Abstract. Koyna region is well-known for its triggered seismic activities since the hazardous earthquake of M=6.3 occurred around the Koyna reservoir on 10 December 1967. Understanding the shallow distribution of resistivity pattern in such a seismically critical area is vital for mapping faults, fractures and lineaments. However, deducing true resistivity distribution from the apparent resistivity data lacks precise information due to intrinsic non-linearity in the data structures. Here we present a new technique based on the Bayesian neural network (BNN) theory using the concept of Hybrid Monte Carlo (HMC)/Markov Chain Monte Carlo (MCMC) simulation scheme. The new method is applied to invert one and two-dimensional Direct Current (DC) vertical electrical sounding (VES) data acquired around the Koyna region in India. Prior to apply the method on actual resistivity data, the new method was tested for simulating synthetic signal. In this approach the objective/cost function is optimized following the Hybrid Monte Carlo (HMC)/Markov Chain Monte Carlo (MCMC) sampling based algorithm and each trajectory was updated by approximating the Hamiltonian differential equations through a leapfrog discretization scheme. The stability of the new inversion technique was tested in presence of correlated red noise and uncertainty of the result was estimated using the BNN code. The estimated true resistivity distribution was compared with the results of singular value decomposition (SVD)-based conventional resistivity inversion results. Comparative results based on the HMC-based Bayesian Neural Network are in good agreement with the existing model results, however in some cases, it also provides more detail and precise results, which appears to be justified with local geological and structural details. The new BNN approach based on HMC is faster and proved to be a promising inversion scheme to interpret complex and non-linear resistivity problems. The HMC-based BNN results are quite useful for the interpretation of fractures and lineaments in seismically active region.


The 86 fields and discoveries in the central Mississippi Canyon, Atwater Valley, western DeSoto Canyon, and Lloyd Ridge protraction areas are summarized with production characteristics and representative seismic profiles and wire-line logs. Three trap styles are recognized: four-way closure, three-way closure, and stratigraphic. The reservoirs in nearly all of the fields areNeogene deepwater sandstones; four are in Upper Jurassic eolian sandstones. Development facilities include a variety of floating platforms and production units and subsea tiebacks. Copyright © 2017 The American Association of Petroleum Geologists. All rights reserved.


Modeling and Analysis of Local Area Networks fills a void in the array of books on Local Area Networks (LANs) in that it reviews the state of LAN technology from a hardware and software perspective, develops a set of metrics that can be used to evaluate LANs for end applications, and investigates methodologies for evaluating LANs from these perspectives. The book discusses LAN evaluation techniques utilizing analysis, operational analysis, hardware testbeds, and simulations. Simulations will be stressed in greater detail and a tool available for evaluating LANs performance (called MALAN) is presented and the details of its structure developed.


Peroxisome proliferator-activated receptors gamma (PPARγ) and delta (PPARδ) are nuclear receptors that have significant physiological effects on glucose and lipid metabolism. Experimental studies in animal models of metabolic disease have demonstrated their effects on improving lipid profile, insulin sensitivity, and reducing inflammatory responses. PPARγ and -δ are also expressed in the vasculature and their beneficial effects have been examined in various cardiovascular disease models such as atherosclerosis, hypertension, diabetic vascular complications, etc. using pharmacological ligands or genetic tools including viral vectors and transgenic mice. These studies suggest that PPARγ and δ are antiinflammatory, antiatherogenic, antioxidant, and antifibrotic against vascular diseases. Several signaling pathways, effector molecules, as well as coactivators/repressors have been identified as responsible for the protective effects of PPARγ and -δ in the vasculature. We discuss the pleiotropic effect of PPARγ and δ in vascular dysfunction, including atherosclerosis, hypertension, vascular remodeling, vascular injury, and diabetic vasculopathy, in various animal models, and the major underlying mechanisms. We also compare the phenotypes of several endothelial cell/vascular smooth muscle-specific PPARγ and -δ knockout and overexpressing transgenic mice in various disease models, and the implications underlying the functional importance of vascular PPARγ and δ in regulating whole-body homeostasis.


We present an ant-based algorithm for spatially sorting objects into an annular structure. The model is minimal, as it requires only stochastic ant behaviour coupled with a pheromone-inspired "attraction-repulsion" mechanism. This is the first annular sorting algorithm to consider the problem of objects with non-uniform size, as well as the situation where objects are pre-sorted. The algorithm consistently generates high-quality annular structures, and is particularly powerful in situations where the initial configuration of objects is similar to those observed in nature. We suggest that this model provides a powerful algorithmic framework, as well as a contribution to the study of "attraction-repulsion" models of animal behaviour.


This paper considers the finite sample distribution of the 2SLS estimator and derives bounds on its exact bias in the presence of weak and/or many instruments. We then contrast the behavior of the exact bias expressions and the asymptotic expansions currently popular in the literature, including a consideration of the no-moment problem exhibited by many Nagar-type estimators. After deriving a finite sample unbiased k-class estimator, we introduce a double k-class estimator based on Nagar (1962) that dominates k-class estimators (including 2SLS), especially in the cases of weak and/or many instruments. We demonstrate these properties in Monte Carlo simulations showing that our preferred estimators outperforms Fuller (1977) estimators in terms of mean bias and MSE.


Mobile programming is one of the fastest growing approaches in many fields, such as marketing or e-commerce. From the educational perspective, this means that students should understand that they can build mobile applications (apps) without being professionals, and at the same time recognize their own potential to use technology in any professional path they choose. This goal is not trivial, even if students are in general curious and open to learn about the creation of apps. Indeed, especially in liberal education, students get discouraged upfront as they perceive programming as a difficult task. This paper describes a course that was cre- ated to fit the educational needs of a social-economic high school. Students take part of an interdisciplinary project in which the Software Engineering process is used to promote CT skills. The course was repeated twice and involved 29 students (8th and 9th grade).


Methods: Over the last 10 years, 1901 cases of CHD have been diagnosed and managed at the two institutions. Only 17 confirmed cases of pAVSD (0.8%) have been detected in the same period and represent the study population. The following variables were assessed: indication to fetal echocardiography, diagnostic features, associated cardiac, extra-cardiac and chromosomal anomalies, feto-neonatal outcome. Results: The key features leading to the diagnosis were the lost of the offset appearance of the AV plane and the ostium primum atrial septal defect. Twelve cases were diagnosed before 23 weeks of gestation, 5 after. Only three cases were referred for a suspect of CHD, the majority because of extra-cardiac anomalies (4) and known Down syndrome (4). Aortic coarctation was associated in 2 cases, chromosomal anomalies in 9 cases [42% – trisomy 21 (6), trisomy 18, 22q11 microdeletion and unbalanced translocation (1 each)], extra-cardiac anomalies in 6 cases (35%), non-chromsomal syndromes in 3 cases (Ellis van Creveld, Noonan, to be defined). Conclusion: pAVSD is rarely detected in utero due to the subtle modification of the 4-chamber view. The diagnosis is made only if fetal echocardiography is performed by experts in cases referred for various reasons.


A large-scale synthesis of water-assisted single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWCNTs) was investigated over Fe–Mo/MgO catalysts by catalytic chemical vapor deposition of ethylene. Introduction of water vapor into a reactor induced super-bundle SWCNTs (SB-SWCNTs) and dramatically improved the product yield of SWCNTs from 40 to 206 wt%. By adding water vapor, the average diameter of the SB-SWCNTs was increased from 1.5 to 3.0 nm and distribution of the diameter became wider. The Raman peak intensity ratio (IG/ID) of the SWCNTs, which indicates the crystallinity and defect degree of SWCNTs, showed an almost constant value of 8 regardless of water vapor concentration. The possible growth mechanism of SB-SWCNTs was discussed.


Background
Stratification of glioma according to isocitrate dehydrogenase 1/2 (IDH1/2) mutation and 1p/19q codeletion status has gained major importance in the new World Health Organization (WHO) classification. Parameters derived from uptake dynamics of 18F-fluoro-ethyl-tyrosine PET (18F-FET-PET) such as minimal time-to-peak (TTPmin) allow discrimination between different prognostic glioma subgroups, too. The present study is aimed at exploring whether TTPmin analysis provides prognostic information beyond the WHO classification.

Methods
Three hundred patients with newly diagnosed WHO 2007 grades II-IV gliomas with 18F-FET-PET imaging at diagnosis were grouped into 4 subgroups (IDH1/2 mut-1p/19q codel; IDH1/2 mut-1p/19q non-codel; IDH1/2 wildtype WHO grade II and III tumors; and glioblastoma). Clinical and imaging factors such as age, Karnofsky performance score, treatment, TTPmin, and maximal tumor-to-brain ratio (TBRmax) were analyzed with regard to progression-free and overall survival (PFS and OS) via univariate and multivariate regression analysis.

Results
PFS and OS were longest in the IDH1/2 mut-1p/19q codel subgroup, followed by IDH1/2 mut-1p/19q non-codel, IDH1/2 wildtype, and GBM (P < 0.001). Further, outcome stratified by TTPmin with a cutoff of 17.5 minutes revealed significantly longer PFS and OS in patients with TTPmin >17.5 minutes (P < 0.001 for PFS and OS). Lower TBRmax values or the absence of 18F-FET uptake was also associated with favorable outcome in the entire group. In the subgroup analyses, longer median TTPmin was associated with improved outcome specifically in the IDH1/2 mut-1p/19q non-codel group.

Conclusion
18F-FET-PET-derived dynamic analysis defines prognostically distinct subgroups of IDH1/2 mutant-1p/19q non-codel gliomas which cannot be distinguished as yet by molecular marker analysis.


