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Legacy genetics of Arachis cardenasii in the peanut crop shows the profound benefits of international seed exchange. The narrow genetics of most crops is a fundamental vulnerability to food security. This makes wild crop relatives a strategic resource of genetic diversity that can be used for crop improvement and adaptation to new agricultural challenges. Here, we uncover the contribution of one wild species accession, Arachis cardenasii GKP 10017, to the peanut crop (Arachis hypogaea) that was initiated by complex hybridizations in the 1960s and propagated by international seed exchange. However, until this study, the global scale of the dispersal of genetic contributions from this wild accession had been obscured by the multiple germplasm transfers, breeding cycles, and unrecorded genetic mixing between lineages that had occurred over the years. By genetic analysis and pedigree research, we identified A. cardenasii-enhanced, disease-resistant cultivars in Africa, Asia, Oceania, and the Americas. These cultivars provide widespread improved food security and environmental and economic benefits. This study emphasizes the importance of wild species and collaborative networks of international expertise for crop improvement. However, it also highlights the consequences of the implementation of a patchwork of restrictive national laws and sea changes in attitudes regarding germplasm that followed in the wake of the Convention on Biological Diversity. Today, the botanical collections and multiple seed exchanges which enable benefits such as those revealed by this study are drastically reduced. The research reported here underscores the vital importance of ready access to germplasm in ensuring long-term world food security. | [
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Specific recognition of proteins and peptides via controllable oriented surface imprinting of boronate affinity-anchored epitopes. Molecularly imprinted polymers (MIPs) are chemically synthesized materials mimicking the recognition of antibodies towards antigens. Epitope imprinting has been an effective strategy, making imprinting of proteins flexible to a great extent. However, so far there is apparently a lack of facile and versatile epitope imprinting approaches. Herein, we present a new method called controllable oriented surface imprinting of boronate affinity-anchored epitopes. In this method, a C-terminus nonapeptide epitope was glycated and anchored as a template onto a boronic acid-functionalized substrate, followed by controllable oriented surface imprinting via the polycondensation of multiple silylating reagents containing functionalities capable of interacting with the epitope. The developed imprinting approach allowed for precise control of the thickness of the imprinting layer through adjusting the imprinting time, generating excellent binding properties. This method was verified to be versatile and efficient. Thus, it could greatly facilitate the preparation of MIPs for specific recognition of proteins and peptides. | [
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Diets with Higher Vegetable Intake and Lower Environmental Impact: Evidence from a Large Australian Population Health Survey. Increasing the consumption of vegetables is a public health nutrition priority in Australia. This must be achieved in the context of lowering dietary environmental impacts. In this study, a subgroup of 1700 Australian adult daily diets having a higher diet-quality score and a lower environmental impact score was isolated from Australian Health Survey data. These diets were primarily distinguished by their lower content of energy-dense/nutrient-poor discretionary foods. Among these diets, those with higher levels of vegetable intake were characterized by greater variety of vegetables eaten, lower intake of bread and cereal foods, and higher intake of red meat. These diets also had a greater likelihood of achieving recommended intakes for a range of vitamins and minerals. These findings highlighted the importance of considering the total diet in developing strategies to promote healthy and sustainable food consumption, as well as the need to understand the interrelationships between foods that exist in a local cultural context. As vegetables are usually eaten with other foods, higher vegetable consumption in Australia could be supported by encouraging more regular consumption of the types of meals that include larger quantities of vegetables. Our results showed that this was possible while also substantially lowering total dietary environmental impacts. | [
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Preliminary realization of immersive EAST system using virtual reality. Aiming at the complex and confined environments of experimental advanced superconducting tokamak (EAST) and the need to improve the ability of resident and visiting scientists to access and understand EAST, the immersive EAST system based on virtual reality is developed. Compared to previous virtual EAST systems, model reality, rendering speed, immersion and interaction functions are greatly increased. In the previous system, models were transformed from CATIA and imported to 3DS Max for subsequent processing. While those models have the advantages of being very precise and easily generated, they come at the price of decreased rendering speed and poor rendering quality because of a large loss of triangle faces. In this regard, EAST models are rebuilt and materials created by photos of EAST device are assigned to models. Moreover, because virtual reality is quite effective at creating experiment scenarios thanks to their ability to provide the feeling of immersive operation and collaborative environments, model libraries are built during this research for future scheme generation and hardware installation training. The immersive EAST system is developed in the Unity3D environment using a Client/Server architecture, the HTC Vive and handheld devices are used to provide the immersive scene, intuitive controls and realistic haptic feedback. Users can roam in the virtual scene and interact with the immersive EAST using the handheld devices and communicate with other users in the system. The establishment of the system provides the framework for a comprehensive and cooperative experiment and training environment for EAST. | [
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Humour as a Moderator of Stress and Defence Based Coping Mechanisms among the Youth of Kerala, India. The goal of this study was to examine the effect of the moderators of adaptive and maladaptive humour on stress and on the four levels of defence based coping mechanism amongst the youth of Kerala, India. Four hundred and fifty-three youth between the age of 18 and 40, selected from two different cities of North Kerala, India (Calicut, Malappuram) and Central Kerala, India (Cochin, Trissur), were asked to fill out three questionnaires assessing stress, coping and humour. Pearson's test of product-moment correlation indicated that stress had a positive and moderate statistically significant correlation with the first three levels of defence based coping mechanism (pathological defences, immature defences and neurotic defences). Furthermore, there was a positive and weak statistically significant correlation between stress and level-IV coping (mature defences). When positive and moderate correlation-was found for stress with maladaptive humour, no significant correlation was found with adaptive humour. When coping was studied in relationship with humour, a negative and weak statistically significant correlation was found for level-I coping (pathological defences) with adaptive humour, whereas a positive and moderate statistically significant correlation was found with maladaptive humour. Here level-IV coping (mature defences) was found to have a positive and moderate statistically significant relationship with adaptive and maladaptive humour. Moderator analysis showed that maladaptive humour moderated the association between stress and four levels of defence based coping mechanism. The study implied that youth should be trained to use more of mature means of coping and adaptive humour styles in life. | [
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On computing of arbitrary positive integer powers for one type of odd order skew-symmetric tridiagonal matrices with eigenvalues on imaginary axis - I. In this paper, we derive the general expression of the lth power (l is an element of N) for one type of skew-symmetric tridiagonal matrices of order n = 2p + 1 (p is an element of N). (c) 2006 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. | [
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At-211-methylene blue for targeted radiotherapy of disseminated melanoma: Microscopic analysis of tumour versus normal tissue damage. The present stage of our preclinical investigations of targeted radiotherapy for melanoma with 3,7-(dimethylamino)phenazathionium chloride [methylene blue (MTB)] labelled with astatine-211 ((211)At), an alpha-particle emitter, concerns toxicity of the treatment, as well as macro- and microscopic evaluation of its efficacy. Fragments of two human melanoma xenografts, pigmented HX118 and non-pigmented HX34 (used as a control), were implanted s.c. into nude mice subsequently treated with two doses of (211)At-MTB injected i.v. Alterations in tumour growth rate were related to microscopic damage caused by (211)At-MTB to the lesions, as determined by light microscopy using histopathological techniques. (211)At-MTB-dependent growth inhibition of pigmented melanoma occurred either instantly or as a gradual reduction in the tumour growth rate. At a later stage, lesions that ceased to grow immediately consisted of quiescent, heavily pigmented tumour cells, as well as advanced fibrosis, and were extensively infiltrated by melanin-laden phagocytes. Large, unresorbed and often calcified necrotic deposits characterised the tumours responding gradually to the treatment. (211)At-MTB remained non-toxic in normal organs. Only a relative number of small lymphocytes in the groin lymph nodes in a minority of animals was temporarily reduced, most often in conjunction with the treatment of pigmented tumours. The data demonstrated a high therapeutic effectiveness of (211)At-MTB towards pigmented melanoma at the expense of negligible injury to normal tissues, and revealed that the macroscopic determination of tumour growth rate often underestimated an efficacy of the applied treatment. Copyright (C) 1996 Published by Elsevier Science Ltd | [
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Kinetic Behavior of Quaternary Ammonium Hydroxides in Mixed Methane and Carbon Dioxide Hydrates. This study evaluates the kinetic hydrate inhibition (KHI) performance of four quaternary ammonium hydroxides (QAH) on mixed CH4 + CO2 hydrate systems. The studied QAHs are; tetraethylammonium hydroxide (TEAOH), tetrabutylammonium hydroxide (TBAOH), tetramethylammonium hydroxide (TMAOH), and tetrapropylammonium hydroxide (TPrAOH). The test was performed in a high-pressure hydrate reactor at temperatures of 274.0 K and 277.0 K, and a concentration of 1 wt.% using the isochoric cooling method. The kinetics results suggest that all the QAHs potentially delayed mixed CH4 + CO2 hydrates formation due to their steric hindrance abilities. The presence of QAHs reduced hydrate formation risk than the conventional hydrate inhibitor, PVP, at higher subcooling conditions. The findings indicate that increasing QAHs alkyl chain lengths increase their kinetic hydrate inhibition efficacies due to better surface adsorption abilities. QAHs with longer chain lengths have lesser amounts of solute particles to prevent hydrate formation. The outcomes of this study contribute significantly to current efforts to control gas hydrate formation in offshore petroleum pipelines. | [
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Performance characteristic of endoscopic ultrasound-guided fine needle aspiration is unaffected by pancreatic mass size. Results: A total of 612/3832 (16%) patients with pancreatic masses who underwent EUS-FNA had histology confirmation. Of these, 81 were excluded due to unavailable lesion size, while the rest formed the study cohort. Mean age (SD) was 65.8 years (9.3) with 51.2% female. The mean number of passes for the entire cohort was 2.9 (SD 1.9; range 1-12); patients in group D had a significantly higher number of passes for on-site diagnosis (P=0.0124). There was no significant difference between the groups for sensitivity (P=0.1134) or diagnostic accuracy (P=0.2111). Proportional trend analysis revealed no significant correlation between size and sensitivity (P=0.6192). The size of lesion measured by EUS was not associated with sensitivity or specificity after adjusting for age, sex, and pancreatic location.Conclusion: In the presence of rapid on-site cytopathology and when final histology is taken as the gold standard, pancreatic mass size does not affect the performance characteristics of EUS-FNA.Background and study aims: Despite a well-established tool for diagnosis of pancreatic masses, endoscopic ultrasound-guided fine needle aspiration (EUS-FNA) studies have shown suboptimal diagnostic performance at divergent mass sizes. Since the impact of gold standard follow-up and presence of on-site evaluation on this observation is unknown, we aimed to study the performance characteristics of EUS-FNA under these strict conditions.Patients and methods: EUS-FNA results from pancreatic mass lesions performed between July 2000 and March 2013 were evaluated. All patients with histological follow-up were then stratified into four groups: Group A (10mm), Group B (11-20mm), Group C (21-40mm), and Group D (>40mm). Sensitivity and diagnostic accuracy were calculated for each group and compared. | [
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Employees' experiences of education and knowledge in intellectual disability practice. Background The value of support, service, and care in intellectual disability (ID) practice is linked to the competence of the professional caregivers. The quality of work is affected by the level of education of healthcare employees involved.Discussion Based on the results, it can be concluded that employees in ID practice need specific knowledge through workplace training (i.e., through hands-on practice at the workplace). Competence development in the form of workplace training is needed to upskill the staff and possibly increases employees' participation at work.Findings The results indicated that education significantly influenced the participants' knowledge level, and highly specific education (i.e., workplace training) can substitute for work experience in ID practice. The authors conclude that all workplaces should examine their employees' skills regularly from the viewpoint of fulfilling the needs of people with ID.Methods We used a quantitative approach to investigate how employees reflect on their knowledge about ID and other disabilities and the sources of such knowledge. A total of 262 employees engaged in ID practice completed an online survey.Specific Aims This study aimed to collect data on how employees perceive their education and training in ID practice and how educational programs prepare them for their working environment. | [
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A leadless pacemaker in the real-world setting: The Micra Transcatheter Pacing System Post-Approval Registry. BACKGROUND First-in-man studies of leadless pacemakers have demonstrated high rates of implant success, and safety and efficacy objectives were achieved. Outside of the investigational setting, there are concerns, particularly over cardiac effusion and perforation, device dislodgement, infection, telemetry, and battery issues. OBJECTIVE The acute performance of the Micra transcatheter pacemaker from a worldwide Post-Approval Registry is reported.CONCLUSION Performance of the Micra transcatheter pacemaker in a real-world setting demonstrates a high rate (99.6%) of implant success and low rate (1.51%) of major complications through 30 days post implant. In particular, the rates of pericardial effusion, device dislodgement, and infection were low, reinforcing the positive results seen in the investigational study.RESULTS The device was successfully implanted in 792 of 795 registry patients (99.6%) by 149 implanters at 96 centers in 20 countries. Through 30 days post implant, a total of 13 major complications occurred in 12 patients, for a major complication rate of 1.51% (95% confidence interval, 0.78%-2.62%). Major complications included cardiac effusion/ perforation (1, 0.13%), device dislodgement (1, 0.13%), and sepsis (1, 0.13%). After adjusting for baseline differences, the rate ofmajor complications in the registry trended lower than the investigational trial (odds ratio, 0.58, 95% confidence interval, 0.27-1.25; P - .16). Early pacing capture thresholds were low and stable.METHODS The registry is an ongoing prospective single-arm observational study designed to assess the safety and effectiveness of Micra in the post-approval setting. The safety end point was systemor procedure-related major complications at 30 days post implant. We compared the major complication rate with that of the 726 patients from the investigational study. Electrical performance was also characterized. | [
