According to the propagation and destruction characteristics of mobile phone viruses, a virus detection model based on the Danger Theory is proposed. This model includes four phases: danger capture, antigen presentation, antibody generation and antibody distribution. In this model, local knowledge of mobile phones is exploited by the agents that are running in mobile phones to discover danger caused by viruses. The Antigen Presenting Cells (APCs) present the antigen from mobile phones in the danger zone, and the Decision Center confirms the infection of viruses. After the antibody is generated by self-tolerating using the negative selection algorithm, the Decision Center distributes the antibody to mobile phones. Due to the distributed and cooperative mechanism of artificial immune system, the proposed model lowers the storage and computing consumption of mobile phones. The simulation results show that based on the mobile phone virus detection model, the proposed virus immunization strategy can effectively inhibit the propagation of mobile phone viruses.


Background. Mortality from asthma increased during the last decades but is now declining in some countries. Little is known about this trend in Brazil. Objective. The objective of the study was to determine the trends in asthma mortality in Southern Brazil. Methods. We reviewed death certificates of 566 people in the state of Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil, between 5 and 39 years of age in whom asthma was reported to be the underlying cause of death during the period of 1981-2003. Population data were available in 5-year age groups. Mortality rates were submitted to linear and quadratic regression procedures. Results. Among children and teenagers (5–19 years), there were 170 asthma deaths, ranging from 4 to 13 deaths each year with rates of 0.154/100,000 to 0.481/100,000. In young adults (20–39 years), 396 asthma deaths occurred, ranging from 9 to 32 each year, with rates from 0.276/100,000 to 1.034/100,000. There was an initial increase in rates, with later stabilization, and then the start of a decline beginning in the late 1990s and the early part of this decade. This trend occurred in both age subgroups examined but was more evident in males. Conclusions. Asthma mortality in southern Brazil remains low and appears to be decreasing after reaching a peak in the mid-1990s. The reason for these trends remains unknown.


The problem of obtaining dense reconstruction of an object in a natural sequence of images has been long studied in computer vision. Classically this problem has been solved through the application of bundle adjustment (BA). More recently, excellent results have been attained through the application of photometric bundle adjustment (PBA) methods -- which directly minimize the photometric error across frames. A fundamental drawback to BA & PBA, however, is: (i) their reliance on having to view all points on the object, and (ii) for the object surface to be well textured. To circumvent these limitations we propose semantic PBA which incorporates a 3D object prior, obtained through deep learning, within the photometric bundle adjustment problem. We demonstrate state of the art performance in comparison to leading methods for object reconstruction across numerous natural sequences.


This study demonstrates a facile and general one-pot synthetic approach for all-inorganic colloidal cesium lead halide (CsPbX3, X = Cl, Br, I, mixed Cl/Br, Br/I) perovskite nanocrystals (NCs) by directly heating the precursors/solvent/ligands. In contrast to typical routes, these reactions are conducted in open air, requiring neither high temperature dissolution nor a vacuum/inert atmosphere. The composition, shape and size of the as-synthesized NCs can be finely tuned by varying the reaction parameters such as temperature and time, ligand species and precursor halide ratios. CsPbX3 morphologies may be varied from perovskite nanoplatelets (NPLs) to nanosheets and sphere-like NCs, each with tunable absorption spectra and photoluminescence (PL) emissions. In particular, mixed halide NCs with controllable band gaps and PL emission across the entire visible region have been demonstrated by tuning the precursor halide ratios. The reproducibility and scalability of the present synthetic protocol is elaborated by upscaling the amounts of chemicals and solvents/ligands in a representative synthesis of CsPbBr3 NPLs. The representative large-scale CsPbBr3 NPLs exhibit a high PL quantum yield of 73.56%.


Crazy village is one of regions take place in Ponorogo. In which, there are many crazy citizenries there. The disease of crazy will give bad impact to the children's education. The purpose of this program is to improve children's interest and achievement in crazy village by giving study guidance and counseling. The methodes of doing this program are done by giving study mentoring and counseling. The results of this program are that Happy House give positive impact to the children's interest and achievement. By giving counseling program, it makes the student's character be better, make them more confident and improve the student's social interaction besides counseling program can motivate the students to reach their biggest wish and prepare their future life.


In order to solve the problems of optimization algorithm used to identify the physical parameters of structures, a new method based on a series of equivalent single degree systems is proposed in this paper. The key idea of the method is that a multi-degree system can be represented by a series of single degree systems that can be identified one by one to perform the identification of the whole system. This method can not only decrease the dimensions of optimization algorithm, but also reduce the amount of estimation work in searching for the bound of parameters, and at the same time improve the identification results when parameters might suddenly change. In the numerical simulation of the physical parameter identification of a multi-degree system, Differential evolution is one of the optimization algorithm methods which are used to identify a series of equivalent single degree systems instead of the multi-degree system they represent, and the identification results prove that the method proposed in this paper is valid.


The common view of the nineteenth-century pastoral relationship-found in both contemporary popular accounts and 20th-century scholarship-was that women and clergymen formed a natural alliance and enjoyed a particular influence over each other. In Without Benefit of Clergy, Karin Gedge tests this thesis by examining the pastoral relationship from the perspective of the minister, the female parishioner, and the larger culture. The question that troubled religious women seeking counsel, says Gedge, was: would their minister respect them, help them, honor them? Surprisingly, she finds, the answer was frequently negative. Gedge supports her conclusion with evidence from a wide range of previously untapped primary sources including pastoral manuals, seminary students' and pastors' journals, women's diaries and letters, pamphlets, sentimental and sensational novels, and The Scarlet Letter.


Off-farm income and government subsidy payments are the main sources of income for farm households, as they provide farm households with income security. Increased income from off-farm work or government subsidies can be capitalized in farm assets such as farmland. A plethora of literature has investigated the impact of off-farm income and government subsidies on farmland values. However, these studies are mainly concentrated in North America and West European countries. The goal of this paper is to study the impact of off-farm income and government subsidies on farmland values in South Korea using the unconditional quantile regression. We found that off-farm income and government payments have positive and significant effects on farmland values; this effect is higher in the upper quantiles. Results from this study can assist policymakers in many countries as they design agricultural policies to encourage growth in the non-farm economy.


Summary This paper reviews the recent theoretical and empirical literature that relates education to growth, and draws some lessons for the Swedish experience. First, the "human capital accumulation" approach is discussed: agents decide, at each moment of their lives, to forego time or resources to improve their future productivity. The quality of the educational system is argued to be a crucial determinant of the decision to invest in human capital and of the growth rate of the economy. Hence, qualified teachers and appropriate incentive schemes within the schooling sectors are important for the long-run performance of the economy. Next, the trade-off between basic innovation (promoted by a restricted subset of economic activities) and learning-by-doing (which occurs at a more diffuse level in the economy) is analysed. It is argued that the former can be fostered by investments in "elite" research institutions, while the latter depends on the average educational attainment of the working population. Finally, the relationship between education, growth and inequality is discussed. The second part of the paper analyses recent trends in educational attainments in Sweden. Data show that enrolment rates in tertiary education in Sweden have lagged behind the major industrialised countries during the 1980s. Quantitatively, however, this is unlikely to be a major explanation of the productivity slowdown experienced by Sweden after 1970. But it is emphasised that (i) low educational premiums may harm incentives for people to invest in human capital; and (ii) low relative wages and low-power incentive schemes for teachers may cause a deterioration in the quality of education with negative effects on long-run growth.


We propose extensions to the Message Passing Interface (MPI) that generalize the MPI communicator concept to allow multiple communication endpoints per process, dynamic creation of endpoints, and the transfer of endpoints between processes. The generalized communicator construct can be used to express a wide range of interesting communication structures, including collective communication operations involving multiple threads per process, communications between dynamically created threads, and object-oriented applications in which communications are directed to specific objects. Furthermore, this enriched functionality can be provided in a manner that preserves backward compatibility with MPI. We describe the proposed extensions, illustrate their use with examples, and discuss implementation issues.


Dementia refers to a group of diseases characterised by a progressive and generally irreversible decline in mental functioning, predominantly affecting people over the age of 65. In 2011, CARDI funded a project led by Dr. Suzanne Barrett of the Centre for Public Health, Queen's University Belfast, which aimed to examine and compare some of the characteristics of people seeking help at memory clinics in Belfast and Dublin.A Comparison of People Presenting with Symptoms of Dementia in Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland (Barrett, et al., 2012) looked at two memory clinics, the Belfast City Hospital Clinic in Northern Ireland (NI) and the Mercer's Memory Clinic at St. James's Hospital, Dublin, inthe Republic of Ireland (ROI). This research brief is based on the findings of the project, conducted as part of CARDI's data mining programme, as well as additional research on the context of dementia care and diagnosis across the island of Ireland. Read the brief here


The Bisti Fruitland area contains about 1,870 million tons of subbituminous low-sulfur coal beneath less than 250 ft (76.2 m) of overburden and is the largest undeveloped reserve in the San Juan basin. To aid prudent development of these resources intensive field investigations of the depositional environments of the strata were undertaken east and southeast of the old Bisti Trading Post. Seventeen measured sections were made in the vicinity of Hunter Wash. The stratigraphic sequence exposed consists of interbedded shales, siltstones, channel sandstones, and coals. Coals are more prominent in the lower part of the sequence. Correlations were facilitated by the presence of a prominent, medium-grained, reddish-brown sandstone. The usefulness of coals for correlation in the study area has not been demonstrated. The included sequence contains the Fruitland-Kirtland contact with most of the strata in the Fruitland Formation. This contact is approximately 200 ft (61 m) lower in elevation than the Pictured Cliffs Sandstone-Fruitland Formation contact about 5 mi (8 km) southeast. There are possible correlations of the rocks in this area with those of the "fossil forest" near the Split Lip Flats on the southeast. End_of_Article - Last_Page 561------------


Abstract Telomere biology disorders (TBDs) are characterized by short telomeres, premature aging, bone marrow failure and cancer predisposition. Germline mutations in NHP2, encoding for one component of the telomerase cofactor H/ACA RNA binding complex together with Dyskerin, NOP10 and GAR1, have been previously reported in rare cases of TBDs. Here, we report two novel NHP2 variants (NHP2-A39T and NHP2-T44M) identified in a compound heterozygous patient affected by premature aging, bone marrow failure/myelodysplastic syndrome and gastric cancer. Although still able to support cell viability, both variants reduce the levels of hTR, the telomerase RNA component, and telomerase activity, expanding the panel of NHP2 pathological variants. Furthermore, both variants fail to be incorporated in the H/ACA RNA binding complex when in competition with wild-type endogenous NHP2, and the lack of incorporation causes their drastic proteasomal degradation. By RoseTTAFold prediction followed by molecular dynamics simulations, we reveal a dramatic distortion of residues 33–41, which normally position on top of the NHP2 core, as the main defect of NHP2-A39T, and high flexibility and the misplacement of the N-terminal region (residues 1–24) in NHP2-T44M and, to a lower degree, in NHP2-A39T. Because deletion of amino acids 2–24 causes a reduction in NHP2 levels only in the presence of wild-type NHP2, while deletion of amino acids 2–38 completely disrupts NHP2 stability, we propose that the two variants are mis-incorporated into the H/ACA binding complex due to the altered dynamics of the first 23 amino acids and/or the distortion of the residues 25–41 loop.