We propose a half-swing clocking scheme that allows us to reduce power consumption of clocking circuitry by as much as 75%, because all the clock signal swings are reduced to half of the LSI supply voltage. The new clocking scheme causes quite small speed degradation, because the random logic circuits in the critical path are still supplied by the full supply voltage. We also propose a clock driver which supplies half-swing clock and generates half V/sub DD/ by itself. We confirmed that the half-swing clocking scheme provided 67% power saving in a test chip fabricated with 0.5 /spl mu/m CMOS technology, ideally 75%, in the clocking circuitry, and that the degradation in speed was only 0.5 ns by circuit simulation. The key to the proposed clocking scheme is the concept that the voltage swing is reduced only for clocking circuitry, but is retained for all other circuits in the chip. This results in significant power reduction with minimal speed degradation. >


Abstract In this work the nature of the substitution process in the electrochemical deposition of different 4-substituted benzene layers on Au and the influence of the solvent were studied. We monitored the deposition from the corresponding isolated salt diazonium salts and via the "in solution diazotation" process where the diazonium salt is created just before the deposition process by means of amine and nitrite. Infrared spectroscopic ellipsometry measurements proved the presence of the various substituted benzene groups on the surfaces. Quantitative studies using electrochemical quartz crystal microbalance technique showed a decrease in the deposited organic layer thickness and the faradaic efficiency of the electrochemical process with the size of the 4-substituent. As consequence nature of the substituent in the 4-position was the dominating factor for thickness of the deposited benzene layer and the faradaic efficiency. Additionally, there was also a strong increase in the thickness of the deposited benzene layer by changing the solvent from aqueous sulphuric acid to acetonitrile pointing to a stabilization of the radical intermediates during reduction of the diazonium salt by acetonitrile. This in turn led to faradaic efficiencies of about 80%–90% for the grafting process in acetonitrile and only 15% in the aqueous acidic solution.


This teacher research study examined multimodality in relation to teaching and learning of waves in a high school physics class from a sociocultural perspective. Qualitative analysis of classroom multimodal discourse, using ethnographic and grounded theory techniques, was used to explore and document the co-construction of concepts and the grammatical aspects of the modalities in which these concepts were developed. The findings centered on the evolution of form and function of two prevalent modes that emerged–gesturing and diagramming, –and on the evolution of two major thematic patterns across various modes–understanding and measuring wave characteristics, as well as learning about relationships between various wave characteristics from experimental data. The study revealed that students developed conceptual understandings using different modalities that shaped their meaning making and articulation of ideas. Students' conceptions of the grammar (form and function) of a particular mode co-developed with both the concepts and the grammars of other modes. Each mode's meaning was not developed in isolation from each other; instead, the intertwining, transduction, combination, and hybridization of modes offered powerful opportunities for meaning making. As students transduced among modalities, each mode afforded unique meaning-making opportunities that contributed to the class's collective meaning and development of ideas. However, the sequence of students' transduction represented a learned practice developed discursively throughout the unit. Students' engagement in one mode influenced the ways in which students called upon and utilized other modes, and in some cases, modes were combined while retaining their individual grammars (combination), or blended together into new modes with their own grammar (hybridization). The findings of this study suggest several implications for practice. Availability of, and access to, multimodality, modeling the grammars of various modalities, and a teacher's careful planning and consideration of the sequence of transduction among modes are especially important to physics teaching and learning. Students' multimodal engagement with science ideas and the role that grammars of modes play in constructing meaning represent potentially fruitful areas for future science education research.


A few years ago, Professor Bruce Ackerman and I wrote an article defending the constitutionality of the so-called congressional-executive agreement -- under which Congress approves international agreements, such as NAFTA and the WTO, by simple majority votes in both Houses. Under the procedure specified in Article II, Section 2, in contrast, treaties must be submitted to the Senate for two-thirds advice and consent. We argued that the decisive shift from traditional isolationism to internationalism during the World War II years provided the grounding in popular sovereignty for a transformation in the meaning of the Treaty Clause. Contrary to conventional wisdom, practice during the first 150 years supported only an exclusive reading of the text; the non-exclusive reading became accepted only after 1945. We also claimed that the text itself is indeterminate. In response, Professor Laurence Tribe sharply criticized this latter claim. According to Professor Tribe, our conclusion could only be reached by application of dangerous "free-form" methods of constitutional interpretation, which undermine the ability of the text to constrain government. In his view, constitutional interpretation, at least as to "architectural" provisions, should be based strictly on the original meaning of the text. To illustrate his own "topological" method of interpretation, he developed an elaborate set of textual arguments in support of the claim that there is only one plausible interpretation of the text -- the Treaty Clause is exclusive and rules out the congressional-executive agreement. I now respond to Professor Tribe's surprising turn toward textualism and seek to demonstrate that the text itself cannot render a singularly persuasive construction of the Treaty Clause. The text is, as Professor Ackerman and I contended, ultimately indeterminate. I analyze each of Professor Tribe's elaborate textual arguments to demonstrate by illustration that textualism is just as open to manipulation as the interpretive methodologies he criticizes and, given the pervasive ambiguities in the text, is generally incapable of yielding unique objective resolutions to constitutional disputes. Only by systematically ignoring equally plausible formalist counter-arguments was Professor Tribe able to reach his favored reading of the Treaty Clause. In my view, Professor Tribe's article reflects free-formism in its most paradoxical form: free-form formalism.


The influences of the polyhedral oligomeric silsesquioxane (POSS) on the mechanical properties of the polystyrene (PS) under tensile strain loading were studied using the atomistic finite element simulations. Firstly, the nano scale pole-like atomistic models and the micro scale pole-like finite element models of two kinds of homopolymers, the pure PS and the polystyrene attached with 5 mol% propyl-POSS (P-POSS-PS), were built, after which the atomistic finite element models were built by connecting the carbon and silicon atoms on the boundaries of the atomistic models to the corresponding nodes in the finite element ones. Then the mechanical behaviors of the two kinds of homopolymers under different tensile strains were investigated. The results show that, when the tensile strain of PS reaches 0.05 the micro voids appear. The tensile stresses of PS approximatively keep increasing with the increasing strain before the tensile strain of 0.07, after which the stresses declines. And the corresponding tensile modulus of PS is 4.52GPa. By contrast with PS, when the tensile strain of P-POSS-PS reaches 0.06 the micro voids appear. The tensile stresses of P-POSS-PS are almost keeping increasing before the tensile strain of 0.08, and the corresponding tensile modulus is 5.32GPa. Conclusions can be made from this work that the tensile strength of homopolymers can be observably improved by POSS. A small quantity of POSS can even improve the toughness of homopolymers slightly. This work has realistic theoretical significance to understand the reinforcement mechanism of POSS and provides important referential message to the applications of POSS.


The supposed disruptive and transformational potential of blockchain technology has received widespread attention in the media, from legislators, and from academics across disciplines. While much of this attention has revolved around cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin, many see the true promise of blockchain technology in its potential use for transactions in traditional assets, as well as for facilitating self‐executing 'smart contracts', which replace vague and imprecise natural language with unambiguous computer code. This article presents a simple legal argument against the feasibility of a meaningful blockchain‐based economic system. Blockchain‐based systems are shown to be unsuitable for transactions in traditional assets, unless design choices are made which render the use of the technology pointless. The same argument is shown to apply to smart contracts. Legal and practical obstacles therefore mean that, outside its original realm of cryptocurrencies, blockchain technology is highly unlikely to transform economic interactions in the real world.


Much work in the field of social cognition shows that adopting an abstract (vs concrete) mindset alters the way people construe the world, thereby exerting substantial effects across innumerable aspects of human behavior. In order to investigate the cognitive and neural basis of these effects, we scanned participants as they performed two widely used tasks that induce an abstracting vs concretizing mindsets. Specifically, participants: (i) indicated why perform certain activities (a task that involves abstraction) or how the same activities are performed (a task that involves concretization) and (ii) generated superordinate categories for certain objects (a task that involves abstraction) or subordinate exemplars for the same objects (a task that involves concretization). We conducted a conjunction analysis of the two tasks, in order to uncover the neural activity associated with abstraction and concretization. The results showed that concretization was associated with activation in fronto-parietal regions implicated in goal-directed action; abstraction was associated with activity within posterior regions implicated in visual perception. We discuss these findings in light of construal-level theory s notion of abstraction.


Low birth weight (LBW) infants are born with a birth weight less than 2500 grams regardless of gestation. The prevalence of LBW is about 10% of all pregnancies. Some 3-5% of LBW occurred in healthy mothers, and more than 25% of events occurred in mothers with high risk pregnancies. A newborn boy, 1 day old, delivered from operating room (OR) Abdul Moeloek Hospital with preterm age and low birth weight. Baby born per abdominan with indication antepartum hemorrhage because placenta covering birth canal. Baby weighing 1800 g, body length 45 cm, with Apgar score 5/6/7. Physical examination obtained unwell state, compos mentis awareness, temperature 36.9 ° C, heart rate 138 x/min, respiration rate 64 x/min, nutritional status weight/age = <-3 SD (impression: poor nutrition), PB/age= -3 SD — <-2 SD (impression: short), BB/PB: <-3 SD (impression: very thin), Ballard score of 22 (32 weeks gestation), suprasternal and subcostal retraction, moaning (+), vesicular breathing (+/+). Hb: 16.8 g/dl; leukocytes: 24,400/ul, platelets: 255,000/ul. Patients was diagnosed LBW with Respiratory Distress Syndrome (RDS). Management of LBW infants with RDS in this case is installation of Continous Positive Airway Pressure (CPAP), trophic feeding, phototherapy, giving aminophylline and antibiotics. [J Agromed Unila 2014;1(2):190-194] Keywords: low birth weight, respiratory distress syndrome


nuclear factors were present in high titre in all three immunoglobulin classes. Three papers discuss etiological factors of autoimmune disease. One describes clearly the protean lesions of homologous disease, and possible mechanisms of human autoimmunity are discussed. Finally, the arguments for disturbed tolerance versus altered antigen are, somewhat dogmatically, if stimulatingly, presented but conclusions must, for the time being, remain speculative. KATRINA RHODES


Critical size tendon defects demand for tissue samples replacing the missing tissue and guiding an effective healing. Autografts, allografts, or xenografts represent viable options; however, limited availability and donor site morbidity go along with this approach, representing big disadvantages. Tissue engineering of tendon tissue is a further strategy fulfilling this need. Basically, an appropriate scaffold material is developed and tested for its biomechanical suitability as a graft material. In addition, cell seeding might improve biointegration of the tissue engineered construct (TEC). Different cell sources as well as different cultivation procedures can be applied in order to tune the envisioned primary strength of the TEC. In this chapter, in vitro fabrication protocols and mechanical tests as well as animal in vivo experiments will be presented—covering various (bio)materials, cell types, and cultivation procedures.


