Abstract Introduction: No comprehensive meta-analysis has been performed concerning the efficacy and tolerability of adjunctive therapy with histamine-2 receptor antagonists (H2R-ANTs) in schizophrenia patients who were treated with antipsychotics. Methods: Risk ratios, standardized mean differences (SMD), and 95% confidence intervals were calculated. Results: We included 8 double-blinded, randomized placebo-controlled trials (RCTs) (n=418) that met the inclusion criteria (famotidine: N=3, n=74; nizatidine: N=4, n=292; ranitidine: N=1, n=52). Pooled H2R-ANTs were not different from placebo with regard to reduction in overall symptoms and body weight. However, pooled H2R-ANTs resulted in lower body mass index (BMI) than placebo (SMD=−0.68). Moreover, nizatidine was associated with an increase in plasma leptin levels (SMD=− 1.14). There were no significant differences in the discontinuation rates due to all-cause, side effects, and inefficacy between pooled H2R-ANTs and placebo. However, nizatidine produced more depression and dry mouth than placebo. Discussion: H2R-ANT adjunctive therapy did not improve overall symptoms. To clarify the opposite results between body weight and BMI, future research should investigate long-term efficacy and generate more safety data by using larger samples.


Guided wave technique is an efficient method for monitoring structural integrity by detecting and forecasting possible damages in distributed pipe networks. Efficient detection depends on appropriate selection of guided wave modes as well as signal processing techniques. Fourier analysis and wavelet analysis are two popular signal processing techniques that provide a flexible set of tools for solving various fundamental problems in science and engineering. In this paper, effective ways of using Fourier and Wavelet analyses on guided wave signals for detecting defects in steel pipes are discussed for different boundary conditions. This research investigates the effectiveness of Fourier transforms and Wavelet analysis in detecting defects in steel pipes. Cylindrical Guided waves are generated by piezo-electric transducers and propagated through the pipe wall boundaries in a pitch-catch system. Fourier transforms of received signals give information regarding the propagating guided wave modes which helps in detecting defects by selecting appropriate modes that are affected by the presence of defects. Continuous wavelet coefficients are found to be sensitive to defects. Several types of mother wavelet functions such as Daubechies, Symlet, and Meyer have been used for the continuous wavelet transform to investigate the most suitable wavelet function for defect detection. This research also investigates the effect of different boundary conditions on wavelet transforms for different mother wavelet functions.


Purpose of reviewSynthetic high-density lipoprotein (HDL) and apolipoprotein (apo) A-I mimetic peptides emulate many of the atheroprotective biological functions attributed to HDL and can modify atherosclerotic disease processes. Administration of these agents as HDL replacement or modifying therapy has tremendous potential of providing new treatments for cardiovascular disease. Progress in the understanding of these agents is discussed in this review. Recent findingsProspective, observational, and interventional studies have convincingly demonstrated that elevated serum levels of high-density lipoprotein-cholesterol (HDL-C) are associated with reduced risk for coronary heart disease (CHD). Although traditional pharmacological agents have shown modest utility in raising HDL levels and reducing CHD risk, use of HDL and apo A-I mimetics provides novel therapies to not only increase HDL levels, but to also influence HDL functionality. Evidence developed over the last several years has identified a number of pathways affected by synthetic HDL and apoA-I mimetic peptides, including enhancing reverse cholesterol transport and reducing oxidation and inflammation that directly influence the progression and regression of atherosclerotic disease. SummaryClinical trials of relatively short-term synthetic HDL infusion into patients with CHD demonstrate beneficial effects. Use of apo A-I mimetic peptides could potentially overcome some of the limitations associated with use of the intact apo. Studies to establish the most efficacious peptides, optimal dosing regimens, and routes of administration are needed. Use of apo A-I mimetic peptides shows great promise as a therapeutic modality for HDL replacement and enhancing HDL function in treatment of patients with CHD.


Skeletal animation with vertex blending is a popular method to model believable 3D characters. Its main advantage is its speed that allows real-time deformation even on low-level hardware. However it has some drawbacks as well: for some movements it produces non-natural postures like twisting elbows. We present a new method called bones blending that can be used as an alternative to vertex blending. Bones blending has a power to overcome the artifacts of vertex blending.


While resident at Largs last summer, I felt so much interested in the series of volcanic rocks exposed along the shore, and in the boulders derived from the adjacent hills, as well as from the rocks found in situ along the coast, that I began to make a collection of their varieties. As these specimens present differences from those taken from the trap hills around Glasgow, I have thought that it would interest the members if I exhibited the collection, making a few remarks upon the mineral composition, and on the probable position and age of the Ayrshire volcanic rocks. The hills of Ayrshire and Renfrewshire, lying south of the Clyde, form an extension of the great range extending from near the town of Stirling on the east to Ardrossan on the west, and which embraces in that distance the Campsie and Kilpatrick hills. A considerable amount of light has been thrown, during recent years, upon the age of the great group of igneous rocks which build up this extended series, due to the researches of members of this Society, and to the progress of the Geological Survey. It has now been clearly shown that the age of the great lava flows, building up these hills, belongs to the upper division of the calciferous sandstone series of the Scottish Carboniferous formation. The basement rocks of this range consist of red sandstones and conglomerates formerly grouped under Old Red Sandstone, but now placed amongst the Lower Carboniferous rocks by the officers This 250-word extract was created in the absence of an abstract


This work explores the capacities of character-based Neural Machine Translation to translate noisy User-Generated Content (UGC) with a strong focus on exploring the limits of such approaches to handle productive UGC phenomena, which almost by definition, cannot be seen at training time. Within a strict zero-shot scenario, we first study the detrimental impact on translation performance of various user-generated content phenomena on a small annotated dataset we developed and then show that such models are indeed incapable of handling unknown letters, which leads to catastrophic translation failure once such characters are encountered. We further confirm this behavior with a simple, yet insightful, copy task experiment and highlight the importance of reducing the vocabulary size hyper-parameter to increase the robustness of character-based models for machine translation.


It is demonstrated that the inflation rate must be reflected in the anticipated benefit flows used in investment value models. When flows are left unadjusted, a biased value estimate results. It is also shown that the actual effects of the inflation rate on investment value will depend on the relationships of original cost, the debt/equity ratio, and the level of depreciation expense. Inflation has a fundamentally negative impact on value traceable to capital gains and depreciation effects. This can be offset by the use of debt financing. Copyright American Real Estate and Urban Economics Association.


In vibratory energy harvesting, the energy flow generally goes through three stages: the external vibration energy is firstly coupled into the device as kinetic energy, which is partially converted to electricity through electromechanical conversion unit (such as electromagnetic, piezoelectric, and electrostatic), then the generated electricity is applied to the electrical load circuit. The process of such energy flow indicates that the energy coupled in the first stage determines the maximum available energy converted to electricity, while the electricity delivered to the load depends on the characteristics of electrical load circuits. Note that the first stage for coupling energy is achieved by device dynamics. To best understand vibratory energy harvesting, the effects of device dynamics and electrical load circuits on energy harvesting performance are investigated in this dissertation. For the effects of device dynamics, we do the study from four areas: parametric oscillator/device, global resonance, the roles of excitation, and dynamics outside the potential well. At first, we investigate the potential of using a nonlinear parametric oscillator/device to harvest energy. In such device, the excitation appears as a parameter of the dynamical system. Such parameterization of the excitation provides a cross-frequency energy transfer in the excitation, resulting in modifying the frequency content of the excitation, i.e. modulation of the excitation, which enables the device into the orbits of higher-order subharmonic oscillations more easily. A device with a pendulum-type architecture is proposed and used as an illustrative example. The further investigation in device dynamics has proved that for a nonlinear device, there exists a generalized, global resonance condition which requires matching of all of the frequencies between the device and the excitation. Under global resonance, the device performance is optimized with the maximum energy harvesting efficiency, but its corresponding displacement is not the largest because the amplitude of global ii resonance response is strongly correlated with the fundamental frequency supported by a nonlinear potential well (e.g. potential function). Such results suggest that traditionally relying only on increasing the device response in nonlinear systems can be misleading. The global resonance condition also shows that damping of the device and modulation of the excitation play critical roles in facilitating the frequency match required for resonance. According to the global resonance condition, it is revealed that the potential of nonlinear device in harvesting energy from multi-frequency vibrations benefits from multiple frequency match, not from the wider bandwidth obtained from single-frequency response. To harvest energy from multi-frequency vibration using nonlinear devices, a device-design concept based on global resonance is thus proposed. When the global resonance condition is satisfied, the instantaneous power of the excitation is always non-negative, resulting in the maximum device performance. Conversely, when the condition is not satisfied, the excitation does negative work for a duration per cycle, leading to the reduction of the energy harvested. During such duration, the excitation actually takes energy back from the device, acting as a sink. The extent to which the excitation behaves as a sink determines the energy harvesting performance. We find that instantaneously changing device response to ensure the velocity in phase with the excitation can reduce the behavior of the excitation as a sink, resulting in dramatic increase of the energy harvested. Based on our findings, it has shown that an active method based on manipulating the roles of excitation would be more promising in bringing vibration energy harvesting to fruition. Although the responses of a device are usually constrained by its potential well, it is possible for the dynamics of a pendulum-type device to escape from the potential well. Here, we also investigated the possibility of utilizing the dynamics outside the potential well of a device for harvesting energy from vibrations. A pendulum-type device is used as an example. Results show that when the device dynamics is outside the potential well and stays in stable orbits of period-one rotations, the harvested energy is proportional iii to the energy level of the orbit, neither depending on the natural frequency of the device nor on the intensity of the excitation. For the effects of electrical load circuits, we consider three types of non-resistive loads, such as a resistive load with a rectifier, a resistive load with a rectifier and a regulating capacitor, and a simple charging circuit consisting of a rectifier and a storing capacitor. Numerical results suggest that when the harvested energy is to be stored in capacitors, the ultimate voltages across capacitors are the same as the opencircuit voltage of the device minus the rectifier drop. For charging loads, therefore, the amount of stored energy is determined by the capacitance and the device performance under open circuit. Moreover, a larger capacitor is beneficial for an electromagnetic harvester, but not for a piezoelectrical harvester.


