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expression of effector molecules Granzyme B and Ki67 in T cells was strongly reduced, in particular for T cells that were in close proximity or physically engaged with PMN-MDSC, which expressed LOX-1 and arginase I. Patients with cancer with evidence for strong down-regulation of T cell function by PMN-MDSC had significantly impaired survival. In summary, our approach identifies areas of clinically relevant functional interaction between MDSC and T cells in human cancer tissue and may help to inform patient selection in future combination immunotherapies.
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A Novel Silicon-Embedded Coreless Inductor for High-Frequency Power Management Applications In this letter, a novel post-CMOS silicon-embedded coreless power inductor is proposed and demonstrated. The inductor is fabricated in the thick bottom layer of a silicon substrate and connected to the front side through vias opened in the thin top layer where control circuits can be fabricated for chip area saving. A 0.8- coreless inductor fabricated using this monolithic inductor technology shows a low dc resistance of 87 and an inductance of 13.1 nH with a quality factor of 3.9 at 100 MHz. A high inductor efficiency of 93% was estimated for 2.4-1.5-V 0.6-A power conversion at 100 MHz. This technology is very suitable for power-supply-on-chip applications.
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[Inhibition of multidrug resistance gene 1 expression in glioma by antisense oligodeoxynucleotides]. OBJECTIVE To investigate the effectiveness of phosphorothioate multidrug resistance gene 1 (MDR1) antisense oligodeoxynucleotides (MDR1-AS) suppressing MDR1 expression in multidrug-resistant glioma cell line C6/adr. METHODS The glioma cell line C6/adr served as the tested model in vitro, MDR1-AS (5'-CTCCATCACCACCTC-3'), complementary to the -9- +6 sequence of first exon, was synthesized and phosphorothioate-modified. As control of sequence specificity, MDR1-S (5'-GAGGTGGTGA TGGAG-3') was used. Both antisense and sense oligodeoxynucleotides were transduced to C6/adr cells by lipofectin. The cytotoxity of MDR1-AS was tested using morphological observation and 3- (4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl) -2, 5-diphenyl tetrazolium bromide assay. Semi-quantitative reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction was used to monitor the expression levels of the MDR1 mRNA in the different groups. The positive rate of the MDR1 gene product P glycoprotein (P-gp) was determined by flow cytometry assessment. RESULTS No cytotoxicity of MDR1-AS was observed. The MDR1 mRNA expression level was decreased from 106% to about 30.44% 48 h after MDR1-AS treatment. The P-gp positive rate of MDR1-AS treated C6/adr cells decreased from 100% to 32.77%, with that of C6/adr cells considered as 100%. CONCLUSIONS MDR1-AS can effectively inhibit MDR1 expression in the C6/adr cell line at both the mRNA and protein level, and may be an alternative treatment of drug-resistant gliomas.
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Aerobic fitness, upper-body strength and agility predict performance on an occupational physical ability test among police officers while wearing personal protective equipment. BACKGROUND Police institutions often use Occupational Physical Ability Tests (OPATs) as a measure of occupational performance. These tests are utilized to mimic the daily and essential tasks performed by the police officers, but few are performed with load carriage (LC). The purpose of this study was to examine the physical performance predictors of an OPAT performed without (NPPE) and with (WPPE) LC. METHODS Thirteen federal highway police officers (age: 36.8±3.7 years, body mass: 89±10.7 kg, height: 180±5.6 cm) volunteered to complete a battery of physical fitness tests (aerobic power and capacity, muscular endurance, lower limb power, upper limb strength, agility and anaerobic power) and anthropometrics. Occupational performance was measured by the total OPAT time consisting of 7 sequential police tasks. All subjects randomly completed the tests on both LC conditions. RESULTS Agility (P<0.01), lower limb power and height (P<0.05) were significantly related to performance in the NPPE OPAT. In the WPPE condition, aerobic power (absolute and relative) (P<0.01), lower limb power and agility (P<0.05). The best predictors for OPAT performance were agility (R2=0.45, P<0.01) in the NPPE condition, as well as relative aerobic power, upper limb strength and agility in the WPPE condition (R2=0.81, P<0.01). CONCLUSIONS Different conditions of LC have distinct occupational performance predictors. Thus, considering LC, physical exercise programs aimed at improving police occupational performance should aim at improving agility, upper limb strength and aerobic fitness.
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Small bowel obstruction and abdominal pain after robotic versus open radical prostatectomy Abstract Objective The aim of this study was to examine whether intraperitoneal robot-assisted surgery leads to small bowel obstruction (SBO), possibly caused by the formation of intra-abdominal adhesions. Materials and methods In total, 7256 men treated by intraperitoneal robot-assisted radical prostatectomy (RARP) and 9787 men treated by retropubic radical prostatectomy (RRP) in 2005–2012 were identified in the Prostate Cancer data Base Sweden (PCBaSe). Multivariable Cox proportional hazards models were used to calculate the risk of readmission for SBO, SBO-related surgery and admissions due to abdominal pain up to 5 years postoperatively. Results During the first postoperative year, the risk of readmission for SBO was higher after RARP than after RRP [hazard ratio (HR) 1.92, 95% confidence interval (CI) 1.14–3.25] but after 5 years there was no significant difference (HR 1.28, 95% CI 0.86–1.91), and there was no difference in the risk of SBO surgery during any period. The risk of admission for abdominal pain was significantly increased after RARP during the first year (HR 2.24, 95% CI 1.50–3.33) but not after 5 years (HR 1.23, 95% CI 0.92–1.63). Conclusion Intraperitoneal RARP had an increased risk of SBO and abdominal pain in the short term during the first year, but not in the long term, compared to RRP.
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Parametric analysis of RF and microwave transmission through single and multiple layers of float glass Energy-Saving Glass (ESG) is used to prevent the penetration of infrared (IR) radiation into buildings and hence to maintain thermal comfort. ESG is made of float glass with metallic-oxide coating over it. Unfortunately RF/microwave signals are attenuated by this coating making communication more difficult. Multi-layer float glass windows provide another solution that can offer thermal comfort inside buildings. This paper presents a parametric study on the transmission of RF/microwave signals through float glass panels. Single, double and tripple glass panels are analyzed and the effects of the dielectric constant, thickness and gap between panels are considered. It is observed that with appropriate selection of parameters high-transmission band can be changed to obtain best transmission at some frequencies while stronger transmission at the lower frequencies (e,g up to 2GHz) or wider passband with larger passband ripples can be obtained.
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[Construction of porous hydroxyapatite (HA) block loaded with cultured chondrocytes]. OBJECTIVE To construct a kind of bone healing enhancing implant with cultured chondrocytes bound to hydroxyapatite (HA). METHODS Chondrocytes were obtained from the costicartilage of rat and were cultured on the porous HA blocks, 3 mm x 3 mm x 4 mm size, for three and seven days. Scanning electron micrograph was taken to show whether the cells grew outside and inside the pore of HA block. The cells cultured on tiny glass sheet for 2 days were used to prove where the cells come from by in situ hybridization technique with alpha1 (II) cDNA probe. RESULTS Scanning electron micrographs showed that the pores of the HA surface and inside of the blocks are filled with cultured cells, especially the longer cultured block. The cells were chondrocytes confirmed by in situ hybridization. CONCLUSION The porous HA can be used as cell cultured substrate and chondrocyte can adhere and proliferate inside the porous HA block.
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[Organ transplantation. One of the biochemical reasons for the race against the clock]. The authors have studied the subcellular functioning of human adrenal glands removed from subjects in a stage IV coma. The present study has a two-fold interest: on the one hand, it offers biochemical information on a key element in the intermediate metabolism (namely, the mitochondrial energetic metabolism, occurring in a fragile tissue which, under a state of shock, is primarily affected; the results obtained on such type of tissue may therefore be inferred to other organs); on the other hand, it allows a wider approach of the adrenal biochemical mechanisms during a stage IV coma. The mitochondrial fraction was obtained by differential centrifugation carried out immediately after organ removal. The steroid synthesis, studied using radioactive precursors, turned out to be similar to that found in other mammals. Respiratory characteristics, determined by polarography with a Clark oxygen electrode, at 37 degrees C, were satisfactory: respiratory intensity was 77.25 +/- 12.16 nanomoles O2/min/mg mitochondrial protein in the presence of succinate 15 mM and respiratory control was 1.93 +/- 0.15 in the presence of ADP 37 microM. The respiratory chain functioned in a classical manner: rotenone 25 microM did not inhibit respiration in the presence of succinate 15 mM, while it did with L-malate 15 mM. In the presence of succinate 15 mM, the respiratory intensity was inhibited at 87.4 percent and 76.7 percent by KCN 0.01 microM and antimycin A 0.09 microM respectively; with DNP 85 microM, it was multiplied by 5. However, the value
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of the P/O ratio was low (0.24 +/- 0.04). Under the present conditions, this may highlight the difficulty to synthetize ATP whenever neither the functioning nor the regulation of the multi-enzymatic complex accounting for oxygen consumption are affected. This result clearly confirms that the shortest possible delay between organ removal and transplantation is crucial, as the renewal of cell structures requires energy. These fundamental research studies account for the major concerns of reanimation teams. This also raises the issue of the role of fundamental researchers within a transplant surgery team.
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Smart Healthcare Digitalization: Using ICT to Effectively Balance Exploration and Exploitation within Hospitals Most of the literature on healthcare digitalization is focused on the benefits, the barriers and the determinants of the adoption of ICT-based solutions within hospitals. Little is understood about how hospital digitalization can be accomplished or how this digitalization fosters an increase in hospital performance — both in terms of quality improvement and cost rationalization — by ambidextrously combining the exploration and exploitation of hospital assets. This paper sheds a preliminary light on the topic, identifying a set of action-oriented propositions for smart healthcare digitalization within hospitals.
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Effects of Neonatal Resveratrol Exposure on Adult Male and Female Reproductive Physiology and Behavior Resveratrol (RES) is a phytoestrogen that has the ability to bind to estrogen receptors (ERs) and evoke biological effects that parallel those exerted by endogenous and synthetic estrogens. We have shown in previous studies that adult female rats acutely exposed to RES exhibit estrous cycle irregularity, ovarian hypertrophy, and alterations in sociosexual behavior. The present experiment characterizes the prolonged effects of maternal RES exposure throughout the lactational period on subsequent behavior, reproductive tissues, and brain morphology of the adult offspring. During adulthood, female offspring exposed to RES throughout nursing exhibited reduced body weight and increased ovarian weight, but exhibited normal estrous cyclicity and sociosexual behavior, without changes in the volume of the sexually dimorphic nucleus of the preoptic area or the anteroventral periventricular nucleus of the hypothalamus. During adulthood, males exposed to RES throughout nursing exhibited decreased body weight and plasma testosterone concentration, increased testicular weight, and reduced sociosexual behavior. These males also had significantly smaller sexually dimorphic nucleus of the preoptic area volumes and larger anteroventral periventricular nucleus volumes compared to male controls. These data suggest that postnatal exposure to RES may affect estrogenic activity in specific peripheral tissues (e.g., the gonads), while inducing antiestrogenic effects in the brain. Thus, the present study supports recent in vitro and in vivo findings that RES differs from most other phytoestrogens by acting as a possible mixed ER agonist/antagonist, depending on the tissue-specific availability of ER subtypes that are preferentially localized in specific brain
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regions and throughout the reproductive tract. More importantly these data indicate that maternal consumption of phytoestrogens during lactation can have lasting effects on the offspring that may not become apparent until they reach adulthood.
