Experiments are described in which the individual properties of the two 5-aminolaevulinic acid (ALA) binding sites, the A-site and the P-site, of 5-aminolaevulinic acid dehydratase (ALAD) have been investigated. The ALA binding affinity at the A-site is greatly enhanced (at least 10-fold) on the binding of the catalytic metal ion (bound at the alpha-site). The nature of the catalytic metal ion, Mg2+ or Zn2+, also gave major variations in the substrate Km, P-site affinity for ALA, the effect of potassium and phosphate ions and the pH-dependence of substrate binding. Modification of the P-site by reaction of the enzyme-substrate Schiff base with NaBH4 and analysis of the reduced adduct by electro-spray mass spectrometry indicated a maximum of 1 mol of substrate incorporated/mol of subunit, correlating with a linear loss of enzyme activity. The reduced Schiff-base adduct was used to investigate substrate binding at the A-site by using rate-of-dialysis analysis. The affinity for ALA at the A-site of Mg alpha Zn beta ALAD was found to determine the Km for the reaction and was pH-dependent, with its affinity increasing from 1 mM at pH 6 to 70 microM at pH 8.5. The affinity of ALA at the P-site of Zn alpha An beta ALAD is proposed to limit the Km at pH values above 7, since the measured Kd for ALA at the A-site in 45 microM Tris, pH 8, was well below the observed Km (600 microM) under the same conditions. The amino group of the ALA molecule bound at the P-site was identified as a critical binding component for the A-site, explaining why ALA binding to ALAD is ordered, with the P-site ALA binding first. Structural requirements for ALA binding at the A- and P-sites have been identified: the P-site requires the carbonyl and carboxylate groups, whereas the A-site requires the amino, carbonyl and carboxylate groups of the substrate.


In this paper I argue that an encounter with a tick can produce both fear and wonder. I make a distinction between the legitimate danger of tick borne-diseases and the non-danger of our entanglement with the nature revealed by the tick's bite in order to highlight the goodness of the tick and the possibilities for post-human existences beyond narratives of conquest and control. Ultimately, I argue that wonder is a helpful mechanism for thinking through the goodness of the tick by allowing an ungrounding of our assumptions about climate change, hospitality, and the danger of non-human agencies.


Objective This study evaluated the efficacy and safety of triple therapy with telaprevir (TVR), pegylated interferon α-2b (PegIFN-α-2b) and ribavirin (RBV) in Japanese patients chronically infected with hepatitis C virus (HCV) genotype 1b in real-world clinical practice. Methods A total of 106 consecutive patients with HCV genotype 1b were treated with triple therapy for 12 weeks followed by dual therapy with PegIFN-α-2b and RBV for 12 weeks. The primary end point was sustained virological response (SVR), defined as undetectable serum HCV RNA at 24 weeks after the end of treatment. Results The overall SVR rate was 87.7% (93/106 patients). Age and body weight (BW) differed significantly between patients with and patients without SVR. Multivariate analysis showed that age <67 years [odds ratio (OR) 5.03, p=0.014] and BW 55 kg (OR 5.87, p=0.008) were independent pretreatment factors predictive of SVR. When posttreatment factors were included, age <67 years (OR 7.30, p=0.041), rapid virological response (OR 10.60, p=0.019) and continuation of therapy (OR 14.45, p=0.012) were each independently associated with SVR. Body weight <55 kg (OR 5.96, p=0.015) and TVR initial dose 41 mg/kg/ day (OR 5.19, p=0.017) were each independently associated with discontinuation of therapy. Discontinuation rates decreased in inverse proportion to the percentage of patients with an initial TVR dose of 1,500 mg/day. Conclusion For TVR-based triple therapy, continuation of therapy is the most important predictor of SVR. Patients who are likely intolerant of standard-dose TVR should receive reduced initial doses of TVR to avoid discontinuation of therapy.


Research aims:
This paper will discuss the research behind a new transferable quality framework that aims to identify features of early learning environments that affect young children's speech and language development.
Relationship to previous research works:
Although early years quality assessment tools exist (Harms, Clifford and Cryer, 2005; Siraj, Kingston and Melhuish, 2015) they are not easily transferable between indoor and outdoor environments. It is not currently possible to draw a direct comparison between the quality of learning environments and apply to any cultural environment, particularly with regards to speech and language development.
Theoretical and conceptual framework:
This was an explanatory multiple case study, with the "cases" being different early years learning environments.
Paradigm, methodology and methods:
This research was located within the interpretive paradigm. Stakeholder's views and opinions were gathered, by the use of semi-structured interviews, on what constitutes a quality learning environment, with focus on children's language development in the indoors and outdoors, as well as stakeholders' views concerning the impact of the environment on young children's utterances, and on their speech and language development.
Ethical Considerations:
Stakeholders included parents, practitioners and children and BERA (2011) guidelines were followed meaning participants were protected from harm and confidentiality was maintained.
Main finding or discussion:
It is argued that although it appears to be extremely difficult to reach a general consensus on what constitutes quality, there is a need for a rating scale that is transferable between environments.
Implications, practice or policy:
The next phase of this research will involve compiling a rating scale and piloting it within a variety of learning environments in order to establish a universal tool.


High demands for renewable energy sources are increasingly making methane gas from biogas facilities more interesting and profitable. When designing biogas facilities, engineers often have a limited set of data to work with. It is often too expensive and time consuming to examine the behavior of the anaerobic processes depending on some key operational parameters, such as the organic loading rate the reactor retention time and the waste composition. The purpose of this thesis is to use the "Anaerobic Digestion Model no.1", a wellknown mathematical description of the biogas process describing the 24 most important biochemical reactions in the anaerobic process, to investigate how different parameters in the model affect methane production. The focus of this thesis is methane production from food waste. The thesis also aims to describe if, and how, researchers can use relatively simple methods and data from literature in calibrating the model and if such a calibration can correlate with production data from a large scale biogas facility, which digests food waste. The biogas reactors which are investigated operate under mesophilic temperatures (≈350C). A model was implemented in Matlab® code and a mathematical extension was also brought to the default model to take into account the detrimental effects on methane production from volatile fatty acids. The model used correlates well with lab scale data. Steady state comparisons between the production data from a large scale food waste degrading reactor was also made, and model predictions were very close to those of the acquired values. Results also show a potential in increasing the reactor load and allowing a shorter retention time without much loss in methane production. This may show that important cost reductions relating to reactor size can be achieved. This, however, needs to be investigated further since the model has been calibrated for loads that are unreasonably high for industrial applications.


The different sequences of the coupled tasks set lead to different development cycles, so optimizing sequences is a key for reconstructing complex product development process. As there are overall iterations stemming from activities' coupling in complex product design process, this paper first proves two propositions of ordering coupled tasks by stochastic process theory: 1) more shorter the development cycle of a coupled activities subset is , more shorter the development cycle of the entire coupled activities set is. 2) If the execution sequence of the coupled activities set is changed, the development cycle of the coupled tasks set will also change. When execution order of two activities is converted into partial order of two elements, this paper presents a sequence optimization algorithm based on qualitative and quantitative partial order (SOQQ) from these two propositions. Simulation has been used to confirm SOQQ algorithm' validity and high efficiency.


Group decision making (GDM) approaches have been very popular which helps to choose the most appropriate option from an alternative set. GDM has been applied in environments, where the group of people is involved to make a decision on cases. In online social networks (OSNs), GDM is a need especially in a content of data sharing process where the content of the data has multiple users' information on. That type of data is called co-owned data. In OSNs, social network group decision making (SNGDM) is an approach which is used to prevent privacy leakage when co-owned data are shared. This is because some OSNs' users might get quit from an OSN platform because of the privacy issues, or they might become unfriend with the user who causes the privacy problemApplication of having group decision making in OSNs' platforms has a challenge. The challenging part of SNGDM process is to weight users' opinions on their choices on the alternative. One way to weight group members' opinion is to use users' trust values. In this paper, we propose an approach where the trust values are used to weight decision-makers' opinions on a co-owned data sharing process in OSNs. The trust values are used as weight vectors in the Extended Induced Ordered Weighted Average (EIOWA) group decision making technique.


The research explores the understanding of the concept Historical empathy as conceptualised by the two teachers sampled in this study. The article analyses the pedagogical practices of two Grade 12 History teachers who used the theme of the Vietnam War of 1954 to 1975, also known as the Second Indochina War, and in Vietnam as the Resistance War Against America or simply the American War, was a conflict that occurred in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. This is one of the new themes included in the Curriculum and Assessment Policy Statement (CAPS) to cultivate tenets of Historical empathy in their classrooms. The research utilises a qualitative research paradigm to enable the researchers to interview teachers at their schools and observe them interacting with the phenomenon being investigated in their natural environment in the classrooms. The article uses the dual theoretical framework designed by Barton and Levstik (2004) which embodies both elements of affective and cognitive domains to evaluate the perspectives of two teachers and their pedagogical practices in the classroom. According to the findings, both teachers used suitable and relevant primary and secondary sources during the lesson presentations. Teachers demonstrated characteristics of emotional and cognitive empathy during the interviews and these divergent elements were displayed during the teaching of the Vietnam War. Quite often learners were encouraged by one teacher to sympathise and align with the victims of the war which is caused by their past agony and psychological trauma resulting from the experiences of their communities during the apartheid government and this demonstrated shared normalcy. The second teacher empathised with the Vietnamese soldiers and saw them as gallant soldiers against the strong US troops rather than as victims thereby displaying some elements of cognitive Historical empathy.


Direction-of-arrival (DOA) estimation is an important step in acoustic scene analysis. Multiple signal classification in the eigenbeam domain (EB-MUSIC) is an accurate direction-of-arrival (DOA) estimation method for rigid spherical microphone arrays. Two important issues with this method are 1) the requirement of prior information about the number of coherent source components, and 2) its computational cost. In this paper, a computationally efficient two-stage method, which can alleviate these problems, is proposed. The proposed method is robust to reverberation, and can be used to efficiently localize multiple coherent sources. An evaluation of the method using simulated recordings under highly reverberant conditions is also presented.