After studying the holotype of Engina schrammi Crosse, 1863, it became evident that the genus Risomurex Olsson & McGinty, 1958, is based on misidentified shells. Material recently collected at the Caribbean coast of Costa Rica included a new species, Risomurex mosquitensis, which is prefered to be considered the type-species of Risomurex. Relations with congeneric species are discussed. St. Thomas is designated type-locality for Ricinula rosea Reeve, 1846.


Injuries to the lung parenchyma occur following both blunt and penetrating trauma and usually are associated with injury to adjacent structures. In most cases, patients with lung injury require little more than chest-tube insertion and supportive care. A thoracotomy is required, however, in approximately 10% of these patients, half of whom will need pulmonary repair or resection. Because serious morbidity and mortality can follow lung injuries, surgeons must have a broad understanding of the causes, types, and pathophysiologies of lung injuries and be able to promptly diagnose and appropriately treat them. Language: en


Network-connected distributed generations is the development trend of future distribution network. It is important to investigate the position and determine the capacity of distributed generations (DG) in the existing distribution network. Considering the balance of power flow and the quality of electric energy supply, a DG mathematical model of position and capacity determining is built. The planning objective is to maximize the size of DG and minimize line losses of distribution system. The case studies have been carried on a 33-node distribution network through genetic algorithm. The simulation results show the proposed DG planning model and genetic algorithm are correct and feasible.


This research made based on phenomenon of Chinese tradition in respecting
and meaning a family there at film "The Photograph". Chinese tradition was
performed in this film has many kind of symbolism. Therefore, researcher interested
to break the tradition meaning of Chinese people there at film "The Photograph",
especially related with meaning a family in their culture. This research was expected
can add insight of others people in meaning the important rule of family.
Chinese people interpret their family as base of disciplinary and peace
community. They have many kind of tradition to respect their family both of still
alive or have passed away. This caused by their tight tie to family member or their
ancestors. In the film "The Photograph" told about life a Chinese born has name Mr.
Johan. He has to sincere losing his wife and his daughter. This was caused of the hard
life pressured. Mr. Johan could not defray his family life so that he went to leaves.
Knowing it, Mrs. Johan took decision to commit suicide with her daughter. After the
event, Mr. Johan decides to make three desires that must be fulfilled before died. The
three desires have purposed to atone for his mistakes in the past.This research used semiotic
approach of Roland Barthez.
By doing signification approach of two phases namely denotative and connotative. Features of
semiotic approach of Roland Barthez is on myth formed after signaling system so that
it can be new signal that has the second signal which new signal of construction or on
the other word the first signal is language, the second is myth. Data collection technique used in
this research is by analyzing then interpreted divisions of scene from film "The Photograph".
The research result in film "The Photograph" is by take 6 scenes related with
meaning a Chinese family. The scenes taking in this research is scene 1, scene 39,
scene 46 and scene 102. These scenes descript admiration type to family in Chinese
people tradition. From these scenes is able to be concluded that meaning a family
through Chinese tradition that performed in this film: Chinese people means a family
as a motivation to reach much money by work hard, tradition in subjected dust of
ancestors represents one of their devotion type to family and implementation of
tradition in Chinese people is a confirmation to social environment to shows their
position and status.


Abstract. In acknowledgment that no war can be fought without maps, German military cartography between 1915 and 1918 gradually extended its cartographic involvement in the Ottoman theaters of Sinai, Mesopotamia and Palestine. By the end of the Great War, six topographical map series had been specially produced: Operationskarte in 1:800,000, Karte des türkisch-ägyptischen Grenzgebietes in 1:250,000, Karte von Mesopotamien (und Syrien) in 1:400,000, Karte von Nordbabylonien in 1:200,000, and Karte von Palästina in three scales 1:100,000, 1:50,000, and 1:25,000. The paper makes the first attempt on a carto-bibliographical appraisal of these map series.


: A novel super-secondary structure consisting of two consecutive alpha-helices connected by a polypeptide chain and packed approximately crosswise is considered in the paper. Such locally ordered regions of proteins are described here as alpha alpha-corners. Almost always one of the two possible "mirror-symmetrical" forms is observed in the proteins. The polypeptide chain of the alpha alpha-corner with a short connection consisting of two peptide units has ...alpha R alpha R alpha L beta beta alpha R alpha R... conformation. It is shown that amino-acid sequences coding for the alpha alpha-corners must have a strictly definite alternation of hydrophobic, hydrophilic and glycine residues. The packing of the remaining alpha-helices of a protein molecule can be obtained if the alpha alpha-corner is taken as the origin of folding.


Undocumented & Unafraid in Los Angeles is a documentary film concerning the lives and struggles of undocumented students within the context of neoliberal Los Angeles. Undocumented and Unafraid in Los Angeles is an ethnographic documentary film (directed by Dirk Eisema, MSc. and Tara Fiorito, MSc.) about a social movement of undocumented migrant youths living and studying in Los Angeles (USA). The film was shot during six months of ethnographic fieldwork in Los Angeles and was produced in the Netherlands through a scholarship funded by the Institute of Migration and Ethnic Studies (University of Amsterdam).


Background Allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (allo-HSCT) is an important treatment option for various hematopoietic diseases and certain hereditary diseases. Chronic graft-versus-host disease (cGVHD) has become the main life-threatening complication and cause of death in later stage postallo-HSCT. Current treatment options for cGVHD are limited. Hydrogen gas (H2) has been demonstrated that has antioxidative, anti-inflammatory, and antifibrosis effects. The aim of this study was to confirm whether oral administration hydrogen-rich water exerted therapeutic effects on a scleroderma cGVHD mouse model and tried to explain the mechanism underly it. Methods A mouse cGVHD model was established by haploidentical bone marrow transplantation. To evaluate therapeutic effects of H2 on cGVHD, survival rate, changes in clinical scores, and skin pathologic characteristics of cGVHD mice were observed. To evaluate its therapeutic mechanism, we detected the expression levels of antioxidative enzymes heme oxygenase-1(HO-1) and NAD (P)H: quinone acceptor oxidoreductase 1(NQO1) in skin homogenates. We also detected the expression level of the apoptotic protein caspase-3 in skin homogenates. Results 1-month survival rate of cGVHD mice in the hydrogen group reached 93.3%, significantly higher than 66.7% in the nonhydrogen group (p < 0.05). Clinical score of cGVHD mice was improved by hydrogen-rich water at 96 days posttransplantation (2.2 versus 4.5, p < 0.05). The skin pathological condition of cGVHD mice was significantly improved by hydrogen-rich water. At 96 days posttransplantation, average skin pathological hematoxylin and eosin (HE) staining score in the hydrogen group was 1.05, which was significantly lower than 3.2 in the nonhydrogen group (p < 0.01). Average Masson staining score was 0.6 point in the hydrogen group, lower than 0.9 point in the nonhydrogen group (p < 0.05). Both the relative expression levels of HO-1 and NQO1 proteins in skin specimens of cGVHD mice in the hydrogen group were lower than that in the nonhydrogen group (2.47 versus 6.21 and 1.83 versus 3.59, p < 0.05). The relative expression level of caspase-3 protein in skin specimens of cGVHD mice increased to 7.17 on the 96th day after transplantation, significantly higher than 4.36 in the hydrogen group. Conclusion In this study, we found that oral hydrogen-rich water improved the survival rate and clinical symptoms of cGVHD mice by antioxidant and antiapoptosis. This study would pave the way for further clinical study, which may provide a new treatment option for cGVHD.


Objective: To examine the association between obesity and knee and hip arthroplasty for osteoarthritis across a range of physical performance. Method: The body mass index and physical performance (on the 36-item Short Form Health Survey) of 9135 Australian Diabetes, Obesity and Lifestyle Study participants were measured in 1999–2000. The incidence of knee and hip arthroplasty during 2002–2011 was determined by linking the cohort records to the Australian Orthopaedic Association National Joint Replacement Registry. Results: Over 9.1 ± 2.3 years (mean ± sd)) of follow-up, 317 participants had knee and 202 had hip arthroplasty for osteoarthritis. Using those with neither obesity nor significantly impaired physical performance as the reference group, participants with both obesity and significantly impaired physical performance had a higher knee arthroplasty risk [hazard ratio (HR) = 5.25, 95% confidence interval (CI) 3.85–7.14] than those with obesity alone (HR = 2.49, 95% CI 1.81–3.44) or impaired physical performance alone (HR = 2.19, 95% CI 1.59–3.02). Similar results were observed for hip arthroplasty (obesity and impaired physical performance: HR = 2.67, 95% CI 1.72–4.15; obesity alone: HR = 1.65, 95% CI 1.08–2.51; impaired physical performance alone: HR = 1.83, 95% CI 1.26–2.66). Among overweight/obese patients, 5 kg greater baseline weight increased the knee arthroplasty risk across all levels of physical performance, and hip arthroplasty risk in those with the highest level of physical performance. Conclusion: Although impaired physical performance is an independent risk factor for knee and hip arthroplasty, greater weight increased knee arthroplasty for overweight/obese participants at all levels of physical performance, but hip arthroplasty only in those with good physical performance. Targeting weight loss has the potential to reduce the risk of knee arthroplasty and improve patient outcomes, even in those with poor physical performance.