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Botulinum toxin type A as a novel method of preventing cleft lip scar hypertrophy - a literature review. Cleft lip is a congenital development defect. Primary cleft lip repair leads to cleft scar formation. The resulting scar often undergoes hypertrophy, which negatively affects the facial aesthetics, function, and patient's mental health. One of the methods used in scar therapy described in recent years is Botulinum toxin injections The aim of this work is to present current knowledge about the impact of Botulinum toxin A on cleft lip scar appearance and its effect on scar hypertrophy. The literature search was conducted in the English language via the PubMed and Google Scholar databases. The results show injections seem to be a promising method in cleft lip scar management. However, future studies, especially randomized controlled trials, are necessary to assess the effect of BoNT-A compared with placebo and to determine the optimal dosages and injection schemes for BoNT-A treatment in cleft lip patients.
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Buprenorphine or Procaine for Pain Relief in Acute Pancreatitis A Prospective Randomized Study Background: To assess the analgesic efficacy and side effects of buprenorphine and procaine in patients with acute pancreatitis. Methods: Forty patients (average age, 50 years; 23 male) with acute pancreatitis or an acute bout of a chronic pancreatitis were prospectively randomized to receive buprenorphine or procaine for pain relief. Both analgesics were administered as constant intravenous (i.v.) infusions and additional analgesics were given on demand. Pain scores were assessed on a visual analogue scale. Close clinical control and laboratory checks were performed during the three-day study period. Results: Patients receiving buprenorphine were significantly less likely to demand additional analgesics (1 versus 14 patients; P < 0.0001). The pain scores for patients in the buprenorphine group were significantly lower over the treatment period in comparison to procaine (P < 0.05). The reduction of pain score was significantly greater during the initial two treatment days using buprenorphine (day 1: 55 versus 25, P < 0.0001; day 2: 62 versus 40, P = 0.005). Side effects were comparable for both groups with the exception of a slightly higher sedation rate under buprenorphine. Conclusions: Constant i.v. application of buprenorphine is more effective than the recommended procaine for pain relief in acute pancreatitis.
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Direct Statistical Modeling of Spread of Epidemic Based On a Stage-Dependent Stochastic Model A stochastic stage-dependent model of spread of an epidemic in a certain region is presented. The model is written in the form of a continuous-discrete random process that takes into account the passage of individuals through various stages of an infectious disease. Within the framework of the model, the population of the region is represented in the form of cohorts of individuals, structured according to immunological, clinical, epidemiological and demographic criteria. All cohorts make up two blocks. Individuals belonging to the cohorts of the first block are considered indistinguishable within a fixed cohort and have the same type of parametric description. Individuals belonging to the cohorts of the second block differ from each other by the time of admission to a particular cohort and by the time of stay in this cohort. An algorithm for statistical modeling of the dynamics of cohorts of individuals based on the Monte Carlo method is developed. A numerical study of the dynamics of cohorts of individuals was conducted for sets of parameters reflecting different variants of transmission of infection between individuals.
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Trait aggressiveness and hockey penalties: predicting hot tempers on the ice. Previous studies examining the validity of measures of trait aggressiveness either have been retrospective studies or have used laboratory aggression as the criterion behavior. Can a measure of trait aggressiveness predict nonlaboratory physical aggression? The Physical Aggression subscale of the Aggression Questionnaire was completed by 91 high school hockey players prior to the start of the season. At the end of the season, these trait aggressiveness scores were regressed on minutes in the penalty box for aggressive penalties (e.g., fighting, slashing, tripping) and minutes in the penalty box for nonaggressive penalties (e.g., delay of game, illegal equipment, too many players). As expected, preseason trait aggressiveness scores predicted aggressive penalty minutes (r = .33) but not nonaggressive penalty minutes (r = .04).
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Crowd density estimation based on optical flow and hierarchical clustering Crowd density estimation has gained much attention from researchers recently due to availability of low cost cameras and communication bandwidth. In video surveillance applications, counting people and creating a temporal profile is of high interest. Surveillance systems face difficulties in detecting motion from the scene due to varying environmental conditions and occlusion. Instead of detecting and tracking individual person, density estimation is an approximate method to count people. The approximation is often more accurate than individual tracking in occluded scenarios. In this work, a new technique to estimate crowd density is proposed. A block-based dense optical flow with spatial and temporal filtering is used to obtain velocities in order to infer the locations of objects in crowded scenarios. Furthermore, a hierarchical clustering is employed to cluster the objects based on Euclidean distance metric. The Cophenetic correlation coefficient for the clusters highlighted the fact that our preprocessing and localizing of object movements form hierarchical clusters that are structured well with reasonable accuracy without temporal post-processing.
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MULTIPARTY BALLOT COUNTING IN AN INTERNET VOTING SCHEME We present a voting scheme in which shares of the ballots are sent to multiple talliers. The talliers operate in parallel and cooperate together to count the ballots by using the technique of the Secure Multiparty Computations (SMPC) in the Virtual Ideal Functionality Framework (VIFF). The counting process is fair since no single tallier can gain knowledge about the ballots or can count the ballots without cooperating with other talliers.
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A Combined Intravascular MRI Endoscope and Intravascular Ultrasound (IVUS) Transducer for High-Resolution Image-Guided Ablation. An intravascular MRI (IMRI) loopless antenna is combined for the first time with an intravascular water-cooled ultrasound ablation transducer as a possible tool for providing high-resolution MRI-guided ablations of pathological tissue via intravascular access. High resolution anatomical MRI, and real-time MRI thermometry were used to monitor ablation delivery in phantoms and tissue specimens. Results show that IMRI can guide IVUS-mediated directional ablation with minimal image artifacts. This permits the monitoring of thermal dose and therapy titration while minimizing potential thermal damage to the vessel wall.
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Your Nose is as Sleek as Goose Fat: The Standard of Chinese Beauty in the English Tongue In Hong Lou Meng, the straightforward description of the appearances of young women characters is highly prevalent ; Cao used rhetorical devices of metaphors and similes to present abstract beauty into something visual. As English and Chinese culture and the norms of works of literature do not share the same standard of beauty and the choice of images, the translation, on one hand, runs into the dilemma of keeping the image of the original and thus compromises its reader’s understanding; yet on the other hand, abandoning the image of the original loses the image of beauty depicted in the source text. This paper concentrates on translation into English of the metaphors utilised in describing the beauty of females in Hong Lou Meng, by Yang Xianyi and Gladys Yang (1978) and by David Hawkes and John Minford (1973). Linguistic metaphors are categorised based on Dagut’s (1976) notion of shared cultural experiences and semantic association whilst the main aim is to find out the extent to which the original image could be retained. The findings show that retention of images in translating beauty-related metaphors is acceptable in shared metaphors and half-shared metaphors. As for non-shared metaphors, the retention of images is acceptable with some additional ‘help’ by adding sense . Meanwhile, the usage of standard TL image, be it added with sense or made more explicit through the usage of simile, should be avoided as far as possible in canonised texts.
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Keywords: metaphor ; Hong Lou Meng ; beauty ; translation; image
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Incidence of Ultrathin Descemet Stripping Endothelial Keratoplasty Corneal Graft Rejection following Steroid Discontinuation ABSTRACT Purpose/Aims: To determine the incidence of corneal graft rejection in patients with approximately 1 year of steroid therapy following uDSEK. A shortened course of corticosteroids may be beneficial and a viable option in Ultrathin Descemet’s Stripping Endothelial Keratoplasty (uDSEK). Materials and Methods: This retrospective cohort study evaluated corneal graft rejection rate in 170 cases of uDSEK that met inclusion criteria with approximately 1 year of steroid therapy. Corneal graft rejection was defined by anterior chamber cell/flare, keratic precipitates with/without corneal edema, and/or a rejection line. The following were collected retrospectively from January 1, 2005 through January 1, 2013: gender, age, race, indication for uDSEK, length of follow-up, length of steroid therapy. Continuous data were compared using Wilcoxon Rank Sum Test and categorical data were compared using Fisher’s Exact Test. Results: The included eyes had an average length of steroid therapy of 431 days (range 85–720 days) with an average follow-up of 1274 days (range 395–3186 days). During the follow-up period without steroid, 5 of the 170 eyes were diagnosed with rejection (2.94%). Of the five eyes that experienced rejection, four eyes resolved after topical prednisone was reinstituted alone and did not require repeat uDSEK. The other eye was lost to follow-up. The cumulative probability of rejection after steroid cessation was calculated at 0.67% after 12 months, 2.20% after 18 months, 3.08% after 24 months, and 4.55% after 36 months. Conclusion: Discontinuation of topical steroid at approximately 1 year after uDSEK results in
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a low rate of corneal graft rejection and may prove extended use unnecessary.
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Star-forming regions at the periphery of the supershell surrounding the Cyg OB1 association – I. The star cluster vdB 130 and its ambient gas and dust medium Stellar population and the interstellar gas-dust medium in the vicinity of the open star cluster vdB 130 are analysed using optical observations taken with the 6-m telescope of the SAO RAS and the 125-cm telescope of the SAI MSU along with the data of Spitzer and Herschel. Based on proper motions and BV and JHKs 2MASS photometric data, we select additional 36 stars as probable cluster members. Some stars in vdB 130 are classified as B stars. Our estimates of minimum colour excess, apparent distance modulus and the distance are consistent with young age (from 5 to 10 Myrs) of the cluster vdB 130. We suppose the large deviations from the conventional extinction law in the cluster direction, with $R_V$ ~ 4 - 5. The cluster vdB 130 appears to be physically related to the supershell around Cyg OB1, a cometary CO cloud, ionized gas, and regions of infrared emission. There are a few regions of bright mid-infrared emission in the vicinity of vdB 130. The largest of them is also visible on H-alpha and [SII] emission maps. We suggest that the infrared blobs that coincide in projection with the head of the molecular cloud are HII regions, excited by the cluster B-stars. Some signatures of a shock front are identified between these IR-bright regions.