Background: The prevalence of restless legs syndrome (RLS)
is approximately 10% in general
population. This condition is more prevalent in certain diseases and we previously reported the prevalence of RLS in
chronic liver disease population to be 62%. Objectives: Our aim was to assess the self-reported
prevalence of RLS using an RLS symptom
specific questionnaire in liver transplant patients. Methods: Subjects were a convenience sample in
transplant clinic. They completed a validated
survey for core RLS symptoms and if positive went on to completed a telephone survey using the validated
International RLS Severity Scale Questionnaire (IRLS)
and the Johns Hopkins RLS QoL survey to measure the effect of RLS symptoms on daily activities. Results: 40 patients surveyed, RLS was found in 16
subjects (40%) with moderate severity {17
(SD + 7.2, high score 31)}. Hepatitis C as indication for liver transplant was more likely associated with RLS (p = 0.05).
Calcium channel blockers were protective (p = 0.032) while
antidopaminergic agent use was statistically significant for RLS symptom (p = 0.005). On multiple linear regression analysis,
diabetes (p = 0.024) and use of
antidepressants/antihistamines (p = 0.049) were associated with RLS. Quality of Life (QoL) surveys specific to RLS
suggested RLS symptoms resulted in significantly
diminished QoL, with an average QoL score of 80 (SD + 11.7). Conclusion: There was a very high prevalence of RLS in our liver transplant patients with majority experiencing moderate or severe
symptoms.
The explanation for this higher
prevalence is likely due to combination of comorbidites as well as medications that can trigger RLS.


Disability, such as visual impairment, is one of the most important causes of social marginalization. 285 million people worldwide are visually impaired, with 246 million suffering from severe sight insufficiency and 39 million already blind [1]. In Europe alone, about 30 million people suffer from severe sight loss, meaning that 1 in 30 persons are blind or partially sighted [2]. Major causes of visual impairment are related to uncorrected refractive errors, cataracts, and glaucoma [1]. Such alarming data give an idea of the enormous problem to be faced. In the past, disabled people were often considered a shame to the family. Today, thanks to cultural changes, that mentality has greatly changed. However, physically limited or handicapped individuals still experience discrimination and infringement of their rights on a daily basis at work, trying to find a job, or in going to a cafe, the supermarket, the hospital, etc. [3]. The best way to help disabled people in the developing world is to give them autonomy and independence and to provide them with a good education, e.g., vocational training, so they can retain their dignity as human beings and acquire the skills needed to lead a full life. This new life concept considers impaired individuals not as different people but as people with different capacities.


High-frequency (HF) radar wave processing is often based on the inversion of the Barrick-Weber equations, introduced in 1977. This theory reaches its limitations if the length of the Bragg-scattering wave raises to the order of the significant waveheight, because some assumptions are no longer met. In this case, the only solution is moving to lower radar frequencies, which is not possible or desirable in all cases. This paper describes work on an empirical solution which intends to overcome this limitation. However, during high sea state, the first-order Bragg peaks sometimes could not be clearly identified which avoids the access to the second-order sidebands. These cases cause problems to the algorithm which have not been solved yet and currently limit the maximum significant waveheight to about the same values as reported for the integral inversion method. The regression parameters of the empirical solution calibrated from the European Radar Ocean Sensing (EuroROSE) data set are constant values for the complete experiment and when applied to the HF radar data they reconstruct the measurements by a colocated wave buoy quite well. When including a radar-frequency-dependent scaling factor to the regression parameters, the new algorithm can also be used at different radar frequencies. The second-order frequency bands used for the empirical solution are sometimes disturbed by radio interference and ship echoes. Investigations are presented to identify and solve these situations


The aim of this study was to explore the experiences of parents and early childhood teachers in Norway regarding the benefits of child care to young children. Both positive and negative benefits were explored. In the autumn of 2009, 41 parents and 35 early childhood teachers of children aged 1.5 years or less, living in the city of Trondheim and nearby communities, were assessed by means of a semi-structured qualitative interview. There was agreement among parents and early childhood teachers that children benefited from child care. Parents, however, tended to overestimate the benefit of socialization and learning for this young age-group. However, early childhood teachers focused more on socialization, in terms of waiting for turns, observing certain rules. One third of parents did not report any negative experiences of child care. The others reported negative experiences on occasion or under certain circumstances such as long hours, poor-quality care or too many children per adult early childhood teacher. All but four of the early childhood teachers suggested that high standards had to be satisfied to make child care good enough for the youngest children.


ABSTRACT This study considers the serial lot sizing problem with backlogging in two-level supply chains to determine when and how much to order at a warehouse and ship to a retailer over a T-period planning horizon so that the external known demand occurring at the retailer is satisfied and the total cost at all levels is minimized. In particular, the uncapacitated two-level serial lot sizing problem with backlogging and the two-level serial lot sizing problem with cargo capacity and backlogging are formulated using effective shortest-path network representations, which define the convex hull of their feasible solutions. These representations lead to efficient algorithms with O(T3) time for the uncapacitated problem and O(T6) time for the capacitated problem. Furthermore, a tight reformulation with O(T3) variables and O(T2) constraints (resp. O(T6) variables and O(T5) constraints) is proposed for the uncapacitated (resp. capacitated) problem.


Catastrophic forgetting refers to the tendency that a neural network ``forgets'' the previous learned knowledge upon learning new tasks. Prior methods have been focused on overcoming this problem on convolutional neural networks (CNNs), where the input samples like images lie in a grid domain, but have largely overlooked graph neural networks (GNNs) that handle non-grid data. In this paper, we propose a novel scheme dedicated to overcoming catastrophic forgetting problem and hence strengthen continual learning in GNNs. At the heart of our approach is a generic module, termed as topology-aware weight preserving (TWP), applicable to arbitrary form of GNNs in a plug-and-play fashion. Unlike the main stream of CNN-based continual learning methods that rely on solely slowing down the updates of parameters important to the downstream task, TWP explicitly explores the local structures of the input graph, and attempts to stabilize the parameters playing pivotal roles in the topological aggregation. We evaluate TWP on different GNN backbones over several datasets, and demonstrate that it yields performances superior to the state of the art. Code is publicly available at https://github.com/hhliu79/TWP.


Patient safety is an essential property of the entire healthcare system. The reality is that organisations are not always the safe havens that they should be. We hypothesised that the opening of a new renal dialysis satellite unit in NHS Ayrshire and Arran could inadvertently align gaps in the system leading to potential harm1. We used 'in situ' simulation prior to the unit opening to test this theory to identify safety concerns in relation to equipment and environment. The findings were then addressed to 'build defences to mitigate error'.2 Method We used a Laerdal wireless simulator and an iPad to 'crash test' the new unit. A cardiac arrest scenario was scripted with the main objectives as follows: To test the hospital 2222 response To test access and egress to the unit for the cardiac arrest team members To test the emergency equipment was fit for purpose To test the ergonomics for the transfer of a deteriorating patient to the distant intensive care unit Results The exercise highlighted the following latent threats to patient safety: Inadequate signage Unacceptable delay in arrival of cardiac arrest (CA) team CA team were unaware of the code for the lift CA team swipe ID badges negated access to the stairwell Restricted transfer of simulated patient through corridors Outcomes A report was prepared and presented to clinical governance. An emergency project group was established to address the aforementioned issues prior to opening of the unit. Future planning includes further 'in situ' simulation to test the modifications and to provide an opportunity for team training. Conclusions This project highlights the value of in situ simulation as a means to prepare staff and identify potential threats to patient safety in a new clinical area prior to any patient throughput.3 References Patterson MD, Geis GL, Falcone RA, et al. In situ simulation: detection of safety emergency department threats and teamwork training in a high risk. BMJ Qual Saf 2012; doi: 10.1136/bmjqs-2012-000942 Reason J. Human error: models and management. BMJ 2000;320:768–70 Walker ST, Sevdalis N, McKay A et al. Unannounced in situ simulations: integrating training and clinical practice. BMJ Qual Saf 2012; doi10.1136/bmjqs-2012-000986


Die Entstehung der Sdulenbasen des Alter turns unter Berucksichtigung verwandter Kapitelle. By ERWIN and REINHOLD WURZ. Zeitschrift fur Geschichte der Architektur, Beiheft 15. Pp. ii+150. Over 400 illustrations. Heidelberg : Carl Winters Universitatsbuchhandlung, 1925. Marks 20. THE range of this book is wider than its title suggests, for capitals occupy nearly as much space as bases. It is the work of two brothers, each of whom published an important treatise on a cognate theme just before the war. Erwin is responsible for more than half this book, but the long sections on Aeolic, Ionic, and Corinthian capitals are by his brother. The ruling idea of both writers is that, except for some Egyptian forms, almost all ancient columns, including those of Greece, Etruria, and Rome, are derived exclusively from a stylisation of the date-palm, which first took place in Minoan Crete, inspired by specimens of this tree with which Cretan monarchs adorned their parks. It is hardly an exaggeration to say that every detail of base, shaft, and capital, of every style and of every period, is here traced back to this single source. The authors know their material thoroughly, and are remarkably accurate, though some of their predecessors deserve more recognition, especially von Luschan ; but, despite much ingenious and some convincing argument, it is clear that the theory is worked much too hard. One is reminded of Goodyear's omnipresent lotus. The book, however, is far too elaborate for detailed criticism in this place. The illustrations form a very convenient collection, drawn from a great variety of sources. D. S. ROBERTSON. lation of Herodotus' regular wcrd 'Lacedaemonians.' Nevertheless, his general view of the battle is sound, and the arguments in its favour collected in his final note thorough and convincing. W. W. How.