This study investigated the abilities of listeners to classify various sorts of musical stimuli as major vs minor. All stimuli combined four pure tones: low and high tonics (G5 and G6), dominant (D), and either a major third (B) or a minor third (B[symbol: see text]). Especially interesting results were obtained using tone-scrambles, randomly ordered sequences of pure tones presented at ≈15 per second. All tone-scrambles tested comprised 16 G's (G5's + G6's), 8 D's, and either 8 B's or 8 B[symbol: see text]'s. The distribution of proportion correct across 275 listeners tested over the course of three experiments was strikingly bimodal, with one mode very close to chance performance, and the other very close to perfect performance. Testing with tone-scrambles thus sorts listeners fairly cleanly into two subpopulations. Listeners in subpopulation 1 are sufficiently sensitive to major vs minor to classify tone-scrambles nearly perfectly; listeners in subpopulation 2 (comprising roughly 70% of the population) have very little sensitivity to major vs minor. Skill in classifying major vs minor tone-scrambles shows a modest correlation of around 0.5 with years of musical training.


Typically, parasitology practical labs are taught using microscopes and parasites/parasite stages mounted on glass slides. Apart from problems associated with glass slides such as damage, deterioration, cost and time of obtaining good specimens a major drawback of classical microscopic parasitology is that students often don't see what you want them to see under the microscope. Not every slide is identical and students often tend to confuse debri on a microscope slide with parasite/parasite structures and it is difficult to demonstrate this in a laboratory teaching class room. SlidePath and Digital SlideBox is a virtual microscopy e-learning environment providing a new way in teaching practical classes in Veterinary Parasitology. Although this technology is commonly being used in human medical education for the teaching of histology and histopathology its use in less common in the Veterinary curriculum. Specimens of parasites/parasite stages in blood, tissue or faeces have been digitized and made accessible on the UCD server. The Digital Slidebox software enables the viewing of images directly on a computer screen and the students are able to zoom and pan to explore the slide and make independent annotations. This system makes is much easier to demonstrate specific features to students on a computer screen and images can also be pre-annotated to enhance student learning. Practical classes in Veterinary Parasitology were taught through Digital SlideBox to all students. Most students found the system easy to use and mastered it with little support and their experience was generally positive. They appreciated the fact that the images was available 24/7 and that images could re-examined remotely. One drawback of the digital system is that some parasite stages require high power magnification (1000x) to see the details and scanning slides at such high magnification is not yet (routinely) available. Generally using a virtual microscope to teach Veterinary Parasitology practicals is logistically much easier and also makes for a less stressful environment for both staff and students involved. It is planned to integrate MCQ tests, course notes and multimedia content into the digital Slidebox to further enhance student learning in future.


A nonlocal theory of accelerated observers is developed on the basis of the hypothesis that an electromagnetic wave can never stand completely still with respect to an observer. In the eikonal approximation, the nonlocal theory reduces to the standard extension of Lorentz invariance to accelerated observers. The validity of the nonlocal theory would exclude the possibility of existence of any basic scalar field in nature. The observational consequences of this theory are briefly discussed.


BACKGROUND: In sickle cell disease (SCD), hemolysis results in the release and activation of arginase, an enzyme that reciprocally regulates nitric oxide (NO) synthase activity and thus, NO production. Simply supplementing the common substrate L-arginine, however, fails to improve NO bioavailability. In this study, we tested the hypothesis that arginase inhibition would improve NO bioavailability and thereby attenuate systemic and pulmonary vascular endothelial dysfunction in transgenic mice with SCD. METHODS: We studied 5-month-old transgenic sickle cell (SC) mice and age matched wild-type (WT) controls. SC mice were treated with the arginase inhibitor, 2(S)-amino-6-boronohexanoic acid (ABH; approximately 400 &mgr;g/d) for 4 weeks or left untreated. RESULTS: Vascular arginase activity was significantly higher at baseline in untreated SC mice compared to WT controls (SC versus WT, 346 ± 69.3 vs 69 ± 17.3 pmol urea/mg protein/minute; P = 0.0043; n = 4–5 animals per group). Treatment with ABH may significantly decrease arginase activity to levels near WT controls (SC + ABH 125.2 ± 17.3 pmol urea/mg protein/minute; P = 0.0213). Aortic strips from untreated SC mice showed decreased NO and increased reactive oxygen species (ROS) production (NO: fluorescence rate 0.76 ± 0.14 vs 1.34 ± 0.17 RFU/s; P = 0.0005 and ROS: fluorescence rate 3.96 ± 1.70 vs 1.63 ± 1.20 RFU/s, P = 0.0039; n = 3– animals per group). SC animals treated with ABH for 4 weeks demonstrated NO (fluorescence rate: 1.16 ± 0.16) and ROS (fluorescence rate: 2.02 ± 0.45) levels comparable with age-matched WT controls (n = 3– animals per group). The maximal endothelial-dependent vasorelaxation response to acetylcholine was impaired in aortic rings from SC mice compared with WT (57.7% ± 8.4% vs 80.3% ± 11.0%; P = 0.02; n = 6 animals per group). The endothelial-independent response was not different between groups. In SC mice, the right ventricular cardiac output index and end-systolic elastance were similar (4.60 ± 0.51 vs 2.9 ± 0.85 mL/min/100 g and 0.89 ± 0.48 vs 0.58 ± 0.11 mm Hg/&mgr;L), whereas the pulmonary vascular resistance index and right ventricular end-systolic pressure were greater (2.9 ± 0.28 vs 5.5 ± 2.0 mm Hg × min/&mgr;L/100 g and 18.9 ± 1.1 vs 23.1 ± 4.0 mm Hg; n = 8 animals per group). Pulse wave velocity (a measure of arterial stiffness) was greater in SC mice compared with WT (3.74 ± 0.54 vs 3.25 ± 0.21 m/s; n = 20 animals per group), arginase inhibition for 4 weeks significantly reduced the vascular SC phenotype to one similar to WT animals (P = 0.0009). CONCLUSIONS: Arginase inhibition improves NO bioavailability and thereby attenuates systemic and pulmonary vascular endothelial dysfunction in transgenic mice with SCD. Therefore, arginase is a potential therapeutic target in the treatment of cardiovascular dysfunction in SCD.


This paper introduces a method for a broadband absorption enhancement in the LWIR range (8-12 μm), in single layer microbolometer pixels with 35 μm pitch. For the first time in the literature, this study introduces a very simple and low cost approach to enhance the absorption by embedding plasmonic structures at the same level as the already existing metallic layer of a microbolometer pixel. The metal layer comprises the electrode and the arm structures on the body. Even though the periodicity of the plasmonic structures is slightly disturbed by the placement of the electrodes and the connecting metal, the metal arms and the electrodes compensate for the lack of the periodicity contributing to the resonance by their coupling with the individual plasmonic resonators. Various plasmonic structures are designed with FDTD simulations. Individual, plasmonically modified microbolometer pixels are fabricated, and an increase in the average absorption due to surface plasmon excitation at Au/Si3N4 interfaces is observed. Plasmonic structures increase the average absorption from 78% to 82% and result in an overall enhancement of 5.1%. A good agreement between the simulation and the FTIR measurement results are obtained within the LWIR range. This work paves the way for integration of the plasmonic structures within conventional microbolometer devices for performance enhancement without introducing additional costs.


: Primary systemic vasculitis affecting smaller vessels is usually associated with antineutrophil cytoplasmic antibodies (ANCA). The ANCA-associated vasculitides include Wegener's granulomatosis, microscopic polyangiitis, Churg Strauss syndrome and renal limited vasculitis. There is considerable evidence that genetic factors influence susceptibility to ANCA-associated vasculitis, including reports of familial cases, differences in racial incidence, and associations with polymorphic variants of proteins such as alpha-1-antitrypsin. There is mounting evidence, from clinical and in vitro studies, that ANCA may be pathogenic. However, it is also clear that autoreactive T cells are likely to be involved, by providing T cell help for ANCA production and possibly by producing cell-mediated immune injury. Indeed, T cells from patients with vasculitis have been shown to proliferate in vitro in response to the target antigens of ANCA - proteinase 3 and myeloperoxidase. In most T-cell-dependent autoimmune diseases there are clear positive and/or negative associations with HLA genes. These genes are encoded in the major histocompatibility complex (MHC) and their products, the HLA molecules, play a central role in the generation of T cell responses. For this reason, many investigators have looked for HLA associations in ANCA-associated vasculitides. Problems in analysing these reports include the definition of the diseases concerned, and the varying methodology of HLA typing. A number of positive and negative associations with HLA genes have been reported in systemic vasculitis. However, it is striking that no consistent association has been identified in different series. In recent studies there have been positive associations with HLA DR1, DQw7 or DR8, negative associations with DR3 or DR13, or no significant associations. This lack of an obvious and consistent HLA association is extremely interesting, and suggests that the T cell response in vasculitis may be very heterogeneous, or that a genuine strong association has yet to be identified. Further investigation of this problem is clearly needed to improve our understanding of the pathogenesis of ANCA-associated vasculitides.


We present ReGroup, a novel end-user interactive machine learning system for helping people create custom, on demand groups in online social networks. As a person adds members to a group, ReGroup iteratively learns a probabilistic model of group membership specific to that group. ReGroup then uses its currently learned model to suggest additional members and group characteristics for filtering. Our evaluation shows that ReGroup is effective for helping people create large and varied groups, whereas traditional methods (searching by name or selecting from an alphabetical list) are better suited for small groups whose members can be easily recalled by name. By facilitating on demand group creation, ReGroup can enable in-context sharing and potentially encourage better online privacy practices. In addition, applying interactive machine learning to social network group creation introduces several challenges for designing effective end-user interaction with machine learning. We identify these challenges and discuss how we address them in ReGroup.


