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From targeted 'black spots'' to area-wide pedestrian safety. Results: The 22 identified black spots represent only 1% of all city intersections with at least one victim and 4% of all injured pedestrians, whereas 5082 victims were injured at > 3500 different crash sites. The number and population rates of injured pedestrians are greater in central boroughs. Accordingly, the density of pedestrian victims is much higher in central boroughs. Over the 5-year period, in some central boroughs, pedestrian crashes occurred in up to 26% of intersections.Methods: Data on pedestrian victims were extracted for a 5-year period (1999-2003) from ambulance services information systems. The locations of crash sites and pedestrian victim density were mapped using a geographic information system. Pedestrian \\'black spots\\' were defined as sites where there had been at least eight pedestrian victims.Objective: To describe and illustrate the geographic distribution of pedestrian crash sites in an urban setting (Montreal, Canada) with an alternative data source.Conclusions: Ambulance information systems were relevant to map pedestrian crash sites. Most pedestrians were injured at locations that would have been missed by the black spot approach. This high-risk preventive strategy cannot substantially reduce the total number of injured or the insecurity that many pedestrians experience when walking. Considering the large number and widespread occurrence of pedestrian crashes in Montreal, prevention strategies should include comprehensive environmental measures such as global reduction of traffic volume and speed.
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Is grand multiparity an independent predictor of pregnancy risk? A retrospective observational study. Main outcome measures: Spontaneous vaginal birth, postpartum haemorrhage (estimated blood loss > 500 mL, placental retention requiring manual removal, blood transfusion associated with the birth, and perinatal death.articipants: All 15 908 women who had singleton births between 1992 and 2001, comprising 653 women with grand multiparity (greater than or equal to5 previous births at gestation greater than or equal to20 weeks) and 15 255 women with lower parity.Objective: To determine whether high maternal parity has any effect on pregnancy outcome independent of other maternal characteristics.Results: Women with grand multiparity were significantly older than those with lower parity, more likely to be Indigenous, not to have had antenatal care, to have smoked during pregnancy and to have had one or more previous caesarean sections. On univariate analysis, women with grand multiparity were more likely to have a postpartum haemorrhage (9.2% v 5.3%) and blood transfusion (2.8% v 1.5%). However, multivariate logistic regression analysis of women who began labour (ie, did not have an elective caesarean section) showed that grand multiparity was not significantly associated with postpartum haemorrhage or blood transfusion when other maternal characteristics were included in the model (regression coefficients [95% CI], 1.36 [0.99-1.87] and 1.09 [0.59-2.02], respectively). However, they remained more likely to have a spontaneous vaginal birth (regression coefficient [95% CI], 2.10 [1.56-2.74]).Conclusions: Women with grand multiparity do not have an increased likelihood of poor pregnancy outcomes. Birth-suite protocols which dictate extra interventions as routine during labour in these women should be revised.Design and setting: Retrospective observational study using the database of a referral obstetric unit in a 280-bed regional hospital in far north Queensland.
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SETS OF FREQUENCY HOPPING SEQUENCES UNDER APERIODIC HAMMING CORRELATION: UPPER BOUND AND OPTIMAL CONSTRUCTIONS. In order to evaluate the goodness of frequency hopping (FH) sequence design, the periodic Hamming correlation function is used as an important measure. Aperiodic Hamming correlation of FH sequences matters in real applications, while it received little attraction in the literature compared with periodic Hamming correlation. In this paper, an upper bound on the family size of FH sequences, with respect to the size of the frequency slot set, the sequence length, the maximum aperiodic Hamming correlation is established. Further, a construction of optimal FH sequence sets under aperiodic Hamming correlation from Reed-Solomon codes is presented, whose parameters meet the upper bound with equality. From generalized m sequences (GM sequences) and generalized Gordon-Mills-Welch sequences (GGMW sequences), two classes of optimal FH sequence sets under aperiodic Hamming correlation are also presented, whose parameters meet the upper bound with equality.
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Soilaluminum, iron, and phosphorus dynamics in response to long-term experimental nitrogen and sulfur additions at the bear brook watershed in maine, USA. Atmospheric deposition of nitrogen (N) and sulfur (S) containing compounds affects soil chemistry in forested ecosystems through (1) acidification and the depletion of base cations, (2) metal mobilization, particularly aluminum (Al), and iron (Fe), (3) phosphorus (P) mobilization, and (4) N accumulation. The Bear Brook Watershed in Maine (BBWM) is a long-term paired whole-watershed experimental acidification study demonstrating evidence of each of these acidification characteristics in a northeastern U.S. forested ecosystem. In 2003, BBWM soils were studied using the Hedley fractionation procedure to better understand mechanisms of response in soil Al, Fe, and P chemistry. Soil P fractionation showed that recalcitrant P was the dominant fraction in these watersheds (49%), followed by Al and Fe associated P (24%), indicating that a majority of the soil P was biologically unavailable. Acidification induced mobilization of Al and Fe in these soils holds the potential for significant P mobilization. Forest type appears to exert important influences on metal and P dynamics. Soils supporting softwoods showed evidence of lower Al and Fe in the treated watershed, accompanied by lower soil P. Hardwood soils had higher P concentrations in surface soils as a result of increased biocycling in response to N additions in treatments. Accelerated P uptake and return in litterfall overshadowed acidification induced P mobilization and depletion mechanisms in hardwoods.
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Modeling Car-Following Behaviour of Turning Movements at Intersections with Consideration of Turning Radius. In order to deeply analyze and describe the characteristics of car-following behaviour of turning vehicles at intersections, the features and application conditions of classic car-following models were analyzed firstly. And then, through analysing the relationship between the maximum velocity of car-following vehicles and the turning radius of intersection, the differences in key variables between turning and straight car-following behaviour were identified. On the basis of Optimal Velocity (OV) model, a Turning Optimal Velocity (TOV) car-following model with consideration of turning radius and sideway force coefficient at intersections was developed. PreScan simulation was employed to build the scene of turning car-following process at an intersection. Based on linear stability analysis, the stability conditions of the TOV model were derived. And it was found that (1) the turning radius has a significant effect on the car-following behaviour of turning vehicles at intersections; (2) with the increase of the distance between vehicles, the driver's response sensitivity coefficient increases and then decreases and reaches the maximum value when the distance reaches the minimum safe distance; (3) with the increase of turning radius, the stability of the car-following fleet tends to decrease, and it is more likely to become a stop-and-go traffic flow. In addition, the numerical simulation results indicate that the TOV model can describe the car-following behaviour of turning vehicles more accurately with consideration of turning radius. The findings of this study can be used in the development of microscopic traffic simulation software and for improving traffic safety at intersections.
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Growth and Deformity after In Situ Fixation of Slipped Capital Femoral Epiphysis. Background: For mild to moderate slipped capital femoral epiphysis (SCFE) in situ fixation is the current treatment standard. However, concerning the implant selection (screw versus k-wires) as well as the prophylactic stabilisation of the non-affected hip, controversies still exist. The aim of this study was to analyse femoral residual growth and femoral deformities after in situ fixation of SCFE either with k-wires or screws.Conclusion: The results of this study imply that further growth of the proximal femur after insertion of a sliding screw for in situ stabilisation of mild to moderate slipped capital femoral epiphysis does occur. Furthermore, an increase of deformity during follow-up through screw fixation as compared to pinning was not noticed. Hence, the assumption that screw fixation leads to permanent physeal impairment cannot be confirmed. The consideration of these results may be helpful for implant selection as well as indicating prophylactic surgery for non-affected hips.Results: A total of 22 patients (female: male = 14: 8, mean age girls: 11 +/- 1 years, boys: 13 +/- 2 years) with 26 slipped capital femoral epiphyses was analysed. K-wires were used for fixation in 4 hips each therapeutically and prophylactically, 22 hips with SCFE and 14 non-affected hips were stabilised with screws. Treatment with screws did not lead to significantly earlier physeal closure than k-wire pinning. Regarding the femoral growth parameters a significant decrease in the articulo-trochanteric distance and CCD angle was detectable in all groups. The pin-joint ratio revealed an adequate residual growth in 58% of the therapeutically and in 72% of the prophylactically treated hips without significant difference between k-wires and screws. The pin-physis ratio demonstrated similar values. Regarding the femoral deformity the SCFE hips resulted in a significantly reduced sphericity, which remained unchanged during follow-up. The prophylactic stabilisation did not result in any deterioration of sphericity.Patients and Methods: We conducted a retrospective analysis of the radiographs of adolescents treated for SCFE in our department between 01/2003 and 02/2011. To evaluate femoral growth the articulo-trochanteric distance, centro-trochanteric distance, caput-collum-diaphyseal angle, pin-joint ratio and pin-physis ratio were determined. The femoral deformity was assessed by measuring the sphericity of the femoral head. Degenerative changes were evaluated in the final radiographs. Statistical analysis was performed concerning differences between therapeutically and prophylactically treated hips as well as stabilisations with k-wires and screws.
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Service-Oriented Architecture (SOA) Instantiation within a Hard Real-Time, Deterministic Combat System Environment. This article investigates the instantiation of a Service-Oriented Architecture (SOA) within a hard real-time (stringent time constraints), deterministic (maximum predictability) combat system (CS) environment. There are numerous stakeholders across the U.S. Department of the Navy who are affected by this development and who have a direct or indirect influence on the system requirements. The research focuses on two-way, transparent, secure track data exchange between the command and control (C2) and CS domains. Exchange and management of data between these domain networks is accomplished using configurable universal gateway capabilities. These capabilities include the provision for data mediation and boundary defense requirements within a web services publish-and-subscribe framework. The gateways' performance is assessed with respect to operational loading, architecture and provisioning requirements to evaluate gateway component performance, and resource utilization. The universal gateway prototype evaluated in this limited technology experiment (LTE) demonstrated interoperability as a key step in satisfying Technology Readiness Level (TRL) 6 criteria, based on its successful performance in a representative environment. Data latency was minimal at the largest message loads with typical end-to-end gateway latencies under 15 milliseconds with the application of rule set filters on message queues, and data throughput across the universal gateway was not limited by universal gateway components. These results allow proven architectural principles to be applied in new ways to enable rapid development and insertion of new capabilities, lower-risk system integration and evolution, and more reliable operations. At the same time, multiple integrators and vendors can actively design and compete for business, lowering acquisition and life-cycle costs. (C) 2013 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
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Dysregulated miRNAome and Proteome of PPRV Infected Goat PBMCs Reveal a Coordinated Immune Response. In this study, the miRNAome and proteome of virulent Peste des petits ruminants virus (PPRV) infected goat peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) were analyzed. The identified differentially expressed miRNAs (DEmiRNAs) were found to govern genes that modulate immune response based on the proteome data. The top 10 significantly enriched immune response processes were found to be governed by 98 genes. The top 10 DEmiRNAs governing these 98 genes were identified based on the number of genes governed by them. Out of these 10 DEmiRNAs, 7 were upregulated, and 3 were downregulated. These include miR-664, miR-2311, miR-2897, miR-484, miR-2440, miR-3533, miR-574, miR-210, miR-21-5p, and miR-30. miR-664 and miR-484 with proviral and antiviral activities, respectively, were upregulated in PPRV infected PBMCs. miR-210 that inhibits apoptosis was downregulated. miR-21-5p that decreases the sensitivity of cells to the antiviral activity of IFNs and miR-30b that inhibits antigen processing and presentation by primary macrophages were downregulated, indicative of a strong host response to PPRV infection. miR-21-5p was found to be inhibited on IPA upstream regulatory analysis of RNA-sequencing data. This miRNA that was also highly downregulated and was found to govern 16 immune response genes in the proteome data was selected for functional validation vis-a-vis TGFBR2 (TGF-beta receptor type-2). TGFBR2 that regulates cell differentiation and is involved in several immune response pathways was found to be governed by most of the identified immune modulating DEmiRNAs. The decreased luciferase activity in Dual Luciferase Reporter Assay indicated specific binding of miR-21-5p and miR-484 to their target thus establishing specific binding of the miRNAs to their targets.This is the first report on the miRNAome and proteome of virulent PPRV infected goat PBMCs.
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Roles of 12-Lipoxygenase and Its Interaction with Angiotensin II on p21 and p27 Expression in Diabetic Nephropathy. Background: 12-Lipoxygenase (12-LO) and angiotensin II (Ang II) are involved in the development of diabetic renal hypertrophy, in which cyclin-kinase inhibitors, p21 and p27 play pivotal roles. Here, we study the effects of 12-LO and its interaction with Ang II on glomerular p21 and p27 expression in diabetic conditions. Methods: Models used in the current study include glomerular mesangial cells (MCs); and glomeruli from (1) type 2 diabetic db/db mice; (2) type 2 diabetic rats induced by high-fat diet feeding followed by streptozotocin injection; (3) 12-LO knockout (12-LOKO) mice; and (4) normal rats infused with Ang II or 12(S)-hydroxyeicosatetraenoic acid (12[S]-HETE, arachidonic acid metabolite of 12-LO). Results: The protein expression levels of p21 and p27 were increased in high glucose-stimulated MCs and in glomeruli isolated from db/db mice. In type 2 diabetic rats, cinnamyl-3,4-dihydroxy-alpha-cynanocinnamate (inhibitor of 12-LO) attenuated the increases in glomerular p21 and p27 protein expression, while in normal rats, 12(S)-HETE injection increased glomerular p21 and p27 expression. 12(S)-HETE and Ang II were mutually stimulated in glomeruli. Glomerular p21 and p27 expression were decreased in 12-LOKO mice compared to levels in control mice, and Ang II stimulation increased the protein expression of p27 in control but not 12-LOKO mice. Ang II stimulation had no effect on p21 protein expression in 12-LOKO mice. Conclusion: 12-LO is involved in diabetic renal hypertrophy via the induction of p21 and p27 protein expression and interacts with Ang II to induce p27 upregulation in diabetes. The current results suggest a potential amplifying loop in the pathogenesis of diabetic nephropathy. (C) 2019 S. Karger AG, Basel
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Tailored Design of Architecturally Controlled Pt Nanoparticles with Huge Surface Areas toward Superior Unsupported Pt Electrocatalysts. Herein, we report a very simple and rapid method to synthesize two types of Pt nanoparticles with open porous structures (i.e., Pt nanodendrites and multiarmed Pt nanostars) in high yield. The present synthesis is performed by a simple sonication treatment of an aqueous solution containing K2PtCl4 and a nonionic block copolymer with branched alkyl chains in the presence of ascorbic acid (AA) at room temperature. Nanodendrites and multiarmed nanostars with different Pt nanostructures are selectively synthesized by simply controlling the dissolved block copolymer amounts in the reactive system. As-prepared 3D Pt nanodendrites and multiarmed Pt nanostars with well-defined morphologies are highly porous and self-supported structures assembled by staggered nanoarms as building blocks, thereby realizing extremely high surface areas (around 80 m(2) g(-1)). The present synthesis has a remarkable advantage in its simplicity for the synthesis comparison with other previous approaches. Our Pt nanodendrites and Pt nanostars not only improve the active Pt surface area but also show superior electrochemical performance, which make them promising electrocatalysts for future.