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Study of magnetic reconnection in large-scale magnetic island coalescence via spatially coupled MHD and PIC simulations We study the process of magnetic reconnection in a coalescing magnetic island setup by means of numerical simulation. This process mimics flux tube merging which can take place in the solar corona, laboratory, and astrophysical objects. Simulations are performed with magnetohydrodynamics (MHD), Hall-MHD, and a newly developed Coupled MHD and Particle-In-Cell (PIC) model (CMAP). This model treats the global simulation domain with MHD, while the region around the reconnection zone is treated with PIC. This CMAP code allows us to simulate larger-scale domains with lesser computing power compared to fully PIC simulations. CMAP reproduces the dynamics of fully kinetic simulations which Hall-MHD does not capture, as seen in the Hall magnetic field and the reconnecting current sheet structure. For large islands in kinetic simulations, the current sheet does not form smoothly and shows chaotic behavior, and the magnetic islands also bounce and slosh. The current sheet thickness, length, and aspect ratios are calculated. They show that in the CMAP model, the thickness remains close to the ion skin depth, while the length changes weakly with the system size, giving a steady aspect ratio for the two largest system size simulations. The pressure tensor also shows large deviations from isotropy and gyrotropy near the current sheet. The CMAP simulations for smaller system sizes are compared to fully kinetic simulations, and we find that a minimum fraction of area has to be provided PIC feedback in the CMAP simulations in order to
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produce reconnection rates and dynamics similar to fully kinetic simulations. The reconnection rate reduces with the increasing island size. For the CMAP model, this reduction is steeper compared to MHD and Hall-MHD initially, but for larger system sizes, the reconnection rates in CMAP simulations show a steady behavior.We study the process of magnetic reconnection in a coalescing magnetic island setup by means of numerical simulation. This process mimics flux tube merging which can take place in the solar corona, laboratory, and astrophysical objects. Simulations are performed with magnetohydrodynamics (MHD), Hall-MHD, and a newly developed Coupled MHD and Particle-In-Cell (PIC) model (CMAP). This model treats the global simulation domain with MHD, while the region around the reconnection zone is treated with PIC. This CMAP code allows us to simulate larger-scale domains with lesser computing power compared to fully PIC simulations. CMAP reproduces the dynamics of fully kinetic simulations which Hall-MHD does not capture, as seen in the Hall magnetic field and the reconnecting current sheet structure. For large islands in kinetic simulations, the current sheet does not form smoothly and shows chaotic behavior, and the magnetic islands also bounce and slosh. The current sheet thickness, length, and aspect ratios are calc...
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Aurora B inhibitor barasertib and cytarabine exert a greater‐than‐additive cytotoxicity in acute myeloid leukemia cells Barasertib, an aurora B inhibitor, terminates cell division, introduces polyploidy, and consequently causes apoptosis. In the present study, we evaluated the effect of the combination of barasertib and cytarabine (ara‐C), a key agent for leukemia chemotherapy, on leukemic cells in vitro. Human leukemia HL‐60 cells and HL‐60/ara‐C20 cells, a 20‐fold ara‐C‐resistant variant, were used. The 50% growth inhibitory concentrations of an active metabolite of barasertib, barasertib‐hydroxyquinazoline‐pyrazol‐aniline (Barasertib‐HQPA), and ara‐C were 51 nM and 300 nM for HL‐60 cells and 70 nM and 5300 nM for HL‐60/ara‐C20 cells, respectively. Barasertib‐HQPA induced polyploidy with a subsequent induction of sub‐G1 phase apoptosis, indicating the M‐phase specific cytotoxicity. Cells treated with the S‐phase specific ara‐C accumulated in S phase and subsequently died through apoptosis. When HL‐60 cells were treated with barasertib‐HQPA and ara‐C in combination, a greater‐than‐additive apoptosis was induced. This enhancement was obtained when the cells were treated with barasertib‐HQPA prior to ara‐C (37.9% sub‐G1) or with both concurrently (31.2% sub‐G1), but not with ara‐C prior to barasertib‐HQPA (17.8% sub‐G1). The combination effects were similarly obtained in HL‐60/ara‐C20 cells with 19.7% sub‐G1 for barasertib‐HQPA→ara‐C, 18.4% sub‐G1 for both concurrently, and 13.8% sub‐G1 for ara‐C→barasertib‐HQPA, and another leukemic U937 cells with 25.4% sub‐G1 for barasertib‐HQPA→ara‐C, 28.2% sub‐G1 for both concurrently, and 16.0% sub‐G1 for ara‐C→barasertib‐HQPA. Barasertib‐HQPA inhibited aurora B autophosphorylation and histone H3 phosphorylation in all the cell lines. Barasertib‐HQPA did not inhibit DNA synthesis, allowing ara‐C incorporation into DNA for its cytotoxicity. Thus, barasertib‐HQPA
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and ara‐C provided a greater‐than‐additive cytotoxicity in leukemic cells in vitro.
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PHYSICAL AND MECHANICAL PROPERTIES OF RECYCLED PET COMPOSITES Virgin and recycled polyethylene terephthalate (PET) has been examined for the production of composites with additions of 5-20% by weight of sand particles. Density and compressive strength were estimated using virgin (V-PET) and recycled PET (R-PET). Scanning electron microscope (SEM) equipped with energy dispersive X-ray (EDX) spectroscopy was used to characterize the morphology and elemental composition of the composites. Also, thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) was used to find degradation temperature on both types of polymer. On the other hand, a streamlined life cycle assessment (SLCA) was made for the different composites to get environmental impacts. The results indicated that a maximum of 52.94 MPa and 52.03 MPa on compressive strength were obtained for virgin and recycled PET without sand, respectively. With the addition of sand, compressive strength decreases in both cases. The best performance was found at 5% sand addition, which causes a reduction of 9.07% and 16.68% for V-PET and R-PET composites, respectively. Environmental results show that resource extraction is the dominant life stage; meanwhile, gas residues are the dominant environmental impact in both types of composites. R-PET composites are the best environmentally friendly option because they used recycled material, which in return recovers part of the embodied energy used to make the primary production. The results show it could be explored the potential to be used the composites in pavement blocks or architectonic elements.
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Rhinosinusitis among the patients with perennial or seasonal allergic rhinitis. Although no hypothesis is universally accepted, allergic rhinitis (AR) may play an important role in the occurrence of rhinosinusitis. This study was carried out to investigate the frequency and severity of rhinosinusitis among patients with seasonal or perennial AR. This study included 73 patients with AR. Findings related to rhinosinusitis of these patients were demonstrated by computed tomography (CT), and were scored according to the Lund-Mackay CT scan staging system. Fifty-two of the 73 patients (71.2%) were shown to have findings of rhinosinusitis. Of these 52, twenty-four patients (77.4%) had perennial AR and 28 (66.7%) patients had seasonal AR. The mean total CT staging score of rhinosinusitis was 4.2 +/- 3.2 in patients with perennial AR and 2.6 +/- 1.3 in patients with seasonal AR. Although the frequency of rhinosinusitis among patients with perennial AR was higher than among seasonal ones, this was statistically insignificant (p = 0.32). But CT staging scores of rhinosinusitis among the patients with perennial AR were significantly higher than among the seasonal AR group (p = 0.014). Although there was no significant difference between the frequency of rhinosinusitis of seasonal and perennial AR, the severity of rhinosinusitis was more severe in cases with perennial AR, in this study. Early management of an allergic disease is essential if its long-term consequences are to be prevented or minimized.
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Recombinant follicle stimulating hormone is effective in poor responders to highly purified follicle stimulating hormone. Ovarian stimulation in cases of poor ovarian responsiveness is an important challenge in in-vitro fertilization (IVF) programmes. Despite improvements in oocyte number and quality, an ideal ovarian stimulation strategy has yet to be defined. Here, the results of ovarian stimulation with recombinant follicle stimulating hormone (rFSH) in 28 poor responders to highly purified FSH (FSH-HP) with high basal concentrations of FSH are reported. The protocols used on the FSH-HP and rFSH cycles were identical with the sole exception of the FSH preparation: triptorelin 0.1 mg/day (gonadotrophin-releasing hormone, GnRH-agonist short protocol) and the starting FSH dose of 300 IU/day were administered from day 2 of the menstrual cycle. Ovarian outcome was classified as 'normal', 'intermediate' and 'poor', depending on the number of mature oocytes retrieved and the peak serum oestradiol concentration. Nine of the 28 subjects had an intermediate ovarian response to re-stimulation with rFSH. In the 26 patients who received human chorionic gonadotrophin on both cycles, re-stimulation resulted in a significant increase (P < 0.05) in the mean number of mature oocytes (2.4 +/- 1.4 versus 1.7 +/- 0.8), mean peak oestradiol concentration (606 +/- 252 versus 443 +/- 32 pg/ml) and fertilization rate (73.0 versus 53.3%). Four pregnancies were achieved. It is concluded that rFSH in a GnRH-agonist short protocol improves the ovarian outcome in poor responders to FSH-HP with high basal concentrations of FSH.
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Value of Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy for Diagnosis of Creatine Deficiency Syndrome Abstract Creatine deficiency syndromes are congenital metabolic diseases characterized by decreased cerebral creatine levels as a result of disorders in creatine synthesis and transport. Therefore, magnetic resonance spectroscopy is a valuable tool for diagnosis. This disease can be explained by congenital disorders occurring in three forms at different stages of the creatine metabolic pathway. Two of disorders arise autosomal recessively in creatine biosynthesis, arginine-glycine amidinotransferase, and guanidinoacetate methyltransferase enzyme deficiency. The third disorder occurs as a result of an SLC6A8 variant in the form of creatine carrier protein deficiency. In this article, a patient with SLC6A8 carrier deficiency is presented.
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Comparison of Mobile Agent Frameworks for Distributed Geospatial Data Integration Rapid growth of available geospatial data requires a development of system capable of autonomous data retrieval, integration and validation. Since agent technology may provide the suitable framework for developing such a system (as it can deal in a natural way with the distributed heterogeneous nature of the data) a problem of selection of the most appropriate agent environment needs to be addressed. In this paper, four mobile agent systems (Aglets, Concordia, Grasshopper, Voyager) are compared from the perspective of their suitability for this project.
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A. J. Weir, General Integration and Measure (Cambridge University Press, 1974), xi+298 pp., £5·70. vector spaces, extension of positive linear forms, locally convex topological vector spaces, separation of convex sets in a locally convex topological vector space, compact convex sets, the Krein-Milman theorem, seminorms and duality in topological vector spaces. In Chapter 4, the basic theory of normed linear spaces, Banach spaces, Hilbert spaces and linear mappings between such spaces is presented. In Chapter 5, the Baire Category theorem, uniform boundedness principle, open mapping and closed graph theorems are proved. Chapter 6 is entitled " Banach algebras ". It contains elementary spectral theory and Gelfand theory. Only the rational functional calculus is introduced in this chapter. In Chapter 7, the theory of C*-algebras, up to and including the Gelfand-Naimark theorem, is presented. The final chapter contains a miscellany of applications of results in earlier chapters. There are sections on Wiener's theorem on reciprocals of non-vanishing absolutely convergent trigonometric series, the StoneCech compactification, the spectral theorem for a normal operator, spectral sets, irreducible representations, von Neumann algebras, group representations and the character group of a locally compact abelian group.
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Study on diversity methods in mobile satellite communication systems Diversity is a good approach to cope with fading and interference, which has widely been used in terrestrial wireless communication systems. Recently, this technique has been taken into account in mobile satellite communication systems. This paper proposes three kinds of diversity methods, named satellite transmitting diversity, phased array multiplex transmitting diversity and multi-beam receiving diversity for downlink and uplink of satellite mobile communication systems, respectively. The bit error rate of the proposed methods with different satellite communication channels is simulated. It is found that the proposed methods can provide significant diversity gain, which may provide some reference for designer of mobile satellite communication systems.