— Thermal energy storage (TES) can alleviate peak demand on the electricity grid by offsetting building thermal loads, increasing the grid's reliability and resilience. However, low energy density and poor energy performance of existing TES technologies limit their applications. Sorption-based thermal battery (STB) system is thus developed using three-phase sorption technology to harvest low-temperature heat, store it with a much higher energy density than common TES systems and dehumidify air or provide space cooling in buildings. Although STB has been experimentally proved to be feasible, influencing factors on its performance are still unknown by far. Therefore, this paper conducted a parametric analysis on crystallization and crystal dissolution performance of a developed STB test rig. The crystallization results showed that the energy density of the STB increased with reducing the solution flow rate and the cooling water temperature. The dissolution results showed that a higher discharge rate of the STB can be achieved with increasing the flow rate and temperature of inlet diluted solution. The work in this study is helpful to the optimal design and operation of the STB system.


Laboratory experiments involving a real effort task are conducted to examine the importance of gender differences in competition aversion for generating gender wage gaps. Cross-subject design treatment and control experiments suggest that gender differences in risk aversion play no significant role in competitive (tournament) vs. piece-rate job choices and consequent gender wage gaps. Subjects in the treatment experiments are sorted into relatively more and relatively less risk averse groupings. Relatively less risk averse subjects are assigned to a risky job track involving a known constant probability of unemployment in each period. The gender wage gap contribution of gender differences in competition aversion compared with the contribution of gender differences in performance is especially large for relatively less risk averse subjects.


Drug binding to its surrounding proteins is known as a resistive factor towards effective drug penetration that reduces the diffusing drug concentration inside the tumour. This drug reduction fails to remove tumour mass completely and becomes one cause of treatment failure and tumour recurrence. Various mathematical models have been developed to calculate bioreductive drug (particularly, tirapazamine) characteristics by assessing in-vitro and in-vivo experimental results. So far, no attempt has been reported that practices a computerized model to discover tirapazamine (TPZ) transport under the influence of protein binding inside the solid tumour and at cellular level. This paper presents an investigation into the development of an in-silico model that mimics the behavior of heterogeneous tumour mass towards its treatment with TPZ. An artificial Neural Network model is proposed demonstrate the dynamics of tumour growth model. The model is implemented through a set of experiments based on clinical and reported data. The model is used to monitor the influence of surrounding proteins on TPZ cytotoxicity, concentrations and metabolism at cellular level and demonstrated these impacts on tumour morphology and hypoxic cells survival fractions. The results showed no/less cytotoxicity for cells located at the most distal locations from the source (blood vessel) of drug supply. These results suggested that the impaired drug transport is the main cause of solid cancer treatment failure.


Ceria-zirconia ceramic alloys with the following molar composition: 0.12CeO2-0.88ZrO2 have been sintered by high-temperature annealing. Monolithic specimens haven been crept in compression at high temperatures. Creep experiments have been rationalized to an empirical constitutive equation which is consistent with a classical Ashby-Verrall creep regime. This result has been assessed through microstructural characterization of as-received and post-mortem specimens. A pure Ashby-Verrall creep is contrary to the conventional mechanism controlling creep in other zirconia alloys. A discussion on the explanation for such mechanism is outlined.


The authors concluded that a large stump of the gall-bladder duct is of no independent importance as a cause of the affection. However, concretions may be formed in the stump, that was evident in three cases, therefore, the gall duct stump should be no more than 0.5 cm.


The physical properties (specific gravity, moisture content, thickness swelling and water absorption) and mechanical properties (internal bond strength, bending strength and modulus of elasticity) were determined on 93 Spanish-manufactured standard particleboards of different thicknesses selected randomly at the end of the production process. The testing methods of the corresponding European standards (EN) were used, except in the case of the thickness swelling and absorption tests, for which the Spanish UNE standard was used. The thickness and the values obtained for the physical properties were entered into an artificial neural network in order to predict the mechanical properties of the board. The fit was compared with the usual multivariate regression models. The use of a neural network made it possible to obtain the values of bending strength, modulus of elasticity and internal bond strength of the boards utilizing the known data, not only of thickness, moisture content and specific gravity, but also of thickness swelling and water absorption. The neural network proposed is much better adapted to the observed values than any of the multivariate regression models obtained.


We report on a paper-based analytical device (PAD) for the exhaustive, and therefore absolute, determination of halides in a range of diverse water samples and food supplements. A mixture of chloride, bromide, and iodide ions is assessed in a wide range of concentrations, specifically, from 10(-4.8) to 0.1 M for bromide and iodide and from 10(-4.5) to 0.6 M for chloride, with a limit of detection of 10(-5) M. As a result of a careful optimization of the electrochemical cell, a thin layer made of cellulose paper (75-μm thickness), a cation-exchange Donnan exclusion membrane (FKL), and a silver-foil working electrode were selected as optimum materials. Cyclic voltammetry (from 0 to 0.8 V) was chosen as the interrogation technique to impose the exhaustive oxidative plating and re-reduction of halides on the silver element, accompanied by outward and inward counterion fluxes. The scan rate plays an important role in the ability of the technique to resolve mixtures of ions. Moderate scan rates (10 mV s(-1)) provide a suitable compromise between sensitivity, limit of detection, and resolution. This paper-based microfluidic device is extremely simple in terms of manipulation, cost, and contamination risk. Paper is an excellent basis for the establishment of a confined thin aqueous layer, the construction of disposable halide sensors, and portability for measuring outside the controlled laboratory environment. A discussion of the relevant analytical characteristics is presented herein, followed by a demonstration of halide assessment in water samples (sea, tap, river, and mineral waters) and food supplements enriched with iodide and chloride as early examples.


Abstract : A new goniometer is under development. It will be used for the measurement of the spectro-polarimetric BRDF (Bidirectional Reflectance Distribution function). For practical reasons, the selected spectrometer is an ASD field spectro-radiometer. Its optical head is built with an optical fibre cable bundle that makes it easy to use. Only the optical head has to be mounted on the goniometer, the main body of the spectrometer remains aside. The ASD spectrometer has several input optics (bare fibres, lenses and telescopes) and several tests were conducted to determine which one is the best for the goniometer. The conclusion: none of them. By construction, the ASD spectrometer does not have a homogeneous field of view (FOV). The optical fibre bundle does not uniformly sample the FOV. This can be partly solved by defocusing the optics. But, all the tested optics suffers from severe spectral dispersion or other artefacts. However, a simple optical design based on the use of an off-axis mirror can do the job. This will be used for the optical reading head of the goniometer.


Tomorrow's Professor is designed to help you prepare for, find, and succeed at academic careers in science and engineering. It looks at the full range of North American four-year academic institutions while featuring 30 vignettes and more than 50 individual stories that bring to life the principles and strategies outlined in the book. Tailored for today's graduate students, postdocs, and beginning professors, Tomorrow's Professor: Presents a no-holds-barred look at the academic enterprise Describes a powerful preparation strategy to make you competitive for academic positions while maintaining your options for worthwhile careers in government and industry Explains how to get the offer you want and start-up package you need to help ensure success in your first critical years on the job Provides essential insights from experienced faculty on how to develop a rewarding academic career and a quality of life that is both balanced and fulfilling At a time when anxiety about academic career opportunities for Ph.D.s in these field is at an all-time high, Tomorrow's Professor provides a much-needed practical approach to career development.


Amanda Ravetz is a film maker and anthropologist. Anne Douglas is a visual artist with a background in sculpture. For the past couple of years, they have been collaborating together as associates in Tim Ingold's research project, exploring drawing in relation to filiming as a way of knowing from inside. They work experimentally in both media, occasionally with other interested researcher from the same project. This paper does not focus on the detail of the experimental processes and collaborations, though you will see one of two examples. Process was the subject of a presentation in Weimar earlier this year and currently available on the KFI website. Instead they want to take a reflective trajectory through the work, drawing on artists and philosophers who have kept them company in the process of the research.


Much has been written about social norms in disciplines such as law and economics but they are less studied in the field of Natural Resource Management (NRM). Although norms are acknowledged to be an influence on decision–making, they are difficult to identify and measure in the field and their role is often implicit or not well understood or articulated. This paper addresses an important knowledge gap by combining social norms theory with the specifics of a particular case study. We examined the influence of social norms on landholder behaviour in a small rural community undergoing demographic change in Australia. Findings from interviews with landholders and government agency personnel indicate that established norms within the farming community are influencing incoming landholders; and that new norms and practices have also emerged as a result of government investment through the local Landcare group. We suggest that a better understanding of social norms in different contexts will give rise to strategies that make NRM interventions more effective.


