Received: December 13, 2019 Accepted: January 27, 2020 Published: January 31, 2020 Volume: 3 Issue: 1 DOI: 10.32996/ijllt.2020.3.1.13 In some contexts of use, text interpretation and accurate conveyance of meaning has a critical importance. Religious texts, on top of that, Quranic texts have inherent intricacies which renders the job of Islamic exegetes and expounders very difficult. Considering the importance of these texts for Muslims and extensive foreign readers, the current research is an attempt to examine the application of major literary methods of text interpretation for interpretation and translation of Quranic text. To this aim taxonomy of methods discussed by Titscher, et al (2012) was selected as the theoretical baseline for the study. The findings of the research showed that commentators can employ literary methods toward literary text interpretation for Quranic interpretation directly or with some considerations. The findings also indicated that, application of these methods requires further investigation because translation is inherently different from interpretation. It was concluded that, according to Shiite school of thought, for Quranic interpretation, methods of text analysis is only a tool and exegetes stand in the need of some internal and external resources amongst which is traditional quotations and Hadith from the side of immaculate Imams. KEYWORDS


Piezoelectric tubes are commonly used as scanning actuators in nano precision microscopes. They can achieve precision down to sub-nanometer scale, but their vibrational dynamics and nonlinear properties hamper their ability to achieve higher bandwidths. In order to deal with this, further research is needed. This thesis is a first look into the field of piezoelectric tube actuators, intended to lay the groundwork for further research on the subject at NTNU. It details the construction of a laboratory setup for actuation and nanometer displacement measurement of a piezoelectric tube. Needed specifications are found and a mechanical setup is designed. Basic theory on piezoelectricity is presented, along with the setup and equipment used for the thesis. Several experiments are designed and conducted in order to identify the linear dynamics and nonlinear properties of the piezoelectric tube. The results are discussed and related to current literature. This includes the linear frequency responses from applied voltage to displacement of the piezoelectric tube, noise levels and nonlinear properties such as displacement creep and hysteresis. Generally, the results are found to closely match what has been found in similar research, although there are some notable differences, such as a somewhat smaller low frequency gain and a much lower resonant peak frequency of the system. Several possible explanations for these disparities are discussed. Both a capacitive sensor and a piezoelectric strain voltage sensor are utilized for measuring displacement. It is found that the capacitive sensor has a higher noise level but is more accurate at lower frequencies than the strain voltage sensor. The two measurements are then combined into an improved estimate of the displacement of the piezoelectric tube.


ABSTRACT Purpose/aim Corneal injury is a major cause of impaired vision around the globe. The fine structure of the corneal stroma plays a pivotal role in the phenotype and behavior of the embedded cells during homeostasis and healing after trauma or infection. In order to study healing processes in the cornea, it is important to create culture systems that functionally mimic the natural environment. Materials and methods Collagen solution was vitrified on top of a grated film to achieve thin collagen films with parallel microgrooves. Keratocytes (corneal stromal cells) were cultured on the films either as a single layer or as stacked layers of films and cells. SEM and F-actin staining were used to analyze the pattern transference onto the collagen and the cell orientation on the films. Cell viability was analyzed with MTS and live/dead staining. Keratocytes, fibroblasts, and myofibroblasts were cultured to study the pattern's effect on phenotype. Results A microstructured collagen film-based culture system that guides keratocytes (stromal cells) to their native, layerwise perpendicular orientation in 3D and that can support fibroblasts and myofibroblasts was created. The films are thin and transparent enough to observe cells at least three layers deep. The cells maintain viability in 2D and 3D cultures and the films can support fibroblast and myofibroblast phenotypes. Conclusions The films provide an easily reproducible stroma model that maintains high cell viability and improves the preservation of the keratocyte phenotype in keratocytes that are differentiated to fibroblasts.


Video sharing social media platforms, such as YouTube, offer an effective way to deliver medical information. Few studies have identified evidence-backed digital therepautics as well as technology-enabled interventions to improve the ease with which patients can retrieve medical information to manage chronic conditions. We propose an interdisciplinary lens that synthesizes deep learning methods with themes emphasized in Information Systems (IS) and Healthcare Informatics (HIS) research to examine user engagement with encoded medical information in YouTube videos. We first use a bidirectional long short-term memory (BLSTM) method to identify medical terms in videos and then classify videos based on whether they encode a high or low degree of medical information. We then employ principal component analysis on aggregate video data to discover three dimensions of collective engagement with videos: non-engagement, selective attention driven engagement, and sustained attention driven engagement. Videos with low medical information result in non-engagement; at the same time, videos with a greater amount of encoded medical information struggle to maintain sustained attention driven engagement. Our study provides healthcare practitioners and policymakers with a nuanced understanding of how users engage with medical information in video format. Our research also contributes to enhancing current public health practices by promoting normative guidelines for educational video content enabling management of chronic conditions.


Considering the spread of an epidemic among a population of mobile agents that can get infected and maintain the infection for a period, we investigate the variation in the homogeneity of the distribution of the epidemic with the remaining time of infection τ, the velocity modulus of the agent ν, and the infection rate α. We find that the distribution of the infected cluster size is always exponential. By analyzing the variation of the characteristic infected cluster size coefficient, we show that the inhomogeneity of epidemic distribution increases with an increase in τ for very low ν, while it decreases with an increase in τ for moderate ν. The epidemic distribution also tends to a homogeneous state as both ν and α increase.


Within the scholarly communications ecosystem, scholarly publishers are a keystone species. University presses—as well as academic societies, research institutions, and other scholarly publishers—strive to fulfil our mission of 'making public the fruits of scholarly research' as effectively as possible within that ecosystem. While that mission has remained constant, in recent years the landscape in which we carry out this mission has altered dramatically.The expertise residing within university presses can help the scholarly enterprise prosper in both influence and impact as it moves ever more fully digital. However, the simple product-sales models of the twentieth century, devised when information was scarce and expensive, are clearly inappropriate for the twenty-first-century scholarly ecosystem.This report (a) identifies elements of the current scholarly publishing systems that are worth protecting and retaining throughout this and future periods of transition; (b) explores business models of existing projects that hold promise; (c) outlines the characteristics of effective business models; (d) addresses the challenges of the transitional period we are entering; and (e) arrives at recommendations that might allow us to sustain high-quality scholarship at a time when the fundamental expectations of publishing are changing.


ABSTRACT The research documented in this paper argues that the authentic learning environment is achievable through "academic practitioners" who can ground business education and research within practice. A culture fostering the academic understanding of the practitioner environment enables practical engagement with academic rigour. The case study illustrates specific examples from degree programmes engaging with student and academic voices, with a particular focus on the development of authentic learning experiences for tourism and hospitality students. Key aspects of business education need embedding within the development of tourism and hospitality curricula in order to engage with the tacit knowledge required by the sector through a holistic approach to curriculum development.


Sheet hydroforming has gained increasing interest in the automotive and aerospace industries because of its many advantages such as higher forming potentiality, good quality of the formed parts which may have complex geometry. The main advantage is that the uniform pressure can be transferred to any part of the formed blank at the same time [1]. In this paper, a "shape factors" set has been defined with the proper goal to understand if it can be used to help engineers to define "process rules" for the studied non conventional technology [2]. A specific prediction model, obtained thanks to a numerical factorial fractional plane, has been used in order to preview the process responses vs each defined shape factor. These shape factors have been used to track the process performances through their variation thanks to the usage of the numerical simulation that has been validated with an appropriate experimental campaign executed thanks to the usage of a specific equipment properly designed.


Hyperspectral images provide detail information because of their high spectral resolution. Having high spectral resolution makes them very useful for variety of applications. High spectral resolution requires very narrow wavelengths and neighbour bands which also brings some drawbacks like repetitive information and the burden of high dimensionality. Because of these drawbacks and the Hughes phenomenon the accuracy of classification decreases. In order to get rid of these disadvantages, dimensionality reduction of the data is advised. The purpose of this study is investigating the affect of dimensionality reduction methods on the classification accuracy of hyperspectral images together with the Gabor texture information in different scales and orientations. In this study first, the dimensionality of AVIRIS Indian Pine data is reduced to 20 with nine different methods. Second, Gabor features are generated using the first three PCAs of these images and then, these features are concatenated to these reduced images. Finally, both the reduced images and the Gabor features added images after reduction are classified with supportvector machine. According to our results, Gabor features increase the classification accuracy of the data considerably. The data reduced with the Diffusion Maps Method and Gabor feature with 8 scales and 6 orientation achieves the maximum classification accuracy around 85%.


Introduction Long QT syndrome (LQTS) and Brugada syndrome (BrS) are inherited arrhythmia syndromes characterised by sudden death and highly variable penetrance. The E1784K mutation in SCN5A, which encodes the α-subunit of the cardiac sodium channel Nav1.5, is the most commonly identified SCN5A mutation in both conditions. It causes a LQTS/BrS overlap disease with variable phenotype. The aim of this project was to identify potential genetic modifiers that may influence the E1784K phenotypic expression in an international cohort of carriers of this mutation. Methods 88 E1784K mutation carriers from 14 families were genotyped for 48 single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs). The chosen SNPs associate with different electrocardiographic (ECG) traits in the general population in large genome wide association studies. Association with PR interval, QRS duration, QTc interval, BrS phenotype (spontaneous and drug-induced type 1 ECG pattern) and time to occurrence of symptoms/arrhythmic events were tested using either mixed effects Cox models or generalised estimating equation logistic regression tests as appropriate, with adjustment for age and sex. P-values were uncorrected for multiple testing as the aim of this study was to identify potential genetic modifiers with existing evidence for biological plausibility that could be subsequently confirmed or refuted through replication in larger patient cohorts. Results Eight SNPs showed significant association (p < 0.05) with PR interval, with effect sizes (change per minor allele) of -21.7 to +15.5 ms. Two SNPs were significantly associated (p < 0.05) and one SNP was highly significantly associated (p = 0.0022, rs251253, Chr 5) with QRS duration, with effect sizes of -5.9 to +8.2 ms. Three SNPs showed significant association with QTc duration (p < 0.05) with effect sizes of +11.9 to +13.4 ms. Four SNPs were significantly associated (p < 0.05) and two SNPs (rs11848785, Chr 14 and rs10919035, Chr 1) were highly significantly associated (p < 0.005) with the BrS. Two SNPs (rs11047543, Chr 12 and rs17020136, Chr 2) were associated with the occurrence of events (cardiac syncope, ventricular tachycardia or aborted cardiac arrest) with p-values of 0.0467 and 0.0154, and odds ratios of 3.35 and 2.61 respectively. Conclusions Several SNPs showed significant and highly significant association with different ECG traits and occurrence of symptoms in this cohort of E1784K carriers. These results provide promising initial evidence for the presence of potential genetic modifiers in LQT3 and BrS. Further supporting evidence will be required through replication in larger cohorts and functional studies. These may provide evidence for new pathways that modulate phenotype and risk and provide clinical risk stratifiers.