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Predicting Relapse of the Myocardial Infarction in Hospitalized Patients The death pace of Myocardial Infarction is high throughout the world. The sickness happens because of the blockage of coronary arteries supply in the heart. Almost half of the individuals die before arriving at the clinic, and the recovery turns out to be problematic when the patient gets a second or third attack before admission of the hospital. Most indications displayed in the patients are cold sweats, windedness, and indigestion. If the diagnosis is not initiated in the following 5 - 6 hours, most of the cardiovascular muscles get destroyed, and the patient healing becomes severe. Indeed, even in joining the medical clinic, it is compulsory to give utmost priority to the patient for a week or at least for three days. The chances of healing become low when the patient gets repetitive attacks. The information gathered from the UCI ML repository will be used to predict the relapse of MI. Machine learning algorithms play a crucial part in predicting the relapse of MI during the first hours, second day and third day in a patient after admitting to the hospital. The dataset comprises information related to Age, sex, heredity on coronary heart disease, Increase of sodium in serum, serum sodium content, white platelet count, etc. The algorithms like AdaBoost (Adaptive Boosting), XGBoost (Extreme Gradient Boosting), Decision Tree, Random Forest, Support Vector Classifier (SVC) are used to anticipate the Relapse of the disease. By anticipating the reoccurrence of the illness ahead of time, medical specialists will be
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able to manage the time efficiently, and the medical practitioners can develop prescriptions to save the life of a patient without occurring serious conditions. SVC performed effectively in predicting the relapse of myocardial infarction on first and third day, while XGBoost performed effectively in predicting relapse of myocardial infarction on second day.
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Ullmann-type N-arylation of anilines with alkyl(aryl)sulfonium salts. A palladium/copper-cocatalyzed Ullmann-type N-arylation of anilines using alkyl(aryl)sulfonium triflates as arylation reagents has been accomplished. The reaction enabled Caryl-S bond cleavage over Calkyl-S bond breakage of alkyl(aryl)sulfoniums by Pd(P(tBu)3)2/CuI and gave the corresponding N-arylated products in good to high yields. It was also significant that the reactions of aniline with asymmetric butyl(mesityl)(aryl)sulfonium triflates showed excellent selectivity, in which the aryl groups other than the bulky and electron-rich mesityl moieties were transformed.
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Perceptions of the Optimally Integrated Person as a Function of Therapists' Characteristics The central focus of this paper was to determine whether there was a consensus for the concept of mental health. Therapists from different professional orientations in a United States sample rank ordered their views of the optimally integrated person using a 20-paragraph personality questionnaire based on Murray's need system. Although Freudians were found to be more “conservative” in certain respects than Neo-Freudians and Sullivanians, greater agreement than disagreement was generally obtained. Variation in rank order as a function of age, length of experience and sex of therapist are discussed as are differences within a Czechoslovakian sample of therapists.
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A study of intermittent spray cooling process through application of a sequential function specification method With ever-rising heat dissipation in electronics, there has been considerable research into liquid-cooled systems. Intermittent spray cooling (ISC) is one of the novel and efficient ways to cool the IC chip. In this article, a sequential function specification method is applied to the experimentally measured data, to determine the transient heat transfer coefficient of the simulated chip cooled by an ISC process. The optimal number of future time steps for this problem is found. The sequential function specification method is also compared with a first-order regularization scheme. For the optimal regularization parameter, the model is reduced to be the same as the function specification method. Experiments were conducted for 2, 4 and 6 bar pressures at 11, 22 and 33 W cm−2. The trends of valve frequency, duty cycle and the calculated transient heat transfer are also discussed.
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Ethics and Comparative Administration: A Constitutional Commentary This commentary invites readers to consider the merits of approaching administrative ethics in constitutional terms. Relying on his familiarity with French and American constitutional traditions, the author provides a concrete example of constitutionally based ethics in a comparative context. Following Tocqueville's advice to learn about one's own country by studying another, he concludes the essay by showing how the French strong-state tradition illuminates the troublesome American problem of affirmative action.
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After-Death Communication and the Biblical Fruits of the Spirit: An Online Survey In after-death communication (ADC), a living individual experiences direct contact with a deceased entity. Research has shown such experiences to be common and overwhelmingly beneficial. However, clients in counseling—particularly conservative Christian clients—have expressed reluctance, distress, rejection, and/or avoidance of such experiences, considering them evil or “of the Devil.” Using the Biblical litmus test for determining Holy Spirit as source of phenomena—whether they yield the fruits of love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, and self-control—the authors conducted an Internet survey of ADC experiencers. Participants were 164 adults ranging from 21 to 86 years of age, with a mean age of 57.7; 85.4% female, 14.0% male, and 0.06% genderqueer/nonbinary; 93.3% White, 0.6% African American/Black, 1.2% Asian, and 4.9% multiracial/other; and 92.7% representing disproportionately every U.S. geographic region, and 7.3% living outside the United States. With their only or self-identified most impactful ADC in mind, they indicated the extent to which the ADC changed their sense of each of the fruits, with opportunity to provide narrative explanation of any changes. Results revealed answers skewed strongly in the direction of increasing their sense of the fruits, with only 0.4% of responses indicating any lasting decrease of a fruit. The authors discuss limitations, including a religiously/spiritually liberal-leaning sample, criteria for concluding whether the results indicate that ADC is “of the Holy Spirit,” suggestions for future research that the results seem strongly to warrant, and implications for counselors working with clients who report ADC and for religious scholars considering
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the spiritual source of ADC.
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Peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor gamma suppresses proximal alpha1(I) collagen promoter via inhibition of p300-facilitated NF-I binding to DNA in hepatic stellate cells. Depletion of peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor gamma (PPARgamma) represents one of the key molecular changes that underlie transdifferentiation (activation) of hepatic stellate cells in the genesis of liver fibrosis (Miyahara, T., Schrum, L., Rippe, R., Xiong, S., Yee, H. F., Jr., Motomura, K., Anania, F. A., Willson, T. M., and Tsukamoto, H. (2000) J. Biol. Chem. 275, 35715-35722; Hazra, S., Xiong, S., Wang, J., Rippe, R. A., Krishna, V., Chatterjee, K., and Tsukamoto, H. (2004) J. Biol. Chem. 279, 11392-11401). In support of this notion, ectopic expression of PPARgamma suppresses hepatic stellate cells activation markers, most notably expression of alpha1(I) procollagen. However, the mechanisms underlying this antifibrotic effect are largely unknown. The present study utilized deletion-reporter gene constructs of proximal 2.2-kb alpha1(I) procollagen promoter to demonstrate that a region proximal to -133 bp is where PPARgamma exerts its inhibitory effect. Within this region, two DNase footprints with Sp1 and reverse CCAAT box sites exist. NF-I, but not CCAAT DNA-binding factor/NF-Y, binds to the proximal CCAAT box in hepatic stellate cells. A mutation of this site almost completely abrogates the promoter activity. NF-I mildly but independently stimulates the promoter activity and synergistically promotes Sp1-induced activity. PPARgamma inhibits NF-I binding to the most proximal footprint (-97/-85 bp) and inhibits its transactivity. The former effect is mediated by the ability of PPARgamma to inhibit p300-facilitated NF-I binding to DNA as demonstrated by chromatin immunoprecipitation assay.
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Geological, Geochemical and Engineering Considerations for Choosing a Landing Site on the Jovian Moon Europa Introduction: The existence of an aqueous ocean, the interactions between the ice crust and liquid, chemical characterization of the surface, and search fo r bi traces of a pre, or still existing life are some of the important scientific objectives of the upcoming missi on(s) to Europa. Many of these objectives maybe achieved through experiments performed in-situ on the surfac e. One of the most important aspects in planning a lan der mission to meet these goals is the choice of a prop er landing site that represents a balance between scie tific interests and engineering concerns. This work aims at giving a short preliminary list of areas on Europa th t not only can be of geological and biological signif icance, but are also meeting the basic engineering li mitations on landing and mission operations. Available datasets: The site candidates are chosen through the analysis of the high (less than 100m/pi xel) and medium resolution (100-300 m/pixel) images of the Galileo solid state imager (SSI), and the nearinfrared mapping spectrometer (NIMS). The aim of this approach is to combine the knowledge of the te rrain geology and morphology [1] with spectral data of areas of chemical significance [cf. 2, 3 ]. Due to constraints on image resolution in high latitudes, al l the site candidates are proposed in the mid latitudes, i. . ±50 degrees from the equator. Geological considerations: A thorough and detailed description of the various geologic units
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an d history of Europa’s geologic evolution has been don e by various authors [cf. 1, 4, 5]. The relevant part to this work is that a candidate landing site should be cho sen with the aim of analyzing material that has been ej ect d recently in geologic terms, i.e., mottled terrain a d Chaos regions (more information on these units is available in the aforementioned references). Consequently, we have chosen sites that are mostly locat ed in Chaos regions, pull-apart bands, and regions that s how evidence of material ejected from the surface recen tly, ex., Fig. 1(c, d, h, i, and k). In addition, large impact craters with central peaks are targets of high scie ntific values regardless of their age. Large craters shoul d contain material excavated by the impact process th at otherwise would not be available for analyzing. For that reason, we included two prime targets to the c andidate sites: Pwyll crater (fig. 1a) and an unnamed crater north of Manannán crater lying in old rough ter rain (fig. 1b). Both craters are more than 25 km in diam eter and display central peak features. Geochemical considerations: Spectra of Europa were acquired by the NIMS instrument during the Gal ileo mission. The most interesting spectra collected were those for regions showing what came to be call d “Non-icy” material which manifested itself through distorted and asymmetric adsorption features near 1 .5 and 2 μm [6]. Many candidates were chosen to explain these features, but the two most prominent candidat
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es have been hydrated salts [2], hydrated sulfuric aci d [3], or a combination of both [7]. It is clear that one of the main objectives of any upcoming lander mission woul d be not only the in-situ analysis of ice, but also t hat of these “non-icy” materials. Consequently, we have ta k n into account spatial distribution of this material n choosing our candidate landing sites in order to ma ximize the scientific gains of the mission (Fig. 2). Consequently, most of the candidate sites fall in regi ons that show high concentrations of non-icy material a s shown in fig. 2
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The Evaluation of the Elastic Property in Nano-Scaled Thin Compressive Film on Patterned Substrates The evaluation of elastic property for thin diamond-like carbon (DLC) films has been presented with buckle analysis of compressive stressed film on patterned substrate. When substrate has been patterned with adhesion release layer, the morphologies of buckle configuration on patterned layer has been controlled from straight sided (Euler) buckle to nonlinear telephone cord type buckle with respect to the pattern width. By using the simple equation for Euler buckle, the elastic modulus has been easily calculated, shown well consistent with the results by nano-indentation test.
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Expression, crystallization and preliminary X-ray characterization of the Drosophila transcription factor Doublesex. Doublesex (DSX) is a transcription factor in Drosophila melanogaster that regulates somatic sexual differentiation. Homologues have been found in diverse metazoans, suggesting a conserved role in development. Here, the expression, purification and crystallization of a novel 63-amino-acid dimerization domain and selenomethionine analogue are described. Native crystals belong to space group P2(1)2(1)2(1) and diffract to a resolution of 1.6 A with synchrotron radiation. Selenomethionine-containing crystals provide anomalous dispersion for phasing.