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Multiplexed single-photon counting .1. A time-correlated fluorescence lifetime camera. We report the operation of a new type of fluorescence lifetime imaging camera based on the time-correlated single-photon counting (TCSPC) technique. To the best of our knowledge the application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC) used in the camera is the first ASIC designed for the field of fluorescence. The ASIC also forms the basis for the first read-out system for single-photon timing array detectors and is capable of multiplexing and routing counts from up to sixteen detection channels, while preserving their timing characteristics with picosecond resolution. In conjunction with an array detector such as a multianode MCP-PM this ASIC allows multiple fluorescence decays to be routinely and simultaneously acquired using a single set of TCSPC timing electronics. To demonstrate one practical application of this technology, we have observed for the first time the spatial distribution of fluorescence lifetime contours through a strongly self-absorbing sample, and the effects observed demonstrate how differences in optical geometry can contribute to the lack of consistency between results obtained in different laboratories. (C) 1996 American Institute of Physics.
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PROSPECTS FOR INFORMATION MARKETING WITHIN PROCESSING INDUSTRY OF AGROINDUSTRIAL SECTOR IN THE REPUBLIC OF KAZAKHSTAN. The article considers the problems and the development of marketing information and its sources. Forms of economic relations within the agroindustrial complex are demonstrated along with the relationship established between agricultural producers and the enterprises engaged in processing, and also markets and organizations providing resources. Peculiarities of the marketing concept are considered and the priorities in the development of innovative processes within the agroindustrial sector are determined. It is offered to define the information needed for decision-making along with the properties of outgoing information.
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Methanol partial oxidation on carbon-supported Pt and Pd catalysts. Different Pt and Pd catalysts supported on an activated carbon were prepared by using different metal precursors. Prepared catalysts were pretreated at 400 degrees C under different atmospheres to decompose the precursor compound and reduce the metal. After pretreatments, the supported catalysts were characterized by H-2 chemisorption, X-ray diffraction, transmission electron microscopy and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy to know their metal dispersion, particle size, distribution and oxidation state. Afterwards, the catalysts were tested in methanol partial oxidation with two different O-2/CH3OH molar ratios. Results obtained in this reaction were compared with those obtained for methanol decomposition in inert atmosphere. For Pt catalysts, there was an increase in methanol conversion and hydrogen production and a decrease in carbon monoxide production under oxidizing conditions. Both methanol conversion and partial oxidation reactions appear to be sensitive to Pt particle structure in the particle size range studied. Results obtained under oxidizing conditions differed between Pd and Pt catalysts. Finally, catalytic activity in methanol partial oxidation was more affected by Pt than Pd particle size in the size range studied. (c) 2007 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
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A study of diffusion in poly(ethyleneglycol)-gelatin based semi-interpenetrating networks for use in wound healing. Semi-interpenetrating networks (sIPNs) designed to mimic extracellular matrix via covalent crosslinking of poly(ethylene glycol) diacrylate in the presence of gelatin have been shown to aid in wound healing, particularly when loaded with soluble factors. Ideal systems for tissue repair permit an effective release of therapeutic agents and flow of nutrients to proliferating cells. Appropriate network characterization can, consequently, be used to convey an understanding of the mass transfer kinetics necessary for materials to aid in the wound healing process. Solute transport from and through sIPNs has not yet been thoroughly evaluated. In the current study, the diffusivity of growth factors and nutrients through the polymeric system was determined. Transport of keratinocyte growth factor was modeled by treating the sIPN as a plane sheet into which the protein was loaded. The diffusion coefficient was determined to be 4.86 x 10(-9) +/- A 1.86 x 10(-12) cm(2)/s. Glucose transport was modeled as flow through a semi-permeable membrane. Using lag-time analysis, the diffusion coefficient was calculated to be 2.25 x 10(-6) +/- A 1.98 x 10(-7) cm(2)/s. The results were evaluated in conjunction with previous studies on controlled drug release from sIPNs. As expected from Einstein-Stokes equation, diffusivity decreased as molecular size increased. The results offer insight into the structure-function design paradigm and show that release from the polymeric system is diffusion controlled, rather than dissolution controlled.
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Polyprotic Acids and Beyond-An Algebraic Approach. For an N-protic acid-base system, the set of nonlinear equations (i.e., mass action and balance laws) provides a simple analytical solution/formula for any integer N >= 1. The approach is applicable for the general case of zwitterionic acids H(N)A(+Z) (e.g., amino acids, NTA, and EDTA), which includes (i) the \\'ordinary acids\\' as a special case (Z = 0) and (ii) surface complexation. Examples are presented for N = 1 to 6. The high-N perspective allows the classification of equivalence points (including isoionic and isoelectric points). Principally, there are two main approaches to N-protic acids: one from hydrochemistry and one \\'outside inorganic hydrochemistry\\'. They differ in many ways: the choice of the reference state (either H(N)A or A(-N)), the reaction type (dissociation or association), the type/nature of the acidity constants, and the structure of the formulas. Once the (nonlinear) conversion between the two approaches is established, we obtain a systematics of acidity constants (macroscopic, microscopic, cumulative, and Simms). Finally, from the viewpoint of statistical mechanics (canonical isothermal-isobaric ensemble), buffer capacities, buffer intensities, and higher pH derivatives are actually fluctuations in the form of variance, skewness, and kurtosis.
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Cortical magnetoencephalography of deep brain stimulation for the treatment of postural tremor. The effects effects of deep brain stimulation (DBS) on motor cortex circuitry in Essential tremor (ET) and Parkinson's disease (PD) patients are not well understood, in part, because most imaging modalities have difficulty capturing and localizing motor cortex dynamics on the same temporal scale as motor symptom expression. Here, we report on the use of magnetoencephalography (MEG) to characterize sources of postural tremor activity within the brain of an ET/PD patient and the effects of bilateral subthalamic nucleus DBS on these sources. Recordings were performed during unilateral and bilateral DBS at stimulation amplitudes of 0 V, 1 V, and 3 V corresponding to no therapy, subtherapeutic, and therapeutic configurations, respectively. Dipole source localization in reference to the postural tremor frequency recorded with electromyography (EMG) showed prominent sources in both right and left motor cortices when no therapy was provided. These sources dissipated as the amplitude of stimulation increased to a therapeutic level (P = 0.0062). Coherence peaks between the EMG and MEG recordings were seen at both 4 Hz, postural tremor frequency, and at 8 Hz, twice the tremor frequency, with no therapy. Both peaks were reduced with therapeutic DBS. These results demonstrate the capabilities of MEG to record cortical dynamics of tremor during deep brain stimulation and suggest that MEG could be used to examine DBS in the context of motor symptoms of PD and of ET. (C) 2012 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
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Cell-mediated response at the muscle phase of Trichinella pseudospiralis and Trichinella spiralis infections. The cell-mediated response in BALB/c mice infected either by Trichinella pseudospiralis or Trichinella spiralis was compared at days 30-50 post-infection (muscle phase). The former species is non-encapsulated, whereas the latter is encapsulated in host muscles. The pattern of response against the two species was similar. Both species elicited T(H)0 or T(H)1/T(H)2 response, with the last one being dominant. Productions of interferon gamma (IFN-gamma), interleukin (IL)-4 and IL-5 were observed after antigenic restimulation of splenocytes from infected mice. No significant difference was observed between the levels of response to concanavalin A (Con-A) by the splenocytes from both infected and non-infected animals. There was a significant increase in serum IgG(1) and IgG(2a). Flow cytometric analysis revealed a marked proliferative response of splenocytes from infected mice to worm antigens, dominated by B (CD19) lymphoblasts. Only a few helper (CD4+) and cytotoxic (CD8+) T lymphoblasts were present. This was confirmed by an up-regulation of CD69, with a dominant expression on B lymphoblasts. In conclusion, the minimal or lack of intense cellular response against T. pseudospiralis in muscles is likely not due to depression of cell-mediated immunity.
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Intent-to-treat analysis of stage Ib and IIa cervical cancer in the United States: Radiotherapy or surgery 1988-1995. Conclusion: In the United States there is a survival advantage for surgical intent-to-treat compared with radiation intent-to-treat for women with tumors 4 cm or less, independent of ethnicity, adjuvant therapy, or age. (Obstet Gynecol 2001;97:248-54. (C) 2001 by The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists.).Objective: To estimate the patterns of care and outcome of women with early cervical cancer in the United States based on surgical or radiation intent-to-treat principles.Methods: The Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results 1995 public-use file was the data source. Subjects between the ages of 15 and 80 years at diagnosis who were treated for stage Ib or IIa cervical cancer were identified. The 1039 women who comprised the study group were stratified according to age at diagnosis (40 years or less, older than 40 years), primary treatment intent (surgery, radiotherapy), tumor size (4 cm or less, over 4 cm), registry site, and ethnicity. Survival analyses included 784 women who had at least 2 years of follow-up.Results: There were 276 cancers (26.5%) over 4 cm, and 586 (56%) women were older than 40 years at diagnosis. There were 741 (71%) subjects in the surgical intent-to-treat group, and the remainder (298) were in the radiation intent-to-treat group. Kaplan-Meier analysis indicated a 5-year survival advantage for women with tumors 4 cm or less who were in the surgical intent-to-treat group compared with the radiation intent-to-treat group (86% and 71%, P < .001). Treatment group was not prognostic for cervical cancers over 4 cm (surgical intent-to-treat compared with radiation intent-to-treat; 72% and 68% survival, respectively). Multivariable analysis confirmed a survival advantage for women with surgical intent-to-treat and tumors of 4 cm or less.
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Integrated impedance and Lamb wave-based structural health monitoring strategy for long-term cycle-loaded composite structure. Impedance of a sensor is sensitivity to small structural damage which surrounds the sensor. Lamb wave propagation provides higher damage detection efficiency in the range of large area. Both methods have been widely developed for structural health monitoring. This article presents integrated impedance and Lamb wave-based structural health monitoring strategy for composite pressure vessels. The output of the presented structural health monitoring strategy includes distribution and classification of damage and health condition of sensor network under varying internal pressure loading environments. In the strategy, a novel damage index adjusting method for Lamb wave damage detection is developed based on the signal features of real and imaginary parts of the sensor impedance. First, the potential structural damage is pre-warned by monitoring the impedance variation of the piezoelectric transducer sensor network. Then, the health condition of sensor network under the working condition is assessed by impedance-based self-diagnosis method; subsequently, the Lamb wave damage index is adjusted based on the result of sensor self-diagnosis. Finally, on the basis of sensor self-diagnosis and damage index adjustment result, damage identification and classification are performed. Practical efficacy of the structural health monitoring approach is tested by the damage monitoring experiment on loaded composite structure.
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Why and how to participate in postmarketing surveillance of skin allergy-related adverse drug reactions. Allergists who manage patients with skin diseases have a vital role to play in postmarketing surveillance programs. First, to report adverse drug reactions they observe and, second, to keep up-to-date on drug safety information for optimal management of their patients. (C) 2012 Elsevier Masson SAS. All rights reserved.
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An approach to functional assessment in general education classroom settings. Although research has clearly demonstrated the utility of functional assessment across a variety of settings and populations, the literature contains few examples of a comprehensive approach to functional assessment in general education settings that effectively bridges research to the everyday practice of school psychology. Functional assessment has been presented as a three-step process involving informant assessment, direct observations, and experimental analyses. In the present case illustration, teacher interviews, conditional probability analyses of direct observations, and brief teacher-implemented functional analyses are demonstrated to help practitioners learn an efficient and effective method for determining the function of problem behaviors exhibited in general education classrooms. Future directions and implications of functional assessment research and practice in general education classrooms are discussed.
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Photon-Induced Reversible Phase Transition in CsPbBr3 Perovskite. Structure reorganization within perovskite materials has attracted much attention due to its assisted appealing features in optoelectronic devices, such as achieving continue-wave laser and performance enhancement in photovoltaic devices. Unfortunately, the difficulty of controlling reorganization processing and unclear underlying mechanisms impose an impediment for taking advantage of the structural reorganization in pursuit of distinctive functions in perovskite-based devices. In this work, using above-bandgap illumination with a small energy threshold (1.6 mW cm(-2)) triggering phase transition from orthorhombic to tetragonal in CsPbBr3 is first reported. This photon-induced structure reorganization is reversible and presents a fast and controllable response (<0.5 s) to light on/off. Raman spectroscopy and density functional theory calculations reveal that such a dynamic structure reorganization is caused by the transition of torsion direction in Pb-Br octahedral, while the diffusion potential difference induced local Coulombic field is proved to drive this process. The findings provide a deep understanding for universal structure reorganization under irradiation in perovskite materials and encourage further study of the novel functions associated with structure reorganization inducing temporal behaviors in optoelectronic devices, for example variations in dielectric constant and band edge fluctuation induced Rashba effects, which show a significant influence on perovskite-based optoelectronic devices.
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The 'Weekend Effect' in Lightning Activity during Winter Thunderstorms over the Tel-Aviv, Israel, Metropolitan Area. We report the analysis of nine winter seasons (December, January, February (DJF)) aerosol and lightning data over the Tel-Aviv metropolitan area, Israel's largest and densest urban region. Hourly averaged aerosol concentrations (PM2.5 and PM10) were obtained from 27 automatic air quality stations operated by the Ministry for Environmental Protection. Lightning data obtained from the Israeli Lightning Detection Network (ILDN) and by the Earth Network Total Lightning Network (ENTLN) for four overlapping seasons showed an irregular pattern, with lower activity during Sunday-Tuesday, and maximum activity on Wednesday and Thursday, but also on Saturday, when less pollution was present. The accepted explanation for the weekend effect is that increased amounts of particles tend to prolong the lifetime of storms and their total lightning amounts and change their intracloud/cloud-to-ground flash ratios. However, our results suggest that lightning is not directly related to the level of ambient pollution, but likely depends on the synergistic effects of desert dust and urban pollution particles in the area that affect the electrical structure of winter thunderstorms. Since the source of desert dust is independent of any regularity that can be attributed to anthropogenic activity (e.g., increased levels of pollution due to the traffic-load in Tel-Aviv), it obscures any weekend-weekday patterns that are often detected in other large metropolitan areas.
