative patency rates of the hemodialysis access following the corrective procedure at 1, 3, and 5 years were 85.7%, 64.2%, and 42.9%, respectively. All arterial bypasses remained patent during follow-up, which ranged from 1 month to 5 years (mean 35 months). Distal arterial ligation with revascularization is an effective and durable treatment for patients with arterial steal syndrome following hemodialysis access construction. This technique can be performed with minimal morbidity and maintains a continuous access for hemodialysis.


OBJECTIVE
The aim of this study was to assess the effectiveness of two microbiologic methods: viral culture and serology for the etiologic study of acute respiratory infections in children under 14 years of age admitted to our hospital.

PATIENTS
From January 1992 to December 1993, a prospective study was carried out in 87 patients with a mean age of two years with the following diagnosis: upper respiratory tract infections (URTI) 19, laryngitis 3, bronchitis 18, bronchiolitis 18, and pneumonia 29.

METHOD
Nasopharyngeal aspirates were collected for virologic culture on cell monolayers in 87 patients. Serologic studies by complement fixation test were carried out in 42 patients older than six months.

RESULTS
The etiologic agent was detected in 54 (62%) of the 87 patients, being the most frequent the respiratory sincitial virus (VRS) with 18 cases (20%), followed by adenovirus (ADV) in 17 (19%) and Mycoplasma pneumoniae in 9 cases (11%). Viral culture was positive in 32 (37%), being ADV in 14 (41%), and RSV in 9 (26%). Significative serologic studies were obtained in 25 (60%) of the 42 studied patients, with VRS in 9 (32%) and M. pneumoniae in 9 (32%). Concerning clinical diagnosis, the major effectiveness corresponded to serology in pneumonia (76%), and to viral culture in URTI (63%).

CONCLUSION
Viral culture and serology are useful methods for the detection of etiologic agents in acute respiratory infections. The serology effectiveness increases with age (p < 0.01) and the severity of the clinical diagnosis. Both methods have limited usefulness from clinical point of view.


Norms in multi-agent systems are used as a mechanism to regulate the behavior of autonomous and heterogeneous agents and to maintain the social order of the society of agents. Norms describe actions that must be performed, actions that can be performed and actions that cannot be performed by a given entity in a certain situation. One of the challenges in designing and managing systems governed by norms is that they can conflict with another. Two norms are in conflict when the fulfillment of one causes the violation of the other. When that happens, whatever the agent does or refrains from doing will lead to a social constraint being broken. Several researches have been proposed mechanisms to detect conflicts between norms. However, there is a kind of normative conflict not investigated yet in the design phase, here called runtime conflicts, that can only be detected if we know information about the runtime execution of the system. This paper presents two approaches based on execution scenarios to detect normative conflicts that depends on execution order of runtime events in multi-agent systems. In the first approach, the system designer are able to provide examples of execution scenarios and evaluate the conflicts that may arise if those scenarios would be executed in the system. In the second approach, the conflict checker identifies potential normative conflicts by switching the position order of the runtime events referred in the norm conditions.


ABSTRACT Park, W.; Baek, W.-K.; Won, J.-S., and Jung, H.-S., 2020. Comparison of input image size for ship detection from KOMPSAT-5 SAR image using deep neural networks (DNNs). In: Jung, H.-S.; Lee, S.; Ryu, J.-H., and Cui, T. (eds.), Advances in Geospatial Research of Coastal Environments. Journal of Coastal Research, Special Issue No. 102, pp. 208-217. Coconut Creek (Florida), ISSN 0749-0208. This study shows the results of ship detection in KOMPSAT-5 X-band SAR images using Deep Learning (DL) based the fast Deep Neural Network (DNN) method with the iterative kernel-based false alram detection algorithm. In addition, this study verifies the detection accuracy according to the size of the input data for are typical errors in SAR images such as backscattering noise, side-lobe, and ghost effect. The test results of the Fast DNN method confirmed that the error caused by the back scattering noise and side-lobe decreased as the input data size increased, however, the error for the ghost effect did not improve significantly. Also, the False Alarm Rate (FAR) was greatly improved using the iterative kernel-based false alram detection algorithm. However, caution is needed when detecting small ships because very small boats disappear. The results of this study showed that the size of the input data was very effective at 51 × 51 or higher when the fast DNN method and the iterative kernel-based false alram detection algorithm were applied to the KOMPSAT-5 images to detect ships, allowing the FAR and Intersaction over Union (IoU) showing relatively high accuracy at 0.270 and 0.611.