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Long-term 4D trajectory prediction using generative adversarial networks. Four-dimensional trajectory prediction is one of the key technologies of air traffic management (ATM) and plays a considerably significant role in enhancing air traffic safety, accelerating air traffic flow and improving ATM efficiency. In this work, we propose a novel long-term 4D trajectory prediction model based on generative adversarial network (GAN). First, trajectory data is preprocessed. Then, three deep generation models for trajectory prediction are designed based on one-dimensional convolution neural network (Conv1D-GAN), two-dimensional convolution neural network (Conv2D-GAN), and long short-term memory neural network (LSTM-GAN). Finally, the models are trained and tested using historical 4D trajectory data from Beijing to Chengdu, China. The results demonstrate that the Conv1D-GAN is the most suitable generative adversarial network for long-term aircraft trajectory prediction. | [
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Metastatic serous borderline ovarian tumor in an internal mammary lymph node: A case report and review of the literature. Case. We describe the finding of metastatic tumor involving an internal mammary lymph node in a 74-year-old patient with serous borderline ovarian tumor. The positive lymph node was found incidentally during cardiac surgery 7 years after excision of the patient's serous borderline ovarian tumor. The incidence and significance of pelvic, paraaortic, and supradiaphragmatic lymph node involvement among women with borderline ovarian tumors is discussed.Conclusion. Supradiaphragmatic lymph node involvement can occur among women with serous borderline ovarian tumors. Borderline ovarian tumors should be included in the differential diagnosis of metastatic adenocarcinoma involving the supradiaphragmatic lymph nodes. (C) 2001 Academic Press.Background. Reports of supradiaphragmatic involvement of lymph nodes by serous borderline ovarian tumors are rare. | [
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The shoulders of our giants: Claude Levi-Strauss and his legacy in current anthropology. In the course of anti-structuralist criticism, the main thrust of Levi-Strauss's epistemological approach seems to have been lost, to the collective detriment of social sciences and anthropology. By its monumental character, Levi-Strauss's work evokes that of the founders of anthropology, whereas, by the way in which it puts in relation the cultural and the mental, it anticipates a theoretical anthropology to come, with the ambition of providing a rigorous method that comes close to scientific knowledge. The fundamental point remains the emancipation of the structural approach from the linguistic model and its orientation toward a new context of science and technology, as exemplified in mathematics, information science, cybernetics and game theory, which made it possible for structural anthropology to innovatively account for the social systems and praxis of competitive and strategic practices. | [
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Construction of job-exposure matrices for the Nordic Occupational Cancer Study (NOCCA). Introduction. The Nordic Occupational Cancer study (NOCCA) is a cohort study based on employed populations in one or more censuses in Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway and Sweden. The large size of the cohort allows us to study rare cancers and to identify even small risks by occupation and by specific occupational exposures. This paper describes principles and experiences of the construction of job-exposure matrices (JEMs), an instrument to transform the history of occupational titles into quantitative estimates of exposure to potential carcinogenic substances. Material and methods. For each Nordic country, a national JEM was constructed by a team of experts on the basis of the Finnish matrix (FINJEM) that has been used in similar national studies since the mid-1990s. Results. The structure of the Nordic JEMs is three-dimensional (over 300 occupations, over 20 agents, 4 periods covering 1945-1994). Exposure is characterised by estimates of the prevalence and level of exposure. Important differences between the Nordic countries were observed for several exposures. Discussion. The selection of priority agent-occupation combinations and the adoption of general principles in the beginning of the work were necessary because of the high number of estimates to be evaluated (over 50 000/country). The selective modification of an existing JEM for use in other countries was a feasible, albeit challenging task, because exposure data and information about the use of chemicals in the past was scanty. As compared to the use of FINJEM for all Nordic countries, the modification process will probably increase the validity of dose-response and risk estimates Of occupational cancer which is to be expected soon as the main outcome of the NOCCA project. | [
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SC5RE2C7, A COMPLEX CARBIDE WITH C-3-UNITS. The title compound was obtained by arc melting of the elemental components and subsequent annealing in a high frequency furnace. It crystallizes with the orthorhombic space group Cmmm, a = 779.26(7) pm, b = 1362.0(1) pm, c = 320.62(3) pm, V = 0.3403 nm3, Z = 2. The structure was determined from single-crystal X-ray data and refined to a residual of R = 0.021 (692 F values and 21 variables). It is closely related to the NaCl-structure. Three of the seven carbon atoms per formula unit form linear C3-units with C-C bond lengths of 134 pm. They are coordinated to ten Sc atoms forming bicapped quadratic prisms. Additional isolated C atoms are located in octahedral voids formed by four Sc and two Re atoms. Together with the Re atoms they form two-dimensionally infinite [Re2C4(11-)]n polyanions. The Re atoms have highly distorted tetrahedral carbon coordination with Re-C bond lengths of 200 and 208 pm corresponding to bond orders of about two. This coordination seems to be compatible with the 18-electron rule. The near-neighbour coordination of the Re atoms is assymmetric. It is suggested that this is due to the space requirements of nonbonding electrons. Samples of Sc5Re2C7 are semiconducting and weakly paramagnetic. | [
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Luis Tablanca: his intellectual formation and his narrative work in Cromos's magazine. Enrique Pardo Farelo, known as Luis Tablanca, published his work at the beginning of the twentieth century, taking as a platform for dissemination of the periodical cultural publications of the capital, mainly the magazine Cromos, his work circulated there since 1916, year of birth of the magazine, Until 1935. He also published in other important cultural magazines of the moment such as Trofeos, El Grafico, Sabado, Cvltura among others. The present article has two objectives: first, to take a tour of the intellectual formation of the writer, which begins as a young man in Ocana, his native land, with the help of a local intellectual group called Los Felibres, second to analize the narrative production of the writer published in the magazine Cromos, which was one of the main platforms for the dissemination of his narrative work. | [
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15-Lipoxygenase-2 is expressed in macrophages in human carotid plaques and regulated by hypoxia-inducible factor-1 alpha. These results demonstrate that 15-LOX-2 is highly expressed in human plaques and is correlated with the presence of macrophages and HIF-1 alpha. 15-LOX-2 enzyme activity can be modulated by HIF-1 alpha. Thus, increased expression of 15-LOX-2 in macrophages in hypoxic atherosclerotic plaque may enhance inflammation and the recruitment of inflammatory cells.ConclusionsIn paired tissue sections, the extent of staining for CD68 correlated with staining for 15-LOX-2 but not for 15-LOX-1. In carotid plaque macrophages isolated with anti-CD14 immunobeads, 15-LOX-2 mRNA was expressed at high levels. In primary macrophages, 15-LOX-2 expression was significantly increased by incubation with the HIF-1 alpha stabilizer dimethyloxalylglycine. Knockdown of HIF-1 alpha significantly decreased production of the 15-LOX-2 enzyme products 12- and 15-hydroxyeicosatetraenoic acid. In carotid plaques, HIF-1 alpha staining correlated with staining for 15-LOX-2.ResultsCarotid plaques from 47 patients with high-grade symptomatic carotid artery stenosis were analysed using immunohistochemistry, and stained areas were quantified by digital image analysis. Carotid plaque macrophages were isolated with anti-CD14 immunobeads using an immunomagnetic bead technique. Primary macrophages were transfected with HIF-1 alpha siRNA or control siRNA before extraction of RNA and medium analysis.Materials and methodsMacrophages are prominent in hypoxic areas of atherosclerotic lesions and their secreted cytokines, growth factors and activity of enzymes are involved in atherogenesis. Previously, we showed that 15-lipoxygenase (LOX)-2 is expressed in human monocyte-derived macrophages and that hypoxia increases 15-LOX-2 expression and secretion of pro-inflammatory molecules. Here we investigated whether human carotid plaque macrophages express 15-LOX-2 and whether its expression in macrophages is regulated by hypoxia through hypoxia-inducible factor 1 alpha (HIF-1 alpha).P>Background | [
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PASSIVE TRANS-CHORIONIC TRANSPORT OF TOXICANTS TOPICALLY TREATED JAPANESE MEDAKA (ORYZIAS-LATIPES) EGGS. Seven chemicals were evaluated for their trans-chorionic permeability or permeability factor (PF) using the medaka embryo-larval assay (MELA) topical treatment procedure. Eggs were treated employing the standard MELA protocol, but were immediately extracted following treatment. Extraction was carried out through homogenization, and subsequent filtration or centrifugation, with non-polar solvent. Analysis was performed employing gas chromatographic techniques with multiple specific detectors. The PF values for the seven chemicals ranged from 10.5% to 82.9%. These results indicate that even in the presence of membrane permeable DMSO carrier, passive transport is taking place. The amount of toxicant penetrating the egg is apparently controlled by the lipid solubility of the chemical, which is established by the properties of that chemical, and not by the solubility in, or penetrability of, the DMSO, The PF data were regressed against the n-octanol-water partition coefficient (K-ow) for each chemical to determine if there was a relationship between the PF and this physico-chemical coefficient of lipid affinity. The data correlated well, with an R(2) of 0.96 for the regression line PF = 11.1 log K-ow + 3.97. These findings suggest that, using this or a similar equation, it may be possible to predict an appropriate MELA topical dose to represent a given ambient water concentration. | [
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Sequential phase formation by ion-induced epitaxy in Fe-implanted Si(001). Study of their properties and thermal behavior. The epitaxial growth of FeSi2 silicides was studied by using ion-beam epitaxial crystallization (IBIEC) of Fe-implanted Si(001) samples. By employing Rutherford backscattering/channeling spectrometry and transmission electron microscopy it was possible to determine that the IBIEC process produces a gamma-, alpha-, and beta-FeSi2 phase sequence, with increasing Fe concentration along the implantation profile. The critical concentrations for gamma --> alpha and alpha --> beta phase transitions are 11 and 21 at. %, respectively. A study of the thermal behavior of these phases shows that the gamma- and alpha-FeSi2 are metastable with respect to the beta-FeSi2 phase. The gamma to beta-FeSi2 transition starts at 700 degrees C via an Ostwald ripening process. In addition a 800 degrees C, 1 h anneal of high Fe concentration samples produces a complete alpha and gamma to PFeSi2 transformation. Finally, it is demonstrated that a regular or a rapid thermal annealing on Fe-implanted Si samples induces only the formation of a beta-FeSi2 phase. (C) 1996 American Institute of Physics. | [
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Robust audio watermarking in the time domain. The audio watermarking method proposed in this paper offers copyright protection to an audio signal by time domain processing. The strength of audio signal modifications is limited by the necessity to produce an output signal that is perceptually similar to the original one. The watermarking method presented here does not require the use of the original signal for watermark detection. The watermark signal is generated using a key, i.e., a single number known only to the copyright owner. Watermark embedding depends on the audio signal amplitude and frequency in a way that minimizes the audibility of the watermark signal. The embedded watermark is robust to common audio signal manipulations like MPEG audio coding, cropping, time shifting, filtering, resampling, and requantization. | [
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Impact of Socioeconomic Status on Prostate Cancer Diagnosis, Treatment, and Prognosis. BACKGROUND: The objective of the current study was to evaluate the impact of socioeconomic disparities on prostate cancer presentation, treatment, and prognosis in Geneva, Switzerland, in which healthcare costs, medical coverage, and life expectancy are considered to be among the highest in the world. METHODS: This population-based study included all patients diagnosed with invasive prostate cancer among the resident population between 1995 and 2005. Patients were divided into 3 socioeconomic groups according to their last known occupation. Compared were patient and tumor characteristics and treatment patterns between socioeconomic groups. Cox multivariate regression analysis was used to assess and explain socioeconomic inequalities in prostate cancer-specific mortality. RESULTS: Compared with patients of high socioeconomic class, those of low socioeconomic class were more often foreigners, were found less frequently to have screen-detected cancer, were found to have a more advanced stage of disease at diagnosis, and less often had information regarding disease characteristics and staging. These patients underwent prostatectomy less frequently and were more often managed with watchful waiting. The risk of dying as a result of prostate cancer (hazards ratio [HR]) in patients of a low versus high socioeconomic status was increased 2-fold (95% confidence interval [95% CI], 1.5-2.6). After adjustment for patient and tumor characteristics and treatment, the mortality risk was no longer found to be significantly increased (HR, 1.2; 95% CI, 0.8-1.6). CONCLUSIONS: In the current study, patients of low socioeconomic class were found to be at increased risk of dying as a result of their prostate cancer. This increased mortality is largely attributable to delayed diagnosis, poor diagnostic workup, and less invasive treatments in these individuals. Cancer 2009;115:5556-65. (C) 2009 American Cancer Society. | [
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Effect of copper on friction and wear properties of copper based friction materials. The research in Copper based friction materials has been focused on the effect of material composition on its physical, mechanical and tribological characteristics, however the information on the improvement of composition and fabrication is very limited. This research is embarked to improve the material compositions which composed of copper, iron-oxide and graphite on the Copper based friction materials. Three samples composed of copper, iron-oxide and graphite were fabricated through powder metallurgy process. Among the assessment were porosity, hardness and the tribological test which follow the international standard test procedure. Test results show that the A3 sample with the highest volume of copper percentage produces the highest porosity compared to the other test samples. Sample A3 also produced higher and stable coefficient of friction (COF) at the lowest weight loss. Based on current findings, it can be concluded that the sample A3 which composed of 85% of copper is the best formulation which can replace the available commercial carbon as it produces a higher COF and lowest weight loss. | [
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Indicatives at stake. Several authors have claimed that indicative conditionals are sensitive to the epistemic perspective of agents. According to this sort of view, the truth of an indicative conditional depends on the background evidence of some relevant agent or group of agents. In this paper, I argue that the context-dependence of indicative conditionals goes beyond this. Indicative conditionals are not only sensitive to the evidence of agents, but also to contextual factors that determine what is inferable from such background evidence (plus the antecedent of the conditional). More specifically, my proposal is that when the inference associated with a conditional is defeasible, the truth of that conditional is sensitive to practical stakes (in a similar way that knowledge claims are sensitive to practical stakes). | [
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High-Temperature Specific Heat of Al-Cu-Ru Icosahedral Quasicrystals and 1/1 Crystal Approximants. We report the results of specific heat measurements for Al-Cu-Ru icosahedral quasicrystals (i-QCs) and 1/1 crystal approximants (1/1-CAs) in the temperature range from 350 to 1250 K. The i-QCs and 1/1-CAs showed a marked upward deviation of the specific heat from the value of Dulong-Petit's law above 600 K, reaching approximately 1.5 times the value at 1100 K. In addition, some i-QCs showed a large broad peak in the specific heat at approximately 1200K. The origin of these excessive specific heat values above the Dulong-Petit value is discussed considering the high-dimensional nature of the structural order in the QCs and CAs. | [