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Prospective validation of the spanish version of the Short Form-Liver Disease Quality of life. Results: In 6 out of 9 liver disease-specific dimensions, reliability coefficients for internal consistency exceeded 0.70. The convergent validity of these items was acceptable in 8 out of 9 dimensions, with a scaling success of 100% in each item. Missing items were under 1.5% in all dimensions, except for Sexual Functioning.Health-Related Quality of Life (HRQL) assessed by a specific, validated, brief test is an important measure of the health status perceived by patients diagnosed with chronic liver disease.Methods: This observational, longitudinal study was conducted by using the SF-LDQOL in outpatients diagnosed with chronic liver disease. This instrument contains the generic SF-36 test, and 9 liver disease-specific dimensions. We also evaluated socio-demographic features, the number of missing responses, and internal consistency (Cronbach's alpha), as well as Pearson's correlation between SF-36 and SF-LDQOL scores on specific dimensions by means of a multi-trait multi-method technique. The sample consisted of 340 patients.Aim: To prospectively validate the SF-LDQOL (Short Form-Liver Disease Quality of Life) instrument in Spanish, in patients diagnosed with liver disease of diverse etiologies and distinct severity levels, attended at the Hospital Universitari de Bellvitge (Barcelona).Conclusions: The Spanish version of the SF-LDQOL has, in general, good psychometric properties, making it a useful instrument for clinical practice in a population of patients diagnosed with chronic liver disease, with or without liver transplantation. (C) 2015 Elsevier Espana, S.L.U. and AEEH y AEG. All rights reserved.
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BiCG-FFT method for shielding effectiveness of PEC enclosures with many apertures. An extension of the biconjugate gradient fast Fourier transform (BiCG-FFT) method is proposed for the calculation of the shielding effectiveness of perfectly electric conducting (PEC) rectangular boxes with a large number of apertures. The unknowns remain confined on the surfaces. Considerable saving in memory and calculation time is obtained.
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Evidence for a cubic-to-icosahedral transition of quasi-free Pd-H-clusters controlled by the hydrogen content. An in situ synchrotron radiation study of quasi-free five nanometer-sized palladium clusters during hydrogen absorption is combined with molecular dynamics simulations to investigate the structural development. In the diffraction patterns, strong intensity changes are found that provide evidence for a structural phase transformation that is significantly different from the alpha-alpha'-Pd-H bulk phase transition. The structural transition is reversible and driven by the hydrogen concentration. The intensity changes are consistent with a cubic-to-icosahedral structural phase transition obtained in molecular dynamical simulations using embedded-atom-method potentials.
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The compensating wage differentials for a career at sea - an empirical study of Taiwan. Using a unique Taiwan JCEE data set, this study finds that the compensating wage differential for marine engineers is about one third of their received wage, and for nuclear engineers is about one fifth of their received wage.
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Atmospheric Refractive Electromagnetic Wave Bending and Propagation Delay. In this tutorial we summarize the physics and mathematics behind refractive electromagnetic wave bending and delay. Refractive bending and delay through the Earth's atmosphere at both radio/millimetric and optical/IR wavelengths are discussed, but with most emphasis on the former, and with Atacama Large Millimeter Array (ALMA) applications in mind. As modern astronomical measurements often require subarcsecond position accuracy, care is required when selecting refractive bending and delay algorithms. For the spherically-uniform model atmospheres generally used for all refractive bending and delay algorithms, positional accuracies less than or similar to 1 '' are achievable when observing at zenith angles less than or similar to 75 degrees. A number of computationally economical approximate methods for atmospheric refractive bending and delay calculation are presented, appropriate for astronomical observations under these conditions. For observations under more realistic atmospheric conditions, for zenith angles less than or similar to 75 degrees, or when higher positional accuracy is required, more rigorous refractive bending and delay algorithms must be employed. For accurate calculation of the refractive bending, we recommend the Auer and Standish method, using numerical integration to ray-trace through a two-layer model atmosphere, with an atmospheric model determination of the atmospheric refractivity. For the delay calculation we recommend numerical integration through a model atmosphere.
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A reappraisal of Cerebavis cenomanica (Aves, Ornithurae), from Melovatka, Russia. The evolution of the avian brain is of crucial importance to studies of the transition from non-avian dinosaurs to modern birds, but very few avian fossils provide information on brain morphological development during the Mesozoic. An isolated specimen from the Cenomanian of Melovatka in Russia was described by Kurochkin and others as a fossilized brain, designated the holotype of Cerebavis cenomanica Kurochkin and Saveliev and tentatively referred to Enantiornithes. We have previously highlighted that this specimen is an incomplete skull, rendering the diagnostic characters invalid and Cerebavis cenomanica a nomen dubium. We provide here a revised diagnosis of Cerebavis cenomanica based on osteological characters, and a reconstruction of the endocranial morphology (= brain shape) based on mu CT investigation of the braincase. Absence of temporal fenestrae indicates an ornithurine affinity for Cerebavis. The brain of this taxon was clearly closer to that of modern birds than to Archaeopteryx and does not represent a divergent evolutionary pathway as originally concluded by Kurochkin and others. No telencephalic wulst is present, suggesting that this advanced avian neurological feature was not recognizably developed 93 million years ago.
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Considering Etiquette in the Design of an Adaptive System. In this article, the authors empirically assess the costs and benefits of designing an adaptive system to follow social conventions regarding the appropriateness of interruptions. Interruption management is one area within the larger topic of automation etiquette. The authors tested these concepts in an outdoor environment using the Communications Scheduler, a wearable adaptive system that classifies users' cognitive state via brain and heart sensors and adapts its interactions. Designed to help dismounted soldiers, it manages communications in much the same way as a good administrative assistant. Depending on a combination of message priority, user workload, and system state, it decides whether to interrupt the user's current tasks. The system supports decision makers in two innovative ways: It reliably measures a mobile user's cognitive workload to adapt its behavior, and it implements rules of etiquette adapted from human-human interactions to improve human-computer interactions. Results indicate costs and benefits to both interrupting and refraining from interrupting. When users were overloaded, primary task performance was improved by managing interruptions. However, overall situation awareness on secondary tasks suffered. This work empirically quantifies costs and benefits of \\'appropriate\\' interruption behaviors, demonstrating the value of designing adaptive agents that follow social conventions for interactions with humans.
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Contamination of Alpine snow and ice at Colle Gnifetti, Swiss/Italian Alps, from nuclear weapons tests. Plutonium is present in the environment as a consequence of atmospheric nuclear tests, nuclear weapons production and industrial releases over the past 50 years. To study temporal trends, a high resolution Pu record was obtained by analyzing 52 discrete samples of an alpine firn/ice core from Colle Gnifetti (Monte Rosa, 4450 m a.s.l.), dating from 1945 to 1990. The (PU)-P-239 signal was recorded directly, without decontamination or preconcentration steps, using an Inductively Coupled Plasma Sector Field Mass Spectrometer (ICP-SFMS) equipped with an high efficiency sample introduction system, thus requiring much less sample preparation than previously reported methods. The Pu-239 profile reflects the three main periods of atmospheric nuclear weapons testing: the earliest peak lasted from 1954/55 to 1958 and was caused by the first testing period reaching a maximum in 1958. Despite a temporary halt of testing in 1959/60, the Pu concentration decreased only by half with respect to the 1958 peak due to long atmospheric residence times. In 1961/62 Pu concentrations rapidly increased reaching a maximum in 1963, which was about 40% more intense than the 1958 peak. After the signing of the \\'Limited Test Ban Treaty\\' between USA and USSR in 1964, Pu deposition decreased very sharply reaching a minimum in 1967. The third period (1967-1975) is characterized by irregular Pu concentrations with smaller peaks (about 20-30% of the 1964 peak) which might be related to the deposition of Saharan dust contaminated by the French nuclear tests of the 1960s. The data presented are in very good agreement with Pu profiles previously obtained from the Col du Dome ice core (by multi-collector ICP-MS) and Belukha ice core (by Accelerator Mass Spectrometry, AMS). Although a semi-quantitative method was employed here, the results are quantitatively comparable to previously published results. (C) 2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
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Composite Holographic Gratings Containing Light-Responsive Liquid Crystals for Visible Bichromatic Switching. Polymeric microstructures, produced in a multi-step chemico-physical process, confine and stabilize a well-aligned nematic liquid crystal (NLC) film, which is doped with a high-performance mesogenic azobenzene dye, sensitive in the visible range.
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RNA EDITING - EXPLORING ONE MODE WITH APOLIPOPROTEIN-B MESSENGER-RNA. RNA editing is a newly described genetic phenomenon. It encompasses widely different molecular mechanisms and events. According to the specific RNA modification, RNA editing can be broadly classified into six major types. Type II RNA editing occurs in plants and mammals; it consists predominantly in cytidine to uridine conversions resulting from deamination/transamination or transglycosylation, although in plants other mechanisms have not been excluded. Apolipoprotein B mRNA editing is the only well-documented editing phenomenon in mammals. It is an intranuclear event that occurs posttranscriptionally, coincident with splicing and polyadenylation. Recent observations indicate that the tissue- and sequence-specific process is mediated by an enzyme that has separate domains for editing and sequence recognition. The presence of apolipoprotein B mRNA editing activity in tissues that do not produce the protein suggests that other RNAs may be edited and RNA editing may be a genetic phenomenon of general biological importance to the cell.
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Gene expression profiles characterize early graft response in living donor small bowel transplantation: A case report. Results. Two profiles were obtained from the data. One profile showed rapid increase of 45 genes immediately after transplant by week I with significant changes (P <.05) greater than threefold including the chemokine CXC9 and glutathione-related stress factors, GPX2 and GSTA4. The second profile identified 133 genes that were significantly decreased by threefold or greater immediately after transplant week 1, including UCC1, the human homolog of the Ependymin gene.Methods. In a patient undergoing living related small bowel transplantation (LRSBTx) in our institution, mucosal biopsies were obtained from the recipient intestine and donor graft at the time of transplant and at weeks 1, 2, 3, and 6 posttransplant. Total RNA was isolated from sample biopsies followed by gene expression profiles determined from the replicate samples (n = 3) for each biopsy using the Affymetrix U133 Plus 2.0 Human GeneChip set.Background. The cellular and histological events that occur during the regeneration process in invertebrates have been studied in the field of visceral regeneration. We would like to explore the molecular aspects of the regeneration process in the small intestine. The aim of this study was to characterize the gene expression profiles of the intestinal graft to identify which genes may have a role in regeneration of graft tissue posttransplant.Conclusion. We have identified two gene expression profiles representing early graft responses to small bowel transplantation. These profiles will serve to identify and study those genes whose products may play a role in accelerating tissue regeneration following segmental LRSBTx.
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Survival and functional and oncological outcomes following intersphincteric resection for low rectal cancer: short-term results. Objective This study was performed to evaluate the 1-year survival rate and functional outcomes of 20 patients who underwent intersphincteric resection (ISR) for low rectal cancer.Results The short-term survival rate was 100%. The median Wexner score was 10 in all patients at 12 months after surgery. Signs of local recurrence were absent, and antigen levels remained within the reference ranges 1 year postoperatively.Conclusions ISR is a feasible alternative in highly selected patients who primarily refuse a colostomy bag and present with type II or III tumors. In the present study, patient-reported continence was satisfactory, and the absence of a colostomy bag increased patients' quality of life. The oncological outcomes were satisfactory at 1 year postoperatively.Methods Twenty patients who underwent ISR for low rectal cancer were followed up for 1 year. Complications, functional outcomes objectified by the Wexner score, and oncological outcomes were assessed.
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Analysis of Esophageal Cancer Time Trends in China, 1989-2008. National cancer incidence data were utilized to analyze trends in esophageal cancer incidence in China in order to provide basic information for making cancer control strategy. We retrieved and re-sorted valid esophageal cancer incidence data from National Central Cancer Registry Database over 20 years period from 1989 to 2008. Crude incidence and age-standardized incidence rates were calculated for analysis, with annual percent change estimated by Joinpoint software for long term trend analysis. The crude incidence rate of esophageal cancer was found to have remained relatively stable in both urban and rural areas over the 20 year period. Age standardized incidence rate (ASR) in cancer registration areas decreased from 39.5/100,000 in 1989 to 23.0/100,000 in 2008 in all areas (AAPC=-3.3%, 95% CI:-2.8 similar to-3.7). The trend was no change in urban areas and 2.1% average annual decrease observed in rural aras. Before the year of 2000, esophageal cancer incidence rates significant decreased with 2.8% annually and then the rates kept stable. Over 20 years from 1989 to 2008, esophageal cancer age standardized incidence rate in cancer registration areas decreased with time. However, esophageal cancer is still a big issue and efforts for control should be continuously enhanced. Cancer registration is playing an important role in cancer control with the number of registries increasing and data quality improving in China.
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Neurovascular Emergencies in the Elderly. Neurovascular diseases are major causes of disability and death in the elderly; many present as medical emergencies. With the continuing growth of the geriatric population, there has been increasing interest in the impact of aging on the cerebrovascular system. Recent advances in the clinical neurosciences have demonstrated that neurovascular emergencies in the elderly often are amenable to treatment; neuroimaging plays a critical role in diagnosis and neurointerventional techniques are becoming increasingly important therapeutic options. This article provides an overview of some of the common neurovascular disorders in the elderly that require urgent evaluation and treatment, with an emphasis on the expanding role for interventional neuroradiology in their management.
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Thermodynamic re-assessment of the Pu-U system and its application to the ternary Pu-U-Ga system. Phase diagram and thermodynamic properties of the Plutonium-Uranium (Pu-U) system have been successfully re-assessed using the CALPHAD method with input from ab initio electronic-structure calculations for the bcc phase (gamma-U, is an element of-Pu). Results and methodology are discussed and compared with previous assessments. In addition, the already assessed Pu-Ga (Gallium) and U-Ga data are combined to build the Pu-U-Ga thermodynamic database. The predictions made using this database indicate that a small amount of U impacts the (delta-Pu) Pu-Ga phase stability by precipitating the complicated eta and zeta phases that exist in the Pu-U system. Finally, the present investigation provides guidelines for further experimental studies. Published by Elsevier B.V.
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The history of the legislation that regulates Physics teachers' training courses in Brazil: from colonial person-to-person to distant electronic education. By means of document analysis, the present study traces the historical development of Physics teacher's training courses and their legal aspects in Brazil. It starts with Colonial Brazil, when institutions of superior studies were almost none and legislation for teachers' licensing did not exist, and ends with present times, which are characterized by a great number of laws that regulate and standardize the undergraduate Physics teachers' training courses. At the end of the study, a table shows an integrated synthesis of this legislation, from Decree n degrees 1.190/39, the first legal structure that set the basis for the training of Physics teachers, to Decree n degrees 5.622/05, which regulates how the government shall encourage the development and the unfolding of electronic education programs for all levels and subjects.
