INTRODUCTION: Malaria continues to be endemic despite several efforts for its eradication.. The persistence and increase of both incidence and mortality rates over the years was as because of ineffective, failing Chloroquine, Amodiaquine and Sulphadoxine Pyrimethamine monotherapies led to the implementation of Artemisinin Combination Therapies (ACTs) by the WHO. Though proven to be very effective, resistances were documented across South East Asia. Clinical trials have shed more light on the existence of poor treatment outcome despite efficient ACT treatment. They revealed that individuals could either be slow, intermediate or fast metabolizers due to diverse genetic status. This genetic diversity causes large variability in the pharmacokinetic profiles of many antimalarial drugs and varied concentrations of antimalarial drugs in plasma leading to either sub-optimal or optimal effectiveness in some patients. Some drug metabolising enzymes, predominantly cytochrome P450 (termed oxidative) and NAT2 (N-acetyl transferase 2) (termed conjugative) enzymes, contribute to drug response and hence treatment outcomes. CYP2C8 of the human CYP2C subfamily is mainly responsible for the metabolism of the antimalarial Amodiaquine which is now commonly used as a selective marker activity. Any genetic polymorphisms involving CYP2C8 and NAT2 tends to affect drug metabolism leading to individuals either being slow, intermediate or fast metabolisers.

OBJECTIVE: To determine CYPC28 and NAT2 mutations clustering with treatment outcome.

METHODS: Archival samples from 72 patients in Mutengene with parent-given consent, all respecting the inclusion criteria were enrolled for the study. They were randomly treated with
Arthemeter Lumefantrine, Dihydroartemisinin piperaquine and Artesunate-Amodiaquine for 3days, then followed up for 28 days to assess treatment outcomes. Blood samples from all patients were collected and stored on filter paper from which DNA was extracted using the Chelex method. The DNA extracts were used during PCR- RFLP with restriction enzymes BClI for the detection of single nucleotide polymorphisms in the CYP2C8 gene and BamHI, KpnI and TaqI for the detection of single nucleotide polymorphisms in the NAT2 gene, notably; NAT2*5, NAT2*7, and NAT2*6, respectively. Data collected was analysed using International Business Machine Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) version 20. A p-value of 0.05 was set as the threshold for statistical significance with a confidence interval of 95%.

RESULTS: Concerning NAT2 the most prevalent genotype was NAT2*5/6, accounting for 22.20% and slow phenotype (48.61%) being the predominant paramount phenotype in Mutengene. The different treatment outcomes encountered were; early treatment failure and adequate clinical and parasitological response. Fast metabolisers were much more liable to suffer from early treatment failure (OR=3.358; P-value=0.276) with respect to slow metabolizers. Slow metabolisers were more liable to develop adverse events (OR=2.800; P-value=0.54). CYP2C8*1/1 was the most prevalent genotype (75%), fast metabolisers being the predominant phenotype. Fast metabolisers were more liable to succumb to early treatment failure (OR= 0.951; P-value=0.603). Slow metabolisers were more liable to ACPR (OR=1.918; P-value=0.279). The fast metabolisers were more prone to adverse drug events (OR= 0.951; P-value=0.603).

CONCLUSION: CYP2C8*1/1 was the most prevalent genotype, fast metabolisers were more likely to have early treatment failure as well as presenting adverse drug events. NAT2*5/6 was the most common NAT2genotype. Fast metabolisers are prone to have early treatment failure. Slow metabolisers were liable to ACPR and adverse drug events.


Correspondence: Xiaoxiang Guan Department of Medical Oncology, Jinling Hospital, Nanjing University School of Medicine, 305 East Zhongshan Road, Nanjing, Jiangsu Province 210002, People's Republic of China Tel +86 25 8086 0072 Fax +86 25 8086 1166 Email firstname.lastname@example.com Background: Prohibitin 3′ untranslated region 1630 C.T (rs6917) polymorphism creates a variant T allele that lacks the antiproliferative activity of the more common functional C allele. Previous studies indicate that women carrying the prohibitin T allele have an increased susceptibility to breast cancer. However, the role of 1630 C.T polymorphism in mRNA expression of prohibitin and its contribution to carcinogenesis in the breast remains controversial. Methods: Using mRNA expression data from the HapMap online database, we sought an association between prohibitin 1630 C.T polymorphism and its mRNA expression, then conducted a meta-analysis of prohibitin 1630 C.T polymorphism and risk of breast cancer. Results: Although no significant association was found between prohibitin 1630 C.T polymorphism and mRNA expression in lymphoblastoid cell lines from the HapMap database (P trend = 0.543), the present meta-analysis involving 5072 cases and 4796 controls demonstrated that prohibitin 1630 C.T polymorphism was significantly correlated with breast cancer risk in allele contrast model T versus C (odds ratio [OR] 1.09, 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.01–1.18), the homozygote codominant model TT versus CC (OR 1.47, 95% CI 1.12–1.92), and the recessive model TT versus CC/CT (OR 1.45, 95% CI 1.10–1.89). Conclusion: Our study indicates that minor allele T of prohibitin 1630 C.T polymorphism is associated with increased susceptibility to breast cancer.


Older women who, even if they do receive Social Security benefits, are still eligible for Supplemental Security Income payments are certainly among the most vulnerable segments of our society. At the end of 1996, there were more than 1.5 million such women aged 65 or older who were receiving SSI payments. It is likely that these women have been poor for much of their lives, as they appear to become eligible for SSI before or close to their 65th birthday. These women represent 23 percent of the SSI caseload, and 8 percent of all women aged 65 or older in the country; almost one-third are aged 80 or older. In addition to the health limitations that accompany increasing age, about a third of these women appear to have been blind or severely disabled for many years, and had been receiving SSI even before they reached age 65. Their SSI payments averaged $237 per month ($137 if they also received Social Security, $394 if they did not). Sixty-three percent of the SSI population who were women aged 65 or older were also getting a Social Security benefit averaging $356 per month, but other than Social Security, they had almost no cash income. A few of these women were institutionalized, and almost 1 out of five reported owning their own home. Approximately half lived alone, and another 20 percent lived with only one other person. Of women aged 65 or older receiving SSI payments, 1 in 5 was not a U.S. citizen, and this group was even less likely to have Social Security benefits, or any other cash income. As a result, their SSI payments were higher. Data are not yet available to judge the impact of the complex series of changes made to SSI eligibility for noncitizens by legislation enacted in 1996 and 1997.


This article clarifies the relationship between the work of Lon Fuller and the natural law tradition in jurisprudence through a critical engagement with Kristen Rundle's book, Forms Liberate: Reclaiming the Jurisprudence of Lon L Fuller (Hart, 2012). I argue that Fuller's theory engages squarely with the central concern of natural law thought: namely, the idea of law as a rational standard. However, Fuller fails to recognise the full implications of his theory for the role of moral factors in determining legal validity.


Intravenous administration of sodium bicarbonate was first used in the treatment of diabetic ketosis in 1886 1 ; although it has been a recognized procedure in most clinics for the ensuing fifty-five years, there is even yet little agreement as to its efficacy. Of the various reasons for this discrepancy, one is most apparent. So many different prognostic and therapeutic factors influence the outcome of the disease that evaluation of any single procedure, such as administration of sodium bicarbonate, is rendered difficult. The purpose of this paper is twofold, to discuss the effect of intravenous administration of sodium bicarbonate on blood sugar, carbon dioxide—combining power and ketones in the blood and urine during the treatment of diabetic ketosis and to report the effect of sodium bicarbonate therapy on coma mortality in 154 cases of ketosis, which were classified in five groups according to severity of the condition. Not all of the


Abstract Appearing in this issue of the Journal of Physical Oceanography are three papers that present new observations of a distinct, narrow band, and diurnally varying signal in temperature records obtained in the low Richardson number shear flow above the core of the equatorial undercurrent. Moored data suggest that the intrinsic frequency of the signal is near the local buoyancy frequency, while towed data indicate that the horizontal wavelength in the zonal direction is 150–250 m. Coincident microstructure profiling shows that this signal is associated with bursts of turbulent mixing, it seems that this narrowband signal represents the signature of instabilities that ultimately cause the turbulence observed in the equatorial thermocline. Common problems in interpreting the physics behind the signature are discussed here.


Variances in the patients' outcomes have been a well-documented challenge in anticoagulant therapy. A clinical encounter with a thromboembolic or a hemorrhagic event, due to subtherapeutic or adverse effects of an anticoagulant, is often managed by switching the anticoagulant agent into another, which is more specific and direct-acting. This management approach is usually associated with a financial burden. Additionally, the certainty of achieving better efficacy and safety profile is still questionable. Genetic variants affecting the protein sites that are involved in the anticoagulant pharmacokinetic and pharmacodynamics interactions have been suggested to contribute to the variability in the response to anticoagulant therapy. The current work reviewed the studies investigating the response variability associated with the anticoagulant therapy (heparins, rivaroxaban, apixaban, and dabigatran) and the potential pharmacogenes contributing to such response variability. Several genetic polymorphisms were reported as potential contributors to variances in response to anticoagulant therapy and were associated with adverse events. A link has been proposed for heparin resistance with single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) of the anti-thrombin-encoding gene (SERPINC1) as well as heparin-induced thrombocytopenia with human leukocyte antigen (HLA) variant allele (HLA-DRB3FNx0101:01). Several investigations also remarked variations in the serum drug level of direct oral anticoagulants (DOACs) that are associated with SNPs in the proteins contributing to the pharmacokinetics of the anticoagulant agent. Several studies discerned significant associations between SNPs in the ABCB1 gene and elevations in the serum levels of rivaroxaban, apixaban, and dabigatran. Moreover, carriers of the variant genotype of the SNP (rs776746) in the cytochrome P450 3A5 enzyme-encoding gene (CYP3A5) had significantly higher drug levels when compared with the non-carriers. In contrast, some SNPs were reported to impart a protective phenotype to the carrier. The SNP (rs2244613) in the carboxylesterase-encoding gene (CES1) has been significantly associated with a decline in dabigatran trough levels and a lower risk of hemorrhage. Further investigations are essential to elucidate the extent of pharmacogenetics-based alterations in the drug levels as well as the subsequent clinical outcomes of anticoagulant therapy.