In previous work, we presented rules for defining overloaded functions that ensure type safety under symmetric multiple dispatch in an object-oriented language with multiple inheritance, and we showed how to check these rules without requiring the entire type hierarchy to be known, thus supporting modularity and extensibility. In this work, we extend these rules to a language that supports parametric polymorphism on both classes and functions.
 In a multiple-inheritance language in which any type may be extended by types in other modules, some overloaded functions that might seem valid are correctly rejected by our rules. We explain how these functions can be permitted in a language that additionally supports an exclusion relation among types, allowing programmers to declare "nominal exclusions" and also implicitly imposing exclusion among different instances of each polymorphic type. We give rules for computing the exclusion relation, deriving many type exclusions from declared and implicit ones.
 We also show how to check our rules for ensuring the safety of overloaded functions. In particular, we reduce the problem of handling parametric polymorphism to one of determining subtyping relationships among universal and existential types. Our system has been implemented as part of the open-source Fortress compiler.


This paper presents a new approach to automatic segmentation of foreground objects from an image sequence by integrating techniques of background subtraction and motion-based foreground segmentation. First, a region-based motion segmentation algorithm is proposed to obtain a set of motion-coherence regions and the correspondence among regions at different time instants. Next, we formulate the classification problem as a graph labeling over a region adjacency graph based on Markov random fields (MRFs) statistical framework. A background model representing the background scene is built and then is used to model a likelihood energy. Besides the background model, a temporal coherence is also maintained by modeling it as the prior energy. On the other hand, color distributions of two neighboring regions are taken into consideration to impose spatial coherence. Then, the a priori energy of MRFs takes both spatial and temporal coherence into account to maintain the continuity of our segmentation. Finally, a labeling is obtained by maximizing the a posteriori energy of the MRFs. Under such formulation, we integrate two different kinds of techniques in an elegant way to make the foreground detection more accurate. Experimental results for several video sequences are provided to demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed approach


Motivation of this paper is presentation of analytical solution for flexible functionally graded beams problem when carry elastic large deflection, with small strains and without concerning plastic region. The formulation of large deflection in curvilinear and Cartesian coordinate systems for the free-clamped flexible functionally graded beam, culminate in the second order non-linear ordinary differential equation that can solve it in the analytical approach. The components of deflection that are derived with analytical solution and ANSYS approach are compared. The influence of the distribution reversing of the material property and the influence of the variable material property in the components of deflection are studied. This analytical approach can be used for verifying the other method results, if any.


W ho hasn't read Dr. Seuss? As kids and as parents, most Americans know all about the Cat in the Hat, Yertle the Turtle, and many other of Seuss's colorful characters. What some may not know is that despite his popular image as a kindly cartoonist for kids, Theodor Geisel, writing under the pen name "Dr. Seuss," was also a progressive and a moralist whose views suffuse his books. Some of his books use ridicule, satire, wordplay, nonsense words, and wild drawings to take aim at bullies, hypocrites, and demagogues. In the early 1940s, before many Americans were aware of the calamity confronting Europe's Jews, Geisel—a Lutheran who grew up in a tight-knit German American community in Springfield, Massachusetts— drew editorial cartoons for PM, the progressive daily newspaper in New York, warning readers about Hitler and anti-Semitism and attacking the "America First" isolationists who turned a blind eye to the rise of fascism and the Holocaust. His most popular children's books included parables about racism, anti-Semitism, the arms race, and the environment. But, equally important, he used his pen to encourage youngsters to challenge bullies and injustice. Generations of progressive activists may not trace their political views to their early exposure to Dr. Seuss, but without doubt this shy, brilliant genius played a role in sensitizing them to abuses of power. Geisel (1904-1991) was, and remains two decades after his death, the world's most popular writer of modern children's books. He wrote and illustrated forty-four children's books characterized by memorable rhymes, whimsical characters, and exuberant drawings that encouraged generations of children to love reading and expand their vocabularies. His books, including his two most popular stories (The Cat in the Hat and Green Eggs and Ham), have been translated into more than fifteen languages and sold over 200 million copies. They have been adapted into feature films, TV specials, and a Broadway musical. He earned two Academy Awards, two Emmy Awards, a Peabody Award, and the Pulitzer Prize. Geisel believed that children's books should be both entertaining and educational. He thought, as he wrote in a 1960 article for the Los Angeles Times, that writers of