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Point-of-Care Testing The Evolution of a Training and Competency Program at Cleveland Clinic Abu Dhabi. The point-of-care testing (POCT) department at Cleveland Clinic Abu Dhabi sets out to transform the organization and management of its training and competency renewal program. Managing competencies in any large hospital is challenging for all POCT coordinators. Initially, a paper-based system was created, which was cumbersome and error prone, which led to many clerical and logistical challenges. As the scope of the program grew, this approach became more difficult to govern. In an effort to streamline the process, the department embarked on several continuous improvement projects to address this pressing issue. In collaboration with the laboratory information technology and hospital learning specialist teams, the POCT department has successfully streamlined and standardized its competency approach, migrating to learning management system platform Although limitations in devices and middleware systems kir POCT remain challenging, using the resources and expertise available has led to significant improvements and efficiencies. The transition has been educational and hugely beneficial to the laboratory and the hospital. Further enhancements have been identified and more improvements are planned in the future.
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Effects of variety and fertiliser nitrogen on alcohol yield, grain yield, starch and protein content, and protein composition of winter wheat. The effects of nitrogen (N) fertiliser on grain size and shape, starch and protein concentration, vitreosity, storage protein composition, and alcohol yield of two winter wheat varieties contrasting in endosperm texture were studied in a field trial in Herefordshire, UK in 2004. Averaged across varieties, the alcohol yield was 439 L/tonne for grain with a protein concentration of 11.5g/100g. The soft endosperm wheat variety Riband produced on average 7.7 L more alcohol per tonne of grain at a given protein concentration than the hard endosperm variety, Option. At the same time, N fertiliser was shown to have significant effects on alcohol production through its major influence on grain protein concentration. Averaged over both varieties, there was a reduction in alcohol yield of 5.7 L for each 10kg increase in protein content per tonne of grain. The starch concentration of Riband was 2.9g/100g higher than Option at a given grain protein concentration, supporting its higher observed alcohol yields. A low conversion of starch to alcohol in this study (6.30 L/10 kg starch) compared to the theoretical value (6.61 L/10 kg starch) indicated that there is potential for improvement of this character. The traits relating to grain size and shape were principally influenced by genotype, and were not influenced by N fertiliser. Conversely, there were only minor genotypic effects on grain protein concentration and vitreosity. An important finding was that there were no interactions between variety and N treatment for any of the variables considered, indicating that the response of the two varieties to changes in applied N was the same, resulting in consistent differences in starch concentration and alcohol yield between genotypes at different levels of grain protein. An analysis of the composition of the wheat storage proteins by size-exclusion chromatography showed that the gliadins increased on average by 0.56 g per g increase in total grain protein and were quantitatively the major protein fraction, suggesting that selection for low gliadin content may be a desirable means by which to reduce grain protein, and thereby increase alcohol yield in wheat. The relationship between alcohol yield per unit area and applied N rate was described by a quadratic function and the maximum alcohol yield per unit area was ca. 3630 L/ha. Statistical analysis suggested that the economic optimum rate of N applied for grain yield was close to the optimum N rate for maximum alcohol productivity. (c) 2007 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
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Depressive symptoms in older adults with and without a history of incarceration: A matched pairs comparison. Objectives Previous research has found that many incarcerated individuals have mental health conditions and that incarcerated women may be at elevated risk. These individuals have been shown to experience mental health concerns shortly after their release, but little is known about their mental health later in life. This study compared depressive symptoms in older adults with and without a history of incarceration and examined the impact of gender on this relationship. Method Data from 160 pairs of adults aged 65 or older (82.5% male, mean age = 73.4 years) who participated in the 2012 wave of the Health and Retirement Study (HRS) was utilized. Older adults with a history of incarceration were matched to those without based on age, gender, race, and education level. Depressive symptoms (CES-D) of older adults with and without a history of incarceration were compared using a repeated-measures ANOVA. Results The main effect of incarceration history (p=.001, partial eta(2)=.07) and the interaction between incarceration history and gender (p=.01, partial eta(2)=.04) were significant. Follow-up analyses revealed that the difference between depressive symptoms for older women with and without a history of incarceration was significant (p=.02, d = 0.69), whereas the difference for older men was not significant (p=.19, d = 0.16). Conclusions Findings suggest older adults with a history of incarceration report more depressive symptoms than those without and that the effect is seen among older women. Negative effects of incarceration on mental health may therefore persist into later life, highlighting the importance of pre- and post-release mental health services.
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Mass spectrometry based metabolomics for in vitro systems pharmacology: pitfalls, challenges, and computational solutions. Conclusion LC-MS based metabolomics is a promising methodology, but comes with pitfalls and challenges. Key difficulties can be largely overcome by means of a computational procedure of the kind introduced and demonstrated here. The pipeline is freely available on www.github.com/stephanieherman/MS-data-processing.Introduction Mass spectrometry based metabolomics has become a promising complement and alternative to transcriptomics and proteomics in many fields including in vitro systems pharmacology. Despite several merits, metabolomics based on liquid chromatography mass spectrometry (LC-MS) is a developing area that is yet attached to several pitfalls and challenges. To reach a level of high reliability and robustness, these issues need to be tackled by implementation of refined experimental and computational protocols.Objectives This study illustrates some key pitfalls in LCMS based metabolomics and introduces an automated computational procedure to compensate for them.Method Non-cancerous mammary gland derived cells were exposed to 27 chemicals from four pharmacological classes plus a set of six pesticides. Changes in the metabolome of cell lysates were assessed after 24 h using LC-MS. A data processing pipeline was established and evaluated to handle issues including contaminants, carry over effects, intensity decay and inherent methodology variability and biases. A key component in this pipeline is a latent variable method called OOS-DA (optimal orthonormal system for discriminant analysis), being theoretically more easily motivated than PLS-DA in this context, as it is rooted in pattern classification rather than regression modeling.Result The pipeline is shown to reduce experimental variability/biases and is used to confirm that LC-MS spectra hold drug class specific information.
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Granulocyte-macrophage colony-stimulating factor (GM-CSF) is released by female mouse bladder urothelial cells and expressed by the urothelium as an early response to lipopolysaccharides (LPS). MethodsFemale C57BL/6 mBUC were exposed for 12hr to differing concentrations of LPS (100ng/ml to 10 mu g/ml). mBUC were also exposed to a single dose of LPS (1 mu g/ml) for 3, 6, 12hr. Neutralizing GM-CSF antibody (0.1g/ml) was used block GM-CSF activity in vitro. In vivo experiments were performed, whereby, LPS (1mg/ml) was instilled intravesically and left to dwell for 30min followed by harvest of bladder urothelium 3 to 18hr later. ELISA measured GM-CSF. qPCR quantitated mRNA for GM-CSF, vascular endothelial growth factor-A (VEGF-A), cyclooxygenase-1 (COX-1), cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2), and tumor necrosis factor (TNF-). RT-PCR was used to detect mRNA for GM-CSF, GM-CSFR, and in bladder tissues. Immunohistofluorescence and Western blots for GM-CSFR were performed on bladder tissues.ResultsLPS induced a dose-dependent release of GM-CSF by mBUC. Mouse bladder urothelium did not express GM-CSF mRNA at baseline, but expressed GM-CSF mRNA 3hr after in vivo LPS exposure, with GM-CSF mRNA expression disappearing 18hr later. GM-CSFR expression was confirmed in bladder urothelium. GM-CSF neutralizing antibody significantly diminished LPS-induced increases of VEGF and COX-2 mRNA expression.AimsWe studied in vitro and in vivo response of primary mouse bladder urothelial cells (mBUC) and bladder urothelium to lipopolysaccharides (LPS), focusing on granulocyte-macrophage colony-stimulating factor (GM-CSF) signaling.ConclusionsUrothelium and mBUC secreted GM-CSF as an early response to LPS. GM-CSF mediated downstream expression of VEGF and COX-2. Urothelial GM-CSF may function as a signaling mediator for both inflammation and pain transduction. Neurourol. Urodynam. 36:1020-1025, 2017. (c) 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
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CO2 pneumoperitoneum increases systemic but not local tumor spread after intraperitoneal murine neuroblastoma spillage in mice. Results Tumor manifestations were detected in 10 out of 12 (83%) animals after CO2 pneumoperitoneum, and in 9 out of 13 (69%) after laparotomy (n.s.). Incidence of liver metastasis was higher after CO2 pneumoperitoneum versus laparotomy (83% versus 31%; p < 0.05). Incidence and grading of peritoneal carcinosis was not significantly different between the groups (n.s.). Intrapulmonary metastasis was found in one mouse of each group, but no metastasis of the spine. However, the grading of liver metastasis was higher after CO2 pneumoperitoneum compared to laparotomy (p < 0.05). Tumor cell proliferation (Ki-67-stain) in the liver did not differ between both groups. Moreover, proliferation always exceeded 50% of tumor cells, irrespective local or systemic tumor manifestation.Background Minimally invasive techniques are increasingly used for biopsy and resection of neuroblastoma, but the impact on the behavior of spilled tumor cells is unknown. We aimed to investigate whether CO2 pneumoperitoneum can affect local or systemic tumor manifestation after spillage of neuroblastoma cells into the peritoneal cavity.Methods Murine neuroblastoma cells (Neuro2a, 1x10(6)) were inoculated into the peritoneal cavity of 25 male A/J mice, which subsequently underwent CO2 pneumoperitoneum (n = 12) or laparotomy (n = 13) for 1 h. At the 28th postoperative day, local (peritoneal and surface of the gut) and systemic (liver, lung, spine) tumor spread was graded in a blinded manner (1-4 point scale) and specimens were histologically examined for tumor manifestation ( hematoxylin and eosin stain) and tumor cell proliferation rate (Ki-67-stain). In the case of no visible lesion, five random sections were histologically examined. Peritoneal carcinosis was graded macroscopically.Conclusions CO2 pneumoperitoneum increased intrahepatic metastasis, but not local peritoneal carcinosis in a murine neuroblastoma model. This suggests that laparoscopy could promote systemic dissemination of intraperitoneally spilled tumor cells when no chemotherapy is applied. It remains to be determined whether this is due to local immune suppression or direct modulation of tumor cell behavior.
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SYNTHESIS AND ANALYSIS OF POSITIVE INOTROPIC EFFECTS OF 3-SUBSTITUTED-2H-CYCLOHEPTA[B]FURAN-2-ONE DERIVATIVES. Several 3-substituted-2H-cyclohepta[b]furan-2-one derivatives were prepared and tested in vitro for positive inotropic character. Introduction of an isopropyl group at the 5-position of compound 8a caused an increase of PIC50 (negative logarithm of the dosage which increases the contractile force by 50%) from 4.48 to 5.10. Among the 5-isopropyl-8-alkoxy compounds, the isopropoxy compound 12f had the most potent activity with a PIC50 value of 5.99. Conversion of the ester group at the 3-position to a methylene group and of the alkoxy group at the 8-position to a substituted amino group caused a decrease in activity. The most active compound, 12f, was also found to have a weaker heart rate (HR)-increasing effect compared to milrinone and amrinone.
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Dental floss ties for rubber dam isolation: A proposed classification and a new technique. Rubber dam application has become an essential part of restorative dentistry. In late 2019, dentistry faced a new challenge with the COVID-19 pandemic and therefore, the implementation of extra isolation methods became crucial. This article introduces a classification of dental floss ties used with a rubber dam, including the \\'simple\\' ties that are subdivided into traditional ties, single-loop self-ligating ties and double-loop self-ligating ties, and a new state-of-the-art design. The \\'compound tie\\' design incorporates a combination of one or more subdivisions of the simple ties. This new design may provide better isolation and more consistent gingival tissue retraction. Furthermore, due to the advanced technique applied, the tie will offer improved stability and prevent the sheet from sliding over the dental floss tie from all surfaces.
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How is norepinephrine used in intensive care? A field study. Results: The clinical monitoring parameters cited were blood pressure, heart rate and hourly urine flow. Only 25% of the prescribers indicated the systematic use of hemodynamic monitoring. All the prescribers indicated they adapted the treatment to clinical objectives and blood pressure, and 77.5% to hourly urine flow. Initial NE concentrations ranged from 0.5 to 2 mg/ml, diluted in saline or dextrose. Initial prescribed dose ranged from 0.1 to 1 mu g/kg/min. Large differences were observed between services and even within units.Conclusion: These data clearly show the need for recommendations regarding the use of norepinephrine.Methods: Nurses and physicians of 14 intensive care units of the Bordeaux University Hospital were given questionnaires on the way they say they use NE and on actual NE treatment of patients.Objective: To assess how norepinephrine (NE), an emergency treatment of cardiovascular collapse, is used in intensive care.
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Secrecy Sum Rates of MIMO Multi-Receiver Wiretap Channels. We consider MIMO multi-receiver wiretap channels where the transmitter sends confidential messages to legitimate receivers in the presence of an external eavesdropper. Since the secrecy sum rate maximization problem is nonconvex, we derive an equivalent alternating optimization problem. We propose an iterative algorithm to find the optimal transmit covariance matrix based on the MIMO BC-MAC duality. We prove that the limit point satisfies the KKT conditions of the original secrecy sum rate maximization problem.
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Sterilisation in Dentistry: A Review of the Literature. In a small and medium-sized dental facility, the correct management of the sterilisation and presterilisation phases plays a fundamental role in good management of instruments and personnel, in order to ensure conditions that are more efficient with less down time. Nowadays, instrument sterilizers are increasingly efficient in achieving results, both in terms of time and size, and ensure that materials are sterile and ready to be stocked in a reasonable time. A literature search for articles related to revision work was performed using electronic databases such as PubMed, Scopus, and Google Scholar. The following keywords have been entered in the previously mentioned databases: sterilisation instruments; dental autoclave; precleaning; instruments disinfectants. The records obtained were screened by three reviewers, and only relevant articles were read full text. In addition, the timings of dental and sterilisation procedures were measured, and from these, suggestions are made in order to improve the efficiency of instrumentation management (facility used as study subject: University Dental Clinic, University of Foggia) as a function of the health-care interventions. We arrived at the conclusion that without doubt, sterilisation of instruments and products plays a fundamental role, but the efficiency of the sterilisation and presterilisation procedures cannot be separated from managing the personnel in charge by giving them specific and precise tasks.