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Nutrient flows and balances in urban and peri-urban agroecosystems of Kano, Nigeria. Nutrient balances are useful indicators to assess the sustainability of farming systems. This study study investigates inflow and outflow of major nutrients in urban and periurban production systems in Kano, Nigeria. To this end, 16 households representing three different urban and peri-urban (UPA) farming systems were studied using the MONQI toolbox (formerly known as NUTMON) to calculate nutrient flows and economic performances. The farm nitrogen (N) balance was positive at 56.6, 67.4 and 56.4 kg farm(-1) year(-1) for commercial garden and crop-livestock (cGCL), commercial gardening and semi-commercial livestock (cGscL) and commercial livestock subsistence field cropping (cLsC) farm types, respectively. The same trend was observed for phosphorus (P) and potassium (K) in all farm types except an annual negative K balance of 16 kg farm(-1) in cGCL. Across the different activities within the farms, land uses had positive N (359, 387 and 563 kg N ha(-1) year(-1)) and P (74, 219 and 411 kg P ha(-1) year(-1)) balances for all farm types, but again a negative K balance in cGCL with an average loss of 533 kg K ha(-1) year(-1). Partial nutrient balances in livestock production indicated a positive balance for all nutrients across the farms types but were slightly negative for P in cLsC. Commercial livestock keeping (cLsC) was economically more profitable than the other farm types with an average annual gross margin (GM) and net cash flow (NCF) of $9,033 and $935. Cropping activities within cGCL and cGscL had GMs of $1,059 and $194 and NCFs of $757 and $206, respectively, but livestock activities in both farm types incurred financial losses. Potassium inputs were limited under vegetable and crop production of cGCL, threatening long-term K nutrient availability in this system. Overall, the results indicated large annual surpluses of N and P in urban and peri-urban vegetable and crop production systems which pose a potential threat when lost to the environment. Appropriate policies should aim at promoting sustainable production through efficient nutrient management in the Kano UPA sector. | [
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Measurement of Blood Perfusion in Spinal Metastases With Dynamic Contrast-Enhanced Magnetic Resonance Imaging Evaluation of Tumor Response to Radiation Therapy. Study Design. This was a retrospective study focusing on dynamic contrast-enhanced magnetic resonance imaging (DCE-MRI) to assess treatment response in patients with spinal metastases.Summary of Background Data. Currently, conventional imaging is limited in evaluating early treatment success or failure, which impacts patient care.Objective. To demonstrate DCE-MRI changes before and after radiation treatment and correlating with other imaging and clinical findings.Conclusion. Changes in perfusion, particularly V-p, reflect tumor responses to radiotherapy in spinal bone metastases. These changes were able to predict positive outcomes earlier than 6 months after treatment in 16 of 17 tumors. The ability of DCE-MRI to detect early treatment response has the potential to improve patient care and outcome.Results. V-p was the strongest predictor of treatment response (false-positive rate = 9.38 x 10(-9) and false-negative rate = 0.055). All successfully treated lesions showed decreases in V-p, and the 2 treatment failures showed drastic increases in V-p. Changes in area under the curve and peak enhancement demonstrated similar relationships to the observed treatment response, whereas changes in K-trans showed no significant relationship. Signal intensity curve morphologies also demonstrated specificity for active disease (11 of 13) and treated disease (8 of 13).Methods. Consecutive patients with known spinal metastases underwent DCE-MRI before and after radiotherapy. Perfusion data on 19 lesions were analyzed. Radiotherapy was classified as success (n = 17) or failure (n = 2) on the basis of evidence of tumor contraction (n = 4), negative positron emission tomography (n = 2), or stability for more than 11 months (n = 11). Perfusion parameters blood plasma volume (V-p), time-dependent leakage (K-trans), area under the curve, and peak enhancement were derived from the signal intensity-time curves and changes in parameter values from pre-to post-treatment were calculated. Curve morphologies were also qualitatively assessed in 13 pre-and 13 post-treatment scans. | [
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E-Glass/DGEBA/m-PDA Single Fiber Composites: New Insights into the Statistics of F Fiber Fragmentation. The interfacial shear strength is a critical parameter for assessing composite performance and failure behavior. This parameter is usually obtained from a single-fiber fragmentation test that induces sequential fracture with increasing strain of a single embedded fiber with output being the distribution of fragment lengths. An exact analytical form for the expected fragment length distribution is still not known. Such data are often fit empirically to Weibull, shifted-exponential, or lognormal distribution functions. In this report, new insights into the sequential fiber fracture process are provided by detailed analyses of the fiber break locations along the length of the embedded fiber. From this approach, the high degree of uniformity of the break coordinate loci strongly suggests that there can be no mechanistic rationale for the use of the Weibull, or lognormal, or exponential functions to fit the fragment lengths. (C) 2009 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part B: Polym Phys 47: 2301-2312, 2009 | [
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How we('ll) treat paroxysmal nocturnal haemoglobinuria: diving into the future. Paroxysmal nocturnal haemoglobinuria (PNH) is characterized by complement-mediated intravascular haemolysis, severe thrombophilia and bone marrow failure. While for patients with bone marrow failure the treatment follows that of immune-mediated aplastic anaemia, that of classic, haemolytic PNH is based on anti-complement medication. The anti-C5 monoclonal antibody eculizumab has revolutionized treatment, resulting in control of intravascular haemolysis and thromboembolic risk, with improved long-term survival. Novel strategies of complement inhibition are emerging. New anti-C5 agents reproduce the safety and efficacy of eculizumab, with improved patient convenience. Proximal complement inhibitors have been developed to address C3-mediated extra-vascular haemolysis and seem to improve haematological response. | [
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Work in God's World: Reception and Theology of the Sabbath Commandment. The essay explores the implications of the Sabbath commandment in the Decalogue for a theological understanding of work, partly via its reception in a variety of Jewish and Christian contexts; it is argued that wherever in Christian texts Sunday rest is justified by the Decalogue, we are dealing with the reception of the commandment. It is further argued that the main elements of the texts convey the sense that God's purposes for creation as a whole and for human beings take priority over all human work. The commandment itself implies that the working week is a preparation for its culmination in the Sabbath when the rest offered by God is enjoyed, and only God's work may be done. The motivation in Deuteronomy implies ultimately the liberation of all slaves, and the end of alienated labor in the modern economy. The motivation in Exodus demands the subordination of the human economic project as a whole to the enjoyment of creation and the adoration of its creator. The conclusion argues that this interpretation supports the validity of some traditional Christian interpretations of the commandment, specifically the spiritual and the eschatological interpretations. | [
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PERRON TRANSFORMS. We generalize Zariski's Perron transforms to obtain a proof of local uniformization of an arbitrary singular variety of characteristic zero along a valuation of arbitrary rank. Furthermore, we resolve the centers of all the composite valuations as well as the prime ideals of infinite value. | [
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Review of economic assessment of hybrid photovoltaic-diesel-battery power systems for residential loads for different provinces of Saudi Arabia. Presently, the world is considering renewable solar energy as an indispensable/long-term/nature-friendly option for power generation. The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (K.S.A) is blessed with considerable amount of solar radiation. Commercial/residential buildings in K.S.A. consume about 10-45% of the total electric energy. In the present paper, the economic analysis of utilization of hybrid PV-diesel-battery power systems to meet the load of a typical residential building (with annual electrical energy demand of 35,120 kWh) in different provinces/zones of K.S.A. has been studied by analyzing long-term solar radiation data. Five geographically distinct sites representing different provinces of the Kingdom have been selected. The monthly average daily solar radiation of K.S.A. varies from 3.03-7.51 kWh/m(2). NREL's (HOMER Energy's) HOMER software has been employed to perform the analysis. The simulation results indicate that for a hybrid system composed of 4 kWp PV system together with 10 kW diesel system and a battery storage of 3 h of autonomy (equivalent to three hours of average load), the PV penetration is 22%., 21%, 22%, 20%, and 20% at Abha (Southern Province), Hofuf (Eastern Province), Qurayat (Northern Province), Taif (Western Province), and Riyadh (Central Province) respectively. The cost of generating energy (COE, US$/kWh) from the above hybrid system has been found to be 0.179 $/kWh, 0.179 $/kWh, 0.178 $/kWh, 0.180 $/kWh, and 0.181 $/kWh at Abha, Hofuf, Qurayat, Taif, and Riyadh respectively. For a given hybrid system, the PV penetration is higher in Sourthem and Northern Province as compared to other provinces. Also, the study has examined the impact of PV penetration on: carbon emissions (Tons/year), diesel fuel consumption, Net Present Cost, cost of energy, etc. Furthermore, for a given hybrid configuration (for Northern Province), the study exhibits that increase in PV capacity results in decrease in the diesel-fuel-consumption/carbon-emissions and increase in COE./NPC/excess-energy. (C) 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. | [
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Bench experiments comparing simulated inspiratory effort when breathing helium-oxygen mixtures to that during positive pressure support with air. Background: Inhalation of helium-oxygen (He/O-2) mixtures has been explored as a means to lower the work of breathing of patients with obstructive lung disease. Non-invasive ventilation (NIV) with positive pressure support is also used for this purpose. The bench experiments presented herein were conducted in order to compare simulated patient inspiratory effort breathing He/O-2 with that breathing medical air, with or without pressure support, across a range of adult, obstructive disease patterns.Methods: Patient breathing was simulated using a dual-chamber mechanical test lung, with the breathing compartment connected to an ICU ventilator operated in NIV mode with medical air or He/O-2 (78/22 or 65/35%). Parabolic or linear resistances were inserted at the inlet to the breathing chamber. Breathing chamber compliance was also varied. The inspiratory effort was assessed for the different gas mixtures, for three breathing patterns, with zero pressure support (simulating unassisted spontaneous breathing), and with varying levels of pressure support.Results: Inspiratory effort increased with increasing resistance and decreasing compliance. At a fixed resistance and compliance, inspiratory effort increased with increasing minute ventilation, and decreased with increasing pressure support. For parabolic resistors, inspiratory effort was lower for He/O-2 mixtures than for air, whereas little difference was measured for nominally linear resistance. Relatively small differences in inspiratory effort were measured between the two He/O-2 mixtures. Used in combination, reductions in inspiratory effort provided by He/O-2 and pressure support were additive.Conclusions: The reduction in inspiratory effort afforded by breathing He/O-2 is strongly dependent on the severity and type of airway obstruction. Varying helium concentration between 78% and 65% has small impact on inspiratory effort, while combining He/O-2 with pressure support provides an additive reduction in inspiratory effort. In addition, breathing He/O-2 alone may provide an alternative to pressure support in circumstances where NIV is not available or poorly tolerated. | [
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Inferred and Stated Attribute Non-attendance in Food Choice Experiments. We review the current literature on attribute non-attendance in stated choice and use data from beef and chicken choice experiments using both inference and the respondents' own statements. Inference is based on panel data analysis by mixed logit models of choice with both discrete and continuous mixtures of coefficients, and is conditional on the observed pattern of choice. Information from respondent statements on non-attendance is directly embedded in the specification of the indirect utility function. Results show no clear winner between the inferential approaches, but the inference based on constrained latent class panel models better matches the observed data. | [
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Anticancer drug-induced life-threatening ventricular arrhythmias: a World health Organization pharmacovigilance study. Methods and results We used the international pharmacovigilance database VigiBase (n = 18 441 659 reports) to compare drug-induced long QT (diLQT, n =18 123) and VA (n = 29 193) including torsade de pointer (TdP, n = 8163) reporting for 663 anticancer drugs vs. all other drugs until 01/01/2019. The analysis used the 95% lower-end credibility interval of the information component (IC025), an indicator for disproportionate Bayesian reporting; significant when IC025 >0. There were 2301 reports (13.8% fatal) for 40 anticancer drugs significantly associated with diLQT (with 27 also associated with VA or SD) and 9 drugs associated with VA without diLQT. Half of these (46.9%, 23/49) were associated with SD. Most (41%, 20/49) were kinase inhibitors, 8% (4/49) were hormonal therapies, 6% (3/49) were immunotherapies, 24% (12/49) were cytotoxics, and 20% (10/49) were miscellaneous. In VigiBase, reports of diLQT, TdP, or VA increased from 580 in the period 1967-83 to 15 070 in 2014-18 with the proportion related to anticancer drugs increasing from 0.9% (5/580) to 14.0% (2115/15 070) (P<0.0001). Concordance between these VigiBase signals and data concerning diLQT and VA/TdP identified in CredibleMeds or US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) labels was moderate (kappa = 0.47 and 0.40, P < 0.0001). Twenty-three drugs represent new signals, while 24 flagged by CredibleMeds or FDA had no signal in VigiBase. A three-level SD risk stratification relying on isolated long QT (low risk), associated with VA without SD (moderate risk), and VA with SD (high risk) is proposed.Aims With the explosion of anticancer drugs, an emerging concern is the risk for drug-induced sudden death (SD) via ventricular arrhythmias (VA)..[GRAPHICS]Conclusion This list of liable anticancer drugs may prove useful for physicians and regulatory authorities to re-evaluate cardiac monitoring requirements. | [
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Design, data management, and population baseline characteristics of the PERFORM magnetic resonance imaging project. Quantitative information from magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) may substantiate clinical findings and provide additional insight into the mechanism of clinical interventions in therapeutic stroke trials. The PERFORM study is exploring the efficacy of terutroban versus aspirin for secondary prevention in patients with a history of ischemic stroke. We report on the design of an exploratory longitudinal MRI follow-up study that was performed in a subgroup of the PERFORM trial. An international multi-centre longitudinal follow-up MRI study was designed for different MR systems employing safety and efficacy readouts: new T2 lesions, new DWI lesions, whole brain volume change, hippocampal volume change, changes in tissue microstructure as depicted by mean diffusivity and fractional anisotropy, vessel patency on MR angiography, and the presence of and development of new microbleeds. A total of 1,056 patients (men and women a parts per thousand yen55 years) were included. The data analysis included 3D reformation, image registration of different contrasts, tissue segmentation, and automated lesion detection. This large international multi-centre study demonstrates how new MRI readouts can be used to provide key information on the evolution of cerebral tissue lesions and within the macrovasculature after atherothrombotic stroke in a large sample of patients. | [
