Background/aim The objective of this study is to determine the clinical features of unilateral multicystic dysplastic kidney (MCDK) patients. Materials and methods The demographic, clinical, laboratory, and radiologic features of MCDK patients at Diyarbakır Children's Hospital and Diyarbakır Gazi Yaşargil Training and Research Hospital between January 2008-June 2019 were retrospectively evaluated. Results A total of 111 [59 (53.2%) male and 52(46.8%) female] patients with MCDK were followed for a mean period of 41.89 ± 32.03 months. MCDK was located on the left and right sides in 46 (41.4%) and 65 (58.6%) of the children, respectively (p > 0.05). A total of 87 (78.4%) patients had antenatal diagnosis. The mean age at diagnosis was 13.7 ± 34.2 months. Of the 49 voiding cystourethrogram (VCUG)-performed patients, vesicoureteral reflux was detected in 11 patients (22.4%). Other associated urological anomalies in the patients were detected in 12 (10.8%) patients. On Tc-99m dimercaptosuccinic acid (DMSA) scintigraphy which was performed in all patients showed scarring in four children. Eight patients had history of UTI (7.2%). Renal failure, hypertension, and proteinuria were diagnosed in three children (2.7%). Sixty-nine (62%) patients developed compensatory hypertrophy. Conclusion All cases should be followed up closely and VCUG should be reserved for patients with recurrent UTI and other urological problems indicated by ultrasonography and abnormal DMSA scan results.


Shuttle imaging radar (SIR-A) coverage across Bolivia shows the major physiographic provinces, including the Andean Altiplano. The Altiplano contains a variety of eolian features, many of which are visible as radar-dark, radar-mottled, and radar-bright streaks aligned parallel to the prevailing winds. The streaks form downwind from hills and are as much as 15 km long and 800 m wide. Dark streaks originate between closely spaced hills, whereas bright streaks form in the immediate lee of hills. The radar brightness of the streaks is modulated by the proportion of sand cover, vegetation, and exposed substrate, all of which relate to the local wind regime. In the radar-dark streaks, vegetation is sparse and the sand is organized into dune forms, some of which can be recognized as barchan dunes on the radar image by outlining of the dark dune by bright substrate. Radar-mottled zones are covered by numerous 0.5-2-m-high coppice dunes, and in radarbright streaks, the sand forms flat sheets but also includes sand mounds and abundant vegetation. Measurements indicate that winds are strongest and most turbulent in the region of active sand sheets and dunes, inhibiting the growth of vegetation and the formation of mounds and resulting in a radar-dark zone. These results are consistent with previous studies that have demonstrated the existence of turbulent eddies in the wake of topographic obstacles that produce zones of increased surface wind shear and enhanced sand mobility. The relation between the radar signature and the wind regime allows inferences to be drawn for the wind regime from image interpretation.


Cyber warfare isn't hype; it's real. America's decisive technological advantage now contains the seed of our undoing. Our technological dependence is woven into the fabric of our way of life and our national defense. GPS satellites guide troops and weapon systems, algorithms fly aircraft and allocate supplies, websites drive personnel assignments and promotion boards, and official and personal data and voice communications almost exclusively transit computer networks. If these critical networks begin to fail, we aren't a twenty-first century fighting force; we are a 1980-era military. This estimate is generous. In 1980, we knew how to fight using face-to-face communications, manual land navigation, analog radios, and acetate overlays. Today is different. Information technology has largely kept its allure of dramatically increased efficiency at low cost. Thus, we no longer have "stubby pencil" warfighting skills or the extra personnel to handle these myriad manual tasks.


In this article, we study the joint communication and sensing (JCAS) paradigm in the context of millimeter-wave (mm-wave) mobile communication networks. We specifically address the JCAS challenges stemming from the full-duplex operation and from the co-existence of multiple simultaneous beams for communications and sensing purposes. To this end, we first formulate and solve beamforming optimization problems for hybrid beamforming based multiuser multiple-input and multiple-output JCAS systems. The cost function to be maximized is the beamformed power at the sensing direction while constraining the beamformed power at the communications directions, suppressing interuser interference and cancelling full-duplexing related self-interference (SI). We then also propose new transmitter and receiver beamforming solutions for purely analog beamforming based JCAS systems that maximize the beamforming gain at the sensing direction while controlling the beamformed power at the communications direction(s), cancelling the SI as well as eliminating the potential reflection from the communication direction and optimizing the combined radar pattern (CRP). Both closed-form and numerical optimization based formulations are provided. We analyze and evaluate the performance through extensive simulations, and show that substantial gains and benefits in terms of radar transmit gain, CRP, and SI suppression can be achieved with the proposed beamforming methods.


This exploratory study examines the concept of Honesty (H) in Managerial
Performance Reporting (MPR) developing the concept of Honest Managerial
Performance Reporting (HPR). It identifies the level of honesty in manager's
performance reporting behaviour and how HPR influences aspects of Firm
Performance (FP). The work of Yang (2009) and Evans et al. (2001) provide academic
consideration of this area, including insights into how this area may be studied.
Practical, real-world examples of such issues are numerous, but the 'Enron case' is
probably the most well-known (Ndofor et al. 2015). The study utilises datasets of
managers, managerial performance reports and companies (Ghana Club 100) in its
work and applies a mixed method approach using a variety of research instruments.
Several theoretical approaches provide the bedrock for this study and a lens for
examining different dimensions of the concept of honesty in MPR. These are Classical
agency theory (Jenson & Meckling, 1976), a multi-actor stakeholders model that
emanates from Stakeholder theory (Freeman 1984, Yang, 2009), Impression
Management (Goffman, 1959), Legitimacy (Deegan, 2002) and Institutional (DiMaggio
& Powell, 1983) theories.
The thesis explores the level of and factors that influence honesty in managerial
performance reporting (HPR). It also determines if HPR has any implication on Firm
Performance (FP). From this, four areas of endeavour are formulated, and hypotheses
developed to address the issues in each area, and the quest for answers and
conclusions to these specifications are pursued. Specifically, the study uses
1) Four experimental constructs to test manager's voluntary preference for HPR.
2) 265 structured questionnaires to explore the variables affecting HPR.
3) Statistical analysis to examine the relationships between HPR and FP.
4) Vignettes to document HPR practices among Ghana Club 100 companies.
The results are the outcomes of the hypotheses and in turn, address the research
issues that answer the primary research question leading to conclusions such as: -
a) Regarding levels of honesty, managers are partially honest in MPR.
b) HPR is affected by a range of factors that include environmental, organisational,
economic and individual variables.
c) The nature and level of relationship of HPR on FP is that HPR has a significant
positive relationship with FP.
The clear contribution of this study is that: -
a) It uses managers rather than students in HPR studies confirming that managers
voluntarily prefer HPR.
b) It confirms that HPR is mainly influenced by factors within the control of
'decision-active' stakeholders.
c) It demonstrates that HPR can be improved if the pay-off for performance related
bonuses is deferred rather than paid immediately.
d) It provides evidence that HPR has a significant and positive effect on FP.
These contributions provide new insight into Managerial Performance, MPR, HPR and
the relationship with firm performance, while recognising some limitations. It also
makes worthy contributions to our understanding of new contexts.


We compared the outcomes of displaced intra-articular calcaneal fractures in 33 patients aged 65 to 75 years, who were treated either operatively (n = 18) or nonsurgically (n = 15), between December 2001 and December 2005. The operative treatment group scored higher on the American Orthopaedic Foot & Ankle Society ankle-hindfoot score and had less pain as measured with the 10-cm visual analog scale than did the nonsurgically treated group, with the differences being statistically significant (P < or = .05), suggesting that results can be improved by operative treatment. Böhler's angle, the quality of operative reduction, subtalar joint motion, gender, and the Sanders type of fracture were also analyzed and compared between the treatment groups. The results confirmed that Böhler's angle, the quality of the reduction, and subtalar joint motion were important prognostic factors related to outcome, regardless of treatment; whereas gender and Sanders type had less influence on the results at the 2-year follow-up evaluation. The prevalence of complications observed in the surgically treated group was similar to that reported in prior publications, except for subtalar arthritis (38.9%), which may have been higher because of the age of our patients and the duration of follow-up.


Products and virtual humans are commonly described using 3D models of their components and anatomical entities, respectively. Functions stand for symbolic information bringing a high level description of product subsets and apply also to human body anatomical entities. Ontology-based approaches bring new means to improve the efficiency of these digital models. Here, the purpose is to identify similarities and differences between existing ontology based descriptions of products and virtual humans. From this analysis, it is shown how compatible descriptions can be obtained and how a common framework can be derived where products and virtual humans can be both incorporated for various applications involving 3D models. The proposed framework contains an ontology-based description of products and virtual humans enabling the access to 3D models while accessing high-level semantic information through the use of inference mechanisms. Biomechanical simulations of virtual humans and structural behavior simulations of products is the context used to setup this common framework such that products and virtual humans can take part to these simulations where products and virtual humans are involved.


Transient Thermal and Structural Analysis of the Rotor Disc of Disk Brake is aimed at evaluating the performance of disc brake rotor of a car under severe braking conditions and there by assist in disc rotor design and analysis. An investigation into usage of new materials is required which improve braking efficiency and provide greater stability to vehicle. This investigation can be done using ANSYS software. ANSYS 11.0 is a dedicated finite element package used for determining the temperature distribution, variation of the stresses and deformation across the disc brake profile. In the present work, an attempt has been made to investigate the suitable hybrid composite material which is lighter than cast iron and has good Young's modulus, Yield strength and density properties. Aluminum base metal matrix composite and High Strength Glass Fiber composites have a promising friction and wear behavior as a Disk brake rotor. The transient thermo elastic analysis of Disc brakes in repeated brake applications has been performed and the results were compared. The suitable material for the braking operation is S2 glass fiber and all the values obtained from the analysis are less than their allowable values. Hence the brake Disc design is safe based on the strength and rigidity criteria. By identifying the true design features, the extended service life and long term stability is assured.


