The article discloses the link between notions "edutainment" and "language barrier" and also by the practical example the recommendations for the language barrier break or decrease when foreign languages teaching due to edutainment methods application in educational process are given. The data about such events effectiveness, gathered by means of students' questionnaire, are shown. The main attention is given to the analysis of practical application of edutainment at language specialties teaching according to new requirements of Federal State Educational Standard of Higher Professional Education (FSES HPE).


In this research, the models for predicting pedestrian timing signal method are developed using multi-linear regression models and actual survey. Major reasons underlying pedestrian timing signal method are examined in an effort to improve the service for pedestrians. First, pedestrian crossing speed is examined by dividing the sites into commercial zone and school zone, mixed and so on. Second, pedestrian crossing time classified by perception - reaction time and congestion time are explored to develop the pedestrian signal- timing model. Third, with the examined perception-reaction time and congestion time, the extra time for crossing is defined. This research reveals that it is necessary to reset the pedestrian waling time according to surrounding land use and pedestrian behavior characteristics.


The paper highlights design intentions and actual achievements. Hidden bonuses as well as set backs are looked at from technical, operational and budgetarial angles.As the RN1N is actually in the process of designing and building a so called M-frigate of 3000+ tonnes, a true frigate of the nineties, views of both past and future are presented to the gas turbine world.Marinised gas turbines have matured considerably in the recent past, but of even greater importance is the fact that naval personnel have matured towards handling gas turbines.The next decade will therefore see gas turbines in ships, not as some strange high performance "black boxes", but as the relatively simple, high performance hardware side of the man-machine-symbiosis.The unique and highly valued qualities of "marinised" aircraft engines will continue to be recognised. But since ships must have a high degree of sustainability during long months of arduous duty, ships carry engineers and self maintenance will play an ever increasing role.Copyright © 1984 by ASME


Rationale: Gaucher disease (GD) is the most common amongst the lysosomal storage disorders. Prevalence of GD in Saudi Arabia is not available in published literature and it is expected to be high and remains undiagnosed. In 2004, a Saudi study reported that GD accounts for 6% of all genetic metabolic disorders. While acid sphingomyelinase deficiency (ASMD) is a rare progressive genetic disorder with no clear data about its incidence in Saudi Arabia. Consequently, this study proposes to determine the prevalence of GD and ASMD in outpatient settings in Saudi Arabia by screening patients with unknown causes of splenomegaly and/or thrombocytopenia. These data will change the local practice and increase the awareness towards GD and ASMD in Saudi Arabia.
 Objectives: To determine the prevalence of GD in high risk group (defined as patients with splenomegaly and/or thrombocytopenia of unknown cause) and describe their characteristics. We also aim to determine the prevalence of ASMD in high risk group.
 Methods: A multi-center, observational, study will be conducted in 25 specialty care centres across Saudi Arabia, these centres are mainly focusing on pediatric hematology, adult hematology and hemato-pathology. Female or male patients (aged 2-75 years) will deemed eligible if they have clinical, instrumental or laboratory signs of splenomegaly or thrombocytopenia over a period of 12 months without definitive cause. These patients will be tested for acid β-glucosidase and acid sphingomyelinase enzymes activity on dried blood spot (DBS) samples. Patients with hematological malignancies, hemolytic anemia, and/or thalassemia (except sickle cell disease) will be excluded. A total of 400 patients from Saudi Arabia who fulfill the eligibility criteria will be enrolled in the study. All patient data will be collected in a single visit. Each enrolled patient will visit the investigator for a baseline visit. The investigator will contact them later for sharing the investigation blood test results. During the baseline visit, data and blood sample for enzyme tests and genotyping will be collected by the investigator/designated person at the site.
 Discussion: Arab world represents one of the leading regions in terms of the incidence of congenital and genetic disorders; a growing body of published literature reported a notable trends towards higher incidence of congenital and genetic diseases, compared to other parts of the world(1). High consanguinity rates which reach up to 60% in some regions, high prevalence of haemoglobinopathies and metabolic disorders, relatively high maternal and parental age, and lack of proper genetic screening were reported as contributing factors for this high prevalence of genetic disorders in the Arab world(1-3). In Saudi Arabia, the situation appears to be no different as previous retrospective studies showed a relatively high incidence of genetic diseases such as inborn error of metabolism. The data of the present study will change the local practice and increase the awareness towards GD and ASMD in Saudi Arabia.
 References: Al-Gazali L, Hamamy H, Al-Arrayad S. Genetic disorders in the Arab world. BMJ [Internet]. 2006 Oct 21 [cited 2019 Jun 29];333(7573):831-4. Available from: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/17053236 Al-Gazali LI, Alwash R, Abdulrazzaq YM. United Arab Emirates: Communities and Community Genetics. Public Health Genomics [Internet]. 2005 [cited 2019 Jun 29];8(3):186-96. Available from: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/16113536 Wahab AA, Bener A, Teebi AS. The incidence patterns of Down syndrome in Qatar. Clin Genet [Internet]. 2006 Mar 30 [cited 2019 Jun 29];69(4):360-2. Available from: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/16630172

 No relevant conflicts of interest to declare.


Context. We explore the physics behind one of the brightest radio afterglows ever, GRB 030329, at late times when the jet is nonrelativistic. Aims. We determine the physical parameters of the blast wave and its surroundings, in particular the index of the electron energy distribution, the energy of the blast wave, and the density (structure) of the circumburst medium. We then compare our results with those from image size measurements. Methods. We observed the GRB 030329 radio afterglow with the Westerbork Synthesis Radio Telescope and the Giant Metrewave Radio Telescope at frequencies from 325 MHz to 8.4 GHz, spanning a time range of 268−1128 days after the burst. We modeled all the available radio data and derived the physical parameters. Results. The index of the electron energy distribution is p = 2.1, the circumburst medium is homogeneous, and the transition to the non-relativistic phase happens at tNR ∼ 80 days. The energy of the blast wave and density of the surrounding medium are comparable to previous findings. Conclusions. Our findings indicate that the blast wave is roughly spherical at tNR, and they agree with the implications from the VLBI studies of image size evolution. It is not clear from the presented dataset whether we have seen emission from the counter jet or not. We predict that the Low Frequency Array will be able to observe the afterglow of GRB 030329 and many other radio afterglows, constraining the physics of the blast wave during its non-relativistic phase even further.


Background: Motivation in work has been shown in earlier studies to determine employee performance. Motivation is a power that causes people to behave in a positive way that may result in better performance. However, empirical evidence on this association in hospital setting in Indonesia is lacking. The purpose of this study was to determine the association between motivation and work performance among nurses in hospital, after controlling for the effect of supervision. Subjects and Method: This was a cross sectional study conducted at Dr. Moewardi Hospital, Surakarta, Central Java, from April to May 2018. A sample of 150 nurses was selected for this study by random sampling. The dependent variable was nurse performance. The independent variables were motivation and supervision. The data were collected by questionnaire and analyzed by a multiple linear regression. Results: Nurse performance was associated with motivation (OR= 3.24; 95% CI= 1.45 to 7.21; p= 0.004) and supervision (OR= 2.83; 95% CI= 1.31 to 6.14; p= 0.008). Nagelkerke R2= 22.0%. Conclusion: Nurse performance is associated with motivation, after controlling for the effect of supervision.


Even in its legal meaning, the term "property" has several distinguishable facets. The spectrum of possible concepts comprises property as an absolute right with respect to an object in private law, intellectual property and the distinct concept of property of the Constitution. The possibilities of using property on the one hand, and of legal protection of this property on the other hand, are correspondingly manifold.


Credit take over agreements with guarantees of Mortgage Rights in the banking world can still be said to be attractive because CCB Indonesia Pekanbaru Branch is carrying out a binding agreement on take-over credit and Power of Attorney Imposing Mortgage Rights with the conditions of Land Rights Certificates and Mortgage Certificates still attached Mortgage rights for the Initial Creditors / Banks that are taken over. CCB Indonesia in approving the take over credit facility with the main consideration being that the debtor has a history of credit collectibility in the Debtor Information for the Financial Information Service System / IDEB SLIK OJK with current credit collectability. Debtors choose to take over credit facilities to CCB Indonesia because they obtain lower lending credit interest rates, higher credit facility ceilings, faster approval processes and credit decision making compared to Initial Creditors, free of administrative fees and free of notary fees. The main problem in this study is how to take over credit agreements with guaranteed mortgage rights at  Bank China Construction Bank Indonesia Tbk. Pekanbaru Branch. How is the legal protection for the parties with a credit take-over agreement (take over) with guaranteed Mortgage Rights at Bank China Construction Bank Indonesia Tbk. Pekanbaru Branch. The method used in this research is empirical juridical research. Respondents / Informants as well as samples in this study are Credit Operations Head of "CCB Indonesia" Pekanbaru Branch of 1 (one) person and 7 (seven) Notary Partners of "CCB Indonesia" of Pekanbaru Branch. Data collection tool in this study was in the form of an interview. This research is descriptive in nature, providing complete and clear data on loan takeover agreements with guaranteed mortgage rights at Bank China Construction Bank Indonesia Tbk. Pekanbaru Branch. The results of the author's research indicate that the specificity of the credit take-over agreement (guarantee over) with guaranteed Mortgage in Article 3 explicitly specifies that currently the object of Mortgage Guarantee is still in the initial creditor / bank (taken over) and Article 4 expressly specifies that The debtor will transfer the funds to the initial creditor / bank account (taken over) from the proceeds from the disbursement of credit facilities obtained by the Debtor from the CCB Indonesia Pekanbaru Branch. After the signing of the credit agreement has been fulfilled, the Partner Notary issues a Cover Note / Certificate submitted to CCB Indonesia to continue the transfer of funds to the Debtor account at the Initial Creditors / Banks which are overtaken. Legal protection for the Parties in the Take Over Agreement with guaranteed Mortgage is carried out in 2 (two) forms, namely preventive and repressive from CCB Indonesia Creditor and Partner Notary.