Studies have been conducted to investigate the factors affecting perceived stress in pregnancy and to identify attempts to reduce it. However, it has been determined that there is a gap in the literature on the studies conducted to determine the effects of stress on the ability to use self-care.Aim:This study was to assess the effect of the developmental stress perceived by pregnant admitted to outpatient clinics on their "self-care agency". Sample: The data were collected from the pregnant women who presented to the pregnancy outpatient clinics of three hospitals in Turkey. The study sample included 1022 pregnant women. Tools:The data were collected with the Socio-demographic Questionnaire, Perceived Stress Scale and Exercise of Self-Care Agency Scale. In the analysis of the data, the SPSS program. Permissions needed to perform the study were obtained. Results:The mean total score from the Perceived Stress Scale was 25.89±6.70 and from the Exercise of Self-Care Agency Scale was 103.57±19.35. There was a significant negative difference between the mean total Perceived Stress Scale score and the mean total Exercises of Self-Care Agency Scale score. Conclusion: It was determined that the perceived stress of the pregnant women affected their self-care agency and that the self-care agency decreased as stress increased. Recommendation: Clinical nurses should support pregnant women to reduce perceived stress and increase self-care. Obstetric and psychiatric nurses should cooperate in the care of pregnant patients Keywords : Perceived developmental stress, perceived stress, self-care agency, pregnancy. DOI : 10.7176/JHMN/59-07


The properties of the relativistically broadened Fe K line emitted in Active Galactic Nuclei (AGN) are still debated among the AGN community. Recent works seem to exclude that the broad Fe line is a common feature of AGN. The analysis of a large sample composed by 157 XMM-Newton archival observations of radio quiet AGN is presented here. This ongoing project is a development of the work reported in Guainazzi et al. (2006).


This work addresses the problem of pricing American basket options in a multivariate setting, which includes among others, the Bachelier and Black–Scholes models. In high dimensions, nonlinear PDE methods for solving the problem become prohibitively costly due to the curse of dimensionality. Instead, this work proposes to use a stopping rule that depends on the dynamics of a low-dimensional Markovian projection of the given basket of assets. From a numerical analysis point of view, we split the given non-smooth high-dimensional problem into two subproblems, namely one dealing with a smooth high-dimensionality integration in the parameter space and the other dealing with a low-dimensional, non-smooth optimal stopping problem in the projected state space. Assuming that we know the density of the forward process and using the Laplace approximation, we first efficiently evaluate the diffusion coefficient corresponding to the low-dimensional Markovian projection of the basket. Then, we approximate the optimal early exercise boundary of the option by solving an HJB PDE in the projected, low-dimensional space. The resulting near-optimal early exercise boundary is used to produce an exercise strategy for the high-dimensional option, thereby providing a lower bound for the price of the American basket option. A corresponding upper bound is also provided. These bounds allow one to assess the accuracy of the proposed pricing method. Indeed, our approximate early exercise strategy provides a straightforward lower bound for the American basket option price. Following a duality argument due to Rogers, we derive a corresponding upper bound solving only the low-dimensional optimal control problem. Numerically, we show the feasibility of the method using baskets with dimensions up to 50. In these examples, the resulting option price relative errors are only of the order of few percent.


The application of various coatings on traditional material substrata (e.g. metal alloys) is a well established technology used to modify surface characteristics/performances of various components in technical systems exposed to adverse conditions, e.g. corrosive environment, high temperature, erosion and/or wear, etc. [1… 10]. Coatings can also provide a desired (mostly low) friction coefficient between solids forming various tribological systems. In recent years there has been a particular increase in interest in carbon-based coatings, either crystaline (diamond or graphite) or amorphous. This applies especially to amorphous carbon with high content of sp3 bonds characteristic of the diamond - known as DLC (diamond-like carbon). This coating can be "pure" form of DLC, if it contains only sp3 bonded carbon, but may also contain other elements and crystalline structures; Hydrogen, carbon with the "graphite" sp2 bonds, metals and/or other modifiers, which can provide the required specific properties of the coating and reduce the cost of production.


The reclaimed rubber was used for many fields, but the mechanical properties especially elongation at break of reclaimed rubber couldn't meet the requirement due to its recycle property. It was proved that the wollastonite with fibrous structure could improve the mechanical properties in many composite. In this study, the reclaimed rubber modified by wollastonite was prepared by the mechanical agitation and open roll mixing methods. The composite was characterized and tested after the renewed vulcanization, and the mechanical properties could be improved. It was observed from experimental data that the elongation at break could enhance from 238% to 300%. Moreover, the tensile strength could increase to some extent.


The public telephone network (PTN) and Internet are two large and complex networked information systems (NISs). The PTN and the Internet shed light on the technical problems faced by the developers and operators of other NISs. In some ways, the two networks are very similar. No single entity owns, manages, or can even have a complete picture of either. Both networks involve large numbers of subsystems operated by different organizations. The number and intricate nature of the interfaces that exist at the boundaries of these subsystems are one source of complexity; the increasing popularity of advanced services is a second source. This article discusses vulnerabilities in the PTN and Internet, identifying ways new research might help to eliminate those vulnerabilities.


Abstract. The metal casting industry discharges huge volumes of waste foundry sand yearly. It was estimated to be 250 thousand tons of spent silica foundry sand for the existing 200 casting facilities in South Africa. Even though, establish documents exist in regards to the foundry sand composition, few well documented theories are available in regards to changes or mutations taking place after casting process. Four waste silica casting sands were qualitatively analyzed for they mineralogical phases composition using the X-ray diffraction (XRD). The investigation was conducted on various waste casting sand alloy including aluminum, cast iron, high chrome and steel. The result revealed a significant compositional difference related to the molding binder and casting temperature. Different silica phase's polymorph, related to the various alloy casting temperature, were observed in waste sand samples. Theses phases included alpha quartz, tridymite, and alpha cristobelite. The molding binder favored the crystalisation of bentonite related mineral such as periclase, microcline and wustite, within the greensand system. The chemically bonded sand exposed the presence of anorthite as the only existing mineralized phase in the resin sand. The mineralogical content of the waste foundry sand provides information on the molding binder used. In addition to that, silica polymorph it informs about the pouring temperature related to the cast alloy.


DCAF4L2 is a member of WD-repeat proteins, which commonly serve as mediators of protein-protein interplay. In this study, we reported that elevated DCAF4L2 expression in human colorectal cancer (CRC) significantly correlated with a more advanced clinical stage as in lymphatic and distant metastasis. More importantly, elevated DCAF4L2 expression is an independent prognosis factor for survival. Genetic perturbations demonstrated that DCAF4L2 overexpression in CRC cells promoted cell migration and invasion, whereas knockdown of which had opposing effects. Moreover we discovered that DCAF4L2 overexpression could promote epithelial-mesenchymaltransition (EMT) through activating NFκB signal pathway. Mass spectrometry analysis showed that DCAF4L2 could form an E3 ligase complex with Cul4A and DDB1 thus mediated degradation of PPM1B, which has been reported to negatively regulate NFκB signaling. We identified PPM1B as a substrate of Cul4A-DDB1-DCAF4L2 E3 ligase complex, as knockdown of PPM1B abrogated shDCAF4L2 mediated inhibition of cell invasion in CRC cells. For further verification, DCAF4L2 expression inversely correlated with PPM1B expression in a cohort of 87 CRC patients. These findings may provide insight into the understanding of DCAF4L2 as a novel critical factor and a candidate target for CRC treatment.


This paper presents an original typology of diaspora engagement policies intended to facilitate comparative research. The typology is arises from a two part argument: a) that diaspora engagement policies consist of a diversity of measures aimed at (re)producing citizen-sovereign relationships with expatriates, and b) that these measures can be coordinated as part of states' attempts to manage the scale of their political and economic manoeuvres. By using the typology to systematically review the diaspora engagement policies of over 70 states, the paper questions four key assumptions in existing literature on diaspora engagement policies, establishing that they are compatible with two models of citizenship, and arguing that they are not confined to any one kind of state.


Background: Stroke is one of the highest causes of morbidity and mortality in the world. The incidence rate of ischemic stroke is about 80% of all stroke incidents. The use of recombinant tissue plasminogen activator (rtPA) is recommended under 4.5 hours of stroke onset. Stroke in young adults are reported as being uncommon, compromising 10% -15% of all stroke patients. Many studies were reported the most common risk factor in young adults were obesity and dyslipidemia. This case report will discuss a 33-year-old men with ischemic stroke with obesity and dyslipidemia treated at dr. Kariadi Hospital Semarang. Case presentation: A 33-year old obese man with left-sided hemiparesis and central facial nerve palsy with an onset of 1 hour. On laboratory examination, it was obtained total cholesterol 179mg/dL, LDL level 123mg/dL, and HDL level 39mg/dL. The protocol code stroke was performed in emergency room with alteplase (r-TPA) 0.6 mg/kgBW, after his head MSCT shows there was no sign of blood in the brain parenchym. Conclusion: The increased risk of ischemic stroke in young patients is due to dyslipidemia, hypertension, obesity, physical inactivity, and smoking. Treatment of the hyperacute phase of ischemic stroke with thrombolysis can reduce the outcome of stroke due to the disability.


The aim of the present study was to examine to what degree different mechanisms of moral disengagement were related to age, gender, bullying, and defending among school children. Three hundred and seventy-two Swedish children ranging in age from 10 to 14 years completed a questionnaire. Findings revealed that boys expressed significantly higher levels of moral justification, euphemistic labeling, diffusion of responsibility, distorting consequences, and victim attribution, as compared with girls. Whereas boys bullied others significantly more often than girls, age was unrelated to bullying. Moral justification and victim attribution were the only dimensions of moral disengagement that significantly related to bullying. Furthermore, younger children and girls were more likely to defend victims. Diffusion of responsibility and victim attribution were significantly and negatively related to defending, while the other dimensions of moral disengagement were unrelated to defending.