Access to rich, nationwide property data has catalyzed rapid empirical work concerning land use choices in several fields of inquiry, including environmental economics, urban geography, and conservation biology. When data on property transactions and assessments are provided in its original or only partially pre-processed state, the accuracy, reliability, and generalizability of findings can be improved with a series of cleaning procedures and quality checks. We discuss issues inherent in using increasingly popular, nationwide data to perform econometric analyses and propose best practices for data preparation by example of ZTRAX, a U.S.-wide real estate database available to academics, non-profit, and government researchers between 2016 and 2023. We cover (1) the identification of arms-length sales, (2) the geo-location of parcels and buildings, (3) temporal linkages between transaction, assessor, and parcel data, (4) the identification of property types, such as single-family homes and vacant lands, and (5) dealing with missing or mismeasured data for standard housing attributes. We provide supplementary maps, filtering tables, and algorithmic descriptions to help analysts check and document their choices, improve the quality of ongoing and planned research, and help readers better understand the scope, reliability, and generalizability of findings and data products.


Diabetes mellitus is an established widespread morbidity factor across the globe. Smoking is a major risk factor for
developing stress. Smoking is shown to elevate cortisol level. Smoking also contributes to development of insulin resistance and hence
type 2 diabetes mellitus. The purpose of this study was to find the association between cigarette smoking and diabetes mellitus. This study
included 30 students (15 smokers, 15 non smokers) from 1st year and similar group was chosen from 3rd year medical students. Serum
cortisol level was estimated by Electrochemiluminiscence immunoassay and Plasma glucose was estimated by glucose oxidase method on
a HITACHI 917 analyzer. The data was statistically analyzed using students t test and chi-square test. P value <0.05 was considered as
statistical significance. This study found a positive association between smoking and diabetes. It showed that with advancing age and
longer duration of exposure to nicotine and prolonged activation of HPA axis, the chances of developing frank hyperglycemia increasing
in due course.


Objective: To investigate whether the structural connectivity of the brain's rich-club organization is altered in patients with primary progressive MS and whether such changes to this fundamental network feature are associated with disability measures. Methods: We recruited 37 patients with primary progressive MS and 21 healthy controls for an observational cohort study. Structural connectomes were reconstructed based on diffusion-weighted imaging data using probabilistic tractography and analyzed with graph theory. Results: We observed the same topological organization of brain networks in patients and controls. Consistent with the originally defined rich-club regions, we identified superior frontal, precuneus, superior parietal, and insular cortex in both hemispheres as rich-club nodes. Connectivity within the rich club was significantly reduced in patients with MS (p = 0.039). The extent of reduced rich-club connectivity correlated with clinical measurements of mobility (Kendall rank correlation coefficient τ = −0.20, p = 0.047), hand function (τ = −0.26, p = 0.014), and information processing speed (τ = −0.20, p = 0.049). Conclusions: In patients with primary progressive MS, the fundamental organization of the structural connectome in rich-club and peripheral nodes was preserved and did not differ from healthy controls. The proportion of rich-club connections was altered and correlated with disability measures. Thus, the rich-club organization of the brain may be a promising network phenotype for understanding the patterns and mechanisms of neurodegeneration in MS.


Apart from the glory of communicative language teaching, there have been some critiques of its application. One of them is about the existence of pronunciation in CLT. Some scholars stated that pronunciation had fallen from favor in the era of communicative language teaching and was ineffective. However, some other researchers stood on different statements toward the teaching of pronunciation. Some stated the need for the integration of pronunciation with oral communication. Students can be expected to do well in the pronunciation of English if the pronunciation class is taken out of isolation and becomes an integral part of oral communication. Therefore, the researcher conducted a small survey related to the teaching of pronunciation from the perspective of future English teachers.
The main reasons why future teachers were chosen as the subjects of this study were: (1) they have had exposures on the new paradigms of teaching English in the university, (2) it is they who will conduct the teaching of English in Indonesia in the coming future, so it is important to know the underlying concepts of pronunciation in English language teaching they have.


Accurately estimating returns on CDO tranches is complicated, particularly when the structure of the CDO contains over-collateralization and interest-coverage triggers. Coverage triggers serve to divert cash flows from more junior tranches to retire principal of senior tranches under conditions of deteriorating collateral pool. We analyzed the effects of typical coverage triggers on distributions of expected tranche returns using Monte Carlo simulation. Results from simulated returns show that coverage triggers increase returns to senior tranche holders, but increase volatility of cash flows from CDOs during their reinvestment periods. Although triggers provide protection to senior holders at the expense of more junior investors, greater alignment of manager incentives with investors in all parts of a deal may serve to increase risk-adjusted returns on the collateral.


Abstract Small-scale artisanal fisheries account for an estimated 40 MMT of catch annually, employing approximately 40 million workers. The promise of rationalization, realized in developed countries, is that good management may generate significant rents. But an important issue for developing countries is: will the rents from rationalization accrue to the poor? I investigate connections between fisheries rationalization, income distribution, and poverty reduction drawing on a model from A.D. Scott (1957). Under open access, a fixed amount of labor is employed such that the value of marginal product (VMP) in agriculture is equal to the value of average product (VAP) in the fishery. Reform is then modeled with a dynamic optimization model, which identifies conditions that generate a high potential payoff to the poor. Whether potential payoffs are translated into actual gains to the poor depends upon political economy factors. I discuss the political economy barriers to pro-poor fisheries reform and potential institutions for sustaining rational fisheries use. JEL Classification Codes: Q01, Q22, Q28, O13


Arbre is a file system that guarantees the integrity of the entire file system on an untrusted remote block-level storage system with a small amount of trusted storage. Arbre does not require changes to the remote block-level storage systems commercially available today. Even if an unauthorized person manages to get complete access to the storage system, they cannot modify or replay any data without being detected. This is achieved by organizing all file system blocks as a single tree and storing their hashes as a part of metadata to later verify the correctness of their contents.


We characterised the effect of seasonal fluctuations in water temperature (Tw) on the nonventilatory period (NVP) of Mediterranean loggerhead turtles, Caretta caretta. Ten captive turtles, that were subject to the natural variations in Tw found in the Gulf of Naples, dived significantly longer when Tw decreased. More than 50% of summer and winter dives lasted between 2 and 10 min; the maximum dive duration (120 min) occurred in winter at a Tw of 13°C. The longest NVP coincided with a low level of activity and a lower food consumption. This, and a reduced metabolic rate consequent to acclimatisation to a low Tw were likely to have influenced NVP.


Neuroblastoma, a paediatric cancer, accounts for 15% of childhood cancer mortality. Even though neuroblastoma is an aggressive cancer, the exact mechanisms by which the cells resist treatment is poorly understood. Here, we hypothesise that neuroblastoma cells have high expression of mesenchymal markers and hence could attribute to the aggressive phenotype. P120ctn is downregulated in epithelial cancers and is known to play a major role in EMT and aggressiveness. In this study, immunohistochemical staining of neuroblastoma patient tissues suggested that p120ctn is highly abundant. Hence, the role of p120ctn and N-Myc in neuroblastoma aggressiveness was investigated by using RNA interference. Amplification of N-Myc oncogene occurs in 20% of neuroblastoma patients and is considered high risk as it correlates with aggressiveness and poor prognosis. Interestingly, knockdown of p120ctn down regulated N-Myc both at mRNA and protein levels. Upon knockdown of p120ctn and N-Myc, the proliferation, invasion and migration of neuroblastoma cells were significantly reduced. Quantitative proteomic and qPCR analysis of the wild type and knockdown cells revealed that p120ctn knockdown cells underwent mesenchymal-to-epithelial transition. Confocal microscopy and Western blotting analysis of subcellular fractionation showed nuclear accumulation of β-catenin upon p120ctn knockdown. Once in the nucleus, β-catenin activated Wnt signalling pathway and up regulated Wnt target genes including C-Myc. Interestingly, down regulation of p120ctn sensitised the neuroblastoma cells to doxorubicin. Currently, there is no published study that explores the role of p120ctn in neuroblastoma. However, these findings are contradictory to scientific literature in the context of the functional role of p120ctn in epithelial cancer. Hence to validate our findings, we established knockdown of p120ctn in epithelial colorectal cancer cells. Consistent with the literature, knockdown of p120ctn induced EMT, proliferation and migration. These results suggest that the role of p120ctn is cell type dependent. Overall, the findings from this study suggest that p120ctn plays a pivotal role in progression of neuroblastoma. Citation Format: Pamali Fonseka, Suresh Mathivanan, Michael Liem, Ishara Atukorala. Dual role of p120ctn in cancer: epithelial vs mesenchymal [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 3932. doi:10.1158/1538-7445.AM2017-3932


Recently we have observed the high volatility and complexity of law and business transactions, as well as the assumption of prepared valuations and self-shaping principles in accounting. Greater independence in a changing environment increases the risk of unethical behaviour. There have been many cases of negative behaviour in accounting, known as a creative, aggressive or fraudulent accounting. Responsibility for bankruptcy and financial failures was pinned on accounting, which shattered the reputation of the accountants concerned. Professional requirements for accountants are high and they have greatly increased, especially in the financial operations sector. However, it is expected that employees will also act ethically. Professionalism is associated in the same way with professional competence and ethical standards. The Code of Professional Ethics in Accounting introduces important ethical principles for accountants. It is worth noticing how the principles refer to human traits, virtues and considering whether to accept and obeying them as an act of conscience. Accountants are facing ethical dilemmas that affect their private life.


The aim of the current study is to assess three integrated systems presenting different eucalyptus tree densities due to animal and forage production. The following integrated systems were assessed: crop-livestock-forest with 357 eucalyptus trees ha-1 (ICLF1); crop-livestock-forest with 227 eucalyptus trees ha-1 (ICLF2); and crop-livestock with 5 remnant native trees ha-1 (ICL). The randomized block experimental design was applied in a split-plot scheme with four replicates. The Average Daily Gain (ADG, g animal-1day-1) and the live-weight gain per area (LWG, kg ha-1) were applied to analyze animal performance, which was set by weighing the animals every 28 days (the animals previously fasted for 16h). Forage yield was higher in ICL during fall and winter; in summer, it did not differ from ICLF2. There was no forage yield difference between the ICL and ICLF2 systems in any of the assessed seasons; summer was more productive in ILPF1 than other seasons. The highest leaf crude protein contents (CP) in summer was recorded in systems ICLF1 and ICLF2, and the highest value recorded in fall was found in ILPF1; the lowest was found in ILP. On the other hand, the highest leaf NDF contents in summer were found in ILP. The highest ADG were found in summer. The highest LWG values recorded for the ICL and ICLF2 systems were collected in summer and fall; there was no difference in any of the three systems in winter. The LWG was higher in all system in summer. The ICLF2 emerged as the system (with trees) most appropriate for beef cattle production. Despite the shading interference on forage production, such condition is compensated by the best nutritional contents such as CP. The ICLF2 system allowing an annual LWG of 83% in relation to the ICL system during the fifth year of establishment of the systems.