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#DistantButUnited. Searching for a redefinition: public sector communication between innovations and fragility. Over the last twenty years, profound transformations have affected public sector communication, changing and redefining its practices and tools, while influencing its research boundaries and trajectories. Communication function has shown innovative traits linked to the impact of Internet and social media, but it has also revealed its fragility when facing growing political interferences and resistances from organizational bureaucracies. The Covid-19 pandemic has represented a turning point for public sector communication. The latter has acquired new visibility in this emergency situation, and it has been forced to redefine consolidated communication models. In this scenario characterized by a general distrust toward institutions, public sector communication must recover credibility, guarantee transparency, correctness and timeliness in the dissemination of information. Starting from these considerations, this study on government communication in the context of Covid-19 investigates two aspects: the possibility that the emergency situation represents an opportunity to relaunch public sector communication as a service function, with particular regard to its digital dimensions; the reconstruction of the narration of the pandemic through government communication campaigns in the context of traditional and social media, highlighting contents styles and languages. Results underline the informative and service function of institutional communication, revealing in some phases innovations in languages and strategies. The alignment and synchronicity between different institutional voices and platforms, and the presence of an effective coordination, emerge during the lockdown while they become weaker in the following phase. This article suggests investing in permanent research on public communication to foster a more sophisticated use of campaigns and social media so as to nurture a constructive dialogue with citizens.
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Phenotypic and genotypic characterization of non-starter lactic acid bacteria in mature cheddar cheese. Non-starter lactic acid bacteria mere isolated from 14 premium-quality and 3 sensorially defective mature Irish Cheddar cheeses, obtained from six manufacturers. From countable plates of Lactobacillus-selective agar, 20 single isolated colonies were randomly picked per cheese. All 331 viable isolates were biochemically characterized as mesophilic (i.e., group II) Lactobacillus spp. Phenotypically, the isolates comprised 96.4% L. paracasei, 2.1% L. plantarum, 0.3% L. curvatus, 0.3% L. brevis, and 0.9% unidentified species. Randomly amplified polymorphic DNA (RAPD) analysis was used to rapidly identify the dominant strain groups in nine cheeses from three of the factories, and through clustering by the unweighted pair group method with arithmetic averages, an average of seven strains were found per cheese. In general, strains isolated from cheese produced at the same factory clustered together. The majority of isolates associated with premium-quality cheese grouped together and apart from clusters of strains from defective-quality cheese. No correlation was found between the isomer of lactate produced and RAPD profiles, although isolates which did not ferment ribose clustered together. The phenotypic and genotypic methods employed were validated with a selection of 31 type and reference strains of mesophilic Lactobacillus spp. commonly found in Cheddar cheese. RAPD analysis was found to be a useful and rapid method for identifying isolates to the species level. The low homology exhibited between RAPD banding profiles for cheese isolates and collection strains demonstrated the heterogeneity of the L, paracasei complex.
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Sensitivity characteristics of positive and negative resists at 200 kV electron-beam lithography. The contrast curve of positive and negative electron-beam resists such as polymethylmethacryl ate (PMMA), ZEP520A, and hydrogen silsesquioxane (HSQ) at 200kV electron-beam was estimated by using continuous slow down approximation (CSDA) model with both non-relativistic and relativistic Bethe stopping power. Experimental results show that simple CSDA model well explains the overall response of these various electron-beam resists to high energy electron-beam only if we use the relativistic Bethe stopping power. The difference between non-relativistic and relativistic Bethe stopping power is discussed.
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Anti-androgenic effect of astaxanthin in LNCaP cells is mediated through the aryl hydrocarbon-androgen receptors cross talk. The aim of this study was to investigate the anti-androgenic effects of astaxanthin (AST) on human prostatic cancer cell growth, and its impact on androgen receptor (AR) signaling using prostate cancer (PCa) cell line LNCaP. LNCaP cells were treated with AST alone and in combination with CH223191 and flutamide (Flu) in the presence and absence of testosterone. MTT assay, cellular prostate-specific antigen (PSA) and dihydrotestosterone (DHT) production, mRNA levels of CYP1A1, PSA, Kallikrein-Related Peptidase 2 (KLK2), Transmembrane Serine Protease 2 (TMPRSS2), and AR genes were measured as endpoints. The expression of CYP1A1, PSA, KLK2, TMPRSS2, and AR mRNA levels was decreased which results in reducing the production of PSA and DHT in the presence of testosterone. Our data clearly demonstrate that AST has a potential ability to suppress the human prostate LNCaP cells growth at high concentrations. AST was able to repress the testosterone-induced transcription of AR-target genes.Practical applications Astaxanthin is a natural compound with the most potent antioxidant activity among other antioxidants. In the current study, ASX suppressed the LNCaP cells at high concentrations. Furthermore, AST inhibited testosterone-induced transcriptional activation of androgen-related genes. AST induced the expression of CYP1A1, which is able to metabolize the steroid hormones. It seems that AST can act as AhR exogenous ligand by induction of CYP1A1, which results in testosterone metabolism and consequent suppression of AR genes. So that, AST could prevent the growth of testosterone-dependent PCa cells, downregulate downstream genes in testosterone pathways, and enhance the metabolism of testosterone via AhR pathway. Collectively, AST could be considered as a potential candidate for the treatment of PCa.
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GENERIC PROPERTIES FOR SEMIALGEBRAIC PROGRAMS. In this paper we study genericity for the class of semialgebraic optimization problems with equality and inequality constraints, in which every problem of the class is obtained by linear perturbations of the objective function, while the \\'core\\' objective function and the constraint functions are kept fixed. Assume that the linear independence constraint qualification is satisfied at every point in the constraint set. It is shown that almost all problems in the class are such that (i) the restriction of the objective function on the constraint set is coercive and regular at in finity; (ii) there is a unique optimal solution, lying on a unique active manifold, at which the strict complementarity and second order sufficiency conditions, the quadratic growth condition, and the Holder type global error bound hold, and (iii) all minimizing sequences converge. Furthermore, the active manifold is constant, and the optimal solution and the optimal value function depend analytically under local perturbations of the objective function. These results are combined with a standard result about the existence of sums of squares certificates to prove that we can build a sequence of semide finite programs whose solutions give rise to a sequence of points converging to the optimal solution of the original problem in finitely many steps. It is worth emphasizing that the results of this study hold globally and we do not require the problem to be convex or the constraint set to be compact.
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Thromboembolic complications of COVID-19: the combined effect of a pro-coagulant pattern and an endothelial thrombo-inflammatory syndrome. Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a newly emerging human infectious disease that has quickly become a worldwide threat to health, mainly causing severe acute respiratory syndrome. In addition to the widely described respiratory syndrome, COVID-19 may cause lifetreating complications directly or indirectly related to this infection. Among these, thrombotic complications have emerged as an important issue in patients with COVID-19 infection, particularly in patients in intensive care units. Thrombotic complications due to COVID-19 are likely to occur due to a pro-coagulant pattern encountered in some of these patients or to a progressive endothelial thrombo-inflammatory syndrome causing microvascular disease. In the present authors' experience, from five different hospitals in Italy and the UK, imaging has proved its utility in identifying these COVID-19-related thrombotic complications, with translational clinical relevance. The aim of this review is to illustrate thromboembolic complications directly or indirectly related to COVID-19 disease. Specifically, this review will show complications related to thromboembolism due to a pro-coagulant pattern from those likely related to an endothelial thrombo-inflammatory syndrome. (c) 2020 The Royal College of Radiologists. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
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Human papillomavirus infection in Macau women. Study design: Female patients presenting for a medical consultation or medical check-up were recruited with informed consent.Conclusions: The HPV infection rate in Macau appears to be higher than that in the neighbouring city of Hong Kong. The most prevalent genotypes were similar to those in South-west and Southern China. (C) 2012 Published by Elsevier Ltd on behalf of The Royal Society for Public Health.Objective: To investigate the prevalence and genotypes of human papillomavirus (HPV) infection in Macau women.Results: Of the specimens, 29.9% were found to be HPV-DNA positive; 26.4% were infected with one HPV genotype, while 3.0% and 0.5% were infected with two and three HPV genotypes, respectively. The most prevalent HPV genotype was type 52 (11.1%), followed by type 16 (9.7%). Both types 51 and 62 ranked third (9.0%).Methods: Cytology and HPV-DNA genotyping were performed on 402 cervical specimens that were collected from Macau women.
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Cancer mortality among workers exposed to amphibole-free chrysotile asbestos. The issue of whether exposure to chrysotile asbestos alone, without contamination from amphibole asbestos, causes lung cancer and mesothelioma was investigated in a 25-year longitudinal study (1972-1996) in Chongqin, China. The study cohort comprised 515 male asbestos plant workers exposed to chrysotile only; the control cohort included 650 non-dust-exposed workers. The results of analysis in which the proportional hazards model was used indicated that mortality due to all causes, all cancers, and lung cancer was related to asbestos exposure; the relative risks, adjusted for age and smoking, were 2.9, 4.3, and 6.6, respectively. Fiber concentrations in the raw material section and the textile section of the plant were 7.6 and 4.5 fibers/ml, respectively Because of differences between the study and control plants, the authors also compared various sections of the asbestos plant that had different levels of dust exposure. The adjusted relative risk of lung cancer was 8.1 for workers exposed to high versus low levels of asbestos. Two cases of malignant mesothelioma, one pleural and the other peritoneal, were found in the asbestos cohort. These results suggest that heavy exposure to pure chrysotile asbestos alone, with negligible amphibole contamination, can cause lung cancer and malignant mesothelioma in exposed workers.
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28
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Ovarian Teratoma-Related Paraneoplastic Neurological Syndromes. Paraneoplastic neurological syndromes (PNSs) are a group of neurological disorders triggered by an underlying remote tumor. Ovarian teratoma (OT) is the most common histologic type of germ cell tumor in females. The most common PNSs associated with OT is anti-N-methyl-D-aspartate receptor (NMDAR) encephalitis. However, with the increasing number of new antibodies reported over the last decade, the clinical spectrum of OT-related PNSs is also expanding. Our knowledge of OT-related PNSs is still far from complete. Here, we provide a comprehensive review of the most recent findings in the field of OT-related PNSs, with a particular focus on their clinical and pathological characteristics. Overall, the description of neuronal antibodies in PNSs associated with OT strongly suggests that antibodies may be responsible for the clinical symptoms in some cases. OT-related PNSs are associated with various clinical manifestations, including anti-NMDAR encephalitis, limbic encephalitis, encephalomyelitis, progressive cerebellar syndrome and opsoclonus-myoclonus syndrome. The pathological characteristics of the OT suggest that the mechanism of PNSs is probably due to heteromorphic neurons in the tumor tissue, the ectopic expression of the antigens in neural tissue within the teratomas and patients' unusual immune response. Despite the severity of the neurological syndromes, most patients with OT-related PNSs showed good neurologic response to early tumor resection combined with immunotherapy. To further advance the management of OT-related PNSs, additional studies are needed to explore this complex topic.
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Development and Assessment of a Brazilian Pilot Massive Open Online Course in Planetary Health Education: An Innovative Model for Primary Care Professionals and Community Training. Introduction: Planetary health (PH) has emerged as a leading field for raising awareness, debating, and finding solutions for the health impacts of human-caused disruptions to Earth's natural systems. PH education addresses essential questions of how humanity inhabits Earth, and how humans affect, and are affected by, natural systems. A pilot massive open online course (MOOC) in PH was created in Brazil in 2020. This MOOC capitalized on the global online pivot, to make the course accessible to a broader audience. This study describes the process of course creation and development and assesses the impact evaluation data and student outcomes of the PH MOOC.Methods: The PH MOOC pilot was launched in Brazilian Portuguese, using the TelessaudeRS-UFRGS platform on 4/27/2020 and concluded on 7/19/2020 with a total load of 80 h. It was composed of 8 content modules, pre and post-test, 10 topics in a forum discussion, and an optional action plan. This study analyzes the course database, profile of participants, answers to questionnaires, forum interaction, and action plans submitted.Results: Two thousand seven hundred seventy-seven participants enrolled in the course, of which 1,237 (44.54%) gave informed consent for this study. Of the 1,237 participants who agreed to participate in the research, 614 (49.8%) completed the course, and 569 (92.67%) were accredited by TelessaudeRS-UFRGS. The majority of the participants were concerned with climate change, trained in the health area, and worked in primary health care in places that lacked ongoing sustainability programs. Two hundred forty-one action plans were submitted, major topics identified were food and nutrition, infectious diseases, and garbage and recycling.Discussion: The use of the PH lens and open perspective of the course centered the need to communicate planetary health topics to individuals. The local plans reflected the motto of \\'think global and act local.\\' Brazil presents a context of an unprecedented social, political, and environmental crisis, with massive deforestation, extensive fires, and biomass burning altering the biomes, on top of an ongoing necropolitical infodemic and COVID-19 pandemic. In the face of these multiple challenges, this MOOC offers a timely resource for health professionals and communities, encouraging them to address planetary challenges as fundamental health determinants.
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Doping-dependent nanofaceting on silicon nanowire surfaces. Silicon nanowires with axially varying n- and p-doping were grown by the vapor-liquid-solid approach using gold as the catalyst. The nanowire sidewalls exhibit periodic nanofaceting, which is found to be dopant-dependent. It is shown that the nanofaceting occurs during the enhanced sidewall growth that arises when the diborane dopant gas is introduced. The nanowires are axially oriented along << 111 >>, and the crystallographic planes on which the nanofaceting occurs are determined to be {111} and {100}.
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Determination of inorganic selenium species in commercial wine collected from the Beijing region, China. Selenium has been recognized as an important element from the perspective of human health and environmental geochemistry because it is either essential or toxic depending on its concentration and chemical form. The present work proposes a method for the determination of the total selenium and inorganic selenium species in wine samples using high performance liquid chromatography-inductively coupled plasma-mass spectrometry detection (HPLC-ICP-MS). Wine samples were collected from shops in Beijing. Selenium was found in all these samples, with the concentration of total selenium ranging from 7.0 to 94.0 ng mL(-1). Inorganic selenium species in some wine samples were detected, ranging from 1.7 to 8.5 ng mL(-1) for Se (IV) and 1.8 to 14.7 ng mL(-1) for Se (VI). The concentration of Se (VI) compound in two samples was more than 10 ng mL(-1), and represents a potential danger for the health of people who consume these alcoholic beverages.