This study aimed at evaluating the growth and essential oil content of Salvia officinalis L. (sage) inoculated with two species of arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF) Rhizophagus clarus and Claroideoglomus etunicatum under different phosphorous (P) levels. The treatments were prepared in a sterile substrate (sand, vermiculite and organic compound (1: 1: 2, v:v) with high (200 mg kg−1) and low (20 mg kg−1) P levels at sowing, with and without AMF inoculation; the experiment was conducted in a greenhouse for four months. Plants were grown in pots with 3 kg of substrate in a 3 x 2 (3 mycorrhizal x 2 levels of P) factorial experiment, in a completely randomized design (with eight repetitions). Spore density, AMF root colonization, plant dry mass, P and N shoot content, yield and composition of essential oil (EO) were determined. Data were processed and submitted to analyses of hierarchical clustering and principal component. Plant biomass increased with addition of P in the substrate. EO content increased with AMF Rhizophagus clarus inoculation in high-P substrate. It was concluded that inoculation with R. clarus and the addition of P at sowing can boost the growth of sage and the content of its EO. Camphor, α-humulene, viridiflorol, manool, α-thujone and β- thujone were the main components of the EO.


Beckett's plays have attracted a striking range of disability performances, in part because of their insistent attention on embodied existence and the impaired body. Here, I examine four recent disability performances of Beckett's plays, exploring how these productions prompt re-evaluation of the previously undetected indicators of disability in the scripts, including mobility impairment, automatic speech, stuttering, and memory deficiency. Drawing on a series of original interviews with the practitioners in question, I examine the intersection between textual aesthetics and disability ethics in these contemporary productions, emphasising how these performances illuminate crucial corporeal, social, and ontological concerns in Beckett's original scripts, in newly embodied terms.


Abstract We describe a new large otodontid lamniform shark, Megalolamna paradoxodon gen. nov. et sp. nov., chronostratigraphically restricted to the early Miocene (Aquitanian–Burdigalian). This new species is based on isolated teeth found from five globally distributed localities: the Jewett Sand in southern California, USA; the Pungo River Formation of North Carolina, USA; the Chilcatay Formation of Peru; the Oi Formation in Mie Prefecture, Japan; and the O'oshimojo Formation in Nagano Prefecture, Japan. Extrapolations based on available published data on modern macrophagous lamniforms suggest that the largest specimen of M. paradoxodon gen. nov. et sp. nov. possibly came from an individual that measured at least 3.7 m in total length. All specimens came from deposits in the mid-latitudinal zones representing shallow-water, shelf-type, coastal environments. Its dentition likely exhibited monognathic heterodonty suited for capturing and cutting relatively large prey (e.g. medium-sized fishes). We recommend the genus Otodus to include sharks of the 'megatoothed' (e.g. megalodon) lineage in order to avoid Otodus paraphyly. We also propose the following phylogenetic hypothesis: [Kenolamna + [Cretalamna + [Megalolamna + Otodus]]]. ZooBank LSID for the genus Megalolamna is: urn: lsid:zoobank.org:act:B4791DEF-4D96-4FEB-9B7B-0EF816B96079 ZooBank LSID for the species Megalolamna paradoxodon is: urn:lsid:zoobank.org:act:7D3D7442-53C6-43A2-9E8D-6339729565B6


It is always important for departments - at all levels, from staff to managers to directors - to constantly evaluate how well their structure matches the needs of the institution. Sometimes changes are needed, and sometimes the transition from one model to the next can be less than smooth. At Menlo College, because of a number of staff changes - including departmental leadership - a strategic plan to increase specialization has had a ripple effect through the entire IT organization. For instance, taking two of three Help Desk staff and diverting them to other operations and relying more on students for support has had its ups and downs. Additionally, bringing an Administrative Systems manager on board has resulted in knowledge transfer issues. This presentation will cover the programmatic and strategic planning that went into these changes as well as how the process has gone, is going, and what we hope to do as we move forward.


Summary 1. "Folic acid" deficiencies induced by aminopterin and by sulfa drugs in rats have been compared. 2. Aureomycin can counteract the toxic effects of 50, 75 and 100 μg of aminopterin/100 g of diet. The antibiotic is equally effective whether fed in the diet or given intraperitoneally. 3. Aureomycin is without effect on growth in rats made "folic acid deficient" on a sulfa diet. 4. Citrovorum factor concentrates are able to completely overcome the deficiency produced on either type of diet.


Based on 726 cases of mountain floods and geological disasters from 1950 to 2003 in Hubei Province, their temporal and spatial distribution properties are analyzed first; then two abrupt increasing points(1974,1988) of the annual numbers of cases are checked out by moving t-test method (the mountain floods and slope-slip most remarkably) ,and annual rainfall also suddenly increased at these two years, and their correlative coefficient is 0.3, which means rainfall is the main natural forcing factors to mountain floods and geological disasters; further analysis shows that severe rainfall above rainstorm is the main leading factors to mountain floods, slope-slip, debris flows, landslide; and lasting rain is the main leading factors to subsiding and also has important impact on slope-slip, debris flows, landslide, but the least impact to mountain floods.


Charge transfer processes for Ar~3+ on Ar collisions at 27 keV,45 keV and 66 keV have been studied,and absolute cross sections for each channel have been obtained by normalizing to the cross sections reported by Bliman,Dousson,et al.Experiment shows that electron capture is the dominant process;transfer ionization contributions,however,can not be neglected.Further more,the cross sections for each channel found to be independent on projectile energy.The experimental results have also been compared with theoretical calculations,which are based on the MCBM(Molecular Coulombic overBarrier Model) considering auto-ionization.The model calculations predict there are no transfer ionization contributions,but experiments found that transfer ionization contributions are not negligible.For single-and double-electron capture,the experimental results are in reasonable agreement with the MCBM calculations,but MCBM predicts larger cross sections,and for triple-electron capture,the result of MCBM is one order bigger than the measured value.


Sandwich and cake formats of interventionist Dynamic Assessment suffer from two problems: both are time-demanding, and the intervention presented to the learners varies from one learner to another.  To suggest a solution to the above problems in teaching and assessing reading strategies, the present researchers have introduced 'sauce'-format mediation through which intervention is provided for the learners within 'mediation boxes' along the test. Thirty Iranian intermediate EFL learners participated in the study. They were first given a non-mediated reading pretest, and then they took the same test along with a 'mediation box' following each question to observe the probable effect of 'sauce'-format mediation.  To measure the transcendence of the given mediation, the participants answered a non-mediated delayed posttest at the end.  Comparing the means of the mediated posttest and non-mediated pretest on the one hand and those of the non-mediated delayed posttest and the pretest on the other revealed that the learners benefitted significantly well from the 'sauce'-format mediation and could transfer their learning to a novel context. Findings of this study are consistent with the previous research on DA that intervention supports learner development.


We introduce a notion of nodal domains for positivity preserving forms. This notion generalizes the classical ones for Laplacians on domains and on graphs. We prove the Courant nodal domain theorem in this generalized setting using purely analytical methods.


The two major indexing/abstracting services in the field of librarianship, Library Literature and Library and Information Science Abstracts, were searched for references to all articles on the subject of burnout published during the 1980s. The total of forty-nine articles was examined and compared using content analysis techniques. Articles had been writ ten primarily by educators/researchers for the benefit of librarians rather than library administrators. Generic situ ations rather than particular types of libraries or types of activities were favored although reference/public service people were featured far more frequently than were techni cal service people. More recently, there has been an in creased recognition of workplace factors as part of the prob lem and management as part of the solution.


Purpose: This study was to investigate the isometric muscle torque of patients with primary total hip replacement (THR) by long-term follow-up. Methods: A prospective study was conducted to quantitatively measure the hip muscle torque in 23 patients with unilateral hip disorders following primary THR. Maximum isometric torque of the hip flexors, extensors, abductors and adductors were annually measured from the sixth month to the tenth year after THR using the Cybex 350 dynamometer. Results: The results showed improvement in the muscle strength of both operated and non-operated hips after THR. Furthermore, the most obvious improvement of muscle torque w as observed 3 years post-operation. Using the muscle torque measured 6 months post-operation at the samelimb as the reference, the improvement was 124-174% for the operated hip and 109-159% for the non-operated hip. Regarding muscle strengh, all of the operated hip muscles, except for the abductos, showed progress to over 90% of non-operated hip muscles. None of the muscles at the operated hip showed progress to the same level of muscle strength of the non-operated hip. Following three to four years after the operation, there was an obvious decline in muscle strength of the operated hips. Then, the muscle strength of the operated hip showed a steady decline from the 5th year to the tenth year after THR. Conclusion: Muscle strengthening exercises of bilateral hip joints are suggested to be prescribed to patients with THR, even if the muscle strength seem to have reached maximum recovery.


After six years′usage, the Magnesium Anodo that protocting the oil pipeline of Beitan oil depot can still output sizeable protecting current. And after fourteen years′usage, the magnesium anode that protecting another LNG pipeline can also output sizeable protecting current. On the contrary, the magnesium anode that buriod in dryness area can only output lesser current. The magnesium anode work normally can when it was buried in moist earth with backfilling .


A series of diphenylquinoxaline-containing polyamides were prepared from the condensation polymerization of 2,3-bis (4-bromophenyl) quinoxaline (DBQ) with various primary and secondary diamides via copper-catalyzed amidation reaction. The polyamides were characterized with FTIR, NMR, GPC, differential scanning calorimeter, and thermo gravimetric analysis, and their solubility and viscosity were measured. The polyamides synthesized here are amorphous and showed relatively good solubility in polar aprotic solvents and demonstrate the ability to form brownish hard films by solvent casting; their inherent viscosities ranged from 49 to 55 mL/g. The average molecular weights of polyamides were in the range of Mw = 11,950–5592 g/mol (MWD = 1.21–1.87). These polyamides had relatively high thermal stability with Tg values up to 276°C, 10% weight loss temperatures (T10%) in the range of 364–476°C, and char yields at 600°C in N2 up to 72%. They also exhibit emission in the solid state and in dilute (0.2 g/dL) DMAc solution at 425–484 nm with photoluminescence quantum (ϕf) yields in the range of 14–23%. © 2011 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci, 2012


Microbial fuel cells (MFCs) have shown promise in solving energy and environmental problems, but their practical application is limited by their low power output. In this study, carbon nanotubes/polypyrrole composite anode materials were prepared on a porous sponge matrix. By combining the porous characteristics of sponge, the good conductive properties of carbon nanotubes, and the energy storage ability of polypyrrole capacitive materials, the prepared anode exhibited a large specific capacity, high porosity, large specific surface area, good electron transport ability, and good biocompatibility. The results showed that the maximum power density of the modified anode MFC reached 7.46 W m−3, which was 2.53 times higher than that of the control anode. The stored energy Qs released by the modified anode was 235.6 C m−2, 6.5 times higher than that of the control electrode. In addition, the transfer impedance Rct of the S/CNT/PPy electrode (5.5 Ω) was much lower than that of the control anode (16.8 Ω). The research presented in this paper demonstrates a new approach to improving the power generation ability and energy storage performance of MFCs.