Abstract Though endoscopic treatment is an option for T1 colorectal cancer (CRC), the optimal indications and long-term outcomes of this strategy need to be validated. Therefore, the aim of this study is to investigate long-term outcomes of endoscopy versus surgery and optimal indications for endoscopic treatment of T1 CRC. This retrospective study included 428 T1 CRC patients treated with initial endoscopy (n = 224) or surgery (n = 204) at Severance Hospital between 2005 and 2012. Patients were subdivided into 4 groups according to conventional indications (CIs) for endoscopic treatment: negative lateral/vertical margins; submucosal invasion depth within 1000 &mgr;m; no lymphovascular invasion (LVI); well or moderately differentiated. For prognosis evaluation, short-term outcomes (resection margin and complications) and long-term outcomes (recurrence and cancer-specific mortality) were evaluated. Endoscopic treatment achieved en bloc resection in 86.6% of 224 patients. Recurrence and mortality did not differ between the endoscopy and surgery groups with or without CIs. For patients with CIs, although 80 patients were treated endoscopically with 1 (1.3%) recurrence and 0 mortality, 75 patients were treated surgically with 2 (2.7%) recurrence and 1 (1.3%) mortality. Multivariate analysis revealed that LVI positivity and poorly differentiated histology were independently associated with lymph node metastasis (LNM; P < 0.001 and P = 0.001, respectively). To determine whether the depth of submucosal invasion among criteria of CIs could be extended for endoscopic treatment, LNM was analyzed by extending the depth of submucosal invasion. There was no LNM in 155 patients within conventional indication. When the depth of submucosal invasion was extended up to 1500 &mgr;m, LNM was occurred (1/197 patient [0.5%]). In addition, when the depth of submucosal invasion was extended up to 2000 &mgr;m, LNM was increased (4/271 patient [1.5%]). Endoscopic treatment is safe, effective, and is associated with favorable long-term outcomes compared to surgery for initial treatment of T1 CRC patients with CIs. However, the risk of LNM makes it unsafe to extend the CIs for endoscopic therapy in these patients.


The traditional processes of sorghum grains malting were investigated in Tamale (Northern Ghana) from the raw materials through to the sun-dried malted sorghum including steeping and germination stages. Samples were taken at each processing stage and cultured for the isolation of LAB. The isolates were characterized by basic phenotyping, ITS-PCR / RFLP analysis and identified by partial sequencing of 16S r RNA genes. Their antimicrobial and amylolytic activities and exopolysaccharides production were also investigated. During steeping, the LAB counts in the steep water increased from 105 to 109 - 1010 cfu/ml and pH of the steep water decreased from 5.08 ± 0.22 to 4.20 ± 0.50. A total of 106 isolates were identified and the predominant isolates belonged to the species Lactobacillus fermentum (58.49%),Pediococcus acidilactici (22.64%), Weissella confusa (11.32%), Enteroccocus faecium, Pediococcus pentosaseus and Lactococcus lactis. Some isolates showed interesting antimicrobial activity (39.62%), slight amylolytic activity (37.73%) and ability to produce exopolysaccharides (90.5%). L. fermentum isolates dominated the microbiota from sorghum grains to malted sorghum. These isolates had technological properties comparable to those responsible for the acidification of sorghum beer (dolo, pito) wort produced from sorghum malt (previously studied), suggesting their potential for use as starter cultures. Suitable isolates of L. fermentum are promising candidates to be used as starter cultures from the initial step of malting, that is, the steeping and are expected to inhibit the growth and survival of pathogens and spoilage microflora, and to control the lactic fermentation of dolo and pito wort or other sorghum malt-based products like infant formulations.

 Key words: Sorghum, sorghum malt, lactic acid bacteria, identification, technological properties.


In design against fatigue with models that take defects into account, most attention is paid to the largest defects. Medium-sized defects, however, are seldom considered as potential sites of failure. In this paper, a model material is studied, containing a substantial proportion of medium-sized defects. The influence of their distributions has been investigated, using FCG computations. These computations were performed as post-processing of FE-results, using a modified Paris law. It is shown that the medium-sized defects can cause fatigue failure, given that there is a relatively large region of intermediate stresses. Further, it is shown that the statistical distributions used for describing the defects have a clear influence on the fatigue life of a component. The effects of removing the largest defects, or reducing the density of the defects, are studied as well.


There is one service everyone requires once per lifetime a service provided by the funeral industry. Death as a saleable commodity has become as important on the bourse as it·was in the hearse. However, no definitive study of the Australian funeral industry has been conducted to date. Writing two decades ago about the funeral industry in New South Wales, Duncan Waterson and Sandra Tweedie (1985:133) concluded that it was imperative to examine the funeral industry's economic structure and 'its provision of goods and services' within the wider context of Australian society. Waterson and Tweedie delineated the historical contours of the funeral industry in New South Wales until the 1980s. More recently, Pat Ialland (2002) devoted a chapter of Australian Ways of Death to funerals and undertakers, but her historical study ended its exploration in the 1920s. This article seeks to tentatively fill the gap by providing a composite picture of the Australian funeral industry and the changes it has experienced from the early 1980s until the present. '"


PURPOSE: To establish that the neurofibrovascular bundle (NFVB) of the inferior oblique muscle (IO) has ligamentous qualities that enable it to function as an ancillary origin to the muscle. Also, to show that the NFVB does function as the ancillary origin for the IO muscle, particularly when recessing and anteriorly transposing its insertion. METHODS: Fresh (no formaldehyde preservative) cadaver and patient eyes were studied anatomically, histologically, and physiologically. Eighteen orbits were dissected to isolate the IO, the inferior rectus (IR), and the NFVB to demonstrate the linear course of the NFVB and its adjacent fibrous bands. The shape of the muscle was documented. Coronal sections of the two whole, intact orbits were analyzed histologically. Light and electron microscopic sections of an autopsy specimen and a surgical specimen were used to evaluate the capsule of the NFVB and the adjacent fibrous bands near the anterior portion of the NFVB and their attachment to the IR and IO muscle capsules. The elastic modulus was measured in six in situ and six in vitro cadaver NFVB specimens and in six in vivo surgical cases at the time of denervation of the NFVB. For additional comparison, four in vitro cadaver superior oblique tendons were similarly tested. Six eyes that developed recurrent IO overaction following an anterior transposition procedure were surgically explored to determine what structure was serving as its ancillary origin. RESULTS: Gross anatomic and microscopic studies showed a linear orientation of the NFVB with adjacent fibrous bands anteriorly joining the IO and IR muscle capsules. The surgical specimens of the anterior portion of the NFVB show about 50% nerve and 50% fibrocollagenous capsule with the collagen fibers aligned parallel to the NFVB. The elastic modulus was highest (stiffest) in surgical specimens of the NFVB and in situ cadaver NFVB, followed by in vitro cadaver NFVB and, finally, in vitro cadaver superior oblique tendon. In patients who have undergone anterior transposition surgery, the NFVB served as the ancillary origin of the IO. CONCLUSIONS: The name of the neurovascular bundle should be changed to the NFVB, since it has a prominent fibrocollagenous capsule and it is encased in fibrous tissue bands anteriorly. The NFVB has a linear course in the orbit from the apex to the IO muscle and is relatively stiff. The associated fibrous band extends posteriorly from the IO muscle capsule, encasing the nerve anteriorly and attaching 3 to 7 mm posteriorly into the capsule of the IR. The NFVB binds the mid posterior portion of the IO posteriorly. Its ligamentous qualities enable the NFVB to function as an ancillary origin for the IO.


At PKC 2008, Plantard et al. published a theoretical framework for a lattice-based signature scheme, namely Plantard–Susilo–Win (PSW). Recently, after ten years, a new signature scheme dubbed the Diagonal Reduction Signature (DRS) scheme was presented in the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) PQC Standardization as a concrete instantiation of the initial work. Unfortunately, the initial submission was challenged by Yu and Ducas using the structure that is present on the secret key noise. In this paper, we are proposing a new method to generate random noise in the DRS scheme to eliminate the aforementioned attack, and all subsequent potential variants. This involves sampling vectors from the n-dimensional ball with uniform distribution. We also give insight on some underlying properties which affects both security and efficiency on the PSW type schemes and beyond, and hopefully increase the understanding on this family of lattices.


Thin polymer films that prevent the adhesion of bacteria are of interest as coatings for the development of infection-resistant biomaterials. This study investigates the influence of grafting density and film thickness on the adhesion of Staphylococcus epidermidis to poly(poly(ethylene glycol)methacrylate) (PPEGMA) and poly(2-hydroxyethyl methacrylate) (PHEMA) brushes prepared via surface-initiated atom transfer radical polymerization (SI-ATRP). These brushes are compared with poly(ethylene glycol) (PEG) brushes, which are obtained by grafting PEG onto an epoxide-modified substrate. Except for very low grafting densities (ρ = 1%), crystal violet staining experiments show that the PHEMA and PPEGMA brushes are equally effective as the PEG-modified surfaces in preventing S. epidermis adhesion and do not reveal any significant variations as a function of film thickness or grafting density. These results indicate that brushes generated by SI-ATRP are an attractive alternative to grafted-onto PEG films for the preparation of surface coatings that resist bacterial adhesion.


