The timing and frequency of periconceptional multivitamin use may be related to the risk of preeclampsia. Women in the Danish National Birth Cohort (1997–2003) reported multivitamin or folate-only supplement use during a 12-week periconceptional period (from 4 weeks prior to 8 weeks after the last menstrual period). Preeclampsia cases were identified by using International Classification of Diseases, Tenth Revision, codes. Cox regression was used to estimate the association of frequency (weeks of use) and timing (preconception and postconception) of use with preeclampsia risk. Overall, there were 668 cases of preeclampsia (2.3%), and 18,551 women (65%) reported periconceptional multivitamin use. After adjustment, regular use (12 of 12 weeks) was related to a reduced risk of preeclampsia among normal-weight women. Compared with nonusers with a body mass index of 22 kg/m, regular multivitamin users with the same body mass index had a 20% reduced risk of preeclampisa (hazard ratio 1⁄4 0.78, 95% confidence interval: 0.60, 0.99). In addition, regular use in the postconception period only was associated with reduced risk, a relation that also appeared to be limited to women with a body mass index of <25 kg/m (hazard ratio 1⁄4 0.63, 95% confidence interval: 0.42, 0.93). Folate-only supplement use was unrelated to preeclampsia risk. Regular periconceptional multivitamin use was associated with a reduced risk of preeclampsia among normal-weight women, and the immediate postconception period appeared to be the relevant exposure window.


The VIDAS varicella-zoster virus (VZV) immunoglobulin G immunoassay and the VZVScan latex agglutination (LA) test were compared for the detection of VZV antibody in patient sera. Of 625 samples tested, 554 were positive for VZV antibody by one or both methods. Five hundred thirteen (82.1%) samples were positive by both methods, 71 (11.4%) were negative by both methods, and there were 41 (6.6%) discrepant samples. Statistically significant differences in sensitivity and specificity were not found (P = 0.37); however, several observations were made. All 23 VIDAS repeat equivocal samples were LA positive. Fifty-four samples showed prozone effects with the LA assay, all of which resolved as positive.


In this paper, we analyzed the difficulties of Maxwell's electromagnetic theory and Einstein's gravitational theory in detail, built a unified theory of field including consistent nonlinear electromagnetic theory and gravitational theory on the basis of new starting postulates, and extended these results into quantum electrodynamics. In this process, we accepted a new geometrical space in which metric tensor and all main physical functions becomes implicit function, called "KR space" conforming to our starting postulates, and normalization of implicit functions in order to connect all physical functions defined in this space with real world. Here, we naturally unraveled problem of radiation reaction, a historical difficult problem of Maxwell-Lorentz theory, established new quantum electrodynamics without renormalization procedure and also predicted some new theoretical consequences which could not find in traditional theories.


Positioning on the surface of the earth using the triangulation method can be done in two ways, namely terrestrial method for example by measuring the angle and distance using the total station tool and extraterrestrial methods for example by using satellite-based positioning technology. Extraterrestrial positioning method using the global navigation satellite system combined with terrestrial methods by measuring angles and distances using the total station tool is one alternative to positioning well. In this study position determination will only be calculated using two intermediate calculation plane, on the ellipsoid projection and in the plane projection. Of course, in a process of measuring position for the same point but using different methods it will produce different levels of accuracy. From the results of the comparison in determining the definitive coordinate value generated by the count on the ellipsoid projection with the Gauss-Helmert method, the definitive value that is closer to the reference value measured by static measurements methods rather than definitive coordinates produced through calculations in the plane projection.


A perceptually motivated spatial decomposition for two-channel stereo audio signals, capturing the information about the virtual sound stage, is proposed. The spatial decomposition allows to re-synthesize audio signals for playback over other sound systems than two-channel stereo. With the use of more front loudspeakers, the width of the virtual sound stage can be increased beyond +/- 30 DEG and the sweet spot region is extended. Optionally, lateral independent sound components can be played back separately over loudspeakers on the two sides of a listener to increase listener envelopment. It is also explained how the spatial decomposition can be used with surround sound and wavefield synthesis based audio system. According to the main embodiment of the invention applying to multiple audio signals, it is proposed to generate multiple output audio signals (y1,..., yM) from multiple input audio signals (x1, ..., xL), in which the number of output is equal or higher than the number of input signals , this method comprising the steps of: by means of linear combinations of the input subbands (X1(i), ..., XL(i)), computing one or more independent sound subbands representing signal components which are independent between the input subbands, by means of linear combinations of the input subbands (X1(i), ..., XL(i)), computing one or more localized direct sound subbands representing signal components which are contained in more than one of the input subbands and direction factors representing the ratios with which these signal components are contained in two or more input subbands, generating the output subband signals (Y1(i)...YM(i)), where each output subband signal is a linear combination of the independent sound subbands and the localized direct sound subbands, converting the output subband signals (Y1(i)...YM(i)), to time domain audio signals (y1,..., yM).


Fetal polydactyly/hexadactyly, a supernumerary or rudimentary finger present on one or either fetal hands or feet, could be a sign of an underlying chromosomal aberration like trisomy 18 or 13, so in cases when hexadactyly is detected prenatal karyotyping is recommended. A supernumerary finger could be located on either side of the hand (radial or ulnar) or somewhere in between. Furthermore, it is also part of other malformation syndromes, like Meckel-Gruber or Ellis-vanCreveld syndrome. However, hexadactyly could be an isolated anomaly found prenatally in fetuses with a normal karyotype and with no other additional anomalies, and is even inheritable in some families. The manner of postnatal treatment of hexadactyly depends on how developed this supernumerary finger is. Dacryocystocele is a rare condition that could be detected prenatally mostly during the third trimester of gestation. It is a fluid-filled structure caused by obstruction of the lacrimal drainage system and could be easily visualized by 2D ultrasound as an anechoic cystic structure positioned inferior and medial to the orbit. Three-dimensional (3D) multiplanar and surface views facilitate prenatal diagnosis. In many cases dacryocystocele resolves spontaneously, even prenatally, but mostly in the early neonatal period (Sharony R et al. Ultrasound Obstet Gynecol 1999; 14: 71–73 and Sepulveda W et al. J Ultrasound Med 2005; 24: 225–230).


The effect of grain and annual ring orientation on the compression strength (a,,) and modulus of elasticity (EL) of small clear specimens of hardwood species was investigated. The experimental and analytical works explored the orthotropic nature of three North American (quaking aspen, red oak, and yellow-poplar) and two European (true poplar and turkey oak) hardwood species under uniaxial compression. Apparent compression strength and modulus of elasticity were measured at 15" grain and ring angle increments. The three-dimensional Hankinson's formula and another model, based on orthotropic tensor theory, were evaluated for predicting the anatomical direction-dependent properties of the species. Statistical analyses revealed that both models approximate the compression strength and elastic properties reasonably well. Either the analytical or the experimental results can be used for further modeling the orthotropic properties of structural composites. KcJyrvords: Hardwoods, compression strength and elasticity, orthotropy, modeling


In order to better solve the problem of detection of small bone spurs with convenient and accurate way, a portable spur detection system is designed. This system, in view of spur reproducibility characteristic, is characterized by the application for a kind of the improved algorithm based on the OpenCV. And it was successfully transplanted into the embedded system. The experimental results indicated that this system might precisely examine the small spur with difficulty discovery by naked eyes used fully by two images of computed tomography which done in different periods. The spur detection system needs to be further improved function to realize more applications. In fact, function expansion based on the system is easy to realize.


Durvalumab is an immune checkpoint inhibitor (ICI) of anti-programmed cell death protein 1 ligand antibody. ICI-combined chemotherapy has recently become a standard regimen for extensive-stage of small-cell lung cancer (ES-SCLC). SCLC is well known to be the most likely tumor associated with Lambert-Eaton myasthenic syndrome (LEMS), a rare autoimmune disease of a neuromuscular junction disorder. Although LEMS has been reported to be induced by ICI as immune-mediated adverse events, it remains unknown whether ICI can deteriorate preexisting paraneoplastic syndrome (PNS) of LEMS. Our rare case was successfully treated by durvalumab plus chemotherapy without exacerbation of preexisting PNS of LEMS. We report a 62-year-old female with ES-SCLC and preexisting PNS of LEMS. She started carboplatin-etoposide in combination with durvalumab. This immunotherapy achieved nearly complete response. However, multiple brain metastases were found after two courses of maintenance durvalumab. Her symptoms and physical examinations of LEMS improved despite of no significant change in compound muscle action potential amplitude in the nerve conduction study. The titer of anti-P/Q-type voltage-gated calcium channel (VGCC) antibody decreased from 1,419.2 to 263.5 pmol/L during the immunotherapy. In conclusion, ICI in combination with platinum doublet chemotherapy is still challenging but may be a treatment option for ES-SCLC patients complicated with PNS of LEMS.


In this paper, we study the effect of repairing the dog's femoral defects with the artificial bone integrating the nano-calcium phosphates/zirconia porous artificial bone scaffold with the autologous osteoblasts. We transplanted the artificial bone to the femoral defect of the dog, and at the same time, simple scaffold and the autologous cancellous bone were implanted as the control group. 3 months after the transplantation, the specimen was taken out with complete integration with the bone in these 3 groups and the bone defect got the complete bone union. The mechanics strength test showed that the group of the artificial bone was the strongest, followed by the cancellous bone group, and the simple material group was lower, but the strength was stronger than that before the transplantation. In the sixth month, the complete femoral defect repair was found in each group and the complete formation of the Haversian canal can be found on the histology examination. According to the mechanics strength test, there was no significant difference (P<0.05).


The defining feature of 2020 will be the early and mid-stages of the covid-19 pandemic, declared by the World Health Organisation on 11th March. Rapid worldwide exponential spread continues and by 15 April, more than 1 900 000 cases and 123 000 deaths had been reported worldwide (WHO, 2020).