Treatment of head louse infestation is primarily a family affair. However, until products became available for self medication it was fraught with difficulty. The introduction of neurotoxic insecticides was not a lasting solution as head lice rapidly developed resistance to one active substance after another. Additionally the evaluation of treatments was generally poor until quite recently, which allowed some products that were ineffective to be sold, with the increased risk that resistance would follow. A recently published evaluation of an oral treatment, ivermectin, showed high efficacy but use of this insecticide is likely to be restricted for regulatory reasons. It is now the case that conventional insecticide treatments are disappearing in favour of materials of natural origin and physically acting chemicals. The former are often difficult to characterise, and most are likely to suffer the same fate as insecticides. The latter are increasing in use and popularity but still require careful application, even if development of resistance is not likely to emerge as a problem. There is also a renewed interest in combing for treatment, which suits some people but appears to be beyond the ability of others. Fundamental to all treatment is being able to diagnose an infestation at the earliest stages. Evidence shows that using appropriate diagnostic combs is the best method for this. This review assesses the strengths and weaknesses of the available treatment options to guide health care professionals advising consumers on the self-care of head lice infestation.


Flexible loads, e.g. thermostatically controlled loads (TCLs), are technically feasible to participate in demand response (DR) programs. On the other hand, there is a number of challenges that need to be resolved before it can be implemented in practice en masse. First, individual TCLs must be aggregated and operated in sync to scale DR benefits. Second, the uncertainty of TCLs needs to be accounted for. Third, exercising the flexibility of TCLs needs to be coordinated with distribution system operations to avoid unnecessary power losses and compliance with power flow and voltage limits. This paper addresses these challenges. We propose a network-constrained, open-loop, stochastic optimal control formulation. The first part of this formulation represents ensembles of collocated TCLs modelled by an aggregated Markov Process (MP), where each MP state is associated with a given power consumption or production level. The second part extends MPs to a multi-period distribution power flow optimization. In this optimization, the control of TCL ensembles is regulated by transition probability matrices and physically enabled by local active and reactive power controls at TCL locations. The optimization is solved with a Spatio-Temporal Dual Decomposition (ST-D2) algorithm. The performance of the proposed formulation and algorithm is demonstrated on the IEEE 33-bus distribution model.


The intention in this thesis is to look at the changing political beliefs of China's radical intellectuals in the May Fourth Movement through an examination of the history of the Hsin ch'ing-nien (New Youth) magazine, published from 1915 to 1926 and recognised then and now as the most influential periodical of the movement. Attention is first given to the pre-1919 stage of the May Fourth Movement, generally known as the New Culture Movement, in which the Hsin ch'ing-nien intellectuals were in the forefront of a cultural-intellectual effort to transform Chinese society by an attack on Chinese traditionalism and a promotion of Western liberal-bourgeois ideas. From the time of the May fourth Incident, several members of the magazine became committed to Marxism. The growing Marxist orientation of the magazine led to a split between its liberal and Marxist members in 1921, after which it was an organ of China's first Marxists until it ceased publication in 1926. The emphasis in the thesis is on the process by which Marxism came to be accepted and interpreted by a crucial section of the May Fourth intellectuals, and the subsequent ideological conflict in the early 1920s between the Marxists and other radical intellectuals. A tentative perspective on the May Fourth Movement is put forward in the concluding chapter, in which it is suggested that the movement, though being one of several nationalism-motivated efforts at "modernisation" in modern Chinese history, was qualitatively different from the earlier attempts in that its participants not only sought throughout for a solution beyond the Chinese cultural horizon, but also resorted to direct political action in its later stove. It was in such a context that Marxism tool: root in China.


An adaptive learning agent is capable of adapting its behaviour in order to react to changes in its environment and using previous experience to improve its performance with respect to some evaluation measure. The community of Adaptive Learning Agents studies systems that are capable of acting autonomously and adapting to their surroundings. While the development of a single learning agent may already present a serious challenge, current research frontiers also have a large focus on systems where multiple agents interact in a shared environment. Often systems are inherently decentralised, and a centralised, single agent learning approach is not feasible. Examples of such systems can be found in multi-robot set-ups, decentralised network routing, distributed load-balancing, electronic auctions, traffic control and many others. In multi-agent settings, agents not only have to deal with a dynamic environment, but also with other agents that act, learn and change over time. When agent objectives are aligned and all agents try to achieve a common goal, coordination among the agents is still required to reach optimal results. When agents have opposing goals, a clear optimal solution may no longer exist and an equilibrium between agents is generally sought. These issues have given rise to an important research track studying coordination mechanisms in multi-agent learning. This special issue contains selected papers from the 2013 Adaptive and Learning Agents (ALA) workshop, held as a satellite workshop at theAutonomousAgents and MultiAgent Systems conference (AAMAS) in St Pauls, MN, USA. The goal of the ALA workshop is to increase awareness and interest in adaptive agent research, encourage collaboration, and provide a representative overview of current research in the area of adaptive learning agents. It aims at bringing together not only different areas of computer science (e.g. agent architectures, reinforcement learning, and evolutionary algorithms), but also different fields studying similar concepts (e.g. game theory, bio-inspired control, and mechanism design). The workshop serves as an interdisciplinary forum for the discussion of ongoing or completed work in ALAs and multi-agent systems.


More than 170 phage-resistant mutants (PRM) of the first order of Pseudomonas putida strain PpG1 were obtained using newly isolated and previously described bacteriophages specific for this strain. According to the results of analysis of resistance of the mutants to each of 31 phages of PpG1 strain and 8 phages of the PpN strain, the PRM strains were distributed into 20 groups. In most cases, the reason for resistance is loss of absorption capacity of bacteria. However, no direct relation between the level of absorption and efficiency of phage plating was detected. It was shown that some of the PRM of P. putida PpG1 strains acquired the ability to maintain the growth of phages specific for the other P. putida strain, PpN. Frequencies of isolating mutants of various resistance types depend on the concrete phage used. In accordance with their absorption specificity, all phages were distributed into 23 groups, and a tridimensional formal scheme of receptor sites for these phages on the PpG1 strain was drawn. In the process of selection of the PpG1 clones resistant to non-lysogenizing mutant of temperate PP71 phage, a variant of this strain manifesting the phenomenon of "auto-plaquing" was found. These results support the mutational origin of this phenomenon in some cases.


For researching ecological behaviors of Cupriavidus taiwanensis X1 which has strong hydrolysis activity on chlorpyrifos(CP), reporter gene luxAB was successfully introduced into cells by electroporation. The labeled strain X1-lux with genetic stability and fluorescence was obtained. Both of strain X1 and X1-lux could completely degrade 200 mg/l CP within 12h in minimal salt medium, and experimental results showed that introduction of luxAB did not affect strain X1 growth and degradation on CP. The cells of X1-lux and X1 were inoculated into soil with 500 mg/l CP, the cell concentration and CP residual was detected, and data revealed that strain X1 could absolutely removed CP in 12d and survive in soil. Strain X1 is a potential excellent choice for bioremediation of organophosphorus polluted environments.


In order to identify unidentified corps in morgue, new possibilities of craniofascial identification based on use of the dental status and facial skeleton asymmetry were studied. An original computer program was created. The program contains all identification signs and information search base making it possible to improve corpse authentication and identification.


Myeloid-derived suppressor cells (MDSC) are a heterogeneous population of cells that accumulate during tumor formation, facilitate immune escape, and enable tumor progression. MDSCs are important contributors to the development of an immunosuppressive tumor microenvironment that blocks the action of cytotoxic antitumor T effector cells. Heterogeneity in these cells poses a significant barrier to studying the in vivo contributions of individual MDSC subtypes. Herein, we show that granulocyte-macrophage colony stimulating factor, a cytokine critical for the numeric and functional development ofMDSC populations, promotes expansion of a monocyte-derived MDSC population characterized by expression of CD11b and the chemokine receptor CCR2. Using a toxin-mediated ablation strategy to target CCR2-expressing cells, we show that these monocytic MDSCs regulate entry of activated CD8T cells into the tumor site, thereby limiting the efficacy of immunotherapy. Our results argue that therapeutic targeting of monocytic MDSCs would enhance outcomes in immunotherapy. Cancer Res; 72(4); 876–86. 2011 AACR.


The development of mathematical skills in early childhood relies on number sense, the foundational ability to discriminate among quantities. Number sense in early childhood is predictive of academic and professional success, and deficits in number sense are thought to underlie lifelong impairments in mathematical abilities. Despite its importance, the brain circuit mechanisms that support number sense learning remain poorly understood. Here, we designed a theoretically motivated training program to determine brain circuit mechanisms underlying foundational number sense learning in female and male elementary school-age children (7–10 years). Our 4 week integrative number sense training program gradually strengthened the understanding of the relations between symbolic (Arabic numerals) and nonsymbolic (sets of items) representations of quantity. We found that our number sense training program improved symbolic quantity discrimination ability in children across a wide range of math abilities including children with learning difficulties. Crucially, the strength of pretraining functional connectivity between the hippocampus and intraparietal sulcus, brain regions implicated in associative learning and quantity discrimination, respectively, predicted individual differences in number sense learning across typically developing children and children with learning difficulties. Reverse meta-analysis of interregional coactivations across 14,371 fMRI studies and 89 cognitive functions confirmed a reliable role for hippocampal–intraparietal sulcus circuits in learning. Our study identifies a canonical hippocampal–parietal circuit for learning that plays a foundational role in children's cognitive skill acquisition. Findings provide important insights into neurobiological circuit markers of individual differences in children's learning and delineate a robust target for effective cognitive interventions. SIGNIFICANCE STATEMENT Mathematical skill development relies on number sense, the ability to discriminate among quantities. Here, we develop a theoretically motivated training program and investigate brain circuits that predict number sense learning in children during a period important for acquisition of foundational cognitive skills. Our integrated number sense training program was effective in children across a wide a range of math abilities, including children with learning difficulties. We identify hippocampal–parietal circuits that predict individual differences in learning gains. Our study identifies a brain circuit critical for the acquisition of foundational cognitive skills, which will be useful for developing effective interventions to remediate learning disabilities.