A series of novel oligothiophene-perylene bisimide hybrid (DOTPBI) dendrimers up to the second generation (G0, G1, and G2) were investigated. Optical measurements such as nonlinear optical and time-resolved spectroscopy, including two-photon absorption, fluorescence upconversion, and excited state transient absorption were carried out. Results of these measurements revealed the ability of these molecules to undergo intramolecular fluorescence resonance energy transfer (FRET) from the dendritic oligothiophenes (DOT) to the perylene bismide (PBI) moiety. The delocalization length and the photoinduced electron transfer (PET) rate were investigated as a function of dendrimer generation. A fast energy transfer process from the DOT dendron to the PBI core was observed. For the case of the G2 dendrimer, with relatively large thiophene dendrons attached to the bay area of the perylene bisimide, the PBI core is highly twisted and its ability to self-assemble into π-π stacked aggregates is destroyed. As a result, among the three generations studied, G1, which has the best two-photon cross section and the most efficient energy transfer, is the best light harvesting material.


This report investigates the effect of the type of coarse aggregate used in concrete on chloride ions penetrability as indicated by the rapid chloride penetration test (RCPT). Twelve coarse aggregate types, commonly used in Minnesota Department of Transportation (Mn/DOT) highway construction projects, were identified and used for this study. The coarse aggregate types were subjected to laboratory testing to determine their physical properties and ambient chloride content. The aggregate types were used to prepare fresh concrete according to Mn/DOT specifications in which silica fume and fly ash were used. In order to characterize the concrete in terms of resistance to chloride ions penetration, concrete specimens made of these aggregate types were subjected to the rapid chloride permeability test at different ages. All mix parameters including gradation and quantities of different aggregates were held constant in different mixes. The only variable was the aggregate type. For concrete specimens tested at 28 days of age, the average total charge passed varied between 1,452 and 2,606 Coulombs, which can be described as "low" to "moderate" chloride ions penetrability, according to AASHTO designation. The average total charge passed decreased with time (age) for all of the concrete specimens tested. Considering specimens at 91 days of age, the average total charge passed ranged from 601 to 1,236 Coulombs, which can be characterized as "very low" to "low" chloride ions penetrability. The aggregate type has a noticeable influence on the RCPT results for the concrete mix design that was utilized.


What are the justifications for mandatory sex segregation in competitive sport, and what are the arguments against it? This article takes up these questions. I argue that justifications of sex segregation in sport should be sensitive to two distinct perspectives that can come into play. The "internal" perspective emphasizes considerations rooted in an ethos of athletic competition. The "external" perspective brings into focus broader social norms such as anti-discrimination principles and equality goals. Both perspectives support the general idea of separate men's and women's competitions, at least in elite levels of sports that reward physical strength and power. The perspectives may diverge, however, on specific questions about who should be permitted to compete in each division, and more particularly, on the appropriate treatment of transgender athletes. What is important to see is that objections that arise from the external vantage point of equality and anti-discrimination cannot be fully answered by appeal to internal considerations about the competitive integrity of sport. Institutional decisions to exclude classes of individuals from participating in men's or women's competitions must consider not only what would be best for the sport, but what is required by antidiscrimination principles and genuine commitment to respect for gender identity and expression.


Personal Health Records, or PHRs, are designed to be created, maintained and securely managed by patients themselves. PHRs can reduce medical errors and increase quality of care in the health care system through efficiency and improving accessibility of health information. Adoption of PHRs has been disappointingly low. In this paper a project is described—essentially a call for action—whereby the skills, expertise, and accessibility of the community pharmacist is utilized to address the problem of poor PHR adoption. The objective of this proposed project is to promote the expansion of PHR adoption directly at the consumer level by utilizing the existing infrastructure of community pharmacies. The ADDIE model can provide the framework for PHR adoption in community pharmacies. ADDIE is an acronym that stands for the 5 phases contained in the model: 1) Analysis, 2) Design, 3) Development, 4) Implementation, and 5) Evaluation. ADDIE is a versatile educational model used for creating instructional materials, and has found utility as a guidance model for managing projects of all types. By bringing together these concepts: the highly accessible infrastructure of community pharmacies with the educational resources to inform consumers on the proper use of PHRs, the quality of care for patients will be greatly enhanced.

Type: Idea Paper


OBJECTIVE
To explore the gene expression patterns of choroidal neovascularization with gene chip technology.

METHODS
Total RNA was isolated from normal choroid and choroid tissues with neovascularization induced by krypton laser photocoagulation in Brown Norway rat. The mRNA was purified and was reversely transcribed to cDNA to prepare for hybridization probes. In choroidal neovascularization, the differentially expressed genes were assayed with gene chips which contained 5705 rat genes.

RESULTS
There were 46 genes expressed differentially in choroidal neovascularization. Of these, the expression of 3 genes was upregulated and 43 genes downregulated. These genes were involved in the function of transport, signal, metabolism, development and differentiation of cell adhesion.

CONCLUSION
Numerous genes are involved in the development of choroidal neovascularization induced by krypton laser photocoagulation.


PURPOSE
Previous studies have suggested that the disappearance of anterior keratocytes after injury to the overlying epithelium is mediated by apoptosis. The authors examined the expression of the apoptosis-related modulators, Fas (receptor), Fas ligand, Bax, Bcl-2, Bcl-XL, and interleukin-1 beta converting enzyme (ICE) in corneal cells as candidate mediators of this response and tested the effect of Fas receptor-stimulating antibody on corneal stromal fibroblast cells in vitro.

METHODS
Reverse-transcription-polymerase chain reaction was used to detect FAS, FAS ligand, Bax, Bcl-2, Bcl-XL, and ICE mRNA expression in primary cultures of human corneal epithelial, stromal fibroblast, and endothelial cells. Immunohistochemistry was applied to detect Fas and Fas ligand proteins in fresh-frozen sections of normal human cornea. The effect of FAS-stimulating monoclonal antibody on first-passage stromal fibroblasts was studied using a DNA fragmentation assay, the live-dead assay with fluorescent microscopy, toluidene blue staining with light microscopy, and electron microscopy.

RESULTS
FAS, Fas ligand, Bax, Bcl-2, Bcl-XL, and ICE mRNAs are expressed in all three major cell types of the cornea. Fas protein is expressed in corneal epithelial, keratocyte, and endothelial cells in fresh-frozen human cornea. Fas ligand protein, however, was detected in corneal epithelial and endothelial, but not keratocyte, cells. Fas-stimulating antibody induced first-passage stromal fibroblast cell death with morphologic changes and DNA fragmentation consistent with apoptosis.

CONCLUSIONS
The Fas system (Fas and Fas ligand) modulators and final common pathway mediators of apoptosis are expressed in corneal cells. The distribution of Fas (epithelial, keratocyte, and endothelial cells) and Fas ligand (epithelial and endothelial cells) protein expression in fresh-frozen corneal tissue suggests that Fas ligand expressed in corneal epithelial and endothelial cells modulates functions in keratocyte cells and, possibly, autocrine-juxtacrine functions in epithelium and endothelium. The Fas-Fas ligand system is expressed in the cornea and could have important functions in normal corneal physiology and in the pathophysiology of corneal disease, including modulation of keratocyte apoptosis after epithelial injury.


Metacognition is the capacity to evaluate the success of one's own cognitive processes in various domains, e.g. memory and perception. It remains controversial whether metacognition relies on a domain-general resource that is applied to different tasks, or whether self-evaluative processes are domain-specific. Here we directly investigated this issue by examining the neural substrates engaged when metacognitive judgments were made during perceptual and memory tasks matched for stimulus and performance characteristics. By comparing patterns of functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) activity while subjects evaluated their performance, we revealed both domain-specific and domain-general metacognitive representations. Multi-voxel activity patterns in right frontopolar cortex predicted levels of confidence in a domain-specific fashion, whereas domain-general signals predicting confidence and accuracy were found in a widespread network in the frontal and posterior midline. Moreover, individual differences in perceptual and memory metacognitive ability were predicted by the degree of confidence decoding in frontal and parietal cortex, respectively. The demonstration of domain-specific metacognitive representations suggests the presence of a content-rich mechanism available to introspection and cognitive control.


Large punitive damage verdicts are the objects of substantial media attention, stir incredible controversy, and have fueled sweeping reforms. However, these reform efforts have been largely uninformed by the now substantial body of empirical literature examining punitive damages decision making. The research suggests that jurors perform some aspects of their decision task quite well (and make decisions that are similar to those of judges in many ways), effecting intuitive notions of retribution and demonstrating sensitivity to several of the key legal factors that underlie punitive damages. Conversely, jurors have difficulty understanding legal instructions, giving effect to optimal deterrence, and translating their outrage into dollars. However, most current reforms fail to take into account the psychology of punitive damages decision making and, thus, may not be the best ways to improve the processes by which punitive damages are determined. In fact, these reforms have been primarily designed to address an illusory problem, have many counterintuitive effects, and fail to address the difficulties that jurors have in determining punitive damages. In contrast, the research suggests several ways in which the jury decision-making task could be altered to specifically address the problematic aspects of the process identified in the literature.


The nano-Co/Ce-V-Zr-TiO2 catalysts with the selective catalytic reduction (SCR) were prepared by methods of Sol-gel, impregnation (IM) and co-precipitation (CP). The phase compositions, microstructures and specific surface area of the catalysts were analyzed by BET, XRD and SEM, respectively. The effect of CeO2, CoO, V2O5 and V2O5 loading and reaction temperature on the catalytic performances of the as-prepared catalysts was investigated by using the selective reduction of NOx with NH3. The results showed all the as-prepared Co/Ce-V-Zr-TiO2 catalysts were made up of nanometer grains. Compared to conventional TiO2 catalysts, the as-prepared Co/Ce-V-Zr-TiO2 catalysts possessed better catalytic performance, higher adsorbability and larger area of contact with reactant, which is due to large quantity surface micropores. The NOx conversion of SCR over 8 wt%Co/Ce-V-Zr-TiO2 catalysts reached 98.3% at the reaction temperature of 550 oC. Furthermore, the activity of Co/Ce-V-Zr-TiO2 catalysts were improved by the Co loading, however, further increasing the Co loading lead to decrease the catalysis activity.