Despite continued technologic progress, including advances in medical imaging, hemoptysis remains an impor- tant clinical and potentially grave condition. Any hemorrhage resulting in compromise of pulmonary or hemody-namic status should be considered substantial necessitating therapeutic intervention. The management of life-threatening hemoptysis de- mands a well-integrated, multidisciplinary approach. Introduction Endovascular arterial embolization is becoming more and more favored over wedge resections for massive hemoptysis due to be- ing less invasive and offering fewer complications, especially to those who are poor surgical candidates or have less pulmonary reserve. Readers will be able to learn from this case about the issues we present with hemoptysis in patients with underlying chronic lung disease.


Extracted from text ... Truth, reconciliation and resolutionin South AfricaGavin BradshawDirector, Institute for the Study andResolution of Conflict and senior lecturer inPolitics/Conflict StudiesSchool of Social Sciences and HumanitiesUniversity of Port ElizabethThe Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) represents an attempt to dojustice restoratively, but an incomplete attempt. Only time will tell whether thegaps will be fatal (Zehr 1997:20)1 INTRODUCTIONThis article examines South Africa's Truth and Reconciliation Commission(TRC),1 as an attempt to resolve some of the more deep-rooted aspects of theSouth African conflict. The focus will only be on the broader aspects of the TRC? including its origins, the motivation behind its establishment and the terms ofthat ..
Extracted from text ... Truth, reconciliation and resolutionin South AfricaGavin BradshawDirector, Institute for the Study andResolution of Conflict and senior lecturer inPolitics/Conflict StudiesSchool of Social Sciences and HumanitiesUniversity of Port ElizabethThe Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) represents an attempt to dojustice restoratively, but an incomplete attempt. Only time will tell whether thegaps will be fatal (Zehr 1997:20)1 INTRODUCTIONThis article examines South Africa's Truth and Reconciliation Commission(TRC),1 as an attempt to resolve some of the more deep-rooted aspects of theSouth African conflict. The focus will only be on the broader aspects of the TRC? including its origins, the motivation behind its establishment and the terms ofthat ..


In the age of "Globalization," the most important factor in the world politics seems to be the civilizations, not the ideologies, as Samuel Huntington eloquently asserts. With the magnificent emergence of the Chinese civilization on the world stage, many people, including intellectuals, pay attention with great interest to East Asian civilization.1) If you read books on Chinese philosophy, you may find that almost all the books overwhelmingly discuss ancient philosophies like Confucianism, Taoism, Legalism and "Hundred Schools". This fact shows the richness of ancient philosophy and how it played continuously an important role in Chinese history. It applies not only to China, but also to Korea and Japan, perhaps to the whole of East Asia. I am currently trying to build up the concept of East Asian jurisprudence.2)


Introduction: The most important element of society is the family. Accordingly, the study of factors that play a role in marital commitment is also of fundamental importance. Aim: The aim of this study was to develop a causal model of marital commitment based on forgiveness and differentiation mediated by marital intimacy and the effectiveness of this model on the quality of marital relationships. Method: In terms of quantitative nature, practical purpose and data collection method, this study was a correlation of structural equation analysis. The statistical population of the study included all married employees of education in districts 1 and 2 of Sanandaj city in the academic year 2018-2019. Using cluster sampling method, 30 people were selected and replaced in experimental and control groups. In order to collect data, Marital Commitment Questionnaire, Marital Intimacy Scale, Self-Differentiation Questionnaire, Family Forgiveness Scale and Marital Relationship Quality Questionnaire were used. Analysis of covariance using SPSS-21 was used for statistical analysis of data. Results: The results of structural equation analysis showed that forgiveness (P≤0.01, β=0.47), differentiation (P≤0.05, β=0.13), and intimacy (P≤0.05, β=0.12) has an indirect effect on marital commitment and forgiveness (0.08) and differentiation (0.02) through intimacy on marital commitment. Conclusion: The results showed that forgiveness, differentiation and intimacy affect marital commitment and effectiveness on the quality of marital relationships and it is suggested that the outlines of the program in the implementation of workshops and information about education and expression of importance Variables related to marital commitment should be the basis.


PURPOSE: To move contents in a first chamber to a second chamber without exposing the contents to the outside air, by evacuating gas from an interface volume, moving the wall of a second chamber into an area inside the second chamber, and moving the wall of a first chamber and contents in the first chamber into the area inside the second chamber. CONSTITUTION: A wafer carrier 42 is arranged on the upper wall 20 of a buffer chamber 14. An interface chamber 68 is exhausted by using a pump via an interface port 70. When the pressure in the interface chamber 68 becomes nearly equal to carrier pressure, the upper wall 20 of the buffer chamber 14 is made to descend by an elevator mechanism 22. As a result, a bottom cover member 46 of the wafer carrier 42 is made to descend in the buffer chamber 14. It becomes possible for a semiconductor wafer 52 to perform access for working.


We generalize the Cohen-Jones-Segal construction to the Morse-Bott setting. In other words, we define framings for Morse-Bott analogues of flow categories and associate a stable homotopy type to this data. We use this to recover the stable homotopy type of a closed manifold from Morse-Bott theory, and the stable equivariant homotopy type of a closed manifold with the action of a compact Lie group from Morse theory. We use this machinery in Floer theory to construct a genuine circle equivariant model for symplectic cohomology with coefficients in the sphere spectrum. Using the formalism of relative modules, we define equivariant maps to (Thom spectra over) the free loop space of exact, compact Lagrangians. We prove that this map is an equivalence of Borel equivariant spectra when the Lagrangian is the zero section of a cotangent bundle -- an equivariant Viterbo isomorphism theorem over the sphere spectrum.


As a contribution to the knowledge of the flora of the state of Oaxaca, Mexico, a revision of the grasses was undertaken. Herbarium specimens from the main herbaria in Mexico were examined, as well as those recently collected in the region. A data base was created in order to compile and organize the available information. The results obtained show a total of 141 genera and 528 of native, introduced and cultivated species of grasses. These numbers approximately represent 68.60% of the grass genera and the 46.76% of the grass species that are present in Mexico. At the subfamily level the distribution of taxa is


There is one situation where the courts are prone to call hearsay what does not in fact involve in any substantial degree any of the hearsay risks. When the declarant is also a witness, it is difficult to justify classifying as hearsay evidence of his own prior statements. This is especially true where declarant as a witness is giving as part of his testimony his own prior statement.... The courts declare the prior statement to be hearsay because it was not made under oath, subject to the penalty for perjury or to the test of cross-examination. To which the answer might well be: "The declarant as a witness is now under oath and now purports to remember and narrate accurately. The adversary can now expose every element that may carry a danger of misleading the trier of fact both in the previous statement and in the present testimony, and the trier can judge whether both the previous declaration and the present testimony are reliable in whole or in part." To this Mr. Justice Stone of the Minnesota Supreme Court, speaking of evidence of prior contradictory statements, has framed this reply:


Mecmuas are one of the most important sources since they contribute to our history of literature due to many poems and proses they contained and also they are fruitful to social and cultural history because of giving information on birth dates, invitations and drug recipes, various prayers. Mecmuas are irregular sources. Consequently, these are contains some difficulties for researchers, nevertheless the informations in mecmuas about history are very important. Therefore, introduction of mecmuas has a distinctive importance. This paper is going to introduce a mecmua obtained from personal library of Hasan Erdemli residing in Tokat. In this mecmua, there are poetical texts such as gazel, beyit, nazm, kıt'a, muamma. Gazel and pendnames' first and last couplets are given. İlahi and murabba's which have one sample in mecmua last quatrains are given. And two samples of nazm and kıt'as, four samples of muamma are also given. Davet-name which has one sample in mecmua exists full text. As a poetical text, beyit is the commonest text in mecmua. Different samples of beyit are given. In addition, there are prose texts in social and culturel life such as drug repice, prayer, the Qur'an and hadith. Also, the present paper focusing mostly on poetical texts mentions prose sections roughly. In prose texts, drug repices are more important. Especially in last pages of mecmua, different drug repices about some sickness are exist. Except these, praying, as a way of protecting sickness and its method of perform is remarkable.


One in seven NHS trusts in England faced "significant financial difficulties" by the end of 2001-2, states the annual accounting report from the spending watchdog, the National Audit Office.

The Department of Health calculation for breaking even is a deficit of no more than 0.5% of turnover. On the basis of this, all NHS trusts broke even, but 50 trusts incurred deficits ranging from £1000 ($1600; ‡1500) to £11.5m.

Moreover, 46 (14%) of 318 trusts were managing major budgetary shortfalls at the end of the financial year, compared with 33 (9%) of 356 …


The authentic pristine form of Vedism as practiced initially by the biblical prophet Abraham (see Note 1) has been undergoing dramatic changes ever since, being subject to many deviations, distortions, corruptions and contaminations from various Near Eastern traditions. Under the harmful influence of Zoroastrianism, it has mutated into Schizotheism, a manifestly pathological form of religion.


This paper shows how the behaviour of a single change agent affected outcomes. The mechanisms were demonstrated through which actions contributed to the non-achievement of planned outcomes and to the appearance of unintended, unwanted and unpredicted outcomes. The investigating was carried to establish if there were differences between "good" and "bad" change agents and also to investigate a change in an organisation with offices in several locations and analyse what happens when an organisational level change is implemented at each of the sites. By doing so we will be able to make comparisons between several change agents in a similar situation. Comparison change processes in several companies to determine the role played by structure in change management compares to the role played by agency.