Massive ovarian tumors are rare and occur less frequently today. The management of a patient with a large ovarian tumor weighing 74 kg is described. Preoperative paracentesis was resorted to. A multidisciplinary team approach helped combat the various associated complications of supine hypotension, technically difficult surgery, massive blood and fluid replacement, postoperative ventilatory failure, and wound dehiscence.


Nowadays, schools have a project for young people to acquire a taste and a habit of reading. However, it is also necessary that the educational community is configured as an important piece of the network of reading. For this reason, it is essential to show young people a variety of literature texts to learn and appreciate all literary genres. Probably, the play is the least consumed by teenagers, because they associate that kind of text to the theatrical production, and also, they omit the pleasure of reading it. In this sense, it is important that teachers, professionals and families promote reading plays. In this paper, we examine and describe the project Teatro en red from the perspective of its founders. The teacher blog has the aim to disseminate contemporary theatre and, at the same time, it expects to bring young people to the dramatic world from different perspectives.Specifically, we will focus on promoting reading and we will make a special emphasis on educational and cultural strategies pursued by the blog. In this case, we have used a qualitative methodology to make, on the one hand, a holistic understanding of the subject matter and, secondly, to respond to objectives of the study. With respect to the techniques of data collection, we have used the interview to reveal the voices of two teachers and, also, we have utilised the document analysis to know in depth the blog. For analysis of the data collected, we have started a systematic approach and, also, we have used a process of encoding to set the dimensions and categories that illustrate the work of teachers. In conclusion, we will discover that the blog is a social tool accessible to tell stories and, also, to form a reader taste in theatre between young people.


The authors aimed to present dental treatment of the cadaveric tooth in a transplanted maxilla in a patient with facial transplantation with bony framework and soft tissue envelope. The treatment procedure was scheduled after physical examination, and the final plan was designed according to the patient's special medical condition. The authors reported the first successful endodontic treatment of an allogeneic cadaveric donor tooth in a patient with facial transplantation. Dental disease represents a potential risk for infection in patients with allogeneic transplantation, which could affect the success of tissue transplantation and might lead to life-threatening conditions. The (re)treatment of the diseased teeth is possible even after the transplantation. The health of the teeth and jaws of the donor should be evaluated before transplantation, especially when maxilla or mandible transplantation is planned.


During the past generation there have been many heated arguments as to the pathogenesis and nature of cholesteatoma of the ear. As yet there are no universally accepted theories. The nomenclature itself is confusing. In this paper I shall attempt to clarify the situation and suggest a more uniform nomenclature. DEFINITION "True cholesteatoma," or "cholesteatoma verum," is the term used for a congenital tumor. I believe the term "cholesteatoma" should be limited to the true congenital tumor which develops from a congenital misplaced epidermal anlage. There are a few rare instances of such a tumor developing in the temporal bone. The so-called primary congenital cholesteatoma developing in the temporal bone, however, is in most instances not congenital but develops as a direct result of an invasion of the epidermal epithelium through a perforation of Shrapnell's membrane. Any cholesteatoma which develops as a result of an ingrowth of epidermis into the


The adap'_ation and use of local area network (LAN) computer technology as an educational enhancement and as a social process in a university teacher education program were studied. The LAN technology, electronic bulletin board, and facsimile machines were used to enhance university supervised clinical settings for novice teachers in the public schools. Fifty-eight novice teachers (students in a teaching methods course) were grouped into one control group and two experimental groups in four teacher education field placement sites. All novice teachers were able to consult with faculty members by telephone or through visits; those at the experimental sites had access to electronic mail and facsimile equipmentS after training in its use. Subjects answered a survey. completed a journal, and wrote an essay to provide information about their communication with the teacher education faculty during their field experience. Interviews and observations provided additional data. Ease of contact, attitude toward use of technology in schools, types of message content, and frequency of communications increased for participants in experimental groups. It is suggested that LAN technology can effectively support field-oriented teacher education programs. Seven tables present study data. (SLD) *********************************************************************** Reproductions supplied by EDRS are the best that can be made from yhe original document. ****************************.t****************************************** U.& DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION coat ot Educator* Reemon and morpoment EDUCATIONAL RESOURCES INFORMATION CENTER tERtC) C114-no document Am been reproduced as meowed trom tro person or orstentraucc orieloadoo it 0 Minor domes novo bean nods to ant:cove rdOrOduction Qusury Paolo of wiew or oplaptil tiatotCI MOO &CU* Mont do not rvirdteir0 redreOnt odrciat OERI posttion o pokey. "PERWISSION TO REPRODUCE THIS MATERIAL HAS BEEN GRANTED BY TEAWU LS 1A) 5.01u41._ TO THE EDUCATIONAL RESOURCES INFORMATION CENTER (ERII.)." USE OF LAN TECHNOLOGY TO ENHANCE THE QUALITY OF FIELD BASED TEACHER EDUCATION PROGRAMS Dennis W. Sunal Box 870231 The University of Alabama Tuscaloosa, AL 35487-0231 Cynthia Szymanski Sunal The University of Alabama Jack Helfeldt The University of Alabama John Durham The University of Alabama !REST COPY AVAILABLE Presented at the Annual Meeting of the American Educational Research Association, Chicago, April, 1991


While most early (stage I‐II) melanomas are cured by surgery, recurrence is not uncommon. Prognostication by current clinicopathological parameters does not provide sufficient means for identifying patients who are at risk of developing metastases and in need of adjuvant therapy. Actin‐regulating formins may account for invasive properties of cancer cells, including melanoma. Here, we studied formin‐like protein 2 and 3 (FMNL2 and FMNL3) in melanoma by analysing their role in the invasive properties of melanoma cells and by evaluating whether FMNL2 expression is associated with melanoma outcome. Immunohistochemical characterization of FMNL2 in a cohort of 175 primary cutaneous stage I‐II melanomas indicated that high FMNL2 reactivity correlates with poor outcome as evaluated by recurrence free survival (p < 0.0001) or disease specific survival (p < 0.0001). In multivariate analysis, Breslow's thickness (p < 0.05) and FMNL2 expression (p < 0.001) remained as independent prognostic factors. Cellular studies revealed that FMNL2 is a component of filopodia in many melanoma cell lines. Inhibition of either FMNL2 or the closely related FMNL3 affected the maintenance of melanoma cell morphology and reduced migration. Finally, inhibition of the BRAF, PI3K and MAPK oncogenic pathways markedly reduced expression of both FMNL2 and FMNL3 in melanoma cells. The results suggest a major role for FMNL2/FMNL3 formins in melanoma biology and raise the possibility that the novel targeted melanoma drugs may interfere with the cellular properties regulated by these formins.


This paper presents a multi-axis control system of bar tacker. A bar tacker must meet the following requirements: feeding accurately, cutting automatically, needle stopping precisely and quickly, et ac. In order to achieve these functions, multi-thread synchronization control was introduced to ensure the multi-axis collaborative motion. And time-based PI method with velocity feed-forward was used to control the needle stop position. The software of this control system was programmed based on embedded Windows platform. At present this control system has been tested in the factory and the test results show that this method can accurately control the multi-axis motion and produce good sewing patterns. Besides lockstitch bar tacker, this control system can also be applied to other intelligent sewing machines by minor changes and improvement.


This tutorial provides a comprehensive overview of parallel computing, emphasizing those aspects most relevant to the user. It is suitable for new users, managers, students and anyone seeking an overview of parallel computing. It discusses software and hardware, with an emphasis on standards, portability, and systems that are widely available.The tutorial surveys basic parallel computing concepts, using examples selected from large-scale engineering and scientific problems. These examples illustrate using MPI on distributed memory systems, Globus on the grid, OpenMP on shared memory systems, and MPI+OpenMP on hybrid systems. It discusses numerous parallelization approaches, and software engineering and performance improvement aspects, including the use of state-of-the-art tools.The tutorial helps attendees make intelligent decisions by covering the primary options that are available, explaining how they are used and what they are most suitable for. Extensive pointers to the literature and web-based resources are provided to facilitate follow-up studies.


With increased system complexity, condition-based maintenance (CBM) becomes a promising solution for system safety by detecting faults and scheduling maintenance procedures before faults become severe failures resulting in catastrophic events. For CBM of many mechanical systems, fault diagnosis and failure prognosis based on vibration signal analysis are essential techniques. Noise originating from various sources, however, often corrupts vibration signals and degrades the performance of diagnostic and prognostic routines, and consequently, the performance of CBM. In this paper, a new de-noising structure is proposed and applied to vibration signals collected from a testbed of the main gearbox of a helicopter subjected to a seeded fault. The proposed structure integrates a blind deconvolution algorithm, feature extraction, failure prognosis and vibration modelling into a synergistic system, in which the blind deconvolution algorithm attempts to arrive at the true vibration signal through an iterative optimization process. Performance indexes associated with quality of the extracted features and failure prognosis are addressed, before and after de-noising, for validation purposes.