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DIFFERENT FORMS OF U15 SNORNA ARE ENCODED IN THE INTRONS OF THE RIBOSOMAL-PROTEIN S1 GENE OF XENOPUS-LAEVIS. Recent cloning and sequencing of one of the two Xenopus gene copies (S1b) coding for the ribosomal protein S1 has revealed that its introns III, V and VI carry a region of about 150 nt that shares an identity of 60%. We show here the presence in Xenopus oocytes and cultured cells of a 143 - 147 nt long RNA species encoded by these three repeated sequences on the same strand as the S1 mRNA and by at least one repeat present in the S1 a copy of the r-protein gene. We identify these RNAs as forms of the small nucleolar RNA U15 (U15 snoRNA) because of their sequence homology with an already described human U15 RNA encoded in the first intron of the human r-protein S3 gene, which is homologous to Xenopus S1. Comparison of the various Xenopus and human U15 RNA forms shows a very high conservation in some regions, but considerable divergence in others. In particular the most conserved sequences include two box C and two box D motifs, typical of most snoRNAs interacting with the nucleolar protein fibrillarin. Adjacent to the two D boxes there are two sequences, 9 and 10 nt in length, which are perfectly complementary to an evolutionary conserved sequence of the 28S rRNA. Modeling the possible secondary structure of Xenopus and human U15 RNAs reveals that, in spite of the noticeable sequence diversity, a high structural conservation in some cases may be maintained by compensatory mutations. We show also that the different Xenopus U15 RNA forms are expressed at comparable levels, localized in the nucleoli and produced by processing of the intronic sequences, as recently described for other snoRNAs.
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The Lewis electron-pair bonding model: the physical background, one century later. The shared electron-pair bonding model was suggested by Gilbert Lewis more than 100 years ago. Emerging from the chemical experience of the time, Lewis structures described contemporary aspects of chemical reality in terms of empirically adapted models without any (then unknown) quantum physical underpinnings. This Perspective details the origins and historical development of the Lewis model, which we contrast with the physical understanding of chemical bonding in terms of contemporary quantum chemistry. Some intuitively plausible classical explanations of the past, not least of which are the sharing of electrons by two atoms and the subtypes of shared electron-pair bonding and dative bonding, turned out to be well founded. Some other chemical dogmata, including the concept that bonding occurs only between two nuclei and is caused by spin coupling or that bond energy is of purely electrostatic origin, are less well founded. We now know that covalent bonding is not driven by the formation of an electron pair but rather by the lowering of the kinetic energy density of the shared electrons in the bonding region, which is provided by the interference of the atomic wavefunctions. Lewis structures remain highly useful models for describing chemical bonding in molecular structures and chemical reactions, particularly when supported by quantum chemistry. The concepts behind the three most common quantum chemical approximations - the valence bond, molecular orbital and density functional theories - are described. These methods allow us to learn that bonding is an energetic phenomenon, from which descriptors such as bond length, bond dissociation energies and force constants are derivable. The energetic origins of bonding point to bond energy decomposition analysis as a natural tool for elucidating the actions of bonding electrons.
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Thermal Transport of Hybrid Liquid over Thin Needle with Heat Sink/Source and Darcy-Forchheimer Porous Medium Aspects. The structure of needle is mostly similar as paraboloid of upset parallel to flow possesses and has huge applications in building and modern procedures including microstructure electronic gadgets and microscale cooling gadgets for thermal evacuation application. Based on these applications, an axisymmetric Darcy-Forchheimer flow and energy transport of hybrid nanoliquid over a slender moving needle is considered. Impact of heat sink/source and Newtonian heating is inspected. The dimensional nonlinear administering partial differential equations (PDEs) are modified to dimensionless nonlinear ordinary differential equations (ODEs) with assistance of similarity technique which is then explained numerically utilizing Runge-Kutta-Fehlberg scheme from Dsolve code MAPLE. It ought to be noticed that approval of results shows a decent concurrence with previously existing reports. It is noticed that the enhancing Forchheimer number and porosity parameter increase the temperature.
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Multiplication operators on the Bergman space via the Hardy space of the bidisk. In this paper, we develop a machinery to study multiplication operators on the Bergman space via the Hardy space of the bidisk. Using the machinery we study the structure of reducing subspaces of a multiplication operator on the Bergman space. As a consequence, we completely classify reducing subspaces of the multiplication operator by a Blaschke product phi with order three on the Bergman space to solve a conjecture of Zhu [40].
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Flexible chemiresistor sensors: thin film assemblies of nanoparticles on a polyethylene terephthalate substrate. The thin film assembly of metal nanoparticles on flexible chemiresistor (CR) arrays represents all intriguing way to address the versatility of chemical sensor design. In this work, thin film assemblies of gold nanoparticles in size range of 2-8 run diameters with high monodispersity (unlinked or linked by molecular mediators) were assembled oil a CR array with a polyethylene terephthalate(PET) substrate to demonstrate the flexible chemiresistor characteristics of the nanostructured materials. The correlation between the relative change in electrical conductivity and the change in dielectric medium constant in response to flexible wrapping of the device demonstrated the viability of manipulating the electrical responses in terms of wrapping direction. The responses of the devices in response to volatile organic compounds (VOCs) were analyzed in terms of particle size, interparticle properties, and substrate-film interactions. For molecularly linked films with small particle size and large interparticle spacing, which is characterized by a high percentage of organics and linker molecules, the relatively low electrical conductivity renders the change in interparticle spacing able to play a dominant role in the sensor response to VOCs with small dielectric constants. The combination of it high percentage of linker molecules in the thin film assembly and a high dielectric constant for the VOCs was found to produce a negative response characteristic. In contrast, the response characteristic for the unlinked film via weak interparticle interactions was dominated by the change in interparticle spacing regardless of the percentage of organics in the nanostructure. The delineation between these factors and the sensing characteristics is useful in enabling a rationale design of the nanostructures oil flexible chemiresistors.
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Immunomodulation of experimental allergic encephalomyelitis by cinnamon metabolite sodium benzoate. Experimental allergic encephalomyelitis (EAE) is an animal model of multiple sclerosis (MS), the most common human demyelinating disease of the central nervous system. Sodium benzoate (NaB), a metabolite of cinnamon and a FDA-approved drug against urea cycle disorders in children, is a widely used food additive, which is long known for its microbicidal effect. However, recent studies reveal that apart from its microbicidal effects, NaB can also regulate many immune signaling pathways responsible for inflammation, glial cell activation, switching of T-helper cells, modulation of regulatory T cells, cell-to-cell contact, and migration. As a result, NaB alters the neuroimmunology of EAE and ameliorates the disease process of EAE. In this review, we have made an honest attempt to analyze these newly-discovered immunomodulatory activities of NaB and associated mechanisms that may help in considering this drug for various inflammatory human disorders including MS as primary or adjunct therapy.
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TO THE PROBLEM OF THE PSYCHOLOGY OF INNOVATIONAL BEHAVIOR AND ITS BOUNDARIES. In the article the questions are discussed about innovational behavior and innovational personality, possibility of there classification and typology. To the antipodes of innovational behavior - non - and anti-innovational behavior the author attributes fixed forms of social, professional and scientific behavior. An idea are discussed that the innovational behavior is the state and result of struggle of men-personality with him self: genetic, environment, experience and system in moving in time and space between earthly and noetic.
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Surfactant-assisted one-pot sample preparation for label-free single-cell proteomics. Large numbers of cells are generally required for quantitative global proteome profiling due to surface adsorption losses associated with sample processing. Such bulk measurement obscures important cell-to-cell variability (cell heterogeneity) and makes proteomic profiling impossible for rare cell populations (e.g., circulating tumor cells (CTCs)). Here we report a surfactant-assisted one-pot sample preparation coupled with mass spectrometry (MS) method termed SOP-MS for label-free global single-cell proteomics. SOP-MS capitalizes on the combination of a MS-compatible nonionic surfactant, n-Dodecyl-beta-D-maltoside, and hydrophobic surface-based low-bind tubes or multi-well plates for 'all-in-one' one-pot sample preparation. This 'all-in-one' method including elimination of all sample transfer steps maximally reduces surface adsorption losses for effective processing of single cells, thus improving detection sensitivity for single-cell proteomics. This method allows convenient label-free quantification of hundreds of proteins from single human cells and similar to 1200 proteins from small tissue sections (close to similar to 20 cells). When applied to a patient CTC-derived xenograft (PCDX) model at the single-cell resolution, SOP-MS can reveal distinct protein signatures between primary tumor cells and early metastatic lung cells, which are related to the selection pressure of anti-tumor immunity during breast cancer metastasis. The approach paves the way for routine, precise, quantitative single-cell proteomics.
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Detection of mechanically recovered meat and head meat from cattle in ground beef mixtures by multivariate analysis of isoelectric focusing protein profiles. The present work investigates the possibility of constructing a multivariate calibration model for predicting the composition of ground beef with respect to different meat quality types, based on intensity profiles from isoelectric focusing of water-soluble proteins. Beef mixtures containing various amounts of mechanically recovered meal, head meat and production meat from beef, were analysed by isoelectric focusing in immobilised pH-gradients. The gels were photographed and the images transferred to a digital format. By simple image processing procedures, background colour was virtually eliminated and signal strength was improved to a considerable degree. Multivariate analysis of protein profiles from the gels gave models explaining 75 to 90% of variance in sample composition, Manually deboned meat was explained to the highest degree, and with a precision of 7%. Two different qualities of mechanically recovered meat could be detected even when treated as one category. The present approach needs further refinement, but seems applicable for detecting intentional substitution of high quality meat products with low-price raw materials. One advantage of the approach is that evaluation of samples is not dependent on specific knowledge on the individual components to be analysed, so that such analytical methods are relatively easy to implement in any standard laboratory. (C) 2000 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.
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Calculations of the thermal conductivities of ionic materials by simulation with polarizable interaction potentials. Expressions for the energy current of a system of charged, polarizable ions in periodic boundary conditions are developed in order to allow the thermal conductivity in such a system to be calculated by computer simulation using the Green-Kubo method. Dipole polarizable potentials for LiCl, NaCl, and KCl are obtained on a first-principles basis by \\'force matching\\' to the results of ab initio calculations on suitable condensed-phase ionic configurations. Simulation results for the thermal conductivity, and also other transport coefficients, for the melts are compared with experimental data and with results obtained with other interaction potentials. The agreement with experiment is almost quantitative, especially for NaCl and KCl, indicating that these methodologies, perhaps with more sophisticated forms for the potential, can be used to predict thermal conductivities for melts for which experimental determination is very difficult. It is demonstrated that the polarization effects have an important effect on the energy current and are crucial to a predictive scheme for the thermal conductivity.
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A narrow biasing window for high density diamond nucleation on Ir/YSZ/Si(100) using microwave plasma chemical vapor deposition. We present a comprehensive study of the parameter space for biasing the Ir(100) surface to determine the optimal conditions for high density heteroepitaxial diamond nucleation. The nucleation density was determined in a bias voltage range from 0 to 225 V. and methane concentration range from 0 to 10% using scanning electron microscopy imaging. These data show that high density nucleation exceeding 10(11) cm(-2) occurs only in a narrow bias voltage range from 125 to 175 V and a narrow methane concentration range from 1.5 to 3%. At bias voltages and methane concentrations outside of these windows epitaxial diamond nucleation densities fall abruptly to near zero. Using the conditions for high density epitaxial diamond nucleation 80 nm thick featureless continuous diamond films grow already after 20 min. In several microns thick films the misfit dislocations are confined within a narrow band of 1 mu m near the diamond-Ir interface showing low residual stress according to x-ray diffraction measurements. (C) 2012 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
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The Huntington's disease protein interacts with p53 and CREB-binding protein and represses transcription. Huntington's Disease (HD) is caused by an expansion of a polyglutamine tract within the huntingtin (htt) protein. Pathogenesis in HD appears to include the cytoplasmic cleavage of htt and release of an amino-terminal fragment capable of nuclear localization. We have investigated potential consequences to nuclear function of a pathogenic amino-terminal region of htt (httex1p) including aggregation, protein-protein interactions, and transcription. httex1p was found to coaggregate with p53 in inclusions generated in cell culture and to interact with p53 in vitro and in cell culture. Expanded httex1p represses transcription of the p53-regulated promoters, p21(WAF1/CIP1) and MDR-1, httex1p was also found to interact in vitro with CREB-binding protein (CBP) and mSin3a. and CBP to localize to neuronal intranuclear inclusions in a transgenic mouse model of Ho. These results raise the possibility that expanded repeat htt causes aberrant transcriptional regulation through its interaction with cellular transcription factors which may result in neuronal dysfunction and cell death in HD.
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Enhancement in the dielectrics of poly(o-toluidine)/single wall carbon nanotubes (POT/SWCNTS) polymer nanocomposites for electrical energy storage. Present study focuses on influence of carbon nanotubes in POT polymer, in order to improve performance of energy storage devices. (POT/SWCNTS) nanocomposites are synthesized by situ polymerization with different concentrations of SWCNTS. POT had long chain of qunoid and benzoined rings provide together large transport of charge along with SWNTs resulting to store large amount of electric charge. Synthesized samples are characterized by dc conductivity; UV-Vis studies, FTIR, X-ray diffraction (XRD) and dielectric techniques. Electrical conductivity enhances up to four orders with dopant concentrations. Incorporation of dopant into polymer matrix is confirmed by FTIR studies. XRD analysis revealed crystallinity of nanocomposites. Present consequences of synthesized polymer nanocomposites shows meaningful impact with changes in dielectric properties due to better dispersion of SWCNTS in polymer matrix. As results enhancements in dielectric parameters values, highlights their great potential for supercapacitors. These nanocomposites do not need any binding substance that is an important practical advantage.
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PETRARCH'S JOURNEYS THROUGH 15(th) CENTURY SPAIN. To place Petrarch's Hispanic fortune in the context of his European reception contributes towards tracing a more just panorama of his presence in 15(th) century Spain: Petrarch's arrival to the Peninsula was not especially late, nor were they exceptional the superficial way in which his some of his books were understood or the exiguity of a strictly humanistic reading matter. The diversity displayed within his own work, along with the fact that from very early on it was used as a classic of antiquity, explain the different ways by which he exercised his influence.
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Oncologic Issues in the Older Adult in Critical Care. As the estimated number of older persons continues to increase, so does the estimated number diagnosed with cancer.Older individuals are more likely to be admitted to the intensive care unit at some point during their disease trajectory.The process of aging brings several physiologic changes that increase the risk of cancer as well as the comorbidities associated with a cancer diagnosis or its treatment.It is imperative for critical care nurses to be aware of the physiologic changes associated with aging, and the reasons for an older person with cancer to be admitted for prevention or treatment of oncologic emergencies.