As the energy demand and the pollution concerns continue to grow, new sources of energy and environmental friendly power generation systems are being developed. In this context, syngas is considered as an attractive fuel, as it can be produced from a broad range of fossil fuel and biomass sources, including agriculture and municipal waste, using gasification processes. It is mainly composed of H2 and CO, along with varying amounts of N2, CO2, and H2O.
In the following work a comprehensive study about a low-energy-content fuel, presenting the characteristic components of syngas, is developed. This fuel differs from common syngas in the relative ratios between the species of the mixture; in the reported case the presence of H2 and CO is largely reduced. The present research deals with the combustion of the exhaust gas of a solid oxide fuel cell. The exhaust stream from the SOFC stack, fed with biogas, contains CO2, H2O and some trace amount of H2 and CO resulting from incomplete utilization of fuel in the SOFC stack. Consequently exhaust anodic fuel can be combusted with depleted air leaving the cathodic compartments of the stack, with the aim of exploiting its retained energy content and enhance the global efficiency of the system. This combustion process, however, generates several undesirable compounds, especially NOX . Modifying of the combustion atmosphere, a change from air to oxy-combustion, allows elimination of nitrogen oxides. Recently, oxygenenriched combustion is obtaining greater acceptance, in fact its potential value in terms of both improved heat transfer and reduction of NOX can overcome the cost penalty of burning a fuel in a oxidizer other than air. For these reasons, both pure oxygen and air solutions are covered.
An extensive investigation of the considered mixture is provided, beginning with equilibrium calculation as a preliminary analysis, continuing with opposed flow flame simulations, that allow a better understanding about the suitable combustion temperatures, the production of pollutant compounds, the influence of strain rate on the diffusion flame and the flammability limits.
In the second part of the thesis, the main focus shifts towards the development of a detailed study about the extinction behavior of syngas fuels. For this matter, a common syngas mixture (50% H2- 50% CO) is employed as fuel for counterflow flames. Multidimensional simulations are carried out using an advance software for unsteady reacting flows. Studies about extinction limits, blow off extinction and effects related to scalar dissipation rate have been extensively covered in the present thesis as principal objective of this part. Differences and analogies between one- and two-dimensional simulations outputs are reported and discussed, introducing an interesting field of research.


In this paper, a dynamic display system that increases the ability of an interactive artwork is presented on an interactive installation. The dynamic display system aims to widen an interactive range to provide the maximum freedom to all spectators. The installation creates a high immersion and due to this, the artist can channel their somesthesia to be accessed easily by spectators. In addition, this installation provides flexible space in which artists can express their work to be widely available for spectators.


Abstract Dry eye disease (DED) affects >10% of the population worldwide, and it provokes an unpleasant sensation of ocular dryness, whose underlying neural mechanisms remain unknown. Removal of the main lachrymal gland in guinea pigs caused long-term reduction of basal tearing accompanied by changes in the architecture and density of subbasal corneal nerves and epithelial terminals. After 4 weeks, ongoing impulse activity and responses to cooling of corneal cold thermoreceptor endings were enhanced. Menthol (200 &mgr;M) first excited and then inactivated this augmented spontaneous and cold-evoked activity. Comparatively, corneal polymodal nociceptors of tear-deficient eyes remained silent and exhibited only a mild sensitization to acidic stimulation, whereas mechanonociceptors were not affected. Dryness-induced changes in peripheral cold thermoreceptor responsiveness developed in parallel with a progressive excitability enhancement of corneal cold trigeminal ganglion neurons, primarily due to an increase of sodium currents and a decrease of potassium currents. In corneal polymodal nociceptor neurons, sodium currents were enhanced whereas potassium currents remain unaltered. In healthy humans, exposure of the eye surface to menthol vapors or to cold air currents evoked unpleasant sensations accompanied by increased blinking frequency that we attributed to cold thermoreceptor stimulation. Notably, stimulation with menthol reduced the ongoing background discomfort of patients with DED, conceivably due to use-dependent inactivation of cold thermoreceptors. Together, these data indicate that cold thermoreceptors contribute importantly to the detection and signaling of ocular surface wetness, and develop under chronic eye dryness conditions an injury-evoked neuropathic firing that seems to underlie the unpleasant sensations experienced by patients with DED.


Purpose of the article: Mapping and comparing the investors' environment in the USA and in the Czech Republic. To focus on characteristics of Business Angels in both markets, the Czech Republic and the USA and highlight the main differences.
Methodology/methods: The used research methods are adjusted to the aim of the article. A case study was used as a method of this paper, in order to describe the investors and find out their similarities and dissimilarities. The research was conducted with 50 investors (41 investors from the USA and 9 investors from the CR). In order to provide the triangulation, the author chose three methods of data collection. More specifically, questionnaire, archival data (data on the internet) and interview. The same investors took part in questionnaire as well as in interview.
Scientific aim: The aim of this paper is to map the investors' characteristics in the Czech Republic and in the USA.
Findings: Based on outcomes of used methods, the following facts were found out. Business Angels (BA) in the USA tends to be older, with more experience and higher education than BA in the CR. Investing is considered as their full-time job and based on that fact their portfolio is wider. In the USA, the investors have approximately 8 companies in their portfolio, while in the CR only 2. Source of motivation for the US investors is knowledge transfer to young entrepreneurs (for almost 90% of investors).
Conclusions: In the CR, there is lack of collaboration among BA, which leads to less investments. The solution for improving the situation might be perceived in establishing the syndicates of BA. Moreover, it is necessary to present good quality projects to BA, consequently the young entrepreneurs need more initiatives and opportunities to gain the required knowledge and practice. However, the author suggest that the deeper research with more respondents should be done in order to provide validate data which presents the whole field.


This study was performed in order to assess the effect of heating in pre- and post-rigor muscle of fed cod, wild cod and farmed salmon harvested at different times of the year. The structural changes in muscle samples pre-heated from 5 to 60°C were qualitatively evaluated using both light and transmission electron microscopy techniques. The microstructural changes are discussed in relation to the liquid loss measured by a low-speed centrifugation test. The heat-induced structural changes varied between the fish tested, reflecting different degrees of post mortemdegradation prior to heating, the muscle-pH and species-specific structural properties. The fed fish, both cod and salmon, underwent the most severe structural degradation. This reflected both the low muscle pH and the more severepost mortemdegradation observed in these fish prior to heating, compared with the wild cod. Heating caused extensive shrinkage of the myofibrils and hence, widened intermyofibrillar and extracellular spaces in both the fed cod and the salmon muscle. In the sample of wild cod muscle, the extracellular spaces were narrow and the myofibrils were closely packed. The difference in heat-induced liquid loss of the fed compared with the wild cod muscle coincides with their different structural features, as observed both by LM and TEM. The better liquid-holding properties of the salmon muscle than the cod muscle are attributed to the species-specific ultrastructural features as observed with TEM. In addition to the denser appearance of the salmon myofibres, it is suggested that both fat droplets and aggregated sarcoplasmic proteins filling the intermyofibrillar and extracellular spaces are important in preventing release of liquid upon heating.


This paper considers the following question: What is the maximum number of $k$-cliques in an $n$-vertex graph with no $K_t$-minor? This question generalises the extremal function for $K_t$-minors, which corresponds to the $k=2$ case. The exact answer is given for $t\leq 9$ and all values of $k$. We also determine the maximum total number of cliques in an $n$-vertex graph with no $K_t$-minor for $t\leq 9$. Several observations are made about the case of general $t$.


ABSTRACT Trematodonl laetevirens Hakelier & J.-P. Frahm is here added to the Russian bryoflora based on records from the Khibiny Mts. (Murmansk Region, North-West Russia), Anadyr' River Basin (Chukotka Autonomous Region) and the Ushkovsky volcano (Kamchatka Peninsula). The Khibiny moss population, earlier defined as T. brevicollis Hornsch., is attributed to T. laetevirens. We reaffirmed that the East Sayan samples belong to T. brevicollis, so, currently only one locality of T. brevicollis is known in Russia. The revision of T. longicollis Michx. samples from the Kamchatka Peninsula, and Kunashir Island (the Kuril Islands) confirmed their affiliation to this species, despite some deviations in morphological features. The taxonomical concepts inferred from variation in morphological traits are supported by for the first molecular-phylogenetic analyses of the genus Trematodon based on the nucleotide sequence data of ITS2 nrDNA and trnL-F cpDNA. At present, four species of the genus Trematodon Michx. are known from Russia: T. ambiguus (Hedw.) Hornsch., T. brevicollis, T. laetevirens and T. longicollis. A key to Russian Trematodon species is provided.


Neural stimulation systems design is highly impacted by the overall resolution and adaptability of the device to the targeted application and area to stimulate. In this paper, we report a novel design for neural micro-stimulation electrode presenting high resolution and adaptability to any targeted area via a high flexibility. We propose the use of liquid metal micro-channels encapsulated into a polymer volume, achieving micro-stimulation pads at the tip of the channels. It presents a high degree of patternability to match different possible targeted applications, and good flexibility and mechanic properties to make it insertable and adaptable into soft tissues. A stable fabrication process, including insertion of the liquid alloy into 50 µm half-channels, the necessity of the U-shape to produce functional conductive micro-channels and the mechanical integrity of the device are discussed.