Author(s): Yao, Qi | Advisor(s): Catton, Ivan | Abstract: Research with the goal of understanding the chemistry of an Inorganic Aqueous Solution (IAS) used as a working fluid in copper and aluminum phase change heat transfer devices, finding the advantages and limits of IAS in various heat transfer applications, and providing a general guideline of how to correctly use IAS for performance enhancement and surface passivation purposes are described. First, a comparison between IAS and water is done both physically and chemically of being used as a working fluid in phase change heat transfer devices. Above all, the chemical constituents in an IAS fluid are investigated, and a method is given to produce it. Afterwards, the physical properties of IAS are measured and compared to those of water. Moreover, a chemical analysis is performed, and the chemical reactions involved between IAS and the surfaces of copper or aluminum made devices where it is to be used are listed and categorized by their contributions to the heat transfer performance or the surface passivation. In addition, OLI software, commercial software to simulate electrolytes, is used to estimate the amount of the solid products, generated by redox reactions or temperature increases, at different temperatures and ratios of being concentrated. At the end, a coating study is performed to understand how each chemical coats the surface and how it contributes to the surface wettability. The positive and negative effects of each coating are discussed and demonstrated by data from SEM observations and contact angle tests. Second, using IAS in copper made phase change heat transfer devices is discussed, and the main focus is how IAS improves the heat transfer performance by a smaller thermal resistance and a larger critical heat flux. At the beginning, a 1-D diffusion model is built and used to estimate the concentration profiles of chemicals along the liquid flow path and the location where each coating begins to be deposited. Next, a capillary rise test is performed to show how each chemical contributes to the improvement of the surface wettability. The heat transfer performance of water and IAS are compared for a thermo-syphon test at different inclination angles, a grooved flat heat pipe test, and a sintered heat pipe test. The test results validate the conclusions of the diffusion model and the capillary rise test. Based on the results of the comparison tests, the advantages and limits of using IAS, for performance enhancement purposes in various heat transfer applications, are discussed.Last, an investigation of the aluminum passivation, with IAS being used as the working fluid in aluminum made phase change heat transfer devices, is done, and the key factors, that lead to failures, are discussed. Initially, an electrochemical theory of aluminum passivation is introduced, and the existence of an electrochemical cycle is demonstrated by an aluminum thermo-syphon test. Afterwards, the importance of a continuous liquid back flow to aluminum passivation is pointed out, and a vertical thermo-syphon test with natural convection cooling is used to demonstrate that a discontinuous liquid back flow is the main reason of the failures. At the end, using IAS in steel or stainless steel phase change heat transfer devices is discussed.


The goal of this thesis is to advance the use of recurrent neural network language models (RNNLMs) for large vocabulary continuous speech recognition (LVCSR). RNNLMs are currently state-of-the-art and shown to consistently reduce the word error rates (WERs) of LVCSR tasks when compared to other language models. In this thesis we propose various advances to RNNLMs. The advances are: improved learning procedures for RNNLMs, enhancing the context, and adaptation of RNNLMs. We learned better parameters by a novel pre-training approach and enhanced the context using prosody and syntactic features. We present a pre-training method for RNNLMs, in which the output weights of a feed-forward neural network language model (NNLM) are shared with the RNNLM. This is accomplished by first fine-tuning the weights of the NNLM, which are then used to initialise the output weights of an RNNLM with the same number of hidden units. To investigate the effectiveness of the proposed pre-training method, we have carried out text-based experiments on the Penn Treebank Wall Street Journal data, and ASR experiments on the TED lectures data. Across the experiments, we observe small but significant improvements in perplexity (PPL) and ASR WER. Next, we present unsupervised adaptation of RNNLMs. We adapted the RNNLMs to a target domain (topic or genre or television programme (show)) at test time using ASR transcripts from first pass recognition. We investigated two approaches to adapt the RNNLMs. In the first approach the forward propagating hidden activations are scaled learning hidden unit contributions (LHUC). In the second approach we adapt all parameters of RNNLM. We evaluated the adapted RNNLMs by showing the WERs on multi genre broadcast speech data. We observe small (on an average 0.1% absolute) but significant improvements in WER compared to a strong unadapted RNNLM model. Finally, we present the context-enhancement of RNNLMs using prosody and syntactic features. The prosody features were computed from the acoustics of the context words and the syntactic features were from the surface form of the words in the context. We trained the RNNLMs with word duration, pause duration, final phone duration, syllable duration, syllable F0, part-of-speech tag and Combinatory Categorial Grammar (CCG) supertag features. The proposed context-enhanced RNNLMs were evaluated by reporting PPL and WER on two speech recognition tasks, Switchboard and TED lectures. We observed substantial improvements in PPL (5% to 15% relative) and small but significant improvements in WER (0.1% to 0.5% absolute).


First step in development of software system is the modeling of properties of target system. An evolution of software system starts already in human mind in the form of abstract ideas. The programmer tries to express these abstract ideas in the form of running software system using one of existing modeling tools and paradigms. But with a time, ideas about approach that was used during system development lose and we have only conception of target solution. If there are some changes to software system, the system is not able to generate the concept of its changes to a human. There is a question, how it is possible that system creates the concept of itself to a human? Our idea is that the system can create such concept through the model that the human will by able to adapt and make changes to a system based on language constructs.


We have developed and characterized cell-free systems active in translation from unfertilized eggs, 30-min zygotes and hatched blastulae of the sea urchin Strongylocentrotus purpuratus. The ion concentrations selected for preparation of the lysates were 150 mM-K+, 40 mM-Na+, 40 mM-Cl-, 5 x 10(-7) M free Ca2+ and 1 mM free Mg2+. It was necessary to include the ribonuclease inhibitor RNas in the preparations to obtain full activity consistently. The pH optimum was 7.2 and was extremely sharp for the three S. purpuratus lysates. The temperature optima of the three lysates were remarkably similar to those of the intact unfertilized egg and embryos. Lysates from unfertilized egg and 30-min zygotes showed a temperature optimum at 15 degrees C. The hatched blastula lysate showed a broader temperature optimum with a shift to about 20 degrees C. The optimized lysates incorporated radiolabelled amino acids into polypeptides for up to 90 min. The polypeptides synthesized ranged in Mr from 200,000 to 20,000, suggesting that the mRNA in the lysates was intact and capable of directing the synthesis of complete polypeptides. Furthermore, the three lysates were capable of initiation, as demonstrated by inhibition of initiation using the inhibitors edeine and 7-methylguanosine 5'-triphosphate (m7GTP). At 15 degrees C, the transit times for the three lysates were: unfertilized egg, 40 min; 30-min zygotes and hatched blastula lysates, 20 min. These transit times are similar to those of intact eggs and embryos, and significantly, reflect the two-fold increase in elongation rate seen following fertilization in intact embryos. Thus, these lysates display many features and characteristic responses typical of intact eggs and embryos, indicating that the lysates should be useful tools for the analysis of translation control in early embryogenesis.


Using radiography, inseminating syringe tip location and inseminate distribution in excised bovine reproductive tracts were described for 20 professional and 20 herdsman-inseminators using .5- and .25-ml French straws. Inseminations (20 by each participant) were performed in tracts placed on a device that stimulated the anatomical position of the reproductive organs in vivo. A computer-coupled graphics information digitizer was used to quantitate the precise location of the syringe tip and to estimate the distribution of radiopaque inseminate within the tract from each pair of radiographs. Neither category of inseminator (professional or herdsman) nor volume of inseminate (.5 vs .25 ml) influenced (P greater than .05) syringe tip placement or subsequent distribution of the radiopaque inseminate within the tract. The proportion of syringe tip placements in various anatomical locations (586 attempts) were: uterine body, 39%; cervix, 25%; left uterine lumen, 13% and right uterine lumen, 23%. The variability among inseminators was high, with the ability to position the syringe tip in the uterine body ranging from 0 to 85% of the 20 attempts. Among all inseminators, 82% were unable to place the syringe in the uterine body greater than 60% of the time. When averaged across all inseminations (n = 666), 40% of the inseminate was located in the uterine body and(or) equally distributed in the uterine lumina. The remainder of the inseminate was located in the cervix (17%) or disproportionately in one uterine lumen (43%). Syringe tip placement in the uterine body was correlated (r = .73; P less than .05) with the proportion of inseminate located in the uterine body and(or) equally distributed to the lumen of both uterine horns. Measurements of various anatomical components of the reproductive tract were made from the first radiograph. The means were: cervical diameter, 5.9 cm; length from internal cervical os to external uterine bifurcation, 16.4 cm; uterine body length, 1.7 cm and uterine body surface area, 3.6 cm2. There was no relationship between the palpable anatomical components and uterine body size.


X-Tools is a collection of utilities for validation, translation, editing and report generation designed to enable the Flight Test Instrumentation (FTI) community to quickly adopt the XidML 3.0 meta-data standard. This paper discusses the challenges of developing such software that meets the current and future needs of the FTI community, and meets the increasingly high quality standards expected of modern software. The paper first starts by discussing the needs of the FTI community and the specific functional requirements of software. These include the ability to fit in with legacy systems, the ability to handle many tens of thousands of parameters, support for new networked-based technologies and support for hardware from any vendor. The non-functional requirements of FTI orientated software are also described and it is suggested that the key non-functional requirements include testability, modifiability, extensibility and maintainability. Finally, as a case study, the X-Tools from ACRA CONTROL are presented. The paper discusses their design, and the tactics used to meet the functional and non-functional requirements of the FTI industry. The paper then outlines how the rigorous quality standards were met and describes the specific mechanisms used to verify the quality of the software.


OBJECTIVE
To assess the clinical and economic consequences of different diagnostic strategies in newborns with suspected occult spinal dysraphism.

METHODS
A decision-analytic model was constructed to project the cost and health outcomes of magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), ultrasound (US), plain radiographs, and no imaging in newborns with suspected occult spinal dysraphism. Morbidity and mortality rates of early versus late diagnosis of dysraphism and the sensitivity and specificity of MRI, US, and plain radiographs were obtained from the literature. Cost estimates were obtained from a hospital cost accounting database and from the Medicaid fee schedule.