We prove a new extremal inequality, motivated by the vector Gaussian broadcast channel and the distributed source coding with a single quadratic distortion constraint problems. As a corollary, this inequality yields a generalization of the classical entropy-power inequality (EPI). As another corollary, this inequality sheds insight into maximizing the differential entropy of the sum of two dependent random variables


We use dividend-paying Nasdaq-listed firms as a setting to test various explanations of the ex-day price anomaly. Similar to NYSE-listed firms, on average the prices of Nasdaq-listed firms drop by less than the dividend amount on the ex-day. However, the average price-drop is half that observed for NYSE-listed firms and translates to an imputed dividend tax rate that is double the average maximum tax rate over the sample period. In addition, we find the ex-day price-drop increases in dividend yield, opposite the prediction from a tax clientele explanation. Moreover, for non-taxable distributions we find prices behave in a similar manner to taxable distributions on the ex-day, again suggesting taxes are not the primary reason for the price behavior. In sum, we find little support for tax-based explanations. We also find little support for short-term trading and market microstructure explanations. Importantly, our results are robust to transaction costs as proxied by stock price, liquidity, volatility, firm size and bid-ask spread. We supplement our analysis by investigating a subset of firms that voluntarily switch from the Nasdaq exchange to the NYSE. The average price-drop for the switching firms is similar to the Nasdaq average prior to the switch and resembles the NYSE average immediately after the switch. This change in price behavior potentially reflects a changing investor base and suggests the marginal investor of Nasdaq dividend-paying firms places relatively less importance on dividends. Overall, our results call into question the various explanations of the ex-day anomaly. Any potential explanation also needs to account for the Nasdaq evidence.


Climate change and land degradation, resulting from human-induced pressures on ecosystems are threatening crop productivity, food and feed supply, and food security in the Limpopo Province of South Africa, especially within the socio-economically marginalised communities. A combination of survey and field experimentations were conducted from 2016 to 2018 to assess potential climate-smart farming practices that can assist farmers to adapt to local climate change and variability in the province. Results from the survey revealed that agroforestry system with woody perennial speices which encourages minimum soil disturbance, increase soil cover and increase agrobiodiversity is being promoted in the province as one of the effective avenues to achieve sustainability in farming systems in the midst of global climate change. Moringa oleifera and Acacia karroo (now Vachellia karroo) were identified as potential agroforestry tree species to address feed gaps during dry winter months, based on their good nutritional value, drought hardiness and effective carbon capture for climate change mitigation.


The intrinsic damping mechanism in metals caused by incoherent scattering of itinerant electron-hole pair excitations by phonons and magnons will be reviewed. The unique features of magnetic relaxations in multilayers were studied by ferromagnetic resonance (FMR) using magnetic single, Au–Fe–GaAs(001), and double layer Au–Fe–Au–Fe–GaAs(001) structures prepared by molecular beam epitaxy. The magnetic relaxation in single-layer films is described by the Gilbert damping with no extrinsic contributions to the FMR linewidth. These films provided an excellent opportunity to investigate nonlocal damping. The main result of these studies is that ultrathin Fe films in magnetic double layers acquire an additional interface Gilbert damping. This is in agreement with recent predictions of nonlocal interface damping which is based on the transport of spin angular momentum between the ferromagnetic layers. Measurements of the nonlocal Gilbert damping offer a possibility to carry out quantitative studies of the relaxation torques caused by nonlocal spin momentum transfer. Numerical simulations of magnetization reversal and stationary precession for an applied perpendicular current in Au–Fe–Au–Fe–GaAs(001) multilayers will be shown.


Among the different conditions of critical illness leading to admission to an Intensive Care Unit (ICU), sepsis remains the leading cause of death at the non-coronary medical ICU [1]. Even with optimal therapy, mortality rates of severe sepsis and septic shock are about 40 to 50% [2, 3]. Although there are numerous studies with varying methods from different countries, the incidence of severe sepsis is constantly approximately one out of ten admissions to all ICUs worldwide [4]. With millions of individuals concerned every year, worldwide sepsis is one of the major healthcare problems today. The proportion of severe sepsis, and case fatal outcomes increased during the last years [2]. It is crucial to establish the diagnosis sepsis as early as possible and to identify its origin, in order to initiate an appropriate therapy permitting to achieve the best possible outcome [5]. Sepsis is defined as a systemic inflammatory response syndrome (SIRS) caused by an infection. The association with organ dysfunction or sepsis-induced hypotension is termed severe sepsis. Septic shock, as a subset of severe sepsis, is characterized by sepsis-induced hypotension, persisting despite adequate fluid resuscitation [6]. Early differentiation between sepsis and SIRS is a considerable problem in the treatment of patients on ICU. Due to the early systemic release of inflammatory cytokines as compared with synthesis of acutephase-proteins, cytokines have been widely investigated for their diagnostic potential in predicting sepsis [7]. Nevertheless, until now the perfect biomarker for differentiation of sepsis and SIRS has not been found yet and ongoing research focuses on identification of appropriate diagnostic biomarkers for sepsis [8]. Despite a growing number of studies, the physiopathology of sepsis is not satisfyingly understood. Data show that physiopathology is characterized by a large number of proand anti-inflammatory cytokines and mediators of inflammation with complex interactions [9]. For instance, the application of a single bolus i.v. infusion of endotoxin to a healthy individual leads to the expression of 3147 genes, (> 10% of the human genome) [10]. These mediators and cytokines lead to endothelial dysfunction and activation of inflammatory and coagulation pathways as reaction to the invasion of a pathogen [11]. In order to reduce the sepsis-related high mortality, a better understanding of common pathogenic mechanisms of sepsis and other critical diseases is needed, potentially resulting in more effective treatment options.


Recently, several error resilient schemes have been proposed to tackle the error propagation problem in the motion-compensated predictive video coding based on a promising technique - distributed source coding (DSC). However, these schemes mainly apply the distributed source codes for channel error correction, while under-utilizing their capability for data compression. A channel-aware joint source-channel video coding scheme based on DSC is proposed to eliminate the error propagation problem in predictive video coding in a more efficient way. It is known that near Slepian-Wolf bound DSC is achieved using powerful channel codes, assuming the source and its reference (also known as side-information) are connected by a virtual error-prone channel. In the proposed scheme, the virtual and real error-prone channels are fused so that a unified single channel code is applied to encode the current frame thus accomplishing a joint source-channel coding. Our analysis of the rate efficiency in recovering error propagation shows that the joint scheme can achieve a lower rate compared with performing source and channel coding separately. Simulation results show that the number of bits used for recovering from error propagation can be reduced by up to 10% using the proposed scheme compared to Sehgal-Jagmohan-Ahuja's DSC-based error resilient scheme.


Wood liquefaction was conducted using phenol as a reagent solvent with a weak acid catalyst in two different reactors: (Alma et al., 1995a.) an atmospheric glass reactor and (Alma et al., 1995b.) a sealed Parr reactor. Residues were characterized by wet chemical analyses, Fourier transform infrared (FT-IR) spectroscopy, and X-ray diffraction (XRD). The FT-IR spectra of the liquefied wood residues showed a peak at 1735 cm, which was attributed to the ester carbonyl group in xylan, disappeared in the spectrum of the residue from liquefied wood under a sealed reaction system, indicating different liquefaction mechanisms of the liquefaction reactions conducted in the atmospheric glass reactor versus sealed metal reactor. The crystallinity index of the liquefied wood residues was higher than that of the original wood particles. Two different liquefied wood/phenol/formaldehyde (LWPF) resins were synthesized from liquefied wood reacted in an atmospheric glass reactor (LWPF-A) and a sealed metal reactor (LWPF-B). The onset cure temperature of LWPF-A resin was higher than LWPF-B while the peak temperatures of these two resins were close. The activation energies of two LWPF resins were similar to each other and to a lignin-phenol-formaldehyde resin. However, they both were higher than a typical phenolformaldehyde resin. The compression molded panels made with LWPF-A resin performed better physical and mechanical properties than that made with LWPF-B resin.


The emerging knowledge of the use and importance of African walnut (Tetracarpidium conophorum) for different purposes has made the study for the development of walnut cracker imperative. A cracker for walnut was designed, constructed and evaluated. The major components of the machine are the cracking and cleaning units. The cracking of the walnuts to bring out the needed oily seeds is achieved through the compressive and shearing actions between the two abrasive drums when the nuts fell in between them, while the cleaning unit has a centrifugal fan that separates the seed from the cracked shells via air velocity. The performance evaluation of the machine was carried out using four levels of cracking drum speeds (280, 310, 340, and 370 rpm) and fan speeds (1200, 1400, 1600, and 1800 rpm); also two levels of feed rates (32 and 42 kg/h) and moisture content (10.3 and 17.6%wb). The results obtained showed that; on the average, the machine had a cracking efficiency of 92.63%, cleaning efficiency of 95.48%, percentage seed loss of 5.93%, mechanical damage index of 11.06%, throughput of 21.05 kg/h and cracker performance index of 88.3%. The power requirement for operating the machine is 1.68 kW. With this newly developed walnut cracker, full exploitation of the nutritional, industrial and medicinal potential of the walnut seed will be enhanced.


Abstract To find 3D similarity transformation parameters (a scale, three rotational angles, and three translation elements) between two orthogonal coordinate systems in 3D is an ill-posed non-linear inverse problem by means of common points (their Cartesian components are known in the both systems). The problem can be solved via Linearized Least Squares (LLS) or Direct (non-iterative) Least Squares (DLS). Since the parameters in LLS take different quantities (and units) from each other, the condition problems can arise during the solution of normal equations. In this paper, we propose a combined solution to reducing ill-conditioning and to perform precision analysis and global outlier test in LLS accordingly. The way is based on column norming and uses the normalized unknowns instead of the original ones at the solution stage of the normal equations. While the global outlier test is fulfilled on the normalized unknowns, the original unknowns and their precisions obtained using the normalized matrix with linear transformation to the normalized unknowns and by the error propagation law to their variance-covariance matrix. A direct method (Direct Least Squares, DLS) is used to compute the initial values of LLS for reducing iteration number (to 1–3 cycles) with a 1.E-7 threshold in the paper. And, when the solution of 3D-ST having large rotational angles and uncertainties, it is also shown that DLS goes to a worse solution than LLS by means of a simulated transformation problem.