Background: A Cholera outbreak was reported in Lusaka District between February and May 2016, with 1,079 cases and 20 deaths recorded in the per-urban areas. Bauleni catchment area alone reported 441 (40.9%) case patients with case fatality rate of 4 (0.9%). Bauleni clinic was one of the three established cholera treatment centres (CTC) and other two being Kanyama and Matero Health Centres. Ministry of Health engaged partners that conducted a multi-intervention response to the outbreak. This study is aimed at identifying factors associated with the outbreak.
Materials and methods: We conducted a case-control study, at the ratio 1:3, to identify risk factors associated with cholera outbreak. We identified cases of cholera through the cholera register at Bauleni health centre and randomly selected population based controls being residents of Bauleni Township without watery diarrhoea. The standard case definition for suspected cholera case was any person of any age with profuse, effortless watery diarrhoea (three or more stools in 24 hours), with or without vomiting. Aconfirmed cholera case was defined as any person suspected to have cholera with a positive  laboratory result. Univariate and multivariate analysis was performed using Epi-Info version 3.5.4 and Stata version 11.2.
Results: On the Cholera Treatment Centre surveillance case-patients register, out of 441 cases, 241 (54.6%) cases were male while 200 (45.4 %%) cases were female, with an attack rate of 14.8/1,000 population and 4 (0.9%) fatalities. The study participants, who included 49 casepatients and 151 controls, had mean-age of 31 years [range, 29-34 years]. Positive Vibrio in stool cholera was associated with drinking inadequately treated borehole water [Adjusted OR=0.79; 95% CI (0.10-6.04), p>0.05]. This odds ratio was adjusted for level education and gender to control and account for any confounding. Though this finding was not statistically significant at p>0.05, the laboratory result was biologically significant as vibrio cholerae was isolated in the borehole water. Drinking treated water was protective [Adjusted OR 0.13; 95% CI (0.05-0.31, p<0.05].
Conclusion: Improving methods that promote safe drinking water are likely to be effective measures in averting future cholera outbreaks in this setting.


ABSTRACT Since its launch in 2013, the Chinese Road and Belt Innitiative (BRI) has grown into a platform for any countries and regions that wish to participate, with global connectivity as the orienting goal. However, since its inception, concerns over the BRI's potential impacts on ecology, environment and resilience, as well as its implications for global climate change and sustainability, have gathered force. As this thematic issue goes to press, these already complex BRI issues have been compounded by challenges from the COVID-19 pandemic. Whether and how the BRI can meet these challenges are questions worthy of deep exploration. This emerging BRI scholarship studied various aspects of BRI activities. However, major knowledge gaps remain regarding BRI impacts on GHG emission and on climate adaptation and sustainable resource management more broadly. To this end, this thematic issue aims to contribute to deeper understandings of climate and environmental changes along the BRI by bringing together state-of-art research and views on climate change patterns, trends, risks, impacts and adaptation.


Abstract Adaptive variation among plant populations must be known for effective conservation and restoration of imperiled species and predicting their responses to a changing climate. Common‐garden experiments, in which plants sourced from geographically distant populations are grown together such that genetic differences may be expressed, have provided much insight on adaptive variation. Common‐garden experiments also form the foundation for climate‐based seed‐transfer guidelines. However, the spatial scale at which population differentiation occurs is rarely addressed, leaving a critical information gap for parameterizing seed‐transfer guidelines and assessing species' climate vulnerability. We asked whether adaptation was evident among populations of a foundational perennial within a single "empirical" seed‐transfer zone (based on previous common‐garden findings evaluating very distant populations) but different "provisional" seed zones (groupings of areas of similar climate and are not parameterized from common‐garden data). Seedlings from three populations originating from similar conditions within an intermediate elevation were planted into gardens nearby at the same elevation, or 250–450 m higher or lower in elevation and 0.4–25 km away. Substantial variation was observed between gardens in survival (ranging 2%–99%), foliar crown volume (7.8–22.6 dm3), and reproductive effort (0%–65%), but not among the three transplanted populations. The between garden variation was inversely related to climatic differences between the gardens and seed‐source populations, specifically the site differences in maximum–minimum annual temperatures. Results suggest that substantial site‐specificity in adaptation can occur at finer scales than is accounted for in empirical seed‐transfer guidance when the guidance is derived from broadscale common‐garden studies. Being within the same empirical seed zone, geographic unit, and even within 10 km distance may not qualify as "local" in the context of seed transfer. Moving forward, designing common‐garden experiments so that they allow for testing the scale of adaptation will help in translating the resulting seed‐transfer guidance to restoration projects.


The Austre Lov\'enbreen is a 4.6 km2 glacier on the Archipelago of Svalbard (79 degrees N) that has been surveyed over the last 47 years in order of monitoring in particular the glacier evolution and associated hydrological phenomena in the context of nowadays global warming. A three-week field survey over April 2010 allowed for the acquisition of a dense mesh of Ground-penetrating Radar (GPR) data with an average of 14683 points per km2 (67542 points total) on the glacier surface. The profiles were acquired using a Mala equipment with 100 MHz antennas, towed slowly enough to record on average every 0.3 m, a trace long enough to sound down to 189 m of ice. One profile was repeated with 50 MHz antenna to improve electromagnetic wave propagation depth in scattering media observed in the cirques closest to the slopes. The GPR was coupled to a GPS system to position traces. Each profile has been manually edited using standard GPR data processing including migration, to pick the reflection arrival time from the ice-bedrock interface. Snow cover was evaluated through 42 snow drilling measurements regularly spaced to cover all the glacier. These data were acquired at the time of the GPR survey and subsequently spatially interpolated using ordinary kriging. Using a snow velocity of 0.22 m/ns, the snow thickness was converted to electromagnetic wave travel-times and subtracted from the picked travel-times to the ice-bedrock interface. The resulting travel-times were converted to ice thickness using a velocity of 0.17 m/ns. The velocity uncertainty is discussed from a common mid-point profile analysis. A total of 67542 georeferenced data points with GPR-derived ice thicknesses, in addition to a glacier boundary line derived from satellite images taken during summer, were interpolated over the entire glacier surface using kriging with a 10 m grid size. Some uncertainty analysis were carried on and we calculated an averaged ice thickness of 76 m and a maximum depth of 164 m with a relative error of 11.9%. The volume of the glacier is derived as 0.3487$\pm$0.041 km3. Finally a 10-m grid map of the bedrock topography was derived by subtracting the ice thicknesses from a dual-frequency GPS-derived digital elevation model of the surface. These two datasets are the first step for modelling thermal evolution of the glacier and its bedrock, as well as the main hydrological network.


Narrow-band imaging surveys allow the study of the spectral characteristics of galaxies without the need of performing their spectroscopic follow-up. In this work, we forward-model the Physics of the Accelerating Universe Survey (PAUS) narrow-band data. The aim is to improve the constraints on the spectral coefficients used to create the galaxy spectral energy distributions (SED) of the galaxy population model in Tortorelli et al. 2020. In that work, the model parameters were inferred from the Canada-France-Hawaii Telescope Legacy Survey (CFHTLS) data using Approximate Bayesian Computation (ABC). This led to stringent constraints on the B-band galaxy luminosity function parameters, but left the spectral coefficients only broadly constrained. To address that, we perform an ABC inference using CFHTLS and PAUS data. This is the first time our approach combining forward-modelling and ABC is applied simultaneously to multiple datasets. We test the results of the ABC inference by comparing the narrow-band magnitudes of the observed and simulated galaxies using Principal Component Analysis, finding a very good agreement. Furthermore, we prove the scientific potential of the constrained galaxy population model to provide realistic stellar population properties by measuring them with the SED fitting code CIGALE. We use CFHTLS broad-band and PAUS narrow-band photometry for a flux-limited (i < 22.5) sample of galaxies up to redshift z ∼ 0.8. We find that properties like stellar masses, star-formation rates, mass-weighted stellar ages and metallicities are in agreement within errors between observations and simulations. Overall, this work shows the ability of our galaxy population model to correctly forward-model a complex dataset such as PAUS and the ability to reproduce the diversity of galaxy properties at the redshift range spanned by CFHTLS and PAUS.


This research evaluated appropriate methodologies to calculate water quality criteria for exposure concentrations that vary in frequency, magnitude and duration. We reviewed over 30 toxicological studies that used either time-dose response or pulsed/intermittent exposure designs representing over 15 contaminants and 10 species. Most of these studies were conducted using freshwater species. Many workers demonstrated a relationship between organism response and internal contaminant concentration, independent of the exposure regime. Internal contaminant concentration has been used to predict organism responses in various models. Results of many laboratory studies indicate that for brief, episodic or high magnitude pollutant events, higher acute toxicity (or lower LC50s), is likely as compared to that predicted based on the averaged or long-term concentration. Our literature search, and evaluation of five case studies, revealed some cautions in using chemical benchmark (criteria) values and simple worst case dilution analysis to evaluate effluent compliance.

Our results indicate that magnitude or peak concentration, not duration above a certain threshold, was most important in predicting chronic toxicity to Ceriodaphnia. The relatively infrequent pollutant monitoring in National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) permits, and the general lack of instream contaminant data, means that chemical exceedance duration, or a time-integration approach to permit compliance, is unlikely if not infeasible.

Analysis of case studies illustrated the difficulties in using real world data to test alternate criteria approaches. To help address this problem, we designed and conducted several pulsed exposure chronic toxicity tests (based on standard EPA protocols), using Ceriodaphnia and fathead minnow. Testing used copper, acid (nitric), cadmium, sodium chloride, and Chlorpyrifos, all of which occur in wastewater effluents. For many of these chemicals, we observed little difference in acute and chronic toxicity thresholds, as measured by standard toxicity tests on sensitive species. This means that permit exceedences with a magnitude <5 times the chronic limit, may not yield chronic biological effects if relatively short in duration (<2 days).

Furthermore, multiple exceedences of a chronic limit may not result in discernable biological effects or biological effects will be predictable based upon expected effects of each exceedance individually. Simulation modeling indicated that both mortality and biomass results from chronic fathead minnow tests and cadmium were well described by an extended Mancini-Breck model, which was developed for acute toxicity effects.

Thus, for a number of common wastewater pollutants, a kinetics-based approach to criteria may be a reasonable and worthwhile goal. However, fluctuations close to the chronic limit may not have systematic effects because exposures are within the error limits of chronic test methods. Our research suggests that wastewater plants may have much to gain by implementing front-end equalization because: (1) it will reduce final effluent chemical fluctuations and therefore, permit exceedences; and (2) a more consistent quality effluent means a lower coefficient of variation for chemical concentration over time, which could, using a statistical approach to deriving permit limits, translate to a higher effluent limit.