RESULTS
We found that the choice of imaging strategy depends on the underlying risk of occult spinal dysraphism. In low-risk children with intergluteal dimple or newborns of diabetic mothers (pretest probability: 0.3%-0.34%), US was the most effective strategy with an incremental cost-effectiveness ratio of $55 100 per quality-adjusted life year gained. For children with lumbosacral dimples, who have a higher pretest probability of 3.8%, US was less costly and more effective than the other 3 strategies considered. In intermediate-risk newborns with low anorectal malformation (pretest probability: 27%), US was more effective and less costly than radiographs and no imaging. However, MRI was more effective than US at an incremental cost-effectiveness of $1000 per quality-adjusted life year gained. In the high-risk group that included high anorectal malformation, cloacal malformation, and exstrophy (pretest probability: 44%-46%), MRI was actually cost-saving when compared with the other diagnostic strategies. For the intermediate-risk group, we found our analysis to be sensitive to the costs and diagnostic performances (sensitivity and specificity) of MRI and US. Lower MRI cost or greater MRI diagnostic performance improved the cost-effectiveness of the MRI strategy, whereas lower US cost or greater US diagnostic performance worsened the cost-effectiveness of the MRI strategy. Therefore, individual or institutional expertise with a specific diagnostic modality (MRI versus US) may influence the optimal diagnostic strategy.

CONCLUSIONS
In newborns with suspected occult dysraphism, appropriate selection of patients and diagnostic strategy may increase quality-adjusted life expectancy and decrease cost of medical work-up.


This paper describes the findings of a study aimed at providing an international replication of a US-based study by Gibbs et al. [Gibbs, M., Merchant, K., Van der Stede, W., & Vargus, M. (2004). Determinants and effects of subjectivity in incentives. The Accounting Review, 79(2), 409–436; Gibbs, M., Merchant, K., Van der Stede, W., & Vargus, M. (2006). The structure of incentive contracts: Evidence from auto dealerships. Working Paper, University of Chicago, University of Southern California, London School of Economics and University of Texas-Dallas] focused on the incentive compensation practices of firms in the automobile retailing industry. The purpose was to determine the extent to which these practices and their effects were similar across countries. Theory provides conflicting predictions as to whether international practices should reflect a situational ''best fit" or ''global best practices." We collected a dataset comparable to that of Gibbs et al. from Dutch automobile retailers. The findings reveal dramatic differences in practices across the two countries. As compared to the US firms, the Dutch firms are much less likely to provide their managers with incentive compensation in any form. Where Dutch firms do offer incentive compensation, the payouts are smaller and their bonus awards are less likely to be based on profit measures of performance. But where the Dutch firms use incentive compensation, their performance/ reward functions are more complex. Moreover, unlike in the US firms, in the Dutch firms the effects of the use of incentive compensation on net profit and pay satisfaction are negative. 2008 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.


A stretch of speech is often consistent with multiple words, e.g., the sequence /hæm/ is consistent with 'ham' but also with the first syllable of 'hamster', resulting in temporary ambiguity. However, to what degree does this lexical embedding occur? Analyses on two corpora of spoken Dutch showed that 11.9%-19.5% of polysyllabic word tokens have word-initial embedding, while 4.1%-7.5% of monosyllabic word tokens can appear word-initially embedded. This is much lower than suggested by an analysis of a large dictionary of Dutch. Speech processing thus appears to be simpler than one might expect on the basis of statistics on a dictionary.


The popularity of stories about Irish domestics in nineteenth-century American women's magazines reveals much about the functions of such stories as well as the complicated relationship between Irish domestic workers and their American employers. The arrival of so many young, typically unmarried Irish immigrant women coincided with the rapid growth of the American middle class to create "Biddy," the stock Irish servant character in the American literary imagination. While the status of real Irish women and their place in the larger American landscape changed throughout the century, Biddy was a persistent and remarkably static figure in women's magazine fiction, suggesting that the character functioned in ways that were not directly tied to the socioeconomic status of the Irish as a minority group. Women's magazine fiction suggests that the relative proximity of Irish women—and the resultant interconnectedness of the lives of Irish servants and their employers—proved a source of deep anxiety among American women. Indeed, stories about Irish servants in women's magazines reveal much about the uncertainty of each woman's function, not just in the household but in the broader American culture.


Multiple sclerosis (MS) is a T cell-driven autoimmune disease that attacks the myelin of the central nervous system (CNS) and currently has no cure. MS etiology is linked to both the gut flora and external environmental factors but this connection is not well understood. One immune system regulator responsive to nonpathogenic external stimuli is the aryl hydrocarbon receptor (AHR). The AHR, which binds diverse molecules present in the environment in barrier tissues, is a therapeutic target for MS. However, AHR's precise function in T lymphocytes, the orchestrators of MS, has not been described. Here, we show that in a mouse model of MS, T cell-specific Ahr knockout leads to recovery driven by a decrease in T cell fitness. At the mechanistic level, we demonstrate that the absence of AHR changes the gut microenvironment composition to generate metabolites that impact T cell viability, such as bile salts and short chain fatty acids. Our study demonstrates a newly emerging role for AHR in mediating the interdependence between T lymphocytes and the microbiota, while simultaneously identifying new potential molecular targets for the treatment of MS and other autoimmune diseases.


A function q< is refinable (q< C S) if it is in the closed span of {(5(2x k)}. This set S is not closed in L2(IR), and we characterize its closure. A necessary and sufficient condition for a function to be refinable is presented without any information on the refinement mask. The Fourier transform of every f C S \ S vanishes on a set of positive measure. As an example, we show that all functions with Fourier transform supported in [4 r, 47T] are the limits of refinable functions. The relation between a refinable function and its mask is studied, and nonuniqueness is proved. For inhomogeneous refinement equations we determine when a solution is refinable. This result is used to investigate refinable components of multiple refinable functions. Finally, we investigate fully refinable functions for which all translates (by any real number) are refinable.


ABSTRACT In the official history of the Australian Security Intelligence Organisation (ASIO), there is only one mention of the women's liberation movement, amongst a collection of other social movements that emerged in Australia in the late 1960s and early 1970s, alongside the anti-Vietnam War and Aboriginal rights movements. However, we know from files released by the National Archives of Australia that ASIO heavily monitored the women's liberation movement in Australia, just as it did with most social and protest movements that existed at the time. Concerned about the crossover between the women's liberation movement and other protest movements, ASIO were particularly worried about the entry of the various far left groups, such as Communists, Trotskyists and Maoists, into the women's liberation movement, even though these groups were very much divided about the issue of women's rights during this period. This article examines the ASIO files on the Australian women's liberation movement and the anxiety that the authorities felt about the 'threat' of the personal becoming too politicised.


We report temperature-dependent angle-resolved photoemission spectra for overdoped Bi2Sr2CaCu2O8 + x single-crystal samples. The data indicate that there is a special temperature (T+) where the spectral function changes intensity, and where the energy difference between the peak and dip features changes. The data also demonstrate that immediately above the superconducting transition temperature, the system exhibits a non-Lorentzian lineshape. We discuss implications of the data.


An emotional, thought-provoking book from multi-award-winning author Bette Greene. The summer that Patty Bergen turns twelve is a summer that will haunt her forever. When her small hometown in Arkansas becomes the site of a camp housing German prisoners during World War II, Patty learns what it means to open her heart. Even though she's Jewish, she begins to see a prison escapee, Anton, not as a Nazi, but as a lonely, frightened young man with feelings not unlike her own. In Anton, Patty finds someone who softens the pain of her own father's rejection and who appreciates her in a way her mother never will. While patriotic feelings run high, Patty risks losing family, friends -- even her freedom -- for this dangerous friendship. It is a risk she has to take and one she will have to pay a price to keep. "An exceptionally fine novel." --The New York Times "Courageous and compelling!" --Publishers Weekly A National Book Award Finalist An ALA Notable Book A New York Times Outstanding Book of the Year


TGF-β signals through the type I and type II TGF-β receptors (TGFβRI and TGFβRII) to phosphorylate the SMAD proteins. In normal tissues, this signaling axis provides a growth inhibitory signal. However, in some cancers, TGF-β is often secreted at high levels and has been implicated in tumor invasion, angiogenesis and decreased immune surveillance. Recent work in GBM indicates that TGFβ may promote aggressive proliferation if the tumor cells are able to express Platelet Derived Growth Factor in response to TGFβ. Indeed, in glioblastoma patient samples, high pSmad2 levels are related to increased proliferation as well as reduced progression-free and overall patient survival. These data strongly implicate aberrant TGFβ signaling in human glioblastoma (GBM) and provide strong rationale to target this pathway for therapeutic intervention. Indeed, phase 1 and 2 clinical trials in GBM patients have begun using the recently developed small molecule inhibitor of TGFβR1 (LY2157299 monohydrate) alone and in combination with lomustine (CCNU). Herein, we show, in GBM cell lines, that LY2157299 monohydrate blocks signaling through the heteromeric TGFβ receptor complex to reduce levels of active, phosphorylated SMAD. Similarly, CCNU treatment of these same GBM cell lines also blocks Smad phosphorylation. In combination, CCNU and LY2157299 monohydrate more effectively block Smad phosphorylation than either agent alone. Furthermore, in U87MG and CRL-2611 human glioblastoma xenografts, oral dosing of LY2157299 monohydrate significantly enhanced the efficacy of CCNU (lomustine). Taken together, these preclinical data support the exploration of LY2157299 monohydrate in combination with CCNU for glioblastoma therapy. Citation Format: {Authors}. {Abstract title} [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the AACR-NCI-EORTC International Conference: Molecular Targets and Cancer Therapeutics; 2011 Nov 12-16; San Francisco, CA. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Mol Cancer Ther 2011;10(11 Suppl):Abstract nr C201.