The main objective of the current work is to present mathematical model and a decision method for production planning issues of a manufacturing organization. It is therefore meant to integrate the medium term and the short term as two levels of decision. These consist in periodical planning with determining the intended produced quantity and scheduling the functioning of machines. It is worth noting that in the literature there exist only few works on the issue of integration because of the shortage of numerical results. Thus, the integrated model presented here allows us to take into consideration the scheduling constraints in the Lot-sizing model. A recent algorithm, based on a heuristic approach to find a production planning with a feasible schedule for each period, has recently been published in which the two levels of decision were applied. In this paper, some of these ideas are developed in order to get an optimal solution. For this, an exact algorithm of Benders' decomposition method is adopted to the integration problem. This has been proved efficient with reliance primarily on modeling view and the link between the two levels of decision and secondly on the numerical view.


Introduction:  The extended phenotype is a particular way of approaching the biological and evolutionary concept of the phenotype. The genotypic manifestation (phenotype) will be viewed beyond the limits of an individual`s body. Extending past the organism to the other phenotype could be seen as a unique way of adjusting to the conditions of the environment.  Parasites that manage to extend their phenotype, thus changing the phenotype of their hosts deliver a marvelous representation of the extended phenotype and the idea that a gene has many different effects on its environment, inside or outside the body. Materials and Methods: Using the book 'The Extended Phenotype` and several research papers three examples will be presented. Results:  The first example is the  Dicrocoelium dendriticum  (fluke) and its life cycle. Following several studies of the biology of  Dicrocoelium dendriticum , the utterly complex way this microorganism passes through will be presented. The way it manipulates two completely different types of organisms, namely the  Cochlicopa lubrica  and  Formica fusca  will be explained in further detail. The 'fluke`, deliberately turning the black colored ant into a parasite-driven organism, ensures a further infestation of its final host - either a sheep or a human, causing serious liver damage. The second example is the  Spinochordodes tellinii . This organism infects grasshoppers and upon reaching its adult form, brainwashes its host through mimicking neurotransmitters and endocrine proteins, making the grasshopper seek out and plunge into water. The third example is the malaria parasite and especially the way it makes infected female mosquitoes that carry the parasite significantly more attracted to human breath and odors than uninfected mosquitoes. Conclusions:  It can be concluded that that the extended phenotype is not only an idea but a steady phenomenon among different organisms.


Tacoma Narrows Constructors (TNC) is building a new suspension bridge in Tacoma, close to Seattle, Washington State, USA. The new bridge will be built just south of the existing bridge mounted on two caissons, referred to as East Caisson (Tacoma side) and West Caisson (Gig Harbor side). Each pier is about 80' wide and 130' long in plan. The mooring system for each caisson consists of two sets of mooring lines: lower and upper. Each set consists of 16 mooring lines. The lower 16 lines consist of anchors that form a radius of about 300 feet. The fairlead locations for these lower 16 lines are kept constant throughout the construction process. These 16 lines are hooked-up after the caisson is towed from the harbor and positioned at the site. For the upper 16 lines (except three lines on East Pier), the anchor locations form a radius of 600'. The fairlead locations for these upper 16 lines vary based on the draft. Due to the proximity of the proposed caissons to the existing piers and the varying bottom topography, considerable turbulence and vortex shedding is expected which will cause current induced dynamic forces on the caissons. This paper describes the design and analysis of this multi-line mooring system for Tacoma Narrows Bridge caissons, based on the construction sequence in the floating condition. The analysis involved optimizing the anchor locations and the line pretensions, determining the dynamic motions of the caissons, maximum line loads, and corresponding safety factors. The paper includes the hydrodynamic analysis for added mass, and damping, the methodology used for the nonlinear moored caisson analysis (MOTSIM), and the validation of the design tool with other similar models (e.g., StruCAD*3D). The results of the analysis and design are discussed.© 2004 ASME


The metabolic products of nitrogen fixation (N 2 ) in a legume can be either amides (asparagine, glutamine) or ureides (allantoin and allantoic acid), which are then exported to the shoot via the xylem. Ureides are synthesized solely in the nodules. Chickpea (Cicer arientinum L.) has been separately classified as an amide and as a ureide exporter; however, the exact shoot metabolic products resulting from N 2 fixation are not known. The objectives of this study were (i) to determine the metabolites of N 2 fixation, namely free amino acids and ureides and (ii) to quantify the differences in N 2 fixation for chickpea cultivars in the field by 15 N natural abundance. Leaf ureide concentrations were analyzed at Weeks 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, and 11 after emergence. Free amino acid concentrations were analyzed at Weeks 7, 9, and 11 after emergence. Flax (Linum usitatissimum L., CDC-Bethune) was used as the reference crop for assessment of percentage nitrogen derived from the atmosphere. Two chickpea cultivars, CDC-Anna and Myles, had significantly higher N 2 fixation than the other three tested cultivars. Myles also maintained ureides and amides at a moderate concentration from flowering through reproductive growth. Overall, we found that asparagine and alanine were the major free amino acids, along with ureides, representing likely metabolites from N 2 fixation. Therefore, chickpea should be classified as both an amide and ureide exporter, on the basis of the concentration of both types of N product found in the shoot.


This study was conducted to examine biotypes and antifungal susceptibility patterns of oral Candida albicans isolated from HIV-infected patients, HIV-free patients with candidiasis and healthy subjects. All isolates were biotyped using a typing system based on enzyme profiles, carbohydrate assimilation patterns and boric acid resistance. Thirty-eight biotypes were found amongst 218 oral C. albicans isolates. The major biotype found was A1S, which accounted for 32.6% of all isolates, and this biotype was the most common in all groups. There was a greater variety of biotypes of C. albicans in the HIV-infected group than in the other groups; however, there was no statistically significant difference between the groups. The minimum inhibitory concentrations (MICs) of a total of 118 isolates were determined for amphotericin B and for ketoconazole using the National Committee for Clinical Laboratory Standards (NCCLS) broth macrodilution method and the E-test. When the antifungal susceptibility patterns among the groups were compared, a statistically significant difference was found only with amphotericin B. The median MIC of amphotericin B in the HIV-infected group was higher than in the healthy group (P=0.013, NCCLS method; P=0.002, E-test). However, this difference in sensitivity was not restricted to any sub-type investigated. Our results showed that the biotype patterns of C. albicans isolates that colonize HIV-infected patients are similar to those of HIV-free subjects, and there is no relationship between antifungal susceptibility patterns and the biotypes.


The subject of this study is an examination of bird motifs on bronze vessels of the Western Chou period. The study proceeded in and is presented in four general stages. The first is a categorization of bird motifs into a number of "types" and a description of major variants within each types based on an investigation of numerous vessels through reproductions in both Western and East Asian sources and at first hand when this was possible. The second stage is a discussion of the schemes of design which incorporate the use of bird motifs. Representative vessels are discussed emphasizing the types of birds used, the zones of the vessel they occupy, the kinds of motifs they combine with, the stylistic tendencies apparent in in the shapes and surface treatment of the vessels they decorate, the dating of the vessels based on style and on inscription when possible, and provenance based on excavated material. In the third stage the duration of each scheme of design and each bird type is derived. The final stage is an attempt to place the tendency towards the use of bird decor in some historical perspective, and the discussion addresses itself to such problems as the question of a pre-dynastic Chou tradition in bronze art, the reasons for the preference for bird decor in the Western Chou, and the reasons for the eventual dissolution of motifs into abstract patterns in the last century of the Western Chou.


In Antarctica, ice crystals (platelets) form and grow in supercooled waters below ice shelves. These
platelets rise, accumulate beneath nearby sea ice, and form a several meter thick sub-ice platelet
layer. This special ice type is a unique habitat, influences sea-ice mass and energy balance, and its
volume can be interpreted as an indicator for ice – ocean interactions.
Although progress has been made in determining and understanding its spatio-temporal variability
based on point measurements, an investigation of this phenomenon on a larger scale remains
a challenge due to logistical constraints and a lack of suitable methodology.
In the present study, we applied a lateral constrained Marquardt-Levenberg inversion to a unique
multi-frequency electromagnetic (EM) induction sounding dataset obtained on the ice-shelf influenced
fast-ice regime of Atka Bay, eastern Weddell Sea. We adapted the inversion algorithm to
incorporate a sensor specific signal bias, and confirmed the reliability of the algorithm by performing
a sensitivity study using synthetic data. We inverted the field data for sea-ice and sub-ice
platelet-layer thickness and electrical conductivity, and calculated ice-volume fractions using
Archie's Law. The thickness results agreed well with drillhole validation datasets within the uncertainty
range, and the ice-volume fraction also yielded plausible results.
Our findings imply that multi-frequency EM induction sounding is a suitable approach to efficiently
map sea-ice and platelet-layer properties. A successful application of this technique requires a
break with traditional EM sensor calibration strategies due to the need of absolute calibration with
respect to a physical forward model.


The purpose of this study was to characterize the anatomy of the genial tubercle using cone beam computed tomography (CBCT). The morphology and detailed anatomy of the genial tubercle were assessed retrospectively in 201 patients (101 females, 100 males) using CBCT images. The parameters examined were the height (GH) and width (GW) of the genial tubercle, the distance from the lower incisors to the superior border of the tubercle (I-SGT), the distance from the inferior margin of the tubercle to the inferior margin of the mandible (IGM-IBM), and the anterior mandible thickness (AMT). Statistical analysis was performed to assess relationships among these parameters, gender, and orthodontic malocclusion (P < 0.05). The values obtained were GH 7.3-8.7 mm, GW 7.9-9.2 mm, I-SGT 7.1-9.1 mm, IGM-IBM 8.3-10.1 mm, and AMT 14.0-16.2 mm. GH, GW, and I-SGT showed no significant differences between genders (P > 0.05). However, IGM-IBM was larger for class III than for class I and class II male patients, and larger than for class I female patients. AMT in class III patients was greater than in class I and II patients (P < 0.05). The use of CBCT, which employs less radiation, is important for dental professionals, especially those performing surgery for obstructive sleep apnea (OSA), in order to avoid possible surgical complications.