The purpose of this study is to find a learning model that can make students active and communicative in online lessons during pandemics like this. The learning model is deconstruction and reconstruction learning. This research is qualitative research that uses a descriptive approach. The form of data presentation is taken from students of the study program muamalah faculty of sharia and Islamic law Sunan Kalijaga State Islamic University Yogyakarta from Grades A, B, and C. The results obtained from this study is with the model of deconstruction and reconstruction learning that can make active learning in the sense that many students respond to the material in different points of view. The learning model can also make lecturers and students more communicative to each other.


One of the core clinical criteria of Dementia with Lewy bodies (DLB) are fluctuations of cognition. Underlying processes may be rather functional than neurodegenerative, reflected by, for example, factors present in cerebrospinal fluid (CSF). The aim of this study was to identify in-vitro neuronal network activity (ivNNA) changes of CSF from DLB patients compared with patients with Parkinson's disease (PD) and controls. Primary neuronal mouse cultures were grown on microelectrode arrays to record ivNNA when exposed to respective CSF samples. If exposed to CSF of DLB patients, ivNNA showed a reduced spike rate and burst rate compared with CSF of PD patients and controls. Our data are suggestive of the presence of functional factors in the CSF of DLB patients that differentiate network activity from PD patients and controls. Future studies should evaluate whether this pilot observation might be related to fluctuations of cognition in DLB.


Charge transfer/transport in molecular wires over varying distances is a subject of great interest. The feasible transport mechanisms have been generally accounted for on the basis of tunneling or superexchange charge transfer operating over small distances which progressively gives way to hopping transport over larger distances. The underlying molecular sequential steps that likely take place during hopping and the operative mechanism occurring at intermediate distances have received much less attention given the difficulty in assessing detailed molecular-level information. We describe here the operating mechanisms for unimolecular electron transfer/transport in the ground state of radical-anion mixed-valence derivatives occurring between their terminal perchlorotriphenylmethyl/ide groups through thiophene-vinylene oligomers that act as conjugated wires of increasing length up to 53 Å. The unique finding here is that the net transport of the electron in the larger molecular wires is initiated by an electron-hole dissociation intermediated by hole delocalization (conformationally assisted and thermally dependent) forming transient mobile polaronic states in the bridge that terminate by an electron-hole recombination at the other wire extreme. On the contrary, for the shorter radical-anions our results suggest that a flickering resonance mechanism which is intermediate between hopping and superexchange is the operative one. We support these mechanistic interpretations by applying the pertinent biased kinetic models of the charge/spin exchange rates determined by electron paramagnetic resonance and by molecular structural level information obtained from UV-vis and Raman spectroscopies and by quantum chemical modeling.


A genetic study of conjugal transmissibility of two R-plasmids was undertaken in Pseudomonas aeruginosa. Conjugally derepressed mutants of the Rplasmids were isolated, and examination of 11 independent mutants revealed that 10 were recessive to the wild-type transfer repressor, whereas 1 mutant was cis dominant. Cross-repression was observed between the two R-plasmids, suggesting that they have functionally equivalent systems for regulating the expression of tra loci. The derepressed R-plasmid mutants exhibited several characteristics, in addition to derepressed transfer, that were not expressed by the parental plasmids. These included sensitivity to certain donor-specific phages, inhibition of multiplication of a transducing phage, and, in the one case examined, a high degree of entry exclusion. The coexpression of these different functions suggests that their respective genetic loci are controlled by the same regulatory system as that of tra, or else that they are part of the tra complex


This thesis deals with the subject of fibre optic magnetic field sensors utilizing iron garnet materials. Such materials exhibit a large Faraday rotation which make them advantageous for application in compact magnetic field sensors. After an introduction, in which fibre optic sensors and optical methods to measure electric current are reviewed, the original research work is summarized. A system for the measurement of the magneto-optic properties of transparent materials is described. Measurement results, showing the influence of temperature, magnetic field direction and sample treatment on the magneto-optical properties of YIG-crystals, are presented. The properties of thin magneto-optical waveguiding films have also been studied using different light coupling methods. Measurement results obtained for holographic grating, prism and edge (end-fire) light coupling to different substituted YIG films are presented. It is shown that the launching method may affect the properties to be measured. The design and performance of several versions of extrinsic guided wave fibre optic magnetic field sensors are then reported. The sensors employ substituted YIG (Yttrium Iron Garnet, Y3Fe5O12) thin film waveguides as sensing elements. Polarization maintaining fibres were used as feed and return to provide two signal channels. The signals were combined in a balanced measurement system, providing insensitivity to both fluctuations in optical power and loss. Sensors have been made both with separate fibres to guide the light to and from the sensing element and with a single fibre for both functions. The two fibre version, although less "elegant", is found to have a better performance. This version also makes it possible to determine both the magnitude and sign of the magnetic field. Measurement results indicate a usable measurement range of at least several mT with a noise equivalent magnetic field level of less than 8 nT/root(Hz). The design and performance of multimode fibre optic magnetic field sensors utilizing the Faraday effect in an epitaxially grown thick (YbTbBi)IG film is also described. This type of sensor is found to be linear over a range from 27 mT to less than 270 nT. Sensor prototypes suitable for current monitoring in high voltage transmission lines have also been developed.


Soil fertility is one of the key success factors for managing independent smallholder oil palm plantation sustainably.  To improve soil fertility, the smallholder oil palm farmers depend highly on the chemical fertilizer which emits greenhouse gases N 2 O and are fragile to chemical fertilizer shortage. This dependency to chemical fertilizer and increased price of chemical fertilizer may cause some independent smallholder plantations are neglected and fruitless due to late nor absence of fertilizers.  In the country with plentiful of oil palm plantations, biomass of oil palm empty fruit bunch should be considered as a sustainable source of organic fertilizers.  This research examined the effect of dosage of composted oil palm empty fruit bunch enriched with multi functions multi microbial biofertilizer implanted within the soil below canopy edges of oil palm plants towards the growth and yield of oil palm plants. The treatments consisted of 3.5, 7.0, and 10.5 ton biofertilizer/ha and standard chemical fertilizer treatment as control. Each treatment was applied on ten plants. The results of this study showed that the biofertilizer application at 10.5 ton/ha improved the quality of soil better than other treatment of biofertilizer and standard chemical fertilizer.  The production yield of fresh fruit brunches of 10.5 ton biofertilizer/ha treatment was 31.5 ton/hectare/year. If the oil palm production is compared to farmer's practice that produces 24 ton/hectare/year, these research results may promote better organic wastes management of oil palm plantation to better nourish the plants and improve sustainability of oil palm land system.


Recognizing neonatal bacterial sepsis early is one of the most difficult problems that pediatricians encounter. Only 1 in 500 to 1 in 1600 newborns have proven bacterial sepsis. Prematurely born and stressed infants exhibit sepsis more frequently than do unstressed term infants. Therefore, the general pediatrician confronts proven neonatal sepsis uncommonly and needs to be alert to the early signs of sepsis because of the great danger of this potentially treatable condition. Prior to the introduction of antibiotics, mortality from neonatal bacterial sepsis was greater than 90%. Antibiotics and supportive therapy have reduced this mortality to 13% to 50%. There remains much room for improvement. Good outcomes depend on early diagnosis, appropriate treatment, and host factors that still are being explored.
 Neonatal sepsis tends to appear as either "early onset" or "late onset" syndromes, but some cases are difficult to classify. Early onset disease is seen in the first few days of life, tends to be fulminant, and is associated more often with maternal or perinatal risk factors, such as maternal fever, prolonged rupture of the membranes, and fetal distress. On the other hand, late onset disease usually occurs after 1 week of age, tends to develop more gradually, and is less likely to be associated with the previously mentioned risk factors.


To evaluate guidelines for outpatient treatment of acute pelvic inflammatory disease recommended by the Center for Disease Control we studied 197 afflicted women. The women were treated either with tetracycline or with procaine penicillin and ampicillin, and 92% were subsequently seen at least once to assess efficacy of clinical and microbiologic treatment. Neisseria gonorrhoeae was isolated from the lower genital tract in 68% of these women, and although they had a quicker symptomatic response than those with nongonococcal infection (P less than 0.01), the two regimens were equally effective in producing clinical cure. However, subsequent identification of a pelvic abscess was 10 times more common in women from whom N. gonorrhoeae was not isolated. Therapy for pelvic inflammatory disease must be empirical since it is impossible to distinguish clinically between gonococcal and nongonococcal infection, and our data indicate that both regimens recommended by the Center for Disease Control are effective.


Dear reader:

My dissertation explores the letter as an inquisitive and invitational form of writing that holds space, produces affect, and moves with intensities. The letters enclosed were exchanged between eight K-12 artist-teachers and myself over 16 months as we explored aesthetic experiential play in the context of a graduate program of art education and beyond.

In this process, it became visible that aesthetic experiential play—as it is lived, experienced, undergone—invites a swell and an afterglow. The swell is a movement that unmoors, and sets one adrift towards unanticipated, surprising possibilities. Afterglow is an illuminated space that unfolds with our commitment and openness to move in swell towards the ever expanding new. Through a post-intentional, arts based approach to phenomenological research, my students and I lived the question: What is it to find oneself (or selves) in afterglow? Offering creative lines of flight that escape descriptive and interpretative phenomenologies, post-intentional work endeavors to capture fleeting glimpses of the process of sensing and seeking understandings of phenomena which are always, already on the move. And so, drawing upon Deleuze's intensities and Merleau-Ponty's embodiment, I theorized these movements and glimpses as the embodied intensities of afterglow.
In these embodied intensities, I began to conceptualize teacher renewal in professional development as the geographies of connectedness that artist-teachers live through in their multiplicity of practices. These geographies were mapped through four entangled threads: the course I designed and taught in an art education graduate program, the expansion of my art practice to include letterpress printing, the postcards and letters my students and I exchanged for one year after our course ended, and interviews at the close of the study. Crafting these threads as a text was my method of analysis; a method that invited three analytical articulations to body-forth: the postscript, the curatorial impulse, and the broadside. In the entanglement of these threads, my students and I co-constructed beautiful and complex maps of teacher renewal, generating a cartography that bears significance for attending to the process of professional development in art education.