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Population genetic structure of the malaria vector Anopheles funestus, in a recently re-colonized area of the Senegal River basin and human-induced environmental changes. Results: Our results presume Hardy Weinberg equilibrium in each An. funestus population, suggesting a situation of panmixia. Moreover, no signal from bottleneck or population expansion was detected across populations. The tests of genetic differentiation between sites revealed a slight but significant division into three distinct genetic entities. Genetic distance between populations from the Senegal River basin and sudanian domain was correlated to geographical distance. In contrast, sub-division into the Senegal River basin was not correlated to geographic distance, rather to local adaptation.Conclusions: The high genetic diversity among populations from Senegal River basin coupled with no evidence of bottleneck and with a gene flow with southern population suggests that the re-colonization was likely carried out by a massive and repeated stepping-stone dispersion starting from the neighboring areas where An. funestus endured.Background: Anopheles funestus is one of the major malaria vectors in tropical Africa. Because of several cycles of drought events that occurred during the 1970s, this species had disappeared from many parts of sahelian Africa, including the Senegal River basin. However, this zone has been re-colonized during the last decade by An. funestus, following the implementation of two dams on the Senegal River. Previous studies in that area revealed heterogeneity at the biological and chromosomal level among these recent populations.Methods: Here, we studied the genetic structure of the newly established mosquito populations using eleven microsatellite markers in four villages of the Senegal River basin and compared it to another An. funestus population located in the sudanian domain. | [
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Loss-of-function of miR-142 by hypermethylation promotes TGF-beta-mediated tumour growth and metastasis in hepatocellular carcinoma. Objectives: Hypermethylation-induced epigenetic silencing of tumour suppressor genes (TSGs) are frequent events during carcinogenesis. MicroRNA-142 (miR-142) is found to be dysregulated in cancer patients to participate into tumour growth, metastasis and angiogenesis. However, the tumour suppressive role of miR-142 and the status of methylation are not fully understood in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC).Methods: Hepatocellular carcinoma tissues and corresponding non-neoplastic tissues were collected. The expression and function of miR-142 and TGF-beta in two HCC cell lines were determined. The miRNA-mRNA network of miR-142 was analysed in HCC cell lines.Results: We found that the miR-142 expression was reduced in tumour tissues and two HCC cell lines HepG2 and SMMC7721, which correlated to higher TNM stage, metastasis and differentiation. Moreover, miR-142 was identified to directly target and inhibit transforming growth factor beta (TGF-beta), leading to decreased cell vitality, proliferation, EMT and the ability of pro-angiogenesis in TGF-beta-dependent manner. Interestingly, the status of methylation of miR-142 was analysed and the results found the hypermethylated miR-142 in tumour patients and cell lines. The treatment of methylation inhibitor 5-Aza could restore the expression of miR-142 to suppress the TGF-beta expression, which impaired TGF-beta-induced tumour growth.Conclusion: These findings implicated that miR-142 was a tumour suppressor gene in HCC and often hyermethylated to increase TGF-beta-induced development of hepatocellular carcinoma. | [
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The role of radiation therapy in the management of sialorrhea. Methods and Materials: A total of 34 patients were referred to the Department of Radiation Oncology, Palmerston North Hospital, between 1966 and August 1994, of whom only 1 patient received treatment prior to 1985, Three patients declined treatment and were, therefore, excluded from this review. Thirty-one patients, including 14 males and 17 females, of median age 72 years received 1 or more radiation treatments for sialorrhea, The patients were followed up for a median of 12 months, ranging from 6 months to 27 years.Purpose: Sialorrhea is the unintentional loss of saliva and other contents from the mouth. Most patients with this condition are elderly, requiring palliative treatment. These patients have neuropathology with associated poor performance status, Treatment prescribed for this disabling and distressing condition has often been of a surgical nature and described in young patients. It would be inapplicable to the elderly. The aim of this study was to review the role of radiation therapy in the management of sialorrhea, Previous reports are few in number and are cautionary because of adverse effects which have been described, including dryness of the mouth.Results: Initially, 82% (28/34) of treatments were associated with a satisfactory response, Six patients relapsed, of whom five experienced relapse within 6 months of initial treatment. Two patients were re-treated, one of whom achieved a complete response, Up to the time of review 64% (23/36) of treatments maintained a satisfactory response. The varied fractionation regimens used were not shown to affect the response rate; low doses were shown to be as effective as higher doses, and were not associated with any significant acute or late side effects, Only 4 patients developed long-term side effects. However, response rates were superior for patients treated with electrons, as opposed to orthovoltage therapy, and in particular when electron energies greater than 7 megavolts were used (76% vs. 38% maintained response, p < 0.05), Responses were also superior for patients treated with radiation fields which encompassed both parotid and submandibular glands (74% vs. 33% maintained response, p < 0.01).Conclusions: Radiation therapy has proven to be a safe and effective treatment in this group of patients, thereby avoiding the adverse effects of anticholinergic medication and invasive surgical procedures. (C) 1998 Elsevier Science Inc. | [
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Theoretical studies on tunneling ionizations of helium atom in intense laser fields. Our generalized Keldysh theory is applied to the simplest many-electron atom, helium atom. For the single ionization (He -> He++e) we derive a compact rate formula, which does not contain any series summation or integral and thus is as simple as the Ammosov-Delone-Krainov ionization rates. In addition to its simplicity, our formula can explicitly show the wavelength dependence. Furthermore a simple form of the angular distribution of the photoelectron is available. Our compact formula agrees well with both the exact numerical calculations [A. Scrinzi , Phys. Rev. Lett. 83, 706 (1999)] and experimental data [B. Walker , Phys. Rev. Lett. 73, 1227 (1994)] in the intensity range of I < 5x10(15) W/cm(2). In higher intensity regions, we suggest to utilize another simple formula which is valid in the tunneling limit. (c) 2006 American Institute of Physics. | [
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Static and dynamic contact angles of evaporating liquids on heated surfaces. We studied both static and dynamic values of the apparent contact angle for gravity-driven flow of a volatile liquid down a heated inclined plane. The apparent contact line is modeled as the transition region between the macroscopic film and ultra-thin adsorbed film dominated by disjoining pressure effects. Four commonly used disjoining pressure models are investigated. The static contact angle is shown to increase with heater temperature, in qualitative agreement with experimental observations. The angle is less sensitive to the details of the disjoining pressure curves than in the isothermal regime. A generalization of the classical Frumkin-Derjaguin theory is proposed to explain this observation. The dynamic contact angle follows the Tanner's law remarkably well over a range of evaporation conditions. However, deviations from the predictions based on the Tanner's law are found when interface shape changes rapidly in response to rapid changes of the heater temperature. The Marangoni stresses are shown to result in increase of the values of apparent contact angles. (C) 2009 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. | [
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Reliability of complex systems under dynamic conditions: A Bayesian multivariate degradation perspective. Degradation analysis is critical to reliability assessment and operational management of complex systems. Two types of assumptions are often adopted for degradation analysis: (1) single degradation indicator and (2) constant external factors. However, modern complex systems are generally characterized as multiple functional and suffered from multiple failure modes due to dynamic operating conditions. In this paper, Bayesian degradation analysis of complex systems with multiple degradation indicators under dynamic conditions is investigated. Three practical engineering-driven issues are addressed: (1) to model various combinations of degradation indicators, a generalized multivariate hybrid degradation process model is proposed, which subsumes both monotonic and non-monotonic degradation processes models as special cases, (2) to study effects of external factors, two types of dynamic covariates are incorporated jointly, which include both environmental conditions and operating profiles, and (3) to facilitate degradation based reliability analysis, a serial of Bayesian strategy is constructed, which covers parameter estimation, factor-related degradation prediction, and unit-specific remaining useful life assessment. Finally, degradation analysis of a type of heavy machine tools is presented to demonstrate the application and performance of the proposed method. A comparison of the proposed model with a traditional model is studied as well in the example. (C) 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. | [
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Optimal versioning strategy of enterprise software considering the customer cost-acceptance level. Purpose The emergence of the Software-as-a-service (SaaS) licensing model dramatically changes how enterprise software is released. Especially, it is favored by small and medium enterprises (SMEs) because of the cost-friendly feature. In contrast, many large enterprises (LEs) own relatively abundant budgets and prefer the on-premise software to fulfill demands through customization. Considering the differentiated cost-acceptance level among customers, this study aims to address the versioning problem of the enterprise software faced by software firms. Design/methodology/approach A two-point distribution model is formulated to calculate the maximal profits software firm earned from both LEs and SMEs under three strategies (On-premise, SaaS and Hybrid). Then through profit comparison, this paper obtains the optimal versioning strategy and corresponding feasible conditions. Finally, the optimal solutions are derived concerning social welfare. Findings A significant finding is that moving to SaaS becomes necessary for the software firms in product releases since the on-premise strategy will not be optimal. Based on this, this paper discovers that when LEs own a cost-acceptance level close to that of SMEs, the hybrid strategy is the only optimal choice. When LEs become less sensitive to costs, the hybrid strategy is suggested if the customization cost falls below the threshold. Otherwise, the SaaS strategy becomes the optimal option. The conclusions explain why some software vendors transit to \\'cloud companies\\' thoroughly and provide practical insights for software firms' future decisions. Originality/value To the best of the authors' knowledge, this paper is the first information economics study to consider consumer cost sensitivity in discussing enterprise software versioning. The differentiated cost-acceptance level is introduced to describe the customer utilities, and the results uncover the necessity of moving to SaaS under diversified customer composition. This work provides significant theoretical value and practical insights. | [
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Thermal treatment for optical proximity correction. For 32-nm technology node, thermal treatment is one of the process extension techniques with 193-nm ArF lithography equipment and chemically-amplified resist (CAR). However, it is difficult to use these techniques in the manufacture process because the optical proximity effect of thermal effects is quite severe. In this paper, thermal processes, such as softbake, post-exposure bake and thermal reflow, are described and modeled to investigate the property changes of a positive type, 193-nm CAR. The simulated results agree well with the experimental results. For the optical proximity correction (OPC) of the thermal effects, an orthogonal functional method is introduced. Due to contact hole (C/H) pattern, the underbake of post-exposure bake (PEB) and thermal reflow are performed for the 45-nm critical dimension (CD) by using the OPC simulated images, to demonstrate the possibility of controlling these thermal processes for the formation of 32-nm CD. (c) 2007 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved. | [
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Strategic online customer decision making: leveraging the transformational power of the Internet. Online shopping phenomena are governed by a number of consumer acceptance and behaviour characteristics and grounded in theoretical aspects of consumer decision making. There are a number of factors that affect what we buy, when we buy, and why we buy. In reference to buying online, the factors that influence consumers are marketing efforts, socio-cultural influences, psychological factors, personal questions, post-decision behaviour, and experience. These factors will be further discussed by way of a consumer decision-making model for online shoppers. | [
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Neurological toxicity associated with phenytoin in an intermediate metabolizer patient for CYP2C9 enzyme. Phenytoin is one of the most used antiepileptics because of its great utility for different types of crisis and low cost. However, its use is limited because the adverse effects, particularly those that affect the central nervous system. This case shows a successful pharmaceutical intervention based on pharmacogenetics, to optimize pharmacotherapy with phenytoin in an intermediate metabolizer patient with clear signs of neurotoxicity for this drug. | [
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Tango in forests - An initial experience of the use of the new Google technology in connection with forest inventory tasks. This study focuses on the evaluation of the accuracy and feasibility of the use of the new Google Tango technology for outdoor measurements in forest inventory tasks. The technology uses RGB-D and inertial sensors and visual Simultaneous Localization and Mapping (SLAM) and combines them with compact mobile devices. Three circular test plots, established using forest inventory methodology, were used for the testing. Tree position references were measured using a total station; reference diameters at breast height (DBH) were acquired using callipers. Close-range photogrammetry and Field-Map measurements were conducted for comparison. Root mean square errors (RMSE) of the DBHs acquired using the Tango device were up to two centimetres. The positional accuracy was highly dependent on scanning methods. Two patterns of scanning were designed for the testing- \\'Spiral\\' and \\'Sun\\'. RMSE of positions were over one metre for the Spiral pattern and 0.20 m for the Sun pattern. These results are comparable with some earlier reported results of other technologies, which provide 3D point clouds (photogrammetry, laser scanning). Field experiences related to the use of the hardware and software are also reported. With the further development of hardware and dedicated software, the Google Tango platform could provide a feasible, sufficiently accurate, and cost-effective solution for various measurements in forests where point clouds are applicable. (C) 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved. | [
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Gender-Based Performance in Mathematical Facts and Calculations in Two Elementary School Samples From Chile and Spain: An Exploratory Study. Gender differences in mathematical performance are not conclusive according to the scientific literature, although such differences are supported by international studies such as the Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS). According to TIMSS 2019, fourth-grade male students outperformed female students in Spanish-speaking countries, among others. This work approaches the study on gender difference by examining the basic calculation skills needed to handle more complex problems. Two international samples of second and third graders from Chile and Spain were selected for this exploratory study. Tests on basic mathematical knowledge (symbolic and non-symbolic magnitude comparisons, fluency, and calculation) were administered. The tests did not show significant difference or size effect between genders for mean performance, variance in the distribution of performance, or percentiles. As noted in the existing literature on this topic and reiterated by these findings, great care should be exercised when reporting on possible gender differences in mathematical performance, as these can contribute to low self-concept among female students. | [