Ten volunteers, previously sensitized to Costus Absolute, were exposed to 26 sesquiterpene lactones applied in concentrations of 1% in petrolatum, and seven of the ten men were additionally tested with several plant extracts known to contain sesquiterpene lactones. Eight of the ten volunteers had cross reactions with two or more of the purified chemicals, most notably with 8-deoxycumambrin, arbusculin C, arbusculin A, rothin A, and damsin. These chemicals are structurally related to lactones of Costus, and it seems likely that the major contact sensitizers in Costus are, in fact, sesquiterpene lactones. This view is supported by the positive reactions seen to some of the Compositae plant extracts. Further study is required to determine if plant and perfume dermatitis have a common clinical interrelationship based on sesquiterpene lactone cross-sensitivity.


Systemic medications may reach the cornea via the tear film, aqueous humor, and limbal vasculature. The corneal changes are often the result of the underlying chemical properties of medications. Amphiphilic medications (Amiodarone, chloroquine, suramin, clofazimine, etc.) may produce a drug-induced lipidosis and development of a vortex keratopathy. it is thought that shearing force of upper lid, which is maximal at apex of cornea results in preferential loss of epithelial cells at the corneal apex acting as a stimulus for the centripetal movement of cells from limbus to central cornea The area with the radiating lines of vortex pattern concentrate just below the limit of excursion of upper lid. Any line, dot or spot on cornea needs to be examined thoroughly not to be overlooked. Vortex keratopathy also stresses the importance of scanning for accumulation of such drugs in other organs. The physician who has initiated the drug regime needs to informed about potential deposition of such drugs in other body systems. We hereby intend to report a case of clofazimine induced cornea verticillata.


Lepidodactylus lugubris, often cited as an exception to the rule that vertebrate parthenogenetic species must arise via hybridization of two sexual species, is shown to be of hybrid origin. Using karyotypes, sequences of the cytochrome-b gene, and protein electrophoresis we have shown that the maternal ancestor is the recently rediscovered species L. moestus from Micronesia; the paternal ancestor is an undescribed species whose range extends from French Polynesia to the Marshall Islands. Lack of sequence divergence between some individuals of L. lugubris and L. moestus suggests that independent clone production through hybridization of the sexual ancestors is probably recent, ongoing and has occurred several times. The only known location where both parental species and L. lugubris are sympatric is Arno Atoll (Marshall Islands). Field and museum surveys of over 10000 individual geckos establish that previously reported sexual populations of L. lugubris are misidentified and in fact are either the sexual parental species, other undescribed sexual species, or rare developmentally abnormal males.


Two ideal lithologic sections representing a tidal bar system and a fluvial complex were drawn in order to run seismic modeling programs developed by OGS on behalf of the European Community. The simulations allowed an accurate analysis of the seismic expressions of the two sections. The tidal bar system is formed by a number of sandstone lenses interlayered with siltstone and mudstone deposits. These lenses meet together on an erosion surface, while they thin and vanish in the other direction. The fluvial complex is fonned by a limestone basement overlain by coarse alluvial plain sediments which in turn are transgressed by finer flood plain sediments, including sandstone lenses stacking towards the top in a meandering belt. These lithofacies associations represent potential multi-pool reservoirs in which the mudstone layers constitute the plugs. As a function of the granulometric and depositional features of each lithological unit, together with fluid content, wave velocities and densities were evaluated. A 2D modeling for elastic plane wave propagation in these hypothesized geologic sections was run on a Cray supercomputer. The numerical scheme is based on solving the full wave equation by pseudospectral methods.


BACKGROUND
 At present, there are many clinical markers and models to assess ovarian reserve, but none of them are ideal. The number of clinical samples is a key factor limiting the specificity and sensitivity of the markers and models, and traditional methods of subject recruitment are time and vigor. In addition, the model of ovarian reserve assessment for Chinese women need to be further explored.

 OBJECTIVE
 To explore the possibility of self-reporting for subjects through the WeChat mini program, and provide more data support for further optimization of the OvAge model, and to develop a predictive model of ovarian reserve that is specific to Chinese women.

 METHODS
 In this paper, with reference to the existing OvAge model, we developed an online OvAge calculator based on the WeChat mini program for data collection, and then applied the generalized linear model theory to obtain a predictive model of ovarian reserve which is in line with the characteristics of Chinese women.

 RESULTS
 Compared to traditional recruiting methods, the online OvAge calculator is able to collect a large number of samples in a short period of time, which is efficient and convenient. Optimized model of estimated OvAge =exp (3.5254-0.001*PRL-0.0231*AMH). This model showed a high statistical significance for each marker included in the equation. We applied the final equation on diminished ovarian reserve and polycystic ovary syndrome datasets and obtained a mean of predicted ovarian age significantly different from the mean of chronological age in both groups.

 CONCLUSIONS
 The OvAge calculator based on the WeChat mini program is a novel online subject self-reporting system that can collect many samples in a short period of time, continuously optimize the model and update the mini program version, which is economical, time-saving and efficient., and is worthy of promotion. In addition, the optimized OvAge model is suitable for Chinese women and provides a reference for clinical assessment of ovarian reserve.

 CLINICALTRIAL
 The study was approved by Chinese Clinical Trial Registry (registration No. ChiCTR2000037522) and Medical ethics committee of Jiangsu Province Hospital of Chinese Medicine (approved No. 2019NL-152-02).


In this paper, we analyze the bit-error-rate (BER) performance of the optimum multiuser detection (MUD) with channel mismatch in multicarrier code-division-multiple-access (MC-CDMA) systems. The BER performance of the optimum MUD without channel mismatch in MC-CDMA systems has been recently derived using the replica method. However, it is left unjustified, since the replica method is not a rigorous approach. In addition, it is NP-hard to implement an optimum MUD algorithm. To justify the BER performance and to make the optimum MUD feasible, based on Pearl's belief propagation (BP) scheme, we put together a low-complexity iterative MUD algorithm for MC-CDMA systems. Furthermore, channel mismatch is introduced into the BP-based MUD algorithm to make the scenario general. With channel mismatch, the analytical results of the BP-based MUD algorithm conform perfectly to, and the simulation results of the BP-based MUD algorithm conform very closely to the BER performance of the optimum MUD derived using the replica method, which is a nontrivial extension of the existing replica approach mentioned above. Without channel mismatch, the problem becomes a special case of our contribution.


A peculiar feature of leukocytes and platelets is their rapid switching from a circulating to an adhesive status, upon activation by inflammation or thrombotic stimuli. This is due to the rapid conformational change of their integrins, which acquire an affinity for adhesion substrates. Complex "inside-out" signaling pathways lead to b2 integrin activation in leukocytes and aIIbb3 integrin activation in platelets. Patients with leukocyte adhesion deficiency type III (LAD-III or LAD1- variant) suffer from recurrent infection and from easy bruising, due to a defective "inside-out" signaling that prevents integrin activation in both leukocytes and platelets. This adhesion deficiency underscores common features of "inside-out" signaling leading to integrins activation in hematopoietic cells. The present review is focused on neutrophil b2 integrins and platelet aIIbb3 integrin. It gives the most recent data on integrins structure and describes the conformational change leading to the high affinity for ligands. Neutrophil and platelet functions involving integrins are detailed. It reviews extensively the present knowledge on integrin "inside-out" signaling pathways triggered by various stimuli in hematopoietic cells.


Survival of ovarian cancer patients is directly related to the amount of residual disease present after debulking surgery. In 80% of the cases, extensive microscopic cancer remains even after the patient is deemed optimally debulked. Hence, detection of sub-mm cancer clusters during tumor excision is a critical unmet need. Recent studies have shown that reducing the dimensions of residual cancer to less than 1 mm significantly improves clinical outcomes. In the present study we evaluate the performance of a fluorescent, molecular imaging agent, LUM015 (Lumicell, Wellesley, MA), which is activated by cathepsin enzymes in the tumor, and a wide-field-of-view imaging device (Lumicell) to detect sub-mm residual cancer clusters in an mouse model for ovarian cancer. In this study, we generated orthotopic ovarian cancer mouse models(n=10) with well characterized serous ovarian cancer cell lines, CP70 and SKOV3. Once the tumor disseminated, the imaging agent LUM015 (3.52 mg/kg) was injected via the tail vein, and after 6 hours, the mice were euthanized. Tumor debulking was performed throughout the abdominal cavity. After debulking, the whole abdominal wall was dissected in 4 quadrants, organs were harvested and all were imaged with the LUM device. Features exhibiting high fluorescence were marked and dissected, prepared into slides, and stained with hematoxylin and eosin for pathologic correlation with LUM015 fluorescence imaging. In 36 tissues from orthotopic ovarian cancer mouse models, LUM015 imaging system could detect the tumor presence with 100% of sensitivity and 60% of specificity. We demonstrated that the imaging system can detect sub-mm cancer clusters that could not be identified with visual inspection. With a cathepsin activated fluorescence imaging molecule (LUM015) and a wide-field-of-view imaging device, we detected microscopic residual ovarian cancer tumors in orthotopic xenograft models after debulking grossly with high sensitivity. Translation of this imaging technology into the clinical setting may help to detect microscopic residual tumor features during the debulking operation in ovarian cancer. Citation Format: Youngjeong Na, Tim Kwok, Christopher Awtrey, David B. Strasfeld, Jorge M. Ferrer, David Lee, Michael J. Birrer. Identification of microscopic ovarian tumor foci utilizing a novel imaging device in a murine ovarian cancer model, an opportunity to improve optimal cytoreduction. [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the 105th Annual Meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research; 2014 Apr 5-9; San Diego, CA. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2014;74(19 Suppl):Abstract nr 2056. doi:10.1158/1538-7445.AM2014-2056