We present our initial observations regarding the
effect of the presence of L-tyrosinate (= L-tyrosine disodium salt) on the
auto- or Fe2+/H2O2-mediated oxidation of
various catecholic substances into melanin-like pigments. We observed that L-tyrosinate
inhibited the Fe2+/H2O2-mediated oxidation. In
contrast, L-tyrosinate promoted the auto-oxidation of ortho-diphenols like L-DOPA,
dopamine, epinephrine, norepinephrine, catechol or pyrogallol, but not a meta-diphenol
like resorcinol. In addition, we briefly demonstrated the melanogenic
properties of cell culture media containing L-tyrosinate. The reactions were
monitored using UV-Vis spectroscopy and size exclusion chromatography. For a
reaction between L-tyrosinate and L-DOPA, a large scale experiment was set up
allowing us to isolate, purify and characterize using FT-IR spectroscopy the
melanin-like material obtained. We discuss our observations in the context of
the in vitro and in vivo study of melanogenesis and provide some directions for
future research efforts.


Hundreds of thousands of people are killed each year through the misuse of small arms and light weapons (SALW) in violation of international humanitarian law and human rights law. Small arms ammunition is the fuel that keeps many of the world's conflicts raging. While small arms do not themselves cause conflict, they make it much deadlier, and a shortage of bullets can reduce or even stop fighting altogether. In the Central African Republic, fighters have been known to throw away weapons because they cannot buy the right bullets for them. Due to recent fighting in Somalia, the price of a single bullet has reached a record $1.50.


Nonlinear independent component analysis (NICA) is a powerful method for analyzing nonlinear and nongaussian data. Artificial neural network (ANN), especially self-organizing map (SOM) based on unsupervised learning, is an excellent tool for pattern clustering and recognition. A novel multi-NICA network is proposed for feature extraction of different mechanical patterns, followed by a typical ANN that is one of Multi-Layer Perceptron (MLP), or Radial Basis Function Network (RBFN), or self-organizing map (SOM), which implements the final classification. Using NICA and appropriate strategies for further feature extraction, nonlinear and higher than second order features embedded in multi-channel vibration measurements can be captured effectively. Mechanical fault patterns can be recognized correctly. Results from the contrast classification experiments show that the new compound ICA-SOM classifier can be constructed in a simpler way and it can classify various fault patterns with high accuracy, both of which imply a great potential in health condition monitoring of machine systems.


INTRODUCTION AND AIMS
Sexual identity disparities in smoking behaviours are well established; however, there is limited research on whether these disparities have diminished as the social and political landscape has changed for lesbian, gay and bisexual people. Thus, we examined changes in prevalence and sexual identity disparities in three smoking behaviours among Canadian adolescents from 1998 to 2013.

DESIGN AND METHODS
Data are from the provincially representative British Columbia Adolescent Health Survey (N = 99 373). Using sex-stratified, age-adjusted logistic regression models, we estimated: (i) trends in lifetime cigarette use, early onset, and past 30-day use for heterosexual and three subgroups of sexual minority (i.e. mostly heterosexual, bisexual and gay/lesbian) youth; (ii) sexual identity disparities in these cigarette-related behaviours within each survey year (1998, 2003, 2008, 2013); and (iii) whether the size of the disparity has changed from 1998 to 2013.

RESULTS
Smoking has declined for all youth from 1998 to 2013, although less consistently for sexual minority youth. Within-year disparity estimates indicated elevated prevalence of cigarette use for sexual minority compared to heterosexual youth, particularly among females. Trends in sexual identity and smoking behaviours indicated that the degree of differences between heterosexual and sexual minority youth have remained stable or, in some cases, widened. Heterosexual and sexual minority youth differences widened for early onset among sexual minority boys and lifetime and past 30-day use for sexual minority girls.

DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSIONS
Efforts to prevent smoking behaviours among youth should continue. Tailored preventive strategies for sexual minority youth might help address existing disparities.


In a recent study, we have shown that peripheral blood B cells from patients with ulcerative colitis (UC) synthesized less immunoglobulin (Ig) in co-culture with autologous T cells than normal adults' B cells. When UC patients' T cells were co-cultured with normal adults' B cells, Ig synthesis was significantly decreased as compared with normal controls. In contrast, Crohn's disease (CD) patients' B and T cells functioned normally. In the present study, the activity of suppressor T cells in patients with UC and CD was determined. Peripheral blood B and T cells with monocytes were obtained from patients and normal adults of the same age and sex, and co-cultured for 10 days with pokeweed mitogen (PWM). Suppressor T-cell function was measured in mixed co-culture assays in which graded numbers of normal or patient's T cells were added to normal adults' B and T cells with PWM. Immunoglobulins (Ig) M, G and A were measured in culture supernatants using a sensitive enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. The quantity of Ig present in the culture supernatants was determined from a standard curve. T cells from UC patients significantly decreased immunoglobulin production by control B and T cells (IgM and IgA, p = 0.02; IgG, p = 0.01). In contrast, addition of T cells from CD patients produced no significant differences. Complement mediated, monoclonal OKT8 antibody directed cell lysis revealed that the inhibition observed with UC patients' T cells in co-culture was due to a T8+ suppressor T cell. The degree of inhibition of immunoglobulin synthesis did not correlate with disease activity, duration of illness, location of disease, or corticosteroid treatment. Thus, patients with ulcerative colitis display enhanced suppressor T-cell activity in peripheral blood while patients with CD show normal helper and suppressor T-cell functions. These results provide evidence supporting a role for altered immunoregulatory activity in the pathogenesis of ulcerative colitis.


In 2010 the housing stock was responsible for 30.5% of all energy consumed in the UK. The UK government has set a transition target to reduce the energy used from space heating in dwellings by 29% by 2020 as part of their drive to lower CO2 emissions and mitigate the risks of global climate change. Housing stock energy models have been developed as research tools to identify pathways to a low energy future. These tools use assumptions about how homes are heated that may reduce their effectiveness at making accurate energy predictions.
This thesis describes the collection and analysis of temperature data from over 300 homes in Leicester to develop better understanding of how dwellings are heated. The temperature measurements were assessed for error and a final sample of 249 dwellings was established. Mean winter temperatures (December February) were found to be 18.5°C and 17.4°C for living rooms and bedrooms which are comparable with temperatures reported in previous studies. Statistically significant relationships were established between seven descriptors; three technical (house type, house age and wall type) and four social (household size, employment status, age of oldest occupants and tenure). Only 24% of the variation in mean winter temperature could be explained by these descriptors.
Ten heating practice metrics were developed to give insight into how homes are heated; these included the duration of the heating period and the average temperature when heated. Statistically significant relationships were found between the heating practices and a number of technical and social household descriptors. It is concluded that the variation in heating practices which relates to social household descriptors will result in models being unable to make accurate predictions at the regional of city scale. Furthermore, this work has shown flaws in the idealised temperature profile as used in BREDEM. It is suggested that the findings of this work are considered in the development of future stock models.


Labour market participation is commonly conceptualized as an indicator of immigrant integration, although integration is not something that should be conflated with inclusion. The mere fact of employment is no silver bullet. The sociology of work needs to consider experiences of exclusion both before and after entry to the labour market. This article is based on a 25-case selection of 50 in-depth interviews that we conducted with young adults of ethnic minority background in Norway. We analyse their experiences of, and reactions to, exclusion in the labour market. While for several interviewees the possibility of being met with ethnic prejudice from employers looms large, more experiences of this sort were reported among interviewees engaged in customer contact, where the inside of an organization intersects with the outside world.


Degradable polymers are highly desirable due
to the tremendous growth of polymer wastes. Some polymers could be degraded
under strong acidic or basic conditions toward unknown or unvalued products (i.e. downcycling). New methods to
degrade polymers into monomers or high-value-added materials (i.e. upcycling) are more preferred for
sustainable developments. In this work, linear and cross-linked
poly(alkynoate)s were
successfully degraded by benzamidine with 100% conversion into not only diols,
a kind of monomers, but also high-value-added N-heterocyclic compounds of pyrimidone and imidazolone derivatives in
high yields through
controlling the reaction conditions. Notably,
thanks to the AIE feature of the degraded products, the degradation process
could be visualized under UV light via gradually increased luminescent
intensity of the reaction mixtures, which facilitates
the monitoring of the polymer degradation.
Using this highly efficient degradation reaction, fluorescence patterns could
be generated through microcontact printing (μCP) of the stamp on the thin films of poly(alkynoate)s. Moreover,
the pyrimidone derivatives
could be applied in bioimaging
and inhibiting bacteria, and the imidazolone
derivatives could be used for the
detection and recovery of gold (III) ions from electronic waste and serve as
the fluorescent sensor to detect in situ generated
amines from food spoilage. Thus, this work presents a visualized and high value
product-selective degradation to solve the end-of-life issue of polymers.