Sincerely,
Brooke Hofsess
artist & researcher & teacher…


The local 3-D ideal MHD stability properties for two different H-1 Heliac configurations with values of magnetic well of 1.3 and 3.2%, respectively, have been investigated. The pressure profile has been determined that approaches marginal stability to 3-D ballooning modes almost uniformly across the plasma radius for each case. In spite of the difference in well depths, the beta limits for both configurations are almost the same (at β 0.8%). The optimal pressure profile for the deep well configuration is slightly more peaked than that for the standard configuration. The ballooning imposed beta limits are more stringent than those of the Mercier criterion (β 1%) and the ballooning optimized pressure profiles are more peaked than the corresponding profiles which are marginal according to the Mercier criterion


In 2002, the town of Galesburg, a slowly declining Rustbelt city of 33,000 in western Illinois, learned that it would soon lose its largest factory, a Maytag refrigerator plant that had anchored Galesburg's social and economic life for decades. Workers at the plant earned $15.14 an hour, had good insurance, and were assured a solid retirement. In 2004, the plant was relocated to Reynosa, Mexico, where workers sometimes spent 13-hour days assembling refrigerators for $1.10 an hour. In Boom, Bust, Exodus, Chad Broughton offers a ground-level look at the rapid transition to a globalized economy, from the perspective of those whose lives it has most deeply affected. We live in a commoditized world, increasingly divorced from the origins of the goods we consume; it is easy to ignore who is manufacturing our smart phones and hybrid cars; and where they come from no longer seems to matter. And yet, Broughton shows, the who and where matter deeply, and in this book he puts human faces to the relentless cycle of global manufacturing. It is a tale of two cities. In Galesburg, where parts of the empty Maytag factory still stand, a hollowed out version of the American dream, the economy is a shadow of what it once was. Reynosa, in contrast, has become one of the exploding post-NAFTA "second-tier cities" of the developing world, thanks to the influx of foreign-owned, export-oriented maquiladoras--an industrial promised land throbbing with the energy of commerce, legal and illegal. And yet even these distinctions, Broughton shows, cannot be finely drawn: families in Reynosa also struggle to get by, and the city is beset by violence and a ruthless drug war. Those left behind in the post-Industrial decline of Galesburg, meanwhile, do not see themselves as helpless victims: they have gone back to school, pursued new careers, and learned to adapt and even thrive. In an era of growing inequality and a downsized middle class, Boom, Bust, Exodus gives us the voices of those who have borne the heaviest burdens of the economic upheavals of the past three decades. A deeply personal work grounded in solid scholarship, this important, immersive, and affecting book brings home the price and the cost of globalization.


Aplastic anemia is a rare but potentially life-threatening disease that may affect older patients. Data regarding the treatment of aplastic anemia in this ageing population remains scarce. We conducted a retrospective nationwide multicenter study in France to examine current treatments for aplastic anemia patients over 60 years old. Our aims were to evaluate efficacy and tolerance, and to analyze predictive factors for response and survival. Over the course of a decade, 88 patients (median age 68.5 years) were identified in 19 centers, with a median follow up of 2.7 years; 21% had very severe and 36% severe aplastic anemia. We analyzed 184 treatment lines, mostly involving the standard combination of anti-thymocyte globulin and cyclosporine-A (33%), which was also the most frequent first-line treatment (50%). After first-line therapy, 32% of patients achieved a complete response, and 15% a partial response. Responses were significantly better in first line and in patients with good performance status, as well as in those that had followed an anti-thymocyte globulin and cyclosporine-A regimen (overall response rate of 70% after first-line treatment). All treatments were well tolerated by patients, including over the age of 70. Three-year survival was 74.7% (median 7.36 years). Age, Charlson comorbidity index and very severe aplastic anemia were independently associated with mortality. Age, per se, is not a limiting factor to aplastic anemia treatment with anti-thymocyte globulin and cyclosporine-A; this regimen should be used as a first-line treatment in elderly patients if they have a good performance status and low comorbidity index score.


Countries around the world have tended to become more closely linked through the movement of goods, capital and people over time. It is often argued that this globalisation is a seemingly irreversible trend that can only move in one direction, especially in international finance. For example, Figure 1a shows one measure of cross-border financial integration – the sum of capital flowing in and out of a country by foreigners and domestic residents each year (scaled as a share of global GDP) for a group of advanced economies with data back to 1970.5 These capital flows increased sharply over the 15 year window starting in 1990 – a trend which many believed would continue (albeit with some ups and downs around this longer term trend as had traditionally occurred).Full publication: Macroprudential Policy


To this day, a hundred and fifty years after Mendeleev's discovery, the overal structure of the periodic system remains unaccounted for in quantum-mechanical terms. Given this dire situation, a handful of scientists in the 1970s embarked on a quest for the symmetries that lie hidden in the periodic table. Their goal was to explain the table's structure in group-theoretical terms. We argue that this symmetry program required an important paradigm shift in the understanding of the nature of chemical elements. The idea, in essence, consisted of treating the chemical elements, not as particles, but as states of a superparticle. We show that the inspiration for this came from elementary particle physics, and in particular from Heisenberg's suggestion to treat the proton and neutron as different states of the nucleon.We provide a careful study of Heisenberg's last paper on the nature of elementary particles, and explain why the Democritean picture of matter no longer applied in modern physics and a Platonic symmetry-based picture was called for instead. We show how Heisenberg's Platonic philosophy came to dominate the field of elementary particle physics, and how it found its culmination point in Gell-Mann's classification of the hadrons in the eightfold way. We argue that it was the success of Heisenberg's approach in elementary particle physics that sparked the group-theoretical approach to the periodic table. We explain how it was applied to the set of chemical elements via a critical examination of the work of the Russian mathematician Abram Ilyich Fet  the Turkish-American physicist Asim Orhan Barut, before giving some final reflections.


Opinion mining has gained increasing attention and shown great practical value in recent years. Extracting opinion words and targets is a main task in opinion mining. For the purpose of customer and business perspective, the task of scanning these reviews manually is computational burden. Hence, to process reviews automatically and summarizing them in suitable form is more efficient. The distinguished problem of producing opinion summary addresses is how to determine the mood, and opinion expressed in the review with respect to a numerical feature value. This paper proposes a novel approach with a hybrid algorithm which combines Expectation Maximation (EM) algorithm. It focus on the main task of opinion mining called as opinion summarization. The extraction of product feature, technical feature value and opinion are critical for opinion summarization as they affect the performance significantly. The proposed approach consists of a software system in which mining of product feature, technical feature value and opinion is performed. The main motto of this software system is to recognize the technical feature value depending on review, which the reviews are summarized. This software is helpful for humans to understand the technical values expressed in the reviews. It represent relations between opinion words and targets, which is employed to measure the confidence of each candidate from opinion words and targets datasets. The words or targets with high confidence are kept in their respective datasets and the rest are removed as false results which are used to refine extraction rules. k-nearest neighbor classifier used for classify the extracted data's in a opinion mining. Experimental results Shows the effectiveness of proposed method and finally, candidates with higher confidence are extracted as opinion targets or opinion words.


Summary Aspirin 'resistance' (AR) is a phenomenon of uncertain etiology describing decreased platelet inhibition by aspirin. We studied whether (i) platelets inAR demonstrate increased basal sensitivity to a lower degree of stimulation and (ii) platelet aggregation with submaximal stimulation could predict responses to aspirin. Serum thromboxane B2 (TxB2) levels and platelet aggregation with light transmission aggregometry (LTA ) were measured at baseline and 24 hours after 325 mg aspirin administration in 58 healthy subjects. AR was defined as the upper sixth of LTA (≥ 12%) to 1.5 mM AA. Baseline platelet aggregation with sub-maximal concentrations of agonists [ADP 2 µM, arachidonic acid (AA) 0.75 mM, collagen 0.375 and 0.5 µg/ml] was greater in AR subjects compared with non-AR subjects, but not with higher concentrations (ADP 5 µM and 20 µM, AA 1.5 mM and collagen 1 µg/ml). Post-aspirin platelet aggregation was elevated in AR subjects with both submaximal and maximal stimulation. Baseline and post-aspirin serumTxB2 were higher inAR subjects and decreased further with ex-vivo COX -1 inhibition, suggesting incompletely suppressed COX -1 activity. Pre-aspirin platelet aggregation to 0.75 AA demonstrated a dichotomous response with 29/58 subjects having aggregation ≤15% and 29/58 subjects having aggregation ≥75%. In the high aggregation group 28% had AR compared to 6% in the non-AR group (p=0.04). In conclusion, platelets in AR subjects demonstrate increased basal sensitivity to submaximal stimulation, which could predict responses to antiplatelet therapy.


The California Institute for Regenerative Medicine was created by the voters of California in 2004 to accelerate stem cell treatments to patients with unmet medical needs. By the end of its first 10 years, the agency was funding ten projects in clinical trials, including work in heart disease and cancer, HIV/AIDS and Type 1 diabetes. The goal now is to significantly increase that number, adding another 50 clinical trial projects funded by California Institute for Regenerative Medicine over the next 5 years. How we get there may be the biggest challenge the agency has ever faced.


© 2011 Informa Healthcare USA, Inc. 10.3109/03602532.2011.624361 LDMR 624361 The International Society for the Study of Xenobiotics (ISSX) is the premier scientific organization for researchers interested in the metabolism and disposition of xenobiotics. ISSX was formed in 1981 when a small group of scientists, brought together during the 1970's under the aegis of the Gordon Research Conferences on Drug Metabolism, took the bold step of creating an international society to promote the interaction of scientists dedicated to the study of xenobiotics in living systems. The study of xenobiotics (medicinal drugs, agricultural chemicals, industrial chemicals, environmental contaminants and other exogenous substances) encompasses the introduction into, distribution and transport throughout, interactions with and elimination of these compounds from biological systems. The studies on xenobiotics include the rates and extents of the processes and the biological consequences.