In order to have a deeper understanding of the engineering performances of EPS geofoam, it is necessary to study the stress-strain response and internal strain distribution when loaded. In this investigation, the key objective is to study the stress-strain behavior of EPS geofoam under different conditions and develop construction practical suggestions when using geofoam. The scope of this research is divided into three main sections: (1) study the effect of induced anisotropy on the stress-strain behavior of EPS geofoam; (2) evaluate stress distribution within EPS blocks by using image analysis system; (3) analyze the effect of combining different EPS densities and also the different stress-strain reactions for the conditions of with and without continuous joints. The pre-strain behavior of EPS blocks was analyzed by doing pre-loading tests on fresh samples and exhumed samples. Characteristics of inherent and induced anisotropy of EPS geofoam was investigated by testing pre-stressed geofoam. Induced anisotropy was observed to reduce the modulus significantly. The non-contact image analysis system, ARAMIS, was used to search the different forms of stress-strain behavior and how the strain is distributed within the solid EPS blocks as well as the combined EPS with soft blocks, stiff blocks and those in-between. A GeoJac automatic load testing system with conventional displacement transducer was used together with ARAMIS. The strain distribution within the whole EPS geofoam and the average property of strain is illustrated and compared. The effect of combining different EPS densities and the condition of with or without continuous joints when installed are demonstrated by doing laboratory tests and Finite Element Analysis at the same time. STRESS-STRAIN BEHAVIOR BY IMAGE ANALYSIS, MIX DENSITY AND PRE-STRAIN EFFECTS OF EPS GEOFOAM


We introduce a simple communication-theoretic model for phase-change memory (PCM), based on empirical observations. Our modeling effort is focused on capturing the effects of resistance drift, which is believed to be one of the major obstacles to achieving high bit/cell densities in PCM. The model is used to estimate how the information theoretic storage capacity of PCM evolves as the time gap between a write and its subsequent read widens. We use our model to evaluate the performance of simple modulation and detection schemes, also considering the use of trellis coded modulation (TCM). Our evaluation of these strategies shows that the use of TCM provides several benefits, including a significant increase in retention time, i.e., the expected maximum amount of storage time before which the stored data can be reliably retrieved.


large-scaled blade has posed many problems related to design and production. After introducing the features of blade with thick airfoils and flatback, based on relevant parameters of Huaren 100 kW wind turbine, the paper designed blade with thick airfoils and flatback, introduced blade parameter design, and analyzed the aerodynamic performance of blades using GH bladed software, obtaining the relationship between power output of wind turbine with blade tip speed ratio Cp. Furthermore, it analyzed the aerodynamic performance of original design blades, modified blades and Huaren 100 kW blades, and assessed the aerodynamic performance of modified blade.


This study examined the levels of trace metals in leachates from dumpsites and hand dug wells used as sources of drinking water by the inhabitants of Okene Metropolis, Kogi State Nigeria. This is important because the presence of toxic heavy metals in the environment continues to generate a lot of concern to environmental scientists, government agencies and public health practitioners leading to adverse health implications. The leachates and hand dug well water samples were collected during the wet season of 2019-2021 and analyzed for some selected trace metals (Cd, Cu, Ni, Pb, Zn, Cr, and Mn) using AA320N atomic absorption spectrophometer. The result showed that there was high concentration of most of the trace metals in the leachate samples compared to the groundwater samples with some of the trace metals above the maximum limit set by W.H.O. It is recommended that a systematic treatment of heavy metals concentration in hand dug well in the study area should be carried out regularly either through chemical precipitation, ion exchange or reverse osmosis.


Heat exchangers are the mainstay of thermal systems and have been extensively used in desalination systems, heating, cooling units, power plants, and energy recovery systems. This chapter demonstrates a robust theoretical framework for heat exchangers investigation based on two advanced tools, i.e., exergoeconomic analysis and Normalized Sensitivity Analysis. The former is applied as a mutual application of economic and thermodynamic analyses, which is much more impactful than the conventional thermodynamic and economic analyses. This is because it allows the investigation of combinatory effects of thermodynamic and fiscal parameters which are not achieved with the conventional methods. Similarly, the Normalized Sensitivity Analysis allows a one-on-one comparison of the sensitivity of output parameters to the input parameters with entirely different magnitudes on a common platform. This rationale comparison is obtained by normalizing the sensitivity coefficients by their nominal values, which is not possible with the conventional sensitivity analyses. An experimentally validated example of a plate heat exchanger is used to demonstrate the application of the proposed framework from a desalination system.


In this paper, we discuss solar coelostats and heliostats and their alignment, with special attention to setting up portable heliostats at eclipse and other field sites. We consider the sources of tracking errors and the relation of small misalignments with such tracking errors. We consider the relative advantages of coelostats and heliostats.


This paper presents a summary of the DeepFake Game Competition (DFGC) 20211. DeepFake technology is developing fast, and realistic face-swaps are increasingly deceiving and hard to detect. At the same time, DeepFake detection methods are also improving. There is a two-party game between DeepFake creators and detectors. This competition provides a common platform for benchmarking the adversarial game between current state-of-the-art DeepFake creation and detection methods. In this paper, we present the organization, results and top solutions of this competition and also share our insights obtained during this event. We also release the DFGC-21 testing dataset collected from our participants to further benefit the research community2.


In immunosuppressed patients, pre-emptive therapy and a strict follow-up of CMV infection are the standard of care for the prevention of CMV disease. Several real-time PCR assays for CMV DNA quantification on whole blood (WB) and plasma (PL) are commercially available. This study compared and correlated CMV viral loads obtained by the Cobas AmpliPrep/Cobas TaqMan (CAP/CTM) platform on plasma specimens with those obtained on corresponding whole blood specimens by the real-time PCR assay (ELITe MGB-CMV) in 185 sequential samples from 41 immunosuppressed patients. Correlation between the two assays was good. Kinetics of CMV DNA within the same patient was similar, but PL viral load was constantly 1 log lower than WB. In patients under antiviral therapy, low level of CMV DNA persisted in WB, while it was absent in PL. The good correlation between CMV DNA detected on both PL and WB supports the reliability of the two matrices for viral monitoring and the therapeutic management of CMV infection. Nevertheless, due to significant quantification differences between PL and WB CMV DNA, the same biological specimen should be used for a sequential and reliable follow-up of patients at high risk of CMV infection.


HOCKEY SKATING KINEMATICS AND THE EFFECT OF SKATE DESIGN AND TECHNIQUE TRAINING Rebecca M. Tidman, B.S. Marquette University, 2015 The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of technique training and hockey skate design on hockey skating performance. Fourteen male subjects, aged 12-16 years, with no recent skate treadmill experience completed ten training sessions on a skating treadmill. Instruction emphasized maximizing stride width by pushing laterally with the skate pointed anteriorly. Subjects were randomly placed into one of two experimental groups based on initial skate type: traditional or Easton Mako. After completion of five sessions, skate type was switched so that skate design effects could be assessed. In contrast to a traditional hockey skate design, the Easton Mako skate incorporates a flexible tendon guard allowing greater ankle extension as well as a heat-moldable skate boot for greater conformity to the underlying anatomy. Kinematic data were acquired during submaximal constant speed trials and maximum speed tests, at the first (baseline, skate 1), fifth (post-training, skate 1), sixth (baseline, skate 2), and tenth (post-acclimation, skate 2) training sessions. Treadmill training effects were investigated by contrasting data from sessions 1 and 5, and session6 and 10. Design effects were investigated contrasting data from sessions 5 and 6, and sessions 5 and 10; significance was assessed using paired t-tests. Significant initial training effects included increased stride width and decreased anterior-posterior foot separation at foot off, with the foot less rotated out of the anteriorposterior direction as intended by the specific training program. Other effects included decreased stride rate at a constant speed and increased maximum speed. Initial training effects held through the latter training sessions suggesting five sessions were sufficient to adapt to the treadmill training. Significant skate design effects included decreased sagittal ankle range of motion (ROM), decreased stride rate at constant speed, increased stride width and increased maximum speed with the Mako skate. The decreased sagittal plane ankle ROM, perhaps counterintuitive with the more flexible skate design, may be indicative of a more natural ankle movement. As for treadmill training, the increased maximum speed in concert with decreased stride rate suggest potentially more efficient stride with the Mako skate.


Componentization, modularity and automation are more than just buzzwords for the modern loan servicing professional they represent the very future of the industry. They facilitate seamless integration between loan originators and loan servicers, resulting in reduced costs and risk, shorter loan processing timelines, greater efficiencies and productivity, and ultimately, improved overall customer satisfaction across the loan completion process for lenders of all sizes. Instead of continuing to rely on outdated and error-prone "stare and compare" operations, the time is past due for loan servicers to adopt integrated digital software, which takes the borrower from loan origination to disposition.


Chimera states in dynamical networks have been found recently in several experiments using chemical, optical, and mechanical systems. However, most of these experiments still involve a computer to mediate the network coupling or rely on rather simple network topologies. Here, we overcome these limitations with novel Boolean realizations of coupled oscillators termed Boolean phase oscillators that are realized experimentally with embedded logic circuits. They include state-dependent delay, which allows weak phase adjustments when subject to coupling from neighboring nodes [1]. Using a field-programmable gate array (FPGA), we implement a ring of 100 non-locally coupled Boolean phase oscillators and measure experimentally frequency and phase in the network. We observe typical experimental signatures of chimera states, where parts of the network are synchronized and other parts are desynchronized.