Health services have coped to varying degrees. One common feature has been the withdrawal of routine care (Iacobucci, 2020a) and 'non-essential' staff including learners, although many have returned to undertake care roles. As the likely timeframe for stabilisation of health services becomes clearer, certainly in the United Kingdom (UK) (Iacobucci, 2020b), medical educators need to rapidly get the teaching of the next generation of health care workers back on track if they are to enter health services as confident and competent practitioners in 2020 and 2021.

Although a 'whole world' experience, the effects of covid-19 sit in national contexts. We detail the issues for the UK in re-starting and re-inventing medical education, noting that the principles, if not necessarily the detail, will be common across the world.


Introduction: The aim of the study is to develop a galactomannan-based drug delivery system. In this work galactomannan, a biocompatible polymer was isolated from a novel plant source. The seeds of the indigenous plant Caesalpinia sappan L. of the family Caesalpiniaceae were used for the extraction of galactomannan. Materials and Methods: The galactomannan was extracted by maceration and then purified. The purified polymer was characterized by physicochemical methods, FTIR studies, DSC study, SEM, thixotropic studies, microbial load and cytotoxic studies. In order to demonstrate its sustained release character a tablet formulation was prepared and propranalol was used as the model drug. The tablets were evaluated. The data obtained from in in-vitro drug release were fitted into different drug release models and the mechanism of drug release was determined. Results and Discussion: The FTIR studies of the isolated galactomannan revealed the presence of specific peaks for galactose, mannose and for glycosidic bonds. The DSC study showed a peak at 115oC. The flow curve resulted in a pseudoplastic flow which is suitable for controlled drug delivery. A 72% recovery from sol to gel form was observed in the thixotropic studies. Cytotoxicity study proved the safety of the polymer and microbial load was found to be within the accepted limit. Sustained release property is demonstrated by formulating a matrix tablet of propranolol HCl using the isolated polymer. The formulated tablets complied with all the evaluation tests. The drug release pattern for about 16 hr was obtained through in vitro dissolution testing and the release mechanism was found to be fitting to Korsmeyer Peppa's model. Conclusion: Galactomannan was successfully isolated and purified from Caesalpinia sappan seed and all the properties have been studied extensively. Galactomannan isolated from Caesalpinia sappan L seed can be used as an excellent pharmaceutical excipient for the formulation of matrix tablets.


Background: Induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) using 4 pluripotency transcription factor (c-myc, Klf, Oct-4, Sox) has turned skin fibroblasts into pluripotent stem cells. The aim of this study is to evaluate preputial skin regenerative capacity from three parameters: (i) epidermal cells proliferative capacity, (ii) presence of pluripotent stem cells in preputial skin, (iii) tissue repair prognosis in surgical incision margin.
Method: Design of this study is experimental study in accordance with ethical approval by ethical commission Faculty of Medicine Universitas Indonesia (FMUI)- Cipto Mangunkusumo National General Hospital. Ten post-circumscissed-preputial- skin samples were collected from mass circumscission under signed informed consent. This research is conducted in Jakarta from June 2014 to June 2015. The skin samples were transported in fixative solution to Histology Lab FMUI. After tissue processing, the samples were embedded in paraffin wax, sectioned by microtome and mounted on slides. The slides then underwent hematoxylin-eosin staining and immunohistochemistry specific for Ki-67 (cell proliferation marker), Oct4 (pluripotency marker), and tenascin-C (tissue repair marker). Mean of Ki-67+ cells was observed from five randomly selected high power fields (magnification 400x). Identification of Oct-4+ cells were documented from five randomly selected high power field (magnification 400x). For correlation with gross tissue repair, data was obtained from a follow up interview and physical observation.
Results and discussion: Mean of Ki-67 positive basal keratinocyte in inner mucosal epithelium was relatively higher than outer cutaneous epithelium (5.9 cells per high power field v/s 3.6 cells per high power field respectively). This indicates higher proliferative capacity in inner mucosa epidermal cells. 85.7% of tenascin-c positive samples exhibit normal inflammation resolution thus Tenascin-C may indicate normal tissue repair outcome. 8 out of 10 preputial skin samples had Oct4+ cells, specifically at sites previously reported as skin stem cell's niche i.e. the sebaceous gland, hair root follicle, blood vessel lumen, and hypodermis layer of the skin.
Conclusion: Regenerative capacity of post circumcision preputial skin is indicated by higher proliferation activity in inner mucosa epidermal layer, normal tissue repair outcome as indicated by majority of Tenascin-C expression at wound incision area and presence of Oct-4+ cells in majority of post-circumcision preputial skin.


As the non-playable characters (NPCs) of squad-based shooter computer games share a common goal, they should work together in teams and display cooperative behaviours that are tactically sound. Our research examines genetic programming (GP) as a technique to automatically develop effective team behaviours for shooter games. GP has been used to evolve teams capable of defeating a single powerful enemy agent in a number of environments without the use of any explicit team communication. The aim of this paper is to explore the effects of communication on the evolution of effective squad behaviours. Thus, NPCs are given the ability to communicate their perceived information during evolution. The results show that communication between team members enables an improvement in average team effectiveness.


This article focuses on the reception and the status of the Heidelberg Catechism in the Church of the Central Africa Presbyterian (CCAP) Nkhoma Synod in Malawi between 1889 and 2012. The constitution, the church order and the liturgical formularies of the CCAP Nkhoma Synod equally mention that the Heidelberg Catechism is one of the church's doctrinal standards. The Catechism had never been translated into the official language of this Church, implying that the content of the catechism has been withheld from its members. This leads to the following questions: Was the Heidelberg Catechism really received in the Nkhoma Synod? Why did the Nkhoma fail to make the content of the catechism available to its members? Did this Church realize the implication of a failure to translate the catechism into its official language? Therefore, this article argues that the Catechism had very little or no influence on the Church's theological discourse and practice.


Alongside informative discussions on Science Communication and Public Engagement, Forum Wissenschaftskommunikation 2022 reveals a field, a practice, and a community in transition. In and out of session discussions uncovered underlying tensions as well as potential synergies along a spectrum of practice between established disseminatory methodologies and participatory approaches. The future for best practice, collaboration, and growth for science communication in Germany will be a fascinating one to track.


We propose a method based on optimal transport theory for causal inference in classical treatment and control study designs. Our approach sheds a new light on existing approaches and generalizes them to settings with high-dimensional data. The implementation of our method leverages recent advances in computational optimal transport to produce an estimate of high-dimensional counterfactual outcomes. The benefits of this extension are demonstrated both on synthetic and real data that are beyond the reach of existing methods. In particular, we revisit the classical Card&Krueger dataset on the effect of a minimum wage increase on employment in fast food restaurants and obtain new insights about the impact of raising the minimum wage on employment of full- and part-time workers in the fast food industry.


New health challenges are arising in the workplace as occupations become increasingly more sedentary, and workplace stress grows. Both impact directly on health and wellbeing. Workplace interventions that are designed to improve health and wellbeing should provide coping strategies that can directly tackle stress, as well as reducing sedentary behaviours. We explore how exposure to nature can be used as a workplace intervention to reduce stress. We show how green exercise in a workplace setting may be a potentially powerful tool to tackle physical inactivity. We also discuss future research and applications of green exercise in the workplace and identify potential barriers that need to be addressed to increase its future acceptance by both employers and employees.


Fe/GaAs(001) is one of the leading candidate systems for achieving efficient spin-polarised injection. Although there have been numerous studies on the magnetotransport properties of Fe/GaAs(001) systems there is relatively little knowledge of the interface structure. In this study the atomic interface structure of Fe/GaAs(001) films has been investigated using both TEM and STEM techniques. The images show that as-deposited films consist of different interface structures. Although predominantly abrupt, the observation of partial mixing at the interface in some regions leads to a distribution of Schottky barrier heights. Ab-initio calculations were used to show that the partially mixed structure also forms interface resonance states. These states could provide a route for minority spin injection leading to bias dependent effects. Low temperature annealing has been shown to reduce the level of mixing in the films, thereby reducing the injection of minority spins through interface states. This explains the previously observed increase in injection efficiencies after annealing. Annealing also changes the shape of the Schottky barrier height distribution, explaining the increase in the effective Schottky barrier height after annealing. The magnetotransport properties of devices fabricated from the same film were investigated using both electrical and optical techniques. The magnetotransport properties show that reproducible devices can be created exhibiting well behaved characteristics, free from bias dependent phenomena. This is the first time that the atomic interface structure has been correlated to the magnetotransport properties in Fe/GaAs(001) films.


ABSTRACT Steric and relaxation as components of deformation density are characterised by topological analysis; and critical points are found as important descriptors for interatomic and intermolecular interactions. In this respect, repulsive and attractive types of electron density redistribution can be examined distinctly, with their own critical points. The steric component as repulsive interaction is appeared as a local minimum critical point, while relaxation component as attractive component appears as a local maximum in the Cartesian space. The formalism is applied to extensively different complexes including closed- and open-shell interactions, and the results fairly agree with chemical interpretation of these two types of interactions.


Operating principle of laser beam-riding guidance was set forth. Based on the principle of spatial frequency-encoding, an optimum laser encoding mode was designed, which can transfer continuous laser into pulse laser that represents different position information. Then the mathematic model of deviation from target is built, a modified encoding pattern was presented, which is composed of two light paths crossed 90. Azimuth information of target is given in orthogonal coordinate system and deviation from target is linearity. As well as, characteristic distribution of spatial laser field is analyzed. Corresponding decoding mode was presented, by testing in 2 kilometers outdoor; experimental results demonstrated that the receiver can receive correctly the encoded signal and can decode the signal, measurement for the missdistance is feasible and all the performance parameters satisfy the demand.