Abstract Background Many children consume too little water and too many sugar-sweetened beverages (SSBs), with potential negative consequences for health. Sustainably increasing water intake is therefore relevant, however challenging. Objective Explore drivers of and barriers to water intake during a one-year field study aiming to increase plain water consumption using Installation Theory in Polish preschool children. Method Caregivers of children (3–6 yrs) completed questionnaires on the child's preference for water and SSBs, water drinking habit strength (Self-Report Habit Index, range 1 (low)-5 (high habit)), and barriers to drinking water, at baseline and after one year. Children were first allocated to one of three interventions: CONTROL: no intervention; INFO: online coaching sessions on water health benefits (3 weeks); INFO + W: similar coaching sessions and home water delivery (3 weeks). After 3 months, half of INFO and INFO + W subjects were exposed to an online discussion forum (3 weeks) (+ SOCIAL); the other half received no further intervention (-SOCIAL). Results 334 children (age: 4.4 ± 1.2 yrs; 50% female) completed the study. At baseline,72% attended kindergarten, among which 48% had access to water during the day. Drinking water during class was not allowed for 41%. The proportion of children who liked or loved water increased from 28% at baseline to 67% after one year. Conversely, that of children who liked or loved SSBs decreased from 58% at baseline to 45% after one year. The increase in preference for water was greater in groups who initially received INFO + W compared to CONTROL (p = 0.004). The mean drinking water habit score increased from 2.3 at baseline to 3.0 across all groups with a larger increase in INFO + W + SOCIAL (+ 28%) compared to CONTROL (+ 16%) (p = 0.001). At baseline, the strongest barriers to drinking water were (1) Drinking large amounts of other beverages (72%), (2) A preference for other beverages such as SSBs (71%), (3) Not being aware that they should drink more water (61%), and (4) Not being used to drinking water or water having no taste (both 55%).Most barriers strongly decreased over the course of the study with no specific effect of the interventions. Conclusion An intervention aiming to increase water in pre-school children was able to modulate the preference for water, habit to drink water, and barriers to drinking water in preschool children with unhealthy drinking habits. Providing information and facilitating access to water were the most important contributors to improving healthy hydration habits.


We are studying scale properties of twist-2 conformal operators in supersymmetric Wess-Zumino model. In particular, we are interested in a construction of multiplicatively renormalized conformal operators. We show, that in order to find multiplicatively renormalized operators in this model, it is sufficient to find multiplicatively renormalized operators only for one member of operator supermultiplet. We found a closed analytical solution for fermionic conformal operator, which together with supersymmetry transformations could be used to find remained multiplicatively renormalized bosonic operators. Moreover, we found, that the knowledge of fermionic diagonal and non-diagonal anomalous dimensions matrices allows us completely reconstruct the forward anomalous dimensions matrix in singlet case.


Connected vehicles can nowadays be equipped with multiple network interfaces to access the Internet via a number
of networks. Given a network availability map and a vehicle's route, a joint time-network selection plan could attempt to schedule delay-tolerant data transmission efficiently. Since the networks presence and available capacities change rapidly and in an unforeseen manner (because of changing conditions due the uncertainty in car movement, data transmission needs and network characteristics), the efficiency of such a planning may be
severely compromised. Consequently, mechanisms that determine the deviation from the foreseen conditions are derived in this paper, which modify the transmission plan depending on the type of deviation observed. Simulation results show that the proposed mechanisms help maintain the benefits of a joint time-network planning under changing conditions.


Objective: The objective of this selective EBM review is to determine whether or not Sofosbuvir plus Ribavirin is safer and more effective than Peginterferon plus Ribavirin for treatment of chronic Hepatitis C Virus infection in treatment-naive patients. Study Design: Systematic review of three English language primary studies, published in 2013. Data Sources: Three randomized control trials, two of which are open-label, activecontrolled and one that is double-blind, placebo-controlled, comparing Sofosbuvir and Ribavirin versus other chronic HCV modalities found via PubMed in peer-reviewed journals. Outcomes Measured: Safety was measured by self-reported adverse events, routine laboratory tests, physical exams, vital signs, and electrocardiography and graded using the Division of AIDS Table for Grading the Severity of Adult and Pediatric Adverse Events. Efficacy was determined by sustained virological response at 12 or 24 weeks post-treatment (SVR12 and SVR24, respectively), which is classified as a HCV RNA concentration below the limit of detection of 15 IU/mL or 25 IU/mL Results: Gane, et al compared the treatment effects of 400mg Sofosbuvir and Ribavirin (RBV) with that of Sofosbuvir plus RBV and Peginterferon (PEG) for 12 weeks in patients with chronic HCV. Analysis resulted in an equal incidence of SVR24, but with less adverse events in the experimental group. In Lawitz, Lalezari, et al, patients received 12 weeks with either 400mg Sofosbuvir, RBV, and PEG or placebo, PEG, and RBV. SVR24 was higher in the Sofosbuvir group, however more adverse events of fatigue were reported compared to the placebo group. Lawitz, Mangia, et al examined the difference in treatment with 12 weeks of 400mg Sofosbuvir and RBV versus 24 weeks of PEG and RBV. Statistical analysis showed an equal rate of SVR12 between the two groups, yet treatment with Sofosbuvir was safer. Conclusions: It can be deduced from these three RCTs that Sofosbuvir plus RBV is safer, yet, statistically, nearly equal in efficacy to treatment with PEG and RBV. Given that PEG is a weekly injection with many unfavorable side effects, it would be more beneficial to receive treatment with Sofosbuvir and RBV for treatment of chronic HCV infection


Background: Preoperative identification of patients at risk for periprosthetic joint infection (PJI) following total hip arthroplasty (THA) or total knee arthroplasty (TKA) is important for patient optimization and targeted prevention. The purpose of this study was to create a preoperative PJI risk calculator for assessing a patient's individual risk of developing (1) any PJI, (2) PJI caused by Staphylococcus aureus, and (3) PJI caused by antibiotic-resistant organisms. Methods: A retrospective review was performed of 27,717 patients (12,086 TKAs and 31,167 THAs), including 1,035 with confirmed PJI, who were treated at a single institution from 2000 to 2014. A total of 42 risk factors, including patient characteristics and surgical variables, were evaluated with a multivariate analysis in which coefficients were scaled to produce integer scores. External validation was performed with use of data on 29,252 patients who had undergone total joint arthroplasty (TJA) at an independent institution. Results: Of the 42 risk factors studied, 25 were found not to be significant risk factors for PJI. The most influential of the remaining 17 included a previous open surgical procedure, drug abuse, a revision procedure, and human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)/acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS). The areas under the curves were 0.83 and 0.84 for any PJI, 0.86 and 0.83 for antibiotic-resistant PJI, and 0.86 and 0.73 for S. aureus PJI in the internal and external validation models, respectively. The rates of PJI were 0.56% and 0.61% in the lowest decile of risk scores and 15.85% and 20.63% in the highest decile. Conclusions: In this large-cohort study, we were able to identify and validate risk factors and their relative weights for predicting PJI. Factors such as prior surgical procedures and high-risk comorbidities should be considered when determining whether TJA is indicated and when counseling patients. Level of Evidence: Prognostic Level IV. See Instructions for Authors for a complete description of levels of evidence.


Audio visualization gives a graphical representation to beats, intensity, and the fluctuating sounds heard in music. Music dynamic animation, deriving from this concept of audio visualizers, implements a hard coded range styled beat detection. This algorithm prioritizes graphical representations of classical and instrumental music. These graphical representations are intended to provide a sense of imagery.


Many schools and individual teachers have embraced the value of assessement data to inform teaching and improve students' learning outcomes. Much of this enthusiasm can be attributed to the programs that systems and sectors have launched to support schools and teachers in the use of data. IT applications encourage and support the exploration and interrogation of data. Professional development has also been critical in developing the expertise required at the school level. It is important that we nurture and grow this thirst for data. Likewise, it is important to maintain and build the wealth of expertise and experience that has been developed by the use of such data across Australia.


Mucinous carcinoma of the skin, also called mucinous adenocystic carcinoma or colloid carcinoma, is a rare malignancy. It was first described by Lennox et al. in 1952. It is derived from the sweat glands or their germinal structures but it's appocrine or eccrine origin is still controversial. Histologically it can be confused with a metastatic lesion from the more common colloid carcinoma of the breast and mucinous adenocarcinoma of the intestine, lung, ovary or prostate. A 60-year-old woman presented to our department with a a 2-year history of a erythematous-blue nodule of the scalp, measuring 2 cm in diameter, and initially interpreted as a nodular basal cell carcinoma. After skin biopsy it was esta- blished the diagnosis of primary mucinous carcinoma or mucinous metastatic lesion. The entire lesion was then excised. Physical examination and careful systemic workup were negative. The diagnosis of a (primary) skin mucinous carcinoma was confirmed. KEYWORDS – Adenocarcinoma, mucinous.