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A review of the Tychobythinus algiricus species group from North Africa (Coleoptera: Staphylinidae: Pselaphinae). The species belonging to the Tychobythinus algiricus group are revised and the group is characterized and defined. Tychobythinus algiricus (Raffray, 1871) is redescribed, illustrated and its distribution and its synonymic framework discussed, establishing that Tychobythinus occidentalis Besuchet, 1962 is a junior synonym of Tychobythinus algiricus (syn. nov.). A key for species identification is provided. | [
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On stability of the column with a step change in a cross section. Stability of an elastic column with a changeable cross section loaded by a concentrated force of arbitrary intensity is studied. It is assumed that the column is fixed to a rigid circular plate that is positioned on a homogeneous, isotropic, linearly elastic half-space. The constitutive equation of a column allows effects of axial compressibility and shear stresses. The bifurcation points of the full nonlinear system are determined by the eigenvalues of the linearized equations. It is shown that different types of bifurcations dependent on values of parameters can occur. The post critical shape of the column is determined by numerical integration of the system of equilibrium equations. | [
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MRI of Peripheral Nerves. MRI has become the modality of choice for imaging the peripheral nervous system. When technically optimized and customized for individual clinical problems, MRI can provide insight into the underlying causes of neoplastic, inflammatory, and other diseases affecting peripheral nerves with a high degree of accuracy and effectively distinguish benign from malignant processes. With high-resolution imaging techniques targeted fascicular biopsy can be planned to improve diagnostic yield and decrease the risk of surgically sampling primary nerve pathology. | [
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Microstructure and Mechanical Properties After Shock Wave Loading of Cast CrMnNi TRIP Steel. The mechanical response of shock wave-prestrained high-alloy Cr16-Mn7-Ni6 TRIP steel was investigated under compressive and tensile loading at room temperature. Previous shock wave loading was carried out using a flyer-plate assembly with different amounts of explosives in order to achieve shock pressures of 0.3, 0.6, 0.9, and 1.2 Mbar. A significant increase in hardness and strength was observed as compared with the initial as-cast condition. In contrast, a slight decrease in strain hardening rates was measured together with a decrease in fracture elongation in the tensile test. Microstructural analyses of the shock-loaded samples were performed by light optical and scanning electron microscopy. The microstructure revealed a high density of deformation bands consisting of separated stacking faults, epsilon-martensite, or twins. Significant amounts of deformation-induced alpha'-martensite were only present at the highest shock pressure of 1.2 Mbar. The thickness of the deformation bands and the number of martensite nuclei at their intersections increased with increasing shock pressure. In all shock-loaded specimens, pronounced phase transformation occurred during subsequent mechanical testing. Consequently, the amount of the deformation-induced alpha'-martensite in the shock-loaded specimens was higher than in the unshocked as-cast samples. | [
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Metformin Discontinuation prior to FDG PET/CT: A Randomized Controlled Study to Compare 24-and 48-hour Bowel Activity. Conclusion: Metformin discontinuation for 48 hours prior to PET/CT was associated with lower accumulation of fluorodeoxyglucose in the bowel, compared to when there was no discontinuation (control group) or 24-hour discontinuation of metformin. (c) RSNA, 2018Results: Ninety study participants (62 male, 28 female; median age, 70 years) were enrolled from July 2010 through March 2012. There were no differences between study groups in weight, blood glucose levels 3 days prior to scanning, or normal organ uptake. Large bowel SUVmax was lower after 24 hours (4.10 +/- 2.00 vs 5.42 +/- 2.36; P = .020) and 48 hours (2.63 +/- 0.88 vs 5.42 +/- 2.36; P < .001) of metformin discontinuation than for no discontinuation (control), and for 48 hours versus 24 hours of discontinuation (P = .0015). Small bowel SUVmax was lower after 24 hours (2.86 +/- 0.67 vs 3.73 +/- 1.08 [control]; P < .001) and 48 hours (2.78 +/- 0.73 vs 3.73 +/- 1.08 [control]; P < .001) of metformin discontinuation versus no metformin discontinuation, but not for 48 hours versus 24 hours of discontinuation (P = .57). Examination-day blood glucose levels increased after 48-hour withdrawal of metformin (8.41 mmol/L +/- 2.86 vs 6.83 mmol/L +/- 2.13 [control]; P = .002).Purpose: To investigate the relationship of 24- and 48-hour metformin discontinuation to bowel uptake of fluorine 18 fluorodeoxyglucose (FDG) on PET/CT scans.Materials and Methods: Patients with diabetes who were treated with metformin and referred for FDG PET/CT were randomized to three equal groups based on duration of metformin discontinuation: 24 hours, 48 hours, and no discontinuation (control group). Two interpreters blinded to the study groups assessed FDG uptake in multiple segments of small and large bowel qualitatively and semiquantitatively by using maximum standardized uptake values (SUVs(max)). Differences in age, sex, weight, dose of metformin, duration of metformin treatment, blood glucose levels, and FDG dose injected were assessed. Data were analyzed with analysis of variance when passing normality, and by nonparametric testing when not. | [
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Tensile behavior of replicated aluminium foams. The replication process is used to produce open-cell 99.99% pure aluminium foams of controlled pore diameter and solid volume fraction; each parameter is varied respectively from 40 to 400 mum and 10 to 30 vol. pct. The foam tensile behaviour is consistent with the small-strain compressive behavior and shows a significant dependence on pore size. | [
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Design and experimental validation of piezoelectric shunt structures using admittance analysis. In this paper, a new shunt design method using piezoelectric materials is proposed. Admittance is introduced to represent the electro-mechanical characteristics of piezoelectric structures and to predict the performance of the piezoelectric shunt system. It is shown that the admittance of the piezoelectric structure is proportional to the dissipated energy in the shunt circuit. Admittance is used as a design index to construct the piezoelectric shunt system, and it is obtained by the finite element method. In order to demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed design method, vibration reduction of the piezoelectric structure with the shunt circuit is realized by experiments. Damped system responses of the piezoelectric structure in the frequency and time domains verify that the admittance is proportional to the performance of the piezoelectric shunt system. | [
9,
93
] |
VR in education - a subjective overview of the possibilities. The article presents a subjective review of the possibilities of using virtual reality in the educational process. The author refers to the results of research showing several benefits that the use of virtual reality brings into didactics, proving its role as a tool which enables the creation of engaging and innovative educational experiences. An attempt was made to define the concept of virtual reality, outline its historical and developmental features, and discuss the advantages and disadvantages of using virtual reality in education. Also described are examples of VR implementations at Polish universities as well as selected existing applications and hardware. The article ends with a short forecast, which indicates that VR can only be an introduction to a much more advanced augmented reality, the use of which in education can contribute to achieving unimaginable educational results. | [
8,
132
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Heterosexual Men's Ratings of Sexual Attractiveness of Adolescent Girls: A Cross-Cultural Analysis. Following an identical procedure to the one we previously reported (O'Donnell, Lowe, Brotherton, & Bennett, 2014), we examined ratings of sexual attraction to photographs of (the same) adolescent girls (Tanner stages 3-4) labelled as either 14-15 years or 16-17 years old, women, and men. Ratings were made by Bulgarian heterosexual men by pressing buttons on a response box which recorded the ratings made and the time in milliseconds taken to respond. Despite the age of sexual consent in Bulgaria being 14 years, the pattern of findings did not differ from those found in the UK, where the age of consent is 16 years. That is, mean ratings of the sexual attractiveness of the girls labelled as younger were lower than those of the (same) girls labelled as older, and those of the women. In addition, correlations revealed significantly longer responding times when younger girls (and men) were rated as more highly sexually attractive. These associations were reversed in response to the photographs of women. We take these findings to indicate an inhibitory effect arising from generalized sexual norms relating to the inappropriateness of sexual attraction to young girls; the greater the attraction, the higher the inhibition. This second replication of our initial findings suggests a robust effect that may be of benefit in exploration of pedophile or sex offender groups. | [
2,
320
] |
Effects of Sour Yogurt as an Alternative Additive in Second Crop Corn Silage. In this study, we evaluated the influence of sour yogurt as a natural microbial inoculant in second-crop corn silages. For this purpose, two trials with different dilution rates were conducted. In Trial I, the groups 10 g sour yogurt + 5 g distilled water (SY10-2), 20 g sour yogurt + 10 g distilled water (SY20-2), 30 g sour yogurt + 15 g distilled water (SY30-2), 40 g sour yogurt + 20 g distilled water (SY40-2), 50 g sour yogurt + 25 g distilled water (SY50-2) and no additives were added to the control (CON) group. The groups in Trial II, 10 g sour yogurt + 10 g distilled water (SY10-1), 20 g sour yogurt + 20 g distilled water (SY20-1), 30 g sour yogurt + 30 g distilled water (SY30-1), 40 g sour yogurt + 40 g distilled water (SY40-1), 50 g sour yogurt + 50 g distilled water (SY50-1) and 10 g of distilled water were added to the control (WCON) group. For the silages opened on the 90th day of ensiling, the highest lactic acid content was determined in the SY20-2 and SY20-1 groups (p < 0.05). The lowest amount of ammonia nitrogen was in the SY30-2 group (p < 0.05). In the aerobic period, the SY10-2 and SY20-2 groups remained more stable than the others. As a result, the SY20-2, SY30-2, SY20-1, and SY30-1 groups improved the fermentation quality of corn silages, but the effect on aerobic stability was not significant and was similarly found with the homofermentative bacterial inoculants. | [
5,
75
] |
Detection of tolclofos-methyl and its decomposition product (2,6-dichloro-p-cresol) in phenolic-smelling tomatoes. We investigated the cause of a phenolic smell in tomatoes. But this time prothiofos and 2,4-dichlorophenol were not detected in the tomatoes. When we analyzed pesticide residues in soil of the tomato field, we detected tolclofos-methyl in the range of 0.02 similar to 2.2 mu g/g and 2,6-dichloro-p-cresol, a decomposition product of tolclofos-methyl, in the range of 0.03 similar to 0.15 mu g/g. We also detected tolclofos-methyl and 2,6-dichloro-p-cresol, each in the range of 0.01 similar to 0.02 mu g/g, in the tomatoes. 2,6-Dichloro-p-cresol has a phenolic smell. We concluded that 2,6-dichloro-p-cresol accounted for the phenolic smell, at least in part. | [
2,
84
] |
Unsteady Fluid Flow in Hybrid Hydraulic Actuators. The ability of smart materials like piezoelectrics to deliver large blocking forces in a small package while operating at high frequencies makes them extremely attractive for converting electrical energy to mechanical power. This led to the development of hybrid actuators consisting of co-located smart material actuated pumps and hydraulic cylinders that are connected by a set of fast-acting valves. The overall success of the hybrid concept hinges on the effectiveness of the coupling between the smart material and the fluid. This, in turn, is strongly dependent on the resistance to fluid flow in the device. This article presents results from 3D simulations of unsteady fluid flow in the pumping chamber of a prototype hybrid actuator powered by a piezoelectric stack. The results show that the forces associated with moving the fluid into and out of the pumping chamber exceed 10% of the piezo stack blocked force at relatively low frequencies near 100 Hz and approach 80% of the blocked force at 800 Hz. This reduces the amplitude of the piston motion in such a way that the volume flow rate remains approximately constant above operating frequencies of 600 Hz. As the driving frequency is increased beyond 800 Hz, the flow rate starts to decrease. This study also presents a decomposition of the pressure loss into its Fourier components and identifies the important harmonics. | [
1,
176
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Fire conditions and source materials recorded in scoria from an intentional fire at Store Tovstrup Iron Age house, Central Jutland, Denmark. The composition, mineralogy, and textures preserved in scoria from ancient fires provide constraints on the firing temperature, the source and nature of the fire, and its potential social and cultural implications. Analyses of four scoria fragments preserved in a posthole of an Iron Age longhouse at Store Tovstrup, West Denmark, by scanning electron microscopy, electron microprobe, and laser ablation ICP-MS show these to consist of rounded quartz and orthoclase grains, gas vesicles, and carbonaceous material bonded together by a silicate- and potassium-rich (SiO2 67-69 wt% A and K2O 11-14 wt%) melt (now glass). Given the presence of vesicles and carbonaceous material, the fire is indicated to have occurred under restricted air-flow and to have involved decomposition of biomass and soil. The initiation of melting occurred during what was presumably an event of short duration. Simplified ternary phase equilibria point to localized melting initiated around 700-800 degrees C and continuing to about 1000 degrees C. The main structure succumbed to char at lower temperatures. Calculations suggest that a mixture of 50% sandy soil, 41% barley straw, and 9% oak branches best explains the low Al2O3 , Fe2O3 , and Na2O concentrations in the melt phase. The scoria at Store Tovstrup most likely originated from a short duration burning with restricted air-flow resulting in the collapse and charring of daub walls. The fire was intentional and set after the house had been cleared of household goods. | [
9,
100
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Pre-feasibility Study for Establishing Radioisotope and Radiopharmaceutical Production Facilities in Developing Countries. Methods: We discuss the main issues which need to be addressed in order to establish the production of radioisotopes and radiopharmaceuticals, which are especially important for developing countries as newcomers in the field. The data was gathered from several sources, including databases maintained by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), World health Organization (WHO), and other international organizations; personal interactions with representatives in the nuclear medicine field from different regions of the world; and relevant literature.Results: Developing radioisotope and radiopharmaceutical production program and installing corresponding infrastructure requires significant investments, both man-power and financial. Support already exists to help developing countries establish their medical radioisotope production installations from several organizations, such as IAEA.Conclusion: This work clearly shows that access to life-saving radioisotopes and the geographical distribution of corresponding infrastructure is highly unbalanced. Technology transfer is important as it not only immediately benefits patients, but also provides employment, economic activity and general prosperity in the region to where the technology transfer is implemented.Background: A significant number of developing countries have no facilities to produce medical radioisotopes and radiopharmaceuticals.Objective: In this paper we show that access to life-saving radioisotopes and radiopharmaceuticals and the geographical distribution of corresponding infrastructure is highly unbalanced worldwide. | [
2,
263
] |