Agriculture in the Global South is innately susceptible to climatic variability and change. In many arid and semi-mountainous regions of the developing world, drought is regularly cited as a significant threat to agricultural systems. The objective of this study is to assess the impacts of climate change on drought and land use and land cover (LULC) change in a semi-mountainous region of the Vietnamese Mekong Delta. We assessed previous drought trends (1980–2020) and future drought in the context of climate change, in accordance with three selected scenarios from the Coupled Model Intercomparison Project Phase 6 global climate models which have recently been released by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) (2021–2060) using the Standardized Precipitation Index (SPI). The change of land use for the period 2010–2020 was then assessed and the associated climatic variability explored. The results show that for the period 1980–2019, SPI 3 responds quickly to changes in precipitation, whereas SPI 9 showed a clear trend of precipitation over time. The first longest duration occurrence of drought for SPI 3, SPI 6, and SPI 9 patterns were respectively 15–16, 21, and 25 months at Chau Doc station, and respectively 11, 14–15, and 16–17 months at Tri Ton station. Future precipitation and both maximum/minimum temperatures are projected to increase in both the wet and dry seasons. In addition, for all-time series scales and climate change scenarios, the levels of drought were slight, followed by moderate. In the future, the humidity at Chau Doc station is expected to decrease, while the occurrence of drought events is expected to increase at Tri Ton station, particularly in SPI 6 patterns (110 drought events in 1980–2020, and up to 198 drought events in the future). Moreover, between 2010–2020, the agricultural land area was seen to decrease, replaced by non-agricultural land uses that were found to increase by 22.4%. Among the agricultural land area, forestry, rice crops, and upland rice were found to reduce by 7.5, 16.0, and 21.2%, respectively, while cash crops and perennial crops increased by 26.4% and 170.6%, respectively. Amongst other factors, it is concluded that the variability of climate has led to drought and thus impacted on the conversion of LULC in the study area. Due to low economic efficiency, changing climate conditions, and a lack of irrigated water, the area of rice crops, forestry, aquaculture, and upland rice decreased, replaced by land for orchards for fruit production and other cash crops.


The access of women in all fields of activity has provoked fierce linguistic polemics on feminisation of names of professions which has represented a wide range of linguistic investigations in France and in many French-speaking countries such as Canada, Belgium and Switzerland. This paper aims to examine the manifestation of the process of feminisation of names of professions in the French press, in other words, to observe how feminisation of names of professions in the French written media discourse is applied, knowing the fact that the press represents a favourable environment in which two areas conjugate, namely, society and linguistics. Therefore, this study is part of a sociolinguistic framework and will follow two approaches, one regulatory, related to linguistic habits and the other, innovative, revealed by the actual language-based practices that concern the visibility of women on the linguistic level. This micro research is justified by the assumption already advanced that the media has a very important role in the enrichment of languages, accompanying the evolution of the society by familiarizing the readers with new forms denoting new realities, thereby facilitating their further use. The objectives of this study are the study in the French press of the feminine forms used to designate women, comparing these forms to those indicated in the feminization guides and the Dictionary of the French Academy, which is the linguistic norm. The second part of the study is dedicated to analysing the procedures used to create the feminine form, in case of finding a lexical variation, but also explaining the factors favouring the option of using a form or another. Keywords : French, sociolinguistics, feminisation, names of profession.


Mechanical part recognition has great significance in automated sorting and processing. The core of mechanical part recognition is the part image feature extraction. Thus, how to extract part features to meet the real time requirements for the automated production line has a crucial role. A novel feature extraction algorithm is presented for part image features in this paper. It aims to optimize the fuzzy Fisher criterion function to figure out two orthogonal optimal discriminant vectors in an unsupervised way. Based on these two vectors, the linear transformation from d-dimension to 2-dimension can be obtained. Experimental results on three mechanical parts show its effectiveness.


The extremities are affected by epidermolysis bullosa with blistering, scarring, and joint contractures. The hands are particularly vulnerable because of contact and shearing forces. Repeated cycles of blistering and scarring result in gradual encasement of the hand by an epidermal "cocoon." This article reviews the treatment approaches to loss of motion and independent digital function in the hands of several juvenile patients. All experienced an increase in joint motion and enhanced function as a surgical outcome of epidermal "degloving." Indications for surgery, preoperative planning, and postoperative care are discussed.


BACKGROUND
The impact of gut microbiota-targeted interventions on the incidence, duration, and severity of respiratory tract infections (RTI) in non-elderly adults, and factors moderating any such effects, are unclear.

OBJECTIVES
This systematic review and meta-analysis aimed to determine the effects of orally ingested probiotics, prebiotics, and synbiotics versus placebo on RTI incidence, duration, and severity in non-elderly adults, and to identify potential sources of heterogeneity.

METHODS
Studies were identified by searching CENTRAL, PubMed, Scopus, and Web of Science up to December 2021. English-language peer-reviewed publications of randomized, placebo-controlled studies that tested an orally ingested probiotic, prebiotic or synbiotic intervention of any dose for ≥ 1 week in adults 18-65 yr were included. Results were synthesized using intention-to-treat and per protocol random effects meta-analysis. Heterogeneity was explored by sub-group meta-analysis and meta-regression. Risk of bias (RoB) was assessed using the Cochrane RoBv.2 tool for randomized trials.

RESULTS
Forty-two manuscripts reporting effects of probiotics (n = 38), prebiotics (n = 2), synbiotics (n = 1) or multiple -biotic types (n = 1) were identified (n = 9,179 subjects). Probiotics reduced the risk of experiencing ≥ 1 RTI (relative risk = 0.91 [95%CI: 0.84, 0.98] P = 0.01), and total days (rate ratio = 0.77 [0.71, 0.83] P < 0.001), duration (Hedges's g = -0.23 [-0.39, -0.08] P = 0.004) and severity (Hedges's g = -0.16 [-0.29, -0.03] P = 0.02) of RTI. Effects were relatively consistent across different strain combinations, doses and durations, though reductions in RTI duration were larger with fermented dairy as the delivery matrix, and beneficial effects of probiotics were not observed in physically active populations. Overall RoB was rated as "some concerns" for most studies.

CONCLUSIONS
Orally ingested probiotics, relative to placebo, modestly reduce the incidence, duration and severity of RTI in non-elderly adults. Physical activity and delivery matrix may moderate some of these effects. Whether prebiotic and synbiotic interventions confer similar protection remains unclear due to few relevant studies. PROSPERO registration: CRD42020220213.


High reproductive power and short development cycle, in addition to other factors, enable D.gallinae to produce adverse effects in the poultry industry. Not all development stages have the same significance, nor are they equally sensitive to the methods and formulations used for D.gallinae control. Laboratory tests were conducted by exposing eggs, larvae and protonymphs to P 547/17 formulation of inert oils (Pulcap). The testing was carried out with 20% oil-in-water emulsion with short exposure (1 min), and with  10%, 20%, 50% and 100% oil-in-water emulsion with continuous exposure. In the first control group, water was used (with continuous exposure), and in the other control group, eggs, larvae and nymphs were not treated. We determined that in all cases, eggs were laid in high percentage (89-100%). In addition to this, in tested liquids, larvae were present in high percentage and they change into protonymphs (8-89%). In the conditions of full exposure, where parasitic stages cannot leave the emulsion, P 547/17 in time achieves complete efficacy on development stages. In short exposure of eggs, when dirt is present, or on absorbent surfaces, P 547/17 emulsion cannot control them. However, this flaw is not essential in practical conditions. When applied correctly, P 547/17 formulation is efficient in D.gallinae control.


Ultra-fine grained steel (UFGS) with an average grain size of less than 1μm has been developed and is expected to demonstrate superior properties. However, its welded heat-affected zone, HAZ, substantially affecting the strength of a welded joint, will be easily softened after welding. Therefore, minimization of UFGS's HAZ size during laser welding was carried out using the cooling conductor liquid nitrogen. It was found that a shielding gas with adequate flow rate for the liquid nitrogen depth was used to displace nitrogen on the area of laser beam irradiation to stabilize the weld bead. Also, because YAG laser system was mainly used because it has a lower laser induced plasma or plume temperature, which results in a decreased occurrence of pit and blowhole. HAZ size minimization strongly depends on the initial plate temperature. Reduced initial plate temperature shrinks the specific heated temperature range in which softening occurs. However, due possibly to decreasing thermal conductivity under room temperature, which prevents heat removal, the benefit of reducing the initial plate temperature is limited. The optimal initial temperature to minimize the HAZ size, in the present work, was found to be 123K.


Differently from the standard contemporary variety of European Portuguese, in which subject-verb inversion is considered categorical in gerund clauses, in Old Portuguese and Dialectal European Portuguese we can find both subject-verb and verb-subject orders in gerund clauses. These variable word orders challenge classical assumptions that correlate word order in gerund clauses with the null subject parameter. Therefore, other factors have to be taken into account. This work investigates the factors that condition subject-verb word order in gerund clauses of Old Portuguese and Dialectal European Portuguese. Corpus data show us that there is a difference in the frequency of subject-verb inversion in both varieties: verb-subject is the predominant word order in Old Portuguese, while subject-verb is the predominant word order in the dialects, regardless of the presence of inflected gerunds. In what concerns the conditioning factors that may trigger one order or the other, we considered the type of verb, the type of subject, and the presence of a connective. In the dialects, regardless of overt inflection, the most important factor for the post-verbal occurrence of the subject is the type of verb. In contrast, in Old Portuguese subject-verb inversion is the dominant pattern and post-verbal subjects can be found with all verb classes. We hypothesize that differences between the two varieties may correlate with the productivity of gerund clauses introduced by a connective, the specification of the C-domain and information-driven movement.