An 84-year-old man with a history of diffuse large B-cell lymphoma in remission who had completed chemotherapy 3 years previously was referred for imaging evaluation of disease recurrence. Abnormal accumulation in the left scrotum was demonstrated on F-FDG PET/CT. Subsequent ultrasonography showed a nodular mass lesion in the left epididymis. He then underwent left orchiectomy. Histopathological examination of the mass diagnosed smooth muscle hyperplasia/hamartoma of the left epididymis. Epididymal smooth muscle hyperplasia/hamartoma should be included as a differential diagnosis for malignant scrotal tumor.


Résumé : Chomsky's notion of "knowledge of language" has given rise to much debate, with the participation of not only linguists, but also philosophers and cognitive scientists. Furthermore, Kripke's (1982) interpretation of Wittgenstein, while dealing with generative grammar only in a marginal way, helped to undermine the notion of "following a rule by an individual", which underlay the notion of "knowledge of language" in Chomsky's sense. Chomsky's answer has been that his theory of language and its knowledge is perfectly consistent with the standards of any scientific theory. Skeptical objections in the style of Kripke or Wittgenstein can apply to any kind of science: then, if you accept them, you cannot do science; if you want to do science, they cannot be taken into account. In my view, Chomsky's answers to his critics are fairly convincing; this does not mean, however, that all the problems are solved. For example, the issue of the "psychological reality of grammar", hotly debated between the 1960s and the 1970s, and quickly dismissed by Chomsky by stating that a psychologically real theory is simply a true theory, should probably be reconsidered.


Cancer pain can be effectively controlled in most patients by classical pharmacological treatment. We retrospectively studied the characteristics and factors associated with non responsive pain. Between 1989 and 1996, 1767 patients were referred to our pain center; 831 (47%) had cancer pain and from 787 evaluable cases 118 (15%) experienced non-controlled pain whereas good pain control was achieved within a few days in 669 (85%) patients. Gender, age, cancer type, metastasis, initial pain intensity, nociceptive or neuropathic components and administration of adjuvant therapies were similar in both groups. On the other hand, diffuse pain, abdominal pain, terminal care, near death and doses of strong opioids were significantly different. Factors associated with therapeutic failure were conflicts, life and complications and breakthrough pain. In the presence of refractory cancer pain the factors predictive of therapeutic failure should be identified in order to optimize individual pain treatment.


The end of year dashboard summarizes the progress made by partners involved in the Lebanon Crisis Response Plan and highlights trends affecting people in need. The Livelihoods Sector in Lebanon is working to: OUTCOME 1) Stimulate local economic growth and market systems to foster income-generating opportunities and decent and safe employment; OUTCOME 2) Improve workforce employabilty; OUTCOME 3): Strengthen policy development and enabling environment for job creation.


This course is a First Year Seminar designed to expose students to foundational narratives of ancient and modern tragic love stories through a variety of media, but with an emphasis on literature. This course is focused around four relationships whose earliest expressions are Greco-Roman: Pyramus and Thisbe, Orpheus and Eurydice, Dido and Aeneas, and Antony and Cleopatra.  Numerous productions, versions, and variations of these relationships within different types of media in the medieval and early modern eras have further promoted these stories.  Each relationship represents its own section in the course, which is unified by the theme of tragic love stories.  The course is an interdisciplinary introduction to humanities, fine arts, and material culture.  A residual benefit is the inherent overview of history from the Greco-Roman ages to the Italian Renaissance.  New modes, genres, and media constantly offered change and stimulation, along with a desired breadth.  Yet, by limiting our investigations to four primary relationships, the students' familiarity with recurring characters and plots allowed for depth in their investigations of the similarities and differences of the same stories from varying sources.  The stories were quickly familiar, which allowed insightful questions, illuminating discussion, and deep exploration as they were exposed to foundational human achievements in literature, art and culture spanning the intellectually formative millennia of "Western" history.


This study investigates linkages among business strategy, environmental uncertainty, and performance in an emerging economy. The hotel sector in Turkey's hospitality industry is investigated. Generic strategies were self-reported with regard to typologies develop by Porter, and Miles and Snow. Partial support was found for direct linkages between environmental uncertainty and both financial and non-financial performance. Defenders exhibited the highest value in competitive uncertainty, but the difference was not significant. Prospectors, analyzers, and defenders outperformed reactors in terms of both financial and non-financial performance. Overall, defender/cost leadership and prospector/focus strategies appear to be the best options for Turkish hotels. Following Porter's admonition, hotels in Turkey seeking to combine low cost and differentiation approaches are likely to end up " stuck in the middle. " Implications for managers and future research are discussed.


Anomalous rotations of solid and liquid drops have been observed in resonant chambers in both 1g and in the microgravity environment of space in the Drop Physics Module (DPM) aboard the United States Microgravity Laboratory (USML‐1) mission in 1992. The observed torques are produced by acoustic streaming, typically in the nondegenerate plane where rotations are undesired, and have been attributed to an imbalance in the paired driver amplitudes. To quantify the torque exerted on the inclusion, measurements were made using suspended and levitated spherical samples with single and paired driver configurations. Experiments were conducted in both degenerate and nondegenerate planes to study the effects of orthogonal coupling. Absorption effects of active and passive drivers are presented, along with asymmetrical driver configurations. The results will be used to control and eliminate unwanted tumbling rotations in the USML‐2 DPM experiments to be flown in 1995. [Work supported by NASA through JPL Contract No. ...


Objectives: To compare corneal astigmatism induced by sutured and sutureless wound closure of the main incision, after phacoemulsification, in patients attending the Eye department, Military Hospital, Rawalpindi. Design: Quasi experimental study Place and duration of study: Armed Forces Institute of Ophthalmology, Rawalpindi, from 20th May, 2006 to 19th May, 2007. Patients and Methods: Sixty patients were included in this study divided in two equal groups. Phacoemulsification with foldable IOL was done in all patients by the same surgeon with same surgical technique. Main incision was closed with a single suture in group A and left sutureless with stromal hydration in group B. Keratometry was performed preoperatively, at day one and 4 weeks post operatively. Results: Postoperative astigmatism in sutured and sutureless groups at the end of first week was (1.00 D +/0.38) and (0.88 D +/0.35) respectively. At one month postoperatively astigmatism was (0.76 +/0.43) and (0.66 +/0.32) respectively in the two groups. There was statistically no significant difference between the postoperative astigmatism at one month between the two groups (p> 0.05). Conclusion: There is statistically no significant difference between post-operative astigmatism after phacoemulsification between a 3.2 mm self-sealing incision whether closed without suture or secured by a single suture.


Crystal structures of Bi2Mo3O12 and Bi1.8Ln0.2Mo3O12 (Ln = Ce, Nd, Dy, Er) were studied using Rietveld structural refinements of X-ray powder diffraction data. Substitution of 10 mol% Ln for Bi produced changes in lattice parameters, bond lengths and distances between metal ions. These changes such as decreases in average bond lengths of Mo1O4 tetrahedra and variations in the distances between adjacent metal ions on the same plane could be ascribed to different ionic radii and electronegativty of Bi and rare earth atoms, and might be related to catalytic activity of bismuth molybdate for the selective oxidation and ammoxidation of alkenes.


New stratigraphic data for the mid-Paleozoic island-arc succession in the northern Sierra Nevada are presented from a well-exposed area in Sierra and Nevada Counties. The Grizzly Formation of Diller is shown to be a laterally discontinuous but regionally extensive epiclastic unit at the base of the arc succession. Newly discovered macrofossils and conodonts date the formation as Late Devonian (Frasnian–mid-Famennian), and it records a widespread erosional episode that affected the underlying Shoo Fly Complex prior to the onset of arc volcanism. The Grizzly Formation is conformably overlain by the Sierra Buttes Formation, a sequence of silicic to andesitic submarine ash-fall tuffs; tuffaceous turbidites; and thick, nonwelded, subaqueous volcaniclastic mass-flow deposits intercalated with radiolarian cherts. Coeval hypabyssal intrusions show evidence of rapid chilling against wet, unlithified sediment, and some consist of complex masses of intrusive hyaloelastite breccia and pillows. Newly discovered conodonts, together with previously described fossils, show that the Sierra Buttes Formation was deposited largely or entirely in the mid-Famennian. Andesitic tuffs and tuff-breccias of the Upper Devonian-Lower Mississippian(?) Taylor Formation abruptly overlie the Sierra Buttes Formation, with no evidence for an intervening Elwell Formation. Like the Sierra Buttes Formation, the Taylor Formation contains abundant coarse-grained subaqueous volcaniclastic mass-flow deposits interbedded with finer-grained rocks. The two formations together constitute a thick sequence of volcaniclastic debris that accumulated rapidly below storm-wave base in an active island-arc setting.


Species having experienced rapid range expansion represent unique opportunities to evaluate the dynamics of adaptation during colonization of new environments. We investigated the consequences of range expansion on local adaptation of a successful worldwide colonizer, the shepherd's purse Capsella bursa-pastoris. This species is an annual weed that originated recently in Eurasia and has now broadly colonized both temperate and subtropical areas. We assessed the performance, genetic diversity, and phenology of field-collected accessions belonging to three distinct genetic clusters of decreasing age (Middle East, Europe and Asia) in three common gardens in Europe, Asia and North America. To understand the genetic basis of local adaptation in this species, we also tested for correlation between SNP allele frequencies and environmental factors in Europe and Asia. Overall, we showed that patterns of local adaptation depended on population history: some older populations were weakly adapted to local conditions while those closer to the front of the colonization wave, far from the origin of the species, were maladapted whatever the common gardens. Altogether, our results have important consequences for the understanding of the evolution and adaptation of self-fertilizing plant during range expansion.