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Analytical calculation of inductances under stator inter-turn short circuits fault condition in operating squirrel cage induction motors The paper presents a strong and realistic model for induction motors including space harmonics of magnetic induction in the sinusoidal distribution model under inter-turn short circuits faults. To represent as much as possible, the reality of the asynchronous machine, we include space harmonics of magnetic induction in sinusoidal distribution model and also an analytical calculation of inductances under shorted fault. Hence, the proposed model is based on coupled magnetic circuit theory. To validate and prove the effectiveness of this model, simulations and experimental results for an induction motor with inter turn short circuit fault, are presented.
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Indoor air quality audit and evaluation on thermal comfort in a school in Portugal Given the Portuguese national programme for rehabilitation of school buildings and the new regulations for thermal comfort and air quality in Portugal, whose demands contribute to increase energy costs, it became relevant to study a case before any refurbishment intervention, in order to assess the potential of different methods of actions and to improve results. It was also intended with this study to evaluate the indoor thermal quality and the indoor air quality experienced by the school occupants. From a practical case, a school in Coimbra, the procedure passed through the measurement of some environmental physical parameters [dry bulb temperature and relative humidity and the concentrations of chemical indicators, such as carbon monoxide and carbon dioxide]. Contributing to the indoor environment characterization, it was developed a survey directed to the occupants, in parallel with the measurements taken inside a classroom during a period in the heating season and another period in the ‘pre-cooling’ season. An estimation of the predicted percentage of dissatisfied and predicted mean vote comfort indices was done based on the school measured data. The results were compared with those obtained from the questionnaire. In the end, an analysis was also done based on CO2 concentration values.
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US junior doctors found to be ignorant of drug companies' tactics Although drug companies spend billions of dollars on marketing their products and have been successful in influencing doctors' prescribing decisions, a new study shows that only a small proportion of medical residency programmes in the United States teach doctors how to deal with such pressures ( Academic Medicine 2004;79: 432-7). Dr Raquel Watkins, lead author of the study and assistant professor of internal medicine at Wake Forest University Baptist Medical …
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Summarizing a new approach to design speech recognition systems: a reliable noise-immune HW-SW version Presents in this paper a summary of a new approach aimed at coupling "HW/SW codesign" with "redundancy techniques" to implement speech recognition systems (SRS). The methodology partitions the HW and SW parts in such a way as to boost system performance while area overhead is maintained as low as possible. At the same time, reliability, in terms of redundancy (consistency check and transparent BIST) is included in the SRS. Additionally, a new approach to reconstruct noisy speech signals is also presented. This approach is analogous to the hardware technique known as hot standby sparing, where the main program and its copies are all running simultaneously. In this scheme, the speech signal reconstruction is based on real time reconfiguration. We refer to the proposed approach as "speech recognition-oriented HW/SW partitioning and fault-tolerant design" approach (or simply SCORPION approach).
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Computer-aided system for interactive psychomotor testing Nowadays research of psychomotor actions has taken a special place in education, sports, medicine, psychology etc. Development of computer system for psychomotor testing could help solve many operational problems in psychoneurology and psychophysiology and also determine the individual characteristics of fine motor skills. This is particularly relevant issue when it comes to children, students, athletes for definition of personal and professional features. The article presents the dynamics of a developing psychomotor skills and application in the training process of means. The results of testing indicated their significant impact on psychomotor skills development.
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Sub-Monolayer Accuracy in Determining the Number of Atoms per Unit Area in Ultrathin Films Using X-ray Fluorescence The composition and thickness of thin films determine their physical properties, making the ability to measure the number of atoms of different elements in films both technologically and scientifically important. For thin films, below a certain thickness, the X-ray fluorescence intensity of an element is proportional to the number of atoms. Converting this intensity to the number of atoms per unit area is challenging due to experimental geometries and other correction factors. Hence, the ratio of intensities is more commonly used to determine the composition in terms of element ratios using standards or a model. Here, the number of atoms per unit area was determined using X-ray structure information for over 20 different crystallographically aligned samples with integral unit cell thicknesses. The proportionality constant between intensity and the number of atoms per unit area was determined from linear fits of the background subtracted X-ray fluorescence intensity plotted versus the calculated number of ...
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[Upper digestive hemorrhages. Our experience with 236 treated cases]. The results obtained in reviewing series of 236 patients suffering from upper digestive haemorrhages and observed in a close to 10 years period are reported. Some data regarding the age and sex of patients, the frequency of the condition at certain periods of the year and the type of lesion that led to bleeding are reviewed and results compared with those reported by other workers. In conclusion, stress is laid on the importance of trunk vagotomy associated with pyloroplasty as operations of choice in the surgical treatment of gastroduodenal ulcer induced haemorrhage which were, in the personal series also, the most frequently observed conditions.
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RBS: A Reliable Broadcast Service for Large-Scale Low Duty-Cycled Wireless Sensor Networks Broadcast service is widely used during the life time of a wireless sensor network (WSN), such as networking setup, data collection/storage and query answering. In the past few years, many works have been done to improve its efficiency by reducing redundant broadcast messages. However, most of these works assume that all sensor nodes are active throughout a broadcast process and thus are difficult to be deployed in low duty-cycled WSNs, where sensor nodes switch between work and sleep to save energy and extend the network's life time. This problem is further aggravated by the difficulties to achieve global synchronization and rigid work-sleep schedules as the number of sensor nodes increases. To solve this problem, this paper remodels the broadcast problem to consider low duty-cycle and shows the lower bounds for time and message costs. We then propose an adaptive algorithm for dynamic message forwarding scheduling in this context, which enables a reliable and efficient broadcast service with low delay. Also, we demonstrate by extensive simulations that the proposed algorithm is not only robust against wireless communication loss but also performs close to optimal in terms of both time and message costs.
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Supply chain disruption propagation: a systemic risk and normal accident theory perspective When a disruption occurs in a firm, its effects are often felt throughout the supply chain. As supply chains expand globally and companies pursue velocity and efficiency, the probability of disruptions propagating throughout a chain grows. In this paper, we employ a qualitative, grounded theory case study approach to help understand what drives supply chain disruption propagation and to provide theoretical insights into this emerging area. For a more complete perspective, we study three interconnected tiers in seven unique supply chains. Each supply chain triad consists of (1) a focal firm (a manufacturer), (2) a supplier to the focal firm and (3) a customer of the focal firm allowing us to gain perspective from three levels in multiple supply chains. Three aggregate dimensions are defined which help explain the propagation of supply chain disruptions: the nature of the disruption, structure and dependence, and managerial decision-making. Within these dimensions, six themes are identified giving an increased level of granularity into disruption propagation: correlation of risk, compounding effects, cyclical linkages, counterparty risk, herding and misaligned incentives. Organisations should consider these themes and their interactions to effectively deal with supply chain disruptions.
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Reconstructing the European Court of Human Rights’ Article 8 Jurisprudence in Deportation Cases: The Family’s Right and the Public Interest This article rationalises the case law of the European Court of Human Rights under Article 8 of the European Convention on Human Rights in deportation cases involving children. The Court engages in a balancing exercise between the right to family life of the deportee’s family on the one side, and the public interest in deportation on the other. This article expands on existing case law analysis by suggesting that in deportation cases, the Court considers Article 8 as a form of commonly held right, rather than an individual right held by one member of the family. Furthermore, the balance is argued to be constructed as a relationship between two factors on both sides, rather than of a sole factor on either side as being determinative. This article concludes that the best interests of the child (one of the ‘Üner criteria’) is not adequately reflected in the Court’s deportation decision-making practice.
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Indoor position estimation using image sensor based on VLC Emerging white-light LEDs allow the combination of illumination and optical wireless communication in one optical source. Visible light communication (VLC) uses solid-state LEDs to broadcast information and is an attractive technology for indoor positioning system. In this paper, we propose a higher accuracy indoor positioning algorithm using a stereo image sensor and white-light LEDs by the visible light communication. Indoor white-light LEDs are located at the ceiling of a room and broadcast its position information by VLC technology. Mobile receiver with stereo image sensor receives LED position information by VLC and estimates its position and angle information. Simulation results are given to show the efficiency of proposed indoor positioning algorithm.
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Coexistence of hereditary coproporphyria with acute intermittent porphyria. A new form of acute hepatic porphyria with double genetic defect--deficiency of porphobilinogen deaminase and coproporphyrinogen oxidase--is described. Among 17 studied family members this double enzymatic deficiency was found in five individuals, deficiency of porphobilinogen deaminase in four, and deficiency of coproporphyrinogen oxidase in two. Only the proband had an attack of porphyria. Apart from the proband, all family members had normal urinary PBG excretion. Increased faecal coproporphyrin excretion was found in three people. The results obtained suggest that deficiency of porphobilinogen deaminase and coproporphyrinogen oxidase can be inherited independently. coproporphyrinogen oxidase can be inherited independently.
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Comparison of outcomes of locoregionally advanced oropharyngeal and non-oropharyngeal squamous cell carcinoma over two decades. BACKGROUND Human papillomavirus (HPV) has emerged as a causative agent and positive prognostic factor for oropharyngeal (OP) head and neck squamous cell cancer (HNSCC). This prompts inquiry into whether therapy improvements or increasing incidence of HPV drives the apparent improvements in HNSCC outcomes observed in non-randomized clinical trials. PATIENTS AND METHODS We reviewed all locoregionally advanced HNSCC patients treated with chemotherapy and radiation in prospective institutional trials at a single institution. Patients were divided into three groups (1, 2, 3) according to treatment time period (1993-1998, 1999-2003, 2004-2010, respectively). We reasoned that if a favorable trend was observed over time in OP but not non-OP patients, HPV status may be confounding treatment effects, whereas this would be unlikely if both subgroups improved over time. RESULTS Four hundred and twenty-two patients were identified with OP (55.7%) and non-OP (44.3%) HNSCC. Five-year OP overall survival (OS) improved from 42.3% (group 1) to 72.5% (group 2), and 78.4% (group 3), adjusted P = 0.0084. Non-OP 5-year OS was 51.0% (group 1), 58.8% (group 2), and 66.3% (group 3), adjusted P = 0.51. Five-year recurrence-free survival (RFS) improved for OP groups from 42.3% to 68.4% to 75.8% (adjusted P = 0.017). Non-OP 5-year RFS was 42.9%, 53.6%, and 61.7% for sequential groups (adjusted P = 0.30). Five-year OP distant failure-free survival (DFFS) improved from 42.3% to 71.1% to 77.8% (adjusted P = 0.011). Five-year non-OP DFFS was 46.9%, 57.1%, and 66.0% for sequential groups (adjusted
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P = 0.38). CONCLUSIONS Over the past two decades, OP HNSCC outcomes improved significantly, while non-OP outcomes only trended toward improvement. Although our patients are not stratified by HPV status, improving OP outcomes are likely at least partly due to the increasing HPV incidence. These data further justify trial stratification by HPV status, investigations of novel approaches for carcinogen-related HNSCC, and current de-intensification for HPV-related HNSCC.