On-chip data communication is an active research area, as interconnects are rapidly becoming a speed, power and reliability bottleneck for digital CMOS systems. In this thesis, interconnects are analyzed and techniques and circuits are discussed that can improve their behavior for data communication.
It is shown that the bandwidth of interconnects is either limited by their distributed RC behavior (for long interconnects), or by the skin-effect. The aggregate bandwidth per cross-sectional area can be optimized by choosing all cross-sectional dimensions roughly equal. The bandwidth of a single interconnect can be increased by using resistive (or resistive-inductive) receiver termination or capacitive transmitter termination. The crosstalk can be mitigated with twisted differential interconnects. With the aid of a symbol response analysis method, it is shown that simple equalization schemes are very effective to boost the achievable data rate, more so than multi-level signaling or band-pass modulation.
To validate the concepts two demonstrator ICs were developed, both using 10mm long interconnects. The first chip, in a 130nm CMOS process, showed that a combination of pulse-width pre-emphasis, twisted interconnects and low-ohmic receiver termination can boost the data rate to 3Gb/s/ch (at 2pJ/bit), while a conventional transceiver reached only 0.55Gb/s/ch. The second test-chip, in 90nm CMOS, showed that a combination of a capacitive transmitter and a low-power sense-amplifier with DFE at the receiver can reduce the energy consumption to 0.28pJ/bit (at 2Gb/s), much lower than competing designs.
Circuit simulations show that a capacitive transmitter and a low-power sense amplifier can also be very effective as transceivers in a Network on Chip (NoC), with data rates in excess of 9Gb/s (at 130fJ/transition) over 2mm interconnects. Multiple transceivers can be connected back-to-back to create a source-synchronous transceiver-chain with a wave-pipelined clock, operating with 6σ offset reliability at 5 Gb/s.


In this study, we attempted to produce experimentally a posture correction wear for prevention of 'low back pain'. Then physiological response (i.e. muscular activity and physical energy consumption) and psychological response (i.e.sensory evaluation) were measured when subjects walked on the treadmill wearing the posture correction wear or a commercial lumbar supporter. Fromthe result, the posture correction wear was evaluated 'easy to walk' in psychological evaluation. It was also found that the posture correction wear gave low constraint on walking, because the muscular activity related to a behavior of coxa was lower when subjects wore the posture correction wear.


Introduction: the organizations are established for the realization of the certain goals and the level of achieving to these goals depends on performance of organization. The Organization's performance quality depends on main performance of organization management, while managers mainly perform their main tasks (planning, organizing, leading, and controlling). Evidence suggests that the failure of any organization in achieving its mission and vision is a serious issue. Lack of attention to main functions of management among the usual programs of managers is one of the major reasons for this failure. The aim of this study was to compare the current performance of the medical science university deputies with the main functions of management. This study was a cross-sectional research, which its population included educational, health, cultural, student, support, food and medicine deputies of Yasuj medical science university in the years 2010-2011. Deputies trained on recording the current performance and main functions of management collected data required to study. In this process, a researcher-developed tool was used, which includes the type of activity, time spent on each activity and its method. The validity of this tool was determined by using the opinions of experts and its reliability was determined by Cronbach's alpha (0.84). These activities were recorded during the entire week of one year and one day per week. Then, data inserted in forms were coded by researchers and they were analyzed after entering to SPSS software. The results showed that almost 90% of activities of university deputies were consistent with their written organizational functions. However, 47 percent of all recorded activities were among the main functions of management: planning with 17%, organizing with 16%, leading with 9%, and controlling with about 5%. In other words, about 53%time of deputies at their account ability location belonged to activities apart from the basic functions of management. the prerequisite for the dynamics of the organization, and to achieve goals focus on the main management functions. According to the findings of this study, it seems firstly that designing organizational structure (including the hierarchy, description of duties and functions, conditions) needs to serious reviewing and revising so that description of functions and duties notified to them to be in line with main functions of the management and it does not include merely the usual performance. Secondly, with an inadequate focus on the core functions of management by managers, health sector that has special sensitivity in society is deprived of optimal guidance and achieving to organizational goals will be very difficult. Keywords: Management, performance, Health sector, Planning, organizing, University Deputies.


Genetic microarray image processing has become an important field of research to produce tools aiming to reliable gene expression estimation. Current instrumentation to analyze microarray images lacks flexibility, portability and accuracy. In the present paper an FPGA-based hand-held device for the analysis of microarrays is described, which may implement basic scanning and reticle algorithms to estimate spots and expression levels in cDNA microarrays. The algorithms are based on global and local spot correlation, background removal and rectangular mask fitting. These algorithms can be recursively applied and are intrinsically parallelizable for practical implementation purposes. Results using specific microarray images are shown


Summary Hepatoprotective activity of the ethanolic and aqueous extracts of Terminalia belerica Roxb. of the family Combretaceae was studied in Wistar rats using the ethanol-induced liver hepatotoxicty. Ethanol administration resulted in significant elevation of physical parameters (Viz. rat liver weight and liver volume), biochemical parameters like (Viz. serum aspirate transaminase (AST); alanine transminase (ALT); alkaline phasphatase (ALP); direct bilirubin and total bilirubin levels, while albumin and total protein were found to be decreased compared to normal group). Pretreatment with silymarin, ethanolic extract of Terminalia belerica (ALTB) and aqueous extract of Terminalia belerica (AQTB) significantly prevented the physical and biochemical changes induced by these hepatotoxins. Histopathology of liver confirmed our finding as the treatment with the extracts resulted in minor liver cell damage compared to toxic control group. The hepatoprotective effect offered by ALTB (400 mg/kg, p.o.) was found to be significantly greater than AQTB (400 mg/kg, p.o.) and standard (silymarin 50 mg/kg, p.o.) group.


Aims Home non-invasive ventilation (NIV) is an established treatment for children with sleep-disordered breathing. There is little evidence available regarding NIV compliance and the factors that affect this. Accurate compliance data from individual ventilators is readily available and gives a new opportunity to explore this further. The aim of this research was to describe and analyse adherence with NIV among established patients and determine if this was significantly affected by age, gender, diagnosis, time since commencement, apnoea-hypopnoea index (AHI), mean daily usage, leak or pressure. Methods Ventilator download-data from sleep study databases and electronic patient-notes were retrospectively reviewed. Patients aged 0–18, established on NIV with between 30–182 days of available data were included. Adherence, defined as percentage of nights with ≥4 h use, was compared by diagnosis, gender and age and correlated with the above factors. Results 102 children were included, 67% were male and median age was 13 years (range 0.25–18). The mean adherence for all patients was 64.2%. There was a strong positive correlation between mean daily usage and compliance (r = 0.74). Children with Down's syndrome had a mean adherence of 37.9%, considerably lower than in other diagnoses including obstructive sleep apnoea (62.3%), craniofacial conditions (61.7%), neuromuscular disease (64.7%) and conditions with central hypopnoeas (80.5%). Gender and presence of leak did not affect adherence and no correlation between adherence and ventilator pressure (r = 0.30), age (r = 0.05) or AHI (r = 0.08) was demonstrated. Conclusion It is clear from the few correlations found that patients are heterogeneous and the challenges multifactorial. A better understanding of adherence levels in individual patients can now enable us to have open discussions with families to address challenges they face with the use of NIV. Children with Down's syndrome are normally carefully selected prior to establishment of NIV because of known difficulties with treatment. Despite this, they are still the group with poorest adherence, highlighting the need for novel approaches to improve this. Ongoing use of NIV does suggest that although adherence is far from perfect, patients must gain some clinical benefit and the levels of adherence truly required to reduce long term complications is still not known.


The perceived safety of cannabis and nicotine/tobacco use contribute to use of these substances in pregnancy. We assessed time trends in self-reported perception of safety of use of cannabis and nicotine/tobacco among US women of reproductive age. We also reviewed qualitative literature to elucidate factors contributing to the perceived safety of use of cannabis and nicotine/tobacco. US women increasingly perceive cannabis use as posing no health risks; whereas cigarette smoking is perceived as posing substantial health risks. Qualitative studies suggest that personal experiences, sociocultural norms, and environmental factors contribute to the perceived safety of cannabis and nicotine/tobacco use in pregnancy.


The study of the relative importance of the feedback structure (intrinsic processes) and exogenous (climatic or environmental) factors in determining population dynamics, in particular the interaction between density-dependence and climate, is a major question in population ecology. We sought to explain the numerical fluctuations of 2 sympatric rodent species at one well-studied site in semi-arid Chile using simple theoretically based population dynamics models and Royama's theoret- ical framework for analyzing the dynamics of populations influenced by exogenous climatic forces. We found that rainfall effects appear to operate in a different manner on the 2 rodent species. For one species (Phyllotis darwini), rainfall appeared to influence the carrying capacity of the environment, whereas for a second (Akodon olivaceus) the rainfall effect had a primarily additive influence on the maximum per capita growth rates.


One of the brightest regions of diffuse gamma-ray emission in the northern sky is the Cygnus star-forming region, where one can assume the most energetic processes are taking place. The Dragonfly Nebula (MGRO J2019+37) is one of the brightest sources in the Cygnus region. First discovered by MILAGRO, it was later resolved into two sources by VERITAS: the faint point-like source VER J2016+371 and the bright extended source VER J2019+368. The latter accounts for the bulk of the MGRO J2019+37 emission, with the spectrum among the hardest in the TeV range.
We report the results of a dedicated MAGIC observational campaign of VER J2019+368. The data obtained with the Very Large Zenith Angle observational technique provides an effective collection area of about one square kilometer. We used $\sim$45 hours of data collected under Very Large Zenith Angles for exploring the flux of the source at TeV energies.