This title belongs to WERF Research Report Series

ISBN: 9781843396499 (Print)

ISBN: 9781780403205 (eBook)


ABSTRACT Ulcerative colitis (UC) is a chronic inflammatory condition linked to intestinal microbial dysbiosis, including the expansion of E. coli strains related to extra-intestinal pathogenic E. coli. These "pathobionts" exhibit pathogenic properties, but their potential to promote UC is unclear due to the lack of relevant animal models. Here, we established a mouse model using a representative UC pathobiont strain (p19A), and mice lacking single immunoglobulin and toll-interleukin 1 receptor domain (SIGIRR), a deficiency increasing susceptibility to gut infections. Strain p19A was found to adhere to the cecal mucosa of Sigirr -/- mice, causing modest inflammation. Moreover, it dramatically worsened dextran sodium sulfate-induced colitis. This potentiation was attenuated using a p19A strain lacking α-hemolysin genes, or when we targeted pathobiont adherence using a p19A strain lacking the adhesin FimH, or following treatment with FimH antagonists. Thus, UC pathobionts adhere to the intestinal mucosa, and worsen the course of colitis in susceptible hosts.


A method for checking membership in the region of entropic vectors generated from N bits is presented. A general technique for utilizing this method to create inner bounds for regions of entropic vectors as a function of outer bounds is then presented. These two algorithms are then used to provide new insights regarding relationships among well known bounds for the region of entropic vectors..


The management of pharyngeal defects is one of the most challenging tasks for reconstructive surgeons. The reconstructive method is driven by the amount of tissue loss as well as patient-related factors. Since the advent of organ preservation strategies in the 1990s as described by the Department of Veterans Affairs Laryngeal Cancer Study, salvage surgery has become a common pharyngeal procedure to obtain local control when nonsurgical treatment fails. This chapter is divided into preoperative, intraoperative, and postoperative phases of patient management. Each section will focus on particular aspects of management that are essential to achieve the best therapeutic outcome for patients who need pharyngeal reconstruction.


In this article I strive for a conceptual clarification and con- structive elaboration of the concept of existential health. Taking my cue from the multidimensionality of health – refer- ring to contemporary experience, the WHO definition of health as well as pre-modern conceptions of health – I compare existential health to other concepts of health – i.e. physical, mental, social and spiritual. I argue that existential health should not be seen as yet another dimension of health – not even spiritual health, the most likely candidate as Valerie DeMarinis and Cecilia Melder, two prominent Swedish psycho- logists of religion, has argued – but rather is a reflexive expe- rience of health. By »reflexive« I mean an intentional relation to one's own experience of ailment and health, including a relation to these experiences as one's own. My conclusion is that existential health as a concept should be reserved for this reflexive feature of human subjectivity in relation to health, cutting across all other health dimensions, so as not to confuse the conceptuality in speaking of health.


Background As part of a national randomised controlled trial, we attempted to recruit young people for Chlamydia testing and partner notification interventions in UK general practises (primary care clinics). Practices were paid for recruitment which was managed by clinic staff. Despite training, there were barriers to testing and recruitment: staff experienced competing priorities, were reluctant to mention testing, perceived that STIs were uncommon in their population, and believed that few young people attended the clinic. We aimed to assess the effect of intensive researcher led recruitment on testing rates and compare with prior optimised recruitment by clinic staff. Methods Ten general practises in North and South East England agreed to participate. We trained research staff on recruitment processes and allocated a researcher to each general practise. The researcher approached potentially eligible young people in the waiting room for a three week period and offered Chlamydia testing and trial enrolment. We compared testing and recruitment rates with those achieved by clinic staff over a period of 3 months. Results 1145 16–25 year olds were approached in the 10 practises during intensive recruitment periods, of whom 43% consented and tested. Of refusals, 37% had tested elsewhere. Most practises achieved 45–50 tests per 3 week period, compared with 3–4 per month during 3 months of optimised clinic staff recruitment. Conclusion External researcher led intensive recruitment increased testing levels substantially and should be considered as an alternative to clinic staff enrolment in primary care. Even if enrolment targets are met, the impact of sexual health interventions in primary care will be limited unless barriers to engagement in sexual health are overcome.


A series of simian virus 40 (SV40)-immortalized hepatocyte cell lines were characterized for albumin production, the regulation of albumin production, and the expression of other liver-specific genes. This series of cell lines is particularly useful for studying the regulation of hepatocyte gene expression because the cell lines express liverlike levels of a number of liver-specific functions and do so while growing in a chemically defined medium. SV40-immortalized hepatocyte cell lines were derived from colonies of albumin-producing epithelial cells that arose after primary hepatocytes maintained in chemically defined medium were transfected with SV40 DNA. Some cell lines secreted albumin at levels equal to or greater than those secreted by freshly plated primary hepatocytes, and all but one line continued to produce albumin for more than 20 passages. The variation in albumin secretion among cell lines reflected differences in the amount of albumin produced per cell and not in the percentage of albumin-producing cells in each line. The characterization of selected cell lines showed that albumin production was regulated by cell density during the growth cycle. Albumin production in most cell lines was also regulated by dexamethasone; however, one cell line continued to produce high levels of albumin when the cells were grown in medium lacking dexamethasone, demonstrating that although glucocorticoid can induce albumin production in some cell lines, it is not required for high levels of albumin production by all cells in culture. Regulation of albumin production measured at the level of protein secretion was paralleled by changes in steady-state levels of a 2.3-kilobase albumin RNA. Albumin-producing SV40-immortalized hepatocytes secreted a variety of other plasma proteins, including transferrin, hemopexin, and the third component of complement. These cells also expressed tyrosine aminotransferase activity that was inducible by dexamethasone. Alpha-fetoprotein production was not detected in any of the cell lines examined.


This research focused on building a comprehensive dataset for use in validation studies of daylight simulation software. The aim of the set is to add to existing validation data to better cover a wide range of complexities and weather conditions. This will allow for not only the validation of simulation software, but the comparison of multiple simulators in their general strengths and weaknesses as well as feasibility for early 'sketch' design stages and complete building simulations. The set can also aid in the creation of valid simulation parameter starting points for designers.  The research examined the current 'gold standard' validation dataset from the BRE-IDMP, and found that while it provides excellent validation opportunities for simulators that can support its detailed patch-based sky model; an equally high quality dataset is needed for simulators that support more simplified skies. This is essential as most of the weather data for annual daylighting simulations available to designers, such as the US-DOE's collection of TMY data, can only be used in mathematical sky models such as the Perez all-weather model. It is also essential that real world, complex light-path scenarios commonly found in buildings be addressed by validation in addition to the simple single room, single opening tests which are prevalent in the daylight simulation field.  A dataset suite is proposed, similar to the BESTEST suite for energy simulation, which covers basic analytical test cases for lighting simulators, simple office scenarios and a complex shaded classroom in a tropical climate. The dataset is valuable for the testing of daylight simulators which make use of the common CIE general or Perez all-weather skies. These datasets were used in a trial validation of Autodesk's 3ds Max Design and Radiance, which included significant sensitivity testing of the two empirical datasets included in the suite. This demonstrated the usefulness of each dataset, and any issues with their data. It also highlighted the key inputs of any simulation model where designers must take significant care.


One of the popular methods for distributed machine learning (ML) is federated learning, in which devices train local models based on their datasets, which are in turn aggregated periodically by a server. In large-scale fog networks, the "star" learning topology of federated learning poses several challenges in terms of resource utilization. We develop multi-stage hybrid model training (MH-MT), a novel learning methodology for distributed ML in these scenarios. Leveraging the hierarchical structure of fog systems, MH-MT combines multi-stage parameter relaying with distributed consensus formation among devices in a hybrid learning paradigm across network layers. We theoretically derive the convergence bound of MH-MT with respect to the network topology, ML model, and algorithm parameters such as the rounds of consensus employed in different clusters of devices. We obtain a set of policies for the number of consensus rounds at different clusters to guarantee either a finite optimality gap or convergence to the global optimum. Subsequently, we develop an adaptive distributed control algorithm for MH-MT to tune the number of consensus rounds at each cluster of local devices over time to meet convergence criteria. Our numerical experiments validate the performance of MH-MT in terms of convergence speed and resource utilization.


History. —M. S., a boy, aged 18, white, was admitted to the medical service of Mercy Hospital, March 12, 1925, at 6 p. m., complaining of agonizing pain over the whole surface of the chest and the epigastrium. This pain was not referred to the arms or to any other part of the body; it was constant, though it waxed and waned in intensity. He had suffered in this manner throughout the day, though not so intensely. There had been nothing unusual in his habits, diet, health or exercise to account either to himself or to his family for the occurrence of this seizure; he had never had a previous attack. During the few days preceding, there had been no symptoms of ill health, and this attack was ushered in with no symptoms except the pain. March 3, the patient had been admitted to the surgical clinic of Mercy Hospital


With rising concern pertaining to sound pollution and how it affects public health, new technologies are being considered to ensure sound is effectively attenuated and human exposure to unwanted noise is minimized. One of these technologies that separate the source from the observer is called the partition. As single wall partitions have to be physically dense to provide robust sound attenuation, they are not an efficient solution. An alternative solution is called double wall partitions. Double wall assemblies are lightweight, low-cost alternatives to single wall partitions that provide powerful transmission loss. Despite this, the performance of these assemblies suffer at a frequency called the mass-air-mass resonance frequency. Acoustically reinforcing this assembly is important to ensure their performance over a large frequency range. Helmholtz resonators are powerful methods to block sound in a narrow frequency band, and thus seem perfect to implement in double panel windows. However, when implemented, around the immediate vicinity of the Helmholtz resonator resonance, the performance of the entire assembly deteriorates. In this study, the use of several panels of Helmholtz resonators as a double wall assembly is investigated. As two panels can be set up in several configurations, the new configurations provide additional degrees of freedom that can be used to tune these sound packages to perform well at certain frequencies. Using the transfer matrix method, several cases are simulated and investigated. In certain configurations, improvement of up to 20db is noticed at the Helmholtz resonator resonant frequency. Several cases are also studied for when a porous layer is incorporated into the system.