Dr K. P. Isaac writes: Papers by Barnes (1984) and Rattey & Sanderson (1984) discussed the igneous rocks and Upper Devonian meta-sediments of SW Cornwall in terms of the Gramscatho Basin originally being floored, at least in part, by oceanic crust (Barnes 1984, pp. 83–4; Rattey & Sanderson 1984, p. 94). They were following a long line of authors who have argued that the Rhenohercynian geosyncline of SW England (or W Europe) is best explained as a back-arc marginal basin (e.g. Reading 1973; Leeder 1982; Anderton et al. 1979; Dewey 1982; Floyd 1982). Whilst Floyd (1982 Whilst Floyd (1984) would prefer that the Rhenohercynian trough represents intra-plate continental rifts, others such as Leeder (1982), Barnes (1984), and Rattey & Sanderson (1984) infer the presence of bona fide oceanic crust underlying the basin floor. There is now little doubt that the Lizard Complex is an ophiolite (papers in Journal 141, part l), although the relationships between this ophiolite and possible (now absent) ocean crust underlying the Gramscatho Basin is still not clear (Barnes 1984). The purpose of this discussion is to draw attention to geological evidence for the persistence of an oceanic marginal basin in SW England, at least into lower Viséan times. Isaac et al. 1982, 1983 recognized five demonstrably allochthonous tectonic units in the central SW England area, the lowest of which is the Greystone Nappe. This nappe is composed of upwards of 20 small thrust sheets, each being generally less than 100m thick and having an area of the


Bullies and their victims are more likely to engage in violent behavior than those who have never been involved in bullying. In both aggressor and victim, bullying is a sign of potential psychiatric disorder. It is primarily physical in children, becomes relational aggression in adolescents, and often appears in the form of sexual harassment in adulthood. The causes of bullying include the desire to control, revenge, envy, and emotional distress. Bullies have often themselves been bullied. Teachers are frequently reluctant to report bullying, even if they view it as a problem. Bullying deprives children of safety and security, but prevention and intervention are all too often not part of school curricula. The unique characteristics of bully and victim, risk factors leading to bullying behavior, the influence of the parents, and the roles of gender relationships and sex differences are explored in this article.


In this article, we discuss findings from a study on indigenous youth's perspectives on and engagement in health care. We carried out an Internet environmental scan, focus groups, and key informant interviews with urban indigenous youth leaders and front-line indigenous practitioners. We found that youth and practitioners regard the formal health care system as ineffective and disrespectful of youth and culture. Indigenous youth espouse a broader approach to health that considers the linkages between culture, identity, and health. Youth are engaged in a variety of health-related activities, from engagement in design of health services and programs to youth empowerment initiatives. The results highlight the value and implications of affirming indigenous youth's role as determiners of their own health.


The output voltages of the variable voltage and variable frequency voltage sources employing voltage source inverter is non sinusoidal. The output current of a variable frequency current source using current source inverter is also non sinusoidal. When the induction motor is fed by using these inverters odd harmonics will be present in the input supply, because of these inverters output voltage is non sinusoidal. This harmonics do not contribute the output power of the motor, they produce additional losses in the machine. This harmonic losses reduces the efficiency and cause derating of the motor. These limitations can be overcome by using matrix converter because of its unique feature is pure sinusoidal as output The matrix converter is superior than inverter drives because of its regeneration ability and four-quadrant operation. Therefore it meets the stringent energy efficiency and power quality.


Neural architecture search (NAS) relies on a good controller to generate better architectures or predict the accuracy of given architectures. However, training the controller requires both abundant and high-quality pairs of architectures and their accuracy, while it is costly to evaluate an architecture and obtain its accuracy. In this paper, we propose SemiNAS, a semi-supervised NAS approach that leverages numerous unlabeled architectures (without evaluation and thus nearly no cost). Specifically, SemiNAS 1) trains an initial accuracy predictor with a small set of architecture-accuracy data pairs; 2) uses the trained accuracy predictor to predict the accuracy of large amount of architectures (without evaluation); and 3) adds the generated data pairs to the original data to further improve the predictor. The trained accuracy predictor can be applied to various NAS algorithms by predicting the accuracy of candidate architectures for them. SemiNAS has two advantages: 1) It reduces the computational cost under the same accuracy guarantee. On NASBench-101 benchmark dataset, it achieves comparable accuracy with gradient-based method while using only 1/7 architecture-accuracy pairs. 2) It achieves higher accuracy under the same computational cost. It achieves 94.02% test accuracy on NASBench-101, outperforming all the baselines when using the same number of architectures. On ImageNet, it achieves 23.5% top-1 error rate (under 600M FLOPS constraint) using 4 GPU-days for search. We further apply it to LJSpeech text to speech task and it achieves 97% intelligibility rate in the low-resource setting and 15% test error rate in the robustness setting, with 9%, 7% improvements over the baseline respectively.


This study was divided into three parts. The first evaluated the effects of five stages of plant maturity (60, 75, 90,120 and 180 d) on the agronomic characteristics, chemical composition and in vitro degradability (IVDMD) of pigeon pea [ Cajanus cajan (L.) Millsp.] 'Kaki' and its anatomical fractions, leaves and stems. In the second part, the selective consumption of this legume was studied. In the third part, the effects of the inclusion of pigeon pea in diets based on tropical grass hay for goats on voluntary intake, and digestibility of dry matter (DM), crude protein (CP) and neutral detergent fiber (NDF) were determined. Plant height increased and leaf :stem ratio decreased, as the plants grew. In the whole plant, DM and NDF content increased (P < 0.05) by 13.9 and 19.2 percentage units, but CP content numerically decreased by 4.8 units as plant maturity progressed from 60 to 120 d. At the five successive stages evaluated, CP content in the leaves exceeded that of the stems, whereas NDF content showed the opposite trend. The IVDMD values were 69.6% in the whole plant, 73.9% in the leaves, and 50.4% in the stems. Whole plant IVDMD decreased (P < 0.05), with advancing plant maturity, from 71.2% at 60 d to 55.8% at 180 d. In the selective consumption trial, intake of fresh pigeon pea was compared with that of fresh native tropical grass (NTG) or NTG hay. A high selection of pigeon pea was observed for the first 10 minutes, but during the following 20 minutes this selection decreased. In the voluntary intake and digestibility trial that utilized six goats (26.4 kg live weight) to evaluate the inclusion of 25% of pigeon pea in a NTG-based diet, CP intake was markedly higher (P < 0.05) with legume supplementation. Dietary inclusion of the legume also tended to improve the digestibility of DM and CP but not at the P < 0.05 level of significance (56.7% vs. 51.4% and 58.7 vs. 51.2%); however, it did not affect NDF digestibility. As the pigeon pea plant increased in height, changes occurred in leafistem proportions and chemical composition. The IVDMD results suggest that the interval from 75 to 120 d of growth is favorable for possible utilization of pigeon pea as fresh forage in diets for small ruminants.


In the previous paper, we reported a sensitive method for detection of protein kinase activities in gels after SDS-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (Kameshita, I., and Fujisawa, H. (1989) Anal. Biochem. 183, 139-143). This method is useful for the detection of various protein kinase activities toward protein substrates included in gels, but inapplicable to oligopeptide substrates because most of the oligopeptides eluted from the gel matrix during electrophoresis. The present study describes a new procedure for the detection of protein kinase activities toward synthetic oligopeptides in the gel. The oligopeptides which were linked to amino acid polymers such as poly-L-lysine through their amino-terminal cysteinyl residue by a heterobifunctional reagent were efficiently retained in the gel matrix and served as substrates for the protein kinases. As little as 2.5 pg of the catalytic subunit of cAMP-dependent protein kinase was detected by this in-gel assay method using a synthetic peptide as a substrate. This technique can be used for selective and sensitive detection of various protein kinases in crude tissue extracts.


Abstract:In January 2018, soon after he was elected President of the Philippines, Rodrigo Duterte signed a comprehensive tax reform bill. In this paper, a nationwide survey and embedded experiment are used to investigate how ordinary Filipino citizens responded to different possible changes in tax incidence originating in the reform. The survey was conducted a few days prior to the enactment of the legislation. Our survey experiment yielded two noteworthy findings. First, Filipino citizens' interest in gathering information about the government budget and its usage increased when they were explicitly reminded of the possibility that the reform would change their tax burden; importantly, this occurred whether they expected their taxes to increase or decrease. Second, lower class citizens were more motivated than upper class citizens to monitor government when faced with the prospect of major tax burden changes. These findings not only shed light on how ordinary citizens in the Philippines reacted to the impending historic tax reform, but also reveal limits of the conventional fiscal contract conception of the link between taxation and accountability.


Heterogeneity is the key distinguishing characteristic of wireless sensor networks (WSN) as compared to wireless cellular networks (WCN). It may appear in the form of communication ranges of sensor devices, synchronization, and signal processing capabilities. In this article, we develop a hybrid location estimation scheme for heterogeneous WSN with unsynchronized short-range simple relays and mobile sensors nodes, and synchronized stations. Our scheme employs combination of time difference of arrival (TDOA) and received signal strength (RSS) measurements, whereby the TDOA is used to filter out the clock offset that appears due to the lack of synchronization. We quantify the estimation accuracy of the scheme by deriving the Cramer-Rao bound (CRB), and discuss the performance trade-off between the number of synchronized and non-synchronized devices involved.


The tail bud was removed from chick embryos at stage 16-17 in a first study directed to learn of the origin of the glycogen body in the lumbosacral spinal cord of birds. Results of tail bud removal and chorio-allantoic grafting of caudal portions of the embryo containing the tail bud or the neural tube suggest that the glycogen body does not arise from the tail bud, but from the preexisting neural tube craniad or anterior to the tail bud. The stem cells of the glycogen body are most likely among those components of the anterior portion of the lumbosacral neural tube derived from primary neurulation.


The sarcomas are an extremely heterogeneous group of neoplasms that continue to present substantial diagnostic and therapeutic challenges. It is notable, therefore, that great strides have been made in the genetic characterization of sarcomas over the past few years. The very consistent chromosome translocations in Ewing's sarcoma, myxoid liposarcoma, and alveolar rhabdomyosarcoma have been cloned, and the oncogenes deregulated by these translocations have been identified. These characteristic genetic aberrations can now be used as diagnostic markers.