Molecular orientation in vapor-deposited organic semiconductor films is known to improve the optical and electrical efficiencies of organic light-emitting diodes, but atomistic understanding is still incomplete. In this study, using all-atom simulation of vapor deposition, we theoretically investigate how the molecular orientation depends on various factors such as the substrate temperature, molecular shape, and material composition. The simulation results are in good agreement with experiment, indicating that the all-atom simulation can predict the molecular orientation reliably. From the detailed analysis of the dynamics of molecules, we suggest that the kinetics of molecules near the surface mainly determines the orientation of the deposited film. In addition, the oriented films have higher density and thermal stability than randomly oriented films. We also show that higher mobility of laterally oriented films can be explained in terms of the site-energy correlation.


Replacing associated consistency in Hamiache's axiom system by dual similar associated consistency, we axiomatize the Shapley value as the unique value verifying the inessential game property, continuity and dual similar associated consistency. Continuing the matrix analysis for Hamiache's axiomatization of the Shapley value, we construct the dual similar associated game and introduce the dual similar associated transformation matrix $M_\lambda^{DSh}$ as well. In the game theoretic framework we show that the dual game of the dual similar associated game is Hamiache's associated game of the dual game. For the purpose of matrix analysis, we derive the similarity relationship $M_\lambda^{DSh}=QM_\lambda Q^{-1}$ between the dual similar associated transformation matrix $M_\lambda^{DSh}$ and associated transformation matrix $M_\lambda$ for Hamiache's associated game, where the transformation matrix $Q$ represents the duality operator on games. This similarity of matrices transfers associated consistency into dual similar associated consistency, and also implies the inessential property for the limit game of the convergent sequence of repeated dual similar associated games. We conclude this paper with three tables summarizing all matrix results.


We present work fuelled by an urge to understand speech in its original and most fundamental context: in conversation between people. And what better way than to look to the experts? Regarding human conversation, authority lies with the speakers themselves, and asking the experts is a matter of observing and analyzing what speakers do. This is the second part of a two-part discussion which is illustrated with examples mainly from the work at KTH Speech, Music and Hearing. In this part, we discuss methods of extracting useful information from captured data, with a special focus on raw sound.


Biocatalytic systems to economically produce biochemicals using less expensive feedstocks like granular starches are an attractive alternative to petroleum based chemical synthesis. This is due, in part, to significant advances in our understanding and application of genetic and metabolic engineering of host organisms and granular starch hydrolyzing enzymes. This book chapter explores a GSHE (granular starch hydrolyzing enzyme) process for the conversion of granular starch feedstocks to glucose, and the concomitant conversion of glucose by microorganisms and/or enzymes, to desired chemical products. In this process, conversion of glucose to products parallels its formation by enzymatic catalysis. This reduces enzyme inhibition and speeds the conversion of granular starch to products. Furthermore, such a process provides key glucose-controlled biocatalytic conditions, which are critical in many fermentative processes.


Background: Recently, there has been renewed interest in the importance of reducing sugar intake to control dental caries both in the UK and internationally. Although diet advice to promote oral as well as general health is recommended for all dental patients, those at high risk of dental caries are particularly in need of additional professional support tailored to their needs. For this reason, diet diaries have been recommended as a dietary assessment tool that enables the tailoring of effective dietary advice for individual patients in dental practice (Watt et al., 2003). However, despite the recognised merits of diet diaries as dietary assessment and self-monitoring tools in the general literature (Thompson and Subar, 2013), an early search of literature revealed that very little empirical work had been devoted to this topic in the dental context. The overall aim of this research is to explore the use of diet diaries in the dental clinical setting. It offers some important insights into the possible barriers and facilitators of their use to support dietary advice. Methods Four studies were undertaken to meet the general aim and the objectives of the thesis. A range of qualitative and quantitative research methods were used. Dentists' current practices and perceived influences of diet diaries usage in dental practice were investigated using a postal questionnaire survey to general dental practitioners (GDPs) (Study I). A case-vignette based on a diet diary was incorporated into this questionnaire to deepen understanding about how dentists interpret and use diet diaries to formulate dietary advice (Study II). A retrospective study was carried out to estimate the return rate of diet diaries and its associated factors among paediatric dental patients in a teaching dental hospital (Study III) - a different setting where dental remuneration is less of an issue. Finally, a qualitative case study was conducted to investigate factors associated with patients' adherence to diet diaries issued to paediatric dental patients in a teaching dental hospital setting (Study IV). Findings Study I found that the majority of English GDPs did not use diet diaries to collect diet information (62%), mainly because of constraints related to finance and time. Other barriers identified were poor patient compliance and a perceived lack of necessary skill relating to dietary counselling. Diet diaries were more likely to be used in children than in adults, and for patients with high levels of caries. Study II demonstrated that GDPs rely upon a strategy of intelligent selection to filter complex dietary information in order to generate dietary advice. Challenged with a large field of information, they select what they see as a subset of either the most useful or the easiest information for patients to understand and implement. Study III found that the return rate of diet diaries by children and their families in a dental hospital setting was low (34%). Return rate was associated with patients' demographic and oral health maintenance habits. Content analysis of returned diet diaries showed that diet diaries did not consistently capture the full range of complexities of dietary aspects relevant to oral health. Information on sugar amount, consumption context, sequence of intake within meals, prolonged contact with teeth and sugars consumed near bedtime – all were partially or completely missing from the returned diaries. Study IV concluded that adherence to diet diaries is a multi-contextual phenomenon associated with interacting factors which are generally related to the patient (parent/child), the dentist and the diet diary itself. Conclusions Diet diaries were not frequently used by dental practitioners, nor were they frequently returned or adequately completed by patients and their families. The use of diet diaries as a dietary assessment and monitoring tool is complicated by many factors related to the dentist, patients and the diet diaries itself. Therefore, multifaceted interventions targeted at patients, providers and the healthcare system are required if the use of diet diaries is to be enhanced. A motivated patient, a time-efficient tool as well as appropriate support from health care system appear to be necessary for the successful use of diet diaries.


The effect of browning intensity of qurshallah, a popular bakery product in Jordan leavened by ammonium bicarbonate and baked twice, on the protein quality was investigated. Light, medium and dark toasted qurshallah samples baked at the same temperature but for different times were used. Data on the proximate analysis of the three different levels of toasted qurshallah indicated significant differences (P < 0.05) regarding the moisture content of the three toasting levels, and in the fat content between the light and the dark toasted samples. Net protein utilization (NPU) using Sprague-Dawley rats, was determined for diets containing the toasted qurshallah samples. Food consumption and gain in body weight of rats decreased with increasing toasting level. Dark toasting of qurshallah caused loss in body weight of animals. The values for NPU operative (NPUop), NPU Standardized (NPUst) and net dietary protein as a percentage of total energy (NDpE%) for light, medium and dark toasted qurshallah diets were significantly different (P < 0.05). The highest values obtained were for the light toasted (75.5, 82.0 and 6.6 respectively), and the lowest values for the medium toasted qurshallah (56.4, 56.3 and 3.7 respectively). The results indicate that intense browning of chemically leavened bakery products might be deleterious to health and should be avoided.


In this field note, we make a case for adapting Reach Up and Learn, an evidence-based home-visiting intervention, to the needs of refugees, internally displaced persons, and other vulnerable populations in the conflict-affected settings of Jordan, Lebanon, and northeastern Syria. We outline the implementation of the intervention in all three countries and share our observations, including successes and challenges, from the first two years (2016 and 2017) of this multiyear project. We also provide insights into the country-by-country evolution of the project. We compare and contrast the adaptation approaches in each country and highlight innovations based specifically on in-country feedback. We also touch on the measurement and costing approaches for the intervention, noting the ways the project is contributing to the limited body of evidence in this area. We offer specific recommendations for additional research to generate evidence on early childhood development in humanitarian programming, and we conclude with an overview of the next stage of the Reach Up and Learn project, which is part of a wider initiative to improve the developmental outcomes of children in the region who are affected by crisis and conflict.


Between August 1989 and July 1990, California conducted a Mediterranean fruit fly eradication project in southern California which included repeated aerial applications of malathion bait to urban areas where approximately 1.6 million people resided. Concern about the safety of these applications prompted the California Department of Health Services to prepare a risk assessment. The current work presents the estimates of environmental levels of malathion and malaoxon, derived from mass deposition rates during application and monitoring of air. We estimated short and long-term malathion and malaoxon levels on outdoor surfaces, plants, and soils (0.1 and 1.0 cm mixing depth), using a simple first-order exponential decay model and literature half-life values ranging from three to nine days. Direct monitoring data were used to characterize short-term air levels. Average and upper-bound malathion levels immediately following an application were 0.091 microgram/m3 and 0.207 microgram/m3 in air; 22 and 52 mg/m2 on outdoor surfaces; 3.8 and 9.6 micrograms/g in plants; and 1.5 and 3.5 micrograms/g in soil (1 cm mixing depth). Malaoxon levels were 0.039 microgram/m3 and 0.110 microgram/m3 in air; 0.15 and 0.46 mg/m2, 0.03 and 0.09 microgram/g, and 0.01 and 0.03 microgram/g, respectively. Estimates of average and upper-bound levels over the duration of the eradication program were roughly one-third the immediate levels in all media. No field measurements were available for co-products other than malaoxon, for environmental persistence, or for concentrations on surfaces, soil, or plants after repeated applications. Because of limited monitoring data, and the likelihood that similar pest-eradication programs will be conducted, additional studies are warranted to more accurately characterize the environmental fate of malathion and human exposures after aerial application to residential communities.


When isolated salmon gills were perfused under simulated in vivo conditions, norepinephrine increased and calcitonin decreased the rate of flow of perfusate and the influx of calcium and phosphate through the gill. Only the increased water flow was mediated by beta-adrenergic receptors. Differences in sensitivity to both hormones were observed with gills from prespawning and postspawning salmon; gills from freshwater-adapted fish were less sensitive to norepinephrine and more sensitive to calcitonin, suggesting a decreased production of this hormone in the late stage of the life cycle. The antagonistic effects of calcitonin and norepinephrine on the gill strongly implicate their regulatory role for calcium homeostasis in vivo; the major process being regulated is the influx of calcium into the gill. In fish, calcitonin performs an important role in regulating gill function.