With its step-by-step development in developed countries,E-health service will become the main model of health care and represent the future of health care system.This paper simply introduces the concept and characteristics of E-health service,and mainly analyzes the opportunities and challenges confronting E-health service in China.The author hopes that Chinese government will work out a rational strategy which promotes the rapid development of Ehealth service in China.


The effects of particulate and soluble organic matter (BOD) on nitrification were investigated in laboratory experiments using a bench-scale rotating biological contactor (RBC). This work was initiated by lower than expected nitrification rates in the second state biofilm processes at the Longmont Waste Water Treatment Plant (LWWTP). It was hypothesized that this was due to particulate matter since soluble BOD in the influent was low. For a range of 12 and 82 mg/L total BOD to the pilot RBC; particulate BOD was found to inhibit nitrification to the same degree as soluble BOD. In fact, total (soluble plus particulate) influent organic mater was found to be a better predictor of nitrification than soluble organic matter concentration


Children with autism spectrum disorders (ASD) may present some difficulties in developing social behaviours, communicating with others and acquiring cognitive skills. In this study, we test the introduction of a robot Lego Mindstorms NXT as a mediator and/or positive reinforcement in the intervention of children with ASD in triadic interventions. The goal was to improve their academic skills and to transfer the acquired skills to their daily lives. Three case studies with 8-13 years old children are presented and discussed. The explored target skills were the concept of quantity, colour awareness and a gesture to make a request. Parents had an active participatory role in this study, especially in the Skill Transfer Phase.


Introduction: Diabetic ketoacidosis (DKA) is a medical emergency associated with significant patient mortality and morbidity. Studies have shown that the presence of Major Depressive Disorder (MDD) is associated with an increased incidence of DKA. We aimed to assess whether MDD was associated with increased risk of readmission following DKA. Methods: We utilized the National Readmission Database for 2016 to identify hospitalized adult patients with a principal diagnosis of DKA and a secondary diagnosis of MDD from January 1 to November 30, 2016. We excluded patients with elective and traumatic admissions. We utilized a multivariate cox regression model to identify independent predictors of readmission. Results: Of 15,981 patients with MDD and DKA who were discharged, 23.2%(n=3710) were readmitted within 30-days. The most common reason for readmission was DKA (63.9%, n=2371). In the multivariate cox regression model, MDD was associated with higher risk of readmission (HR: 1.17, 95% CI: 1.1 - 1.26, p=0.04) when adjusted for comorbidities and hospital characteristics. Of those MDD patients with DKA who were readmitted, type 1 DM (HR: 1.14, 95% CI: 1 - 1.3, p=0.04), CHF (HR: 1.40, 95% CI: 1.1 - 1.78, p=0.006), and CKD (HR: 1.44, 95% CI: 1.17 - 1.79, p=0.001) were associated with higher risk of readmission. Obesity (HR: 0.75, 95% CI: 0.59 - 0.97, p=0.025), private insurance (HR: 0.64, 95% CI: 0.53 - 0.79, p Conclusion: In this study, we found that patients with MDD admitted for DKA had a 17% increased risk of readmission within 30 days of discharge in comparison to those without MDD. This could be explained by their propensity for poor adherence to diet, exercise, and recommended pharmacological therapy. Further studies need to be done to assess and target the exact precipitants of readmission. Disclosure M. Ramirez: None. M. Murthi: None. B. Sharma: None. R. Atluri: None. H. Shaka: None. G. Velazquez: None.


Narrowly distributed spherical poly(N-vinylcaprolactam) (PNVC) microgels were prepared by precipitation polymerization in water. The effect of both anionic (sodium dodecyl sulfate, SDS) and cationic (N-dodecylpyridinium bromide, DPB) surfactants on the swelling and shrinking of the microgels were investigated by laser light scattering (LLS). Our results showed that the microgels gradually shrank to the collapsed state when the temperature increased from 20 to ∼38 °C. The addition of anionic surfactant caused an extra swelling of the microgels and shifted the collapsing temperature higher, whereas the addition of cationic surfactant has different effects on the swelling and shrinking of the microgels prepared by using different initiators, depending on whether the decomposed fragments of the initiator are ionic or neutral. Our results clearly showed that the ionic groups introduced into polymer gels from the initiators should be taken into consideration in the study of the surfactant/gel interaction.


We have examined the effects of 1,25dihydroxyvitamin DB [1,25(OH),Ds] on the phosphoinositol signal transduction pathway in the human colon cancer-derived cell line CaCo-2 and have studied the regulation of intracellular calcium ([Ca2+li) and pH (pHi) by this secosteroid. CaCo-2 cells were prelabeled with [3H]myoinositol and treated with lo-' M 1,25-(OH)zD3 or vehicle for 90 sec. 1,25-(OH)zD3


This Supplementary Information provides details about data reduction, derivation of the photometric light curves, corrections to systematic instrumental effects, corrections to the transit spectra accounting for the stellar limb-darkening, and calculation of the Balmer jump absorption from hot (n = 2) hydrogen based on a published model of HD209458b's upper atmosphere. It also contains three related figures.


Isthmus Zapotec (autoglossonym: [d Ÿ ı Ÿ a"z Ÿ aÚ]) is the common name used for a variety of Zapotec (Otomanguean family) spoken on the Isthmus of Tehuantepec, Oaxaca, Mexico (Su ⁄ arez 1983: xvi; Campbell 1997: 158). It is now officially listed by the Instituto Nacional de Lenguas Ind ⁄ ıgenas (INALI 2008) as 'zapoteco de la planicie costera' ('coastal plain Zapotec') to distinguish it from other varieties of Zapotec spoken on the Isthmus. It is the mother tongue of many inhabitants of various cities and towns, as well as many smaller communities (INALI 2008), with some lexical, syntactic and phonetic variation between towns only a few kilometers apart. The ISO 639-3 code for this variety is zai. Since the most recent census figures do not separate out the varieties of Zapotec, and have not done so reliably when attempted, official statistics as to the number of speakers of Isthmus Zapotec are not available. (The Ethnologue (Lewis 2009) cites the 1990 census as listing 85,000 speakers; that figure must have been an interpretation of other statistics in the census.) INALI (personal communication, September 2008) estimates the current number to be about 104,000. In the city of Tehuantepec, the language is no longer widely used. In certain other locations, including Juchit ⁄ an de Zaragoza, Spanish is becoming the dominant or the only language spoken by many people born after about 1990, although Zapotec is dominant in many outlying towns, including San Blas Atempa. Mature speakers have remarked that young people who are not fluent do not use tones correctly. Isthmus Zapotec has had active writers, including poets and novelists, since the first half of the twentieth century, well before an orthography was officially established (Alfabeto popular 1956), but reading and writing of the language are still not taught in schools in the region. In this description we present a variety that is typical of the city of Juchit ⁄ an de Zaragoza, the largest city of the area and an important commercial and cultural center. The recordings are of one of the authors of this article (Villalobos), a fluent female speaker and writer of Isthmus Zapotec who was born in Juchit ⁄ an in 1941 and still resides there. Although the North Wind text was translated sometime before 1956 and published with the presentation of the official orthography statement (Alfabeto popular 1956, page 12), Villalobos prepared a new translation for this publication.


The ownership structures of the listed companies influence the quality of the environmental information disclosed by the companies,which has become one of the focal issues in corporate governance research.From2001 to 2012,China promulgated a continuous series of laws and regulations related to corporate environmental information disclosure,and made more specific norms of the company's environmental information disclosure.The government has done everything to ensure that the environmental information disclosed by the listed companies are comprehensive,complete and real,so that the public can obtain more real information,and have more confidence for environmental information disclosed by the listed companies.But,there are still many issues plaguing us.Does corporate ownership structure really affect the quality of environmental information? Under the same regulatory context,where are the main differences? How to improve the company's environmental information quality for different ownership structure? All these questions need to be answered.To answer these questions,we prefer case studies,because case studies have the advantage in building theories,and only the case study method is suitable for answered the question of how and why.First,we select four heavily polluting enterprises in the A-share listed companies under different ownership structure.We prefer the following companies in terms of their total assets' size.Company scale is positively related to the level of environmental information disclosure,larger companies are more inclined to disclose environmental information.For the stateowned company,we prefer Petro China Company Limited;For the foreign holding company,we consider ShangDong ChenMing Paper Holdings Limited is appropriate;ShanDong NanShan Aluminium Company Limited is the representative of the collective holding listed companies,Youngor Group Company Limited is on behalf of the private company.Then we use fuzzy analysis method for evaluation and analysis.To get the more precise answer,we use a questionnaire,experts from Tsinghua University,Sichuan University,Zhongshan University,Xiamen University and Inner Mongolia University gave us great support and advices.We think the data and evidence we get are adequate and appropriate,and we can analyze the data.We find that Petro China Company Limited disclosed the best environmental information,for all the experts gave the highest scores;Environmental information disclosed by ChenMing Paper Holdings Limited and NanShan Aluminium Company have no substantial difference;While Youngor Group Company Limited did the worst,there is a big shortage in both quantity and quality.Then,we get the conclusions:Listed companies which are state-owned disclose the best environmental information;The foreign holding and collective holding listed companies follow the state-owned companies,while private companies' environmental disclosure situation are most unsatisfactory.The conclusions are consistent with our expectations.Last,on the basis of the analysis,we put forward our own proposals:First,give full play to the exemplary role of the state-owned enterprises in the environmental information disclosure;Second,strengthen the guidance and supervision of the private corporate environmental disclosure;Third,raise the environmental awareness of the stakeholders,and enhance the stakeholders' aspirations of the corporate environmental information needs.We think these suggestions are helpful.