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Performance of Coupled-Oscillator Arrays With Angle-Modulated Injection Signals A nonlinear analysis of coupled-oscillator systems under modulated inputs is presented. Angle modulation is introduced to the array by injection locking one of the oscillators to an external modulated reference signal. Envelope transient analysis is used to investigate the effect of the modulation versus scanning angle. Furthermore, a simplified model for the array is provided based on a perturbation of the single-oscillator free-running steady state. In addition, arrays transmitting at the second harmonic are also examined, allowing for extended scanning range. Results are verified by measuring the performance of a fabricated two-element array operating at 4.5 GHz.
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Enhancing support for optimal muscle usage in sports: coaching and skill-improvement tracking with sEMG Cardiopulmonary function and power as well as efficient motion skill are extremely important for athletes. Thanks to the latest sensing technology and smart devices, many researchers have focused on sports-skill analysis. Electromyography (EMG), in particular, is gaining attention as a method of understanding the power-generating process in motions. However, most existing applications using EMG have remained being one-time measurement. This is because athletes do not know how to use the results and how to measure their improvement. We propose a sports-skill-training framework with muscle-usage indicators based on EMG and an EMG live visualization system. With this framework, athletes can determine the skill they need to improve by focusing on skills whose indicators are poor, activate their muscles with live feedback to overcome weaknesses, and quantitatively measure their improvement as the improvement of the indicators during the activation training. We also verified the effect of coaching in this framework on cycling athletes. The experimental results quantitatively indicate the effectiveness of continuous skill training with our framework.
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Real-Money Trade of Virtual Assets: New Strategies for Virtual World Operators Game assets such as characters, currencies and items are increasingly being traded for real money. Game operators have reacted in various ways: some attempt to curtail the trade, while others encourage it. A growing number are getting involved in the trade themselves. In this paper I develop a classification based on market structures that maps the range of strategies available to an operator for dealing with real-money virtual asset trade. I apply the classification in four case studies and explore the implications of the various strategies on business, design and customer satisfaction. The case titles are EverQuest, Ultima Online, Habbo Hotel and Project Entropia. The results aim to help designers and business developers deal with the real-money trade phenomenon in a more structured manner.(First published in Proceedings of the 2005 Conference on Future Play (Future Play 2005), Lansing, MI, USA, October 13-15, 2005)
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Return stroke speed of cloud‐to‐ground lightning estimated from elve hole radii We present the first measurements of the lightning return stroke speed that directly relate to the current return stroke, as opposed to its optical manifestation. The shape of elves is determined by the electromagnetic pulse (EMP) radiation pattern at D region altitudes, which is in turn controlled by the geometry and current propagation properties of the return stroke channel. In particular, numerical simulation of the EMP‐ionosphere interaction shows a strong relationship between the elve “hole” radius and the current return stroke speed. The hole radii are measured from a data set of 55 elves observed with the PIPER photometer. Using these radii observations in conjunction with numerical simulations of the EMP, we perform Bayesian inference to estimate the distribution of return stroke speeds. The results show a maximum a posteriori probability return stroke speed estimate of 0.64c for elve producing lightning.
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Tumor necrosis factor-alpha-induced protein 1 and immunity to hepatitis B virus. AIM To compare the gene expression profile in a pair of HBV-infected twins. METHODS The gene expression profile was compared in a pair of HBV-infected twins. RESULTS The twins displayed different disease outcomes. One acquired natural immunity against HBV, whereas the other became a chronic HBV carrier. Eighty-eight and forty-six genes were found to be up- or down-regulated in their PBMCs, respectively. Tumor necrosis factor-alpha-induced protein 1 (TNF-alphaIP1) that expressed at a higher level in the HBV-immune twins was identified and four pairs of siblings with HBV immunity by RT-PCR. However, upon HBV core antigen stimulation, TNF-alphaIP1 was downregulated in PBMCs from subjects with immunity, whereas it was slightly upregulated in HBV carriers. Bioinformatics analysis revealed a K+ channel tetramerization domain in TNF-alphaIP1 that shares a significant homology with some human, mouse, and C elegan proteins. CONCLUSION TNF-alphaIP1 may play a role in the innate immunity against HBV.
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Development Impacts of Value Chain Interventions: How to Collect Credible Evidence and Draw Valid Conclusions in Impact Evaluations? In development policy and practice, support to or interventions in value chains are considered to be instrumental for achieving outcomes such as poverty alleviation. This paper reviews methodological discussions on how to show the effects and workings of value chain support in a context of donors demanding rigorous impact evaluations. The paper starts a discussion with evaluation methods strongly anchored in ex-post statistical analysis of effect measurements, and argues in favor of a theory-based evaluation protocol, equipped to handle threats to valid conclusions. Value chains are open, multi-layered systems and development outcomes are multi-dimensional and contingent on contextual particularities. Moreover, development interventions in value chains are often time, place and commodity specific, unlikely to repeat in a similar way, which complicates generalization and constrains evaluative conclusions. The example of a small-grant fund promoting collective marketing by smallholder organizations illustrates these methodology challenges and shows the value of using a mix of methods for addressing the problems of outcome measuring, impact attribution, and generalizations from highly diverse contexts.
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Fast assembling microarrays of superparamagnetic Fe3O4@Au nanoparticle clusters as reproducible substrates for surface-enhanced Raman scattering. It is currently a very active research area to develop new types of substrates which integrate various nanomaterials for surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) techniques. Here we report a unique approach to prepare SERS substrates with reproducible performance. It features silicon mold-assisted magnetic assembling of superparamagnetic Fe3O4@Au nanoparticle clusters (NCs) into arrayed microstructures on a wafer scale. This approach enables the fabrication of both silicon-based and hydrogel-based substrates in a sequential manner. We have demonstrated that strong SERS signals can be harvested from these substrates due to an efficient coupling effect between Fe3O4@Au NCs, with enhancement factors >10(6). These substrates have been confirmed to provide reproducible SERS signals, with low variations in different locations or batches of samples. We investigate the spatial distributions of electromagnetic field enhancement around Fe3O4@Au NCs assemblies using finite-difference-time-domain (FDTD) simulations. The procedure to prepare the substrates is straightforward and fast. The silicon mold can be easily cleaned out and refilled with Fe3O4@Au NCs assisted by a magnet, therefore being re-useable for many cycles. Our approach has integrated microarray technologies and provided a platform for thousands of independently addressable SERS detection, in order to meet the requirements of a rapid, robust, and high throughput performance.
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Metabolic disposition of [14C]-trimethylamine N-oxide in rat: variation with dose and route of administration. 1. Urine was the major route of excretion of radioactivity (95% dose in 0-24 h) following the oral, intravenous or intraperitoneal administration of [14C]-trimethylamine N-oxide dihydrate (1 mmol/kg body wt) to the adult male Wistar rat. A further 3-4% was voided in the urine during 24-72 h. Only fractional amounts were detected in the faeces, or were retained within tissues 3 days after administration. 2. Biliary secretion of radioactivity was insignificant (0.18% in 0-4 h) but larger amounts were secreted directly into the lumen of the gastrointestinal tract, especially the small intestine (2.6% in 0-1 h). 3. The only radioactive compounds identified in the urine were trimethylamine N-oxide and dimethylamine. Larger amounts of dimethylamine were excreted following oral administration (10%) as opposed to intravenous (2.5%) or intraperitoneal (1.5%) input. This production of dimethylamine occurred over a 100-fold oral trimethylamine N-oxide dose range (0.3-30 mmol/kg body wt). Incubation of trimethylamine N-oxide with gut contents (especially colon and rectum) led to the formation of dimethylamine.
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[Calcified disc herniation in childhood]. Calcification of intervertebral discs is a rare occurrence in children. Although the etiology of the calcification remains uncertain, it is no related with degenerative diseases. The clinical picture is non specific with neck pain, muscle contractures and, sometimes, low-grade fever. These symptoms generally disappear spontaneously, and surgery rarely becomes necessary. In our review of the literature, we have found only seventeen cases requiring surgical management. Two of these children had been previously diagnosed with calcified intervertebral discs, but at the time no herniation had been ruled out with magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). We report the case of a girl who was diagnosed, when she was ten years old, with intervertebral idiopatic calcifications. Four years later she presented with radiculopathy caused by the posterolateral displacement of a calcified cervical disc, which required operative management. We think that this case supports the theory of Heinrich et al. that considers that the calcified hernia is a complication of a previous pathology, namely intervertebral calcification. Clinical and therapeutic aspects of this entity are discussed.
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Intravenous infusions in chronic pain management. In the United States, millions of Americans are affected by chronic pain, which adds heavily to national rates of morbidity, mortality, and disability, with an ever-increasing prevalence. According to a 2011 report titled Relieving Pain in America: A Blueprint for Transforming Prevention, Care, Education, and Research by the Institute of Medicine of the National Academies, pain not only exacts its toll on people's lives but also on the economy with an estimated annual economic cost of at least $560 - 635 billion in health care costs and the cost of lost productivity attributed to chronic pain. Intravenous infusions of certain pharmacologic agents have been known to provide substantial pain relief in patients with various chronic painful conditions. Some of these infusions are better, and although not necessarily the first therapeutic choice, have been widely used and extensively studied. The others show promise, however are in need of further investigations. This article will focus on non-opiate intravenous infusions that have been utilized for chronic painful disorders such as fibromyalgia, neuropathic pain, phantom limb pain, post-herpetic neuralgia, complex regional pain syndromes (CRPS), diabetic neuropathy, and central pain related to stroke or spinal cord injuries. The management of patients with chronic pain conditions is challenging and continues to evolve as new treatment modalities are explored and tested. The following intravenous infusions used to treat the aforementioned chronic pain conditions will be reviewed: lidocaine, ketamine, phentolamine, dexmedetomidine, and bisphosphonates. This overview is intended to familiarize the practitioner with the variety of infusions for patients
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with chronic pain. It will not, however, be able to provide guidelines for their use due to the lack of sufficient evidence.
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12934600
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1,674 |
Semi-dynamic User-Specific Clustering for Downlink Cloud Radio Access Network This paper studies user-specific clustering for a downlink cloud radio access network (C-RAN), where a central unit (CU), connected to all base stations (BSs) via limited-capacity backhaul links, coordinates the BSs to form cooperative clusters for every user. By taking into account the training overhead for channel estimation in C-RAN, we design the clustering scheme aimed at maximizing the average net throughput of the network subject to the constraint on backhaul capacity, where a hybrid coordinated multipoint (CoMP) transmission mode is considered. The proposed clustering scheme can be operated in a semi-dynamic manner merely based on large-scale channel information, has low computational complexity, and performs close to the optimal scheme found by exhaustive searching. Under two special cases where the backhaul capacity is very stringent and unlimited, the proposed scheme is then tailored for pure coordinated beamforming (CB) mode and pure joint transmission (JT) mode to further reduce the clustering complexity. Simulation results show that the proposed semi-dynamic clustering schemes are superior to the dynamic clustering scheme due to the reduction of required training overhead.