The aim of this study was to estimate the lowest concentration of pesticide residues in non-fatty food matrix at which the residues can be successfully identified by automatic spectral deconvolution software AMDIS. For GC-MS measurements fast GC with narrow capillary column was utilized. For a mixture of 18 pesticides, the identification was successful at concentration levels 4–0.4 mg kg−1 in real matrix samples (apples). With decreasing concentration, the number of identified pesticides and the quality of deconvoluted spectra decreased. The calculated limits of full-scan detection ranged from 0.20 ng for chlorpyrifos to 1.10 ng for captan. Software AMDIS with the used experimental set-up is not sufficiently sensitive for reliable identification of pesticide residues in non-fatty food matrices with low maximal residual limits (e.g. baby food 0.01 mg kg−1).


I had a feeling of great comfort and pride when I read the commentaries by Ben Hoyt1 and by Sacha Bahtia and Adam Natsheh:2 if the opinions expressed by these authors reflect the attitudes of young physicians to health care in Canada for the future, we are in safe hands. The medical establishment should heed their message. I have practised under systems of no health insurance and of multiple insurers in addition to our current national system. I would never want to see us return to some version of the former 2 systems or to adopt a costly, confused, limited scheme like that in the United States. I hope our current medical leaders and those they represent can see past their desire for immediate financial gratification with a long-term view of what is best for the average Canadian.


According to Deutsch Austauschdinst (DAAD), more than 101 million people in the world are speaking German and about 20 million people around the world is learning about it. In addition to studying the German language in school or language-courses, it can also be done easily without having to spend a lot of money, simply by using German language learning application based on Android. The application aims to provide knowledge of German language for beginners or at the basic level, Start Deutsch A1 for all ages. Features provided for learning German is equipped with learning materials menu, quizzes menu as excercises and competency test menu which is the simulation test of Start Deutsch A1. To see the development of user capabilities, quizzes are equipped with the assessment contained in the score menu and review answers at the end of each quiz. Based on testing results, this learning application can run well on devices with the Android operating system version 4.1 to 5.0.2, and so is the process of accessing databases on the web services. In addition, the testing is also done by giving questionnaires to 10 respondents to determine the satisfaction's level. Based on questionnaires, 80% of respondents said they were satisfied with the whole package of applications.


A full-white aging discharge process is proposed to recover permanent boundary image sticking in an AC plasma display panel. A simultaneous 100-h aging discharge in both boundary image sticking and nonimage sticking cells induced sputtering and redeposition of the MgO surfaces in both cell types, resulting in similar MgO surface morphologies. The luminance characteristics, including the infrared emission and chromaticity coordinates, of the boundary image sticking cells were also compared to those of the nonimage sticking cells. As a result, the full-white aging discharge was found to contribute to the recovery of permanent boundary image sticking cells.


: Six Hereford steers averaging 256 kg were used in a 2 x 3 factorial arrangement within a 6 x 6 Latin square design to study the effect of forage conservation (silage vs hay) and N supplementation (0, 200 g of fish meal plus 43 g of urea, or 400 g of fish meal) on ruminal characteristics, digestibility, blood urea, and in situ degradability of DM, N, and ADF. Dry matter intake of forage and total DMI did not differ among treatments (P greater than .05) and averaged 5.3 and 5.5 kg, respectively. Steers fed silage had greater (P less than .05) pH and concentrations of ammonia N, isobutyrate, isovalerate, and valerate in the rumen than in the rumen of those fed hay. Nitrogen supplementation increased (P less than .05) concentrations of total VFA and valerate in the rumen. Digestibility of N and ADF was greater (P less than .05) for silage than for hay, and N supplementation increased digestibility of N. Plasma urea concentrations were greater (P less than .05) for steers fed silage than for those fed hay. These data suggest that feed utilization is better with silage than with hay and is increased by N supplementation.


Background: The implementation of an organized screening strategy should include a cost-effectiveness analysis for the governments to take decisions that promote health and better allocate resources which does not happen most of the times. This study aimed to evaluate the most cost-effective strategy for CRC screening in a European Country. Methods: A cost-effectiveness (CE) probabilistic Markov model was developed to compare the costs and the quality-adjusted life expectancy of 50-year-old average-risk individuals submitted to five alternative screening strategies based on colonoscopy, computed tomography (CT) and FIT, as well as no screening. We calculated the costs from the perspective of a third payer (Portuguese National Health Service) and populated the model with data from published literature. Probability of being cost-effective was estimated for different thresholds of willingness-to-pay. Results: Colonoscopy 3/10 years is the most cost-effective strategy for colorectal screening in Portugal, with an estimated ICER of 802 €/ QALY when compared with colonoscopy every 10 years. The FIT and CT colonography based strategies are dominated by colonoscopy-based strategies. Biennial FIT, the strategy currently being used in Portugal, showed the smallest gains in life years gained (498.3 days) the smallest reduction in the incidence of CRC (-37%) and the smallest reduction in CRC mortality (-57%) between all the screening strategies. The findings were robust to probabilistic sensitivity analysis. Conclusions: Colonoscopy based strategies offer the best value for the money in Portugal. Biennial FIT, the screening strategy in Portugal should be replaced by a colonoscopy-based strategy. Screening European Country. A Comparison of Five Alternative Screening Strategies.


Auto-Generative Learning Objects (AGLO) are reusable learning templates that can be instantiated with content based on random numbers.
The templates are filled with content generated automatically by metaprogramming.
The DSEL platform is a web application that processes the AGLO templates and generates interactive HTML content for the students. The platform includes user authentication based on Google, Facebook and Yahoo in order to avoid creating new credentials.
Each HTTP session is stored in the database in order to analyze the progress of the learning process for each student. The DSEL platform processes the evaluation of symbols and then replaces the content of HTML. The symbols may have text values or SVG (Scalar Vector Graphics) content.
The platform is responsible for processing the interaction between student and the correct answer. It evaluates the student answer by comparing it to the computed answer. Another aspect of the interaction is about selecting the right feedback to be shown to the student based on the given answer.
The DSEL platform manages the persistance of the students interactions. Since the HTML content is dynamically generated each symbol is posted in a MySql database through a PHP persistance module. The navigation on the AGLO objects hierarchy tree is monitorized and stored in the database.
Each visit to an AGLO and its generated content is stored in the database to be further investigated. The result of the student answer evaluation is stored in the database too. The learning progress is showed in a web page for each user and globally for the administrator.
The platform is prepared to be evaluated for two disciplines namely, Data Structures and Algorithms and Algorithm Design and Analysis.
As perspective, we intent to implement an analytics module to gather conclusions from the AGLO learning approach.


How should we intervene on an unknown structural equation model to maximize a downstream variable of interest? This setting, also known as causal Bayesian optimization (CBO), has important applications in medicine, ecology, and manufacturing. Standard Bayesian optimization algorithms fail to effectively leverage the underlying causal structure. Existing CBO approaches assume noiseless measurements and do not come with guarantees. We propose the model-based causal Bayesian optimization algorithm (MCBO) that learns a full system model instead of only modeling intervention-reward pairs. MCBO propagates epistemic uncertainty about the causal mechanisms through the graph and trades off exploration and exploitation via the optimism principle. We bound its cumulative regret, and obtain the first non-asymptotic bounds for CBO. Unlike in standard Bayesian optimization, our acquisition function cannot be evaluated in closed form, so we show how the reparameterization trick can be used to apply gradient-based optimizers. The resulting practical implementation of MCBO compares favorably with state-of-the-art approaches empirically.


GADTs were introduced in Haskell's eco-system more than a decade ago, but their interaction with several mainstream features such as type classes and functional dependencies has a lot of room for improvement. More specifically, for some GADTs it can be surprisingly difficult to provide an instance for even the simplest of type classes. In this paper we identify the source of this shortcoming and address it by introducing a conservative extension to Haskell's type classes: Bidirectional Type Class Instances. In essence, under our interpretation class instances correspond to logical bi-implications, in contrast to their traditional unidirectional interpretation. We present a fully-fledged design of bidirectional instances, covering the specification of typing and elaboration into System FC, as well as an algorithm for type inference and elaboration. We provide a proof-of-concept implementation of our algorithm, and revisit the meta-theory of type classes in the presence of our extension.


As high-throughput biological sequencing becomes faster and cheaper, the need to extract useful information from sequencing becomes ever more paramount, often limited by low-throughput experimental characterizations. For proteins, accurate prediction of their functions directly from their primary amino-acid sequences has been a long standing challenge. Here, machine learning using artificial recurrent neural networks (RNN) was applied towards classification of protein function directly from primary sequence without sequence alignment, heuristic scoring or feature engineering. The RNN models containing long-short-term-memory (LSTM) units trained on public, annotated datasets from UniProt achieved high performance for in-class prediction of four important protein functions tested, particularly compared to other machine learning algorithms using sequence-derived protein features. RNN models were used also for out-of-class predictions of phylogenetically distinct protein families with similar functions, including proteins of the CRISPR-associated nuclease, ferritin-like iron storage and cytochrome P450 families. Applying the trained RNN models on the partially unannotated UniRef100 database predicted not only candidates validated by existing annotations but also currently unannotated sequences. Some RNN predictions for the ferritin-like iron sequestering function were experimentally validated, even though their sequences differ significantly from known, characterized proteins and from each other and cannot be easily predicted using popular bioinformatics methods. As sequencing and experimental characterization data increases rapidly, the machine-learning approach based on RNN could be useful for discovery and prediction of homologues for a wide range of protein functions.