Churn prediction in telecom has become a major requirement due to the increase in the number of telecom providers. However due to the hugeness, sparsity and imbalanced nature of the data, churn prediction in telecom has always been a complex task. This paper presents a Metaheuristic based churn prediction technique that performs churn prediction on huge telecom data. Particle Swarm Optimization algorithm is used as the classifier. Experiments were conducted on the Orange dataset. It was observed that PSO algorithm works best on churn data providing effective and faster results.


Speech signal feature extraction is a challenging research area with great significance to the speaker identification and speech recognition communities. We propose a novel speech spectrogram based spectral modal adaptation algorithm. This system is based on dynamic thresholding of speech spectrograms for text-dependent speaker identification. For a given utterance from a target speaker we aim to find the target speaker among a number of speakers who exist in the system. Conceptually, this algorithm attempts to increase the spectral similarity for the target speaker while increasing the spectral dissimilarity for the non-target speaker who is a member of the enrolment set. Therefore, it removes aging and intersession-dependent spectral variation in the utterance while preserving the speaker inherent spectral features. The hidden Markov model (HMM) parameters representing each listed speaker in the system are adapted for each identification event. The results obtained using speech signals from both the Noisex database and from recordings in the laboratory environment seem promising and demonstrate the robustness of the algorithm for aging and session-dependent utterances. Additionally, we have evaluated the adapted and the non-adapted models with data recorded two months after the initial enrollment. The adaptation seems to improve the performance of the system for the aged data from 84% to 91%.


BACKGROUND
There is an increased incidence of rare imprinting disorders associated with assisted reproduction technologies (ARTs). The identification of epigenetic changes at imprinted loci in ART infants has led to the suggestion that the techniques themselves may predispose embryos to acquire imprinting errors and diseases. However, it is still unknown at what point(s) these imprinting errors arise, or the risk factors.

METHODS
In 2009 we conducted a Japanese nationwide epidemiological study of four well-known imprinting diseases to determine any association with ART. Using bisulfite sequencing, we examine the DNA methylation status of 22 gametic differentially methylated regions (gDMRs) located within the known imprinted loci in patients with Beckwith-Wiedemann syndrome (BWS, n=1) and also Silver-Russell syndrome (SRS, n= 5) born after ART, and compared these with patients conceived naturally.

RESULTS
We found a 10-fold increased frequency of BWS and SRS associated with ART. The majority of ART cases showed aberrant DNA methylation patterns at multiple imprinted loci both maternal and paternal gDMRs (5/6), with both hyper- and hypomethylation events (5/6) and also mosaic methylation errors (5/6). Although our study may have been limited by a small sample number, the fact that many of the changes were mosaic suggested that they occurred after fertilization. In contrast, few of the patients who were conceived naturally exhibited a similar pattern of mosaic alterations. The differences in methylation patterns between the patients who were conceived naturally or after ART did not manifest due to the differences in the disease phenotypes in these imprinting disorders.

CONCLUSION
A possible association between ART and BWS/SRS was found, and we observed a more widespread disruption of genomic imprints after ART. The increased frequency of imprinting disorders after ART is perhaps not surprising given the major epigenetic events that take place during early development at a time when the epigenome is most vulnerable.


Spinal cord injury (SCI) is a very severe traumatic disease of the central nervous system (CNS). Because of its high incidence rate in causing disabilities, it brings great burdens to patients and society. Both Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) and Western Medicine have been adopted to ameliorate SCI with promising outcomes. In TCM, the use of Governor Vessel electro-acupuncture has achieved remarkable results on the rehabilitation of patients with SCI. In the past decade, Governor Vessel electro-acupuncture has also been used in experimentally induced SCI and this has resulted in promising functional recovery. Both neural stem cells (NSCs) and bone marrow mesenchymal cells (MSCs) have been used extensively in recent years for improvement of functional recovery of CNS disorders. We have used a combined approach by integrating the basic and clinical research in SCI in recent years. In this connection, transplantation of NSCs or MSCs coupled with the Governor Vessel electro-acupuncture (GV-EA) has been adopted to improve the recovery of SCI. Our study suggests that GV-EA may activate the process of cell metabolism, and initiate synthesis and secretion of endogenous neurotrophic factors in the ambient tissues at the lesion site of spinal cord. It is proposed that the new combined strategy could promote a better structural and functional recovery of injured spinal cord.


In the last 50 years, Stakeholder (STH) theory has become one of the main instruments of analysis, identification,classification and management of entities in the complex and conflicting corporate environment. In a similar way, System Dynamics (SD) methodology has been used as an instrument for modeling and simulating the dynamics of complex systems in several areas of knowledge, such as engineering, management, environmental research, health, etc. The main objective of this work is to study the potential of combining these two approaches into a new methodology for modeling, analysis and simulation of organizational complex systems that could aid in the decision-making process. Motivated by social, technological, political and economic challenges observed in the Brazilian Space Program (PEB), the authors use it as a case study for the application of that new methodology. This preliminary study identifies possible cells and molecules of the functional structure of PEB, their interfaces and interactions. It is hoped that the present work would be helpful for later developments in PEBs dynamic modeling and planning.


Abstract Background Klebsiella pneumoniae is a human, animal, and environmental commensal and a leading cause of nosocomial infections, which are often caused by multiresistant strains. We evaluate putative sources of K. pneumoniae that are carried by and infect hospital patients. Methods We conducted a 6-month survey on 2 hematology wards at Addenbrooke's Hospital, Cambridge, United Kingdom, in 2015 to isolate K. pneumoniae from stool, blood, and the environment. We conducted cross-sectional surveys of K. pneumoniae from 29 livestock farms, 97 meat products, the hospital sewer, and 20 municipal wastewater treatment plants in the East of England between 2014 and 2015. Isolates were sequenced and their genomes compared. Results Klebsiella pneumoniae was isolated from stool of 17/149 (11%) patients and 18/922 swabs of their environment, together with 1 bloodstream infection during the study and 4 others over a 24-month period. Each patient carried 1 or more lineages that was unique to them, but 2 broad environmental contamination events and patient–environment transmission were identified. Klebsiella pneumoniae was isolated from cattle, poultry, hospital sewage, and 12/20 wastewater treatment plants. There was low genetic relatedness between isolates from patients/their hospital environment vs isolates from elsewhere. Identical genes encoding cephalosporin resistance were carried by isolates from humans/environment and elsewhere but were carried on different plasmids. Conclusion We identified no patient-to-patient transmission and no evidence for livestock as a source of K. pneumoniae infecting humans. However, our findings reaffirm the importance of the hospital environment as a source of K. pneumoniae associated with serious human infection.


A series of novel lower rim calix[4]arene receptors with crown ethers moieties, i.e. 2–4, 6, 8, each of which contains 15-crown-5 ether fragment, was synthesized. The complexation properties of obtained compounds were determined through the series of alkali, alkaline earth and some transition metal picrate extraction experiments. Calixarenes with two N-carbonylaza(or benzoaza)crown-5 ether units (2, 3) are efficient extractants for alkali metal ions whereas ligands with 4-amidobenzocrown-5 ether moieties show a binding ability toward some divalent cations. The tetrasubstituted calix[4]arene 6 is an effective but non selective extractant for studied metal picrates under experimental conditions with the ligand-cation ratio 1:1.


BACKGROUND
In early postpartum haemorrhage (PPH), a low concentration of fibrinogen is associated with excessive subsequent bleeding and blood transfusion. We hypothesized that pre-emptive treatment with fibrinogen concentrate reduces the need for red blood cell (RBC) transfusion in patients with PPH.

METHODS
In this investigator-initiated, multicentre, double-blinded, parallel randomized controlled trial, we assigned subjects with severe PPH to a single dose of fibrinogen concentrate or placebo (saline). A dose of 2 g or equivalent was given to all subjects independent of body weight and the fibrinogen concentration at inclusion. The primary outcome was RBC transfusion up to 6 weeks postpartum. Secondary outcomes were total blood loss, total amount of blood transfused, occurrence of rebleeding, haemoglobin <58 g litre(-1), RBC transfusion within 4 h, 24 h, and 7 days, and as a composite outcome of 'severe PPH', defined as a decrease in haemoglobin of >40 g litre(-1), transfusion of at least 4 units of RBCs, haemostatic intervention (angiographic embolization, surgical arterial ligation, or hysterectomy), or maternal death.

RESULTS
Of the 249 randomized subjects, 123 of 124 in the fibrinogen group and 121 of 125 in the placebo group were included in the intention-to-treat analysis. At inclusion the subjects had severe PPH, with a mean blood loss of 1459 (sd 476) ml and a mean fibrinogen concentration of 4.5 (sd 1.2) g litre(-1). The intervention group received a mean dose of 26 mg kg(-1) fibrinogen concentrate, thereby significantly increasing fibrinogen concentration compared with placebo by 0.40 g litre(-1) (95% confidence interval, 0.15-0.65; P=0.002). Postpartum blood transfusion occurred in 25 (20%) of the fibrinogen group and 26 (22%) of the placebo group (relative risk, 0.95; 95% confidence interval, 0.58-1.54; P=0.88). We found no difference in any predefined secondary outcomes, per-protocol analyses, or adjusted analyses. No thromboembolic events were detected.

CONCLUSIONS
We found no evidence for the use of 2 g fibrinogen concentrate as pre-emptive treatment for severe PPH in patients with normofibrinogenaemia.

CLINICAL TRIAL REGISTRATION
ClinicalTrials.gov: http://clinicaltrials.gov/show/NCT01359878. Published protocol: http://www.trialsjournal.com/content/pdf/1745-6215-13-110.pdf.