Abstract. Analysing GPS radio occultation density profiles, we have recently pointed out a localised area of enhanced gravity wave (GW) activity and breaking in the lower stratosphere of the east Asian–northwestern Pacific (EA/NP) region. With a mechanistic model of the middle and upper atmosphere, experiments are performed to study the possible effect of such a localised GW breaking region on large-scale circulation and transport and, more generally, a possible influence of the spatial distribution of gravity wave activity on middle atmospheric dynamics. The results indicate the important role of the spatial distribution of GW activity for polar vortex stability, formation of planetary waves and for the strength and structure of zonal-mean residual circulation. Furthermore, a possible effect of a zonally asymmetric GW breaking in the longitudinal variability of the Brewer–Dobson circulation is analysed. Finally, consequences of our results for a variety of research topics (e.g. sudden stratospheric warming, atmospheric blocking, teleconnection patterns and a compensation mechanism between resolved and unresolved drag) are discussed.


Marigold oleoresin has been widely used in the pharmaceutical industry because of its medicinal properties. In this study, marigold oleoresin was encapsulated in chitosan grafted sodium acrylate-co-acrylamide. Emulsification process was used to prepare the beads containing marigold oleoresin and the grafted polymer was characterized using FTIR, SEM and TGA. The properties of the beads such as size, swelling characteristics, encapsulation efficiency and release kinetics were studied. The bead size was in the range of 0.46 to 1.05 mm. The antimicrobial activity and cyto-compatibility studies of marigold oleoresin were also conducted. The marigold oleoresin beads showed zero order release kinetics. Copyright © 2016 VBRI Press.


A combination of the words "nutrition" and "pharmaceutical," the term nutraceutical encompasses foods or food products that claim to prevent chronic diseases, improve health, delay the aging process, and/or increase life expectancy. Products in this category range from isolated nutrients, dietary supplements and specific diets to genetically engineered foods, herbal products, and processed foods such as cereals and beverages.The area of Nutraceuticals is relevantly new and hence this publication serves to be most vital for scholars studying pharmaceutical sciences and related disciplines and as a reference for college freshman intending to have more understanding of this emerging area. This book by Dr. Muredzi sets the tone for future editions and serves to give an enlightened introduction to this emerging discipline. Eng.Q.C. Kanhukamwe - Vice Chancellor; Harare Institute of Technology, Harare, Zimbabwe


A case of acute pulmonary oedema which developed in connection with intravenous administration of a conventional dose of nonionic radio-opaque agent (RKM) prior to computed tomographic scanning of the posterior cranial fossa is presented. The potentially pathogenetic mechanisms of pulmonary oedema induced by radio-opaque agents are discussed.


Problematic use of online pornography can be viewed as a behavioural addiction. A non-systematic literature review was conducted to evaluate the evidence-base for the classification, identification and management of internet pornography addiction. There is evidence that internet pornography addiction is phenomenologically and neurophysiologically similar to drug addiction. Application of the available evidence to clinical practice is limited by a lack of consensus regarding diagnostic criteria and a lack of validated diagnostic tools. Candidate therapies include group-based and online programmes as well as pharmacological treatments. Weak evidence exists to support the use of non-pharmacological approaches, but there is no evidence for the use of pharmacological treatment despite its diffusion in society.


Delinquency, depression, religiosity, and social support have been demonstrated to relate to substance use in adolescence. We examined relations between these factors and substance use (cigarette use, marijuana use, frequency of intoxication using alcohol, and lifetime substance use) using the National Study of Adolescent to Adult Health (ADD Health), a large-scale nationally representative epidemiological study (N = 6504). Our results suggested that: 1) in simple correlations, delinquency and depression appeared to be related to higher levels of all forms of substance use, whereas religiosity and social support appeared to be inversely related with all forms of substance use, 2) in multiple and logistic regression analysis, delinquency remained a predictor of all forms of substance use, 3) depression predicted cigarette use and marijuana use but did not predict frequency of intoxication or lifetime substance use, 4) religiosity predicted lower levels of all forms of substance use, and 5) social support predicted less frequency of substance use but did not predict lifetime use. Results suggest that delinquency and depression may be risk factors for youth substance use, and that religiosity and social support may be associated with decreased risk for substance use. In addition, our analyses suggest that some of these relations may be confounded by other factors or combinations of factors.


Background and Purpose: The present body of literature has little information regarding factors behind gaps in health status affecting Asian American, Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander (AANHPI) communities, and methods to address them. We sought to examine pharmacists' and other health care professionals' perceptions of AANHPI health disparities and their ideas for solutions involving pharmacists, pharmacy schools, and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA). Methods: In-depth individual interviews were conducted with ten academic pharmacists and four other health care professionals knowledgeable about AANHPI disparities, with a focus on medication-related disparities. Results: Commonly identified factors behind disparities included poor communication, low socioeconomic status, cultural inhibitions creating a reluctance to seek care, and limited access to care. Suggested strategies for community pharmacists to reduce disparities included one-on-one care focused on outcomes, translated materials and translation services, and tracking adherence to medications. Participants suggested that colleges of pharmacy could continue community health events, encourage students to be culturally aware, and conduct health disparities research, and that the FDA could provide translated information, research funding, and requirements for greater ethnic diversity in clinical trials. Conclusion: Experts believe that pharmacists have the potential to help close the health care gap for AANHPI populations.


The COVID-19 Pandemic in Africa is a severe reminder of the brunt of emerging and re-emerging infectious pathogens and the need for simple, context-oriented, and sustainable health models to combat them when the need arises. In this commentary, an analytical discursive approach was chosen to owe to Africa's unique situation of weak health systems, with most of its member states showing an initial reluctance to deal openly with the COVID-19 situation. This paper discusses five major control measures doped the SHEF2 Model i.e. ("SHEF2"- S: Social distancing, H: Hands, E: Elbows, F: Face, F: Feel) of COVID-19 implemented in Africa. We also review the issues related to implementing SHEF2 control measures in Africa. The measures being taken in Asia, Europe, and North America such as social distancing and regular hand washing are a particular challenge for African countries with dense populations, unequal access to water, and limited social safety nets. COVID-19 is challenging the public health and socio-political systems of all affected African countries. The burden of COVID-19 demands rapid and decisive action to be taken, yet the comparison shows how difficult it is was for an unknown new coronavirus disease. In line with the steps being taken across the globe to control and contain COVID-19 pandemic, African countries are preparing for the great effects of this pandemic and ensuing deep recession thus the reason we assert, the greater hope for African countries is implementing an aggressive SHEF2 model strategy. The spread of the pandemic will eventually stop, and the international system will find a balance, but most of the damage will be felt particularly by Africa.


In this paper a brand new channel error detection and correction method is provided. Artificially adding symbols to the source binary sequence makes the binary sequence present a regularity. The receiver can use this rule to implement error detection and correction. Since many redundant symbols are added, a weighted probability model lossless coding method is proposed in this paper to remove redundant information, and the reasons why Markov chains and conditional probabilities are not feasible are given. It is proven that the method in this paper can reach the channel capacity when the code length approaches infinity. It is shown experimentally that when the code rate is 1/2 in the BIAWGN channel, the method in this paper is superior to the polar code and LDPC code.


Throughout its history, humankind has been fascinated by a question that is simple to pose, yet remarkably resistant to resolution: "How does the brain work?" Philosophers have debated the workings of the mind for centuries. Da Vinci made detailed sketches of the brain. By the turn of the century, scientists began to understand some of the brain's basic structure and function. Today, we can image and record brain activity from the neural to whole-brain level. Yet, divining how the structure and function of the several billion neurons and their trillions of interconnections leads to the complexity, diversity, and adaptability of human behavior continues to elude us. It is indeed ironic that almost every advance in brain science has given us a deeper appreciation of the challenges of understanding the brain.


The sealing of the anodized aluminum is a critical process in achieving the durability and extended functionality of anodizing. This article discusses the different methods for sealing the anodic coatings produced by using sulfuric acid, namely, hot deionized water, hot nickel acetate, midtemperature, cold, and dichromate sealing. It reviews the factors that affect seal quality: immersion time, chemistry concentration, temperature, pH, water quality, coating thickness, and contaminants/dye bleeding. The article describes the various tests that are used for determining the quality of the seal, namely, salt spray, modified dye stain, acid dissolution, impedance, copper accelerated acetic acid salt spray, high-alkaline resistance, SO2 fog, and clorox tests.


Active galactic nuclei (AGN) jets are energetic phenomena where twin jets of plasma emerge perpendicular to the plane of the accretion disk surrounding supermassive black holes in galactic centers. Radio-loud jets are largely divided into classes based on the angle of observation (blazars versus radio galaxies), spectral line widths (Flat Spectrum Radio Quasars/FSRQs versus BL Lac objects/BL Lacs), and location of the synchrotron peak frequency in their spectral energy distribution (high-spectral peaked/HSP, intermediate-spectral peaked/ISP, or low-spectral peaked/LSP).The linear fractional polarization of the radio emission and the direction of the polarization plan (electric vector position angle, "EVPA'') can be measured, providing information on the properties of the jets' magnetic field. This study uses and describes some processing of data from the MOJAVE program, taken with the VLBA at 15 GHz, to investigate the polarization behavior of 387 AGN. The most polarized jets have good alignment between the EVPA and the local jet direction, and higher stability in both fractional polarization and the EVPA. This characterization best describes BL Lacs, which are notably different from FSRQs. HSP BL Lacs have lower fractional polarization than LSP BL Lacs, with fractional polarization partially dependent on apparent jet speeds. These results have supported a scenario where HSP BL Lacs and LSP BL Lacs are similar objects with differing relativistic beaming factors, while FSRQs and BL Lacs as a class have inherent differences in the makeup of their magnetic fields.


The mammalian cochlea is a sophisticated hearing sensor that uses active amplification to enhance weak sounds. The nonlinearity necessary for this task allows a remarkable dynamic range, yet at the same time it removes the superposition principle, resulting in complex interactions of the incoming frequencies and the generation of new frequencies (combination tones). Using a biophysically realistic mesoscopic model of the cochlea, we show that the processing of sound mixtures produces activity profiles consistent with power-laws. Importantly, if the cochlea is parameter-tuned in a way that was earlier shown to effectively model the process of active listening, the power-law distribution is broken.