Atrial fibrillation (AF) is the most common heart rhythm disturbance. Once AF is initiated, dynamic alterations of atrial electrophysiological properties occur invoking, in turn, AF inducibility. In patients for whom AF persists for long-term periods (persAF), identification of critical areas for successful ablation remains a challenge. Improving our understanding of the underlying AF behaviour is a key factor to contribute towards improving patient outcome. In this research, spectral analysis of simultaneous high density non-contact unipolar intracardiac atrial electrograms (AEGs) recorded from the left atrium (LA) of persAF patients (AF duration 34±25 months) was applied after a coherent strategy of cancellation of the ventricular influence on the AEGs. Three-dimensional dominant frequency (DF) maps with 2048 measurement points from AEGS were generated over consecutive frames of up to 1 minute (windows of 4s with 50% overlap). The results of this thesis showed a lack of DF spatiotemporal stability, demonstrating that AF mapping would be preferable performed using simultaneous multipolar recordings. Although DF is not stable, a certain degree of DF reappearance was observed, mostly within 10 s. The spatiotemporal analysis of areas thought to be playing a role in AF maintenance, highest DF areas (HDFAs), revealed presence of three distinct patterns with predominance of cyclic behaviour (61.2±12.4 % of the time) followed by local (27.0±8.6 %) and irregular behaviour (11.9±9.1 %), mostly concentrated in the LA roof and the pulmonary veins. Independently of the trajectory of the HDFAs, the regions located next to the HDFAs' core presented higher DF organisation than areas by the HDFAs' periphery (p=0.0061) providing further insight into the potential mechanisms of persAF. The research has demonstrated the importance of DF mapping as an auxiliary tool contributing to the investigation of persAF patients and would help clinicians to better understand the AF mechanisms. Real-time implementation was shown to be feasible with the use of Graphic Processing Units, where the processing time was 15 times faster than real time, representing an innovation that could have considerable impact on clinical practice, as part of the decision making process for persAF treatment.


Modern theories of galaxy formation predict that the Galactic stellar halo was hierarchically assembled from the accretion and disruption of smaller systems. This hierarchical assembly is expected to produce a high degree of structure in the combined phase and chemistry space; this structure should provide a relatively direct probe of the accretion history of our Galaxy. Revealing this structure requires precise 3D positions (including distances), 3D velocities, and chemistry for large samples of stars. The Gaia satellite is delivering proper motions and parallaxes for >1 billion stars to G ≈ 20. However, radial velocities and metallicities will only be available to G ≈ 15, which is insufficient to probe the outer stellar halo (≳10 kpc). Moreover, parallaxes will not be precise enough to deliver high-quality distances for stars beyond ∼10 kpc. Identifying accreted systems throughout the stellar halo therefore requires a large ground-based spectroscopic survey to complement Gaia. Here we provide an overview of the H3 Stellar Spectroscopic Survey, which will deliver precise stellar parameters and spectrophotometric distances for ≈200,000 stars to r = 18. Spectra are obtained with the Hectochelle instrument at the MMT, which is configured for the H3 Survey to deliver resolution R ≈ 23,000 spectra covering the wavelength range 5150–5300 Å. The survey is optimized for stellar halo science and therefore focuses on high Galactic latitude fields ( ), sparsely sampling 15,000 sq. degrees. Targets are selected on the basis of Gaia parallaxes, enabling very efficient selection of bona fide halo stars. The survey began in the fall of 2017 and has collected 88,000 spectra to-date. All of the data, including the derived stellar parameters, will eventually be made publicly available via the survey website: h3survey.rc.fas.harvard.edu.


Since the number of microorganisms that are resistant to antibiotics has been increasing steadily, the need for combating these pathogens requires new pharmaceutical agents. To produce these substances, new models have been developed in recent decades. In our study, the venom of Agelena labyrinthica (Clerck, 1757) (Araneae: Agelenidae) was tested against ten bacterial strains, specifically, testing 1/100, 1/10 and 1/1 fractions of diluted venom against these bacteria. While the 1/100 dilution was successful in only one of ten bacterial strains, the 1/10 and the 1/1 were effective on six of ten bacterial strains. The most effective results, among these three different concentrations, were observed on Bacillus subtilis. The other five strains that were also sensitive to the dilutions showed similar inhibition zones. Morphological alterations on bacterial cells and comparison with normal cells were accomplished by scanning electron microscopy (SEM). The venom-treated cells, due to their loss of cytoplasm, shrank and presented cell wall depression.


The use of magnesium oxide (MgO) as a filler in an epoxy molding compound (EMC) was considered to identify the maximum thermal conductivity that could be achieved without compromising rheological or processing control and processing flexibility. MgO is an attractive candidate filler for EMCs used in automotive and other applications because MgO is inexpensive, electrically insulative, has relatively high thermal conductivity, is nontoxic, and is a relatively soft filler material meaning it will be less abrasive to surfaces it contacts during its processing and shape molding. A maximum bulk thermal conductivity of 3 W/mK was achieved with a 56% volume fraction of MgO filler. This 56 vol% MgO-filled EMC has a thermal conductivity approximately twice that of traditional silica-filled EMCs with the same volume fraction of filler and has equivalent electrical insulative, thermal expansion, and water absorption characteristics. It is concluded that if a thermal conductivity greater than 3 W/mK is needed in an EMC, then a much more expensive filler material than MgO must be used.


Advanced professional courses (APCs) in the senior year will lay the foundation for further graduate study. Meanwhile, they are summaries and applications of the learnt fundamental professional courses (FPCs). Thus APCs form a connecting link between the preceding and the following studies. For example, Principles and Design of Optoelectronic Instruments (PDOI) is a lecture-based APC aiming at familiarizing students with the operating principles and basic design methods of commonly used optoelectronic instruments. Students will be able to describe the operating procedure of the instruments, distinguish the structure and function of each part, and present preliminary results of both overall design and parameter design. Problem-based approach with the following implementation is a good choice for such APCs. An assignment of system design is announced as the problem at the beginning of the semester. Students are asked to (1) describe the basic working principle, (2) do the overall design and draw the schematic diagram of the system, (3) do the module devision as well as the budget, and (4) finally analyze a critical parameter of the system. Then during the explanation of corresponding chapters, four times of in-class practices are arranged to help the students finish the assignment question-by-question with the help of textbook, internet and the teacher. Compared with straightforward explanation of the chapters and leaving the assignment as a homework at last, the proposed problem-based approach helps improving the motivation and achievement of the students.


Abstract Hydrocarbon exploration and the ongoing assessment of potential seismic risks are the main drivers behind the high-resolution mapping of continental margins. The large volume of literature devoted to turbidite systems in particular shows the importance of detailed descriptions of their characteristics and overall geomorphological variability, primarily through the distribution of sediment facies. These descriptions rely mainly on acoustic measurements, which are notoriously difficult to interpret. Textural analyses quantify the second-order statistics of sonar imagery, detecting and quantifying details invisible to the human eye. We show the potential (and limitations) of this approach using high-resolution (6 m) towed ocean bottom instrument (TOBI) sidescan sonar imagery acquired in the Alborán Sea, south of Almería, Spain, during the high resolution imaging of Tsunamigenic structures (HITS) 2001 programme. The imagery is co-registered with EM-12 multibeam bathymetry, topographic parametric sonar (TOPAS) sub-bottom profiles, and localized ground truthing. Our study focuses on the Almería Canyon, a meandering channel system more than 57 km long and transporting large amounts of sediments from the coast down to the Alborán Trough, c. 1700 m deep. Textural analyses quantify the variations of sediment processes along the slope of the Almería Canyon. They agree with the results of previous studies, and they can be used to provide new insights in the dynamics and evolution of the canyon.


High-rate lithium intercalation properties of the Li-Mn-oxide synthesized by the reassembly of MnO2 nanosheets were examined. The colloidal suspension of MnO2 nanosheets was prepared by the exfoliation of proton-exchanged form of layered manganese oxide through the reaction with tetrabutylammonium hydroxide aqueous solution. The results of chemical analysis indicated that a Li-Mn-oxide had a chemical formula of Li0.31MnO2·0.05H2O. The discharge capacity of a Li-Mn-Oxide was 193 mAh/g initially, and decreased gradually during cycling. A Li-Mn-oxide exhibited the discharge capacity of 79 mAh/g at the current density of 2 A/g, and it was 52 % of 151 mAh/g at the current density of 50 mA/g.


Background: Esophageal malignancy is the fourth leading cause of cancer-related death in India. The most common malignancy of esophagus is squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) followed by adenocarcinoma. But recently, an increase in incidence of adenocarcinoma owing to lifestyle modification has been observed. Other rarer varieties such as granular cell tumor (GCT) and carcinoid tumors are also reported more frequently in the recent literatures. Review of literature: Certain types of esophageal malignancies on evaluation were characteristically localized to specific areas. For example, SCC is more common in upper and middle esophagus owing to the nature of the lining epithelium, adenocarcinoma is prevalent in lower esophagus due to Barrett's metaplasia, and neuroendocrine tumors are frequently encountered in the lower end of esophagus due to the presence of endocrine cells. But rarer types of epithelial and mesenchymal lesions cannot be localized and diagnosed based on site alone. They require histopathological evaluation for confirmatory diagnosis. In the present review, we discuss the different types of malignancies encountered in esophagus, their incidence, histopathological findings, and theranostic value. Conclusion: The incidence of esophageal malignancy has shown an upward trend in the recent years. A thorough knowledge on the varieties of lesions possible in esophagus helps in providing an accurate diagnosis, which ultimately dictates the prognosis of the patient.