The prevalence of neuropathic pain is rising, in particular, because of an increase in the incidence of diabetes and shingles. Practice nurses have an important role to play in recognizing the signs and supporting patients


The purpose of this brief concluding chapter is to summarize our analysis by stages and to point up some implications for economic and sociological theory, respectively, and for the relations between them. Our central proposition is that economic theory is a special case of the general theory of social systems, which is in turn one of the main branches of the developing general theory of action. We have applied this proposition to the following fields of economic inquiry: the general frame of reference of economic theory; the conception of the economy as a special type of social system differentiated from other societal subsystems ; the place of the economic subsystem in the society and its relations to cognate subsystems ; the institutional structure of the economy; processes within the economy and across its external boundaries, and the problem of growth and institutional change in the economy. By way of preliminary analysis, we tried to show that economic theory conceives economic processes as processes of action (in our technical sense) oriented to a goal of production as available means. In so far as this involves interaction, the supply-demand schema is a special case of the more general performance-sanction schema which underlies all social interaction. Furthermore, the classification of commodities as goods and services corresponds to the general distinction between physical and social objects on the one hand and between qualities and performances on the other. 295


Purpose: The purpose of this study was to examine the effects of Motivational Interviewing(MI) training program on communication skill and self-efficacy of home visiting nurses(HVNs). Methods: This study has a mixed-methods design that includes a one-group pre-post test study and focus group interviews(N=23). From April 16th to June 11th in 2014, total six two-hour sessions of MI training program were provided to the participants. The quantitative outcomes were collected using Global Interpersonal Communication Competence Scale(GICC-15) and Self-efficacy Scale, and the qualitative data were obtained by 5 focus group interviews. Group pre-post changes were evaluated by paired t-tests and the qualitative data were analyzed by content analysis method. Results: MI training program led to significant enhancement in communication skills(Z=-3.62, p<.001) and self-efficacy(Z=-3.67, p<.001). The qualitative study revealed that the participants had positive experiences to express empathy, support self-efficacy, and respect autonomy for their clients applying reflective-listening and affirmation skill. Conclusion: The HVNs who participated in the MI training program showed improved communication skills and self-efficacy in the quantitative and qualitative studies. A randomized clinical trial is needed to confirm the value of MI training program for HVNs.


The objective of this work was to evaluate the utility of a "Kegel" contraction test in a primary care setting. Fifty‐seven adult women completed a questionnaire, underwent pelvic examination, "Kegel" assessment, and measurement of same by vaginal sensor electromyography. Thirty‐seven underwent repeat evaluations within 4 weeks. Inter‐ and intra‐rater reliability of digital scale, intra‐rater reliability for sEMG measurement, correlation between raters and sEMG, and correlation between scale scores and sEMG with history and pelvic exam were determined. Fifty‐six percent were pre‐menopausal, 44% post‐menopausal. Urinary (62%) and rectal (37%) dysfunction were reported. Inter‐rater reliability, intra‐observer reproducibility for both raters and sEMG measurements, and correlation between raters and sEMG were significant (P< 0.05). Comparison of continence status and digital scores showed scores ≤4 were more frequently associated with reported urinary incontinence (P<0.05). sEMG data also correlated to hormonal status and parity (P < 0.05). This digital scale is a useful assessment of "Kegel" contraction, correlating well to sEMG vaginal sensor readings and self‐reported overall urinary continence status. Neurourol. Urodynam. 18:603–612, 1999. © 1999 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.


Volcanic Rocks in Wangshengshan, North Tibet are bas ic and intermediate volcanic rocks consisting of subalkaline basalt, basaltic ande site, and andesite which are characterized by enrichment in Sr, (K), Rb, Ba, Th and depletion in Nb, Ta, Ti. The Nb/Th-Nb, La/Nb-La and inactive minor element a ssemblage Th-Nb-Hf show geochemical features characteristic of islandarc volcani c rock. They might be formed by subduction and aulacogening of the oceanic crust in the Late Triassic. They may be important petrochemical evidences for exposur e of the Jinshajiang suture zone in north Qiangtang Basin.


In order to create national experimental teaching demonstration center, the experimental teaching center reforms mainly from two aspects of hardware construction and connotation construction. Hardware construction is to build four experimental teaching platform as the goal. Connotation construction is focused on experimental course system construction, teaching syllabus and teaching material system construction, assessment and evaluation system construction, the operation security system construction, experimental teachers team construction as the key points, to form a unique characteristic of traditional Chinese medicine colleges and universities.


A convention for storing distortion information in HST images was developed and implemented in two software packages PyWCS and STWCS. These changes allow the development of a WCS based version of Multidrizzle and image alignment software. The distribution of WCS solutions is discussed. Distortion Representation Mathematically the transformation from detector to sky for an ACS/WFC image can be approximated by:


This study aims to determine the development of teaching materials based on the SQ3R method (Survey, Question, Read, Recite, Review) for teaching reading skills in the tenth grade of MA Al-Mahdi Sindangheula, to determine the effectiveness of their use, and to determine their feasibility. To achieve the above related objectives, the researcher uses Brog and Gall's theory of development in six steps: needs and problem analysis, data collection, product design, product validation, product improvement, and product testing. The effectiveness of teaching materials based on the SQ3R method for teaching reading skills is based on the results of the pre-test 34.2% and post-test 75.2%. These results show that there is an increase with a large difference of 41%. Based on these results indicate that the use of teaching materials based on the SQ3R method for teaching reading skills is effective.


Influenza A virus activates cellular inflammasome pathways, though it remains unknown whether many of the effector proteins downstream of inflammasome activation promote virus clearance or instead promote pathological inflammation. We investigated the role of gasdermin D (GSDMD), a pore-forming inflammasome effector protein that allows cellular release of inflammatory molecules and eventual pyroptotic lysis of cells. GSDMD knockout (KO) mice infected with influenza virus exhibited reduced weight loss and mortality compared to infected wild type (WT) mice. Lung viral titers were similar between genotypes, indicating that GSDMD does not directly affect virus replication. Instead, we observed that GSDMD KO mice had less severe lung inflammation, histopathology, and immune cell infiltration, suggesting that GSDMD promotes tissue-damaging immune responses following infection. Global transcriptomic analysis revealed significant decreases in specific inflammatory gene programs in GSDMD KO lungs, including decreased neutrophil chemotaxis and activation gene signatures, which were confirmed by decreased neutrophil elastase measurements and decreased neutrophil numbers in the lung. Indeed, exogenous depletion of neutrophils starting at day 3 post infection in WT mice recapitulated the protective phenotype observed in GSDMD KO mice, implicating neutrophils as central players in the GSDMD-dependent pathological response to influenza virus. Overall, these findings reveal an important role for GSDMD during influenza virus-induced lung inflammation, pathogenesis, and neutrophil accumulation. Therapeutic interventions targeting the GSDMD/neutrophil axis may provide an effective means to treat severe influenza virus infection.


We fabricated laser diodes containing highly stacked InAs quantum dots using the strain compensation technique, which showed laser emissions from 1.47 to 1.7 µm above the threshold current in pulsed mode.


The Analytical Hierarchy Process (AHP) provides a comprehensive methodology for the solution of multicriteria decision problems which makes considerable use of comparison generated importances to help in the aggregation of lower order concepts in the formulation of higher order concepts. We introduce an extension of the Analytical Hierarchy Process using the Ordered Weighted Averaging (OWA) operators. This extension, which generalizes the aggregation process used in the AHP, allows more flexibility in the formulation of higher order concepts and provides the AHP an even greater facility for modeling human decision making. Using the OWA operators we are able to model situations where the number of sub-criteria needed to satisfy a higher order concept can be expressed in terms of linguistic quantifiers.


The potential use of TerraSAR-X and Radarsat-2 data for soil moisture retrieval over bare agricultural areas was investigated using both empirical and semi-empirical approaches. For the empirical approach, the Support Vector Regression (SVR) model was used with two cases: (1) using only one C-band or X-band image; and (2) using a pair of C-band and X-band images jointly. For the semi-empirical approach, the modified Dubois model based on C-band and X-band SAR data was developed to estimate soil moisture content. The experiments were implemented over two bare agricultural areas, and in-situ measurements were carried out to assess the methods. The results showed that the TerraSAR-X and Radarsat-2 are suitable remote sensing tools for the estimation of surface soil moisture, with an accuracy of about 3 vol % (root mean square error, RMSE) over bare agricultural areas. Compared with the results obtained by Radarsat-2 data, TerraSAR-X data gives a slight improvement in estimating soil moisture. The accuracy of the soil moisture estimation was improved further when the two bands SAR data were used (RMSE of about 2.2 vol %) instead of only one. Moreover, the modified Dubois model showed comparable accuracy to the empirical model independent of the surface roughness.


Encouragement teacher in higher institutions′ management is very important problem,success or failure of which directly influences the motivation and efficiency of teachers' task.Teacher's motivation predominates over his action,and determines his enthusiasm and action;therefore the people-oriented system of encouragement is really established on the basis of only analyzing teacher's characteristics and need so that teacher's enthusiasm and creation is aroused to get the work efficiency.


This study aims at analyzing the hazard level of earthquake in the main campus Universitas Pendidikan Indonesia (UPI) as a means to improve the preparedness in anticipating disasters. The method used was literature study of which data were analyzed using Geographic Information System (GIS). The analysis of the earthquake zones, the potential frequency, and earthquake magnitude, and the distance from the main campus of UPI to the earthquake zone shows that the danger level is high. In terms of zone, the main campus of UPI is located is in the red zone based on the earthquake disaster risk index from the Indonesian National Board for Disaster Management (BNPB) and the earthquake zoning map from the Indonesian Ministry of Public Works. The main campus of Universitas Pendidikan Indonesia which is located in the northern part of Bandung, belongs to the Severe VIII zone meaning that significantly dangerous earthquake resulting in moderate to severe damage possibly occurs. The risk level calculation of the disaster based on its danger, tendency, and capacity is yet to conduct, so that it becomes the suggestion.


We present a parameter estimation method, based on particle swarm optimization (PSO) and embedding the tau-leaping algorithm, for the efficient estimation of reaction constants in stochastic models of biological systems, using as target a set of discrete-time measurements of molecular amounts sampled in different experimental conditions. To account for the multiplicity of data, we consider a multi-swarm formulation of PSO. The whole method is developed for GPGPU architecture to reduce the computational costs.


A progressive limp and swelling of the heel developed in a previously healthy two-year-old boy over a two-week period. The child had been born in India and had lived in Canada since the age of seven months. There was no history of trauma.