Background: Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is a disease characterized by a progressive airflow limitation. Soluble urokinase-type plasminogen activator receptor (suPAR) is released from the membrane-bound plasminogen activator, and is positively correlated with the activation of immune system. Aims : Release of inflammatory mediators is increased in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), particularly during exacerbations. The objective of this study was to compare plasma levels of suPAR and serum levels of C-reactive protein (CRP) during exacerbation and stable periods in patients with COPD. Study Design : Prospective clinical study. Methods: The patients with COPD were divided into 3 groups for evaluations: those with stable COPD [SCOPD] (n= 54), pre-treatment acute exacerbation COPD [AECOPD] (n= 53), and post-treatment AECOPD (n= 52). Plasma suPARand serum CRP levels were assessed for each patient. Results: Whereas the increased serum CRP levels of the participants were 54.82±56.63 mg/l during acute exacerbation period, during the stable period it was 5.02±6.31 mg/l and statistically significant (p= 0.0001). The suPAR level was 1.28±0.52ng/ml during the acute exacerbation period vs.1.21±0.59ng/ml during the stable period, without a difference (p= 0.49). There was a statistically significant decrease in the CRP serum levels; yet, although not statistically significant  a remarkable decrease was seen in the suPAR levels obtained before and after the management of exacerbations (p= 0.001 and p= 0.06 respectively). Conclusion: These results support the idea that suPAR, a novel biomarker, might be an important indicator if verified with further prospective studies in evaluating COPD exacerbations and treatment response like CRP used for decades.


Objective: Objective of the study was to determine the maternal mortality ratio and major causes of maternal mortality in different tertiary care hospitals representing each province of Pakistan. Study Design: Empirical study Duration & place of Study: Two years; from January 2014 to December 2015 at Sir Ganga Ram Hospital Lahore. Methodology: Data was collected from patients' record from four tertiary care hospitals of the country. All maternal deaths due to direct or indirect causes were included in the study. Deaths of mother's due to accidental or incidental causes were excluded. Data was analyzed and qualitative variables were calculated in percent while quantitative variables were measured using mean and standard deviation.  Results: Total number of live births during the study period was 101010. Out of these, total maternal deaths were 456. Maternal mortality ratio was 451.4/100,000 live births. Mean age and parity of patients was 30.6±6.1 years and 4.0±3.0 respectively. Maternal deaths due to direct causes were 373 (81.8%), due to indirect causes were 81 (17.8%) and in 2(0.4%) cases, the cause was unknown. Most common direct cause of maternal mortality was haemorrhage in 151(33.1%) patients followed by hypertensive disorders in 103(22.6%), sepsis in 43(9.4%), pulmonary embolism in 27(6%), obstructed labour in 28(6.1%), anesthesia complications in 10 (2.2%), ruptured ectopic pregnancy in 7(1.5%) and acute fatty liver of pregnancy in 4(0.9%). The most common indirect cause was anemia in 31(6.8%) patients followed by acute hepatitis in 28 (6.1%), cardiac disease in 17(3.7%) and anaphylactic reaction in 4(0.9%) cases. Three hunded and forty (74.6%) maternal deaths were in postpartum period. Only 60(13.2%) mothers registered their pregnancy for antenatal care. Conclusion: Maternal mortality ratio is alarmingly high in our country. Hemorrhage & anemia are identified as the leading direct & indirect causes of maternal death respectively. Both can be prevented by improving antenatal care and strengthening emergency obstetric services.


Investment is commitment of present funds for future returns or benefit. Investment in stock market is a risky task hence the investor try to find best strategy which will help them gaining from this market. Due to heavy fluctuations and even intraday movement of prices, this market has a lot of risk involved. This study is undertaken to understand the present scenario of stock market in India while considering selected cities as sample area. This study summarizes the views of common stock investors of selected cities regarding their interest in this market, frequency of investment, risk profile, preferences for various investment opportunities, etc. Besides, it also compiles the result of a hypothesis test regarding the risk consideration amongst different age groups while selection of various investment avenues.


Diabetic retinopathy is usually considered to be a disease of the retinal blood vessels, capable of causing visual deficits from macular edema, vitreous hemorrhage, and vitreoretinal tractional complications. However, it may also be useful to view diabetic retinopathy more broadly as a neurosensory disorder with functional deficits reflecting the systemic and local metabolic defects of diabetes mellitus, as well as the more obvious retinal vascular changes. To call diabetic retinopathy a disease only of the retinal blood vessels is analogous to considering diabetic neuropathy as a disease only of the neural vessels; while the vascular component is obviously important, it may not be the sole or even the primary cause of dysfunction. See also p 997. To demonstrate neurosensory deficits in diabetes as in other retinal disorders, testing more sophisticated than routine visual acuity measurement is required. An apt example is the demonstration by Higgins et al in this issue


Recent research increasingly highlights that consumers engage in online brand endorsements (e.g. Facebook likes) to signal their identity, but has failed to explain why different consumers use this type of signaling to differing degrees. This paper addresses this gap by looking at a culturally constructed individual difference variable, namely self-construal. Self-construal, which can be independent or interdependent, refers to the extent that people define themselves in terms of the relations they have with others. In four studies, this research shows that consumers' self-construal is related to their intention to endorse brands online. In particular, high levels of interdependent self-construal positively affect consumers' intention to endorse brands online (Studies 1A & 1B). This effect is mediated by an increased perception of brands' symbolic value (Study 2). Moreover, this positivity bias toward symbolic brand cues is conditional upon consumers' brand attitude (Study 3). These findings demonstrate that consumers' identity plays a central role in their brand perception and brand-related social media use.


This new section, 'News and Notes', is intended to provide a forum for up-to-date information on threatened species, on-going conservation work and other issues related to bird conservation. It will include pieces abstracted from other publications. Please send any contributions to BCI News and Notes Editor, BirdLife International, Wellbrook Court, Girton Road, Cambridge CB3 oNA, or email them to firstname.lastname@example.com.


Background: HIV testing and counseling (HTC) plays a central role in
specific prevention of mother-to-child transmission (PMTCT) interventions, as
these interventions depend on the woman knowing her HIV status. Over ninety
percent of HIV infection in children is acquired through mother-to-child
transmission. Objectives: This study assessed pregnant women's knowledge of
HIV/AIDS, their awareness of HIV testing and counseling, and compared the
uptake of HTC to the previously practiced voluntary counseling and testing
(VCT) in a teaching hospital in northern Nigeria. Materials and Methods: A
pre-tested, structured interview questionnaire was administered on a
cross-section survey of 270 antenatal clients in Ahmadu Bello University
Teaching Hospital (ABUTH), Nigeria. Information about knowledge of HIV/AIDS and
attitude towards HTC was elicited among respondents. Results: Eighty-nine
percent of respondents were aware of HIV/AIDS. The knowledge of route of
disease transmission was high, with 87.4% and 81.1% of studyparticipants
mentioning sexual activity and mother-to-child transmission, respectively.
Majority of respondents (98.9%) were aware of HTC and approved of it (91.1%)
while 7.8% declined and the remaining 1.1% were undecided. Fourteen percent of
respondents didn't approve of retesting in labour. Sixty-eight percent of
respondents were aware of interventions to prevent mother-to-child transmission
of HIV. Switching from VCT to HTC has dramatically improved the uptake of
testing from 78.9% in 2006 to 91.1% in 2012. Conclusion: Routine HIV testing
and counseling is more acceptable than voluntary counseling and testing among
antenatal clients. Although the awareness and uptake of HTC were quite high
among the antenatal clients, there is still a need to intensify health
education and incorporate husbands into the counseling session when necessary
to convince the remaining minority who are still ignorant of the benefits of
HTC.


The acid sites of phosphorus-containing zeosils were probed through a combination of solid acid characterization, density functional theory calculations, and kinetic interrogations, establishing their weakly Brønsted acidic character. Due to the disparity in acid-site strength, P-zeosils catalyzed the probe chemistry of isopropanol dehydration slower than aluminosilicate zeolites by an order of magnitude on an active site basis. Propene selectivity during isopropanol dehydration remained 20-30% higher than that of aluminosilicates, illustrating the distinct nature of the weakly acidic phosphorus active sites that favored unimolecular dehydration routes. Regardless of the confining siliceous environment, the nature of phosphorous active sites was unchanged, indicated by identical apparent uni- and bi-molecular dehydration energy barriers. Kinetic isotope experiments with deuterated isopropanol feeds implicated an E2-type elimination to propene formation on phosphorus-containing materials. Comparison of KIEs between phosphorus-containing zeosils and aluminosilicates pointed to an unchanged isopropanol dehydration mechanism, with changes in apparent energetic barriers attributed to weaker binding on phosphorous-active sites that lead to a relatively destabilized alcohol dimer adsorbate. Both ex-situ alkylamine Hofmann elimination and in-situ pyridine titration characterization methods exhibited phosphorous acid site counts dependent on probe molecules identity and/or concentration, underpinning the limitations of extending common characterization techniques for Brønsted-acid catalysis to weakly acidic materials.


AIM:To describe our clinical experience in treating circumscribed choroidal haemangioma(CCH)in a tertiary referral centre over a fifteen year period prior to photodynamic therapy. METHODS:The departmental database and photographic records of a tertiary referral center were used to identify patients who were treated for CCH between 1992 and 2007. Their case records were reviewed. RESULTS:Visual acuity improved(>2 Snellen lines)in eleven patients(69%)remained stable in one patient(6%) and deteriorated in four patients(25%).Six of the seven treated with brachytherapy and three of the four treated with transpupillary thermotherapy achieved better visual acuity after treatment.86%of patients treated within six months of onset of symptoms and 50%of patients treated after six months of onset of symptoms noted an improvement in visual acuity.Only one patient in our series had a final VA of 6/60 or worse.Mean follow-up was thirty-five months. CONCLUSION:Visual outcome is better when treatment is performed within 6 months of symptoms.The majority of patients achieved an improvement in visual acuity without any adverse effect following treatment.