: In rats placed into the small cylindric cages for 46--60 days, the RNA contents per 1 cell increased in neurons and glial cells of hypothalamic supraoptic nucleus, did not change in the nervous cells of the motor cortex, and decreased in the lumbar spinal cord cells. Concentrations of SH-groups in the motor cortex homogenate, GABA and treonine in cerebral hemispheres respectively decreased. The acetyl- and butyrilcholinesterase activity in the c. n. s. of control and experimental animals was the same.


The challenge of scheduling user transmissions on the downlink of a long term evolution (LTE) cellular communication system is addressed. A maximum rate algorithm which does not consider fairness among users was proposed in . Here, a multiuser scheduler with proportional fairness (PF) is proposed. Numerical results show that the proposed PF scheduler provides a superior fairness performance with a modest loss in throughput, as long as the user average SINRs are fairly uniform. A suboptimal PF scheduler is also proposed, which has a much lower complexity at the cost of some throughput degradation.


The selection of machining parameters needs to be automated, according to its important role in machining process. This paper proposes a method for cutting parameters selection by fuzzy inference system generated using fuzzy subtractive clustering method (FSCM) and trained using an adaptive network based fuzzy inference system (ANFIS). The desired surface roughness (Ra) was entered into the first step as a reference value for three fuzzy inference system (FIS). Each system determine the corresponding cutting parameters such as (cutting speed, feed rate, and depth of cut). The interaction between these cutting parameters were examined using new sets of FIS models generated and trained for verification purpose. A new surface roughness value was determined using the cutting parameters resulted from the first steps and fed back to the comparison unit and was compared with the desired surface roughness and the optimal cutting parameters ( which give the minimum difference between the actual and predicted surface roughness were find out). In this way, single input multi output ANFIS architecture presented which can identify the cutting parameters accurately once the desired surface roughness is entered to the system. The test results showed that the proposed model can be used successfully for machinability data selection and surface roughness prediction as well.


[1] Monthly clear-sky anomalies of atmospheric temperature and water vapor over the East Siberian and Laptev Sea regions of the Arctic for 2003–2010 are examined here. This region experiences significant interannual variations in sea ice concentration and is also where ice loss was most apparent in the record year 2007. Clear-sky thermodynamic profiles come from the Atmospheric Infrared Sounder (AIRS) sensor onboard the Aqua satellite. Associated longwave (LW) and shortwave (SW) radiation-flux anomalies are estimated through radiative transfer modeling. Anomalies of temperature (±10 K) and water vapor (±1 g kg−1) often positively covary, resulting in distinct signatures in the clear-sky downwelling LW (LWD) anomalies, occasionally larger than ±10 W m−2around the 2003–2010 climatology. Estimates of mean greenhouse anomalies indicate a shift from negative to positive anomalies midway through the 8-year record. Sensitivity tests suggest that temperature anomalies are the strongest contributor to both LWD and greenhouse anomalies, relative to water-vapor anomalies; monthly averaging of column precipitable water yields relatively small anomalies (order 1 mm) that produce a linear response in greenhouse anomalies. Finally the clear-sky contribution to 2007 monthly ice thickness is estimated. Anomalous clear-sky radiation retards the total 2007 ice thickness by 0.3 m (15–30% of ice-thickness climatology), and anomalous LW radiation is most important for preconditioning the ice during the months prior to, and after, the summer melt season. A highly sensitive interaction between cloud fraction, surface albedo and LWD anomalies is found, and we develop a metric for determining clear-sky anomalous ice melt potential.