Introduction The association between periodontal disease (PD) and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) has been widely studied, with aspiration of periodontal pathogens being one of the most accepted causal mechanisms for pulmonary exacerbation. Periodontal treatment (PT) was associated with a decrease in these exacerbations. Bronchiectasis is a pulmonary disease that has many similarities to COPD; however, there are no studies correlating this condition to PD thus far. This study will evaluate if PT reduces proinflammatory cytokines in serum and saliva, as well as halitosis and the amount of microorganisms associated with exacerbation of bronchiectasis in saliva, sputum and nasal lavage 3 months after PT. Methods and analysis A total of 182 patients with PD and bronchiectasis will be randomly allocated to group 1 (positive control; scaling and root planing (SRP)+oral hygiene (OH)) or group 2 (experimental; SRP+photodynamic therapy+OH). After 3 months, samples of saliva, nasal lavage and sputum will be collected to determine the level of Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Staphylococcus aureus and Porphyromonas gingivalis by quantitative PCR. This protocol will determine the efficacy of PT in reducing the most likely niches of bronchiectasis exacerbation by comparing pre- and post-treatment microbiology samples. Furthermore, there will be assessment of oral halitosis and verification of inflammatory cytokines in serum and saliva. Ethics and dissemination This protocol has been approved by the Research Ethics Committee of Universidade Nove de Julho. Data will be published in a peer-reviewed journal. Trial registration number NCT02514226.


Multiprocessor systems-on-chip (MPSoC) with distributed shared memory and caches are flexible when it comes to inter-processor communication but require an efficient memory consistency and cache coherency solution. In this paper we present a novel consistency model, streaming consistency, for the streaming domain in which tasks communicate through circular buffers. The model allows more reordering than release consistency and, among other optimizations, enables an efficient software cache coherency solution and posted writes. We also present a software cache coherency implementation and discuss a software circular buffer administration that does not need an atomic read-modify-write instruction. A small experiment demonstrates the potential performance increase of posted writes in MPSoCs with high communication latencies.


We present XPDL, a modular, extensible platform description language for heterogeneous multicore systems and clusters. XPDL specifications provide platform metadata about hardware and installed system software that are relevant for the adaptive static and dynamic optimization of application programs and system settings for improved performance and energy efficiency. XPDL is based on XML and uses hyperlinks to create distributed libraries of platform metadata specifications. We also provide first components of a retarget able tool chain that browses and processes XPDL specifications, and generates driver code for micro benchmarking to bootstrap empirical performance and energy models at deployment time. A C++ based API enables convenient introspection of platform models, even at run-time, which allows for adaptive dynamic program optimizations such as tuned selection of implementation variants.


We propose an evolutionary perspective on the geography of network formation that is grounded in a dynamic proximity framework. In doing so, we root the proximity concept in an evolutionary approach to the geography of innovation networks. We discuss three topics. The first topic focuses on explaining the structure of networks. The second topic concentrates on explaining the effects of networks on the performance of actors. The third topic deals with the changing role of proximity dimensions in the formation and performance of innovation networks in the longer run.


While detecting anomalies in hyperspectral imagery with support vector data description (SVDD), large numbers of operation was run because of the high dimension character of dataset and the complexity of background and the high miss rate was discovered because of the interfered background by interior anomalies. This paper used incremental support vector data description (ISVDD) method that samples are divided many sub-sample, and incremental study is designed to simplify the computation. On every sub-sample study, optimization is needed according of the support vectors obtained from above sub-sample and current sub-sample data. By the experiment on the HYMAP data, computation complexity of the algorithm decrease obviously and the computation speed increase highly under the similar detection effect compared with SVDD algorithm.


Mathematical model of the transmission of tuberculosis infection was widely studied to capture the transient behavior of the disease transmission. In this study we model the dynamic of the disease by considering an epidemiological model called SEIIR model to capture the deterministic behavior of the disease. We also applied a continuous-time Markov chain model to take into consideration the randomness of the system. In the deterministic model, a disease-free equilibrium point and a basic reproduction number of the model are found which are mainly influenced by the contact rate of susceptible individuals with infective individuals. Other parameters such as progression rate of the latent individuals to be infectious individuals and the treatment rate of latent individuals also influence not only the deterministic model but also the stochastic sample paths. For a certain critical value of the treatment rate of latent class, deterministic and stochastic solutions show different behavior at the final time of observation. A high degree of randomness is observed in the latent and infected class (hospitalize or not-hospitalized). While in the susceptible class, effect of randomness is almost not observed. This suggests the robustness of deterministic model of susceptible class to the stochastic perturbations.


Objectives: To compare trunk flexion and lateral flexion range of motion (ROM) pre-post intervention. To compare the bowling speed of Action Cricket fast bowlers pre-post intervention. To determine the correlation between change in bowling speed immediately post-intervention to change in trunk flexion and lateral flexion ROM immediately post-intervention. To determine the association between change in bowling speed immediately postintervention and the subjects' perception of change in bowling speed. Methods: Forty asymptomatic Action Cricket fast bowlers were divided into four groups of ten each. Group 1 received lumbar spine manipulation, Group 2 received thoracic spine manipulation, Group 3 received combined thoracic and lumbar spine manipulation and Group 4 received the sham laser intervention (placebo). Pre- and post-intervention trunk flexion and lateral flexion ROM and bowling speed were measured using a digital inclinometer and a SpeedTrac\x99 Speed Sport Radar. The subjects' perception of a change in bowling speed post-intervention was also recorded. SPSS version 15.0 was used to analyse the data. Twotailed tests were used in all cases. Results: Trunk flexion and lateral flexion increased significantly (p < 0.05) post-spinal manipulation. There was a significant increase in bowling speed post-thoracic (p = 0.042) and postcombined manipulation (p < 0.000). A significant yet weak positive correlation (p = 0.003; r = 0.451) was seen in change in bowling speed and change in thoracic flexion and lateral flexion. There was no significant difference in the percentage subjective change by intervention group (p = 0.217). Conclusions: Spinal manipulation is a valid intervention for short-term increase in bowling speed.


: Local injection of a steroid compound is a widely used treatment of musculoskeletal diseases. Nevertheless, general and local side effects are not rare. These latter are dominated by the fear for an infection, an inflammatory flare related to the microcristalline structure of the substance or a tendon rupture but they also concern the skin. Usually mild and transitory, they may leave persistent sequellae. We report the case of a woman who developped a livedoid dermatitis of the shoulder secondary to a repeated triamcinolone acetate infiltration for a scapulohumeral periarthritis.


Summary The platelet transcriptome has been extensively characterised using distinct genetic profiling platforms, with evolving evidence for differential expression patterns between healthy individuals and subject cohorts with various haematologic and cardiovascular disorders. Traditional technological platforms for platelet genetic biomarker quantification have limited applicability for clinical molecular diagnostics due to inherent complexities related to RNA isolation and analysis. We have previously established the feasibility of fluorescent microspheres as a simple and reproducible strategy for simultaneous quantification of platelet mRNAs from small volume of blood using intact platelets. We now extend these observations by formally comparing in a 50-member normal cohort the cross-platform behaviour of fluorescent microspheres to the currently accepted Q-PCR standard, using a clinically relevant 15-biomarker gene subset able to discriminate among normal and thrombocytosis cohorts. When compared to Q-PCR, genetic biomarker quantification using fluorescent microspheres demonstrated lower coefficients of variation for low-abundant transcripts, better linearity in serially diluted samples, and good overall between-platform consistency via the geometric mean regression. Neither platform demonstrated age or gender effects for any of the 15 biomarkers studied. Binding site saturation for highly abundant transcripts using fluorescent microspheres can be readily eliminated using an optimal platelet number corresponding to 0.3 ml of peripheral blood, additionally applicable to thrombocytopenic cohorts. These data provide a detailed cross-platform analysis using a relevant biomarker subset, further highlighting the applicability of fluorescent microspheres as potentially superior to Q-PCR for platelet mRNA diagnostics.


Service discovery is very useful in pervasive computing environments. A service discovery architecture based on anycast is proposed. A wellknown anycast address is defined first, which stands for a group of directory servers supporting service discovery. Each node in pervasive environment determines whether it is qualified to be a directory server in accordance with its capability, such as its memory, energy, or location stability. Qualified node announces that it serves the well-known anycast address and then begins to listen and cache service register messages from other nodes. A node supplying a service sends register messages to the well-known anycast address. The message is routed the nearest one of directory servers by an underlying anycast routing protocol. When a node wants to get some service information, it sends query messages to the anycast address, too. The message is also routed to the nearest directory. The directory replies in accordance with the information cached or obtained from other directories. With anycast, network load caused by service discovery is reduced dramatically, which results in scalability. The architecture is fully distributed, which does not depend on any central point. Therefore the architecture is a good candidate solution for service discovery in pervasive environment.


Induction-type coil target is a common used zone-block device for measuring projectile's velocity. The magnetized projectile is simplified as the point magnetic dipole, and then the physical model of magnetized projectile passing through the coil target is established, based on these the mathematic model of inductive electromotive force when the magnetized projectile flying through the coil target in a certain speed is deduced with the electromagnetic theory; According to the model, the characteristic parameters such as the zero-crossing point, the slope of zero-crossing point and the extreme value point are discussed, finally the principle and the influence factors of velocity measurement by single-coil target and paired- coil targets are described. All these above provide some foundation and advices for designing and using induction-type coil target.


Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAH) are currently generating a great deal of interest because of their
recognised toxicity, including carcinogenicity. In this study, source apportionment (SA) has been carried
out using Positive Matrix Factorisation (PMF) with a dataset of 29 individual PAH (sum of vapour and
particulate forms) collected by the UK National Network between 2002 and 2006. Analysis of data from
14 urban sites revealed four major source categories corresponding to unburned petroleum, diesel
combustion, wood combustion and coal combustion. When a separate set of sites known to be influenced
by local industrial sources was analysed, three source categories were identified corresponding to the
unburned petroleum, diesel combustion and coal combustion seen in the full data analysis. When SA
data were applied to the individual sites, the estimated apportionment could be explained in terms of
local emission characteristics. Unburned petroleum showed the highest contribution to the sum of PAH,
averaging 51.9% across the network, but benzo(a)pyrene (BaP) was more influenced by the coal combustion
source which contributed 59.5% across the entire network. At the subset of sites with local industrial
influence, industry was both the main contributor to the sum of PAH (accounting for 48.4% of
PAH mass) and of BaP (67.9% of mass). A spatial analysis was also conducted in which the traffic source
was evaluated by the difference between a roadside and a nearby urban background site, the urban
source by difference between urban background and a rural site, and the industrial source by difference
between a site close to a major steelworks subtracting data from a local urban background site. This
showed considerable similarity between the net urban contribution and the road traffic factor, and
between the net industrial contribution and the PMF coal factor profile. In both cases the congener
profiles corresponded fairly well to UK national emissions inventory data. When PMF was applied
separately to a more recent dataset for particle-bound PAH (2008-10) in three site groupings, it was able
to distinguish the domestic coal burning source from the industry-related coal combustion source. For
the urban sites, vehicle exhausts contributed the largest amount of particulate PAH and BaP across the
whole year, with significant attribution to domestic coal combustion seen in the cold season.


In recommender systems (RecSys) and real-time bidding (RTB) for online advertisements, we often try to optimize sequential decision making using bandit and reinforcement learning (RL) techniques. In these applications, offline reinforcement learning (offline RL) and off-policy evaluation (OPE) are beneficial because they enable safe policy optimization using only logged data without any risky online interaction. In this position paper, we explore the potential of using simulation to accelerate practical research of offline RL and OPE, particularly in RecSys and RTB. Specifically, we discuss how simulation can help us conduct empirical research of offline RL and OPE. We take a position to argue that we should effectively use simulations in the empirical research of offline RL and OPE. To refute the counterclaim that experiments using only real-world data are preferable, we first point out the underlying risks and reproducibility issue in real-world experiments. Then, we describe how these issues can be addressed by using simulations. Moreover, we show how to incorporate the benefits of both real-world and simulation-based experiments to defend our position. Finally, we also present an open challenge to further facilitate practical research of offline RL and OPE in RecSys and RTB, with respect to public simulation platforms. As a possible solution for the issue, we show our ongoing open source project and its potential use case. We believe that building and utilizing simulation-based evaluation platforms for offline RL and OPE will be of great interest and relevance for the RecSys and RTB community.


Dengue fever, an arbovirus disease transmitted by Aedes mosquitoes, has spread rapidly, especially in the tropical countries of the Americas and Asia-Pacific regions. It is endemic in Malaysia, with an annual average of 35,403 reported dengue cases from 2001 to 2010. The economic burden of dengue for Malaysia in 2009 was MYR 359.79 million (US$102.2 million) but these estimates are incomplete because the public sector costs of disease control had not been considered. This study estimated the costs of dengue control and prevention in Malaysia and measured the overall economic impact of dengue in the country. It also examined the variations in dengue vector control costs and resources consumption between the District Health Departments (DHDs) and Local Authorities (LAs) to assist informed decision making as to the future roles of these agencies in the delivery of dengue vector control services in Malaysia. Data were collected from representative vector control units of DHDs, State Health Departments (SHDs) and Federal Health Department (FHD) from Ministry of Health Malaysia and the corresponding LAs at the sampled districts. The costs and resources consumption by capital and recurrent items in 2010 were captured. The data was recorded by level in a matrix by line items and functions. Line items consist of human personnel, buildings, vehicles, equipment, pesticides, personal protective equipment (PPE) and outsourcing of fogging services to private pest control companies. A cost analysis of functions includes costs of inspection of premises, larviciding and fogging activities, entomological surveillance and health education activities. For the comparison of costs between service providers, namely the DHDs and LAs, only the vector control activities were considered. Those vector control activities were inspection of premises, fogging and larviciding of potential breeding sites. Malaysia spent MYR 235.05 mil (US$ 73.45 mil)
or 0.03% of the country's GDPfor dengue vector control and prevention. This expenditure represented MYR 5,091 (US$ 1,591) per reported dengue case and MYR 8.58 (US$ 2.68) per capita population. Notably, 92.2% of this spending occurred in the district-level primarily for fogging activities. From this total expenditure, the national DHDs and LAs expenditure were MYR 169.12 mil (US$ 52.85 mil) and MYR 47.63 mil (US$ 14.88 mil) respectively. The comparison of dengue vector control costs between service providers at the sampled districts revealed that the DHDs spent MYR 17.98 mil (US$ 5.62 mil) or MYR 2,172 (US$ 679) per reported dengue case, and LAs spent MYR 8.34 mil (US$ 2.61 mil) or MYR 1,598 (US$ 499) per reported case. The highest expenditure was fogging, being 51.0% of costs for DHDs and 45.8% for the LAs. The DHDs had higher resource costs for human personnel, vehicles, pesticides and equipment. The findings provide some evidence to rationalize delivery of dengue vector control services in Malaysia. The inclusion of control and preventive activities increased substantially the estimated economic burden of dengue to MYR 594.84 mil (US$ 175.71 mil), or 72% above illness costs alone. The quantification of dengue economic burden informs policy makers and stakeholders regarding the implementation of existing and new technologies for controlling dengue.


5 Abstract A model with human melanoma xenografts transplanted to athymic mice has been adopted for in vivo studies of 5-S-cysteinyldopa (an intermediate pigment metabolite), glutathione, and cysteine. L-Dopa is an intermediate metabolite in pigment formation and is also important in the treatment of Parkinson's disease, and therefore I have also studied the pharmacokinetics of this compound. We were first to describe in vivo microdialysis in melanoma tissue and showed that dialysis membranes of cuprophane or polyamide are suitable for studies of interstitial 5-S-cysteinyldopa and selected thiols. Analytical procedures were also improved for quantitation of 5-S-cysteinyldopa, L-dopa, glutathione, cysteine, and N-acetylcysteine (NAC). In the melanoma xenografts the interstitial concentration of 5-S-cysteinyldopa reflected the high intracellular production of this intermediate metabolite. For in vivo manipulation of glutathione in the melanoma tissue we gave intraperitoneal injection of buthionine sulphoximine to the animals and thus reduced the glutathione concentrations substantially. We showed that restitution of glutathione in melanoma tissue occurs spontaneously and is not much improved by treatment with the cysteine deliverers NAC and L-2-oxothiazolidine-4-carboxylate (OTC). 5-S-Cysteinyldopa was not substantially affected by great variations in glutathione concentrations. Transport of NAC from intraperitoneal injection to melanoma tissue occurred rapidly and deacetylation to cysteine in vivo could be detected soon after NAC injection. In vivo formation of cysteine was slower from OTC than from NAC. Pharmacokinetic studies of L-dopa in human subjects indicated a slight to moderate protein binding. Plasma free L-dopa had similar elimination T ½ as interstitial L-dopa, but in some cases the elimination of total L-dopa was slower. Difficulties in intestinal absorption of L-dopa were revealed by microdialysis in blood and subcutaneous tissue. Studies showed that this was due to delayed emptying of the stomach. L-Dopa intake increased 5-S-cysteinyldopa concentrations in blood within 30 min in patients with Parkinson's disease and a history of melanoma. No melanoma activation occurred during long-term treatment with L-dopa. Microdialysis is thus a safe and easily applied method for in vivo studies of both pigment metabolites from human melanoma tissue transplanted to nude mice and for pharmacokinetic studies of L-dopa.


: Millions of folks around the earth are affliction from late disease identification and diagnosis. An incredible amount of health information has been obtained by the latest technologies in digital medical services and information communication technologies. Disease diagnosis and artificially intelligent decision support systems have drawn tremendous attention from many scientists and research community worldwide. Various algorithms developed and applied with the aid of machine learning techniques that can substantially lead to the resolution of the system of health care and can help personnel involved in the early diagnosis of diseases. This research paper will propose an artificial intelligent algorithm which helps us to effectively, rapidly and accurately classify the information. The Proposed Disease Diagnosis Support Systems (DDSS) can assist clinicians to monitor the information, facilitate their evaluation by means of a preparatory treatment and decrease evaluation time per patient. The patients may inevitably be notified and recommended dietary suggestions also. This system will allow clinicians to focus on attending patients in accordance with their homeostasis. It decreases the volume of work of doctors and enables them to define patients who need to be examined more urgently or meticulously. Even with the widespread growth of such systems security of digital data and its privacy is still a major challenge yet to solve.


The gut microbiota performs several essential protective, structural, and metabolic functions for host health. The maintenance of a beneficial microbiota requires a homeostatic equilibrium within microbial communities, and between the microorganisms and the host. The gut microbiota composition may be affected by external factors, among them diet habits may be considered most important. In some pathological conditions such as irritable bowel syndrome (IBS), celiac disease (CD), or neurological disorders (ND), specific dietary regimens as low-fermentable, oligo-, di-, mono-saccharides and polyols (FODMAPs), ketogenic (KD), and gluten-free (GFD) diets are considered therapeutic. These kinds of diets are characterized by a reduction or exclusion of a specific nutrient from the entire dietary pattern. Despite these alimentary regimens showing beneficial effects on disease symptoms, they can affect microbiota composition, especially if they are protracted for a long time. To date, only a few studies have reported the effects of these diets on gut microbiota. In this review, we discuss the effects of low-FODMAPs, KD, and GFD on gut microbiota modulation in pathological conditions, advancing the possibility of depicting a balanced diet and developing personalized dietary intervention protocols.