On physical examination, the patient had no fever and


Introduction Breast cancer is uncommon in men. Almost all male breast cancers are hormone receptor-positive, HER2-negative, although the pathogenesis is not always attributable to an endocrine condition. A few studies have compared biological characteristics or molecular signatures with breast cancers in women. We sought to evaluate whether hormone receptor-related gene expression is different in cancers from men compared to equivalent cancers from women. SET2,3 index measures non-proliferative hormone receptor-related transcriptional activity in the cancer (SET-ER/PR index) and adjusts this for a Baseline Prognosis Index (BPI) that combines the measurements of tumor and nodal stage with a 4-gene molecular subtype (ESR1, PGR, ERBB2, and AURKA). Methods We received aliquots of total RNA from male patients with breast cancer included in the retrospective cohort study of the EORTC 10085/BCG/TBCRC/BIG/NCTN International Male Breast Cancer Program (NCT01101425). SET2,3 assay was performed using the QuantiGene assay (Thermo Fisher) using bead-based hybridization and laser spectroscopy (Luminex). The statistical analyses were performed by the EORTC statistician. The primary objective of the study was the assessment of the prognostic value of the SET2,3 index score in patients with early-stage hormone receptor-positive, HER2-negative male breast cancer, treated with endocrine therapy. Clinical outcomes (recurrence-free survival – RFS; overall survival – OS) were estimated by Kaplan-Meier curves and secondarily compared using multivariable Cox models adjusted for continuous SET2,3 index, tumor size, nodal status, age, and chemotherapy and radiotherapy use. An exploratory analysis to compare the SET2,3 index scores distribution in female and male breast cancer patients was also performed using results from the same assay performed on cancers from women selected on the same inclusion criteria. Due to the low numbers of male patients treated with neoadjuvant treatment (N=6), this analysis was restricted to patients treated with adjuvant treatment (n=315 male and 660 female). Results Of the 321 male patients with breast cancer analyzed, treated between 1990 and 2010, 211 (65.7%) were categorized as high SET2,3 index score, reflecting a high endocrine activity in the cancer and low risk of recurrence, and 110 patients (34.3%) categorized as being low score, reflecting low endocrine activity and high risk of recurrence. At 5 years, the RFS was 75.0% (95% CI, 67.4-81.1) in the high SET2,3 group versus 60.7% (95% CI, 49.1-70.5) in the low SET2,3 group (HR univariate, 0.49; 95% CI, 0.34-0.70; P< 0.0001). The 5-year OS rate among patients with a high SET2,3 index was 84.3% (95% CI, 45.5-73.8), in contrast of 67.8% (95% CI, 56.6-76.7) in the low SET2,3 group (HR univariate, 0.44; 95% CI, 0.30-0.65; P< 0.0001). SET2,3 was independently prognostic for OS, but not RFS in multivariable Cox models. In patients classified as low SET2,3, the addition of neo/adjuvant chemotherapy to adjuvant endocrine therapy was associated with 5-year OS of 76.0% (95% CI, 59.5-86.4) and in patients who received endocrine therapy alone the 5-year OS was 61.3% (95% CI, 45.5-73.8), an absolute difference of 14.7 percentage points. Overall, we did not observe a difference in the distributions (median, interquartile range) of SET2,3 index between men (2.4, 1.9–2.6) and women (2.3, 2.0–2.7). Conclusion SET2,3 index measurements of endocrine-related transcriptional activity in male patients with breast cancer were not different from measurements in female patients with breast cancer. SET2,3 was prognostic in male breast cancer and our exploratory analysis suggests that chemotherapy might improve the poor prognosis for men with breast cancer that has low SET2,3 index. This study was funded by the Breast Cancer Research Foundation (BCRF).
 Citation Format: Danielle B. Zakon, Coralie Poncet, Fatima Cardoso, Neven Anouk, Vicente Valero, Stefan Aebi, Kim Benstead, Oliver Bogler, Lissandra Dal Lago, Judith Fraser, Carmela Caballero, Ingrid A. Hedenfalk, Larissa A. Korde, Barbro Linderholm, John WM Martens, Lavinia P. Middleton, Melissa Murray, Catherine M. Kelly, Cecilia Nilsson, Monika Nowaczyk, Stephanie Peeters, Melanie Beauvois, Peggy Porter, Carolien P. Schroder, Isabel T. Rubio, Kathryn Ruddy, Christi van Asperen, Danielle Van Den Weyngaert, Carolien HM van Deurzen, Elise van Leeuwen-Stok, Joanna M. Vermeij, John MS Bartlett, Antonio C. Wolff, Sharon H. Giordano, W. Fraser Symmans. PD6-11 Evaluation of the Sensitivity to Endocrine Therapy Index (SET2,3) in Early Male Breast Cancer: Results from an analysis in the EORTC 10085/TBCRC/BIG/NCTN International Male Breast Cancer Program [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the 2022 San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium; 2022 Dec 6-10; San Antonio, TX. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2023;83(5 Suppl):Abstract nr PD6-11.


Nonlinear numerical model of Large Diameter Cylindrical Structure and Soil Interaction is constructed. The Dynamic Response of Large Diameter Cylindrical Structure under measured seismic wave is studied. The following conclusions can be obtained: the displacement change of cylinder at the free end is the biggest, the stress of cylinder at the bottom is the biggest and has large circumferential moment, the There is a rotating point between the structural midpoint and the bottom, the structure and the soil inside cylinder rotates around the rotating point. There is a certain lag in the displacement curve compared to the curve of seismic wave acceleration, the peak time-point of speed response curve is slightly earlier than that of displacement response curve, but the shape of the two curves is similar. Results can provide evidence for the design of deeply embedded large diameter cylinder.


Observational studies suggest that loss of skeletal muscle mass (SMM) is associated with chemotherapy‐related toxicity, poor quality of life, and poor survival in metastatic colorectal cancer (mCRC) patients. Little is known about the evolution of SMM during palliative systemic therapy. We investigated changes in SMM during various consecutive palliative systemic treatment regimens using repeated abdominal computed tomography scans of mCRC patients who participated in the randomized phase 3 CAIRO3 study.


There is a need for alternative energy sources to replace petroleum based fuels due to the world's crude oil reserves, global warming and environmental concerns. Biodiesel is clean, biodegradable, non-toxic and renewable fuel which is considered to be the best substitution for diesel fuel. In addition, biodiesel has more favourable combustion emission profile, such as low emissions of carbon monoxide, particulate matter and unburned hydrocarbons that make it suitable as alternative fuel in transportation sector. The main issue in biodiesel production is the expensive and non-stable supply of feedstock from vegetable oils. Alternatively, waste cooking oil, tallow and non-edible oils are favourable, although they are restricted feedstock for existing conventional productions of biodiesel due to its impurities such as food residue, biopolymer, cellular remaining, dissolved water and free fatty acids which necessitate additional acidic pre-treatments. The need of extension to the current biodiesel plants resulted in a pursuit of more viable process. One of the potential methods to produce biodiesel from low grade oils and cheap bioethanol is through the extractive reactor. Since, this technique is still new, many physical properties of the oil-alcohol mixture system were not explored. In particular, extraction kinetics of fatty acid ethyl esters from reactive region using aqueous ethanol is essential in order to determine the practicality of the process of extractive reaction for biodiesel synthesis. This experiment was conducted to characterize extraction kinetics of FAEE from oil phase by using aqueous ethanol and to determine the distribution coefficient of FAEE between oil phase and aqueous ethanol. Three different oil:ethanol molar ratio which is 1:1, 1:3 and 3:1 where oil was first diluted with FAEE was used with different stirred time range between 1-20min. A settling time for the mixture was recorded and a sample was taken for concentration determination using gas chromatography (GC) analysis. It is expected that the distribution coefficient of fatty acids ethyl esters (FAEE) is higher in solvent than solution.


We observe some of the interrelationships that exist with respect to the performance of RFID tags. We observe that in a classic system of wireless communication, the possible variables for the calculation of link performance are interrelated by diverse metrics. Once the link is established, it is important to characterize and register the performance of the system. It is this system's dependency on these diverse set of interrelated metrics, and their equations, which affects its performance. In essence, the performance is observed as a consequence of attenuation-optimized transmission and reception. We discuss the foundation of a near field and far field relationship model that helps confirm the interdependency of various factors as it relates to RFID tag performance. The frequency operated in near field (125 kHz, 13.56 MHz) is more reliable in many applications where read distance is not the major factor, and the properties of materials present near the surrounding of RFID system are affected less by the degradation of RF signal as near field works on the principle of magnetic coupling. In contrast, for far field, the radiated signal gradually decreases the read distance depending upon the condition of the environment and properties of materials/metals. In this paper, we have concentrated on a simple way of measuring the tag performance for RFID technology considering all the parameters. Here, we base RFID on implementation experience and laboratory measurements.


West Africa was an institution in the life of generations of expatriate colonial servants and business people working in West Africa as well as a steadily growing and increasingly vocal African readership. Appearing weekly, in more or less the same format, for nearly a century, it captures the changing political, economic and social preoccupations of its times. This meticulously researched study focuses only on the first thirty years of its existence, from its inauguration in 1917 to the retirement of its founding editor, Albert Cartwright, in 1947. The author acknowledges that the magazine only reached its peak, in terms of influence and ability to reflect the concerns of West Africans themselves, in the thirty years after Cartwright's retirement—during the mobilization leading up to independence and the first post-independence decades. But as he points out, the British-owned, Africa-oriented press of the earlier period has been generally neglected. This study shows, with an absorbing wealth of detail, just how rewarding attention to this overlooked archive can be. West Africa contained shipping news, produce prices, reports on colonial policies, book reviews, humorous anecdotes, notes from a correspondent based in London, sports news, reviews of gramophone records, information about political and social events in all four British West African colonies (the Gambia, Sierra Leone, the Gold Coast and Nigeria) and a tremendous amount of commentary and editorial opinion. During Cartwright's tenure, it maintained a restrained, pro-Empire but also pro-African stance, and, unusually for its time, championed educated Africans instead of romanticizing the "unspoilt tribesman." Some of the fascination of this book lies in Derrick's patient effort to trace the contradictions and hesitations in Cartwright's thinking over this long unbroken period of prolific public writing. In his younger days Cartwright had edited and worked as a journalist for several periodicals in South Africa, during which time he had spoken out against the Boer War and been sent to jail for seditious libel as a result. After his return to Britain he became a staunch supporter of E.D. Morel's campaign against Leopold II of Belgium and his regime in the Congo. On other issues his position appeared more uncertain and in some instances he appeared to have forgotten, or quietly revised, what he had earlier stated in print. Derrick untangles Cartwright's changing configuration of relations with powerful political patrons, some of whom were at daggers drawn with


In this paper, inspired by recent articles of G. Anatriello and G. Vincenzi (see [1]), and G. Cerda-Morales (see [3, 4]), we will introduce the third-order h-Jacobsthal and third-order h-Jacobsthal–Lucas sequences and their associated quaternions. The new results that we have obtained extend most of those obtained in [4]. Mathematics Subject Classification (2010). Primary: 11B39; Secondary: 11R52.