Superior mesenteric artery (SMA) syndrome is an uncommon cause of proximal intestinal obstruction, frequently occurring in patients who have had an important weight loss. The diagnosis can be difficult and usually is made by exclusion. The most characteristic symptoms are postprandial epigastric pain, fullness, voluminous vomiting and eructation. These symptoms are due to the compression of the third portion of the duodenum against the posterior structures by a narrow-angled SMA and surgical management is necessary. We report a case of SMA syndrome in a 23 year old patient, with a long history (since childhood) of voluminous vomiting, epigastric pain and an important weight loss. We performed small bowel enteroclysis, upper gastrointestinal series and endoscopy, biopsy of gastric and duodenal mucosa, abdominal computer tomography and ultrasonography to establish the diagnosis. Finally, the patient successfully underwent duodenojejunal anastomosis with a postoperative favourable outcome.


Radiation inactivation of alpha-1 and alpha-2 adrenoceptors in the purified plasma membranes of rat mesenteric artery has been performed with high energy electrons at -45 to -55 degrees C. Alpha-1 and alpha-2 adrenoceptor inactivation was monitored with [3H] prazosin and [3H]yohimbine binding, respectively. Internal endogenous and external standards of known molecular weight were used in these studies to determine the molecular size. The average value of D37 for the [3H]prazosin binding site was 6.75 +/- 0.62 Mrad (n = 4) with an estimated molecular size of 122,921 +/- 11,329 Daltons. However, the average value of D37 for the [3H] yohimbine binding site was higher (D37 = 10.05 +/- 0.91 Mrad) and accordingly the molecular size of this binding site was less than the [3H]prazosin binding sites (molecular weight = 82,540 +/- 7478 Daltons; n = 4). Irradiation did not change the dissociation constant of either radioligand, suggesting that the loss of the radioligand binding sites after radiation is due to receptor protein inactivation. These results confirm our earlier finding that [3H]prazosin and [3H]yohimbine bind to two distinct sites in the plasma membranes of rat mesenteric artery. Whether both of these sites are the subunits of a common macromolecule of alpha adrenoceptor on vascular smooth muscle in rat mesenteric artery cannot be concluded from these results. This report is the first one in the literature on the molecular size of alpha-1 and alpha-2 binding sites in vascular smooth muscle.


A study is carried out for the design of municipal solid waste management system of Kakonhat municipal area considering integrated approach. Kakonhat is in the Barind tract under Godagari Upazila of Rajshahi district. The existing information is collected and used to design the system. Integrated approach of solid waste management comprises wastes sorting, resource recovery by reusing, recycling and bioconversion and finally sanitary landfill is designed in this study. Landfill liner, cover material, leachate management and landfill gas management are not required in this system because of only inert waste materials are disposed in landfill. Total land area required for sanitary landfill in integrated approach is 1279 m 2 . The total requirement of manpower, waste collection van and compaction equipment for waste management are of 44 people, 13 numbers and 1 number, respectively. Eventually, the design of solid waste management system will be helpful to develop the Kakonhat municipal area providing the modern facilities to their local people.


Background: This case-control study aimed to estimate the association between erectile dysfunction (ED) and migraines using a nationwide population-based database in Taiwan. Methods: The data used for this matched case-control study were retrieved from the Taiwan Longitudinal Health Insurance Database 2000. We identified 5763 patients with ED as the cases and randomly selected 17,289 patients as the controls. Conditional logistic regression was used to calculate the odds ratios (OR) for prior migraine between cases and controls. Results: After adjusting for hypertension, diabetes, hyperlipidaemia, renal disease, coronary heart disease, obesity, and alcohol abuse/alcohol dependence syndrome, conditional logistic regression revealed that among ED patients the odds of having been previously diagnosed with migraines was 1.63 (95% CI, 1.39–1.91) that of the control group. This risk was more pronounced in younger groups, with the highest risk being detected among those aged between 30 and 39 years. After adjusting for the above mentioned comorbidities, ED patients aged between 30 and 39 years were found to be at 1.98 (95% CI, 1.67–2.23) times the risk of controls for having been previously diagnosed with migraines. Conclusion: We conclude that ED is associated with having been previously diagnosed with migraines, particularly in younger populations.


This paper focuses on evaluating the gains obtained through cooperative spectrum sensing in the real world while using cyclostationary-based mobile sensors. In cooperative sensing (CS), different secondary users (SUs) in a geographical neighborhood cooperate to detect the presence of a primary user (PU). Compared with single-user sensing, cooperation provides diversity gains in the face of multipath fading and shadowing. The effectiveness of CS is demonstrated by analyzing data acquired in two extensive field measurement campaigns. The first measurement campaign (MC-I) focuses on measurements at fixed locations, whereas the second measurement campaign (MC-II) focuses on a scenario where measurements are taken inside a moving car. These measurements are carried out for DVB-T channels in the Capital Region of Finland, which consists of urban and suburban environments. Hard decision rules such as or, and, and majority and a soft decision rule such as sum of cyclostationary test statistics (sum) are employed, and their detection performances are compared with a cyclostationary-based single-user detector. A performance parameter of relative increase in probability of detection (RIPD) is used to efficiently demonstrate the cooperation gain obtained relative to local sensing. It is shown that cooperation can significantly improve the performance of a sensor severely affected by fading and shadowing effects. Furthermore, it is shown that increasing the number of collaborating users beyond few users (five to eight) does not, in practice, bring significant improvement in terms of the expected RIPD. The performances of CS schemes evaluated from MC-I are also compared with the corresponding simulated CS results using empirical channel models and terrain data for the same experimental parameters. It is shown that the use of empirical or theoretical models may result in detection errors in practical conditions, and measurements should be used to improve the accuracy in such scenarios.


Asymptomatic bacteriuria (ASB), a type of urinary tract infection (UTI), is one of common infections in pregnancy requiring antibiotic treatment. ASB is defined as growth of more than 100 000 colony forming units per millilitre (cfu/ ml) in culture of midstream urine obtained from an individual without signs and symptoms of asymptomatic bacteriuria [1,2]. ASB prevalence generally ranges from 2% to 10% [3]. Anatomic and physiological changes occurring during pregnancy increase the risk of ASB [4]. When ASB is untreated in pregnancy it often progresses later in pregnancy to pyelonephritis, an acute (UTI) [5]. Pyelonephritis is symptomatic bacteriuria associated with several pregnancy complications and adverse birth outcomes including preeclampsia, preterm birth, low birth weight and neonatal death [6,7]. Up to 40% of pregnant women develop a symptomatic UTI later in pregnancy if ASB is undetected and untreated [3,8,5]. Screening and treatment of ASB during pregnancy is an important intervention to be implemented at primary care level [9]. Treatment of ASB in pregnancy using effective antibacterial treatment decreases risk of acute urinary tract infection from 40% to 1 to 4% [3-10]. All complications of ASB during pregnancy are reduced by antibiotic therapy [9]. Several international and national guidelines recommend screening and treatment of ASB to reduce risk of pyelonephritis [6]. Several antibiotics are available for selection for treatment of ASB in pregnancy including, amoxil, ampicillin, cephasporin, nitrofurantoin, trimethoprim and sulfamethoxazole [2]. Treatment of ASB with antibiotics in pregnancy aims to clear the infection, which is only possible if the isolated bacterium is susceptible to it [6]. Selection of antibiotic to treat ASB need to be based on antibiotic susceptibility results [9]. Susceptibility test informs on effectiveness of antibiotics against infectious organisms and degree of bacterial resistance pattern [11]. The test results help to guide clinicians on appropriate selection of effective antibiotics for pathogenic strain and to prevent prescribing and administration of resistant and ineffective antibiotics [11,12]. Results of the test are often categorized Volume 6 Issue 1 2018


Abstract Siderite rhizocretions are generally considered to be an indicator of fresh-water conditions. The presence of siderite rhizocretions with a marine δ18O isotope signature in the Rutland Formation, Ketton, U.K. seems to contradict this belief. Commonly, in marine settings pyrite is more prevalent than siderite because of the high concentrations of sulfate in seawater. The Rutland Formation is a fine-grained mixed carbonate-clastic succession with interbedded coals that was deposited in marginal marine conditions. Analysis of siderite revealed that it was chemically zoned, predated pyrite, and has an average δ18O signature of +0.44‰. This siderite is interpreted as having precipitated during early diagenesis from brackish to marine porewaters containing low concentrations of bioavailable organic matter. Despite the porewaters being dominantly marine, under conditions of restricted organic-matter quality and/or quantity Fe(III)-reducing bacteria can outcompete sulfate-reducing bacteria for the organic substrate, resulting in the precipitation of siderite at the expense of pyrite.


Abstract: MDCK cells were engineered to express luciferase driven by cytomegalovirus (CMV) or hybrid ubiquitin B (UbB) promoter and encapsulated in alginate-poly-L-lysine-alginate microcapsules. In vitro experiments showed capsules could be monitored individually or in multi-layers quantitatively. When luciferase-expressing and non-luciferase expressing MDCK cells were mixed at different ratios and encapsulated, the signals increased linearly according to the number of capsules, in vitro and in vivo. For CMV-driven luciferase expression, the strongest signal was seen at 4 hours post-implantation, with a subsequent 50% decrease by 24 hours and then declined gradually to 10-20% until day 20. However, retrieved capsules showed good cell viability. When capsules contained plasmid driven by UbB promoter, there was no decline in signal. Our results indicate that luciferase could be used as a marker for microencapsulated cells to monitor the viability and gene expression of the implanted cells.


Fob any poison, the most speedy, certain, and most frequently efficacious remedy in the world if immediately taken, is a heaping teaspoonful of ground mustard, stirred rapidly in a glass of cold water, and drank down at a draught, causing instantaneous vomiting. As soon as the vomit ing ceases, swallow two tablespoonfuls or more of sweet-oil, or any other mild oil. If no ground mustard is at hand, drink a teacupful or more of sweet-oil, or any other pure mild oil, melted hog's lard, melted butter, train oil, cod-liver oil, any of which protect the coats of the stomach from the disorganizing effects of the poison; and, to a certain extent, by filling up the pores of the stomach, (the mouths of the absorbents,) prevent the poison being taken up into the circulation of the blood. Persons bitten by rattlesnakes have drank oil freely, and recovered. These are things to be done while a physician is being sent for.