Background The Gynecologic Oncology Group (GOG) is a multi-institution, multi-discipline Cooperative Group funded by the National Cancer Institute (NCI) to conduct clinical trials which investigate the treatment, prevention, control, quality of survivorship, and translational science of gynecologic malignancies. In 1982, the NCI initiated a program of on-site quality assurance audits of participating institutions. Each is required to be audited at least once every 3 years. In GOG, the audit mandate is the responsibility of the GOG Quality Assurance Audit Committee and it is centralized in the Statistical and Data Center (SDC). Each component (Regulatory, Investigational Drug Pharmacy, Patient Case Review) is classified as Acceptable, Acceptable, follow-up required, or Unacceptable. Purpose To determine frequently occurring deviations and develop focused innovative solutions to address them. Methods A database was created to examine the deviations noted at the most recent audit conducted at 57 GOG parent institutions during 2004—2007. Cumulatively, this involved 687 patients and 306 protocols. Results The results documented commendable performance: Regulatory (39 Acceptable, 17 Acceptable, follow-up, 1 Unacceptable); Pharmacy (41 Acceptable, 3 Acceptable, follow-up, 1 Unacceptable, 12 N/A): Patient Case Review (31 Acceptable, 22 Acceptable, follow-up, 4 Unacceptable). The nature of major and lesser deviations was analyzed to create and enhance initiatives for improvement of the quality of clinical research. As a result, Group-wide proactive initiatives were undertaken, audit training sessions have emphasized recurring issues, and GOG Data Management Subcommittee agendas have provided targeted instruction and training. Limitations The analysis was based upon parent institutions only; affiliate institutions and Community Clinical Oncology Program participants were not included, although it is assumed their areas of difficulty are similar. Conclusions The coordination of the GOG Quality Assurance Audit program in the SDC has improved data quality by enhancing our ability to identify frequently occurring deviations and develop innovative solutions to avoid or minimize their occurrence in the future. Clinical Trials 2010; 7: 390—399. http://ctj.sagepub.com


Business process models are, among other things, used for documentation, reorganization and standardization purposes. However, no agreement on the quality dimensions relevant for business process models could be reached so far. In this paper, we try to contribute to the terminological discussion about business process model quality and aim to identify basic quality properties. For this reason, we examine how quality can be assessed depending on the intended purpose of the business process model. The resulting list of application scenarios is based on a structured literature review of 128 publications. The investigation shows that understandability and semantic quality are most frequently mentioned for several intended purposes of business process models. Our results can be considered as useful for research, since 'business process model quality' is linked to the intended purpose of business process models for the first time. In addition, the state of the art of the connections between quality dimensions of business process models is depicted.


Glutaredoxins are small redox proteins able to reduce disulfides and mixed disulfides between GSH and proteins. Synechocystis sp. PCC 6803 contains three genes coding for glutaredoxins: ssr2061 (grxA) and slr1562 (grxB) code for dithiolic glutaredoxins while slr1846 (grxC) codes for a monothiolic glutaredoxin. We have analyzed the expression of these glutaredoxins in response to different stresses, such as high light, H2O2 and heat shock. Analysis of the mRNA levels showed that grxA is only induced by heat while grxC is repressed by heat shock and is induced by high light and H2O2. In contrast, grxB expression was maintained almost constant under all conditions. Analysis of GrxA and GrxC protein levels by western blot showed that GrxA increases in response to high light, heat or H2O2 while GrxC is only induced by high light and H2O2, in accordance with its mRNA levels. In addition, we have also generated mutants that have interrupted one, two, or three glutaredoxin genes. These mutants were viable and did not show any different phenotype from the WT under standard growth conditions. Nevertheless, analysis of these mutants under several stress conditions revealed that single grxA mutants grow slower after H2O2, heat and high light treatments, while mutants in grxB are indistinguishable from WT. grxC mutants were hypersensitive to treatments with H2O2, heat, high light and metals. A double grxAgrxC mutant was found to be even more sensitive to H2O2 than each corresponding single mutants. Surprisingly a mutation in grxB suppressed totally or partially the phenotypes of grxA and grxC mutants except the H2O2 sensitivity of the grxC mutant. This suggests that grxA and grxC participate in independent pathways while grxA and grxB participate in a common pathway for H2O2 resistance. The data presented here show that glutaredoxins are essential for stress adaptation in cyanobacteria, although their targets and mechanism of action remain unidentified.


In this paper we evaluate the quality of the activation layers of a convolutional neural network (CNN) for the generation of object proposals. We generate hypotheses in a sliding-window fashion over different activation layers and show that the final convolutional layers can find the object of interest with high recall but poor localization due to the coarseness of the feature maps. Instead, the first layers of the network can better localize the object of interest but with a reduced recall. Based on this observation we design a method for proposing object locations that is based on CNN features and that combines the best of both worlds. We build an inverse cascade that, going from the final to the initial convolutional layers of the CNN, selects the most promising object locations and refines their boxes in a coarse-to-fine manner. The method is efficient, because i) it uses the same features extracted for detection, ii) it aggregates features using integral images, and iii) it avoids a dense evaluation of the proposals due to the inverse coarse-to-fine cascade. The method is also accurate, it outperforms most of the previously proposed object proposals approaches and when plugged into a CNN-based detector produces state-of-the-art detection performance.


Major open questions remain in our understanding of the formation and evolution of galaxies in our universe, and the best tracers of these galactic histories are the stars within. The properties of stellar populations – the distributions of masses, ages, and metal abundances, both in aggregate and spatially-resolved within galaxies – are therefore essential to connecting models of galaxy formation to available observations. This thesis discusses two computational methods for connecting the stellar populations of galaxies to their evolutionary histories. First, we investigate the stellar halos of galaxies produced in the Illustris simulation. We present measurements of the gradients in luminosity, metallicity, and age in the inner halos of early-type Illustris galaxies, and discuss their application as tracers of galactic accretion histories. In the simulated galaxies, the steepness of both the luminosity and metallicity profiles are found to be good indicators of the local fraction of ex-situ stars, but that neither is strongly sensitive to the relative contribution from major or minor mergers. Second, we present a new forward-modeling procedure for simultaneously measuring the stellar population properties and distance to semi-resolved galaxies. The resulting product is a GPU-accelerated Python package called PCMDPy, which generates simulated photometry of galaxies in pixel color-magnitude diagram (pCMD) space, and compares the simulations to observed data to infer distances, star formation histories, and metal iii abundances. We perform extensive mock testing of this code and demonstrate that the new pCMD technique should, in principle, be applicable to galaxies out to nearly 100 Mpc. We then provide the first application of PCMDPy to several nearby (within 20 Mpc) elliptical galaxies. We infer spatially resolved star formation histories within each galaxy, which are suggestive of an inside-out evolution scenario. We also demonstrate the pCMD technique recovers distance estimates accurate to ∼ 20%, with moderate systematic offsets depending on the model complexity. The pCMD technique should prove highly complementary to existing methods of inferring star formation histories, and together the entire history of star formation in the nearby universe can be constrained.


Clahsen and Felser (CF) present a thought-provoking article that is likely to have a strong impact on the field, in particular, on developmental psycholinguistics and second language (L2) acquisition research. Unlike the majority of previous work on language acquisition that focused on "competence," that is, the knowledge basis underlying grammar, CF emphasize the need to approach language acquisition with psycholinguistic measures of processing. Based primarily on behavioral and electrophysiological on-line data, they argue that language acquisition in early first language (L1) and late L2 follows different patterns.


Due to increased global mobility and displacement there is a growing cultural diversity within therapeutic encounters between therapists and clients. Literature on cross-cultural therapy traditionally focuses on the culture of clients. However, due to recent theoretical shifts in the family therapy field, the importance of including the culture of therapists in the discourse about cross-cultural therapy has been highlighted. Drawing on the experience of the author, as therapist, trainee and trainer, as well as recent developments in the literature, this paper reflects on cross-cultural training and practice within family therapy in Britain. The author argues that white is a colour too, thus challenging 'white' therapists not to leave thinking about and addressing cross-cultural issues in family therapy to their colleagues 'of colour', but to actively engage with the risks and uncertainties of cross-cultural learning and practice. Ways to facilitate this process are suggested. In particular a multi-dimensional approach that allows for complexity and contradiction is promoted and the potential of using the personal life experiences of therapists as a safe, non-pathologizing training tool is discussed.


ABSTRACT
The police as one component of defense and safety which directly faces to the society, sometimes confront dilematic problem. They must carrieLi out the maintenance of justice with all the law definition which stuck on their job, but in the opposite side, they must execute the society serving function. In the interaction point between them ( the police and society ), there is a friction on that and therefore caused the new problem which have the social dimension.
The attitude which appear by the police so far, has shown an antagonic character on the society it will give a various meanings of the police from the society, and at last the society will give the less perception for their police.
According to the problem , this thesis appearing two basic principles problem, which are (1) How is the society's perception for the police as the justice holder, and (2) How is the influence of the perception to the law consciousness and the law obedient by the society itself
In addition to view, describing, and explaining the problem, the writer has done a research using the social definition theory with the symbolic interaction approach as the one of consequency from qualitative research. By this research model, some reason which appear from that perception, could expextantly finding. From the research which take on the Iambi Municipality as the location, there are found some society's perception about the police as the justice holder. Some of them are police as the dissappointed person, horrible, or frightening, and materialistic police which of course caused the effect for the society, that are less law consciousness for reporting the criminal event, and also the less law obedient of the society for not doing their sc:f judgement.
This police's antagonic attitudes should be changed soon by carried out the basic changed in the police system, from the antagonic police to the protagonic police ( Satjlpto Rahardjo, from his opinion about the police as the uniformed civil person ). From the statement above, we know that revising the relation between the society with their police to the harmonic relation between them are importantly needed . With the protagonic police system, the better perception from the society for their police will exactly happen.
By the research which found through this thesis, the expectantly are the society will know much more about the police's task and the police will recognize their fault, and finally, it will increase the society's law consciousness and obedient


Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) expresses an immediate-early protein, Rta, to activate the transcription of EBV lytic genes and the lytic cycle. This work identifies Ubc9 and PIAS1 as binding partners of Rta in a yeast two-hybrid screen. These bindings are verified by glutathione S-transferase pull-down assay, coimmunoprecipitation, and confocal microscopy. The interactions appear to cause Rta sumoylation, because not only can Rta be sumoylated in vitro but also sumoylated Rta can be detected in P3HR1 cells following lytic induction and in 293T cells after transfecting plasmids that express Rta and SUMO-1. Moreover, PIAS1 stimulates conjugation of SUMO-1 to Rta, thus acting as an E3 ligase. Furthermore, transfecting plasmids that express Ubc9, PIAS1, and SUMO-1 increases the capacity of Rta to transactivate the promoter that includes an Rta response element, indicating that the modification by SUMO-1 increases the transactivation activity of Rta. This study reveals that Rta is sumoylated at the Lys-19, Lys-213, and Lys-517 residues and that SUMO-1 conjugation at the Lys-19 residue is crucial for enhancing the transactivation activity of Rta. These results indicate that sumoylation of Rta may be important in EBV lytic activation.