The consequences of the pandemic are still being investigated in the most diverse fields. In the area of education, it is no different, with more than two thirds of the world's students affected, the pandemic emphasized inequalities in access and opportunity to studies. However, it is essential to discuss the condition of basic education teachers during quarantine, since the demand for work changes and increases, with the need for distance learning. Thus, with recent research data, together with the teaching report, we seek here to present and discuss in general the new challenges faced by teachers in basic education in quarantine times.


A subset of educators who coauthored NCTE's "Guidelines for Affirming Gender Diversity through ELA Curriculum and Pedagogy" consider the implications for classroom practice.


This investigation provides an assessment of existing techniques in crab culture from the sustainable development perspective. Our survey results divulged that crab fattener aged 34.56±8.29 years, culture experience spanning 7.64±5 years. The average pond size was 0.27±0.21 hectares, with a single crop of 32±12-46±15 days. The average stocking density was 1.0±0.5 (no m), and stocking size of 86±21 to 179±62 grams. The average highest and lowest yields were 1383±67 and 815±22.6 kg ha crop, respectively. The total cost and gross returns were 316,654.00±37,042 and 514,748.00±32,056.00 BDT ha crop, respectively. The crab fattening net profit was 198,094.00± 8,387.00 BDT ha crop. The stocking of crab farming incurred 71% of the total farming cost. The other expenses include feed (12%), fencing (8%), land lease value (5%), and labor (4%). The main protein source of the crab feed was tilapia (95%), followed by snails and trash fish. Finally, the harvesting method consisted of hand angling with a scoop net (46.34%), while others (28.70%) used specialized traps. The 92.4% of the total harvested produce was sold at depots while only 7.6% to the intermediaries. In conclusion, our study shows how crab farmers execute the fattening operations at each growth stage, the current techniques, and the development potential to fetch higher profits.


: Generally filters are used to remove unwanted materials or particles. In signal processing, filter is used to filter the signal with undesired frequency. In most of the communication system, Low pass filters or Band pass filters are used to filter the noise signal from the original speech signal because speech signal has very low frequency compared to noise signal generated from the channel. This paper proposes a new FIR filter in order to get the near ideal response with lowest possible order.


Status, defined as the perceived importance of persons relative to others, is manifested by intentional expressive behaviors, termed status maneuvers, which aim to alter or maintain the status of self relative to others. Families are social systems in which status hierarchies are realized through recurrent status maneuvers. A Discrepancy Hypothesis is proposed to account for intrafamilial conflict. Analysis of family status maneuvering can be used to deduce each member's cognitive map and the degree of intrafamilial conflict. Information about the aggregate family status hierarchies is presented in the form of an underlying status matrix. This paper first illustrates status maneuvers by examples encountered in everyday life; next explains the correspondence between the dynamics of family cooperation or conflict and its underlying status matrix; and finally presents data, obtained from a detailed analysis of status maneuvers in a single family therapy session, supporting the Discrepancy Hypothesis.


Nowadays, aiming at the problem of long testing duration of software reliability demonstration testing, this paper presents a method that can greatly shorten testing duration. First, the idea of a monotone decreasing function is integrated into the Bayesian theory of software reliability demonstration testing, and then a software reliability demonstration testing scheme of a Bayesian method based on monotone decreasing function is proposed. Secondly, according to the real-time prior information in the testing phase, priori information is dynamically integrated. Two kinds of priori dynamic integration methods suitable for two different conditions are proposed. Finally, through experimental analysis, it is proven that the testing scheme can significantly reduce testing duration under the same confidence condition, and the two kinds of prior dynamic integration methods are feasible.


Gillis, E. A., Hik, D. S., Boonstra, R., Karels, T. J. and Krebs, C. J. 2005. Being high is better: effects of elevation and habitat on arctic ground squirrel demography. ! / Oikos 108: 231! /240. We investigated the effect of local environment on the demography and population dynamics of arctic ground squirrels (Spermophilus parryii plesius) by comparing reproduction, survival, and population trends of squirrels living in low elevation boreal forest and high elevation alpine tundra sites in southwestern Yukon Territory, Canada. Contrary to the trend for most birds and mammals, reproduction was significantly lower at the lower elevation and females living at higher elevation did not delay the age at which they first reproduced. Even though survival in the boreal forest was lower in summer than in the alpine, it was higher over winter so annual adult female survival was similar between sites. Sensitivity analysis of model parameters revealed that in the forest, population growth rate (l) was most sensitive to small changes in adult active season survival whereas for the alpine population, l was most sensitive to changes in juvenile winter survival. In their respective habitats, these parameters also showed high year to year variation and thus contributed greatly to the population trends observed. Even though ground squirrels persisted in the boreal forest, the measured demographic rates indicate the forest was sink habitat (lB/1) and may have relied on nearby grassy meadows for immigrants. In contrast, the alpine habitat maintained a ground squirrel population in the absence of immigration (l" /1). The variation in demographic rates between ground squirrels living at high and low elevation may arise from phenotypic responses of squirrels to different habitat structure. Arctic ground squirrels rely on sight to detect predators from a safe distance, and the boreal forest, with its lower visibility and higher predator density, appears to be suboptimal habitat.


By measurement and analysis of time parameters for hot metal supply, it was clarified that the time distribution is changed from normal distribution through Weibull distribution to exponential distribution. The time distribution of a complex process generally is a normal or Weibull distribution, and that of a simple and high reliable process is exponential distribution. A view is put forward that the time distribution of a complex process will be close to exponential distribution in the future, and it will be identical with that of a simple process.


This study was performed to investigate the characteristics of pollutants and microbial communities obtained in simulated lysimeters and to evaluate the effects of anaerobic sludge and water on the biodegradation of swine carcasses. The leachate production rates of Lysimeters 2 and 3 with the addition of anaerobic sludge were higher than that of Lysimeter 1 (control). The methane production rate of Lysimeter 3 with anaerobic sludge addition and increased water content was higher than those of other lysimeters. The result of microbial community analysis revealed that the relative abundances of Proteobacteria including pathogens in Lysimeter 3 were lower than those in other lysimeters. Overall, this study demonstrated that the proper operating conditions of lysimeters accelerated the stabilization of swine carcasses and could contribute to sustainable land use.


The article focuses on methods of intralingual and interlingual translation of Old English anthroponyms and toponyms in Anglo-Saxon poem "Beowulf". The author analyses the structure of anthroponyms, marks out the most typical components and studies their etymology. The analysis shows that these units play an important role in the text. However, transliteration without special commentary cannot convey their meaning and cannot be considered an appropriate method of translation.


To serve and protect: that is the mandate of the modern police force. However, as they acquire more tools for processing information, the notion of serving and protecting necessarily evolves. What are the digital tools necessary to properly protect the public, and how can we ensure that the use of these tools ensures that the police serve the public and not the other way around?


THE HYPOTHESIS THAT the deposit behavior of commercial banks is a significant determinant of commercial banks' asset distribution, and therefore of earnings performance, is developed and tested in this dissertation. Support for this hypothesis is found in banking literature which delineates primary, secondary, and investment reserves (i.e., assets) to which cash available is allocated on the basis of the banks' needs to meet possible withdrawals and loan demands. If this hypothesis were confirmed by banking practice, it might well indicate to less profitable banks that, by stabilizing deposit behavior, perhaps through better diversification of depositors, profits could be improved. As part of a Research Fellowship, the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago provided data for testing this hypothesis. In testing the hypothesis, the performance of assets is measured for the year 1962 by the ratios of total operating revenues and net current earnings to total assets, each adjusted to exclude earnings which cannot be attributed to asset distribution. Excluded from consideration were service charge income on deposit accounts, other revenue, trust revenue, capital gains and losses, valuation reserves, and taxes. Comparison of the revenue and earnings ratios, which differ only by operating expenses, indicates that operating expenses do influence net current earnings. The influence of factors affecting total operating revenues does not necessarily carry through to net current earnings. Using data for a sample of thirty banks drawn from the cash grain area of Illinois, six independent variables purporting to measure the magnitude and duration of fluctuations and the trend of demand and time deposits were regressed on each of these two measures of asset performance. These independent variables were measured for the four years, 1959 through 1962, three years, 1960 through 1962, two years 1961 through 1962, and one year, 1962. Results of the multiple regressions indicate that these measures of deposit behavior in the periods studied were not significant predictors of asset performance as measured by either total revenue or earnings ratios. Measuring of independent variables for four, three, two, and one year periods made little difference. The data failed to support the hypothesis. The fact that some of the more stable banks in the sample were not lending up to their capacity, as measured by the independent variables, while other, less stable banks had substantially higher volumes of loans to total assets, contributed to this refutation of the hypothesis. Two possible conclusions stand out:


In order to identify videos on the Internet, a robust video hashing based on key frames and Isometric Feature Mapping (ISOMAP) is proposed in this paper. In this method, key frames extraction and hash generation are two major components. During the video hashing, key frame extraction is achieved by a uniform distribution vector and video tomography analysis, while hash generation is accomplished by ISOMAP and hash calculation algorithm. To reduce the numerousness of frames in the high-dimensional space, video shots are first detected based on video tomography and key frames are tagged by a vector. Meanwhile, the luminance coefficients of key frames are computed to represent the high dimensional feature. The ISOMAP is carried out to globally and optimally map the key frames of video to a trajectory of points in a low dimensional space. The distances between points are computed and a hash calculation method is proposed to get hash sequence, which can inherently describe the corresponding video. Experimental results show that the video hashing has good robustness and discrimination.