Working within a physical landscape that has felt the impact of tropical cyclones and cyclone surges for some 6000 years, including the largest loss of life from a single cyclone in Australian recorded history, Queensland writers have for many years attempted to incorporate both the terror and the sublime of the cyclone into their sense of place. Yet, while studies have been carried out into the significance of cyclonic storms in the literature of other geographic areas, there has been surprisingly little examination until this thesis of the literature of tropical cyclones in Queensland, one of the most cyclone-prone areas in the world.

The tropical cyclone is so integral to North Queensland place and regional life that it has its own season. To successfully inhabit this place, the Queenslander must live with cyclones, incorporating them into the imaginary as well as the literal life: into the country of the mind as well as the physical environment. In this region of seasonal storm, the cyclone is a defining trope of the literary place, and so it is important to examine its significance there. Cyclones as unpredictable wreakers of chaos and destruction regularly remind us of humankind's fragility. Although warnings can be given of their approach, the severity of their impact is in the end due to those natural and invisible elements that cannot be controlled. In an effort to cope with the uncontrollable, humankind seeks meaning in the random meaninglessness of chaos and destruction. For some, cyclones are instruments of divine retribution, whereas for others they are an apocalyptic event that reveals the chance for redemption and renewal, and it is such searches for meaning within chaos that are evident in Queensland literature.

Some writers, such as Queensland Government Meteorologist Clement Wragge, have seen within cyclones the Burkean sublime, the beauty within the terror. For other writers, such as Thea Astley, Vance Palmer, and Patrick White, the cyclone brings spiritual epiphany and personal revelation, while also motivating community strength and compassion as people ignore differences and work together to survive and rebuild. Some writers see the cyclone within themselves as a personal trope, as Susan Hawthorne observes in her poetry. Other writers such as Alexis Wright see a deep and abiding spiritual bond between weather and country, between people and place, which speaks of our future as well as our past. This paper, then, will examine how writers in Queensland and of Queensland have sought for meaning within their literary landscape in order to cope with the chaos of their literal place.

The metaphorics and aesthetics of tropical cyclones permeate Queensland literature. The cyclonic storm in Queensland literature reverberates with contexts of theme and setting, of plot and place, of tropes and tropics that encompass the complicated and symbiotic relations between society, nature, landscape, place and space. The cyclonic storm is a literary trope of both personal and collective awareness, of revelation within the stillness and spirituality of the cyclone's eye that enables the individual to emerge from the experience transformed. To transcend the tropical cyclone experience, one needs to be open to the epiphany of the revelation as these violent storms strip away the historic human over-growth, leaving room to re-build and for new life to grow. Cyclones can in this way narrate resilience in the face of natural disaster and allegorize the power of cultural consciousness to strengthen and unify communities and regions. Individuals and communities who have been alienated, weakened, or seemingly destroyed can be drawn closer by cyclonic events, discovering in the aftermath that which had previously been hidden, discovering hope and opportunity where previously were despond and despair. Such events and the stories of them can challenge previous human experience, thereby providing opportunity to move forward and rebuild, opportunity for the emergence of the new.

While this research is concerned with the implications of the literary cyclone in Queensland, this thesis will also recognize that cyclonic storms and the literature of those storms appear in many other regions. The search for meaning within that literature is a search in which many are engaged around the globe, as we broaden our perception through revelations about the relationship between the individual, society, and the tropical biosphere, and between weather, person, and place.


An operational macroprudential approach to financial stability requires tools that attribute system-wide risk to individual institutions. Making use of constructs from game theory, we propose an attribution methodology that has a number of appealing features: it can be used in conjunction with popular risk measures, it provides measures of institutions' systemic importance that add up exactly to the measure of system-wide risk and it easily accommodates uncertainty about the validity of the risk model. We apply this methodology to a number of constructed examples and illustrate the interactions between drivers of systemic importance: size, the institution's risk profile and strength of exposures to common risk factors. We also demonstrate how the methodology can be used for the calibration of macroprudential capital rules.


We address the problem of jointly tracking and classifying several targets within a sensor network where false detections are present. In order to meet the requirements inherent to sensor networks such as distributed processing and low-power consumption, a collaborative signal processing algorithm is presented. At any time, for a given tracked target, only one sensor is active. This leader node is focused on a single target but takes into account the possible existence of other targets. It is assumed that the motion model of a given target belongs to one of several classes. This class-target dynamic association is the basis of our classification criterion. We propose an algorithm based on the sequential Monte Carlo (SMC) filtering of jump Markov systems to track the dynamic of the system and make the corresponding estimates. A novel class-based resampling scheme is developed in order to get a robust classification of the targets. Furthermore, an optimal sensor selection scheme based on the maximization of the expected mutual information is integrated naturally within the SMC target tracking framework. Simulation results are presented to illustrate the excellent performance of the proposed multitarget tracking and classification scheme in a collaborative sensor network.


Utilizing the aliphatic linker molecule adipic acid (1,6-hexanedioic acid, HO2C–C4H8–CO2H) or 3-methyladipic acid (racemic mixture, HO2C–C4H7CH3–CO2H), the first crystalline zirconium adipates were synthesized under aqueous conditions. Their structures were deduced from powder X-ray diffraction data and were confirmed by Rietveld refinements. For all three compounds, the inorganic nodes are related to the well-known Zr6O4(OH)4 cluster frequently observed in aromatic zirconium MOFs. Employing ZrOCl2·8H2O and 3-methyladipic acid, a framework with bcu topology was obtained. Starting from adipic acid and Zr(SO4)2·4H2O, we observed the incorporation of sulfate into the crystal structure. Four sulfate anions are coordinated to each Zr–oxo cluster in a bidentate fashion. In this complex structure, square grids formed by Zr–oxo clusters and adipate anions and furthermore a hydrogen-bonded inorganic dia net can be observed. The third compound presented here is structurally related to the zirconium methyladipate. Using adipic acid and adding CrO42− under strongly acidic conditions leads to the incorporation of Cr2O72− into the bcu net. The dichromate anions are coordinated twofold to two different Zr–oxo clusters in a monodentate fashion and thus serve as inorganic connectors between the framework's nodes.


Experimental tests were conducted on seven 1/3-scale column specimens to evaluate the vulnerabilities of existing cruciform-shaped columns and to develop appropriate retrofit measures that address the identified vulnerabilities. The specimens represented both solid and split columns in the Aurora Avenue Bridge in Seattle, Washington. The as-built specimens failed at low ductility levels due to shear distress. Fiber reinforced polymer (FRP) jackets with FRP inserts to anchor the jackets in the column reentrant corners along with steel confinement collars to provide confinement in the hinging regions were used to retrofit the column specimens. The retrofitted specimens developed plastic hinging in the column, with enhanced strength, energy and ductility capacities. Guidelines were presented for designing the various components of the retrofit measures.


An equalizing transceiver was designed for DRAM bus system and implemented using a 0.35 /spl mu/m CMOS technology. To maximize the data rate a one-to-eight demultiplexing scheme was used to remove inter-symbol interference. The maximum data rates were measured to be 840 Mb/s without loading and 760 Mb/s with the total capacitance load of 110 pF at the bit error rate less than 10/sup -12/. The chip size was 1500/spl times/700 /spl mu/m/sup 2/ and the power consumption was 150 mW at the supply voltage of 3.3 V.


We investigate the effects of S&P's sovereign re-ratings on the higher moments of equity market returns over recent financial crises. Using a set of intraday stock market index prices and sovereign credit ratings for a sample of 36 countries which experienced sovereign rating changes over the period from 1996 - 2013, we find that the higher moments of stock market returns are significantly more responsive to sovereign re-ratings during financial crises but the effects on stock markets are not the same across different financial crises. The effects during crises are however magnified for large downgrades and those that are associated with a loss of investment grade status. We find that there are asymmetric effects during financial crises in that downgrades are consistently more significant than upgrades in increasing realized volatility and realized kurtosis. Both upgrades and downgrades affect realized skewness in times of crises in the expected direction.


In 2010 the U.S. Department of Energy initiated the development of six marine energy converter reference models. The reference models are point designs of well-known marine energy converters. Each device was designed to operate in a specific marine resource, instead of a generic device that can be deployed at any location. This method allows each device to be used as a benchmark for future reference model to benchmark future devices. The six designs consist of three current energy converters and three wave energy converters. The reference model project has generated both technical and economic data sets that are available in the public domain. The methodology to calculate the levelized cost of energy for the reference model project and an overall comparison of the cost of energy from these six reference-model designs are presented in this paper.


ABSTRACT Respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) is a leading cause of lower respiratory tract disease, which causes high rates of morbidity and mortality in infants and the elderly. Models of human RSV pulmonary disease are needed to better understand RSV pathogenesis and to assess the efficacy of RSV vaccines. We assessed the RSV-specific human innate, humoral, and cellular immune responses in humanized mice (mice with a human immune system [HIS mice]) with functional human CD4+ T and B cells. These mice were generated by introduction of HLA class II genes, various human cytokines, and human B cell activation factor into immunodeficient NOD scid gamma (NSG) mice by the use of an adeno-associated virus vector, followed by engraftment of human hematopoietic stem cells. During the first 3 days of infection, HIS mice lost more weight and cleared RSV faster than NSG mice. Human chemokine (C-C motif) ligand 3 (CCL3) and human interleukin-1β (IL-1β) expression was detected in the RSV-infected HIS mice. The pathological features induced by RSV infection in HIS mice included peribronchiolar inflammation, neutrophil predominance in the bronchioalveolar lavage fluid, and enhanced airway mucus production. Human anti-RSV IgG and RSV-neutralizing antibodies were detected in serum and human anti-RSV mucosal IgA was detected in bronchioalveolar lavage fluid for up to 6 weeks. RSV infection induced an RSV-specific human gamma interferon response in HIS mouse splenocytes. These results indicate that human immune cells can induce features of RSV lung disease, including mucus hyperplasia, in murine lungs and that HIS mice can be used to elicit human anti-RSV humoral and cellular immunity. IMPORTANCE Infections with respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) are common and can cause severe lung disease in infants and the elderly. The lack of a suitable animal model with disease features similar to those in humans has hampered efforts to predict the efficacy of novel anti-RSV therapies and vaccines for use in humans. A murine model consisting of mice with a human immune system (HIS mice) could be useful for assessment of RSV disease and anti-RSV responses specific to humans. This study investigates an HIS mouse model to imitate human RSV disease and immune responses. We found that RSV lung infection in HIS mice results in an RSV-specific pathology that mimics RSV disease in humans and induces human anti-RSV immune responses. This model could be useful for better understanding of human RSV disease and for the development of RSV therapies.