Apolipoprotein C-IV (apoC-IV), the newest member of the low-molecular-weight apoC group, has been characterized in blood plasma of rabbits, in which it is a major proline-rich apoC component (Zhang, L-H., L. Kotite, and R. J. Havel. 1996. Identification, characterization, cloning, and expression of apoC-IV, a novel sialoglycoprotein of rabbit plasma lipoproteins. J. Biol. Chem. 271: 1776–1783). Although the decoded sequence of mouse and human apoC-IV is known, apoC-IV has not been identified in blood plasma from these or other species. Rabbit apoC-IV exists in several sialoforms, and the asialoform has an acidic isoelectric point. We show that apoC-IV is a basic protein in human, monkey, and mouse plasma, present as a minor apoC component of VLDL. Human apoC-IV, isolated from apo VLDL by DEAE-cellulose chromatography and two-dimensional electrophoresis, was identified by microsequencing four tryptic peptides. The protein exhibits two major isoforms; one is N-glycosylated, and both are variably sialylated. In normolipidemic plasma, greater than 80% of the protein is in VLDL (0.7% of total apo VLDL), with most of the remainder in HDL. The concentration of apoC-IV in the plasma and lipoproteins of ρ < 1.21 g/ml is closely related to plasma triglyceride concentration up to 1,770 mg/dl, varying from 0.1–1.9 mg/dl. Neither the human nor rabbit apoC-IV gene contains a typical TATA box in the 5′-flanking region, but the 5′-untranslated region of the rabbit gene contains a unique purine-rich sequence, GGGACAG(G/A), repeated nine times in tandem, with an additional two within the 5′-flanking sequence. This sequence, functioning as a GAGA box that has been implicated in the transcription of a number of genes, may explain the higher level of expression of apoC-IV in rabbits.


In this paper we show that behavioral cloning can be used to learn effective sketches of programmatic strategies. We show that even the sketches learned by cloning the behavior of weak players can help the synthesis of programmatic strategies. This is because even weak players can provide helpful information, e.g., that a player must choose an action in their turn of the game. If behavioral cloning is not employed, the synthesizer needs to learn even the most basic information by playing the game, which can be computationally expensive. We demonstrate empirically the advantages of our sketch-learning approach with simulated annealing and UCT synthesizers. We evaluate our synthesizers in the games of Can't Stop and MicroRTS. The sketch-based synthesizers are able to learn stronger programmatic strategies than their original counterparts. Our synthesizers generate strategies of Can't Stop that defeat a traditional programmatic strategy for the game. They also synthesize strategies that defeat the best performing method from the latest MicroRTS competition.


In three studies the hypothesis was tested that for young Dutch children, who associate Saint Nicholas with the norm to share one's wealth with others, attributes of Saint Nicholas (miter, book, and staff) would spontaneously activate the "sharing norm" and subsequent sharing behavior. The results confirmed our expectations. In two studies, young Dutch children share more candy with others after being primed with attributes of Saint Nicholas compared to being primed with a dwarf in the control condition. In a third study, children evaluate sharing more positively after being primed with attributes of Saint Nicholas, and more negatively after being primed with the Toys R Us logo, compared to being primed with a dwarf. This is the first empirical evidence that attributes of normative symbols can induce normative behavior and change norm judgments.


In the summer of 1795, when Mary Wollstonecraft journeyed to Scandinavia, she was disillusioned with human society and the possibility of meaningful relation with others. She had recently been in Paris, where she had seen many of her moderate revolutionary friends executed under Robespierre's Reign of Terror, and by the time of her arrival in Scandinavia her unsatisfactory relationship with Gilbert Imlay was coming to an end. The book that resulted from this journey, A Short Residence in Sweden, Norway, and Denmark, is remarkable for its critique of sovereignty and the reification of difference inherent to the construction of national borders and the drives of commercial exchange. The article argues that Wollstonecraft insists upon openness to the people and cultures she encounters through configuring epistemology as a twin process of experiential contact and sceptical inquiry. This a process that remains inherently and necessarily ethical because it resists the structures of tyranny, domination, and control, which Wollstonecraft perceives to be afflicting late-eighteenth-century Europe, whilst simultaneously allowing for a re-conception of politics and justice according to the demands both of the present and the not-yet-formalised future.