ENZOOTIC pneumonia (EP) associated with Mycoplasma hyopneumoniae and different viral and bacterial agents is one of the most costly diseases in pig production (Scheidt and others 1990). Economic losses associated with the disease are often the result of a complex interaction between infection, poor management and environmental conditions (Halbur 1998). Outdoor production reduces respiratory problems caused by EP (Docic and Bilkei 2001). EP is considered a misnomer, and in many parts of the world it has been reclassified into a larger group of respiratory diseases, called porcine respiratory disease complex (PRDC) (Halbur 1998). In the USA, 30 to 80 per cent of slaughter pigs have lung lesions caused by EP (Ross 1992). Bilkei (1996) reported that 67 per cent of slaughter pigs in eastern Europe had more than 10 per cent of their lung surface showing EP-related pathological changes. Clinically, EP is a slow-spreading pneumonia in growing pigs, characterised by a dry, hacking cough that is most apparent immediately following periods of activity. As the disease progresses and secondary bacterial bronchopneumonia develops, dyspnoea, weight loss, loud coughing and mortality occur. A chronic, non-productive cough with high morbidity and low mortality is characteristic of EP. Gross pathological lesions are characterised by scattered to coalescing, collapsed lobules in the cranioventral lung, and well-demarcated, greyish-purple, depressed areas that exude viscous fluid. Microscopic examination reveals bronchopneumonia with suppurative and histiocytic alveolitis, peribronchial and perivascular cuffs and nodules (Clark and others 1993). A diagnosis of EP is confirmed by the fluorescent antibody test, PCR (Artiushin and Minion 1996), ELISA (Nicolet and others 1980), complement fixation test (Boulanger and Lecuyer 1968), indirect haemagglutination test (Lam and Switzer 1971), latex agglutination test (Bilkei 1996) or immunoperoxidase test (Armstrong and others 1983). Where there is a high prevalence of EP, 'all-in, all-out' rearing strategies reduce production losses (Scheidt and others 1995). Clark and others (1993) demonstrated that infection with M hyopneumoniae can be prevented using either modified or isolated early weaning techniques. Vaccination against M hyopneumoniae may improve health status and production data, but the effect of the vaccine on pig performance has been inconsistent (Charlier and others 1994). Straw (1991) stated that outdoor production hinders the spread of M hyopneumoniae due to crowding effects. Docic and Bilkei (2001) found that pigs suffering from EP that were kept outdoors had significantly better production parameters compared with similarly infected indoor-raised counterparts. This short communication describes a study to determine the effect of outdoor pig production on the seroprevalence of M hyopneumoniae and lung lesions. The study took place from June to November 2004, on a large east European pig production unit of 2500 sows (F1 females of Large White cross German Landrace, mated to F1 boars of Duroc cross German Landrace), with indoor and outdoor facilities. The unit had suffered respiratory problems and low production levels due to M hyopneumoniae and nontoxigenic Pasteurella multocida. Before the study, the gross pathological signs of affected pigs were dominated by typical lesions of EP, and were associated with unsatisfactory fattening performance. Twenty-two late pregnant, M hyopneumoniae-seropositive (seroprevalence of 0·436 to 0·710 optical density [OD] by ELISA) sows kept indoors were selected for the study. The sows were weaned simultaneously at four weeks' (mean [sd] 28·3 [1·1] days) lactation. The weaned piglets were assigned into either indoor pens (101 piglets from 11 sows; group 1) or outdoor pasture (100 piglets from 11 sows; group 2). The indoor nursery and fattening part of the unit had a high concentration of ammonia (>25 ppm) in the air. The animals raised outdoors were kept from weaning to slaughter in an area of 60 m2 per pig surrounded by an electric fence. The animals had open-fronted huts with curtains on the south side and deep straw bedding. A hut was 6 m2 in size for a weaned litter, and the piglets stayed together from weaning to slaughter. The pigs in both groups were fed ad libitum with the following diet: 12·5 MJ digestible energy (DE), 15 per cent crude protein (CP), 1 per cent lysine, 0·75 per cent calcium (Ca) and 0·65 per cent phosphorus (P) from weaning until 20 kg bodyweight; 13·7 MJ DE, 18 per cent CP, 1·05 per cent lysine, 0·70 per cent Ca and 0·55 per cent P, from 20 kg until 65 kg bodyweight; and 13·5 MJ DE, 16 per cent CP, 0·95 per cent lysine, 0·70 per cent Ca and 0·50 P, from 65 kg bodyweight until slaughter. The animals were slaughtered at a weight of 110 to 120 kg. The smallest weaned pig in a litter, that is, 10 piglets in each group, was ear tagged and its seropositivity for M hyopneumoniae was tested at weaning and four, eight, 12, 16 and 20 weeks postweaning. Blood samples were drawn by venepuncture and sera were harvested by centrifugation and stored at –20°C. The presence of antibody to M hyopneumoniae was determined using a commercial ELISA with coating antigen (Bayer). M hyopneumoniae was grown in Friis medium at 35°C. Cells were pelleted by centrifugation at 10,000 g for 30 minutes. The pellet was washed three times and suspended in phosphatebuffered saline (PBS) (pH 7·2) at a 1:100 dilution. The suspension was mixed with an equal volume of 2 per cent Tween 20 in PBS, stirred for 90 minutes at 37°C and centrifuged at 10,000 g for one hour. The supernatant was then passed through a 0·2 μm membrane filter and stored at –70°C in aliquots. For the ELISA, 96-well microplates were coated by incubating them at 4°C overnight with 100 μl per well of antigen (1:10 dilution) in carbonate/bicarbonate buffet (pH 9·6). Antigen was removed and the plates were incubated at 37°C for three hours with blocking solution containing 1 per cent bovine serum albumin and 3 per cent rabbit serum in PBS. Before use, the plates were washed three times with PBS containing 0·05 per cent Tween 20. A sample (50 μl) of each test serum was diluted 1:50 in blocking solution and added to duplicate wells. Plates were incubated at 37°C for 30 minutes. After washing, 50 μl of peroxidase-conjugated rabbit anti-pig immunoglobulin G was added to each well and incubated at 37°C for 30 minutes. The wells were washed again, and 50 μl of substrate containing o-phenylenediamine was added. After 10 minutes at room temperature, the reaction was stopped by adding 50 μl 0·5N sulphuric acid. OD values were measured with an ELISA reader at 490 nm. OD values of 0·300 or above were regarded as positive. At slaughter, the lungs of the animals were examined for gross lesions consistent with EP (Clark and others 1993). Drawings of all lesions seen were made on a lung diagram. The percentage of lung affected by pathological changes was determined using a computerised digitiser (Osteoplan Kontron Image Analysis; Zeiss). Veterinary Record (2006) 158, 303-305


Circulating tumor cells (CTCs) are cells that have been shed from tumors and circulate in the bloodstream. These cells can also be responsible for further metastases and the spread of cancer. Taking a closer look and analyzing CTCs through what has come to be known as "liquid biopsy" has immense potential to further researchers' understanding of cancer biology. However, CTCs are very sparse and are therefore difficult to detect and capture. To combat this issue, researchers have attempted to create devices, assays, and further techniques to successfully isolate CTCs for analysis. In this work, new and existing biosensing techniques for CTC isolation, detection, and release/detachment are discussed and compared to evaluate their efficacy, specificity, and cost. Here, we specifically aim to evaluate and identify the potential success of these techniques and devices in point-of-care (POC) settings.


ApoC3 is a secretory glycoprotein primarily synthesized by liver, which plays a crucial role in LPL (lipoprotein lipase)-mediated hydrolysis process of triglycerides in circulation. Over the past decades, growing lines of evidence from functional studies demonstrate that ApoC3 is positively correlated with the incidence of cardiovascular disease,1 leading to the clinical trials of ApoC3 antisense or monoclonal antibody.2 Surprisingly, although overexpression of human ApoC3 significantly accelerated atherosclerotic development in mice, the protective effect of ApoC3 deficiency on atherogenesis was not observed in knockout mice,3 thus implying that other genetically modified species need to be developed for the study of ApoC3-related dyslipidemia. Since Syrian golden hamsters resemble humans in respect with the metabolic profiling, we deleted Apoc3 gene in hamsters using CRISPR/Cas9 (clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats/CRISPR associated protein 9) to investigate the relationship between ApoC3 and atherosclerosis (Figure [A]). Compared with wild-type group, triglyceride level was significantly reduced in ApoC3 KO (ApoC3−/−) hamsters on chow diet with no statistical differences in the levels of total cholesterol and HDL-C (high-density lipoprotein cholesterol) attributed to an inhibition of triglyceride accumulation in chow diet–fed hamsters after oral fat load without affecting hepatic VLDL (very low-density lipoprotein) secretion (Figure [B]), which was consistent with the phenotypes observed in ApoC3-deficient humans4; however, lipoprotein disc electrophoresis showed a reduction in VLDL fractions and an increase in LDL (low density lipoprotein) fractions in ApoC3−/− hamsters, indicating that ApoC3 deficiency enhanced the conversion of VLDL to LDL (Figure [B]). To better study the relationship between ApoC3 and atherosclerosis, we put wild-type and ApoC3−/− hamsters on high-cholesterol/high-fat diet. Our results showed that circulating triglyceride and total cholesterol levels were significantly reduced, but HDL-C levels were markedly increased in ApoC3−/− hamsters (Figure [C]). Furthermore, lipoprotein disc electrophoresis revealed a substantial reduction in the fractions of VLDL and LDL in high-cholesterol/high-fat-fed ApoC3−/− hamsters accompanied by an increase in HDL (Figure [C]). In line with the results of plasma lipids and lipoprotein distribution, ApoC3−/− hamsters showed reduced concentrations of ApoB (Apolipoprotein B) and ApoE (Apolipoprotein E), but elevated ApoA1 (Apolipoprotein A1) levels (Figure [C]), suggesting that ApoC3 deficiency clearly led to an antiatherogenic lipid profile. As expected, ApoC3−/− hamsters upon high-cholesterol/ high-fat diet exhibited less atherosclerotic lesions in both thoracic and abdominal arteries, which were the major parts with atherosclerotic development observed in humans; however, there was no statistical difference in the lesions in aortic arch and sinus between the 2 genotypes (Figure [D]). In conclusion, the present study reports a direct relationship between ApoC3 and atherogenesis in a humanlike animal model with ApoC3 deficiency: inactivation of