Objective: Dengue is an infectious disease that causes a worldwide health and economic burden despite the efforts to eradicate the disease. From 2013 to 2015, dengue epidemic significantly increased from 33,626 to 50,205 cases in Vietnam. This study aims to determine the genotype variations of dengue virus (DENV) circulating in Southern Vietnam during 2014-2015.

Methods: C6/36 cells were infected with twenty-four strains of dengue virus isolated in 2014-2015 and kept frozen. The complete nucleotide sequence of dengue virus genomes was obtained by polymerase chain reaction (PCR). The genome was sequenced in the MiSeq system and analyzed by the basic local alignment search tool (BLAST) program. Data from GeneBank was used to create the phylogenetic trees.

Results: Among the 17 analyzed strains from 8 southern provinces, four (23.53%) were DENV-1, three (17.65%) were DENV-2, five (29.41%) were DENV-3, and five (29.41%) DENV-4 were isolated. Four DENV-1 isolates belong to Asia genotype. Three DENV-2 strains were concentrated in a subgroup of Asian 1 genotype. Five DENV-3 isolates were identified as belonged to Asian 2 genotype and five DENV-4 isolates were found as belong to Asia 1 genotype. There were no amino acid mutations and the transition capacity between the nucleotide among four types of DENV serotypes suggested that the probability of conversion from C to T was the highest conversion rate.

Conclusions: These DENV isolates were genetically close to other previous strains isolated from Vietnam and its neighboring countries, including Thailand, China, Cambodia, and Singapore, Brazil, Sri Lanka due to dynamic transmission.


To confirm that the throat hit varies with e-liquid nicotine concentration and voltage of e-cigarette and assess its influence on the desire to switch from smoking tobacco to e-cigarettes use, we organized a blind test in a group of smoker students.

Methods: 35 student's smokers tested five e-liquid (0-18 mg/ml nicotine) on the same cigarette adjusted to two voltages (3.5 and 4.5 volts). After description of smoking history and signed consent, 10 puffs (3 sec.) were scored, one every 5 minutes with the 10 different combinations.

Results: Responses from 350 puffs from smokers aged 22.0±7.7years, shown:

• The optimal throat-hit was obtain after a learning process of 5 puffs.

•The Fagerstrom miniscore is link to nicotine concentration giving optimal throat-hit with a1.6 mg/ml nicotine increase for each Fargerstrom score point.

•The score of throat-hit is correlate to the desire to quit smoking to e-cigarette (R2 = 0.94). This desire is<1/10 when throat hit is unpleasant (score 0-3) and exceeds 7/10 when throat hit is pleasant (score 7-10).

• The nicotine concentration associated with optimal throat hit is 7 times 0 mg/ml and 9 times 18mg/ml with 3.5 volts. For the 35 smokers, a nicotine concentration of 12.6 mg/ml with 3.5 volts and 10.89 mg/ml with 4.5 volts is associated with optimal throat hit.

Conclusions: This pilot study show a link between Fargerstrom miniscore and the concentration of nicotine necessary to obtain an optimal throat-hit with e-cigarette. The strong relationship between the optimal throat-hit and the desire to use e-cigarette to quit smoking, justifying to improve e-cigarettes technology and e-liquid to help smokers to finds optimal throat-hit.


The effect of hyperthermia on normal and tumor tissue was studied following water bath heating of a methylcholanthrene-induced fibrosarcoma (FSaI) isotransplanted into the feet of C3H mice. The time-temperature relation for the 50% tumor control dose over the temperature range of 41.5--45.5 degrees showed a log linear relationship which followed a biphasically modified Arrhenius plot. At temperatures above 43 degrees, there was a 50% reduction in heating time to obtain the 50% tumor control dose for each 1 degree increase in temperature, corresponding to an activation energy of 140 kcal/mol. At temperatures below 43 degrees, the curve was steeper, with a tendency to double the treatment time for each 0.5 degree reduction in temperature (activation energy, approximately 230kcal/mol). Normal tissue damage in the tumor-bearing foot was estimated at two levels with a 50% response dose assay. Severe normal tissue damage showed a time-temperature relationship similar to the tumor response, thus indicating no variation in therapeutic ratio at different temperatures. However, for slight tissue damage, the therapeutic ratio increased with decreasing temperatures, yielding a better therapeutic ratio at lower temperatures. The time-temperature relationship obtained in the FSaI fibrosarcoma is supported by other studies and points to a general time-temperature relationship for hyperthermic tumor destruction.


Rheological properties and protein macro fraction of ten Croatian and five German wheat varieties were studied. Differences in dough rheological properties of German and Croatian wheat varieties were analysed by ANOVA. Multiple regression was used to determine the influences of protein macro fractions of Croatian and German wheat varieties on rheological properties of their doughs. The investigation had shown that Croatian and German wheat varieties had similar dough properties. Protein content and protein composition influenced many of investigated rheological parameters. However, most of the influences were found in the mixing properties of doughs in both German and Croatian wheat varieties. Dough development time, stability and the degree of softening from the Farinograph and dough strength from the Alveograph showed the highest correlation coefficients with the protein composition. Influences of protein macro fraction of Croatian wheat varieties and influences of protein macro fraction of German wheat varieties on rheological parameters showed some differences.


The Empirical Green Function (EGF) technique, using the small earthquakes, recorded by a temporary seismological network, was applied to estimate the effect of the strong seismic motions, due to probable future great earthquakes in Tehran. The reconstruction of two earthquakes strongly felt in Tehran in the recent years, namely that of Changureh-Avaj (22/06/2002) and Kojour (28/05/2004) provide us the occasion to study the sensitivity of our simulations and to calibrate the considered parameters. Four reasonable scenarios, were considered, including the occurrence of a strong earthquake on the Mosha, North-Alborz and Garmsar faults. For these three faults, an earthquake of magnitude MW = 7.1 was simulated. For the last one, an event with magnitude MW = 7.6, corresponding to the historical earthquake reported for this fault was also considered.


This paper proposes a novel technique to minimize the switching activity of full-scan circuits during test application time. The basic idea is to identify an input control pattern (CP) for a full-scan circuit such that by applying the pattern to the primary inputs of the circuit during the scan operation, the switching activity in the combinational part can be reduced or even eliminated. A D-algorithm-like CP generator is developed to generate the CP. This input control technique can be utilized together with the existing vector ordering or latch ordering techniques. Experimental results show that the vector ordering and the latch ordering techniques can achieve 22.37% of average improvement by redoing the experiments in previous work using our test sets, while 34.23% average improvement can be achieved if the input control technique is employed after the latch ordering and vector ordering techniques.


Kola nuts are economic crops that play important roles in socio-economic and trado-religious life of the Nigerian people. Kola nut marketing is constrained by several factors. As a result, the study was conducted to understand the correlation among the variables affecting kola nut marketing in Ogun State, Nigeria. It was observed that the majority (96.7%) of the marketers were females; they were mostly between 40-59 years. This reflects that kola nut trading is done by older generations. The result showed that 57.1% of the respondents were secondary school leavers while 16.1% had primary education indicating that most of the respondents are literate and can adopt new technologies easily. Majority of the respondents indicated that weevils-Balanogastris kolae and Soprorhinus sp constitute major storage pests. 98.1% respondents observed annual losses between 1-20% while 1.9% observed about 60% losses due to weevil infestation. In order to forestall pest damage, 71.4% apply insecticides containing cypermethrin which is erroneously referred to as 'gammalin 20'. It was observed that the flow of information was predominantly between kola nut marketers with no interaction with extension agents. The correlation analysis showed an inverse relationship between the percentage level of infestation and the marketers experience at 5% level of probability. This implies that years of experience improve knowledge of weevil management. The use of insecticides for kola nut preservation should be discouraged as it is hazardous to health particularly since kola nut does not undergo secondary processing before consumption. It is apparent from the foregoing, that the marketers are dire need of extension services for dissemination of safe kola preservation practices.


Phosphofructokinase-2 was purified to homogeneity from chicken livers by homogeniza-tion, polyethylene glycol fractionation and column chromatography on DEAE-Sephadex A-50 and Blue-Sepharose 4B. Some properties of the enzyme were as follows: (i) The saturation curve of the enzyme for fructose 6-phosphate showed hyperbolic and the Km of fructose 6-phosphate was affected by inorganic phosphate while Vmax was not; (ii) the binding of ATP to the enzyme was of negative cooperativity with a Hill coefficient of 0.56; (iii) the activity of the enzyme was completely lost in the presence of EDTA. The enzyme was activated by Mg2+ at low concentrations, but inhibited by Mg2+ at high concentrations; (iv) the enzyme was stable below 30℃ and easily lost its activity when the temperature was above 40℃; (v) the activity of the enzyme was stable at the range of pH 7-9, increased at pH 9.0-9.5 and decreased when pH was over 9.5; (vi) the enzyme was sensitive to trypsin and ATP protected the enzyme against the proteolysis of trypsin.