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11320350
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1,675 |
Kink Distance and Binding Energy of Colloidal Crystals Particle interaction is a critical parameter for growth kinetics of colloidal crystals. The equilibrium concentration and step free energy are strongly dependent on the particle interaction. The growth mechanism of the attractive system of colloidal crystals is similar to that of vapor or solution growth, where crystals grow by incorporating diffusing ad-particles on the terrace into kinks of steps (Terrace-Step-Kink model). Here, we have applied the theory of crystal growth to experimentally determine the binding energy that originates from the particle interaction. We focus on the relationship between kink distance and bond energy, which is described by BCF (Burton-Cabrera-Frank) theory. The value of the step free energy determined by the kink distance measurement agrees well with the values obtained from other measurements, including nucleation rate and critical radius. The obtained value also accounts well for the change in step velocity of two-dimensional islands, which is due to the Gibbs–Thomson ef...
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Runtime resource management for lifetime extension in multi-core systems The availability of numerous, possibly heterogeneous, processing resources in multi-core systems allows one to exploit them to optimize performance and/or power/energy consumption. In particular, strategies have been defined to map and schedule tasks on the system resources, with the aim of optimizing the adopted figure of merit, at design time, if the working context is known in advance and relatively stable, at run time when facing changing/unpredictable working conditions. However, it is important to be aware that such strategies may have an impact on the overall lifetime of the system because of aging and wear-out mechanisms. Therefore such management strategies, generally adopted for handling performance and power consumption aspects, should be enhanced in order to consider such issues. Furthermore, specific Dynamic Reliability Management (DRM) policies have been devised to deal with lifetime issues in multi-core systems, acting mainly on the workload distribution (and eventually on architectural knobs, such as voltage/frequency scaling) to mitigate the stress caused by the running applications. Here we will focus on DRM strategies, whose goal is pursuing the improvement of lifetime reliability by means of load distribution policies that identify the resource where to map a new application entering the system, or where to periodically migrate tasks to balance stress. More precisely, a selection of state-of-the-art solutions will be presented and analysed, with respect to the achieved expected lifetime, evaluated when considering the first failure as well as the sequence of failures leading to the system being unable to fulfill the user's performance
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of service requirements.
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1,678 |
Exon shuffling by L1 retrotransposition. Long interspersed nuclear elements (LINE-1s or L1s) are the most abundant retrotransposons in the human genome, and they serve as major sources of reverse transcriptase activity. Engineered L1s retrotranspose at high frequency in cultured human cells. Here it is shown that L1s insert into transcribed genes and retrotranspose sequences derived from their 3' flanks to new genomic locations. Thus, retrotransposition-competent L1s provide a vehicle to mobilize non-L1 sequences, such as exons or promoters, into existing genes and may represent a general mechanism for the evolution of new genes.
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11015900
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1,679 |
Alternative Certification: A Solution or an Alternative Problem? Teacher education is facing a number of challenges such as policy changes, funding issues, and teacher recruitment and retention. These challenges, whether on the national, state, district or school level, contribute to continued teacher shortages. Many school districts are faced with the conundrum of hiring under qualified individuals, leaving vacant positions open, or eliminating positions altogether. Thus, within all subject areas of education, a strong philosophical perspective needs to be developed to answer the question: Is alternative certification a solution to these problems or an alternative problem? This philosophical manuscript investigates the research related to alternative certification within education as a whole, career and technical education, and agricultural education. Research in education broadly indicates a lack of consistency within the current alternative certification pathways and a lack of consistent/positive influence on student outcomes within alternatively certified teachers. It is recommended that future research should investigate the impacts of various certification pathways on students. Furthermore, teacher certification pathways should be based upon solid evidence from research regarding what generates the best learning outcomes for students.
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158605600
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1,680 |
Evidence of a new form of self-organization in DBD Plasmas: the quincunx structure Self-organized, stable or dynamic, filamentary structures are known to form in dielectric barrier discharges (DBDs) operating in a glow regime. The common ‘classical’ understanding of stable filamentary structures in DBDs is that a glow-discharge filament forms at each half cycle of the sinusoidal applied voltage at the same spatial location along the dielectric surface. The ‘memory’ charges deposited by the previous filament on the dielectric surfaces are responsible for the ignition of a new discharge at the same location. On the other hand, the formation of a filamentary discharge at a given location inhibits discharge development in its vicinity because of charge spreading along the dielectric surface leading to a decrease in the gap voltage in this region. In this paper we show using experiments and models that another self-organized filamentary regime is possible and coexists with the ‘classical’ regime. In this regime, never reported before, discharge filaments at successive half cycles do not occur at the same location but are shifted by half a spatial period. We call this regime the ‘quincunx’ regime. We also show that the mechanisms of this regime may be responsible for some dynamical aspects of self-organization in DBDs.
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20222800
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1,681 |
Realising the potential of new technology? Assessing the legacy of New Labour’s ICT agenda 1997–2007 ‘Realising the potential of new technology’ was one of the central educational themes of New Labour’s 1997 election manifesto, with ‘information and communications technology’ (ICT) established subsequently as a prominent feature of the Blair administration policy portfolio. As such New Labour can claim rightly to have made an unprecedented and sustained political commitment to technology in education, directing over £5 billion of funding towards educational ICT during the 1997 to 2007 period. Yet the fact remains that the New Labour ICT agenda has failed to achieve the much promised technological ‘transformation’ of the UK education system. With this in mind the present paper develops the argument that New Labour’s concern with educational ICT was driven primarily by concerns over enhancing competitiveness in a globalising economy, creating a lifelong learning system fit for a successful knowledge economy and modernising the formal education sector. Thus whilst New Labour’s ICT agenda may well have had the short term impact of increasing the physical presence of ICT resources in all education institutions, its longer‐term educational legacy was compromised by the wider macro‐level issues it purported to address. As such the legacy of this high‐profile segment of policy‐making should be seen primarily in terms of establishing ICT as an ideological presence in the UK education system.
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Relational citizenship: supporting embodied selfhood and relationality in dementia care. We draw on findings from a mixed-method study of specialised red-nosed elder-clowns in a long-term care facility to advance a model of 'relational citizenship' for individuals with dementia. Relational citizenship foregrounds the reciprocal nature of engagement and the centrality of capacities, senses, and experiences of bodies to the exercise of human agency and interconnectedness. We critically examine elder-clown strategies and techniques to illustrate how relational citizenship can be supported and undermined at the micro level of direct care through a focus on embodied expressions of creativity and sexuality. We identify links between aesthetic enrichment and relational practices in art, music and imagination. Relational citizenship offers an important rethinking of notions of selfhood, entitlement, and reciprocity that are central to a sociology of dementia, and it also provides new ethical grounds to explore how residents' creative and sexual expression can be cultivated in the context of long-term care.
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206899450
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1,683 |
Nocturnal distribution of Louisiana riceland mosquito adults. Nocturnal riceland mosquito populations in southern Louisiana were monitored using nonbaited CDC miniature light traps. A mixed population of Anopheles quadrimaculatus, An. crucians, Psorophora columbiae and Culex salinarius adults was collected in a livestock occupied barn. Highly variable numbers of all 4 species were trapped in areas away from the barns. Species density at any given trap location was not related to trap location, type of habitat surrounding the trap or brush density near the trap. Captures of anophelines were not affected by moonlight, whereas trap collections of culicines were lower on moonlit nights. Mean numbers of anophelines captured at night in traps exhibited a linear function of trap distance from the barn, with higher catches at locations farther from the barn. No such function was observed for culicines.
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Robert Browning's “The Other Half-Rome”: A “Fancy-fit” or Not? The poet – speaker of Book 1 of The Ring and the Book believed that the first two monologues of his grand poem balanced one another. In his preview of the monologues, he writes that Half-Rome and Other Half-Rome are equally unsuccessful in their efforts to find the truth of the murder story. The speakers possess an “opposite feel” for the truth, but each achieves a “like swerve, like unsuccess” (I.883–84). Although Other Half-Rome succeeds in being on the right side of the issue, Browning as poet-speaker considers his defense of Pompilia to be the result only of luck or a “fancy-fit.” This “fancy-fit” is a mood which inclines the speaker to choose Pompilia as it might incline him to choose between two runners in a race according to the colors of their scarves (1.885–92). Browning sets this speech by a Bernini fountain, one where Triton blows water through a conch: “Puffs up steel sleet which breaks to diamond dust” (1.900). The poet may have intended this setting to suggest the way in which he views the language and imagery that Other Half-Rome uses to tell his story. The speaker's mixture of Christian and classical mythology and his concern for the painterly qualities of Pompilia's deathbed scene do suggest an aesthetic temperament. The poet may have considered the speech of such a man to be “diamond dust” signifying nothing. In any case, the poet-speaker of Book 1 concludes his description of Other Half-Rome by saying, with apparent
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sarcasm, that to this speaker Pompilia “seemed a saint and martyr both” (1.909). This assessment of Other Half-Rome has been the subject of disagreement among commentators on the poem.
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Induction of fetal hemoglobin in sickle cell disease. T HIS ISSUE OF BLOOD features a report by Atweh et al[1][1] on the induction of fetal hemoglobin (Hb F) by pulse butyrate. This study is a solid addition to the recent and gratifying momentum in the development of effective therapy for sickle cell disease. Underlying this report is a series of novel
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1,687 |
Considerations in making a diagnosis Dipl. ABVP a continuing challenge for clinicians. Comparative Medical and Vetennary Services Los Angeles County Department of Health Services Clinical epidemiology, biostatistics, Downey, California 90242 and clinical decision-making are “new” tools that help practitioners make diagnoses.’ Biostatistics and epidemiology allow large amounts of raw data to be analyzed into useful information. As an example, for years we have known that dogs have more mammary tumors than cats. horses. or cattle, and that mammary tumors were common in females, although males also have mammary tissue. We have learned that the rate of mammary tumors in dogs is more than twice that in people. and this tumor type accounts for about 40% of canine tumors. Analysis of a large number of cases has also revealed certain risk factors for mammary tumors. As a result of analyzing large numbers of canine mammary tumors, we now know female dogs spayed before one year of age are less likely to develop mammary tumors. Epidemiology is often considered a new science, but many of the concepts are not new. More than 100 years ago, a physician named William Farr became the first Registrar-General in the General Register Office of England. where he worked for more than 40 years.” In his A n n u a l Reports. Far-r described death rates and noted healthy and unhealthy districts of England. His publication of Vital Statistics in 1885 described the concepts of incidence, prevalence, and the value of retrospective and prospective approaches to studying disease. which are fundamental to
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epidemiology today. Two-hundred years before Farr, English parish registers published annual breakdowns of death by cause, particularly during plague epidemics: these were the basis for the earliest vital statistics. When making a diagnosis, it is not possible to obtain all clinical information on every patient, nor is it desirable. Practitioners must be selective when confronting a mass of data, which varies in value from the highly significant to the trivial. Understanding epidemiologic concepts helps in selecting probable causes for the presenting complaint and determining whether laboratory tests are indicated. In making clinical decisions. clinicians go through two processes at the same time. While examining the individual patient, they simultaneously generalize their previous training and experience. The generalizing of experience is part of epidemiology. The most important part of making a diagnosis is thinking. In determining the cause of disease, diag-
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11252500
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Validity and Reliability of the Turkish Version of Assessment of Children's Hand Skills and Children's Hand-Skills Ability Questionnaire in Children with Hemiplegic Cerebral Palsy. BACKGROUND Assessment of Children's Hand Skills (ACHS) and Children's Hand-Skills Ability Questionnaire (CHSQ) are interconnected hand skills assessment tools which together contain parent questionnaire and observational assessment. With this quality, ACHS and CHSQ, enables the therapist to obtain information about the child's real-life performances as well as to conduct a clinical observational assessment. The purpose of this study was to investigate the validity and reliability of the Turkish versions of ACHS and CHSQ in children with hemiplegic cerebral palsy (HCP). METHODS 112 children with HCP between 2 and 12 years of age were included. All participants were subjected to ACHS, CHSQ, Shriners Hospital Upper Extremity Evaluation (SHUEE) and ABILHAND-Kids. Convergent construct validity was investigated through analyzing the relationship between ACHS and SHUEE, and between CHSQ and ABILHAND-Kids. Discriminative construct validity was investigated through analyzing the differences between genders for CHSQ and ACHS. For reliability, test-retest interclass correlation coefficient (ICC) and internal consistency Cronbach's alpha were calculated and analyzed. RESULTS ACHS showed very strong relationships with SHUEE's Spontaneous Functional Analysis (r=0.86) and Grip-Release Function (r=0.86) parameters with a strong relationship with positional dynamic analysis (r=0.78). CHSQ's Leisure (r=0.80), School/Education (r=0.75) and Activities of Daily Living (r=0.76) domains showed strong relationships with the ABILHAND-Kids. There was no difference between genders for ACHS and all domains of CHSQ (p>0.05). All domains and total score of ACHS and CHSQ had perfect test-retest reliability (ICC>0.90). ACHS had
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perfect internal consistency (Cronbach's α=0.98), CHSQ had very high internal consistency (Cronbach's α=0.84). CONCLUSIONS Turkish versions of ACHS (ACHS-TR) and CHSQ (CHSQ-TR) are valid and reliable hand skills assessment tools in children with HCP.