Title of Dissertation: IN OPERANDO MECHANISTIC STUDIES OF HETEROGENEOUS ELECTROCATALYSIS ON SOLID OXIDE ELECTROCHEMICAL CELL MATERIALS Aaron Isaac Geller, Doctor of Philosophy, 2017 Directed by: Professor Bryan W. Eichhorn Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry This dissertation details the development and utilization of in operando protocols for observing electrochemical reactions on solid oxide electrochemical cells (SOCs) in order to better understand the fundamental chemistry governing their operation. Two key reactions in SOC processes are studied using ambient pressure Xray photoelectron spectroscopy (AP-XPS), the oxygen reduction and evolution reactions (ORR and OER). Measurements made on lanthanum strontium manganite (La1-xSrxMnO3±∂, LSM), a standard electrode material show that the surface composition does not match the bulk stoichiometry. Sr extrudes onto the LSM surface in the form of SrO and greater Mn reduction is observed. These phenomena are further augmented by application of a cathodic bias (promoting ORR), while an anodic bias (promoting OER) results in the oxidation of Mn and no significant changes in Sr segregation. Surface potentials on the LSM are measured to locate regions of electrochemical activity when promoting ORR and OER. These measurements yield in operando spectroscopic evidence that all electrochemical activity occurs at the electrode/electrolyte interface and that LSM is more electrocatalytically active toward ORR than OER. We further compare surfaces between a pure LSM material and a composite of LSM and yttria-stabilized zirconia ((ZrO2)1-2x(Y2O3)x, YSZ) in different gaseous environments which approximate standard operating conditions. The LSM/YSZ composite exhibits a larger concentration of surface oxygen vacancies in each environment allowing for greater oxygen reactivity. A method for measuring surface Co oxidation states with XPS is explored. In situ thermal redox studies on cathode material, lanthanum cobaltite (LaCoO3-∂), show a potential correlation between Co reduction and the Auger parameter. An in operando technique for monitoring SOCs with near infrared (NIR) imaging is presented. Ce oxidation states are tracked in an operating SOC using ceria (CeO2-x) electrodes in studies analogous with previous AP-XPS research. However, the NIR experiments take place in fully ambient conditions as opposed to the model, near ambient conditions used in the AP-XPS experiments. Ce reduction is observed within an electrochemically active region commensurate with that found with AP-XPS, simultaneously supporting the use of NIR imaging for in operando studies on these SOCs, and the model AP-XPS experiments previously


The potential of microbial mats to develop sulfide-oxidizing biofims was explored. A bioreactor specially designed for the treatment of sulfide-containing effluents was inoculated with a microbial-mat sample, and a complex microbial biofilm with sulfide-oxidation activity developed. The microbial composition of the biofilm was studied by pigment, microscopy, and 16S rRNA gene analyses. Purple sulfur bacteria and diatoms were observed by microscopy, chlorophyll a and bacteriochlorophyll a were detected in the pigment analysis, and high genetic diversity was found in the 16S rRNA gene library. Specialized anaerobic sulfur oxidizers (i.e., phototrophic purple and green sulfur bacteria) dominated the library. Aerobic phototrophs (diatoms) also developed and the oxygen produced allowed the growth of aerobic sulfide oxidizers, such as Thiomicrospira-like spp. Cyanobacteria, which are significant organisms in natural microbial mats, did not develop in the reactor but unexpected uncultured members from the Epsilonproteobacteria developed profusely. Moreover, a variety of more minor organisms, such as members of the Cytophaga-Flavobacterium-Bacteroides (CFB) and purple non-sulfur bacteria (Roseospirillum sp.), were also present. The results showed that a complex community with high genetic and metabolic diversity, including many uncultured organisms, can develop in a laboratory-scale reactor.


Electrolysis of molten carbonates provides an effective means to achieve the direct conversion of the greenhouse gas carbon dioxide to readily available carbonaceous fuel or chemicals. In this study, CO2 was electrolyzed in a Li–Na–K ternary carbonates mixture using galvanized Fe as the cathode and nickel as the anode. In particular, the effect of BaCO3 on the generation of carbon was studied. The results demonstrate that BaCO3 addition facilitates the deposition of compact carbon materials. Moreover, decreasing the temperature and increasing the current density lead to the formation of loosened carbon products. Though Li–Na–K–Ba electrolysis exhibits a higher cell voltage than that using Li–Na–K carbonates, BaCO3 addition can significantly ease anode corrosion and the corresponding corrosion inhibiting action is discussed. In summary, a facile CO2 absorption and a mitigatory nickel anode corrosion were observed when BaCO3 was dissolved in Li–Na–K carbonates and further investigation is expected.


We review our experimental and theoretical work on surface transformations produced on amorphous and crystalline semiconductors and metals by single or multiple ultrashort laser pulses. In addition to melting and vaporization, two phenomena have attracted our attention: the formation of surface ripples and transformations due to repetitive subthreshold illumination. A detailed theoretical model that explains successfully the formation and the major properties of the surface ripples has been developed and we illustrate the agreement by many examples. However, we also present experimental results which suggest that to describe the interaction between the incident beam and the surface diffracted waves, a perturbative approach is not always sufficient. A phenomenological explanation is presented for these nonstandard ripples. Repetitive subthreshold illumination can produce the same surface transformations as single pulse illumination above threshold. We present universal growth curves and determine a safe level for multiple shot exposure in various materials. Our results are compared to several models, including accumulation of plastic deformation, creation of microcrystallites, and the early stages of ripple formation.


There is much interest in the protection of the ecosystem within the oil and gas industry. This is particularly significant in the countries of the Middle East where the oil and gas sectors contribute a large part, in some cases all of the country economies. A case study research analysis into the Lean and Green principles of one of the State of Kuwait organisations could offer the country huge potential and could benefit other Arabian Gulf countries. In the chosen country (Kuwait), Kuwait Oil Company (KOC) has no other outlet for its business apart from oil and gas production. It also does not concern itself with other support business that could contribute to Kuwait's economy. [Continues.]


Marine predators will often perform diel and seasonal movements associated with specific habitats. In tropical areas, mesophotic coral reefs may be an important habitat type for many predators, but their use of these areas has rarely been investigated. We used results of acoustic telemetry and stable isotope analyses to investigate the diel and seasonal movements of Galapagos sharks Carcharhinus galapagensis and giant trevally Caranx ignobilis captured from a mesophotic reef (depth: 50 to 70 m) at an uninhabited Pacific atoll. All predators associated with mesophotic reefs performed horizontal and vertical movements over seasonal and diel time frames. Galapagos sharks performed reverse diel vertical movements, diving deeper during the night than during the day, while giant trevally displayed a mix, with some individuals performing regular diel movements (deep during the day, shallow at night) and others performing reverse vertical diel movements. Trevally used very shallow water during the summer spawning periods. The isotopic compositions of predators suggest they primarily forage in shallow reefs, although approximately 35% of resources came from mesophotic reefs. Similar to their variability in vertical movement strategies, giant trevally occupied a wide range of trophic positions, potentially due to individual specialization in diet and high levels of intra-specific competition. Mesophotic reefs may provide some prey to upper level predators but also serve as a refuge habitat. The frequent movements between habitats suggest that marine predators may function as significant trans- porters of nutrients, particularly from shallow to mesophotic reefs.


The main question that motivates my PhD thesis is how economic activity in developing countries is influenced by and, in turn, affects the environment. Since these interactions can take many forms, I investigate this issue from three different angles, which necessitates both the usage of novel remote-sensing-based datasets and the development of a new theoretical framework. Firstly, the environment can have a direct impact on economic development, the most obvious example being natural disasters like cyclones. As the incidence and intensity of these events will increase with climate change, it is crucial to estimate their short- and long-run costs and the behavioural response of producers to these large and mostly uninsured aggregate shocks. I have, thus, created a new digital database of cyclone exposure for India to estimate how farmers smooth income in the aftermath of these events. The causality can also run the other way, as economic agents disrupt the environment. A case in point is deforestation, which is analysed in the co-authored second chapter of my thesis. In particular, we use satellite data to study how political decentralisation has affected district-level logging rates in Indonesia. Possible mechanisms include local election cycles, the move from monopoly to oligopoly or the need to raise revenue in the absence of other natural resources. Finally, the third chapter assesses to what extent the environment can create preconditions for socioeconomic interaction. More specifically, I analyse how the introduction of heterogeneous space into the standard urban Muth-Mills model generates a residential equilibrium where the formal and informal housing markets coexist. This new setup is then used to evaluate the usual policy prescriptions for slums and demonstrates that new insights can be gained by adding the spatial component. This thesis, therefore, explores possible links between the environment and economic development and illustrates the advantages of using methods and data sources from other disciplines.


The hole-drilling method (HDM) is a convenient and effective method for measuring residual stresses near the surface of an isotropic linear-elastic material. The measurement procedure is relatively simple, and has been standardized in ASTM Standard Test Method E837. The HDM is also versatile and can be performed in laboratory or in situ, on components ranging widely in size and shape. It is often referred to as a "semidestructive" technique, since the small hole will not, in many cases, significantly impair the structural integrity of the part being tested. The basic principle was first introduced by Mathar in 1934. Since that time, many researchers have further developed the method, culminating in the establishment of a standardized procedure ASTM E837. At least three established methods are available for estimating non-uniform residual stress fields from relaxed strain data from the incremental HDM. They are the Power Series, the Integral and the ASTM E837-08 Methods. These methods rely on finite element calculated calibration data, utilize different approaches for stabilizing and smoothing the non uniform residual stress field, and do not have the theoretical shortcomings of the two traditional methods (the Incremental Strain and the Average Strain Methods). Since the strain variations during drill depends on many factors hardly predictable and checkable a priori, it seems that the best calculation method should be evaluated for each particular experiment. This paper compares the Power Series, Integral and ASTM E837-08 methods as procedures for determining non-uniform residual stress fields using strain relaxation data from the HDM. Specimens made of AISI Maraging 300 steel by means of Selective Laser Melting are investigated and the residual stress profiles performed by means of all three stress calculation procedures are also presented and compared.


A transient deformation in the Kyushu Island from January to April 2014 was detected by GNSS observation network in Japan. We estimated slip distributions at the plate boundary between the subducting Philippine Sea Plate and the continental plate from that GNSS data. Two slipped areas were estimated beneath the Kyushu Island. The south slip area corresponds to the Hyuga-nada SSE area. The north slip area corresponds to the gap area between the Bungo-channel SSE and the Hyuga-nada SSE, that has not been reported long-term SSE previously. We also found that long-term SSEs occur in the gap area repeatedly before the 2014 event.


Climate change, in combination with population growth, is placing increasing pressure on the world's oceans and their resources. This is threatening sustainability and societal wellbeing. Responding to these complex and synergistic challenges requires holistic management arrangements. To this end, ecosystem-based management (EBM) promises much by recognising the need to manage the ecosystem in its entirety, including the human dimensions. However, operationalisation of EBM in the marine environment has been slow. One reason may be a lack of the inter-disciplinary science required to address complex social–ecological marine systems. In the present paper, we synthesise the collective experience of the authors to explore progress in integrating natural and social sciences in marine EBM research, illustrating actual and potential contributions. We identify informal barriers to and incentives for this type of research. We find that the integration of natural and social science has progressed at most stages of the marine EBM cycle; however, practitioners do not yet have the capacity to address all of the problems that have led to the call for inter-disciplinary research. In addition, we assess how we can support the next generation of researchers to undertake the effective inter-disciplinary research required to assist with operationalising marine EBM, particularly in a changing climate.