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Significance of Lymph Node Capsular Invasion in Esophageal Squamous Cell Carcinoma. We investigated the associations between LNCI and other clinicopathologic features in 139 surgically resected ESCC. We also investigated the prognostic significance of LNCI in ESCC.LNCI in ESCC patients is an indicator of distant organ recurrence and a worse prognosis. LNCI could be used as a candidate marker for designing more precise staging and therapeutic strategies for ESCC.LNCI was detected in 35 (25.2%) of 139 patients. The overall survival rate of the ESCC patients with LNCI was significantly lower than that of the ESCC patients with lymph node metastasis who were negative for LNCI. The survival difference between the patients with 1-3 lymph node metastases without LNCI and those with no lymph node metastasis was not significant. LNCI was significantly associated with distant organ recurrence. LNCI was also found to be an independent predictor of overall survival in addition to the number of lymph node metastases.Extranodal invasion (ENI) has been reported to be associated with a poor prognosis in several malignancies. However, previous studies have included perinodal fat tissue tumor deposits in their definitions of ENI. To investigate the precise nature of ENI in esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC), we excluded these tumor deposits from our definition of ENI and defined tumor cell invasion through the lymph node capsule and into the perinodal tissues as lymph node capsular invasion (LNCI). The aim of the current study was to elucidate the significance of LNCI in ESCC.
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Evaluation of the Beekman Coulter LX20 clinical chemistry analyzer. Our goal was to consolidate different methodologies in the clinical chemistry laboratory and replace aging analyzers; therefore, we evaluated the newly available Beckman Coulter LX20 (Brea, CA). Results were obtained for linearity, within- and between-day precision, correlation, interference, and serum-vs-plasma studies. Satisfactory precision results were obtained, with most assays demonstrating within-day coefficients of variation less than 2% and between-day, coefficients of variation less than 5%. The linearity for all assays was acceptable over the range tested Correlation results were adequate. The major difference in serum-vs-plasma studies was potassium. The only significant interferences noted were that lipemia decreased uric acid and bilirubin results, while hemolysis increased potassium results. We conclude that the LX20 demonstrates good performance capabilities, making this instrument suitable for a medium- to high-volume laboratory.
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Cryptorchidism Is Not a Risk Factor for Antisperm Antibody Production in Post-Orchidopexy Males with Infertility. Introduction: Infertility in adulthood is a well-recognized consequence of cryptorchidism, even after successful orchidopexy. Autoimmune reactions against spermatozoa are associated with infertility and often found in cryptorchids. The purposes of this study were to evaluate the linkage between antisperm antibody (ASA) and cryptorchidism, and furthermore, to clarify whether ASA is involved in cryptorchidismassociated infertility. Materials and Methods: We investigated a total of 48 infertile males with a history of unilateral (n = 30) or bilateral (n = 18) cryptorchidism who had undergone successful orchidopexy in prepuberty, and 20 age-matched fertile and healthy males were collected as controls. ASA in sperm samples was detected by the direct immunobead test, and semen analysis was performed concomitantly. Results: No infertile case satisfied the diagnostic criteria of ASA-mediated infertility set forth by the World Health Organization. Decreases in both sperm concentration and motility accompanied by increases in abnormal morphology were seen in infertile cryptorchids when compared with the healthy controls. Conclusions: Testicular heat exposure in prepuberty is not a risk factor for ASA production. It is evi-dent that the mechanisms that underlie cryptorchidism-associated infertility do not involve ASA. Poor sperm characteristics in cryptorchids resulting from thermal damage to the testes seem to be responsible for their infertility, even after successful orchidopexy. Copyright (C) 2013 S. Karger AG, Basel
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Comparison of Respiratory Support After Delivery in Infants Born Before 28 Weeks' Gestational Age The CORSAD Randomized Clinical Trial. INTERVENTIONS Infants were randomized to either the new respiratory support system with short binasal prongs (n = 124 infants) or the standard T-piece system with face mask (n = 122 infants). The intervention was providing continuous positive airway pressure for 10 to 30 minutes and positive pressure ventilation, if needed, with the randomized system.CONCLUSIONS AND RELEVANCE In this study, using the new respiratory support system reduced delivery room intubation in extremely preterm infants. Stabilizing preterm infants with a system that has low imposed work of breathing and binasal prongs as interface is safe and feasible.RESULTS Of 246 liveborn infants treated, the mean (SD) gestational age was 25.9 (1.3) weeks, and 127 (51.6%) were female. A total of 41 infants (33.1%) receiving the new respiratory support system were intubated or died in the delivery room compared with 55 infants (45.1%) receiving standard care. The adjusted odds ratio was statistically significant after adjusting for stratification variables (adjusted odds ratio, 0.53; 95% CI, 0.30-0.94; P = .03). No significant differences were seen in secondary outcomes or safety variables.DESIGN, SETTING, AND PARTICIPANTS In this unblinded randomized clinical trial, mothers threatening preterm delivery before week 28 of gestation were screened, A total of 365 mothers were enrolled, and 250 infants were randomized before birth and 246 liveborn infants were treated. The trial was conducted in 7 neonatal intensive care units in 5 European countries from March 2016 to May 2020. The follow-up period was 72 hours after intervention.MAIN OUTCOMES AND MEASURES The primary outcome was delivery room intubation or death within 30 minutes of birth. Secondary outcomes included respiratory and safety variables.IMPORTANCE Establishing stable breathing is a key event for preterm infants after birth. Delivery of pressure-stable continuous positive airway pressure and avoiding face mask use could be of importance in the delivery room.OBJECTIVE To determine whether using a new respiratory support system with low imposed work of breathing and short binasal prongs decreases delivery room intubations or death compared with a standard T-piece system with a face mask.
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Application of the Verified Neutron Monitor Yield Function for an Extended Analysis of the GLE # 71 on 17 May 2012. Intense solar activity was observed in May 2012. A notable ground level enhancement (GLE) was registered on 17 May 2012 by several space-borne instruments as well as on ground by neutron monitors (NMs). This event is known as GLE # 71. Here, we derived the spectral and angular characteristics, and apparent source position of the solar protons during the GLE # 71, employing verified newly computed NM yield function and sophisticated unfolding procedure. We considerably improved the previously derived information about the spectra and angular distribution, namely, the precision, time span, and time resolution of the derived characteristics, specifically during the event onset and late phase. A comparison with direct measurements, with the Payload for Antimatter Matter Exploration and Light-nuclei Astrophysics (PAMELA) experiment, of the particle fluence was performed, and good agreement between NM and direct space-borne data analysis was achieved. Subsequently, we computed the effective dose rates in the polar region at several altitudes during the event using the derived rigidity spectra of the solar protons as a reliable input for the corresponding radiation model. The contribution of the galactic cosmic rays and solar protons to the exposure is explicitly considered. We computed the integrated exposure during the event and discussed the exposure of crew members/passengers to radiation at several altitudes.
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[
6,
174
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Reorientation behavior in the helical motility of light-responsive spiral droplets. The physico-chemical processes supporting life's purposeful movement remain essentially unknown. Self-propelling chiral droplets offer a minimalistic model of swimming cells and, in surfactant-rich water, droplets of chiral nematic liquid crystals follow the threads of a screw. We demonstrate that the geometry of their trajectory is determined by both the number of turns in, and the handedness of, their spiral organization. Using molecular motors as photo-invertible chiral dopants allows converting between right-handed and left-handed trajectories dynamically, and droplets subjected to such an inversion reorient in a direction that is also encoded by the number of spiral turns. This motile behavior stems from dynamic transmission of chirality, from the artificial molecular motors to the liquid crystal in confinement and eventually to the helical trajectory, in analogy with the chirality-operated motion and reorientation of swimming cells and unicellular organisms.
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[
2,
39
] |
Periods of nightshade interference in processing tomato. In order to evaluate the effects of nightshade coexistence on processing tomato yield, hybrid Heinz 9992, an experiment was carried out consisting of two sets of treatments: in the first set, the crop was kept weed free (60 thousands plants ha(-1)) from transplanting to 15; 30; 45; 60; 75; 90; 105 days and 120 (harvest) days after transplanting (DAT); while in the second set, the crop was kept in competition with the nightshade from transplanting until the same DAT described for the set of treatments. A randomized block design trial, with three replications and four-row plots was used. Height, leaf area, and aerial part dry matter of nightshade was obtained out of 10-plant samples. Nightshade leaf area increased until 75 days of tomato coexistence (1,588 dm(2) plant(-1)); height until 60 days of coexistence (85 cm), and the leaf dry biomass until 120 days of coexistence (31.7 g plant(-1)). The highest (108.6 tons ha(-1) or 87.6% of total production) and lowest (14.2 tons ha(-1) or 59%) ripe tomato yields were observed when the coexistence between tomato and nightshade occurred only in the first 15 days or in the whole crop cycle, respectively. In these treatments, the average ripe fruit weights were 58.7 and 38.0 g, respectively. Each cm(2) of increase in the nightshade leaf area caused a reduction of 0.04 tons ha(-1) (R-2 = 0.90) on the ripe tomato yield; each cm of increase in the nightshade height reduced the ripe tomato yield in 0.82 tons ha(-1) (R-2 = 0.78); and each gram of increase in the nightshade aerial part dry matter reduced the ripe tomato yield in 2.84 tons ha(-1) (R-2 = 0.97). The period before interference, allowing up to 5% reduction in tomato yield, was 27 DAT; the total period for preventing interference was 46 DAT; and the critical period for preventing interference was between 27 and 46 DAT.
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[
5,
72
] |
Continuation and Transformation of Traditional Elements in Colonial Vernacular Houses in Kampong Bharu, Malaysia. Through colonization and modernization, the British introduced multi-racial immigrants into Malaysia, resulting in a plural society of people with unique social and cultural backgrounds. Kampong Bharu, located in central Kuala Lumpur, came into existence in 1899 as an enclave reserved for Malays only and their various sub-ethnic groups. Over time, urban growth resulted in the settlement losing its agricultural significance, and at present it is a uniquely preserved Malay community. Many vernacular Malay houses that were built in the 1900s still exist in Kampong Bharu. According to previous research by the author (Ju et al., 2012), there were four major types of vernacular houses that existed in Kampong Bharu: traditional vernacular houses type I - Bumbung Panjang, traditional vernacular houses type II - Bumbung Perak, colonial vernacular houses and modern vernacular houses.The purpose of this paper is to investigate and identify colonial vernacular houses among the four types which originated from the early period of colonization and later evolved into an eclectic style due to the social, ethnic and cultural changes occurring in colonial Malaysia. To achieve this, the paper conducts case studies on five colonial vernacular houses in Kampong Bharu.
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[
0,
26
] |
QUALITY MANAGEMENT IN THE FOOD MARKET FOR SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT BASED ON INDUSTRIAL AND MANUFACTURING ENGINEERING IN THE AGE OF DIGITAL ECONOMY. This article is aimed at substantiating the prospects and developing recommendations for quality management in the food market in favor of sustainable development based on industrial and manufacturing engineering in the digital economy. Taking into account the influence of factors and using the capabilities of industrial and manufacturing engineering in the age of digital economy when studying quality management in the food market on the basis of industrial and manufacturing engineering determines the originality and uniqueness of this study. The benefits of digitalization are substantiated in it for the first time, not from the standpoint of enterprises (productivity growth) or the state (growth of transparency and accountability), but from the standpoint of consumers through the lens of quality. The novelty of the research also consists in the development and application of a new scientific and methodological approach to measuring quality in the food market, based on a broad interpretation of quality in the unity of consumer properties, sufficiency and availability of food products. The new approach opens up opportunities for learning and managing the quality in the food market for sustainable development that were not available previously. The authors developed a scientific and methodological approach to the quality management in the food market for sustainable development based on industrial and manufacturing engineering in the digital economy, proposed policy implications for its practical application, and conducted a case study, and tested a new approach on the example of the soybean seed market in Russia.
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[
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285
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Educational environment as a development resource for the learning process. Following overseas examples, educational institutions in Russia are trying to interact with other organizations implementing practical competence approach. The relevance of the topic lies in the fact that modern educational environment is constantly changing both due to the dynamics of everyday and professional conditions. Due to competence approach constant monitoring and new resources are required for the development of each subject in this educational environment. The goal of the work is to create means for open social and educational environment realization which allows achieving positive results for all participants in the project. In this article, the authors raise the issue of modern educational environment creation as a resource for each subject of the educational process development.The article attempts to improve students', teachers' and others participants' interested in educational environment development interaction. We try to achieve a qualitatively new level of participants' skills and competencies development in this process. For this, analysis of the essence and structure of educational process in a higher educational institution was carried out. After that, the authors propose, within the framework of a project implemented by Nizhny Novgorod State Pedagogical University on the organization and development of the social and educational environment, to conduct special computer literacy courses for the elderly. The courses offered combine the activities of a large number of people who, working for a common result, achieve the development of individual qualities. The results obtained are the basis for further improvement of educational environment.
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[
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270
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Sleep cyclic alternating pattern in normal school-age children. Results: CAP rate showed a progressive increase with the deepness of sleep, with high values, during slow wave (SWS), CAP time showed its longest duration during non-REM (NREM) sleep stage 2 (S2), followed by SWS and sleep stage I (SI) No differences across NREM sleep stages were found for CAP cycle and phase B mean duration on the contrary, phase A showed longer duration during SWS than in S1 and S2. Phases A1 were the most numerous (84.45%) followed by A3 (9.14%) and by A2 (6.44%) The distribution of phases A subtypes across NREM stages showed significant differences for the A1 subtypes that occurred more frequency during SWS than in S2 and S1 (and during S2 than in SI). Subtypes A3 were more frequent during SI than SWS while no differences were found for subtype A2, The analysis of A1 interval distribution showed a log-normal-like distribution with a peak around 25 s for the A1 phases and no clear peak for A2-A3 phases.Methods: CAP parameters were quantified in 10 normal healthy subjects (6 males and 4 females mean age 83 bears: range 6-10 years). All subjects underwent polysomnography recordings for two consecutive nights in a standard laboratory setting. Sleep data were stored on computer using a 16-channel polysomnography digital system. Sleep macrostructure was visually, scored according to the criteria by Rechtschaffen and Kales (Brain Information Service/Brain Research Institute, University of California, Los Angeles, 1968) CAP was visually scored following the criteria by Terzano et al. (Sleep Med 2 (2001) 537).Objectives: To evaluate cyclic alternating pattern (CAP) in sleep of school-age children in order to obtain a standardized database for CAP parameters in this age range.Conclusions: The analysis of CAP in school-age children is characterized by an increase of CAP rate during SWS and a high percentage of A1 phases. The distribution of interval between consecutive A I phases showed a peak around 25 s. (C) 2002 Elsevier Science Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.