Background:Prognosticating the outcome of Intracerebral Hemorrhage (ICH) at the time of admission is important to customize treatment in a cost-effective manner in such cases. ICH sore is a widely used prognosticating tool but yet not evaluated in our setting. This study was aimed to assess the prognostic factors influencing outcome and validating the ICH score for prediction of 30-day mortalityin hospitalized patients with ICH.
Materials and methods:This prospective observational study was conducted in Chittagong Medical College Hospital, Bangladesh among 105 consecutively admitted patients aged 18 years and above with a computed tomography evidence of spontaneous ICH. ICH score was calculated soon after confirmation of diagnosis. Primary outcome measure was 30-day mortality after admission. Modified Rankin Scale (mRS) was used to assess outcome at discharge and at 30-day follow up.
Results:A total of 104 patients were analyzed. Mean age of this cohort was 59.30±19.91 years. At 30 days all 27 patients with an ICH score of 0 survived, whereas those having scores of 1, 2, 3, and 4 had 5.9%, 33.3%, 46.2% and 88.9% mortality, respectively. ICH score was good for discriminating 30-day mortality with having an area under the ROC curve of 0.886 (95% CI:0.816-0.956; p<0.001]. For patients scoring above 2, the rate of poor functional outcome (mRS score e"4) approaches 100%. On the other hand, 18.5% of patients with score of 0 and 64.7% of patients with a score of 1 are not functionally independent after 30 days.
Conclusion:In conclusion, the present study has demonstrated that the ICH score is a strong prognostic indicator of ICH outcomes (30-day mortality and 30- day functional outcome) among hospitalized patients in Bangladesh.
Bangladesh Journal of Neuroscience 2019; Vol. 35 (2): 78-85


Background Veno-venous extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) is probably the preferable configuration to assist children with respiratory failure who do not respond to maximized conventional therapies. The single-vessel, double-lumen approach through the internal jugular vein is extremely advantageous, especially in infants, where femoral access presents limitations related to the small dimensions of the veins. In case of emergencies, ECMO might need to be started at the bedside, without the availability of fluoroscopic guidance. To our knowledge, a completely percutaneous approach has not been reported before in children younger than 1 year and weighing less than 5 kg. Methods We describe 3 cases of emergency bedside, percutaneous, bicaval double-lumen cannulation under real-time transthoracic ultrasound control in 2 neonates and 1 infant. Results In our experience, this approach proved to be safe, effective and time saving, while minimizing bleeding from the cannula insertion site. Cannulation times, from decision making to the beginning of ECMO flow, were 30, 28, 25 minutes respectively, from patient 1 to 3. We do not report any cannula-related injury to vessels and heart structures. Conclusions Our preliminary data suggest that, with the described precautions, percutaneous, echo-guided, bicaval double-lumen cannulation in neonates and infants could be effective and free from major complications. Further evaluation should be warranted in the neonatal population.


Two yellow-pigmented isolates, F-60T and F-392, were isolated from the internal organs of an apparently healthy rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss). The strains were identified as members of the genus Flavobacterium based on the results of 16S rRNA gene sequence analysis. Strains F-60T and F-392 had the highest 16S rRNA gene sequence identity level of 97.4 % to the type strain of Flavobacterium crassostreae LPB0076T. A polyphasic taxonomic approach including phenotypic, chemotaxonomic and genomic characterization was employed to ascertain the taxonomic position of the strains within the genus Flavobacterium. Digital DNA-DNA hybridization (dDDH) and average nucleotide identity based on blast (ANIb) values for strains F-60T and F-392 were calculated as 100 %. However, dDDH and ANI analyses between the strains and their close neighbours confirmed that both strains represent a novel species in the genus Flavobacterium. The strains shared the highest dDDH and ANIb levels of 23.3 and 77.9%, respectively, with the type strain of Flavobacterium frigidarium DSM 17623T while those values for F. crassostreae LPB0076T were obtained as 21.4-21.5 % and 76.3 %. The DNA G+C content of the strains was 34.5 mol%. Chemotaxonomic and phylogenomic analyses of these isolates confirmed that both strains are representatives of a novel species for which the name Flavobacterium muglaense sp. nov. is proposed, with F-60T as the type strain (=JCM 34196T=KCTC 82256T).


The nonlinear Schrodinger equation is an example of a universal nonlinear model that describes many physical nonlinear systems. This equation !nds its way in various areas of nonlinear science such as nonlinear optics, hydrodynamics, nonlinear acoustics, it can also describe quantum condensates, propagation of heat pulses in solids, etc. The NLSE provides a canonical description of the envelope dynamics of a quasi-monochromatic plane wave (the carrying wave) propagating in a weakly nonlinear dispersive medium when dissipative processes are negligible. For short times and small propagation distances, the dynamics is linear, but nonlinear interactions result in a signi!cant modulation and can produce essentially nonlinear cumulative effects such as e.g. appearance of stable structures of solitonic type. In optics, it can also be viewed as the extension to nonlinear media of the paraxial approximations widely used for linear waves propagating in random media. The name "NLSE" originates from a formal analogy with the Schrodinger equation of quantum mechanics. In this context a nonlinear potential arises in the "mean !eld" description of interacting particles. When the NLSE is considered in the wave context, the secondorder linear operator describes the dispersion and diffraction of the wave-packet and the nonlinearity arises from the sensitivity of the refractive index of the medium to the wave amplitude. This thesis is devoted to the study of various problems closely associated with the NLSE such as the Zakharov system, the generalized Zakharov system, the system of coupled NLSEs, the stationary cubic--quintic NLSE and other highly nonlinear generalizations such as the $p(x)$--Laplacian equations.


PURPOSE: The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effect of physical therapy in women diagnosed with chronic constipation using functional training of the pelvic floor (biofeedback). PATIENTS AND METHODS: From March 2009 to March 2010, 67 women with chronic constipation were prospectively evaluated. The patients were evaluated and the constipation score proposed by Agachan et al. was applied. Then, they were sent to biofeedback. These patients were divided into 2 groups: with anismus (group I: mean age of 46.90 years old) and without anismus (group II: mean age of 44.89 years old) and diagnosed by anorectal electromanometry. The treatment was performed with different exercises for each group, associated with some hygieno-dietetic directions. At the end of treatment, the constipation score was reapplied. RESULTS: Pre-biofeedback constipation score in group I was 15.04 (standard deviation - SD=2.48) and post-biofeedback constipation score was 3.39 (SD=1.62) (p<0.0001). Pre-biofeedback constipation score in group II was 14.82 (SD=2.401) and post-biofeedback constipation score was 2.90 (SD=1.64) (p<0.0001). Besides, a significant difference (p<0.005) was observed between the groups regarding the number of biofeedback sessions. CONCLUSION: Thus, the authors conclude that biofeedback is effective in the treatment of constipation.


Ecto-5'-nucleotidase (5'-NT,) CD73 is a glycosyl phosphatidylinositol (GPI)-anchored differentiation Ag and purine salvage enzyme expressed on the surface of subsets of human lymphocytes. CD73 mAbs, in combination with submitogenic PMA or OKT3, activate human T cells to proliferate, secrete IL-2, and express IL-2 receptors. For several GPI-anchored proteins implicated in T cell activation, activation is thought to occur through a mechanism that requires the GPI anchor. To investigate the role of the GPI anchor in CD73-mediated signal transduction, CD73 cDNA was transfected into the human T cell leukemia line Jurkat. Transfectants were stimulated to secrete IL-2 by immobilized OKT3 + PMA and by soluble CD73 mAb + PMA. The amount of IL-2 synthesized by individual clones in response to CD73 mAb + PMA was proportional to the IL-2 response to immobilized OKT3 + PMA. CD73 transfectants of Jurkat mutants defective in the TCR, in p56lck, or in the tyrosine phosphatase CD45 did not secrete IL-2 in response to CD73 mAb + PMA, suggesting a role for the CD3/TCR-signaling complex in CD73-mediated signal transduction. A transmembrane form of CD73 was expressed in Jurkat cells by fusing the extracellular portion of CD73 to the transmembrane domain of human tissue factor. Although as a group, clones expressing transmembrane CD73 synthesized less IL-2 in response to CD73 mAb + PMA than clones expressing the GPI-anchored form of the molecule, the responses of the two groups overlapped considerably. In contrast to previous studies with Ly-6, Qa-2, and CD55, the GPI anchor is not critical for activation through CD73.


Enterococcus faecium is one of the leading pathogens in the world. In this study, we proposed a strategy to rapidly and accurately distinguish vancomycin-resistant Enterococcus faecium (VREfm) and vancomycin-susceptible E. faecium (VSEfm) to help doctors correctly determine the use of vancomycin by a machine learning (ML)-based algorithm. A predictive model was developed and validated to distinguish VREfm and VSEfm by analyzing MALDI-TOF MS spectra of unique E. faecium isolates from different specimen types. Firstly, 5717 mass spectra, including 2795 VREfm and 2922 VSEfm, were used to develop the algorithm. And 2280 mass spectra of isolates, namely 1222 VREfm and 1058 VSEfm, were used to externally validate the algorithm. The random forest-based algorithm demonstrated good classification performances for overall specimens, whose mean AUROC in 5-fold cross validation, time-wise validation, and external validation was all greater than 0.84. For the detection of VREfm in blood, sterile body fluid, urinary tract, and wound, the AUROC in external validation was also greater than 0.84. The predictions with algorithms were significantly more accurate than empirical antibiotic use. The accuracy of antibiotics administration could be improved by 30%. And the algorithm could provide rapid antibiotic susceptibility results at least 24 hours ahead of routine laboratory tests. The turn-around-time of antibiotic susceptibility could be reduced by 50%. In conclusion, a ML algorithm using MALDI-TOF MS spectra obtained in routine workflow accurately differentiated VREfm from VSEfm, especially in blood and sterile body fluid, which can be applied to facilitate the clinical testing process due to its accuracy, generalizability, and rapidness.


Grantees on national projects are often required by their funders to take part in evaluation activities. While the requirement can encourage compliance, grantees can feel overburdened and disempowered with their evaluation experience. Evaluators in a national cross-site evaluation utilized multiple strategies for obtaining buy-in of participating grantees: (1) an initial evaluation needs assessment to foster a collaborative partnership and inform a plan for capacity building; (2) an 'evaluation summit' to facilitate input on the evaluation framework and cross-site measures, encourage relationship-building and evaluation ownership; (3) an Evaluation Advisory Committee to further on-going input and negotiations on evaluation methods and measures; (4) tailored and timely evaluation technical assistance to build capacity and promote peer exchange; and (5) integration of technology (PDAs) to alleviate data collection burden and improve data quality. Use of these methods increased overall grantee trust in the evaluators and buy-in on the evaluation, their increased capacity in evaluation, their expected future investment in evaluation and the availability of data to benefit their agency and clients. It also resulted in the development of acceptable outcomes, measures and instruments for the evaluation, timely IRB approval and increased quality and timeliness of collected data over time. While labor-intensive and challenging, the evaluators found that frequent and creative engagement of stakeholders in the evaluation yielded important benefits both for the evaluators and for grantees. Although these methodologies have direct relevance for evaluators working on large multisite evaluations, they are also applicable to evaluators who are working on smaller, single-site assessments.