Radio-Intercepts, Reconnaissance and Raids: French Operational Intelligence and Communications in 1940. Mentioned in memoirs by a few former military intelligence officers, operational intelligence has had little attention in academic writing on the Second World War before Ultra's decisive contributions began in 1941-2. Especially neglected has been the fighting provoked by the German offensive in 1940 that cleaved through France, Belgium, the Netherlands and Luxembourg and drove Britain off the Continent. This article tackles this gap, analysing the military intelligence/military operations interface on the French side. It assesses the contributions and shortcomings of radio-intercept intelligence, along with intelligence-gathering by air and ground reconnaissance (demonstrating that German air superiority imposed a 'battle blindness' on Allied commanders wanting intelligence on approach marches and formation switches more than a dozen kilometres into the German rear). It reveals that frontline infantry raiding - redolent of intelligence-gathering techniques familiar to veterans of 1914-18 trench warfare - was again widely employed. This proved a highly effective recourse, particularly during the positional battles on the Somme, Aisne and Oise in June 1940, filling intelligence gaps left by more technologically sophisticated but more fragile sources. The factors that kept formations fighting so as to inflict significant delays and heavy losses on the German assaults were robust communications networks (to convey operational intelligence fast enough to permit counter-manoeuvres based on it), and the preservation of French chains of command and control. When these key nodes collapsed, preventing the hard-won operational intelligence being deployed to coordinate French military resistance, the latter declined into a series of disjointed, directionless and unavailing acts of courage that could not exploit the several instances during the campaign when the Germans, too, were afflicted by battle fatigue, re-supply bottlenecks and morale wobbles. | [
0,
10
] |
Effects of cyclic loading on subsurface microstructural changes of zirconia polycrystals in nanoscale mechanical processing. Yttria stabilized zirconia (YSZ) is an attractive biomaterial with excellent properties, but its deformation mechanism under repetitive loads is still unclear. In this study, the subsurface microstructural changes of YSZ polycrystals under repetitive loading/unloading were investigated by multi-cyclic nanoindentation. Raman spectroscopy analysis revealed that a tetragonal-to-monoclinic (t-m) phase transformation occurred, and multicyclic indentation promoted this transformation significantly. Cross-sectional scanning transmission electron microscopy showed that monoclinic variants were extensively generated beneath the free surfaces outside the indent planes, whereas grain refinement was dominant beneath the indenter tip. In addition, load-displacement curve analysis demonstrated that the t-m phase transformation occurred during unloading rather than loading, and that the phase transformation-induced volume expansion caused an incremental change of residual indent depth. The extension of monoclinic variants was promoted by repetitive shear deformation, resulting in significant pileups, as detected by atomic force microscopy. The effect of sample surface preprocessing on indentation behaviors was also investigated. Microcracking and surface spalling were confirmed around the multi-cyclic indents made on a diamond-turned YSZ sample. Based on the experimental results, a model of subsurface microstructure distribution and evolution was established. The findings from this study help clarify the historical effects in subsurface damaging mechanism of brittle polycrystalline materials caused by cyclic tool-workpiece interactions in nanoscale mechanical processing. | [
9,
57
] |
Risk assessment score for adverse pregnancy outcome in systemic lupus erythematosus patients. Background Systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) is a chronic autoimmune multisystem dihe criteria for SLE according to thsease that mainly affects females of childbearing age. SLE still possesses risks during pregnancy that lead to poor maternal and fetal outcomes. The objectives of the study were to identify factors associated with unfavorable pregnancy outcomes and develop a predictive risk score for adverse pregnancy outcomes in patients with SLE. Results The main predictive factors associated with adverse pregnancy outcomes among lupus patients in multiple linear regression were an absence of remission for at least 6 months before conception, preexisting lupus nephritis, active disease at conception, C3 hypocomplementemia, and antiphospholipid antibody syndrome. Each predictor is assigned a weighted point score, and the sum of points represents the risk score. The area under the receiver operating characteristic curve (ROC) was 0.948 (95% confidence interval, 0.908-0.988), suggesting that the score had strong discriminatory power for adverse pregnancy outcomes. Conclusions In this study, a predictive model with a risk score classification for adverse pregnancy outcomes in SLE patients was developed. This could help rheumatologists identify high-risk pregnant patients for better disease monitoring and management, resulting in better maternal/fetal outcomes. | [
2,
216
] |
Low-Power Noise-Immune Nanoscale Circuit Design Using Coding-Based Partial MRF Method. Reliability is one of the major concerns for ultralow power circuit designs. Markov random field (MRF) techniques have been applied to logic circuits to resist random noise when operating under ultralow supply voltage or sub-threshold voltage. Although conventional MRF networks can be easily mapped onto simple logic circuits, it becomes difficult when the circuits are large and complex. In this paper, we present a general coding-based partial MRF (CPMRF) method for multi-logic operations in one basic unit, which is referred to as a CPMRF pair. A CPMRF pair saves circuit area by sharing a common MRF network. It also inherits noise immunity from the MRF theory while obtaining noise immunity from the coding structure as a combination of robust \\'1s\\' and \\'0s.\\' The resulting architectures become more cost effective than conventional ones. To validate the performance of our proof-of-concept design, we fabricated a carry-lookahead adder implemented by the proposed CPMRF pairs using IBM 130-nm CMOS technology. Measurement results indicate that the CPMRF CLA can achieve high noise tolerance with 20% improvement while occupying 37.7% less area and reducing power consumption by 93% compared with the master-and-slave MRF CLA design. | [
8,
182
] |
Calibrating the Scientific Ecosystem Through Meta-Research. While some scientists study insects, molecules, brains, or clouds, other scientists study science itself. Meta-research, or research-on-research, is a burgeoning discipline that investigates efficiency, quality, and bias in the scientific ecosystem, topics that have become especially relevant amid widespread concerns about the credibility of the scientific literature. Meta-research may help calibrate the scientific ecosystem toward higher standards by providing empirical evidence that informs the iterative generation and refinement of reform initiatives. We introduce a translational framework that involves (a) identifying problems, (b) investigating problems, (c) developing solutions, and (d) evaluating solutions. In each of these areas, we review key meta-research endeavors and discuss several examples of prior and ongoing work. The scientific ecosystem is perpetually evolving; the discipline of meta-research presents an opportunity to use empirical evidence to guide its development and maximize its potential. | [
2,
166
] |
An Association between Neutrophils and Immunoglobulin Free Light Chains in the Pathogenesis of Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease. Conclusions: This study describes for the first time an association between neutrophils and IgLC in the pathophysiology of COPD, which could open new avenues to targeted treatment of this chronic disease.Methods: We investigated the presence of IgLC in different murine lung emphysema models. IgLC levels in serum from mice and patients with COPD were examined by Western blot analysis and ELISA, respectively. IgLC levels in lung tissue were determined by immunohistochemistry. Fluorescence-activated cell sorter and immunofluorescent analysis were used to detect binding between IgLC and human neutrophils. Interleukin-8 (CXCL8) release by neutrophils after IgLC incubation was measured by ELISA. The effect of F991, an IgLC antagonist, was examined on the neutrophil influx in murine lungs after 5 days of smoke exposure.Rationale: Neutrophils are key players in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), and increased numbers of neutrophils are present in sputum and lung tissue of patients with COPD. Interestingly, immunoglobulin free light chains (IgLC) are able to prolong the life of neutrophils; therefore, IgLC may contribute to the chronic state of inflammation.Measurements and Main Results: Increased levels of IgLC in serum of cigarette smoke-exposed and cigarette smoke extract-treated mice compared with control mice were observed. Patients with COPD showed increased serum IgLC and expression of IgLC in lung tissue compared with healthy volunteers. Interestingly, IgLC bound to neutrophils and activated neutrophils to release CXCL8. F991 inhibited the IgLC binding to neutrophils and reduced the smoke-induced neutrophil influx in murine lungs after smoke exposure.Objectives: In this study, the relation between IgLC and COPD has been investigated. | [
2,
158
] |
How were new medicines discovered?. Preclinical strategies that are used to identify potential drug candidates include target-based screening, phenotypic screening, modification of natural substances and biologic-based approaches. To investigate whether some strategies have been more successful than others in the discovery of new drugs, we analysed the discovery strategies and the molecular mechanism of action (MMOA) for new molecular entities and new biologics that were approved by the US Food and Drug Administration between 1999 and 2008. Out of the 259 agents that were approved, 75 were first-in-class drugs with new MMOAs, and out of these, 50 (67%) were small molecules and 25 (33%) were biologics. The results also show that the contribution of phenotypic screening to the discovery of first-in-class small-molecule drugs exceeded that of target-based approaches-with 28 and 17 of these drugs coming from the two approaches, respectively-in an era in which the major focus was on target-based approaches. We postulate that a target-centric approach for first-in-class drugs, without consideration of an optimal MMOA, may contribute to the current high attrition rates and low productivity in pharmaceutical research and development. | [
2,
166
] |
Stability analysis of inertial navigation system-aided phase-lock-loop via an integral quadratic constraint approach. To satisfy the increasingly challenging specifications in terms of accuracy and availability of the positioning and velocity solution, especially in scenarios where reliable and robust navigation is needed, a novel inertial navigation system (INS) aiding Doppler estimator based on the extend Kalman filter was present. Via integral quadratic constraints approach, the absolute stability conditions of the global positioning system carrier tracking loop aided by INS aiding Doppler estimator are derived in order to ensure reliable and robust navigation performance for practical engineering application. The performance of the third-order carrier tracking loop aided by the proposed INS aiding Doppler estimator was evaluated in the high dynamic flight trajectory and low carrier-to-noise ratio scenarios. It is shown that INS aiding Doppler estimator can increase the receiver's robustness in high dynamics when the proposed absolute stability conditions are satisfied. | [
7,
162
] |
Inflammation is associated with a worsening of presbycusis: Evidence from the MRC national study of hearing. Objective: Inflammaging, a state of chronic inflammation in the elderly, is now thought to be a key element of the ageing process and contributor to age-related disease. In a previously published study, we identified a significant association between inflammation levels and severity of presbycusis among individuals aged 63 to 73 (\\'younger old\\') within an available audiometric range 0.5 to 4 kHz. Our aim was to see if this association would be identified among participants in the MRC national study of hearing, and whether the strength of the association would increase with greater age, or for very low or very high audiometric frequencies. Design: Cross-sectional analysis of cohort data. Study sample: Three hundred and sixty community-dwelling adults age 60 years and over, representing all those with white blood cell count and audiometric data available. Results: A significant independent association between (higher) WBC and (worse) hearing level was identified. This effect increased with age. The strongest association was among those over 75, for whom average hearing threshold levels among those with lower WBC was 17 dB better than those with higher WBC. Conclusions: The current findings support an association between inflammaging (a condition potentially amenable to pharmacological treatment or lifestyle management) and presbycusis. | [
2,
122
] |
Epidermal Growth Factor Receptor Status in Stages of Resected Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer Implications for Treatment with Epidermal Growth Factor Receptor Inhibitors. RESULTS: Samples from 423 patients were available for EGFR analysis. EGFR expression and a stronger intensity of staining were associated with a trend for a worse prognosis in the analysis of all of the patients. The sub-group analysis showed no prognostic significance in stages I and II but a significantly longer survival in patients with advanced disease (stage III and particularly N2) overexpressing EGFR.OBJECTIVE: To verify whether epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) status could be considered a prognostic factor and assessment of it an effective tool for planning therapy in patients with non small cell lung cancer (NSCLC).STUDY DESIGN: From 1996 to 2001, 439 patients un-derwent radical surgery for NSCLC at the Polytechnic University of the Marche Region. EGFR expression was detected as membranous and/or cytoplasmic staining of neoplastic cells with various intensity and was considered positive when >= 1% of the tumor cells had membranous staining.CONCLUSION: The results of our study, showing a significantly longer survival in patients with advanced disease (stage III, particularly N2) overexpressing EGFR, present a new perspective, both for prognostic evaluation of patients with radically resected NSCLC and for the management of adjuvant treatment also employing targeted therapy. (Anal Quant Cytol Histol 2011;33:196-204) | [
2,
157
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Transepicondylar line and condylar line as parameters for axial alignment in knee arthroplasty. In order to investigate the reliability of the transepicondylar line and the condylar line as indicators for lower limb alignment in knee arthroplasty, the femorotibial angle (FTA), and the angle between the transepicondylar line and the tangential line of tibial plateau (angle epsilon) and condylar-plateau angle (CPA) were measured in 107 (78 patients) full-length standing X-ray films of lower limbs. The mean FTA was measured to be 178.0+/-9.3degrees, the CPA 1.5+/-8.5degrees and angle epsilon -0.8+/-8.5degrees. The correlation between FTA and the CPA was analyzed to be significant with a correlation coefficient of 0.63, while another correlation between FTA and angle epsilon was calculated to be significant with a correlation coefficient of 0.81 at the same time. As a result, the correlation of the latter one was highly significant, having a R-2 value of 0.648 (P<0.001), while the R-2 of the former was only 0.397 (P<0.001). In conclusion, the transepicondylar line could be considered as a more reliable indicator for lower limb alignment, which may play an important role in ligament balancing and improvement of the guiding system in knee arthroplasty. (C) 2003 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved. | [
2,
226
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Comparison of the protective effects of Scrophularia striata extract with vitamin E on cognitive function, anxiety and pain sensitivity in diazinon-exposed male rats. Results: Our findings indicated that exposure to DZN caused a significant decrease in memory retention and an increase in anxiety-like behaviors. S. striata and Vit. E administration compensated memory and emotional impairments induced by DZN. As well as, S. striata alone decreased reaction time against thermal stimulus in the hot plate test. The findings of the present study also indicated that exposure to DZN significantly decreased body weight, while S. striata and Vit. E consumption restored it.Methods: Neuroprotective effects of S. striata (30mg/kg, 5 days/week for 8 weeks) and Vit. E (200mg/kg, 5 days/week for 8 weeks, IP) were assessed through changes in memory, anxiety-like behaviors and pain threshold following DZN exposure. Open field, shuttle box and hot plate were used to examine anxiety-like behaviors, passive avoidance learning and memory as well as pain sensitivity, respectively.Conclusion: Results of our study indicated the protective effects of S. striata consumption like Vit. E against DZN-induced disruptions in anxiety, cognitive function and body weight loss.Introduction: Scrophularia striata is used in traditional medicine to treat various disorders and has neuroprotective effects. There are no studies about the effects of S. striata on cognitive functions in diazinon (DZN)- exposed rats. According to the results of previous studies, vitamin E (Vit. E) can also act as a protective agent against cognitive impairments. Therefore, the present study was designed to compare the effects of Vit. E and S. striata on DZN-induced behavioral impairments in male rats. | [