Summary A new PT reagent based on recombinant human tissue factor and synthetic phospholipids (phosphatidyl choline and phosphatidyl serine) with defined fatty acid side chains was calibrated against BCT/253 and CRM 149R. A small but consistent bias in the International Sensitivity Index (ISI) value was obtained using either the human or rabbit brain reference material. ISI values were around 1.0 or slightly lower depending on the respective instrument. Mixing studies with factor deficient plasmas showed a high factor sensitivity especially for factor VII as compared to commercial rabbit brain or human placenta thromboplastin. In an international field trial the reagent was tested using fully or semi automated Electra™ coagulometers in 4 different laboratories. Results with normal samples were in excellent agreement among the different laboratories. Mean values were 10.9, 10.9, 11.0, 11,7 s with a range of 9.5 to 12.5 s. Results of males and females were not different. In patients with liver disease very similar PT activities were found as compared to sensitive rabbit brain or human placental thromboplastins. In normals and patients with oral anticoagulation INR values correlated very well against BCT (r = 0.98, regression line y =-0.07 + 0.9 x). The distribution of samples was linear over the whole range. In the comparison against sensitive rabbit brain thromboplastin or human placental thromboplastin similar correlations were found. In a few cases higher INR values were observed for the recombinant reagent especially in patients with intensive treatment. Factor assays in those patients showed at least the strong reduction of one vitamin Independent coagulation factor. Over all the linearity was better against the rabbit brain reagent than against the human placental reagent which is slightly less factor VII sensitive as shown in mixing studies with normal and factor VII deficient plasma. Precision studies in the 4 laboratories showed excellent reproducibility of lyophilised controls or local patient plasma pools for all reagents with a better performance of the recombinant reagent. C. V. values from day to day ranged from 1.3% to 5% for normal and abnormal controls. These results show that the recombinant PT reagent, especially in conjunction with a precise automated instrument, may improve the results of PT testing and thus may lead to better patient care.


There is now considerable evidence in social psychology, economics, and related disciplines that emotion plays an important role in negotiation. For example, humans make greater concessions in negotiation to an opposing human who expresses anger, and they make fewer concessions to an opponent who expresses happiness, compared to a no-emotion-expression control. However, in AI, despite the wide interest in negotiation as a means to resolve differences between agents and humans, emotion has been largely ignored. This paper explores whether expression of anger or happiness by computer agents, in a multi-issue negotiation task, can produce effects that resemble effects seen in human-human negotiation. The paper presents an experiment where participants play with agents that express emotions (anger vs. happiness vs. control) through different modalities (text vs. facial displays). An important distinction in our experiment is that participants are aware that they negotiate with computer agents. The data indicate that the emotion effects observed in past work with humans also occur in agent-human negotiation, and occur independently of modality of expression. The implications of these results are discussed for the fields of automated negotiation, intelligent virtual agents and artificial intelligence.


The main purpose of my thesis is to examine the processes and problems of risk governance within the functioning of a socio-technical system in a hierarchical organization. I explore the actual problems of operators of the Campus Security Report System and the solutions they deploy as different groups of people. The thesis examines the governance of risk-related events as found within people's daily life drawing on culture theory, risk society and risk management approaches, and attempts to evaluate the relationships between risk, risk management and organisational culture. The research starts from the exposition of risk management ideas, focused on the daily risks happening in schools precisely because they are 'everyday', often quite mundane, yet potentially posing as much organisational challenge as major disasters which can, quite literally, cause organisational collapse.
The thesis focuses not only on the concept of culture theory to explore the interaction of risk management existing across an organisational culture but also relies on the ideas of the Social Construction of Technology (SCOT) approach to explore the dynamic of managing daily risks in a hierarchical organisation. The main areas to focus on are:
• Explore how unpredictable risks are managed
• Examine the ways in which systems are modified in response to changing risk
• Examine the ways in which managers and users interact and how hierarchical and local cultural practices work together or in different directions
• Examine what are seen as hard to control risks and how these are reported
• Examine the play of groups and their interests in shaping the system and how problems are dealt with
• Examine the relationship between leaders/designers and users of the system and how this shapes the acceptability of risk.
My thesis suggests that if managers ignore the factor of culture to manage risk, even with the help of technology, they may not only experience the reduplication of risk but also create new risks for an organisation or managers once again. In order to avoid such unacceptable phenomena when governing risk one of the possible ways may be to rely on the functioning of SCOT as a process, this would probably effectively empower the socio-technical system's ability to manage risk in a more socially robust way in risk society.


The intersection of cultural heritage and State immunity raises intriguing questions of international law and policy. Indeed, as applied to cultural heritage property, State immunity may yield contradictory outcomes. On the one hand, it may bar access to justice by the rightful owners of cultural property bringing restitution claims against foreign States, thereby potentially interfering with the global interest in the suppression of the illicit trafficking of cultural objects. On the other hand, it may advance the international community's interest in transnational cultural cooperation and mobility of art collections, by shielding cultural heritage property from suits that are often times unrelated to restitution claims, such as suits arising from State breaches of investment obligations or violations of human rights. Since my earlier contribution on the law and practice concerning cultural heritage and State immunity ('Sovereign Immunity and the Enforcement of International Cultural Property Law', in F Francioni & J Gordley (eds), Enforcing International Cultural Heritage Law (OUP 2013) 79), a variety of developments have occurred. Law-making processes have been undertaken under the auspices of the Council of Europe and the International Law Association, as well as by a number of States. Several high-profile judicial disputes challenging State immunity for cultural property are still pending and others have arisen, especially in the context of the United States Nazi-looted art litigation. This chapter reviews such developments and seeks to identify trends and prospects. Section II examines State immunity from jurisdiction and the applicability of its exceptions to cases involving cultural property. Section III covers immunity from execution for State cultural property by focusing on the pertinent legal instruments and extensive practice in this area. It discusses the existence and scope of a customary rule of immunity from seizure for cultural heritage property, especially artworks on loan. A brief conclusion follows (section IV).


This article argues that contemporary syndromes of constitutional dysfunction do not solely stem from the failures of the controlling executive power. Rather, the tendency of chief executives' appropriation of power is largely due to the fact that the institutional logic of executive power makes them do so. To govern, the chief executive needs to run the government with power, either political or constitutional. These powers are not always enumerated in the constitution, but would still be regarded as constitutional. This paper argues that the idea of taming unenumerated executive powers by definite constitutional language and text is mostly futile. Drawing from recent cases of constitutional controversies in Japan, Taiwan, and Poland, this article suggests that unenumerated powers which cannot be checked by constitutional mechanisms are the cause of the expansion of executive primacy in constitutional democracies. Following the case studies, this article analyzes the nature and problems of unenumerated powers of the executive. Building on the taxonomy proposed by Louis Fisher, the article argues that unenumerated powers are analogous to the "implied powers" in Fisher's discussion. It must be affiliated with formal constitutional authority, but its scope would spontaneously expand if there were no sensible constraints on the use of unenumerated powers. Political actors take advantage of the fuzziness of unenumerated powers as a means of expanding their power. In democratic systems, the judicial branch is usually called upon to resolve boundary issues. As such, populist politicians often seek to control the court immediately after taking office, which in order to temper this threat, and ultimately this action contributes to the re-emergence of executive primacy. Cite as: Cheng-Yi Huang, Unenumerated Power and the Rise of Executive Primacy, 28 WASH. INT'L L.J. 395 (2019).


Abstract The primary aim of this work was to determine the interactions of an oxindole alkaloid (mitraphylline) isolated from Uncaria tomentosa with β-amyloid 1-40 (Aβ1-40 protein) applying the capillary electrophoresis (CE) method. Specifically the Hummel-Dreyer method and Scatchard analysis were performed to study the binding of oxindole alkaloids with Aβ1-40 protein. Prior to these studies extraction of the alkaloid of interest was carried out. Identification of the isolated alkaloid was performed by the use of thin-layer chromatography (TLC) and high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) combined with electrospray ionization mass spectrometry (ESI-MS). The proposed approach was proved to be an efficient and accurate method for specific compound isolation and identification purposes. Moreover, analytical information from the CE approach can be considered as the valuable tool for binding constant determination. The binding constant of mitraphylline with Aβ1-40 protein determined by the Hummel-Dreyer method and Scatchard analysis equals K = 9.95 x 105 m-1. The results obtained showed the significant binding of the tested compound with Aβ1-40 protein. These results are discussed and interpreted in the view of developing a strategy for identification of novel compounds of great importance in Alzheimer disease therapy.


Pollen of acacias is transported by insects as polyads, composite pollen grains. The polyad has enough pollen grains to fertilize all ovules within a flower and hence all seed within a pod may be full sibs. Isozyme markers were used to test this hypothesis in two populations of Acacia melanoxylon R.Br. The proportions of fruit pods with multiple paternity detected in two populations were 0.08 and 0.15. The proportions of fullsib pairs within pods estimated by the sibling pair method were 1 and 0.63 for the two populations. Comparison of the diploid paternal genotypes of pods of single paternity showed that the probability of a common pollen source for a pair of pods was high within globular clusters (0.35) or within inflorescences (0.46) but declined to 0.10 or 0.25 within the tree at random. Thus the reproductive system acted to reinforce a hierarchy of paternal correlation within each tree.


It's essential the Police force use their resources to the highest possible efficiency to ensure adequate service in the face of major funding cuts. Automation of the response officer selection process can improve efficiency by assisting in selecting the most appropriate response officer to attend an incident. Currently dispatchers are tasked with selecting the appropriate response officers to send to incidents. Often these dispatchers ask response officers who can attend rather than making an informed decision. This may not result in the most efficient officer being selected to attend an incident. Providing a software tool to assist in the decision making process will decrease uncertainty in the decision and hence increase the likelihood of the most efficient officer being selected to attend an incident. The selection considers response time, availability, area coverage, driving standard and traffic conditions. The tool incorporates mapping, routing and decision making.


Most of questions have the uncertainty and the illegibility. Taking account of the insufficiency of two value logic neuron, the paper puts forward three-valued logic neural network, based on the multiple correlation analysis, which have been successfully used in the bank risk assessment. The paper, firstly has constructed the multiple correlation model. Secondly, puts forward the three-valued logic neural network and explains its basic operations such as inference rules. Finally, combining of the bank risk assessment and using the multiple correlation analysis and has determined the evaluation index and constructed an assessment of the neural network model. The result indicates that this model can be used in three-valued connection rules to realize three-valued logic reasoning. This has provided one powerful method for the uncertainty knowledge's expression and the inference.