An expansion of the incident Gaussian beam in terms of the cylindrical vector wave functions natural to an infinite cylinder of arbitrary orientation is presented. With such an expansion, the problem of interaction between a Gaussian beams and an infinite cylinder is studied in the framework of the generalized Lorenz-Mie theory. As an example, for the case of a tightly focused Gaussian beams propagating perpendicularly to the cylinder axis, the scattering characteristics are described in detail, and numerical results of the normalized differential scattering cross section are evaluated.


Despite the focus on the importance of trees in Africa and the many projects that try to improve their management, there is very little research and few development projects which address tree related problems in a holistic manner. With respect to forest management arrangements, focus tends to be either exclusively on community forestry, or on private tree planting. Such a divided focus makes it difficult to understand the complementarities and possible synergetic effects of these two approaches in solving common problems and improving local livelihoods. The present article argues that interdisciplinary projects are needed to develop a holistic approach to tree management Gausset et al.: Why combine private and communal tree management? A case-study based in ..... and to improve the use of trees. This argument builds on the results from the PETREA (People, Trees and Agriculture) research programme in Majawanga (Gairo, Tanzania). In this village, private and collective tree management is characterized by very different uses, opportunities and problems. Common woodlands play an important role in providing villagers with Non-Timber Forest Products (NTFP) from indigenous species that are important for local livelihoods as they provide food, medicine, and grazing areas. The constraints linked to the management of common woodlands pertain to group dynamics and resemble, at first glance, a "tragedy of the commons" as described by Hardin (1968). Private tree planting, on the other hand, provides both local services (including providing fruits, firewood or securing boundaries between fields) and cash from the selling of poles. The constraints characterizing private tree management are linked to land-tenure, tree seedling cost and season for planting. Land tenure is of paramount importance as trees cannot be planted on borrowed or rented land, or at the expense of cropland needed to sustain the household. The season for planting seedlings is a constraint because of a conflict with labour demands for crops needed to survive. Despite being characterized by very different uses and constraints, the management of private and common trees also share common constraints as both require that grazing is under control and that there exist clear rules and efficient institutions able to solve management conflicts. Both types of management should therefore be analyzed together as improving one can help relieve the pressure on the other.


Estrogen receptor (ER) and progesterone receptor (PR) contents were determined by biochemical (dextran charcoal-coated (DCC) assay) and immunohistochemical (ICA) methods in biopsies from 145 primary endometrial adenocarcinomas and those with eligible receptor measurements were analyzed with respect to correlations to cancer-specific survival in a multivariate analysis including histopathological characteristics. Median patient follow-up time was 67 months with 18 cancer deaths. The PR-DCC and ER-DCC values were dichotomized according to levels previously found by us to correspond to the best agreement between receptor status as determined by the DCC and ICA methods (130 fmol/mg cytosol protein for ER, 114 fmol/mg for PR). Using these thresholds, we found by multivariate analysis that "high" PR-DCC levels (> 114 fmol/mg) correlated significantly (P = 0.004) with survival, independent of stage risk group (Ia + b vs Ic-IV). Patient age and histologic grade were prognostic factors in a univariate setting, but these parameters were eliminated in the multivariate model. While the PR-ICA scores also correlated significantly and independently with survival, the predictive effect of PR-ICA positivity alone could not be statistically evaluated due to the number of cases with eligible ICA values. However, we suggest that owing to a close correlation between DCC and ICA results, PR-ICA status may provide significant prognostic information when DCC measurements are not available.


The Nerineacea form a distinctive and significant component of shallow marine Mesozoic Tethyan macrofaunas. They occur in shelf sediments deposited in tropical regions during the Jurassic and Cretaceous. The group first appears in the early Jurassic and high diversity levels had developed by late Jurassic and early Cretaceous times. A major extinction episode occurred during the latter part of the Cenomanian and the Turonian, with the Nerineacea becoming finally extinct in the Maastrichtian.

The heterostrophic nature of the ncrineacean protoconch (described here from Nerineidae and Nerinellidae species) indicates opisthobranch affinities. The Nerineacea is placed in the Entomotacniata, an independent order within the Opisthobranchia. The Entomotaeniata is considered to show greatest affinities with some members of the Acteonacea. The Pyramidcllacea are not included in the Entomotaeniata. The order contains the Ceritellidae, Nerineidae, Nerinellidae and ltieriidae. Early phylogenetic separation of the first three families is indicated. Within each family a limited number of "stable" internal fold patterns developed independently which reflected anatomical features of the abapical portion of the nerineid animal. T

he Nerineacea typically inhabited warm, clear, carbonate-dominated shallow marine environments on and around off-shore "highs", however, some genera lived in prelittoral or lagoonal situations. Only Ptygmatis shows any evidence of tolerance of abnormal salinities. Carbon and oxygen isotope analyses demonstrate that Nerinella and Simploptyxis specimens from Austrian Gosau deposits lived in water of normal marine salinity. Most Cretaceous nerineid genera were probably mobile epifaunal herbivores, although Nerinellidae species may have been infaunal.

Cretaceous Nerineacea are taxonomically reviewed; the diagnoses of the subfamily Umboneinae; Diozoptyxis, Adiozoptyxis; Julesia and Phaneroptyxis are revised. Stratigraphic and palaeogeographic ranges indicate that certain species could potentially be used for correlation. Quantitative measurements of various parameters are included in specific descriptions; the value of these in specific resolution is tested in appropriate cases. An analysis of morphological range in one species (Diozoptyxis cochleaeformis) demonstrates wide continuous variation in overall shell shape and whorl concavity. However, external ornament and internal fold pattern do not show significant intraspecific variation; these features therefore provide reliable characters for species definition.


The Evidence Framework on the DCED website seeks to provide a central point of access for convincing evidence on the results of private sector development programmes, including entrepreneurship and business management training. It is designed as a results chain to organise evidence according to the sequence in which PSD practitioners typically expect their work to lead to pro-poor impacts. Available research on results can be viewed by clicking on the blue arrows on the website, at: http://www.enterprise-development.org/whatworks-and-why/evidence-framework/


Aim: Nurses play a central role in disaster preparedness and management, as well as in emergency response, in many countries over the world. Care in a disaster environment is different from day-to-day nursing care and nurses have special needs during a disaster. However, disaster nursing education is seldom provided and a lack of curricula exists in many countries around the world. The aim of this literature review is to provide an overview of nurses' roles, knowledge and experience in national disaster preparedness and emergency response.
Methods: An electronic search was conducted using multiple literature databases. All items were included, regardless of the publication year. All abstracts were screened for relevance and a synthesis of evidence of relevant articles was undertaken. Relevant information was extracted, summarized and categorized. Out of 432 reviewed references, information of 68 articles was included in this review.
Results: The sub-themes of the first main theme (a) roles of nurses during emergency response include the expectations of the hospital and the public, general and special roles of nurses, assignments of medical tasks, special role during a pandemic influenza, role conflicts during a disaster, willingness to respond to a disaster. For (b) disaster preparedness knowledge of nurses, the corresponding sub-themes include the definition of a disaster, core competencies and curriculum, undergraduate nursing education and continuing education programs, disaster drills, training and exercises, preparedness. The sub-themes for the last theme (c) disaster experiences of nurses include the work environment, nursing care, feelings, stressors, willingness to respond as well as lessons learned and impacts.
Conclusion: There is consensus in the literature that nurses are key players in emergency response. However, no clear mandate for nurses exists concerning their tasks during a disaster. For a nurse, to be able to respond to a disaster, personal and professional preparedness, in terms of education and training, are central. The Framework of Disaster Nursing Competencies of the WHO and ICN, broken down into national core competencies, will serve as a sufficient complement to the knowledge and skills of nurses already acquired through basic nursing curricula. During and after a disaster, attention should be applied to the work environment, feelings and stressors of nurses, not only to raise the willingness to respond to a disaster. Where non-existent, national directives and concepts for disaster nursing should be developed and nurses should be aware of their duties. Nursing educators should prepare nurses for disasters, by adjusting the curricula and by meeting the increased need for education and training in disaster nursing for all groups of nurses. The appropriateness of theoretical and practical preparation of disaster nursing competencies in undergraduate nursing courses and continuing education programmes should be evaluated.


OBJECTIVE
Although episodic memory is often conceptualized as consisting of multiple component processes, there is a lack of understanding as to whether these processes are influenced by the same or different genetic determinants. The aim of the present study was to utilize multivariate twin analyses to elucidate the degree to which learning and delayed recall, two critical measures of episodic memory performance, have common or different genetic and environmental influences.

METHOD
Participants from the Vietnam Era Twin Study of Aging (314 monozygotic twin pairs, 259 dizygotic twin pairs, and 47 unpaired twins) were assessed using the second edition of the California Verbal Learning Test. Mean age at the time of the evaluation was 55.4 years (SD = 2.5).

RESULTS
Model fitting revealed the presence of a higher-order latent factor influencing learning, short- and long-delay free recall, with a heritability of .36. The best-fitting model also indicated specific genetic influences on learning, which accounted for 10% of the overall variance. Given that learning involves the acquisition and retrieval of information, whereas delayed recall involves only retrieval, we conclude that these specific effects are likely to reflect genes that are specific to acquisition processes.

CONCLUSION
These results demonstrate that even in nonclinical populations, it is possible to differentiate component processes in episodic memory. These different genetic influences may have implications for gene association studies, as well as other genetic studies of cognitive aging and disorders of episodic memory such as Alzheimer's disease or mild cognitive impairment.