5,
247
] |
Genetic diagnosis in Lafora disease - Genotype-phenotype correlations and diagnostic pitfalls. Lafora disease ( LD) can be diagnosed by skin biopsy, but this approach has both false negatives and false positives. Biopsies of other organs can also be diagnostic but are more invasive. Genetic diagnosis is also possible but can be inconclusive, for example, in patients with only one heterozygous EPM2A mutation and patients with apparently homozygous EPM2B mutations where one parent is not a carrier of the mutation. We sought to identify occult mutations and clarify the genotypes and confirm the diagnosis of LD in patients with apparent nonrecessive disease inheritance. We used single nucleotide polymorphism, quantitative PCR, and fluorescent in situ hybridization analyses. We identified large EPM2A and EPM2B deletions undetectable by PCR in the heterozygous state and describe simple methods for their routine detection. We report a coding sequence change in several patients and describe why the pathogenic role of this change remains unclear. We confirm that adult-onset LD is due to EPM2B mutations. Finally, we report major intrafamilial heterogeneity in age at onset in LD. | [
2,
159
] |
A periodically forced, piecewise linear system, Part II: The fragmentation mechanism of strange attractors and grazing. In the first part of this work, the local singularity of non-smooth dynamical systems was discussed and the criteria for the grazing bifurcation were presented mathematically. In this part, the fragmentation mechanism of strange attractors in non-smooth dynamical systems is investigated. The periodic motion transition is completed through grazing. The concepts for the initial and final grazing, switching manifolds are introduced for six basic mappings. The fragmentation of strange attractors in non-smooth dynamical systems is described mathematically. The fragmentation mechanism of the strange attractor for such a non-smooth dynamical system is qualitatively discussed. Such a fragmentation of the strange attractor is illustrated numerically. The criteria and topological structures for the fragmentation of the strange attractor need to be further developed as in hyperbolic strange attractors. The fragmentation of the strange attractors extensively exists in non-smooth dynamical systems, which will help us better understand chaotic motions in non-smooth dynamical systems. (C) 2005 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved. | [
4,
89
] |
Merging the catechol-TiO2 complex photocatalyst with TEMPO for selective aerobic oxidation of amines into imines. Catechol and its derivatives are model compounds used to investigate the binding dynamics and photoinduced interfacial charge transfer events between an organic molecule and TiO2. However, the practical potential of this process has received little attention in part due to the conceived instability of these molecules on TiO2 under light irradiation. Herein, we present a new paradigm for selective oxidation of amines into imines with atmospheric O-2 by exploring the surface complexation of catechol derivatives on TiO2 which gives rise to visible-light-induced events of charge transfer. Our success depends on the merger of visible light photocatalysis of catechol surface-complexed TiO2 with TEMPO catalysis. With 5 mol% of TEMPO as the co-catalyst and the catechol-TiO2 complex (containing 0.8 mol% of catechol) as the photocatalyst, amines can be efficiently oxidized into imines with atmospheric O-2 under irradiation of blue light emitting diodes. Our work suggests that a suitable co-catalyst is the key to significantly expand the scope of visible light photocatalysis for selective chemical transformations. | [
1,
239
] |
Characterization of etch pits found on a large-grain bulk niobium superconducting radio-frequency resonant cavity. The performance of superconducting radio-frequency (SRF) resonant cavities made of bulk niobium is limited by nonlinear localized effects. Surface analysis of regions of higher power dissipation is thus of intense interest. Such areas (referred to as \\'hotspots'') were identified in a large-grain single-cell cavity that had been buffered-chemical polished and dissected for examination by high resolution electron microscopy, electron backscattered diffraction microscopy (EBSD), and optical microscopy. Pits with clearly discernible crystal facets were observed in both \\'hotspot'' and \\'coldspot'' specimens. The pits were found in-grain, at bicrystal boundaries, and on tricrystal junctions. They are interpreted as etch pits induced by crystal defects (e.g. dislocations). All coldspots examined had a qualitatively lower density of etch pits or relatively smooth tricrystal boundary junctions. EBSD mapping revealed the crystal orientation surrounding the pits. Locations with high pit density are correlated with higher mean values of the local average misorientation angle distributions, indicating a higher geometrically necessary dislocation content. In addition, a survey of the samples by energy dispersive x-ray analysis did not show any significant contamination of the samples' surface. The local magnetic field enhancement produced by the sharp-edge features observed on the samples is not sufficient to explain the observed degradation of the cavity quality factor, which starts at peak surface magnetic field as low as 20 mT. | [
6,
147
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Visible and near-infrared optical properties of chalcogenide glass waveguides formed by swift Kr ion irradiation. Planar waveguide structures in chalcogenide glass were fabricated with 17 MeV or 150 MeV swift Kr ion irradiation. Images of the polished end faces of the Kr-irradiated chalcogenide glass were measured with a metallographic microscope using reflected polarized light. SRIM 2010 was used to simulate the electronic and nuclear stopping powers for swift Kr ion irradiation. The micro-Raman spectra were measured in air. The near-field intensity distributions were investigated at visible (633 nm) and near-infrared (1300 nm, 1500 nm, 1539 nm and 1620 nm) bands. These intensity distributions make the waveguide candidates for infrared laser devices. The estimated propagation loss of the waveguide fabricated by 150 MeV swift Kr ion irradiation was approximately 4 dB/cm at a wavelength of 633 nm. (C) 2013 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved. | [
6,
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Role of Ga-68-DOTATATE PET/CT in patients with multiple endocrine neoplasia type 1 (MEN1). Multiple endocrine neoplasia type 1 (MEN1) is a hereditary syndrome predisposing to many endocrine and neuroendocrine tumors (NET). Conventional imaging (CI) cannot provide satisfactory results for all the different types of MEN1-related tumors. Objective of this prospective observational study was to evaluate the role of Ga-68-DOTATATE PET/CT in MEN1 compared to CI. Diagnostic performance of Ga-68-DOTATATE PET/CT for the detection of NET was evaluated as well as the prognostic role of SUVmax. Eighteen patients with genetically confirmed MEN1 were evaluated by Ga-68-DOTATATE PET/CT, endoscopic ultrasounds, multidetector-row computed tomography, magnetic resonance imaging, and hormone/markers serum measurements. Four MEN1-related tumor sites (pancreas, pituitary, parathyroids, adrenals) were considered. Sensitivity and specificity of Ga-68-DOTATATE PET/CT for the detection of NET were calculated. There was Ga-68-DOTATATE PET/CT uptake in 11/11 patients with pancreatic lesions, in 9/12 with pituitary adenoma, in 5/15 with parathyroid enlargements, and in 5/7 with adrenal lesions. Ga-68-DOTATATE PET/CT showed sensitivity and specificity of 100 and 100 % in pancreas, 75 and 83 % in pituitary, 28 and 100 % in parathyroids, and 62.5 and 100 % in adrenals, respectively. Compared with CI, no significant difference in sensitivity for pancreas, pituitary, and adrenals was found, while CI had a better sensitivity for parathyroids (p = 0.002). On the ROC analysis, progression of pancreatic lesions was significantly associated to SUVmax < 12.3 (p < 0.05). Ga-68-DOTATATE PET/CT is greatly helpful in the work-up of MEN1 providing a panoramic view of MEN1-related lesions. There is also a prognostic role of Ga-68-PET in patients with MEN1-pancreatic lesions. | [
2,
201
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The Rise and Expansion of Research in Media Economics. Media economics is the study of choices, what incentives and disincentives influence them, and how to make better choices to inform company decisions, public understanding, and policymaking. The present paper reviews the development of the field since the beginning in the 1970s with scholars such as Alfonso Nieto at the University of Navarra, Nadine Toussaint-Desmoulins at the University of Paris 2, and Karl Erik Gustafsson at the University of Gothenburg to the emerging of the field with more scholars from different countries. Nowadays the field of media economics research has matured and become multifaceted, encompassing a wide variety of theories and approaches necessary to explore multiple developments and issues in media structures and operations. It is particularly relevant because media and communications are amid a massive transformation created by technology, social changes, and changes in demand. Expansion of commercial media and personal communications, new means of production and distribution, and new economic arrangements are altering well established relationship and interactions in media. This situation requires clear mindedness and knowledge to comprehend the developments and to develop the best individual, firm, and social responses to the challenges arising from the changes. | [
3,
63
] |
Risk factors for pneumothorax and bleeding after CT-guided percutaneous coaxial cutting needle biopsy of lung lesions. PURPOSE: To evaluate risk factors for pneumothorax and bleeding,after computed tomography (CT)-guided percutaneous coaxial cutting needle biopsy of lung lesions.MATERIALS AND METHODS: This study involved 117 consecutive, patients with 117 intrapulmonary lesions. Statistical analysis of factors related to patient characteristics, lung lesions, and biopsy technique was performed to determine possible contribution to the occurrence of pneumothorax and bleeding. Interactions between related factors were considered to prevent colinearity.RESULTS: Pneumothorax occurred in 12% (14 of 117) of patients. Needle aspiration of two moderate asymptomatic pneumothoraces were performed; there was no chest tube insertion. Lesion depth (P = .0097), measured from the pleural puncture site to the edge of the intrapulmonary lesion along the needle path, was the single significant predictor of pneumothorax. The highest risk of pneumothorax occurred in subpleural lesions 2 cm or shorter in depth (this represented 33% of lung lesions but caused 71% of all pneumothoraces; OR = 7.1; 95% Cl, 1.3-50.8). Bleeding presented as lung parenchyma hemorrhage and hemoptysis in 30 patients (26%). Hemoptysis occurred in four patients (3%). Univariate analysis identified lesion depth (P < .0001), lesion size (P < .015), and pathology type (P = .007) as risk factors for bleeding. Multivariate logistic regression analysis identified lesion depth as the most important risk factor, with the highest bleeding risk for lesions more than 2 cm deep (14% of lesions caused 46% of all bleeding; OR = 17.3; 95% CI, 3.3-121.4).CONCLUSIONS: In CT-guided coaxial cutting needle biopsy, lesion depth is the single predictor for risk of pneumothorax, which occurs at the highest rate in subpleural lesions. Increased risk of bleeding occurs in lesions deeper than 2 cm. | [
2,
157
] |
Carcinogenesis and environment: the cancer stem cell hypothesis and implications for the development of novel therapeutics and diagnostics. Stem cell research has greatly contributed to the field of oncology with the identification and isolation of cancer stem cells from a variety of tumors. The discovery of rare subpopulations of cancer stem cells has indeed entirely changed the focus of cancer research. Normal adult stem cells and cancer stem cells can both self-renew and undergo a differentiation program that, in turn, gives rise to a high number of differentiated cells. Adult stem cells and their malignant counterparts share almost all of the same intrinsic and extrinsic factors to regulate self-renewal, differentiation and proliferation pathways. Fractions of normal and cancer stem cells are naturally more resistant to toxic injuries than any other cell type. Overall, these observations lead to the conclusion that adult stem or progenitor cells can eventually become malignant by generating cancer stem cells, which are responsible for the development and maintenance of the tumor mass. In addition, chemo-resistant cancer stem cells may cause the relapse of the disease following an apparent beneficial treatment. Indeed, the study of the biology of cancer stem cells might lead to the improvement of preventive cancer diagnosis and to the development of novel therapeutics, which must be designed to selectively target malignant stem cells without affecting normal adult stem cells. | [
2,
185
] |
Advancing necessarily askew': The Technology of Mourning in Joan Didion's The Year of Magical Thinking. I take up the concept of mourning as what Derrida calls \\'work\\': an active labour that is nonetheless construed as automatic, and therefore technological. Through a discussion of Joan Didion's The Year of Magical Thinking, I suggest that mourning requires an oscillation in which looking back also means confronting, head-on, the inescapability of death. | [
0,
309
] |
Fluctuation-Enhanced Sensing With Zero-Crossing Analysis for High-Speed and Low-Power Applications. A new method to generate fingerprints of chemical agents has been introduced in this paper. The method is based on the use of the zero-crossing statistics at fluctuation-enhanced sensing. It is a new version of Ben Kedem's original method based on low-pass filters. To improve computation time and energy efficiency, high-pass filtering is used, and in doing this in the simplest possible way, local zero levels for short-time subwindows are defined and a zero-crossing counting by the use of such windows is carried out. The method turns out to be an effective tool to identify noise processes with different spectra or amplitude distribution, with at least 1000 times less calculation and correspondingly lower energy need than that of the Kedem or the fast Fourier transform methods. We demonstrate the usability of the method by the analysis and recognition of different stochastic processes with similar and different spectra. | [
5,
282
] |
Validation and reliability of the Turkish Utian Quality-of-Life Scale in postmenopausal women. Objective:There are a limited number of menopause-specific quality-of-life scales for the Turkish population. This study was conducted to evaluate the validity and reliability of the Turkish Utian Quality-of-Life Scale in postmenopausal women.Methods:The study group was comprised of 250 postmenopausal women who applied to a training and research hospital's menopause clinic in Turkey. A survey form and the Turkish Utian quality-of-Life Scale were used to collect data, and the Turkish version of Short Form-36 was used to evaluate reliability with an equivalent form. Language-validity, content-validity, and construct-validity methods were used to assess the validity of the scale, and Cronbach's coefficient calculation and the equivalent-form reliability methods were used to assess the reliability of the scale.Results:The Turkish Utian Quality-of-Life Scale was determined to be a valid and reliable instrument for measuring the quality of life of postmenopausal women. Confirmatory factor analysis demonstrates that the instrument fits well with 23 items and a four-factor model. The Cronbach's coefficient for the quality-of-life domains were as follows: 0.88 overall, 0.79 health, 0.78 emotional, 0.76 sexual, and 0.75 occupational. Reliability of the instrument was confirmed through significant correlations between scores on the Turkish version of the Utian Quality-of-Life Scale and the Turkish version of the Short Form-36 (r=0.745, P<0.001).Conclusions:This research emphasizes that the Turkish Utian Quality-of-Life Scale is reliable and valid in postmenopausal womenit is a useful instrument for measuring quality of life during menopause. | [
2,
130