The permanent establishment (PE) has always been of interest in the field of international taxes in the taxation of profits of foreign enterprises in the source state. Over the years, the PE concept has undergone a number of changes. Their manifestation is reflected both from theoretical and practical perspective in connection with the variety of cases on this matter. Over the last years, the idea of digital PE has been subject of discussion both at worldwide and at European level. The current study analyzes the possibility of its introduction through the double tax treaties (DTTs) and the European Union law (EU law). In this regard, the measures undertaken in the legislation of different states are also examined.


The spectral line parameters of carbon dioxide have been measured in the laser band I (00011 ← 10001) centred at 10.4 μm. The spectra were recorded at room temperature using the spectroscopic instrumentation at the far-infrared beamline, Canadian Light Source, Saskatoon, Sask. The spectral line intensities, air- and self- broadened Lorentz half widths, and pressure-induced shift coefficients were retrieved for 48 spectral lines using a multispectrum fit technique (Benner et al. J. Quant. Spectrosc. Radiat. Transfer, 53, 705 (1995)). Line parameters were retrieved using the Voigt and speed-dependent Voigt models. The deviations between our results and other results reported in the literature and in the HITRAN08 (Rothman et al. J. Quant. Spectrosc. Radiat. Transfer, 110, 533 (2009)) database were examined and discussed. The effect of errors in fitting channel spectra parameters was examined and found to be mitigated by the inclusion of channels in the multispectral fit.


The role of Vitamin D hormone in human health and disease is still debated. Recently, growing attention has been paid to its putative role in cardiovascular system homeostasis with several studies that suggested a correlation between low vitamin D levels and increased cardiovascular risk. Several mechanisms are involved in the development of cardiovascular diseases: systemic inflammation, endothelial dysfunction, arterial hypertension and insulin resistance. In the present paper, we have revised the current literature supporting a role for vitamin D in the development of these pathogenetic processes. Finally, we have evaluated the current evidence linking vitamin D to atherosclerosis and its natural consequence, cardiovascular diseases.


The efficacy of cancer immunotherapy approaches can be significantly hampered by the tumor immune suppressive microenvironment. In the present study, a novel combinatorial strategy (i.e. metronomic chemotherapy plus vaccine) is evaluated in a mouse model in an aggressive therapeutic setting based on sub-cutaneous ectopic implantation of B16 melanoma cells. The chemotherapy is a multi-drug cocktail including taxanes and alkylating agents, administered in a daily metronomic fashion. The vaccine is a multi-peptide cocktail of universal tumor antigen hTERT epitopes adjuvanted in Montanide. Immunizations have been performed comparing a standard sub-cutaneous delivery with a laser-assisted epidermal immunogen delivery by P.L.E.A.S.E.™ Professional (Pantec Biosolutions). The latter, indeed, creates evenly distributed micropores through to the epidermis and provides a great opportunity to efficiently deliver vaccine antigens to Langerhans cells (LC) in the epidermis. An interim analysis shows that the immunogenicity as well as the therapeutic effect on tumor growth of the vaccine is significantly increased by the combination with metronomic chemotherapy, and the laser-assisted epidermal immunogen delivery appears to be a very effective strategy as vaccine delivery. Complete description of both immunogenicity and therapeutic effects on tumor growth will be described. Citation Format: Maria Tagliamonte, Annacarmen Petrizzo, Maria Lina Tornesello, Antonio Luciano, Domenica Rea, Antonio Barbieri, Claudio Arra, Maria Napolitano, Gennaro Ciliberto, Luigi Aurisicchio, Claudio Coscia, Tobias Baechle, Franco M. Buonaguro, Luigi Buonaguro. Evaluation of novel metronomic chemotherapy and cancer vaccine combinatorial strategy. [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the CRI-CIMT-EATI-AACR Inaugural International Cancer Immunotherapy Conference: Translating Science into Survival; September 16-19, 2015; New York, NY. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Immunol Res 2016;4(1 Suppl):Abstract nr B130.


The National Rehabilitation Hospital (NRH) is a tertiary level centre in Ireland providing complex specialist rehabilitation on a National scale. Waiting times for access to this centre are increasing in line with an increase in complexity for adults with an acquired brain injury. Current waiting times for those with a diagnosis of prolonged disorders of consciousness and challenging behaviour are over 12 months with little or no support at the acute or community level for patients waiting. Feedback from the acute setting seeking advice and support for patients waiting access to the NRH has resulted in a new role being developed with the aim of connecting and supporting local teams, patients and their families. A pre-admission outreach and liaison service has been developed which is currently filled by a senior neuro-physiotherapist. The role as it evolves primarily involves outreach and liaison visits to acute hospitals who are treating patients while they await access to the NRH.  A visit is triggered by clinicians looking for support and advice in managing complex needs of patients. Visits can also be triggered by Rehabilitation Medicine Consultants following triage of a referral. The outreach visits involve liaison face to face with treating teams, assessment of the patient, joint treatment sessions with the treating teams, meetings with families and outside agencies e.g. disability managers, community brain injury services. In some cases the brain injury liaison coordinator has performed assessments for wheelchairs and positioning equipment.  This has been triggered by the need to avoid the development of secondary complications like contracture in the absence of adequate equipment while awaiting access to the specialist centre. With increased communication between agencies it has allowed for a better understanding of the condition and what can be done while they await access to the tertiary centre.  With a face to face meeting in the acute setting it has allowed for explanations on what to expect in the patient journey.  It allows for a streamlined handover of advice and recommendations.  It offers prompts for teams to begin applications for medical cards, housing adaptations or funding for long term care as appropriate.  It also opens the channels for discussion about long term planning and the relevant brain injury services to engage. The role has allowed for earlier access to rehabilitation in current climate of increasing waiting times.  It is complex case management that is individualised and patient centred. In some cases in conjunction with community brain injury services and the acute hospitals an admission to the NRH has been deemed not appropriate for the individual as it is felt that their needs would be better met in the more meaningful and contextual environment of home with rehabilitation services coming in. Overall with increased communication along the whole continuum of care and engagement in long term planning it has been observed that family expectations and distress are being managed.  A new initiative is that the brain injury liaison coordinator has been meeting with the treating team and the family on admission to the NRH.


Around 170000 patients worldwide receive cardiac valve substitutes each year. Valve replacement with mechanical or bioprosthetic devices enhances patient survival and quality of life. Bioprosthetic valves have a significant advantage over mechanical valves: they do not necessarily require long-term anticoagulant therapy however, dystrophic calcification can lead to early failure. The actual mechanism of calcification is still poorly understood despite several established possible factors associated with it. Amongst these is the glutaraldehyde pre-treatment of the valves during their manufacture. Glutaraldehyde has been used for the treatment of bioprosthetic valves for the last thirty years, as a cross-linking agent and a sterilant. Whilst it is assumed to introduce stable inter- and intra-fibrillar collagen cross-links, which contribute to the durability of these valves, the specific chemistry of the fixation process is not fully understood. Additionally, glutaraldehyde is thought to be involved somehow in the process of dystrophic calcification of these same bioprosthetic valves. The primary aim of this study was to gain a greater understanding of the chemistry involved in the treatment of collagenous valve tissue with glutaraldehyde. Amino acids, peptides and proteins were thus used to mimic the effect of the glutaraldehyde treatment and to model potential reactions involved in such treatment. Techniques such as MALDI-TOF MS, ESI MS, NMR, FTIR-ATR and Raman spectroscopy were utilised to study the products of the glutaraldehyde reaction and their relationship with the calcification process. Data obtained from the products of the reactions between glutaraldehyde and model compounds showed the presence of: aldol and aldol/Michael condensation products of glutaraldehyde, Schiff base moieties (including cross-links) and various cyclisation products incorporating pyridinium and dihydropyridine ring structures. Some of these structures are in agreement with the literature, whilst others are essentially new structures that have never been proposed. Glutaric acid, used to mimic the oxidation of glutaraldehyde that can occur in-vivo, was shown to have the ability to form complexes with cations such as calcium in-vitro. A similar result was found with aqueous dilute solutions of glutaraldehyde (similar concentrations to the ones used in valve manufacture), thus leading to the hypothesis of its strong role in the initiation of calcification in-vivo. However, an extrapolation of these results to the role of the nucleophilic groups of amino acids or peptides, that could behave as the collagen macromolecule, was difficult to assess using FTIR because of the complex infrared spectra. However some findings corroborated the hypothesis that amino acids of the collagen tissue may also play a role in the initiation of calcification. Secondly, methodology was developed to allow successful analysis of tissue calcification using environmental scanning electron microscopy (ESEM). This is thought to be an important step in the analysis of tissues in their native state. Investigation of the calcification process with samples from clinical investigations (explanted human calcified valves), in-vivo screening (rat subcutaneous implantation model) and in-vitro screening (pericardial tissue incubated in metastable calcification solution) was thus undertaken using ESEM, along with other techniques such as FTIR-ATR, Raman, XRD spectroscopy and ICP-OES. The data revealed both similarities and differences between in-vivo and in-vitro calcification, although the process is unequivocally different. Late calcific deposits were assigned to poorly crystalline hydroxyapatite with high Ca/P ratios due to the probable presence of carbonate and possibly cations such as silicon and magnesium. A picture of the onset of mineralisation was hypothesised involving precursors, containing various amounts of calcium and phosphate, along with the incorporation of magnesium and silicon. These precursors phases evolved with time of implantation to the poorly crystalline form of hydroxyapatite found in the late stage of calcification. This work has provided an insight into how glutaraldehyde reacts with valve tissue and a possible explanation as to why valves fail by non-calcific or calcific mechanisms. A new approach to the study of calcified valve tissue has also been developed using ESEM methodology.