Abstract : In December 2013, RAND convened a workshop to explore a set of alternative futures for the Syrian conflict. This perspective draws extensively on that workshop and compares its findings and discussion with analysis of how events have developed since then. The Syrian conflict has shifted more than we and the other workshop participants anticipated. The successful push of the Islamic State of Iraq and al-Sham (ISIS)1 into northern and western Iraq and its territorial gains in eastern Syria (amid its continued vicious assault on other Syrian rebels) exceeded our expectations. The Assad regime s steady (albeit costly) progress against opposition elements in northern and western Syria (as well as the continued intense fighting among opposition elements) warrant a reexamination of our assumptions and our futures. The original workshop was meant largely for the benefit of the participants, but the unanticipated significant developments since then argue for documenting both our previous discussions and the ensuing changes on the ground. This paper is intended to provide such documentation. We believe that the four scenarios discussed continue to offer a solid conceptual framework to assess the trajectory of the Syrian war and its implications for U.S. and Western interests.


Introduction: Multiple sclerosis is an autoimmune disease which can be triggered in genetic susceptible individuals by Acinetobacter spp. and Pseudomonas aeruginosa infections. Terminalia ferdinandiana (Kakadu plum) fruit has documented therapeutic properties as a general antiseptic agent. Extracts prepared from the leaves have also been shown to block several microbial triggers of autoimmune inflammatory diseases. This study examines the ability of Kakadu plum fruit extracts to inhibit some microbial triggers of multiple sclerosis. Methods: T. ferdinandiana fruit solvent extracts were investigated by disc diffusion assay against reference and clinical strains of A.baylyi and P. aeruginosa. Their MIC values were determined to quantify and compare their efficacies. Toxicity was determined using the Artemia franciscana nauplii bioassay. Active extracts were analysed by non-targeted HPLC-QTOF mass spectroscopy (with screening against 3 compound databases) and by GC-MS (with screening against 1 compound databases) for the identification and characterisation of individual components in crude plant extracts. Results: Methanolic, aqueous and ethyl acetate T. ferdinandiana leaf extracts displayed potent antibacterial activity in the disc diffusion assay against the bacterial triggers of multiple sclerosis (A.baylyi and P. aeruginosa). The methanol and ethyl acetate extracts had the most potent growth inhibitory activity, with MIC values less than 1000 µg/ ml against A. baylyi and P. aeruginosa (both reference and clinical strains). In comparison, the water extract was substantially less potent. Neither the chloroform nor hexane extracts inhibited the growth of any of the bacterial strains tested. All T. ferdinandiana fruit extracts were nontoxic in the Artemia fransiscana bioassay. Non-biased phytochemical analysis of the ethyl acetate extract revealed only low levels of the tannins gallic acid and chebulic acid and no other tannins. Conclusion: The low toxicity of the T. ferdinandiana fruit extracts and their potent inhibitory bioactivity against the bacterial triggers of multiple sclerosis indicates their potential as medicinal agents in the treatment and prevention of this disease. Phytochemical studies indicate that this activity is likely to be due to phytochemicals other than tannins.


We report a case of an asymptomatic 39-year-old male who was incidentally found to have a white blood cell count of 15 000/mm3 associated with a positive BCR-ABL/t(9;22)(q34;q11) chromosomal translocation detected in 51/300 of cells by FISH and RT-PCR from peripheral blood. Within the next 3 months, leukocytosis spontaneously subsided; however, BCR-ABL by RT-PCR and FISH was persistent both in peripheral blood and bone marrow. The patient was not started on any therapy and is being followed regularly with laboratory checkup and physical examination for monitoring signs and symptoms of chronic myeloid leukemia (CML) and biological behavior of his BCR-ABL transcripts. At 1 year of surveillance, he is disease free; however he has persistent detection of BCR-ABL fusion gene. Our case is challenging because actual risk of developing CML in BCR-ABL positive healthy, asymptomatic patients is not known.


O. K. BOTJWRMA. On 'This is white.' The philosophical review, vol. 48 (1939), pp. 71-73. The author argues t h a t " ' 2 + 2 = 4 ' is indubi tab le" entails " 'There are sense-contents ' is indubi table ," if sentences and propositions are identified, because the sentence " 2 4 2 = 4 " is a sense-content. He alleges t h a t logical positivists are committed to this conclusion as well as to the incompatible doctrine t h a t only tautologies are indubitable.


Abstract: Little is known about nitrous oxide (N2O) emission from silage corn (Zea mays L.). Studies have shown that controlled-release N fertilizers have the potential to reduce N2O emissions, compared with conventional N fertilizers. This 2-year field study compared N2O emissions from urea fertilizer and a slow-release polymer-coated urea (CRU) applied to silage corn on soils managed with conventional tillage (CT) and zero tillage (ZT). The study was conducted on a silty loam soil in the cool, moist climate of south coastal British Columbia, Canada, taking year-around measurements from static chambers. Over 2 study years there was a significant interaction between N sources and tillage methods; under CT there was no significant difference between CRU and urea (557 vs. 447 g N2O-N ha-1 year-1, respectively), but under ZT, emissions from CRU were significantly higher than from urea (968 vs. 381 g N2O-N ha-1 year-1, respectively). Annual emissions of N2O-N ranged from 0.09 to 0.65% of applied N fertilizer. The CRU also had significantly greater emissions than urea per unit N uptake and plant yield under ZT, while there was no significant difference between N sources under CT. The results do not indicate that NO3 - release from broadcast CRU matches corn growth or reduces emission of N2O.


Nondestructive tests (NDT) are often used to estimate the strength of concrete specimens from empirical models. These models are derived using data from specimens in laboratory controlled conditions or using core samples extracted from structures in service. The performance of the models is evaluated using statistical parameters such as the coefficient of determination and the prediction intervals for a given significance level. Properly fitted model are unbiased and account for both the epistemic and aleatory uncertainties. In this article, probabilistic methods are employed to assess the uncertainties in the strength estimation of concrete specimens using measurements from resonant frequency tests. Probabilistic methods are also used to adjust quality control procedures for the production of concrete masonry units (CMU) when NDT are used to complement data from destructive tests. The adjustments are implemented by increasing the number of samples tested to match results from destructive tests in terms of the probability of detection of a lot not conforming to design specifications and the probability of falsely rejecting a lot meeting design specifications.


Airway macrophages (AM) perform crucial function of clearing pathogens and presenting antigens. AM phagocytosis in adults with mild asthma is enhanced compared to healthy individuals and possibly related to higher level of activation of macrophages1. At high altitude there is reduced exposure to allergens. However it is not known what effect this has on the macrophage phagocytosis.

The aim was to determine the phagocytic function of airway macrophages at baseline (T0) and after stay at high altitude (T1).

Sputum induction was performed at T0 and T1 in children with mild to moderate asthma attending High Altitude Children's Asthma Center in Misurina. Differential count was obtained by counting 400 non-squamous cells (eosinophilic asthma ≥ 3%). AM were isolated by adherence and cultured with FITC labelled heat killed staph aureus in the ratio of 1:10 (AM: bacteria). One hundred macrophages were imaged using confocal microscope. The median bacterial count/AM was calculated using Image J and Cell profiler software. The groups were compared using paired and unpaired t-tests.

There was no significant difference (p = 0.3) between median bacterial count in eosinophilic (n=16) \[Mean (SD)\] \[77.56(36.6)\] and non-eosinophilic asthma (n=8) \[68.22(11.5)] at T0. Children at T1 (n=19 pairs) had significantly lower i) median bacterial count [Mean (SD)\] \[p = 0.006, 39.55(4.51) vs 73.26 (39.42)\] than at T0.

The sputum macrophages in children with mild to moderate asthma are equally phagocytic in eosinophilic or non-eosinophilic groups. After stay at high altitude macrophages were less phagocytic (possibly due to return to normal level of activation).

1Lay JC et al Thorax 2009; 64:313–320.


SIR,-Your leading article (6 November, p. 313) stressing the importance of carefully examining the unconscious patient provides a valuable service in emphasizing that bedside methods often provide the key to diagnosis in such circumstances. Since reversible metabolic processes or treatable supratentorial or subtentorial mass lesions can often be the cause of stupor and coma, the prompt and accurate interpretation of clinical signs can be life-saving.' However, our own experience about the significance of certain findings in such patients differs from that described in your leader and it may be helpful to mention these few points. The major immediate clinical issues in the diagnosis of stupor and coma are usually to differentiate between structural and metabolic causes. With the structural lesions, one must distinguish between primary supratentorial and subtentorial abnormalities, since treatment has little to offer primary destructive lesions of the brain stem, but a great deal to offer in the presence of supratentorial masses, where effective action often prevents transtentorial herniation and subsequent irreversible brain-stem injury. These considerations make it of major importance to know the pathological anatomy and physiology that underlies certain signs and symptoms and how these signs combine and evolve in each major condition. Otherwise, one may erroneously conclude-for example, that the brain stem is threatened when it is not, or that a structural lesion has hopelessly damaged the brain when, in fact, reversible metabolic depression is the culorit. To turn to specific points, our studies indicate that decerebrate posturing often accompanies extensive destructive or metabolic lesions confined to the hemispheres and the diencephalon and need not imply brain-stem dvsfunction of mid brain, pons, or medulla. Bilateral pupillary dilatation on neck flexion is not a sign of impending tentorial herniation; in fact. although it sometimes accompanies brain disease, it can be a normal phenomenon easily elicited in drowsy young persons and probably represents no more than heightened ciliospinal reflexes. In contrast to your own experience, we find abnormalities in the pattem of breathing to be of considerable localizing value,2 and at least as useful in appraising the locus and course of severe neurological illness as chances in the motor reflexes or behavioural responses to noxious stimulation. Finally, thoueh fever admittedly has little specific neurological meaning, hypothermia deserves the physician's special attention for it almost always means metabolic depression of the brain in acutely unconscious patients. I support heartily your suggestion that neurological units geared to treat the unconscious patient offer much that is valuable to patients, staff, and students alike. This is true whether one confines this to strokes or widens the target to develop a comprehensive acute neurological-neurosurgical unit to care for all unconscious and severely injured neurological patients as we have done at the New York Hospital.-I am, etc., FRa PLUM New York, N.Y., U.S.A.