This study provides a new framework of analysis of the market and welfare effects of mandatory country of origin labeling (MCOOL) for fruits and vegetables that accounts for heterogeneous consumer preferences for domestic products, differences in producer agronomic characteristics, and retailer market power when buying and selling these products. The market and welfare effects of MCOOL are shown to be case-specific and dependent on the labeling costs at the farm and retail levels, the strength of consumer preference for domestic products, the market power of retailers, the marketing margin along the supply chain, and the relative costs of imported and domestic products. Simulation results for the US markets of apples and tomatoes indicate that for the regulation to increase total economic welfare in these markets, the consumer demand after MCOOL would need to increase by 2.6% to 7.0% for domestic apples and by 8.2% to 22.4% for domestic tomatoes, depending on the market power of retailers and the size of the labeling costs.


The main results obtained by the author and collaborators in 25 years' work about the type of sialic acid determined in some materials from the animal kingdom are summarized, with the respective references to the original papers and the indication of the reviews in which they have generally been quoted. The high number of publications on sialic acids from the time of their discovery reflects the increasing interest on these acids in areas such as their chemical composition (16 different sialic acids are now recognized), their distribution in Nature (a not yet well explained topic), their metabolism (which shows differences between bacteria and animal cells) and their biological roles, mainly as a part of glycoproteins and gangliosides (as receptors, markers of the cytoplasmic membrane, viscosity agents of the glycoproteins, life regulators of some substances, etc.).


OBJECTIVE
This paper was to investigate the effect of circ_PWWP2A-mediated miR-27b-3p/GATA3 axis on idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF).

METHODS
circ_PWWP2A expression in lung fibroblasts MLg2908 induced by different concentrations of TGF-β was detected. The relationship between circ_PWWP2A or GATA3 and miR-27b-3p was analyzed by RNA immunoprecipitation and dual-luciferin reporter assay. The proliferation of MLg2908 cells was determined by MTT. GATA3, α-SMA, Collagen-I, and Collagen-III in cells were detected by RT-qPCR and Western blot. The rat model of IPF induced by bleomycin (BLM) was constructed and treated with circ_PWWP2A siRNA injection. HE and Masson staining were of utility to evaluate the pathological conditions of rat lung tissue, and circ_PWWP2A, miR-27b-3p, and GATA3 levels in lung tissues were detected by RT-qPCR. Immunohistochemistry was used to detect the staining of α-SMA, collagen I, and collagen III in the lung tissues of rats.

RESULTS
circ_PWWP2A in MLg2908 cells induced by TGF-β decreased in a concentration-dependent manner. MLg2908 cells transfected with circ_PWWP2A siRNA were induced by 5 ng/ml TGF-β, decreasing circ_PWWP2A and GATA3 levels, increasing miR-27b-3p expression, and suppressing cell proliferation. The targeting relationship between circ_PWWP2A and miR-27b-3p, as well as miR-27b-3p and GATA3, was confirmed. Depleting miR-27b-3p reduced the inhibitory effect of circ_PWWP2A down-regulation on the proliferation of TGF-β-treated MLg2908 cells, accompanied by increased expression of α-SMA, Collagen 1, and Collagen 3, and increased expression of GATA3. The in vivo results showed that BLM-induced fibrosis in rat lung tissue was obvious, accompanied by increased expression of circ_PWWP2A and GATA3, decreased expression of miR-27b-3p, and deepened staining of α-SMA, collagen I, and collagen III, but circ_PWWP2A siRNA could improve these phenomena.

CONCLUSION
Silencing circ_PWWP2A can inhibit the proliferation of lung fibroblasts induced by TGF-β through the miR-27b-3p/GATA3 axis, and reduce BLM-induced pulmonary fibrosis in rats, which may be a potential therapeutic target for IPF.


Background
 The CLL international prognostic index (CLL-IPI) is a validated staging system for newly diagnosed CLL patients that combines age, clinical stage, serum Beta-2 microglobulin, TP53, and IGHV mutation status into a single score and stratifies CLL patients into four prognostic risk groups with a c-statistic=0.72. Next-generation sequencing identified ~60 putative driver genes recurrently mutated in CLL, and genome-wide association studies (GWAS) identified 41 single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) associated with CLL risk. We previously showed that a polygenic risk score (PRS) of the weighted average of the number of risk alleles among these 41 SNPs is associated with risk of both CLL and MBL. We and others have also shown that the tumor mutational load (TML), i.e., the total number of somatically mutated driver genes, is associated with time to first treatment (TTT). Herein, we examine whether TML and PRS add prognostic value beyond CLL-IPI for disease progression in a cohort of CLL and high-count MBLs.
 Methods
 We used the Mayo Clinic CLL resource to identify newly diagnosed (<2 years) previously untreated CLL and high-count MBL patients based on the 2008 International Workshop CLL (IWCLL) criteria . We extracted DNA from CD5+/CD19+ clonal B-cells and sequenced the coding regions of 59 recurrently mutated CLL driver genes using a custom SureSelect panel and Illumina HiSeq 4000. The median coverage depth per sample was 2737X. Somatic mutations were called using MuTect2 in tumor-only mode. Germline variants were eliminated based on minor allele frequencies >0.01%, and by those identified in 1000 Genomes Project, ExAC and/or ESP6500 databases, unless present in known mutation hotspots or COSMIC. After filtering high/moderate impact mutations, we calculated the TML. Peripheral blood DNA was genotyped on Illumina Omni Express array; after extensive quality control metrics, we calculated the germline PRS as the weighted average of the number of risk alleles among the CLL susceptibility SNPs. Cox regression was used to estimate hazard ratios (HR) and 95% confidence intervals (CI) to test for associations with TTT. We analyzed the low/intermediate risk groups and the high/very high risk groups in stratified analyses and tested for interactions between CLL-IPI and TML or PRS. Survival curves are displayed using the Kaplan-Meier method using P-values from the log-rank test; the PRS is displayed by tertile categories.
 Results
 Of 166 patients (120 CLL, 46 MBL), 67% were male and the median age at diagnosis was 62 years (range: 28-85). The median follow-up was 5.3 years, and 73 were treated for progressive disease as defined by the 2018 IWCLL criteria. Low risk CLL-IPI comprised 51%, intermediate risk 27%, high risk 18%, and very-high risk 4%. The most commonly somatically mutated genes were TP53 (8%), CHD2 (8%), BIRC3 (8%), SF3B1 (7%), and NOTCH1 (7%). We found that 42%, 32%, and 26% of patients had 0, 1, or 2+ genes with somatic mutations, respectively. The median PRS was 8.3 (range: 6.1-11.3) which is consistent with our prior PRS study on CLL/MBL and higher than 7.53 found in 7983 controls from our prior work. When we modeled TML, PRS, sex, CLL/MBL status and CLL-IPI together with the joint effects of CLL-IPI with TML and PRS, both interactions were significant in the model (P=0.008 for TML*CLL-IPI and P=0.014 for PRS*CLL-IPI), with c-statistic=0.81 (CI:0.77-0.85). When we stratified by CLL-IPI, TML was associated with shorter TTT in the low/intermediate risk (N=129, continuous HR=2.36 per TML category, CI: 1.61-3.47, P=1.3x10-5, Figure 1.A), but there was no evidence of an association in the high/very-high risk (N=37, continuous HR=1.12 per TML category, CI: 0.70-1. 78, P=0.64, Figure 1.B), after adjusting for PRS, sex, and CLL/MBL status. However, the PRS was associated with a shorter TTT in the high/very-high risk (continuous HR=1.77 per SD, CI: 1.00-3.12, P=0.048, Figure 1.D), with no evidence of an association in the low/intermediate risk (continuous HR=0.95 per SD, CI: 0.95-1.29, P=0.74, Figure 1.C), after adjusting for TML, sex, and CLL/MBL status.
 Conclusions
 In our study, TML was prognostic among the low/intermediate CLL-IPI risk groups while the PRS was prognostic among the high/very-high CLL-IPI risk groups. Sequencing CLL driver genes and genotyping relevant germline SNPs at time of diagnosis may provide incremental value over the CLL-IPI in predicting TTT among patients with CLL/MBL.

 Parikh: MorphoSys: Research Funding; Genentech: Honoraria; AbbVie: Honoraria, Research Funding; AstraZeneca: Honoraria, Research Funding; Pharmacyclics: Honoraria, Research Funding; Janssen: Research Funding; Ascentage Pharma: Research Funding; Acerta Pharma: Research Funding. Ding:Merck: Research Funding; DTRM Biopharma: Research Funding. Cerhan:Celgene: Research Funding; Janssen: Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees; NanoString: Research Funding. Kay:MorphoSys: Other: Data Safety Monitoring Board; Infinity Pharmaceuticals: Other: DSMB; Celgene: Other: Data Safety Monitoring Board; Agios: Other: DSMB.


Understanding the reasons underlying income inequality has generated considerable interest in the last years and various theoretical analyses have been developed to explain international differences in income distribution between groups of countries at different stages of economic development. However, structural investigations of the contemporary effects of the forces shaping the evolution of income inequality are difficult to find. Moreover, little attention has been given to the increasing inequality merely among advanced economies. For these reasons, we develop a theoretical framework to provide a comprehensive analysis of the factors affecting income distribution in a particular set of advanced economies, the European Union countries, and utilize a fifteen year panel of 25 countries to identify the short term effects of several considerable determinants of household income inequality. On the basis of the main findings, we conclude providing some policy indications.