IT IS NO coincidence that the appraisal 1 of the National Plan for Research on Child and Adolescent Mental Disorders 2 should be referred to as "a report card." As all of us recall, report cards are what we got in school to let us know how our performance stacked up against teacher and curriculum expectations. In this case, the curriculum designers were the Institute of Medicine (IOM) Committee (IOM) for the Study of See also pages 715, 727, 729, and 732 Research on Child and Adolescent Mental Disorders, chaired by James Leckman, MD, and Glen R. Elliot, MD, in consort with eminent committee members and task forces. The National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH), Bethesda, Md, which developed the national plan, is presumably getting the report card. By way of history, the NIMH had asked the IOM to study the current status of research on child and adolescent


In recent years, athlete monitoring has become increasingly prevalent as professional teams seek to maximize performance and reduce the risk of injury in their athletes (T. J. Gabbett, 2016). In soccer, matches normally represent the highest load placed on the athletes, resulting in numerous adverse physiological effects, which can take 72 to 96 hours to fully recover (Dobbin, Lamb, & Twist, 2016; Nedelec et al., 2012). In NCAA Men's soccer, it is common for multiple games to be played in a week, often less than 72 hours apart, which could impair performance due to inadequate recovery. The function of athlete monitoring is to assess the amount of training load (TL) sustained during matches and training and better understand where players may be on the continuum of recovery. Recent developments in technology have enabled objective monitoring of internal TL through heart rate monitoring (Halson, 2014). Additionally, subjective forms of monitoring, such as session rating of perceived exertion (sRPE) (C. Foster, 1998) and subjective wellness questionnaires (SWQ) (Hooper, Mackinnon, Howard, Gordon, & Bachmann, 1995), have been developed to understand the athletes' perception of TL (sRPE) and overall well-being (SWQ). Web-based athlete monitoring platforms, such as Fit for 90 (FF90), have been developed to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of subjective monitoring (Anna E Saw, Main, & Gastin, 2015). While research on athlete monitoring is prevalent at the professional level, few studies have investigated its effectiveness in collegiate soccer, where the playing schedule is highly congested. Thus, understanding the effectiveness of athlete monitoring in college soccer could optimize recovery strategies and improve overall performance. Therefore, the purposes of this study were to (1) validate the FF90 sRPE equation, which uses a more intuitive RPE scale than the Borg CR10, with Banister's TRIMP equation, (2) investigate the relationship between internal TL (sRPE and training impulse (TRIMP)) and the FF90 subjective readiness score in NCAA Division I Men's soccer players, (3) investigate the long-term relationship between total number of minutes played on perceived readiness of the athletes across a soccer season. This study was performed with a NCAA Division I Men's soccer team. The results showed the modified sRPE used by FF90 is significantly correlated to Banister's TRIMP (r = .857). Additionally, the FF90 readiness score had a significant inverse relationship to the previous days sRPE (r = -.296) and TRIMP (r = -.333). When cumulative minutes were accounted for, the strength of the correlations was highest in the players which played the most minutes, suggesting the readiness score was sensitive to spikes in internal TL. The inverse relationship between readiness scores and cumulative minutes played was also significant (r = -.231). However, these results need further investigation as the correlations diverged when players were grouped based on minute played. Overall, this study shows the modified sRPE is a valid measure of internal TL and readiness score is sensitive to fluctuations in internal TL.


This paper describes the organization of 6 DOF nonlinear autonomous underwater vehicle (AUV) simulation toolbox, which is currently under development for the Ocean Explorer (OEX) series AWs developed at Florida Atlantic University. This software development is part of 5-year OM MURI effort of which its goal is to develop innovative tools and methodologies for the control of complex nonlinear dynamic systems. The purpose of this software simulation is to supply a flexible 3D-simulation platform for motion visualization, in-lab debugging and testing of mission-specific strategies as well as those related to C3 purposes. This software is currently jointly developed by the Ocean Engineering Department at Florida Atlantic University and Naval Postgraduate School for the FAU OEX and NPS Phoenix AUVs.


BACKGROUND: Emerging evidence has uncovered a vital role of nucleus accumbens (NAc) neurons that express the dopamine D1 receptor (D1R) and its upstream neural circuit in general anesthesia (GA) regulation. However, the underlying downstream neural basis of the modulation of GA emergence by NAcD1R neurons remains unknown. In the present study, we explored the downstream neural mechanism of NAcD1R neurons in the modulation of emergence from sevoflurane GA. METHODS: We traced the axonal projections of NAcD1R neurons using a cell type-specific anterograde tracing method and immunohistochemical techniques in D1R-Cre mice. Optogenetic stimulations combined with electroencephalogram/electromyogram recordings and behavioral tests were used to determine the effects of optogenetic activation of the axonal terminals of NAcD1R neurons on sevoflurane emergence during sevoflurane-induced continuous, steady-state general anesthesia (CSSGA) or burst-suppression oscillations. RESULTS: Labeled efferent fibers of NAcD1R neurons were highly distributed in the ventral pallidum (VP), lateral hypothalamus (LH), and substantia nigra pars compacta. Optogenetic activation of the NAcD1R–VP circuit during CSSGA with sevoflurane induced cortical activation (mean ± standard deviation [SD]; delta power: prestimulation versus during stimulation, 48.7% ± 5.7% vs 35.1% ± 3.3%, P < .0001; beta power: 7.1% ± 2.7% vs 14.2% ± 3.3%, P = .0264) and behavioral emergence, and restored the righting reflex in 66.7% of ChR2 mice. Optogenetic stimulation of the NAcD1R–LH circuit also produced cortical activation (delta power: prestimulation versus during stimulation, 45.0% ± 6.5% vs 36.1% ± 4.6%, P = .0016) and behavioral emergence, and restored the righting reflex in 100% of the ChR2 mice during CSSGA with sevoflurane. Under a sevoflurane-induced burst-suppression state, NAcD1R–VP/LH circuit activation produced evidence of cortical activation (burst-suppression ratio [BSR]: NAcD1R–VP circuit, prestimulation versus during stimulation, 42.4% ± 4.0% vs 26.3% ± 6.0%, P = .0120; prestimulation versus poststimulation, 42.4% ± 4.0% vs 5.9% ± 5.6%, P = .0002; BSR: NAcD1R–LH circuit, prestimulation versus during stimulation, 33.3% ± 13.4% vs 5.1% ± 4.9%, P = .0177; prestimulation vs poststimulation, 33.3% ± 13.4% vs 3.2% ± 4.0%, P = .0105) and behavioral emergence. CONCLUSIONS: Both NAcD1R–VP and NAcD1R–LH circuits are sufficient to promote reanimation from sevoflurane GA by simultaneously inducing cortical and behavioral emergence.


This study compared motivation to participate in public sports among students (girls and boys) in Islamic Azad University of Bandar Abbas. It is an applied research based on its purpose. Because the research aimed to explore the difference between the two genders for participation rate in public sports, and it is a casual-comparative type. The population consists of all undergraduate students in Islamic Azad University of Bandar Abbas in the first semester of years 93-94 that it equals 1159 people. A sample of 288 people was calculated on the basis of target population number and using Cochran formula that was selected via appropriate stratified random sampling. The sample was contributed in the study and eventually questionnaires distributed among participants but only 259 questionnaires were returned and benefited. Data were collected via using the 30-item questionnaire by Gill (2000) about motivation for participation among athletes. Comparison of two independent samples namely independent student T-test and ANOVA test were applied to analyze the data. Through studying the theories of the research, there is no significant difference between girls and boys students in Islamic Azad University of Bandar Abbas based on the motivation for participation in public sports. Also, there is no significant difference in dimensions (affiliation motivation, entertainment motivation, and competition motivation and learning skills) of public sports among students (boys & girls) in Islamic Azad University of Bandar Abbas. But there was significant difference in external motivations of public sports among students in Islamic Azad University of Bandar Abbas which the above results are also approved through the results of one-way variance test (ANOVA).


In addition to being the major excitatory neurotransmitter in the mammalian brain, glutamate is believed to play a key role in the regulation of neurite outgrowth and synaptogenesis during development. In cultured embryonic hippocampal pyramidal neurons, glutamate inhibits dendrite outgrowth by a mechanism involving elevation of intracellular-free calcium levels ([Ca2+]i). In the present study, secreted forms of the beta-amyloid precursor protein (APPss) counteracted the inhibitory effect of glutamate on dendrite outgrowth in cultured embryonic hippocampal neurons. The prolonged elevation of [Ca2+]i normally induced by glutamate was significantly attenuated in neurons that had been pretreated with 2-10 nM of APPs695 or APPs751. Immunocytochemistry with beta-amyloid precursor protein antibodies showed that immunoreactivity was concentrated in axons and, particularly, in their growth cones. Because beta-amyloid precursor proteins are axonally transported, and APPss can be released from axon terminals/growth cones in response to electrical activity, the present findings suggest that APPss may play a role in developmental and synaptic plasticity by modulating dendritic responses to glutamate.