The present paper discusses the design, construction and characterization of human alloplastic tracheal prostheses. Two different types of construction, the spiral and the clasp prosthesis, have been developed. The prostheses are composite constructions comprising a silicone tube and a polyethylene reinforcement connected together by means of a biocompatible adhesive. The results of various mechanical examinations (stress-strain behavior, torsional strength, compressibility, bending stiffness, fatigue testing) show that some of the 14 prostheses investigated approach the human trachea in terms of mechanical properties, and may be considered suitable. Suggestions for further improvements are made.


Formula SAE (Society of Automotive Engineers) is a car racing competition whereby the
competitors have to design and fabricate the vehicle. The racing car must have a powerful
engine that generates the highest possible amount of power and torque within a specified
range of speed. To meet this condition, the engine must have a good breathing system
where it demands sufficient quality of air and fuel flow into the engine. This is where and
why the effect of the air intake manifold is significant to the engine performance.
Previous UTP FSAE car in 2006 experienced inefficient engine combustion due to
inadequate air intake while the engine was running. The present research project is about
the improvement of the air intake manifold for Formula SAE car UTP Team 2008. The
I .
objective of the project is to modifY the design of the air intake system ill order to provide
"
optimum volume of air flow and best volumetric efficiency into the engine. The major
challenge in this project is to design it according to the SAE Rules and Regulations.
Among others; the regulations specifY a limit of power capacity of the engine, while a
single 20 mm circular restrictor must be placed in the intake system between the throttle
body and the engine, and that all engine airflow must pass through the restrictor. The
restriction will obviously reduce the engine's total performance. The methodology of this
project is by applying the "Helmholtz Resonance Theory" to calculate appropriate length
of the intake manifold and for the purpose of tuning of the manifold with the engine. This
is done mathematically and the result is obtained by dynamometer test in order to prove
the theory. This is followed by design of air intake manifold will be design by using Solid
Works software and flow simulation using Fluent 6.1.
IV


The goal of this work is to investigate audiovisual-to-articulatory inversion. It is well established that acoustic-to-articulatory inversion is an under-determined problem. On the other hand, there is strong evidence that human speakers/listeners exploit the multimodality of speech, and more particularly the articulatory cues : the view of visible articulators, i.e. jaw and lips, improves speech intelligibility. It is thus interesting to add constraints provided by the direct visual observation of the speaker's face. Visible data were obtained by stereo-vision and enable the 3D recovery of jaw and lip movements. These data were processed to fit the nature of parameters of Maeda's articulatory model. Inversion experiments show that constraints on visible articulatory parameters enable relevant articulatory trajectories to be recovered and substantially reduce time required to explore the articulatory codebook.


BACKGROUND
Trials of monoclonal antibodies that target various forms of amyloid at different stages of Alzheimer's disease have had mixed results.

METHODS
We tested solanezumab, which targets monomeric amyloid, in a phase 3 trial involving persons with preclinical Alzheimer's disease. Persons 65 to 85 years of age with a global Clinical Dementia Rating score of 0 (range, 0 to 3, with 0 indicating no cognitive impairment and 3 severe dementia), a score on the Mini-Mental State Examination of 25 or more (range, 0 to 30, with lower scores indicating poorer cognition), and elevated brain amyloid levels on 18F-florbetapir positron-emission tomography (PET) were enrolled. Participants were randomly assigned in a 1:1 ratio to receive solanezumab at a dose of up to 1600 mg intravenously every 4 weeks or placebo. The primary end point was the change in the Preclinical Alzheimer Cognitive Composite (PACC) score (calculated as the sum of four z scores, with higher scores indicating better cognitive performance) over a period of 240 weeks.

RESULTS
A total of 1169 persons underwent randomization: 578 were assigned to the solanezumab group and 591 to the placebo group. The mean age of the participants was 72 years, approximately 60% were women, and 75% had a family history of dementia. At 240 weeks, the mean change in PACC score was -1.43 in the solanezumab group and -1.13 in the placebo group (difference, -0.30; 95% confidence interval, -0.82 to 0.22; P = 0.26). Amyloid levels on brain PET increased by a mean of 11.6 centiloids in the solanezumab group and 19.3 centiloids in the placebo group. Amyloid-related imaging abnormalities (ARIA) with edema occurred in less than 1% of the participants in each group. ARIA with microhemorrhage or hemosiderosis occurred in 29.2% of the participants in the solanezumab group and 32.8% of those in the placebo group.

CONCLUSIONS
Solanezumab, which targets monomeric amyloid in persons with elevated brain amyloid levels, did not slow cognitive decline as compared with placebo over a period of 240 weeks in persons with preclinical Alzheimer's disease. (Funded by the National Institute on Aging and others; A4 ClinicalTrials.gov number, NCT02008357.).


Given a set of candidate Datalog rules, the Datalog synthesis-as-rule-selection problem chooses a subset of these rules that satisfies a specification (such as an input-output example). Building off prior work using counterexample-guided inductive synthesis, we present a progression of three solver-based approaches for solving Datalog synthesis-as-rule-selection problems. Two of our approaches offer some advantages over existing approaches, and can be used more generally to solve arbitrary SMT formulas containing Datalog predicates; the third—an encoding into standard, off-the-shelf answer set programming (ASP)—leads to significant speedups (∼ 9× geomean) over the state of the art while synthesizing higher quality programs. Our progression of solutions explores the space of interactions between SAT/SMT and Datalog, identifying ASP as a promising tool for working with and reasoning about Datalog. Along the way, we identify Datalog programs as monotonic SMT theories, which enjoy particularly efficient interactions in SMT; our plugins for popular SMT solvers make it easy to load an arbitrary Datalog program into the SMT solver as a custom monotonic theory. Finally, we evaluate our approaches using multiple underlying solvers to provide a more thorough and nuanced comparison against the current state of the art.


Byttneria catalpifolia is one of the most widely consumed wild species, especially those in the mountainous western part of Côte d'Ivoire. The aim of this study was to assess the nutritive potential of dried bark powder from the "white variety" of Byttneria catalpifolia in order to provide consumers with the best way of using the plant that would benefit them. Proximate analysis, minerals and amino acid contents were determined respectively in accordance with the standard methods, the HPLC and SEM. The bark powder presented good percentage of a crude fiber (54.50 % d.m.) and vitamin B9 (254.10 mg/100g dm. It is rich in minerals Ca (3856.22 mg/100 g dm); K (1251.05 mg/100 g dm) and Iodine (I) (129.62 mg/100 g dm). This white bark has a remarkable proline (11.51 mg/100 g dm) and tartaric acid (35.21 mg/100 g dm) Thus, the consumption of the bark powder would be more advantageous because it could contribute more to the nutritional requirements of consumers.


Abstract A bivalve fauna from the Permian—Triassic interval of the Dongpan section, Guangxi, South China is described herein. This bivalve fauna includes 16 species belonging to 10 genera. New taxa are Euchondria fusuiensis, Palaeoneilo qinzhouensis, and Claraia liuqiaoensis. Bed 12 of the interval (Talung Formation) contains the typical late Late Permian ammonoids: Huananoceras sp., Laibinoceras cf. L. compressum Yang, and Qiangjiangoceras sp. Bed 13 (Luolou Formation) contains typical Early Triassic bivalves Claraia dieneri Nakazawa, C. cf. C. wangi (Patte), and C. griesbachi (Bittner), which coexist with the earliest Triassic ammonoid Ophiceras sp. The bivalve and ammonoid distributions at the Dongpan section indicate that bed 12 should be assigned to the Late Permian, and bed 13 should be assigned to the Early Triassic. From the early Changhsingian to the Induan, the byssal notches of Claraia species tend to become progressively narrower, and change from being ventrally extended to being horizontally extended. The species level diversity of Claraia also increases through this interval.


Introduction: Over the past 60 years, the urbanization process has intensified around the world. It is estimated that each year 1.2 million people die due to traffic accidents (TA) in the world. Annually, about 37.000 people die and other 180.000 are hospitalized due to TA in Brazil. The frequency of deaths in Brazilian States and Capitals and how they occur, comply with different standards and specific locations. Thus, it becomes essential to know their distribution according to variables such as sex, age and injury type to guide the creation of interventional measures to begin to settle the TA and their victims.
Objective: To assess the deaths from traffic accidents occurred in the city of Maceio in the period of 2001 to 2010.
Method: It is a descritive study, which used secondary data from the Database of the Mortality Information System (SIM), available on the Department of Health of Maceio (SMS) in July 2011. The variables studied were deaths by type of accident, sex and age. Data were analyzed using EpiInfo version 3.5.3.
Results: In the period of 2001-2010, occurred 53,186 deaths, which 1,369 (2.57%) were due to traffic accidents. The type of fatal accident that occurred most frequently was involving pedestrians (48.88%), followed by accidents classified as ''other' transport accidents" (37.61%). Death in men is more often presented with 1122 (81.95%) cases. The deaths were more prevalent among persons of 15 to 49 years, with 924 cases (67.49%), followed by the deaths of those 50 years or more (23.59%).
Conclusion: This study showed that the deaths from traffic accidents (TA) in the city of Maceio, as well as in Brazil and elsewhere in the world are alarming and could be prevented. Thus, there is the need to create interventional measures, which must include improvements on the structural conditions of the roads, with more rigid enforcement of the laws of the traffic, and also realizing programs of education in the transit in a more frequent and proficient way


Background: Eradication of infectious diseases required information based on location which called geographic information system to make decision. One of re emerging disease was diphtheria. Diphtheria in East Java increased and became the biggest case. In 2010 were 73% and in 2011 became the first case in the world within 664 cases with CFR 2,6%. Objective: this study did to analyze diphtheria by spatial data which correlated with the risk factors in East Java in 2010–2011. Design of this research was un-obstrusive with secondary data from BPS statistic and health office of East Java. Population was thirteen eight Districs in East Java and it was taken for sample. Spasial data was analyzed by overlying between dependent variable and risk factors. Result of this study diphtheria tends increase in 2010–2011. There is domination of case in horseshoe region include Surabaya, Malang, Madura and the surrounding area. Result:result of overlay between diphtheria with risk factors show population density, sex, education, expendicture per capita, and the healthy house not always become the risk factors of diphtheria. DPT3 and DT immunization shows there is correlation between diphtheria and statistically have moderate power (r = 0,424 and r = 0,348). Conclusion: The factors immununization DPT3 and DT was support to became diptheria. Recommendation: The spatial data analysis for each sub-region shall be held due to special characteristics of subregion.