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[
2,
281
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Fluorescent labeling of plant chromosomes in suspension by FISH. By optimizing the concentration and time of treatment with hydroxyurea (HU), a DNA synthesis inhibitor, and trifluralin, a microtubule inhibitor, a highly effective (over 60%) cell cycle synchronization method for rye and barley meristem cells was developed. Chromosome suspensions containing highly purified and morphologically intact rye and barley chromosomes were prepared from the meristems of their root tips by homogenization. Digoxigenin-labeled 5S rDNA was used as a probe in FISH for the rye chromosomes in the suspension, and biotin-labeled 17S rDNA and centromeric DNA were used in FISH for the rye and barley chromosome suspensions, respectively. Bright signals were detected at the specific regions of interest on the chromosomes. The results indicate that the method developed in this study is useful for selection and sorting of chromosomes that are not distinguishable by other means, using specific fluorescent labeling by FISH of the chromosomes in suspension.
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[
5,
73
] |
Response of Manitoba soils to banding phosphorus with sulfate or carbonate salts. Applications of sulfate and carbonate salts have been shown to improve the solubility of phosphorus (P) in model calcareous soils. It is unclear how these treatments will influence P solubility in real soils. The objective of this study was to determine the effect of sulfate or carbonate salts on P solubility in selected Manitoba soils. We hypothesized that the application of carbonate or sulfate salts in a fertilizer band could enhance the solubility of P in Manitoba soils. Different salt mixtures were prepared by mixing either monopotassium phosphate (MPP) or monoammonium phosphate (MAP) with K2SO4, (NH4)(2)SO4, MgSO4, or (NH4)(2)CO3. After the 2 wk of incubation of salt-treated soils, both P sources decreased soil pH significantly. The addition of salts did not significantly affect pH in most of the soils. There was a significant treatment effect (P < 0.0001), a significant soil effect (P < 0.0001), and a significant soil by treatment interaction (P < 0.0001) on water-extractable P. Coapplication of either sulfates or (NH4)(2)CO3 salt increased soluble P in some soils by 6%-44% or 11%-14%, respectively. Application of carbonate or sulfate salts increased P solubility only in soils with a smaller ratio of HCl-extractable Ca to ammonium acetate-extractable Ca.
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[
5,
289
] |
Epidermal growth factor receptor mutations in female patients with postoperative recurrent non-small-cell lung cancer. Purpose: We did this retrospective study to explore the association between epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) mutation and clinical features in postoperative recurrent female non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC). Materials and Methods: We reviewed clinical data on 86 female patients who had postoperative recurrent disease between December 1992 and July 2007. The start of tyrosine kinase inhibitor therapy was treated as a censoring event. Corresponding surgical specimens of primary tumors were used to test for EGFR mutations. Results: Thirty patients presented with local recurrence and distant recurrence was identified in 56. Thirty-four of the 86 patients (40) harbored EGFR mutations. Patients with distant recurrence were more likely to have EGFR mutations than patients with local recurrence (48 versus 23; P = 0.024). On multivariate analysis, distant recurrence was associated with a high frequency of EGFR mutations (OR, 3.3; P = 0.028). Survival analysis showed poor survival of patients with mutated EGFR (HR, 2.3; P = 0.017) or with non-adenocarcinoma histology (HR, 3.3; P = 0.001). Conclusion: The association between recurrence pattern and EGFR mutation status was suggested in recurrent female NSCLC patients. In addition, our data indicate unfavorable disease process of EGFR mutated tumors. Further studies need to be conducted to validate these findings.
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[
2,
157
] |
Exploring of Dietary Patterns, and Possible Association with Educational Level, among Jordanian Pregnant Women. Evaluating dietary patterns could provide an overall view of food and nutrient consumed regularly. Better understanding of dietary patterns among pregnant women may be considered an acceptable mean to identify unhealthy dietary practices and the associations with undesirable pregnancy outcomes, which necessitates urgent intervention. This study aimed to determine the dietary patterns followed by Jordanian women during pregnancy in the second and third trimesters and to detect possible association between the dietary patterns and educational level. A total of 286 healthy, pregnant Jordanian women, aged >= 18 years with singleton pregnancies, completed the study. Sociodemographic, dietary, and physical activity data were collected using validated questionnaires. Dietary patterns were identified using a Principal Component Analysis. A multinomial logistic regression was used to estimate the effect of education level on dietary intake. Three dietary patterns were identified during the entire duration of pregnancy; 'High-Fat, High-Sugar', 'Fruits and Vegetables', and 'High Protein' which explained about 32% of the variability of the study sample. Dietary patterns adopted by pregnant women during the second and third trimesters, separately, were able to explain about 40% of the variability during each trimester. Educational level showed associations with dietary patterns, in which 'Fruits and Vegetables' and 'Healthy' patterns were remarkably manifested as the preferred pattern of consumption for the highly educated women during their third trimester. Different dietary patterns have been identified among Jordanian pregnant women throughout their pregnancy trimesters. Higher educational level could influence food choices. Fruits and Vegetables' and 'Healthy' patterns were the followed patterns among the highly educated women during their third trimester.
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[
2,
84
] |
Effect of Intravitreal Ranibizumab on Intraretinal Hard Exudates in Eyes with Diabetic Macular Edema. RESULTS: The average age of the 24 subjects was 65 (+/- 8.55) years. There was a significant decrease (P =.001) in mean HE area from baseline (0.48 0.43 mm(2)) to month 12 (0.17 0.19 mm(2)). There was a significant increase (P <.001) in best-corrected visual acuity from a letter score of 63.38 (+/- 7.92) at baseline to 76.38 (8.93) at month 12. There was no additional vision benefit for continuing to treat with monthly injections for persistent HE in the absence of macular thickening.PURPOSE: To study the effect of monthly 0.3-mg intravitreal ranibizumab injections on intraretinal hard exudates (HEs) and correlate the effect with macular thickness in eyes with diabetic macular edema (DME).CONCLUSION: In eyes with DME, monthly intravitreal ranibizumab injections resulted in significant reduction in intraretinal HEs that paralleled reductions in macular thickness and volume. Baseline foveal HEs were associated with worse vision outcomes, and continued treatment for persistent HEs in the absence of edema did not result in better vision. ((C) 2019 Published by Elsevier Inc.)DESIGN: Randomized, controlled trial.METHODS: Twenty-four eyes of 24 subjects with DME were included in this institutional review board approved, prospective longitudinal study. Subjects were randomly assigned to receive monthly intravitreal ranibizumab injections either until macular edema resolved or until both macular edema and HEs resolved. All subjects underwent spectral-domain optical coherence tomography imaging (Cirrus OCT), at baseline and monthly for 12 months. Mean HE area and mean macular thickness at baseline and month 12 were compared using a paired t test and correlated with Pearson analysis.
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[
2,
221
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New fixed point results in quasi-metric spaces and applications in fractals theory. In this paper, we prove some fixed point theorems for F-contractions in the framework of quasi-metric spaces generalizing and improving several similar results in metric spaces. At the same time, we consider iterated function systems consisting of F-contractions on quasi-metric spaces, and we give some sufficient conditions for the existence and uniqueness of their attractor which is, generally, a fractal. Some illustrative examples are provided.
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[
4,
67
] |
Benzylideneacetone suppresses both cellular and humoral immune responses of Spodoptera exigua and enhances fungal pathogenicity. An entomopathogenic fungus, Beauveria bassiana, had significant insecticidal activity against the beet armyworm, Spodoptera exigua. However, it took almost one week to cause significant mortality. This study used a mixture treatment with an immunosuppressant to enhance the fungal pathogenicity. A bacterial metabolite, benzylideneacetone (BZA), had a significant synergistic effect on the fungal pathogenicity against S. exigua, although it had little insecticidal activity by itself. The mixture treatment shortened median lethal time of B. bassiana by approximately 2 days. The synergistic activity of BZA on the pathogenicity of B. bassiana was induced by its immunosuppressive effects on both cellular and humoral antifungal responses of S. exigua. In response to B. bassiana, S. exigua larvae can form hemocytic nodules. Nodules were significantly suppressed by BZA treatment. Moreover, BZA inhibited expression of some antimicrobial peptide genes of S. exigua in response to fungal challenge. The immunosuppressive condition induced by BZA allowed B. bassiana to easily colonize and multiply in the hemocoel of treated larvae, which resulted in significant enhancement of the pathogenicity of B. bassiana. (C) Korean Society of Applied Entomology, Taiwan Entomological Society and Malaysian Plant Protection Society, 2011. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
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[
5,
101
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ECNet: An evolutionary convolutional network for automated glaucoma detection using fundus images. Glaucoma is an ocular disorder that affects the optic nerve and ultimately leads to partial or complete vision loss. Hence, there is a strong need for early screening of glaucoma. Earlier diagnosis schemes mostly rely on handcrafted feature engineering. On the other hand, the non-handcrafted feature extraction methods are generally designed with the support of gradient-based algorithms that suffer from critical problems like overfitting and demand for a larger set of samples for effective training. To mitigate these issues, in this paper, we propose a novel non-handcrafted feature extraction method termed as evolutionary convolutional network (ECNet) for automated detection of glaucoma from fundus images. The proposed method includes various layers such as convolutional, compression, rectified linear unit (ReLU), and summation layer which facilitate the extraction of discriminative features. An evolutionary algorithm called real-coded genetic algorithm (RCGA) is employed to optimize the weights at different layers. The ECNet is trained using a criteria that maximizes the inter-class distance and minimizes the intra-class variance of different classes. The final feature vectors are then subjected to a set of classifiers such as K-nearest neighbor (KNN), backpropagation neural network (BPNN), support vector machine (SVM), extreme learning machine (ELM), and kernel ELM (K-ELM) to select optimum performing model. The experimental results on a dataset of 1426 fundus images (589 normal and 837 glaucoma) demonstrate that the ECNet model with SVM yielded the highest accuracy of 97.20% compared to state-of-the-art techniques. The proposed model can aid ophthalmologists to validate their screening.
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[
8,
66
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Evaluation of a rule base for identifying contact allergens by using a regulatory database: Comparison of data on chemicals notified in the European Union with 'structural alerts' used in the DEREK expert system. To assess the suitability of the use of structural alerts to identify the skin-sensitising properties of chemicals, the 40 originally published structural alerts for the prediction of skin-sensitisation properties used by the DEREK system (which now contains 59 structural alerts), have been evaluated against a database developed in the German Federal institute for Health Protection of Consumers and Veterinary Medicine (BgVV), which contains data submitted under the procedure for notifying new chemicals within the European Union. The evaluation of the 40 structural alerts used in DEREK revealed that eight of the 40 structural alerts for the prediction of skin-sensitising potential could be used without any further refinement. Ten structural alerts may need further specifications or refinements in order avoid false-positive predictions - proposals for refinement are discussed. Not enough substances were found within the BgVV database (containing data for more than 1000 substances) to evaluate ten of the DEREK substructures; hence, for these structural alerts, a judgement on their suitability for prediction of skin-sensitisation properties in expert systems is not possible. For 12 structural alerts, no comparative result could be obtained, because these rules did not \\'fire\\' for any of the examined chemicals. As a general result of the evaluation process, the approach of using structural alerts for the prediction of skin-sensitising properties of chemicals proved to be reliable. Proposals are given for a refinement of the structural alerts for prediction of contact allergy used in the DEREK system. In addition, advice and several preconditions are given, that apply when trying to teach a computer system to use structural alerts to predict toxicological properties.
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[
2,
80
] |
Release of hydrogen from nanoconfined hydrides by application of microwaves. The release of hydrogen from solid hydrides by thermolysis can be improved by nanoconfinement of the hydride in a suitable micro/mesoporous support, but the slow heat transfer by conduction through the support can be a limitation. In this work, a C/SiO2 mesoporous material has been synthesized and employed as matrix for nanoconfinement of hydrides. The matrix showed high surface area and pore volume (386 m(2)/g and 1.41 cm(3)/g), which enabled the confinement of high concentrations of hydride. Furthermore, by modification of the proportion between C and SiO2, the dielectric properties of the complex could be modified, making it susceptible to microwave heating. As with this heating method the entire sample is heated simultaneously, the heat transfer resistances associated to conduction were eliminated. To demonstrate this possibility, ethane 1,2-diaminoborane (EDAB) was embedded on the C/SiO2 matrix at concentrations ranging from 11 to 31%wt using a wet impregnation method, and a device appropriate for hydrogen release from this material by application of microwaves was designed with the aid of a numerical simulation. Hydrogen liberation tests by conventional heating and microwaves were compared, showing that by microwave heating hydrogen release can be initiated and stopped in shorter times. (C) 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
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[
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134
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Effects of clinical service reorganisation on cellular pathology workload. Methods: Cellular pathology workload from the ENT-HN surgical specialty was assessed numerically and the complexity in examination of cancer resection specimens was evaluated. Medical and technical time inputs in the reporting of ENT-HN cancer resections were measured prospectively, and the histological and cytological workload arising from the management of such cases was obtained.Aims: To assess changes in volume and complexity of cellular pathology workload after clinical service reorganisation and alterations in pathology reporting practices, and to identify objective measures of change applicable to all cellular pathology departments. The ear, nose, and throat ( ENT), head and neck (HN) specialty was chosen for assessment.Conclusions: Evidence is provided of the increase in cellular pathology workload and in its complexity. This study lists objective measures of complexity applicable to all pathology subspecialties. Given the workforce crisis and expanding clinical needs, realistic workload calculations should include measurement of complexity and not just volumes.Results: The 88.83% increase in ENT-HN specimens contrasted with a 13.53% increase in total surgical workload. Substantial increases in work complexity were found when measured as blocks/ slides for each case and number of histochemical/ immunohistochemical requests. On average, examination of one ENT-HN cancer case consumed 55% of one pathologist's work session and over one 10th of a technician's working week. On average, each cancer generated 3.3 histological and 1.06 cytological specimens.
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[
2,
145
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Microwave and hard X-ray spectral evolution in two solar flares. We explore the time evolution of microwave and hard X-ray spectral indices in two solar flares observed by the Nobeyama Radio Polarimeters (NoRP) and Reuven Ramaty High-Energy Solar Spectroscopic Imager (RHESSI) on 2004 May 21 and November 3. The microwave spectral index, gamma(MW), is derived from the emission at two frequency channels of 17 and 35 GHz, and the hard X-ray spectral index, gamma(HXR), is derived from RHESSI spectra. These two events follow a soft-hard-harder spectral behavior in the rise-peak-decay phases. Although the microwave and hard X-ray emission are produced by electrons at very different energies, a correlation between their spectral indices is found, indicating a common acceleration mechanism.
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[
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174
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