Abstract The Leibnitz-Macluarin Method (LMM) via successive differential coefficients has been employed to proffer series solution of the nonlinear equation arising in the convective straight fins with temperature-dependent thermal conductivity problem. Solutions are presented for the dimensionless temperature distribution and fin efficiency of the nonlinear equation. Parametric analyses indicated two dominant non-dimensional parameters describing the thermal conductivity and thermo-geometrical property of fins. The results revealed that increase in the thermal conductivity increases the wall temperature, while increase in the thermo-geometrical parameter reduces the wall temperature, and that fin efficiency is dependent on both the thermal conductivity and thermo-geometrical property. The LMM results compared with previous numerical, HAM, DTM and available analytical results demonstrated excellent agreements.


that potent inhibitors of gastric acid secretion should be prescribed with caution in these patients, or in conjunction with fluconazole or nystatin. The clinical relevance of oesophageal candidal growth after gastric acid inhibition in patients with systemic sclerosis is still unclear. Zamost et al studied two groups of such patients, one with erosive oesophagitis and impaired oesophageal peristalsis and one without oesophagitis but with impaired peristalsis in about half the cases.' The percentage of patients with positive fungal culture of oesophageal brushing was greater in the first group than in the second, although not significantly so. Moreover, positive smears with hyphae were found only in patients with erosive oesophagitis and oesophageal strictures. Thus, impaired oesophageal peristalsis, oesophagitis or oesophageal strictures may favour fungal growth in patients with systemic sclerosis. If this hypothesis is true, the increased frequency ofpositive cultures for Candida albicans reported by Hendel et al in their subgroup of systemic sclerosis patients treated with gastric secretion inhibitors may result not only from the effect of treatments but also from the higher frequency of severe oesophageal involvement in this group of patients in comparison with controls.2 In fact, all patients receiving gastric secretion inhibitors had manometrically proved impaired oesophageal motility and abnormal gastro-oesophageal reflux whereas the control group consisted of consecutive patients with systemic sclerosis not requiring anti-reflux treatment in whom the frequency of oesophagitis and oesophageal motor dysfunction was not reported but was expected to be less than 60%.1 Whatever the cause may be that favours candidal growth in the oesophageal lumen of patients with systemic sclerosis, what is the clinical relevance of this growth? Hendel et al did not find mucosal invasive candidosis in any of their patients.2 Eradication of candidal growth by nystatin or fluconazole did not influence the severity of oesophagitis,' 2 and did not further relieve reflux symptoms previously improved by anti-reflux treatment.2 On the other hand, gastric mucosal erosions and an increase in serum alkaline phosphatase were seen after fluconazole treatment.2 Patients with systemic sclerosis, impaired oesophageal peristalsis, and oesophagitis report reflux symptoms that are often severe, and oesophageal strictures and bleeding may complicate oesophagitis in some of them. Symptoms and endoscopic oesophagitis improve after gastric acid inhibition3 and the risk of complications are possibly reduced by this treatment. On this basis we will continue to use potent gastric acid inhibitory drugs in patients with systemic sclerosis and oesophageal involvement. The part played by Candida albicans in oesophagitis of these patients, the best level of gastric acid inhibition that should be reached to minimise adverse events and to ameliorate the symptoms and prognosis of oesophagitis, and finally the clinical usefulness of antimycotic treatments in patients with systemic sclerosis should be defined by appropriate controlled trials. G BASILISCO R BARBERA M MOLGORA M VANOLI P A BIANCHI Department of Gastroenterology, Institute of Scienze Mediche, Institute of Clinica Medica i, IRCCS, Universita degli Studi di Milano, Via F Sforza 35, 20122 Milano, Italy 1 Zamost BJ, Hirschberg J, Ippoliti AF, Furst DE, Clements PJ, Weinstein WM. Esophagitis in scleroderma. Prevalence and risk factors. Gastroenterology 1987; 92: 421-8. 2 Hendel L, Svejgaard E, Walsoe I, Kieffer M, Stenderup A. Esophageal candidosis in progressive systemic sclerosis: occurrence, significance, and treatment with fluconazole. Scand J Gastroenterol 1988; 23: 1182-6. 3 Petrokubi RJ, Jeffries GH. Cimetidine versus antacid in scleroderma with reflux esophagitis. A randomized double-blind controlled study. Gastroenterology 1979; 77: 691-5.


This paper reviews current track loading requirement (ballasted and ballastless) Typical vehicle-track interaction loads are described along with their influential factors. Limits and influential factors are analysed against statistical evidence from vehicle dynamics measurement. Additional load combinations are presented as potentially relevant for track design. Discussion are made on the potential reduction of load from improved vehicle performance and slab track improved geometry, areas which might bear some benefits in terms of cost reduction for future slab track designs. This paper demonstrates that both vehicle measurement and simulations can provide an important source of information in terms of expected track loading and their limit values to help achieve cost reduction in track design.