Background As the COVID-19 epidemic increases in severity, the burden of quarantine stations outside emergency departments (EDs) at hospitals is increasing daily. To address the high screening workload at quarantine stations, all staff members with medical licenses are required to work shifts in these stations. Therefore, it is necessary to simplify the workflow and decision-making process for physicians and surgeons from all subspecialties. Objective The aim of this paper is to demonstrate how the National Cheng Kung University Hospital artificial intelligence (AI) trilogy of diversion to a smart quarantine station, AI-assisted image interpretation, and a built-in clinical decision-making algorithm improves medical care and reduces quarantine processing times. Methods This observational study on the emerging COVID-19 pandemic included 643 patients. An "AI trilogy" of diversion to a smart quarantine station, AI-assisted image interpretation, and a built-in clinical decision-making algorithm on a tablet computer was applied to shorten the quarantine survey process and reduce processing time during the COVID-19 pandemic. Results The use of the AI trilogy facilitated the processing of suspected cases of COVID-19 with or without symptoms; also, travel, occupation, contact, and clustering histories were obtained with the tablet computer device. A separate AI-mode function that could quickly recognize pulmonary infiltrates on chest x-rays was merged into the smart clinical assisting system (SCAS), and this model was subsequently trained with COVID-19 pneumonia cases from the GitHub open source data set. The detection rates for posteroanterior and anteroposterior chest x-rays were 55/59 (93%) and 5/11 (45%), respectively. The SCAS algorithm was continuously adjusted based on updates to the Taiwan Centers for Disease Control public safety guidelines for faster clinical decision making. Our ex vivo study demonstrated the efficiency of disinfecting the tablet computer surface by wiping it twice with 75% alcohol sanitizer. To further analyze the impact of the AI application in the quarantine station, we subdivided the station group into groups with or without AI. Compared with the conventional ED (n=281), the survey time at the quarantine station (n=1520) was significantly shortened; the median survey time at the ED was 153 minutes (95% CI 108.5-205.0), vs 35 minutes at the quarantine station (95% CI 24-56; P<.001). Furthermore, the use of the AI application in the quarantine station reduced the survey time in the quarantine station; the median survey time without AI was 101 minutes (95% CI 40-153), vs 34 minutes (95% CI 24-53) with AI in the quarantine station (P<.001). Conclusions The AI trilogy improved our medical care workflow by shortening the quarantine survey process and reducing the processing time, which is especially important during an emerging infectious disease epidemic.


Aurora kinases regulate mitosis and are commonly overexpressed in leukemia. This phase I/IIa study of AT9283, a multikinase inhibitor, was designed to identify maximal tolerated doses, safety, pharmacokinetics, and pharmacodynamic activity in children with relapsed/refractory acute leukemia. The trial suffered from poor recruitment and terminated early, therefore failing to identify its primary endpoints. AT9283 caused tolerable toxicity, but failed to show clinical responses. Future trials should be based on robust preclinical data that provide an indication of which patients may benefit from the experimental agent, and recruitment should be improved through international collaborations and early combination with established treatment strategies.


Tuberculous meningitis (TBM) represents roughly 1% of all cases of tuberculosis
(TB) and it is the most severe form. Early diagnosis is difficult as current laboratory
tests which are the smear and culture lack sensitivity to detect the few tubercle
bacilli in cerebrospinal fluid (CSF). Diagnosis based on molecular methods have been
shown to have a higher sensitivity compared to smear and culture. Treatment of
TBM requires several months of treatment with anti-TB drugs that cause many side
effects. Alternative drug from medicinal plants can be an important source of new
antimicrobial agents with little toxicity. Mycobacterium tuberculosis(M. tuberculosis}
is the etiologic agent of TB and is shown to have genetic variation between each
strain that may contribute to the varied outcome in M. tuberculosis infection. In this
study, we evaluated the diagnostic value of smear, culture, multiplex PCR and
GeneXpert MTB/RIF to detect M. tuberculosis in CSF samples from patients with
suspected TBM registered in Queen Elizabeth Hospital (QEH). We also evaluated the
anti-mycobacterial activity of Aloe vera (A. vera) and Allium sativum (A. sativum)
against the M. tuberculosis isolate. Whole genome sequencing (WGS) was done to
the M. tuberculosis isolate in order to understand the genome feature and genetic
variation. CSF samples were centrifuged and the deposits were used for
conventional and modified Ziehl-Neelsen (ZN) stain, microscopic observation drug
susceptibility (MODS) assay and multiplex PCR targeting MPB64 and IS6110genes.
GeneXpert MTB/RIF was performed according to the manufacturer's instruction.
Drug-susceptibility testing (DST) was done to determine the susceptibility of M.
tuberculosis clinical isolate to isoniazid (INH) and rifampicin (RIF) by using the MODS
assay. The M. tuberculosis isolate was further tested with water extract of A. vera
and A. sativum at concentration ranged between 0.05 mg/ml - 3.0 mg/ml using the
MODS assay. WGS was done using the Pacbio platform and annotation and
comparative analysis were done using GeneMarks, RAST and BLAST. Of the 55 CSF
samples collected, 12 (21.8%) samples were positive by multiplex PCR, 3 (5.4%)
samples were positive by GeneXpert MTB/RIF and only 1 (1.8%) sample was
positive by smear and culture.The positive culture was susceptible to both INH and
RIF at concentration of 0.4 µg/ml and 1 µg/ml respectively. Anti-mycobacterial
activity of A. vera and A. sativum extracts showed minimum inhibitory concentration
(MIC) of 1.5 mg/ml and 0.15 mg/ml respectively. Comparative genome analysis
showed that the genome of M. tuberculosis isolate has variation compared to the
reference genomes. In this study, multiplex PCR showed higher sensitivity for
detecting M. tuberculosis in unconfirmed TBM patients and has the potential to be
used as a diagnostic method. A. vera and A. sativum can be a new source of
anti-mycobacterial agents for the development of drugs in treatment of TB. The
genome feature of the M. tuberculosis isolate has variation with the reference
genomes.


BACKGROUND
Making a lightweight seat that is also comfortable can be contradictory because usually comfort improvement means adding a feature (e.g. headrest, adjustable lumbar support, movable armrests, integrated massage systems, etc.), which makes seats heavier.

OBJECTIVE
This paper explores the design of an economy class aircraft seat that aims to be lightweight, comfortable and sustainable.

METHODS
Theory about comfort in seats, ergonomics, lightweight design, Biomimicry and Cradle to cradle was studied and resulted in a list of requirements that the new seat should satisfy.

RESULTS
The design process resulted in a new seat that is 36% lighter than the reference seat, which showed that a significant weight reduction can be achieved. This was completed by re-designing the backrest and seat pan and integrating their functions into a reduced number of parts. Apart from the weight reduction that helps in reducing the airplane's environmental impact, the seat also satisfies most of the other sustainability requirements such as the use of recyclable materials, design for disassembly, easy to repair. A user test compared the new seat with a premium economy class aircraft seat and the level of comfort was similar.

CONCLUSIONS
Strong points of the new design were identified such as the lumbar support and the cushioning material, as well as shortcomings on which the seat needs to be improved, like the seat pan length and the first impression. Long term comfort tests are still needed as the seat is meant for long-haul flights.


MDSCs are heterogeneous occurring at varying stages of commitment and differentiation. They increase in cancer and other patients with inflammatory diseases and may best be defined based on their ability to suppress T and B cell responses. In recent years these cells have demonstrated clinical relevance, including a negative correlation with prognosis and overall survival in cancer patients increasing with tumor progression and stage. MDSCs were originally described in mice based on a lack of phenotypic markers, i.e. null cells, or predicated on their function, as natural suppressor (NS) cells. Subsequently they were found in humans, based on CD34 expression supporting a hematopoietic progenitor phenotype. The identification of human phenotype(s) is complicated by the association of suppressor cell function with multiple phenotypes. This includes two main subsets defined based on the expression or lack of myeloid and lymphoid markers, with specific phenotypes extent investigator dependent. There is a consensus that MDSCs constitute a continuum of immature to differentiated myeloid cells ranging from multi-potential hematopoietic progenitors to morphologically differentiated granulocytic and monocytic leukocytes. One trending hypothesis is that MDSC phenotypes form three subsets include macrophage (M-) MDSCs with a monocytic morphology, expressing CD14 and no CD15 or CD66b and granulocytic (G)-MDSCs phenotypically characterized by CD15 and/or CD66B expression and no CD14; and an immature (i-) MDSC defined as linage negative, CD33+ cells. Unfortunately, there is no consensus on markers extent to CD14 and CD15 although linage negative and DR- provide a common theme; although not commonly utilized between laboratories and MDSC subset. We provide herein a Flow cytometric strategy utilizing single staining tube and a linear phenotypic characterization that is supported by density and T-cell suppression confirmation. We suggest that staining with Lin, HLA-DR, CD14, CD15, CD11b, CD33 antibodies provides sufficient markers to subset into the three MDSC phenotypes that can be further subset with CD16. PDL1 and CD34 expression. Interestingly the majority of iMDSC express CD34 on the CD33+ cells together with CD14 or CD15 supporting a plastic phenotype with myeloid commitment. All subset can be further, delineated based on CD16 expression further suggesting immaturity. We will note, that some cancer patients express these cell phenotypes at very high levels in the circulation; although the preponderance of G-MDSC vs M-MDSC varies between patients. Citation Format: James E. Talmadge, Holly Britton, Alicia Dafferner, Phyllis Warkentin, Kathryn Cole. Phenotyping human myeloid derived suppressor cells (MDSC) subsets [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 LB-192. doi:10.1158/1538-7445.AM2017-LB-192


Context. It has recently been proposed that the jets of low-luminosity radio galaxies are powered by direct accretion of the hot phase of the IGM onto the central black hole. Cold gas remains a plausible alternative fuel supply, however. The most compelling evidence that cold gas plays a role in fueling radio galaxies is that dust is detected more commonly and/or in larger quantities in (elliptical) radio galaxies compared with radio-quiet elliptical galaxies. On the other hand, only small numbers of radio galaxies have yet been detected in CO (and even fewer imaged), and whether or not all radio galaxies have enough cold gas to fuel their jets remains an open question. If so, then the dynamics of the cold gas in the nuclei of radio galaxies may provide important clues to the fuelling mechanism. Aims. The only instrument capable of imaging the molecular component on scales relevant to the accretion process is ALMA, but very little is yet known about CO in southern radio galaxies. Our aim is to measure the CO content in a complete volume-limited sample of southern radio galaxies, in order to create a well-defined list of nearby targets to be imaged in the near future with ALMA. Methods. APEX has recently been equipped with a receiver (APEX-1) able to observe the 230 GHz waveband. This allows us to search for CO(2-1) line emission in our target galaxies. Results. Here we present the results for our first three southern targets, proposed for APEX-1 spectroscopy during science verification: NGC3557, IC4296 and NGC1399. The experiment was successful with two targets detected, and possible indications for a double-horned CO line profile, consistent with ordered rotation. These early results are encouraging, demonstrating that APEX can efficiently detect CO in nearby radio galaxies. We therefore plan to use APEX to obtain CO spectroscopy for all our southern targets.