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229325200
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1,691 |
Holographic 3D intensity shaping of evanescent waves This paper investigates the use of holographic algorithms to create more complex evanescent-wave fields. The authors have written a direct-search/simulated-annealing algorithm for shaping the 3D intensity pattern of evanescent wave fields. This direct-search algorithm includes a forward model that calculates the 3D intensity pattern due to a given number of evanescent plane-wave components. By making random changes to the phase and amplitude of each of these components the algorithm aims to create an approximation to a desired 3D intensity pattern. This algorithm has been demonstrated theoretically and was used to investigate limits to optical manipulation using evanescent waves. The algorithm is capable of creating configurations interesting for optical trapping. In particular, it is possible to create an evanescent light field that does not simply fall of exponentially in the direction of propagation, but that passes through a maximum. For optical trapping this means that dielectric objects can be trapped away from the evanescent-wave-creating surface which may help reduce particle sticking and allow easier manipulation.
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1,692 |
Simultaneous Detection and Identification of Common Cell Culture Contaminant and Pathogenic Mollicutes Strains by Reverse Line Blot Hybridization ABSTRACT We have developed a reverse line blot (RLB) hybridization assay to detect and identify the commonest mollicutes causing cell line contamination (Mycoplasma arginini, Mycoplasma fermentans, Mycoplasma hyorhinis, Mycoplasma orale, and Acholeplasma laidlawii) and human infection (Mycoplasma pneumoniae, Mycoplasma hominis, Mycoplasma genitalium, Ureaplasma parvum, and Ureaplasma urealyticum). We developed a nested PCR assay with “universal” primers targeting the mollicute 16S-23S rRNA intergenic spacer region. Amplified biotin-labeled PCR products were hybridized to membrane-bound species-specific oligonucleotide probes. The assay correctly identified reference strains of 10 mollicute species. Cell cultures submitted for detection of mollicute contamination, clinical specimens, and clinical isolates were initially tested by PCR assay targeting a presumed mollicute-specific sequence of the 16S rRNA gene. Any that were positive were assessed by the RLB assay, with species-specific PCR assay as the reference method. Initially, 100 clinical and 88 of 92 cell culture specimens gave concordant results, including 18 in which two or more mollicute species were detected by both methods. PCR and sequencing of the 16S-23S rRNA intergenic spacer region and subsequent retesting by species-specific PCR assay of the four cell culture specimens for which results were initially discrepant confirmed the original RLB results. Sequencing of amplicons from 12 cell culture specimens that were positive in the 16S rRNA PCR assay but negative by both the RLB and species-specific PCR assays failed to identify any mollicute species. The RLB hybridization assay is sensitive and specific and able to rapidly
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detect and identify mollicute species from clinical and cell line specimens.
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1446400
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1,694 |
Plain Concrete linearized Stiffness Diminution Modeling Subjected to Different Stresses-Strain Relationship Models Linearized stiffness diminution, which is correlated with material damage characteristic, is the major parameters due to modeling of granular material behavior such as plain concrete subjected to cyclic loading. Many damage equations in tension and compression states are proposed in the literatures, however, they produces different damages considering the concepts of the equation's development without any capability of fitting and calibration of produced damages curves with any arbitrary test records. In the present paper, the new equations of concrete damages in the tension and compression state with calibration capability based on the two separated damage indices are developed based on linear interpolation hypothesis. In the result, it is shown that the present equations can be produced the damage parameters close to experimental data.
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137324400
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1,695 |
Waste brick’s potential for use as a pozzolan in blended Portland cement This study investigated the pozzolanic reactions and engineering properties of waste brick-blended cements in relation to various replacement ratios (0—50%). The waste brick consisted of SiO2 (63.21%), Al2O3 (16.41%), Fe2O3 (6.05%), Na2O (1.19%), K2O (2.83%) and MgO (1.11%), and had a pozzolanic activity index of 107%. The toxic characteristic leaching procedure (TCLP) results demonstrate that the heavy-metal content in waste bricks met the Environmental Protection Agency regulatory limits. Experimental results indicate that 10, 20, 30, 40 and 50% of cement can be replaced by waste brick, which causes the initial and final setting times to increase. Compressive strength development was slower in waste brick-blended cement (WBBC) pastes in the early ages; however, strength at the later ages increased significantly. Species analyses demonstrate that the hydrates in WBBC pastes primarily consisted of Ca(OH)2 and calcium silicate hydrate (C—S—H) gel, like those found in ordinary Portland cement (OPC) paste. Pozzolanic reaction products formed in the WBBC pastes, in particular, various reaction products, including hydrates of calcium silicates (CSH), aluminates (CAH) and aluminosilicates (CASH), formed as expected, resulting in consumption of Ca(OH)2 during the late ages of curing. The changes in the properties of WBBC pastes were significant as blend ratio increased, due to the pores of C—S—H gels and CAH filling via pozzolanic reactions. This filling of gel pores resulted in densification and subsequently enhanced the gel/space ratio and degree of hydration. Experimental results demonstrate waste brick can be supplementary cementitious material.
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5434100
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1,696 |
Construction of Combustion Line Quantification Data Set for Municipal Solid Waste Incineration Process In municipal solid waste incineration (MSWI) process, combustion line is one of the key controlled variables to characterize the combustion stability and operation safety. Realizing the quantification of combustion line can replace “manual fire monitoring”, which can improve the intelligent degree of MSWI process through real-time feedback. However, the quantification of combustion line needs the combustion flame image data set. Currently, there is no standard flame image data set containing multiple combustion line locations. This paper constructs a flame image set containing multiple combustion line locations. First, the flame image acquisition process is introduced. Then, the combustion line level is divided by combining with the location information of three-dimensional space inside the furnace. Finally, a calibration algorithm facing the position of the combustion line is proposed. Thus, combustion flame image dataset was constructed, which provided a reference for relevant researchers to utilize this dataset in the future study.
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255000400
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1,697 |
Ellipticine inhibits the proliferation and induces apoptosis in rheumatoid arthritis fibroblast-like synoviocytes via the STAT3 pathway Abstract Objective: Ellipticine (5,11-dimethyl-6H-pyrido[4,3-b]carbazole) is an alkaloid isolated from Apocyanaceae plants. This study was designed to investigate the effects of ellipticine on the proliferation and apoptosis of fibroblast-like synoviocytes (FLSs) from patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA). Methods: RA-FLSs were exposed to different concentrations of ellipticine (i.e., 0.5, 1, 2, 4 and 8 μM) for 24–72h and measured for viability, proliferation and apoptosis. The involvement of signal transducer and activators of transcription 3 (STAT3) signaling in the action of ellipticine was determined by Western blot analysis, luciferase reporter assay and rescue experiments. Results: Ellipticine treatment significantly inhibited the viability and proliferation of RA-FLSs in a concentration-dependent manner. In contrast, ellipticine exposure did not alter the viability of normal human FLSs. Moreover, ellipticine triggered significant apoptosis and increased caspase-3 activity in RA-FLSs. Mechanistically, ellipticine reduced the phosphorylation of STAT3 and downregulated the expression of Mcl-1, cyclin D1 and Bcl-2. Luciferase reporter assay demonstrated that ellipticine treatment led to a significant inhibition of STAT3-mediated transcriptional activity in RA-FLSs. Overexpression of constitutively active STAT3 reversed the suppressive effects of ellipticine on RA-FLSs, which was accompanied by restoration of Mcl-1, cyclin D1 and Bcl-2. Discussion and conclusions: Ellipticine shows anti-proliferative and pro-apoptotic effects on RA-FLSs through inhibition of the STAT3 pathway and may have therapeutic potential in RA.
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4140050
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1,698 |
Environmental and Personal Protective Equipment Contamination during Simulated Healthcare Activities. Providing care to patients with an infectious disease can result in the exposure of healthcare workers (HCWs) to pathogen-containing bodily fluids. We performed a series of experiments to characterize the magnitude of environmental contamination-in air, on surfaces and on participants-associated with seven common healthcare activities. The seven activities studied were bathing, central venous access, intravenous access, intubation, physical examination, suctioning and vital signs assessment. HCWs with experience in one or more activities were recruited to participate and performed one to two activities in the laboratory using task trainers that contained or were contaminated with fluorescein-containing simulated bodily fluid. Fluorescein was quantitatively measured in the air and on seven environmental surfaces. Fluorescein was quantitatively and qualitatively measured on the personal protective equipment (PPE) worn by participants. A total of 39 participants performed 74 experiments, involving 10-12 experimental trials for each healthcare activity. Healthcare activities resulted in diverse patterns and levels of contamination in the environment and on PPE that are consistent with the nature of the activity. Glove and gown contamination were ubiquitous, affirming the value of wearing these pieces of PPE to protect HCW's clothing and skin. Though intubation and suctioning are considered aerosol-generating procedures, fluorescein was detected less frequently in air and at lower levels on face shields and facemasks than other activities, which suggests that the definition of aerosol-generating procedure may need to be revised. Face shields may protect the face and facemask from splashes and sprays of bodily fluids and should be used
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for more healthcare activities.
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