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Surface Properties of Heat-Induced Soluble Soy Protein Aggregates of Different Molecular Masses. Practical Application Heating is a common physical practice in soy protein processing and applications. Transforming soy polypeptides into soluble aggregates is a modification shown to improve foaming and emulsifying properties. This work can inspire food ingredient manufacturers to continue the exploration of special functional characteristics of soy proteins through simple thermal aggregation treatments.Suspensions (2% and 5%, w/v) of soy protein isolate (SPI) were heated at 80, 90, or 100 degrees C for different time periods to produce soluble aggregates of different molecular sizes to investigate the relationship between particle size and surface properties (emulsions and foams). Soluble aggregates generated in these model systems were characterized by gel permeation chromatography and sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis. Heat treatment increased surface hydrophobicity, induced SPI aggregation via hydrophobic interaction and disulfide bonds, and formed soluble aggregates of different sizes. Heating of 5% SPI always promoted large-size aggregate (LA; >1000 kDa) formation irrespective of temperature, whereas the aggregate size distribution in 2% SPI was temperature dependent: the LA fraction progressively rose with temperature (8090100 degrees C), corresponding to the attenuation of medium-size aggregates (MA; 670 to 1000 kDa) initially abundant at 80 degrees C. Heated SPI with abundant LA (>50%) promoted foam stability. LA also exhibited excellent emulsifying activity and stabilized emulsions by promoting the formation of small oil droplets covered with a thick interfacial protein layer. However, despite a similar influence on emulsion stability, MA enhanced foaming capacity but were less capable of stabilizing emulsions than LA. The functionality variation between heated SPI samples is clearly related to the distribution of aggregates that differ in molecular size and surface activity. The findings may encourage further research to develop functional SPI aggregates for various commercial applications. | [
5,
108
] |
Molecular Diagnosis of Abdominal Armillifer grandis Pentastomiasis in the Democratic Republic of Congo. Pentastomiasis is an emerging snake-borne parasitic zoonosis in the tropics. We describe a molecular and morphological study to diagnose a cluster of asymptomatic abdominal human infections caused by Armillifer grandis. The findings may indicate a silent epidemic in a rural area where severe symptomatic ocular cases with the same parasite species have recently surfaced. Molecular diagnostics are of increasing importance when patient material from remote areas cannot be thoroughly examined locally for logistic reasons. | [
2,
231
] |
Large-scale motions and inner/outer layer interactions in turbulent Couette-Poiseuille flows. We investigate the organization of the momentum-carrying eddies in turbulent Couette-Poiseuille flows. The study relies on a direct numerical simulation (DNS) database covering a wide range of flow configurations from pure Couette to pure Poiseuille flows, at Re-tau approximate to 250 (based on the flow properties at the stationary wall). The study highlights the occurrence of streaky patterns of alternating high and low momentum throughout the channel for all flow configurations, except near zeros of the mean shear, where streaks are suppressed. The mean streak spacing shows a relatively universal distribution in the core of the channel, where it ranges from 50 to 100 local viscous units. The validity of the local viscous scaling in collapsing flow features at different wall distances is confirmed by the analysis of the spanwise velocity spectra, which also highlights (in the case of Couette-like flows) the onset of a secondary low-wavenumber flow mode, superposed on the high-wavenumber flow mode that is responsible for the inner-layer dynamics. The effect of the former mode on the latter is studied by means of the two-point amplitude modulation coefficient, which brings to light a nonlinear modulation phenomenon. Physical mechanisms to explain the modulation effect are proposed, based on the interpretation of the conditional average events. Note that, although similar mechanisms have been previously observed in high-Reynolds-number turbulent boundary layers and channels, the modulation effect is here rather associated with the intrinsic large-scale dynamics of Couette-like flows, and takes place at DNS-accessible Reynolds numbers. We thus believe that the study of Couette-like flows may give an alternative avenue for probing inner/outer interaction effects than canonical channel flows. | [
9,
181
] |
Mancozeb-induced behavioral deficits precede structural neural degeneration. Manganese-containing fungicides like Mancozeb have been associated with neurodegenerative conditions like Parkinson's disease. We examined the behavioral damage and differential neuronal vulnerability resulting from Mancozeb exposure using Caenorhabditis elegans, an important mid-trophic level soil organism that is also a powerful model for studying mechanisms of environmental pollutant-induced neurodegenerative disease. The dopamine-mediated swim to crawl locomotory transition behavior is exquisitely vulnerable to Mancozeb, with functional impairment preceding markers of neuronal structural damage. The damage is partially rescued in mutants lacking the divalent metal transporter, SMF-1, demonstrating that some, but not all, of the damage is mediated by manganese. Increasing concentrations of Mancozeb recruit additional behavioral dysfunction, notably serotonin-mediated egg-laying behavior, but without evident serotonergic neuronal structural damage. Thus, measurements of behavioral dysfunction are a sensitive early marker of fungicide toxicity that could be exploited to examine further mechanisms of neuron damage and possible therapeutic interventions. These results also provide important insight into the consequences of fungicide use on the ecological behavior of nematodes. (c) 2012 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. | [
2,
156
] |
Visual analog scales in formats other than a 10 centimeter horizontal line to assess pain and other clinical data. Conclusion. A 21 numbered circle VAS may be a desirable alternative to a 10 cm horizontal line, yielding similar results and requiring less than half the time to score.Methods. The MDHAQ with VAS for pain and global estimate was completed by each patient at each visit. VAS formats other than a traditional (unnumbered) 10 cm horizontal line based on 21 circles at 0.5 intervals were analyzed. Formats included unnumbered, symbol at the 11th circle, numbers and/or squares (instead of circles) at selected intermittent scores, and numbers at each circle. Analyses were performed to study the time to score MDHAQ with different VAS formats, possible \\'clustering\\' of responses in any format, particularly with intermittent numbers and/or symbols, and test-retest reliability of various formats.Objective. To analyze visual analog scales (VAS) for pain and patient global estimate on a Multidimensional Health Assessment Questionnaire (MDHAQ) in formats other than a traditional 10 cm horizontal line, designed to facilitate scoring on MDHAQ in usual clinical care.Results. The median time to score MDHAQ with a 10 cm line VAS was 15.6 seconds, compared to 7.4 seconds for the 21 numbered circle VAS. No other format was scored in fewer seconds. Clustering was seen for scores of VAS formats with intermittent numbers or symbols, which rendered them unsuitable for use. No clustering was seen for the 21 numbered circle VAS format, for which test-retest agreement was significant, and similar to the 10 cm line VAS format. | [
2,
269
] |
Amanita griseofnsca: A new species of Amanita in section Vaginatae from Malam Jabba, Swat, Pakistan. A new species, Amanita griseofusca in section Vaginatae is described and illustrated here from Pakistan. Distinguishing characters of the new species include medium-sized basidiomata, greyish brown pilcus surface with white to beige, membranous volval remnants present as one (large) to a few (small) warts, close lamellae which are cream colored with a pink tone, striations one third of the total pileus radius, broadly ellipsoidal to ellipsoidal basidiospores and white loose saccate volva turning beige at maturity. Molecular data inferred from partial nuc rDNA internal transcribed spacer region (ITS), partial nuc rDNA larger subunit region (LSU) and partial translation elongation factor 1-alpha (teff) confirms the novelty of the present taxon. | [
5,
249
] |
Reliability and responsiveness of incremental shuttle walk test to estimate exercise capacity in patients with pulmonary arterial hypertension. The purpose of the present study was to evaluate the reliability and responsiveness of the incremental shuttle walk test (ISWT) to estimate exercise capacity in patients with pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH). This was a cross-sectional longitudinal study performed on stable PAH patients (n=30, mean age +/- standard deviation, 60 +/- 13.6 years) with World Health Organization functional class II & III. Reliability was assessed by comparing the distance covered between ISWT-1 (initial) and ISWT-2 (retest). Responsiveness was determined by comparing the distance covered in the ISWT-3 post pulmonary rehabilitation (PR) to the ISWT-1. The distance covered between ISWT-1 (177 +/- 87.85 m) and ISWT-2 (191.67 +/- 96.39 m) was not statistically significant. The result of the relative reliability has shown to be excellent with an intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC2,1 = 0.98, 95%CI = 0.95-0.99). Absolute reliability was evaluated through the standard error of the measurement and minimal detectable change at a 95% confidence interval (MDC95) were 12.29 and 33.9 m, respectively. Bland Altman plot showed good agreement between the two ISWTs. Following PR, the effect size (ES=0.78) and standardised response mean (SRM=1.50) were moderate and large respectively. ISWT is considered to be a reliable and responsive measure to estimate exercise capacity in patients with PAH. The ISWT may be considered a suitable alternative tool over a 6-min walk test and in the absence of equipment availability or expertise for conducting cardiopulmonary exercise test for the assessment of exercise capacity in these patients. | [
2,
16
] |
EFFECTS OF ETHANOL, CAFFEINE, AND CLORAZEPATE ON HYPERTONIC NACL SOLUTION INTAKE IN RATS. Previous reports indicate that several anxiolytics enhance the intake of hypertonic saline in rehydrating rats. This experiment was conducted to determine the effects of repeated (5 sessions) injection (i.p.) of ethanol (0.4 or 0.8 g/kg), caffeine (20 or 40 mg/kg) or clorazepate (3 mg/kg) on the ingestion of hypertonic saline (1,8%) in water-deprived rats. Saline intake increased with the acute administration of both clorazepate and ethanol (two doses), but it decreased with caffeine (two doses). It seems that the increase or decrease of hypertonic saline ingestion following acute drug administration continues to correlate well with anxiolytic or anxiogenic actions. However, following repeated administration of caffeine and ethanol, the effects on saline intake were not maintained in a reliable manner. | [
2,
204
] |
Real-world data on eslicarbazepine acetate as add-on to antiepileptic monotherapy. Objective - To assess retention, tolerability, and safety, efficacy and effects on quality of life (QoL) of eslicarbazepine acetate (ESL) addon treatment over 6 months in a real-world adult population with partial-onset seizures. Methods - This non-interventional, multicenter, prospective study was performed in eight European countries. Adult patients (n = 247) for whom the physician had decided to initiate ESL as add-on to an existing antiepileptic drug (AED) monotherapy were invited to participate. The study comprised three visits: baseline, and after 3 and 6 months. Data on ESL retention, efficacy, tolerability, safety, and QoL were collected. Results - After 6 months, the retention rate of ESL was 82.2%, and 81.8% of patients reported a reduction of seizure frequency of at least 50%; 39.2% of patients reported seizure freedom at this time. The mean QOLIE-10 score improved from 2.9 (SD +/- 0.8) at baseline to 2.1 (SD +/- 0.8) after 6 months. 109 adverse events (AEs) were reported in 57 patients (26.0%); the majority were rated as related to ESL by the investigator and led to a discontinuation of ESL in 25 patients (11.4%). Eight patients (3.7%) suffered at least one serious AE. The most frequently reported AEs were dizziness, headache, convulsion, and fatigue. Conclusions - This study shows that ESL was well tolerated and efficacious as add-on therapy to one baseline AED. The use of ESL in patients less refractory than those included in previous clinical trials led to higher responder and seizure freedom rates. No new safety issues were observed. | [
2,
103
] |
RATE-DETERMINING STEPS IN PENICILLOPEPSIN-CATALYZED REACTIONS. The hydrolysis of Ac-(Ala)2-Lys-Nph-(Ala)2-amide (II) by penicillopepsin is characterized by a solvent isotope effect of 2.11, whereas the hydrolysis of Ac-Lys-Nph-amide (I) shows no solvent isotope effect. The dependence of the isotope effect on the concentration of D2O in H2O for substrate II is not linear and suggests that two or more protons are involved in its rate-determining step. We propose that for substrate I the rate-determining step is the distortion of the scissile bond towards a tetrahedral configuration, and for substrate II a conformational change induced by the occupation of the S3 pocket in the enzyme. | [
5,
175
] |
Omeprazole Reduces Calcium Digestibility in Thoroughbred Horses. Proton pump inhibitors such as omeprazole reduce nutrient digestibility in humans. This study determined the effect of omeprazole on the digestibility of diets containing limestone or marine-derived calcium (BMC) and to assess changes in blood parameters associated with gastric acid production and calcium status in horses. Thoroughbreds were used to evaluate the digestibility of diets containing different calcium sources with or without omeprazole over four 21-day periods. Each 21-day period had a 15-day diet adaptation phase followed by a 6-day collection phase, consisting of a 5-day total fecal collection period and a final day for gastroscopy and blood sampling. Horses were fed the same diet with either 60 g/d BMC or 50 g/d limestone, so the total diet provided similar to 45 g calcium. Horses on omeprazole were given GastroGard once daily for the final 14 day of each 21-day period, which supplied 3.91 +/- 0.17 mg/kg BW/d of omeprazole. On day 21, blood samples were taken and gastric fluid pH was measured 8 hour after omeprazole administration. Omeprazole had a profound effect on gastric fluid pH in omeprazole-treated horses compared with nontreated horses. Serum gastrin doubled in omeprazole-treated horses compared with nontreated horses. Omeprazole and calcium source did not affect digestibility of phosphorus, magnesium, potassium, sodium, iron, copper, zinc, or manganese but did affect calcium digestibility. Omeprazole reduced apparent calcium digestibility from 52.0% to 41.4% in limestone and from 55.1% to 46.5% in BMC, equalling a 20.3% and 15.6% decrease in calcium digestibility in the limestone and BMC, respectively. Mineral source had a significant effect on calcium digestibility with BMC at 50.8% and limestone at 46.7%. (C) 2019 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. | [
2,
114
] |
Nanovesicle-mediated systemic delivery of microRNA-34a for CD44 overexpressing gastric cancer stem cell therapy. The cancer stem cell (CSC) hypothesis postulates that cancer cells overexpressing CD44 are marked as CSCs that cause tumorigenesis and recurrence. This hypothesis suggests that CD44 is a potential therapeutic target that can interfere with CSCs qualities. MicroRNA-34a (miR-34a) is a promising candidate for CD44 repression-based cancer therapy as it has been reported to inhibit proliferation, metastasis, and survival of CD44-positive CSC5. Here, we used nanovesicles containing PLI/miR complexes (NVs/miR) to systemically deliver miR-34a and induce miR-34a-triggered CD44 suppression in orthotopically and subcutaneously implanted tumors in nude mice. Poly(L-lysine-graft-imidazole) (PLI) condenses miRs and is functionally modified to deliver miRs to the site of action by buffering effect of imidazole residues under endosomal pH. Indeed, NVs/miR consisting of PEGylated lipids enveloping PLI/miR complexes greatly reduced inevitable toxicity of polycations by compensating their surface charge and markedly improved their in vivo stability and accumulation to tumor tissue compared to PLI/miR polyplexes. Our NVs-mediated miR-34a delivery system specifically increased endogenous target miR levels, thereby attenuating proliferation and migration of gastric cancer cells by repressing the expression of CD44 with decreased levels of Bcl-2, Oct 3/4 and Nanog genes. Our strategy led to a greater therapeutic outcome than PLI-based delivery with highly selective tumor cell death and significantly delayed tumor growth in CD44-positive tumor-bearing mouse models, thus providing a fundamental therapeutic window for CSC5. (C) 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. | [
2,
178
] |
Effect of 1-hexene on the propylene polymerization with supported phthalate-free titanium-magnesium catalyst. The polymerization of propylene with small amounts of 1-hexene in the presence of supported titanium-magnesium catalyst containing two internal non-phthalate donors was accomplished. Polypropylene modification with small amounts of 1-hexene affects the thermophysical properties and molecular weight characteristics of the polymers. The activation mechanism of the reaction is described; the introduction of small amounts of 1-hexene causes an increase in activity by a factor of 1.5. | [
1,
304
] |
Mitteleuropa in East-Central Europe From Helsinki to EU Accession (1975-2004). The aim of this article is to provide a description, an analysis and an explanation of Mitteleuropa and of other closely related concepts, such as East-Central Europe. The first section briefly addresses the broad historiographical issues. The second addresses the more strictly political and intellectual history of the concept in the period between 1975 and 1989 while the third section will describe the evolution of the concept after the end of the Cold War. The final part outlines the future directions in which the concept will change. | [
0,
291
] |
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