The uveomeningoencephalitic syndromes are inflammatory diseases, more prevalent in oriental patients, without sexual predilection and with mean age of 30 years. From the clinical point of view they affect the uvea, retina, meninges, the central nervous system and skin and in most cases the onset is followed by three phases: the meningoencephalitic phase, the acute ophthalmic phase and the dermatologic phase. These includes the Harada disease, the Vogt-Koyanagi disease, the Behçet disease and the idiopathic forms. The Vogt-Koyanagi syndrome is a chronic and severa bilateral exudative uveitis associated with whitening of the hair and eyelashes and varying signs of meningeal irritation, less frequent than in Harada's disease. The Harada syndrome is a posterior uveitis accompanied by signs of meningeal irritation, increased protein levels and pleocytosis of the cerebrospinal fluid. The Behçet's disease is a relapsing illness, characterized by oral and genital aphtous ulcers and ocular inflammation. In many cases there are additional features; in 10 to 25 percent of the cases there are neurologic involvement, and any portion of the nervous system may be affected. The authors studied two cases of uveomeningoencephalic syndrome, one case of Vogt-Koyanagi-Harada disease (case 1) and another of Behçet disease (case 2). The case 1 was a white Brazilian forty-five year-old man, with a acute headache, mental confusion and signs of meningeal irritation. The cerebrospinal fluid was a inflammatory one, with increased lymphocytes and monocytes, the one month after the patient developed bilateral uveit. The patient complicated with amblyopia of the left eye and a Korsakoff syndrome. There was no correlation in the literature of the Korsakoff syndrome and the uveomeningoencephalitic syndrome. The case 2 was a white Brazilian, twenty-four year-old man, with two episodes of meningitis, genital recurrent aphtous ulcers and uveitis in the right eye, with latter blindness of this eye. Some considerations about the etiopathogenic aspects are done and about the controversial use of corticoids in the treatment of these syndromes.


The monitoring of timber structures exposed to natural climate fluctuations during their service life is an important topic for both their serviceability and safety. Numerical methods based on the recent advances in hygro-thermal modelling of wood can integrate the usual sensor-based monitoring techniques by reducing the maintenance costs for timber structures. In this paper, a 3D full coupled analysis based on the multi-Fickian theory with sorption hysteresis of wood is implemented in Abaqus FEM code by defining a new finite element in a user subroutine. To verify the method, the hygro-thermal behaviour of a glulam beam tested in laboratory under variable humidity within a previous research is analysed and the numerical values of moisture content are found to be in agreement with the experimental data. Furthermore, a numerical case-study of a glulam cross section under real climate variations is presented and the related results show the capability of the method to predict the moisture states in each points of the glulam member under continuously variable humidity and temperature.


Abstract Objective: The study objective was to explore athletes' perspectives of National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA)–mandated sickle cell trait (SCT)–screening policy by examining race- and gender-related differences in athletes' perceptions regarding risk of having SCT and concern about loss of playing time. Participants: Participants were 259 athletes at a southeastern United States campus during April–August of 2010. Methods: Athletes completed a 21-question survey. Results: The majority of athletes (81.7%) perceived that they would have a high level of concern if found to carry the SCT. African Americans were 9.07 times more likely than Caucasians to perceive risk of having the SCT. The majority of athletes disagreed (38.4%) or did not know (50.8%) if they would lose playing time related to carrying the SCT. Conclusion: Campus health professionals must be aware of athletes' perspectives on NCAA's SCT screening so that athletes are not unnecessarily subjected to stress or harm.


Stress tests applied to individual institutions are an important tool for evaluating financial resilience. However, financial systems are typically complex, heterogeneous and rapidly changing, raising questions about the adequacy of conventional tests. In this paper, we interpret the current stress test practice from a network perspective, highlighting central counterparties (CCPs) as an example of a critical network hub. Networks that include CCPs involve deep and broad interconnections, making stress testing a challenging task. We analyze supplementing both private and supervisory CCP stress tests with a high-frequency indicator constructed from a market-based estimate of the conditional capital shortfall (SRISK) of the CCP's clearing members. Applying our measure to two large CCPs, we analyze how they can transmit and amplify shocks across borders, conditional on the exhaustion of prefunded resources. Our results highlight how the network created by central clearing can act as an important transmission mechanism for shocks emanating from Europe.


Successful rehabilitation can only be carried out by the precise teamwork of doctors, nurses and therapeutic personnel whereby, especially in cancer patients, importance of psycho-somatic aspects are emphasized. Under all circumstances, rehabilitation must immediately follow acute therapy. Especially, the rehabilitation of cancer patients convince them, that they are not lost. It is desirable that rehabilitation of cancer patients should increase, preferably in specialized oncology rehabilitation centers - similar to the cardiological or rheumatic rehabilitation centers. The main purpose of general rehabilitation in oncology should be the somatic and psychological revitalization of the patient under the motto: Don't merely prolong life, add worthwhile living for each life.


AIM
The high incidence of gastrointestinal cancer combined with high mortality from the disease if diagnosed at a late stage, signifies the need for better diagnostic, prognostic and predictive tools. Human beta-herpesviruses have been suggested as possible cofactors in the development of gastrointestinal cancer.

METHODS
Sixty five patients with gastrointestinal cancer before surgery and without any treatment were enrolled in this study and divided into two groups depending on lymphocytes' count: I group (n = 35) -- lymphocytes > 1400x10(6)/L and II group (n = 30) -- lymphocytes < 1400x10(6)/L. Nested polymerase chain reaction was used to detect latent and active stage of persistent human herpesvirus-6 and -7 infection, laser flow cytometry with monoclonal antibodies -- to determine immunological parameters.

RESULTS
Activation of herpesvirus-6 and -7 was more frequently observed in the patients' group with lymphopenia (HHV-6 1/1 (100%), HHV-7 4/8 (50%) and HHV-6 + HHV-7 6/9 (66%); p < 0.05). Cellular immune parameters were analysed in immunocompromised II group's patients dependently on beta-herpevirus infection. Although number of leukocytes was higher in patients with active HHV-6/-7 infection (p = 0.01), number of lymphocytes CD3(+), CD4(+), CD8(+) and CD38(+) in patients with active HHV-6/-7 infection tended to decrease (p < 0.0001, P = 0.0002, p = 0.0001 and p < 0.0001, respectively). However, number of CD19(+) had tendency to increase (p = 0.03).

CONCLUSION
Activation of herpesvirus-6 and -7 may lead to decrease of lymphocytes total count and develop immunosuppression in patients with gastrointestinal cancer.


The aim of this study was to evaluate the role of miR-146a in the drug resistance of chronic myelogenous leukemia (CML) cells (K562/ADM) and to investigate the reversal effect of physcion, a natural compound, on the multidrug-resistance in CML. Our results showed that miR-146a was significantly downregulated in drug-resistant K562 cells and the overexpression of miR-146a in K562/ADM cells could restore the sensitivity to adriamycin (ADM). In addition, our results showed that the downregulation of miR-146a was associated with increase in CXCR4 expression, which was a direct target of miR-146a. Moreover, our findings also provided experimental evidence that physcion could enhance the anti-proliferative effect of ADM in K562/ADM cells by upregulating miR-146a. In conclusion, this present study showed that miR-146a conferred ADM resistance in CML cells and physcion could improve the sensitivity of K562/ADM cells by enhancing apoptosis via upregulating miR-146a.


Several factors affecting the use of acid-bleached fuchsin for the colorimetric determination of sulfur dioxide were investigated. Of these factors the concentration of sulfuric acid in the reagent had the greatest effect on its sensitivity. For use with the Klett photoelectric colorimeter, the undiluted reagent limited the range of sulfur dioxide content that could be determined and both the range and reproducibility of the reagents could be improved by 1:5 dilution after development of color. The Grant reagent, containing added formaldehyde was not as stable as the Steigman reagent and this was simplified by addition of weighed amounts of fuchsin after wetting with alcohol. The reagent so prepared was stable for several months. The results obtained were noticeably influenced by conditions of use but when the order of addition of the sulfur dioxide solution and reagent and condition of color development were controlled reproducible results could be obtained. As applied to wine however the sulfur dioxide content determined colorimetrically gave appreciable higher values for free and lower values for total sulfur dioxide content.


Reductive amination of various aldehydes and ketones has been performed effectively by pentacoordinate chloro-substituted tin hydride complex, Bu2SnClH-HMPA. The tin reagent worked particularly well for the case using weakly basic aromatic amines as starting substrates. Stoichiometric amounts of a substrate and a reducing agent were adequate for the reaction. The Sn-Cl bond in the complex plays an important role for both steps of imine formation and subsequent reduction. Highly chemoselective reduction of carbonyls could be achieved regardless of other functionalities such as halogen, carbon-carbon double bond and hydroxyl groups in the starting carbonyls and amines.


Background White matter changes (WMC) on brain imaging, reflecting chronic subcortical ischaemia, increase steeply with age. Hypertension is a risk factor for WMC, particularly in younger patients, and variability in blood pressure (BP) is a risk factor for acute stroke. However, the relative contribution of long-term mean BP versus BP variability to the development of WMC is uncertain. We determined these associations based on all BP measures over a 10-year period. Methods In consecutive TIA or stroke patients, we collected all pre-morbid BPs from primary care. We rated WMC on CT or MRI with four scales, and calculated their age-specific associations with 10-year measurements of BP parameters (mean systolic and diastolic BP and average visit-to-visit variability ie, the mean difference between successive measures). Results 520 MRI and 1717 CT were assessed. Results were similar for CT and MRI and for different WMC scales. 10-year mean SBP was strongly associated with WMC at age <65 years (OR, 95% CI, per 10 mm Hg SBP and van Swieten scale—1.37, 1.12–1.68, p=0 .002), but the association diminished with age. 10-year mean DBP was associated with WMC at all ages (OR/10 mm Hg=1.50, 1.26–1.77, p<0.0001). Variability in SBP or DBP was not associated with WMC at any age. Conclusions Increased 10-year mean SBP and DBP were associated with WMC, but we found no association with BP variability, consistent with the hypothesis that raised long-term mean BP results in chronic subcortical ischaemia whereas variability in BP is associated with an increased risk of acute events.