The infused autograft lymphocyte to monocyte ratio (A-LMR) as a surrogate marker of host immunity (ie, absolute lymphocyte count) and CD14+ HLA-DRlow/neg immunosuppressive monocytes (ie, absolute monocyte count) is a prognostic factor for patients with diffuse large B-cell lymphoma after autologous peripheral hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (APHSCT). Thus, we set out to investigate if A-LMR can also affect survival post-APHSCT in classical Hodgkin lymphoma. From 1994 to 2012, 183 patients with classical Hodgkin lymphoma who underwent APHSCT were studied. The patients were randomly divided into a training set (n=122) and a validation set (n=61). The receiver operating characteristic and area under the curve identified an A-LMR ≥1 as the best cut-off value and validated by the k-fold cross-validation in the training set. Multivariate analysis showed A-LMR to be an independent prognostic factor for survival in the training set. Patients with an A-LMR ≥1.0 experienced a superior overall survival (OS) versus patients with an A-LMR <1.0 (median OS not reached versus 40.4 months, 5-year OS rates of 86% [95% CI 72–93] versus 43% [95% CI 28–58], P<0.0001, respectively) in the training set. In the validation set, an A-LMR ≥1 showed a median OS of not reached versus 41.4 months for an A-LMR <1, 5-year OS rates of 90% (95% CI 73–97) versus 48% (95% CI 28–68; P<0.0001). A-LMR provides a platform to engineer an autograft versus tumor effect to improve clinical outcomes in patients with classical Hodgkin lymphoma undergoing APHSCT.


Glioblastoma (GBM) is the most aggressive and common primary malignant astrocytoma which is characterized by tumor heterogeneity, infiltrating margins. Radiotherapy, chemotherapy and experimental targeted therapies have been ineffective at meaningfully increasing patient survival. One significant shortcoming of systemically delivered therapies is their inability to cross the blood brain barrier (BBB) and access infiltrating tumor cells. Therefore, in this work, we tested the potential of locoregionally targeting GBM via IL13Rα2, which we discovered to be expressed on greater than 75% of GBMs. To accomplish this, we intracranially infused copper-64 ( 64 Cu) radiolabeled IL13Rα2 specific peptide Pep-1L, previously developed by Pandya et al., into mice bearing IL13Rα2 expressing orthotopic GBMs. Small animal micro PET/CT imaging showed ~2-fold greater tumor specific localization and lower volume of distribution of 64 Cu-Pep-1L within brains of mice. Post-PET biodistribution study showed greater retention of 64 Cu-Pep-1L 4 hours (%ID/g = 20.85± 0.65) and 24 hours (%ID/g = 14.65± 0.30) post infusion when compared to similarly infused 64 Cu radiolabeled scrambled control peptide 4 hours (%ID/g = 10.73± 2.02) and 24 hours (%ID/g = 5.97± 1.47) post infusion. These results demonstrate that Pep-1L efficiently targets IL13Rα2 expressing GBMs in vivo upon loco-regional delivery and can effectively deliver potential therapeutic agents to GBM tumors while sparing normal brain. This work was supported by the American Cancer Society Mentored Research Scholar grant # 124443-MRSG-13-121-01-CDD (Mintz), 1R01CA179072-01A1 (Mintz), P30 CA012197 (Pasche), R01CA07414519 (Debinski) and the Translational Imaging Program (TIP) of the Wake Forest CTSA (UL1TR001420). Citation Format: Anirudh Sattiraju, Ang Xuan, Frankis Almaguel, Denise Herpai, Waldemar Debinski, Akiva Mintz, Kiran Kumar Solingapuram Sai. PET/CT imaging of interleukin-13 receptor alpha-2-targeted peptide to glioblastoma after locoregional delivery [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the American Association for Cancer Research Annual Meeting 2017; 2017 Apr 1-5; Washington, DC. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2017;77(13 Suppl):Abstract nr 1831. doi:10.1158/1538-7445.AM2017-1831


The health-care marketplace is aging by leaps and bounds and bringing with it new and different medical needs. As costs soar and public assistance programs dwindle in impact, health-care providers will need better marketing strategies to bring treatments to patients/consumers. This article looks at the research findings of behavioral scientists and offers guidelines for effective communication with aging audiences. Health-care providers can use these findings to design more effective advertising, promotional brochures, newsletters, and a host of other communication tools targeted at an older market. Health-care managers and other professionals should find the guidelines useful in their daily interactions with patients and colleagues.


Gas diffusion layer is a very important component in fuel cell, and carbon fiber paper is widely used as substrate of gas diffusion layer. This paper has developed one way to produce carbon fiber paper from carbon fiber felt with or without pretreatment. The properties and microstructure of carbon fiber paper were also stdied. The results show that the pretreatment of carbon fiber felt is helpful to prepare carbon fiber paper with good properties. The content of carbon derived from resin during pretreatment has effects on density, thickness, porosity, gas permeability, porosity and tensile streagth of carbon fiber paper. Carbon fiber paper made from carbon fiber felt with pretreatment has better interface adhension than that of carbon fiber paper made from carbon fiber felt without pretreatment. Carbon fiber paper was produced with thickness of 0.28mm, density of 0.43g/cm3, porosity of 77%, gas permeability of 2500 mL•mm/(cm2•hr•mmAq), specific resistance of 0.017Ω•cm and tensile strength of 18MPa, which is a promising materials for fuel cell electrode.


Pluralistic ignorance occurs when group members mistakenly believe others' cognitions and/or behaviors are systematically different from their own. More than 20 years have passed since the last review of pluralistic ignorance from a psychological framework, with more than 60 empirical articles assessing pluralistic ignorance published since then. Previous reviews took an almost entirely conceptual approach with minimal review of methodology, making existing reviews outdated and limited in the extent to which they can provide guidelines for researchers. The goal of this review is to evaluate and integrate the literature on pluralistic ignorance, clarify important conceptual issues, identify inconsistencies in the literature, and provide guidance for future research. We provide a comprehensive definition for the phenomenon, with a focus on its status as a group-level phenomenon. We highlight three areas of variation in particular in the current scoping review: variation in topics assessed, variation in measurement, and (especially) variation in methods for assessing the implications of individual-level misperceptions that, in aggregate, lead to pluralistic ignorance. By filling these gaps in the literature, we ultimately hope to motivate further analysis of the phenomenon.


Healthcare-associated infections (HAI) are the tenth-leading cause of death in the United States. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) estimate that HAIs annually account for 1.7 million infections, 99,000 associated deaths, and a cost of approximately $30 billion. Nonreimbursement of some of these HAIs by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, public reporting of data (currently in 27 states), and the statistics listed above are driving quality initiatives to reduce or eliminate HAIs. However, a 2009 report from the Agency for Healthcare Research & Quality showed that little progress has been made towards eliminating HAIs. Reducing the risk of healthcare-associated infections is the Joint Commission's National Patient Safety Goal Number 7. Cardiac surgery has always been at the leading edge of innovation and quality care. Improvements in this field have been brought about by the needs of critically ill patients who are at high risk of death and by leaders such as Dr. Michael DeBakey who were driven to provide excellence in patient care. One of the prime examples of quality initiatives in cardiac surgery has been the development of the Society of Thoracic Surgeons (STS) National Database. This has helped to develop benchmarks by which different institutions are measured. The STS database will lead another initiative by providing public presentation of hospital- and surgeon-specific data in the near future. Even so, cardiac surgery patients are at especially high risk of developing HAIs. Use of invasive devices such as central lines, urinary catheters, ventilators, etc. - all of which are commonly utilized in the care of cardiac surgical patients - is one of the most significant risk factors for acquiring HAIs. Cardiac patients also have significant co-morbidities such as diabetes, obesity, increasing frailty, advanced age, and multiple redo-operations. This combination makes our patients more vulnerable to HAIs. Accordingly, in 2010 the Society of Cardiovascular Anesthesiologists (SCA) Foundation launched the FOCUS (Flawless Operative Cardiovascular Unified Systems) Cardiac Surgery Patient Safety Initiative to help eliminate infections in cardiac surgery patients, especially catheter-related infections. This publication will briefly discuss the four most common infections and strategies to reduce HAIs and will touch on some of the infection-control experiences from the Methodist DeBakey Heart & vascular Center (MDHVC).


Peter Urban and Andre Schiper Comparing Distributed Consensus Algorithms Protocols that solve agreement problems are essential building blocks for fault tolerant distributed systems. While many protocols have been published, little has been done to analyze their performance, especially the performance of their fault tolerance mechanisms. In this paper, we compare two consensus algorithms with different communication schemes: one is centralized and the other decentralized. The elements of the simulation study form a generic methodology for evaluating consensus algorithms. The results show that the centralized algorithm performs better in some environments, in spite of the fact that the decentralized algorithm finishes in fewer communication steps. The reason is that it generates less contention. Keywords: simulation tools and techniques, Java-based simulation, distributed consensus, benchmarks