Background and purpose: Substance abuse is one of the main social problems among young adults. This study aimed at evaluating the prevalence of substance abuse and associated factors in hookah users in Zahedan, Iran. Materials and methods: This cross-sectional study was carried out on 600 hookah users in Zahedan, 2015.The city was divided into 5 districts (north, south, east, west and center) according to the maps. Then a start point was randomly selected and all individuals in first hookah place were entered into the study. Other cases were studied by referring to next nearest hookah places. The study questionnaires were completed in each districts. Data analyses were performed in Stata.12 using Chi-square, Independent T test and multiple logistic regression. Results: The subjects' mean age was 26.1±5.1 years old. About 53% of the participants used hookah in groups. The ages of first hookah experience in males and females were 17.1±6.13 and 21.2±5.6 years old, respectively (P=0.04). Total prevalence of substance abuse was 70.4%. Using hookah in groups (OR=2.03, P=0.05), using hookah every other days (OR=2.2, P=0.042), living alone (OR=2.27, P=0.046), being university student (OR=3.7, P=0.01), and being male (OR=3, P=0.032) significantly increased the chance of substance abuse among hookah users. Conclusion: The prevalence of substance abuse in hookah users was found to be more than that in general population. Use of hookah can play a role in initiation of substance abuse. Also, the situation of hookah use and pattern or levels of consumption are the most important predictors in tendency of hookah users to other tobacco products and addictive industrial materials.


TO THE EDITOR: Zhernosekov et al. (1) have published a method for processing generator eluate from 68Ge/68Ga generators for medical applications, and currently this method is widely used for clinical preparations, especially of 68Ga-labeled 1,4,7,10-tetraazacyclododecane-N,N9,N$,N$9-tetraacetic acid (DOTA)d-Phe1,Tyr3-octreotide (DOTATOC) and other somatostatin analogs. The method is based on preconcentration of 68Ga ions in the eluate on a cation exchanger followed by selective washing and subsequent elution using hydrochloric acid/acetone solutions. This method removes unwanted metallic impurities and reduces the volume, as is especially suitable for radiolabeling of small peptides such as DOTATOC. We investigated this method in an attempt towards developing a fully automated system. During our validation steps of this method, we observed an unknown peak in the ultraviolet trace (220 nm) of the high-performance liquid chromatograms of 68Ga-labeled peptides increasing over time with prolonged storage of the hydrochloric acid/acetone solutions. The peak eluted closely to DOTATOC or DOTA-d-Phe1,Tyr3octreotate used for radiolabeling when analyzed under standard acetonitrile/0.1% trifluoroacetic acid/water gradient high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) conditions. By means of gas chromatography mass spectrometry, we finally identified the peak to be 4-methyl-3-penten-2-on (mesityloxide), a condensation product of acetone. Apparently, this impurity and the 68Ga-labeled peptide have comparable properties on the reversed-phase (C-18) material used both for purification after synthesis and for quality control by HPLC. Because of the high boiling point (129 C) of this compound, the peak was detected even when prolonged heating was applied, and column purification failed to remove it. We could show that the amount of mesityloxide formed is dependent on storage time and storage conditions of the hydrochloric acid/acetone stock solutions. Storage at room temperature and exposure to light resulted in formation of milligram amounts, and up to 0.7 mg was detected in a final volume corresponding to a patient preparation. If the mixtures were prepared freshly or stored with protection from light at 220 C, this amount was below 10 mg. Mesityloxide is not a highly toxic compound, and median lethal dose in rats (1.12 mg/kg (2)) is comparable to that of acetone. However, as no limits for parenteral preparations are available in relevant documents such as the U.S. Pharmacopeia, the amount should be limited; a reasonably achievable limit seems to be 50 mg per maximum volume injected. We strongly recommend all users of this method to include into their quality control protocols a quantification of this impurity by means of HPLC–ultraviolet detection or gas chromatography. Additionally, careful validation of preparation and storage of hydrochloric acid/ acetone solutions has to be performed. Alternative preparation methods avoiding the use of hydrochloric acid/acetone mixtures have been described (3,4) and may also be envisaged. REFERENCES