In connection with the current problem of college students' not very high learning efficiency, this research, based on feedback theory, aims to investigate the effects of Active Input and Active Output Learning Model on them. The author of the research has once done a four-month experiment on 36 first-year students of a certain university, the result shows that compared with the control class, the experimental class has a remarkable learning result. The research indicates that in the current non-immersion leaning environment, the active input and active output leaning method will not only help learners to form new acquisition of language, improve comprehensively their discourse behavior, but also to spur on learners to make use of all their resources to solve communicative problems. College students, who adopt such learning methods, show a higher enthusiasm and stronger confidence.


Gene flow among incipient species can act as a creative or destructive force in the speciation process, generating variation on which natural selection can act while, potentially, undermining population divergence. The flowering plant genus Carex exhibits a rapid and relatively recent radiation with many species limits still unclear. This is the case with the Iberian Peninsula (Spain and Portugal)‐endemic C. lucennoiberica, which lay unrecognized within Carex furva until its recent description as a new species. In this study, we test how these species were impacted by interspecific gene flow during speciation. We sampled the full range of distribution of C. furva (15 individuals sampled) and C. lucennoiberica (88 individuals), sequenced two cpDNA regions (atpI‐atpH, psbA‐trnH) and performed genomic sequencing of 45,100 SNPs using restriction site‐associated DNA sequencing (RAD‐seq). We utilized a set of partitioned D‐statistic tests and demographic analyses to study the degree and direction of introgression. Additionally, we modelled species distributions to reconstruct changes in range distribution during glacial and interglacial periods. Plastid, nuclear and morphological data strongly support divergence between species with subsequent gene flow. Combined with species distribution modelling, these data support a scenario of allopatry leading to species divergence, followed by secondary contact and gene flow due to long‐distance dispersal and/or range expansions and contractions in response to Quaternary glacial cycles. We conclude that this is a case of allopatric speciation despite historical secondary contacts, which could have temporally influenced the speciation process, contributing to the knowledge of forces that are driving or counteracting speciation.


Purpose: To evaluate higher-order aberrations (HOAs) and contrast sensitivity (CS), and investigate their relationship, after implantation of a phakic Artisan intraocular lens (IOL) for high myopia. Methods: A prospective study including 25 eyes of 15 patients with high myopia (greater than –8.00 D) who underwent phakic Artisan IOL implantation was carried out. Uncorrected visual acuity (UCVA), best corrected visual acuity, manifest refraction, and pupil diameter were measured at baseline and at 1 and 3 months postoperatively. HOAs were measured by Wavescan® (VISX Inc., Santa Clara, Calif., USA) from the 3.0 mm pupil entrance, and CS was measured using the VCTS® 6500 (Vistech consultants, Inc., Dayton, Ohio, USA) under photopic conditions. The area under the log contrast sensitivity function (AULCSF), defined as the integration of the fitted third order polynomial of the log CS units between the fixed limits of 0.18 (1.5 CPD) and 1.25 (18 CPD) on the log spatial frequency scale, was calculated. Results: UCVA LogMAR improved from 1.58 at baseline to 0.22 at 3 months, and spherical equivalent refraction was –0.77 ± 0.34 D at 3 months. The total HOAs had increased slightly at 1 month. CS had decreased significantly at all cycles per degree (p < 0.05) at 1 month, but returned to baseline values at 3 months. Postoperative AULCSF did not correlate with total HOAs under photopic conditions, but correlated with UCVA LogMAR at 1 month (p = 0.037). Conclusions: Phakic Artisan IOL implantation for the correction of high myopia resulted in a small increase of HOAs under photopic conditions. At 1 month, CS was decreased, but returned to baseline at 3 months under photopic conditions. Postoperative AULCSF did not correlate with total HOAs at 1 month.


Saturated hydraulic conductivity (Ks) is a fundamental soil property that regulates the fate of water in soils. Its measurement, however, is cumbersome and instead pedotransfer functions (PTFs) are routinely used to estimate it. Despite much progress over the years, the performance of current generic PTFs estimating Ks remains poor. Using machine learning, high‐performance computing, and a large database of over 18,000 soils, we developed new PTFs to predict Ks. We compared the performances of four machine learning algorithms and different predictor sets. We evaluated the relative importance of soil properties in explaining Ks. PTF models based on boosted regression tree algorithm produced the best models with root‐mean‐squared log‐transformed error in ranges of 0.4 to 0.3 (log10(cm/day)). The 10th percentile particle diameter (d10) was found to be the most important predictor followed by clay content, bulk density (ρb), and organic carbon content (C). The sensitivity of Ks to soil structure was investigated using ρb and C as proxies for soil structure. An inverse relationship was observed between ρb and Ks, with the highest sensitivity at around 1.8 g/cm3 for most textural classes. Soil C showed a complex relationship with Ks with an overall positive relation for fine‐textured and midtextured soils but an inverse relation for coarse‐textured soils. This study sought to maximize the extraction of information from a large database to develop generic machine learning‐based PTFs for estimating Ks. Models developed here have been made publicly available and can be readily used to predict Ks.


As it connects to a large set of important fundamental ideas in chemistry and analytical techniques discussed in high school chemistry curricula, we review the exploding flask demonstration. In this demonstration, methanol vapor is catalytically oxidized by a Pt wire catalyst in an open container. The exothermicity of reactions occurring at the catalytic surface heats the metal to the extent that it glows. When restricting reactant and product gas flow, conditions may favor repetitive occurrence of a small explosion. We show how mass spectrometry and infrared spectroscopy allow for unravelling the chemical background of this demonstration and discuss various ideas on how to use it in a classroom setting to engage students' critical thinking about chemical research. Along the way, we show that two commonly published ideas about the chemical background of this demonstration are incorrect, and we suggest simple tests that may be performed in a high school setting either as an addition to the demonstration or as a student research project.


Introduction Military sexual trauma (MST) is an ongoing problem. We used a 2002 population-based sample, followed up in 2018, to examine: (1) the prevalence of MST and non-MST in male and female currently serving members and veterans of the Canadian Armed Forces, and (2) demographic and military correlates of MST and non-MST. Methods Data came from the 2018 Canadian Armed Forces Members and Veterans Mental Health Follow-up Survey (n = 2,941, ages 33 years + ). Individuals endorsing sexual trauma were stratified into MST and non-MST and compared to individuals with no sexual trauma. The prevalence of lifetime MST was computed, and correlates of sexual trauma were examined using multinomial regression analyses. Results The overall prevalence of MST was 44.6% in females and 4.8% in males. Estimates were comparable between currently serving members and veterans. In adjusted models in both sexes, MST was more likely among younger individuals (i.e., 33–49 years), and MST and non-MST were more likely in those reporting more non-sexual traumatic events. Among females, MST and non-MST were more likely in those reporting lower household income, non-MST was less likely among Officers, and MST was more likely among those with a deployment history and serving in an air environment. Unwanted sexual touching by a Canadian military member or employee was the most prevalent type and context of MST. Interpretation A high prevalence of MST was observed in a follow-up sample of Canadian Armed Forces members and veterans. Results may inform further research as well as MST prevention efforts.


Background: Central induction policy is recently implemented for induction of doctors for post-graduation training based on their performance in MBBS, post-graduation entrance exam, house job, studying in public institute, work in periphery and research. Despite controversies this policy was implemented in May 2016 and no feedback was taken by the stakeholders. This discrepancy aroused the need for data collection to determine effectiveness of CIP in terms of PG perceptions.
Subjects and methods: An interview based qualitative study was conducted in four Tertiary care hospitals from 05 June 2018 to 30 November 2018. Request forms were randomly sent to 75 residents inducted through and before CIP. Total 39 residents participated in the study after giving consent. Interview questions were selected by the authors after detailed discussion. Each interview was heard thrice, manuscripts were prepared in the same words used by the participant. Manuscripts were discussed among the team members to identify themes. Depending upon themes questionnaire was designed and quantitative data was collected.
Results: Qualitative evaluation identified following major themes including policy being merit based allowing every candidate to get a fair chance of induction; financial security on all the slots and provision of qualified doctors at primary health care centers for the induction policy whereas issues with choice of specialty and place of work, delay in start of training due to various factors and discrepancy in special cases like wedlock, FMGs, authenticity of research papers were identified as demerits.
Conclusion: CIP is a good initiative and is acceptable due to its merit based policy and financial security however there is need to improve the standard and evaluation method of research and option for change of specialty.


This essay notes some of the key institutions created in the twentieth century for the purpose of delivering energy in North America. Those institutions are being challenged by a combination of stresses in three interconnected areas: reliability, economics, and environmental sustainability. The essay argues that these three stresses create an "energy trilemma" requiring institutional reform. We suggest that new and modified institutions can best be understood if we evaluate them along three dimensions: institutional scale, structure, and scope. We consider real-world examples of recent institutions in light of each of these dimensions and note both successes and concerns that those factors illuminate. We conclude by noting that some institutional changes will be organic and unplanned; but many others, including responses to climate change, will benefit from conscious attention to scale, structure, and scope by those engaged in designing and building the energy institutions needed in the twenty-first century.


The present technology does not permit the 7-μm CCD push broom optical sensor to image a region of 70 km. Therefore the IRS –1C satellite use three separate 4096 CCD push broom optical sensor resulting in three array images. Two different methods to ortho-rectify and mosaic the three IRS-1 array images are presented. Results using the CCRS modelling show an accuracy of about one pixel. Future research at CCRS to integrate the parameters of the three sensors in to a single geometric modelling should give better results (less than one pixel) with also less GCPs.