The article deals with the health hazards caused by mineral dusts, and by asbestos fibres in the induction of cancers in particular. Mineral dusts cause damage by inhalation, rarely by ingestion or ingress into the skin. In the lung, bronchitis, fibrosis (pneumoconiosis), and cancers may result. Few mineral dusts cause cancers, and asbestos is unique in causing two separate types within the lung. Epidemiological and other studies of groups of asbestos workers have shown important differences in risk with the type of fibre and the type of job. All types of asbestos cause fibrosis and an excess of bronchial cancers which are, however, also closely cigarette related. Crocidolite is especially related to cancers of the surface of the lung (mesotheliomas). Mining and milling of chrysotile, the most used type of asbestos, have caused few mesotheliomas, despite heavy dust exposures in the past. The diseases induced by asbestos are dose-related* Where it has been possible to divide the groups of asbestos workers into those with different levels of past exposure, the least exposed groups have shown small or no excess of asbestos-related diseases despite their exposures having been considerably higher than that likely to have been encountered by the general public. Present evidence indicates that the general public have not been at risk of asbestos-related diseases, but more evidence is required about the proportion of all mesotheliomas which are related to asbestos. The new techniques of mineralogy when applied at a micro level to the dust in tissues, and particularly in the lung, may be of great help in answering this important problem. Some comparisons of the mortality from occupationally related cancers, accidents, smoking habits, and general diseases are given. Current research into the biomedical effects of natural fibrous mineral dusts is likely to be of great value in ensuring that the new man made mineral fibres now being developed are manufactured and used under circumstances which will cause no ill effects to health.


Emission spectra of O vi, O v, and O iv have been studied in the ultraviolet region from 1700 A to 100 A and the lifetimes of approximately fifty levels of these ions are given. Comparison of these measurements with other experimental as well as theoretical results shows that simultaneous improvement of techniques and calculative methods, including configuration interactions, yields good agreement between experimental and theoretical values.


The coordination compound formed between ethylenediamine and cellulose has already been reported (1,2), and a study is in progress concerning the manner in which bonding occurs between the hydroxyl groups of the cellulose and the amino groups of the diamine. Two N-substituted diamines, N,N-dimethylethylenediamine (asymmetrical) and N,N'-dimethylethylenediamine (symmetrical), are on hand for use in an attempt to elucidate the bonding and structure of the cellulose-diamine complex. Infrared absorption spectroscopy was considered an invaluable tool for this structure study, complementing x-ray diffractometry, but its use was quickly hampered by lack of suitable infrared absorption data on the diamines. A search of the literature failed to turn up any spectra for the dimethylethylenediamines, either published or cataloged. Only one paper (3) was found for ethylenediamine, but the published spectrum (liquid film) is only over the range 3500-2700 cm−1 (2.85-3.70 microns). In the present paper the infrared spectra of ethylenediamine and the two dimethylethylenediamines are given over the range 2-13 microns (5000-770 cm−1), and the absorption bands observed are correlated with molecular structure.


Over the past few years, the Internet has rapidly become part of the daily lives of most people in the first world. This trend in easy access to unlimited information resources for first world users mirrors the growing 'central-peripheral divide' in the developing world: the concentration of wealth in the major urban centres and the increasing marginalisation of people in the peri-urban and rural areas. The result of both trends is that the majority of the world's population, particularly on the African continent, has limited access to most information resources.
 The Internet provides the opportunity to reach a broader cross-section of the virtual community of all those concerned with the issues of violence, crime, reconciliation, human rights and transformation, whilst at the same time, the challenge of resisting the (re)marginalisation and exclusion of grassroots constituencies who have limited skills and access to these resources.
 The Centre for the Study of Violence and Reconciliation (CSVR) is a multi-disciplinary South African non-governmental organisation. Drawing on the experience of making the CSVR's 13 years of research available online, this paper traces the balancing act that has been required in reaching across the divide, and details some of the design challenges that have presented themselves. It explores the phenomenon of "graceful degradation", and examines some of the challenges facing NGOs using this exciting new medium.


Are you a member of any reading communities? Do you attend a local book group perhaps? Or participate in the community of avid teacher-readers on Twitter? And do you see yourself as a member of your classroom reading community? Is there one?

 Personally, I've been a member of the same book group for over 20 years and even though we moved away a decade ago, I still drive back each month. Our debates are often very vehement- some loved, some loathed A Little Life by Hanya Yanagihara for instance (it is harrowing), but after the deliberation we live with our differences and move on. We spend time relating the text to our lives and sharing triggered anecdotes, and we discuss the author's intent, their character construction, language, style and the cultural and historical context of the text. Our personal and emotional responses though receive much more air time. We also connect the book to others we've read, invoking our history and 'books in common' as a group, and we drink a lot of wine! As adults and as readers we know each other well – a strong sense of connection and community exists. Possibly some of this chimes with your book group?


Neurons in the rostroventrolateral medulla (RVLM) mediate baroreflex regulation (BR) of spinal sympathetic preganglionic neurons. Previously, our laboratory has shown that recovery of BR occurs in the rat after spinal hemisection. (Zahner MR, Kulikowicz E, and Schramm LP. Am J Physiol Regul Integr Comp Physiol 301: R1584-R1590, 2011). The goal of these experiments was to determine whether the observed recovery of BR is mediated by the reorganization of ipsilateral pathways or by compensation by spared contralateral pathways. To determine this, we infected the left kidney in rats with the retrograde transynaptic tracer, pseudorabies virus (PRV), either 1 or 8 wk after left spinal hemisection at either T(3) or T(8), or after a sham lesion. In sham-lesioned rats, PRV infection of RVLM neurons was bilateral. In all rats with a left hemisection, regardless of the location of the lesion (T(3) or T(8)) or postlesion recovery time (1 or 8 wk), PRV infection of left RVLM neurons was significantly reduced compared with sham-lesioned rats (P < 0.05). In a separate group of rats, we performed BR tests by measuring responses of left renal sympathetic nerve activity to pharmacologically induced decreases and increases in arterial pressure. In rats with T(8) left hemisection and 8-wk recovery, BR was robust, and acute right upper thoracic hemisection abolished all BR of left renal sympathetic nerve activity. Collectively, these data suggest that the recovery of BR is not mediated by reorganization of ipsilateral bulbospinal connections, but instead by improved efficacy of existing contralateral pathways.


Psychological distress is an important indicator of the mental well-being of the population. Findings regarding racial differences in distress are inconclusive but may represent an important pathway through which disparities exist across a number of physical health outcomes. We used data from the 1994 Minority Health Survey, a nationally representative multiracial/ethnic sample of adults in US households, to examine racial/ethnic differences in psychological distress (n = 3623). Our primary study aim was to examine differences between additive and multiplicative models in assessing the influence of income and gender on the race/distress relationship. We hypothesized that additive models do not suffi ciently account for potential interactions of race with income and gender, and may therefore mask important differences in distress between racial groups. The results suggest that our hypotheses were supported. After adjusting for income, there were no statistically signifi cant differences in distress levels between racial groups. However, significant differences emerge when multiplicative models are used demonstrating the complexities of the intersection of race, income and gender in predicting psychological distress. Black men and women of higher income status represent a particularly vulnerable group, whereas Hispanic men are especially hardy. We discuss the implications of our fi ndings for future work on racial health disparities.


Aim Within the gastrointestinal tract vagal afferents play a role in control of food intake and satiety signalling. Activation of mechanosensitive gastric vagal afferents induces satiety. However, gastric vagal afferent responses to mechanical stretch are reduced in high fat diet mice. Transient receptor potential vanilloid 1 channels (TRPV1) are expressed in vagal afferents and knockout of TRPV1 reduces gastro-oesophageal vagal afferent responses to stretch. We aimed to determine the role of TRPV1 on gastric vagal afferent mechanosensitivity and food intake in lean and HFD-induced obese mice. Methods TRPV1+/+ and -/- mice were fed either a standard laboratory diet or high fat diet for 20wks. Gastric emptying of a solid meal and gastric vagal afferent mechanosensitivity was determined. Results Gastric emptying was delayed in high fat diet mice but there was no difference between TRPV1+/+ and -/- mice on either diet. TRPV1 mRNA expression in whole nodose ganglia of TRPV1+/+ mice was similar in both dietary groups. The TRPV1 agonist N-oleoyldopamine potentiated the response of tension receptors in standard laboratory diet but not high fat diet mice. Food intake was greater in the standard laboratory diet TRPV1-/- compared to TRPV1+/+ mice. This was associated with reduced response of tension receptors to stretch in standard laboratory diet TRPV1-/- mice. Tension receptor responses to stretch were decreased in high fat diet compared to standard laboratory diet TRPV1+/+ mice; an effect not observed in TRPV1-/- mice. Disruption of TRPV1 had no effect on the response of mucosal receptors to mucosal stroking in mice on either diet. Conclusion TRPV1 channels selectively modulate gastric vagal afferent tension receptor mechanosensitivity and may mediate the reduction in gastric vagal afferent mechanosensitivity in high fat diet-induced obesity.