Objective – This study sought to determine the characteristics of research materials used by history students in preparing their master's theses. Of which information resources formats did such students make use, and in what proportions? What was the age distribution of resources used? What was the dispersal over journal titles and over subject classification, i.e., the degree of interdisciplinarity? To what extent did the master's students make use of non-English-language materials? To what extent did their institution's library hold the resources in question?

The investigator was especially interested in finding quantitative support for what he terms two "hypotheses." The first of these is that historical research depends to a high degree on monographs, journal articles being far less important to it than they are to research in, especially, the natural sciences and technology. The second is that the age distribution of resources important to historical research is much flatter and longer than that of resources upon which researchers in the natural sciences and technology rely.

Design – Citation analysis, supplemented with comprehensive catalogue searches.

Setting – Southern Connecticut State University (SCSU), a mid-sized public university located in New Haven, Connecticut, U.S.A.

Subjects – MA and MS theses (N=47) successfully submitted to the Department of History over the period from academic year 1998/1999 through academic year 2007/2008, inclusive.

Methods – The investigator initially identified the theses through a search of the online catalogue ("Consuls") of the Connecticut State University system, and retrieved all of them in either electronic or hard-copy form. He then subjected all citations (N=3,498) listed in the references sections of these theses to an examination in order to identify for each cited resource the format, the age, the language, and, in the case of scholarly journal articles, the journal of publication. He carried out bibliographic searches in order to rectify any citations which he had noted to be faulty or incomplete. The study took no account of possible additional citations in footnotes or endnotes or in the text, and did not measure citation intensity (whether, for instance, a thesis referred only once, or perhaps many times, to a given resource). Duplicates "were ignored." He furthermore performed systematic searches in Consuls and in the Library of Congress (LC) online catalogue in order to establish, insofar as possible, into which assigned LC Classification class each resource fell, and whether it belonged to the holdings of the SCSU library. "Holdings," as used here, includes physical resources owned, as well as those resources to which the library has licensed access. Not marked as either "held" or "not held" were: resources available online without restriction or charge, items not identified in either Consuls or the LC catalogue, and all government documents. Ages of cited resources were calculated based on the edition or version date actually given in a student's citation, without any consideration of a possible earlier date of the original version of the publication or document concerned.

Main Results – Format, age distribution, and journal frequency. The local citation analysis found that 53.2% of all cited resources were monographs, 7.8% were scholarly articles, 5.3% were contributed chapters in books, and 0.6% were dissertations or theses. Non-scholarly periodicals accounted for 15.7%, government documents for 6.7%, and freely available web documents for 4.1%. The remainder, approximately 6.5%, comprised archival papers, judicial documents, directories, interviews, posters, audiovisual materials, and 13 other formats. Cited resources, measured back from the date of acceptance of the citing thesis, ranged from 0 to 479 years old; the mode was 3 years, but the median was "25" (p. 170) or "26" (p. 177) years. Just over 70% (i.e., 2,500 cited resources) were more than ten years old. Almost one thousand of the cited resources were fifty or more years old. The 274 scholarly journal articles included in the references sections were spread over 153 distinct journal titles, of which 105 titles made only one appearance, and 136 titles three or fewer appearances. The mean was 1.8 appearances.

Subject dispersal and language. Of the 2,084 cited resources for which LC classification was locatable, 51.5% had a classification other than history, i.e., other than class C, D, E, or F. Nearly two thirds (66.0%) of the cited scholarly journal articles had appeared in journals with a focus other than history. (Note: table 4 is incorrect, precisely reversing the actual ratio.) Of all cited items, 98.5% were in the English language. Half (27) of the non-English-language resources cited were in Korean, all cited in the same thesis. Books (i.e., monographs plus compilations from which contributed chapters were cited) accounted for 87.0% of foreign-language citations. More than four fifths of the examined theses (83.0%) cited not a single non-English-language resource.

Local holdings. Of all 3,498 cited items, 3,022 could be coded as either "held" or "not held" by the SCSU library. Of the items so coded (not, as indicated on p. 180, of all cited items), scarcely two fifths (41.0%) belonged to the library's holdings. The holdings percentage was highest (72.6%) for the 274 scholarly journal articles cited, followed by the 186 contributed chapters (50.0%), the 550 non-scholarly periodical items (49.5%), and the 1,861 monographs (46.8%). For other cited formats, the percentage was much lower, and in some cases, e.g., for the 55 archival and the 44 judicial documents, it was 0.0%. Of the 54 foreign-language resources cited, the institution's library held only two.

Conclusion – The investigator concludes that his study's findings do indeed lend quantitative support to his two "hypotheses." This outcome will surprise few, if any, librarians; it is in accord with what Koenig (1978) long ago saw as a matter of "intuition" and "all conventional wisdom," something that many subsequent studies have confirmed. Sherriff accordingly recommends, firstly, that collections which strive to support historical research should, in matters of acquisition policy and budget allocation, take serious account of that field's relatively strong dependence on monographs. Secondly, the data on age distribution carry obvious implications for librarians' decision-making on matters such as de-accessioning and weeding, relegation to remote storage, and retrospective acquisitions. This finding should also be considered, for instance, in connection with preservation policy and the maintaining of special collections. He even suggests that librarians "need to teach students the value of reviewing literature historically and showing them how to do so effectively" (p. 177).

Sherriff considers a number of further (tentative) conclusions to be warranted or suggested by the results of this study. First of all, that historical research is now characteristically an interdisciplinary matter, in the sense that it requires extensive access to information resources, including journals, which libraries have traditionally not classified as belonging to the discipline of history itself. For a library supporting such research, this phenomenon "has implications for matters including collection budgets, reference work, bibliographic instruction, and the location of collections and departmental libraries" (p. 168). It also means "that librarians working with history students and history collections need to be aware of the relevant resources in other disciplines. This can improve reference work, research assistance, and bibliographic instruction; it may also help the coordination of acquisitions across departmental lines" (p. 179). Secondly, one may conclude that "there is no 'core' collection of journals for history" (p. 178) which will be able to satisfy a large proportion of master's students' research needs. Thirdly, the fact that a library such as SCSU's holds significantly less than half of what master's students require for preparing their theses "may exercise a narrowing effect on students' awareness of the existing literature on their topics" (p. 180), "increases the importance of departmental faculty, reference librarians, and subject specialist librarians drawing students' attention to resources beyond the library's catalogues and collections" (p. 180), and requires that the library give serious attention to effective document delivery arrangements. Finally, this study's finding that only a small percentage of master's students in history made use of non-English-language materials, but then in certain cases used them rather extensively (27 Korean items cited in one thesis, ten Italian in another, nine Spanish in yet another), suggests that acquisition, or at least proactive acquisition, of such materials needn't be a priority, as long as, once again, the students concerned have easy access to efficient and affordable document delivery services. Sherriff does concede, however, that his finding could indicate "that students are unaware of relevant resources in other languages or are aware of them but lack the language skills necessary to use them" (p. 179).


Background/Aims The aim of this study was to investigate poor prognostic factors associated with a near-fatal asthma attack following patient recovery. Methods We enrolled 68 patients who suffered near-fatal asthma attacks and were admitted to the intensive care units of five university hospitals. The patients were divided into two groups. The first group was comprised of patients who discontinued oral corticosteroids within 6 months after being discharged from the hospital and who maintained a forced expiratory volume in 1 s (FEV1) ≥60% of the maximum or estimated values of the corresponding patients. The second group included patients who continued on oral corticosteroids for ≥6 months or who maintained a FEV1 <60%. Results In patients with near-fatal asthma, factors for a poor prognosis included older age [48.47±3.53 vs. 64.69±2.59 years, p<0.05], chronic severe asthma, high values for inflammation-related laboratory markers (ESR, 8.75±2.05 vs. 23.88±4.40 mm/h, p=0.004; CRP, 1.72±0.46 vs. 6.68±9.36 mg/dL, p<0.05), asthma exacerbated by pneumonia (28.1 vs. 52.8%, p<0.05), and relatively low nutritional status (albumin, 4.00±0.14 vs. 3.51±0.10 g/dL, p<0.05). Conclusions These prognostic factors may induce irreversible obstruction of the airways with subsequent acute exacerbation of asthma or the need for continual oral corticosteroids after being discharged from the hospital. Patients with these factors should be treated appropriately, under close surveillance.


We have examined basal and lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-induced release of epidermal growth factor (EGF), granulocyte-macrophage colony-stimulating factor (GM-CSF), growth-regulated peptide alpha (GRO alpha), leukaemia inhibitory factor (LIF), macrophage inflammatory protein-1a (MIP-1 alpha) and platelet-derived growth factor-AB (PDGF-AB) in peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC) from 20 persons with either high (n = 10) or low (n = 10) levels of high-density lipoprotein (HDL). PBMC were incubated with 100 ng LPS/ml for up to 160 h, and showed a significantly higher release of the chemokines GRO alpha (P = 0.04) and MIP-1 alpha (P < 0.01) in persons with high HDL, whereas levels of GM-CSF were similar. Levels of EGF, LIF and PDGF-AB were always low, and remained unaltered during 160 h of incubation. These findings indicate that PBMC from persons with high or low levels of HDL have different functional properties, of importance in cell recruitment and activation.


The local vibration of a bridge under moving train is the source of low frequency noise radiated from the structure. Local vibration of bridges has not been widely studied compared to global vibration that leads to serviceability and safety problems. The local vibration of an urban rail transit U-shaped girder is simulated with the proposed mode superposition based train-track-bridge dynamic interaction model. The computed local acceleration responses under various train speeds are then verified by those obtained from field test, in terms of time-histories, spectra, peak-to-peak values and root mean square (RMS) values. It is founded that the main frequencies of the local acceleration of this girder are below 100 Hz. The proposed method and the computed local vibration could be further applied to predict the bridge-borne noise.