Search

Funder: UCLH Biomedical Research Centre, There is a paucity of population-based data detailing the incidence and survival of patients with soft tissue sarcoma (STS), in part due to the heterogeneity of disease and changes to classification. Here, the incidence and survival of all STS subtypes registered in England between 2013 and 2017 were analysed using cancer registry data held by the National Cancer Registration and Analysis Service. Age-standardised incidence rates were calculated per 1 000 000 using the 2013 European Standard Population. Net survival was computed using Brenner's alternative method, with the Ederer II estimator. Age-specific overall survival was assessed using Kaplan-Meier. The influence of age, sex, socioeconomic deprivation and diagnostic routes on survival was assessed using Cox proportional hazards modelling. In total, 19 717 patients were diagnosed with STS, an average of 3943 patients per year and representing approximately 0.8% of malignancies. The most common histological diagnoses were Gastrointestinal Stromal Tumours (GIST), leiomyosarcoma and undifferentiated sarcoma, accounting for 20.2%, 13.3% and 12.7% of all sarcomas, respectively. Five-year net survival for all malignant STS was 65.0%; and was lowest for patients with vascular tumours at 39%. Patients from most deprived cohorts had 23% greater chance of dying within 5 years than patients in least deprived areas. This population-based study has allowed us for the first time to define the incidence and survival rates of prevalent STS subtypes in England such as GIST, liposarcoma and leiomyosarcoma, as well as rare entities and groups with inferior outcome. This data is invaluable for service provision, benchmarking and addressing inequality.

Histone modifications play crucial roles in transcriptional activation, and aberrant epigenetic changes are associated with oncogenesis. Lysine (K) acetyltransferases 5 (TIP60, also known as KAT5) is reportedly implicated in cancer development and maintenance, although its function in lung cancer remains controversial. Here we demonstrate that TIP60 knockdown in non-small cell lung cancer cell lines decreased tumor cell growth, migration, and invasion. Furthermore, analysis of a mouse lung cancer model with lung-specific conditional Tip60 knockout revealed suppressed tumor formation relative to controls, but no apparent effects on normal lung homeostasis. RNA-seq and ChIP-seq analyses of inducible TIP60 knockdown H1975 cells relative to controls revealed transglutaminase enzyme (TGM5) as downstream of TIP60. Investigation of a connectivity map database identified several candidate compounds that decrease TIP60 mRNA, one that suppressed tumor growth in cell culture and in vivo. In addition, TH1834, a TIP60 acetyltransferase inhibitor, showed comparable antitumor effects in cell culture and in vivo. Taken together, suppression of TIP60 activity shows tumor-specific efficacy against lung cancer, with no overt effect on normal tissues. Our work suggests that targeting TIP60 could be a promising approach to treating lung cancer.

Antimicrobial resistance has attracted worldwide attention and remains an urgent issue to resolve. Discovery of novel compounds is regarded as one way to circumvent the development of resistance and increase the available treatment options. Gossypol is a natural polyphenolic aldehyde, and it has attracted increasing attention as a possible antibacterial drug. In this paper, we studied the antimicrobial properties (minimum inhibitory concentrations) of gossypol acetate against both Gram-positive and Gram-negative bacteria strains and dig up targets of gossypol acetate using in vitro assays, including studying its effects on functions (GTPase activity and polymerization) of Filamenting temperature sensitive mutant Z (FtsZ) and its interactions with FtsZ using isothermal titration calorimetry (ITC), and in vivo assays, including visualization of cell morphologies and proteins localizations using a microscope. Lastly, Bacterial membrane permeability changes were studied, and the cytotoxicity of gossypol acetate was determined. We also estimated the interactions of gossypol acetate with the promising target. We found that gossypol acetate can inhibit the growth of Gram-positive bacteria such as the model organism Bacillus subtilis and the pathogen Staphylococcus aureus [both methicillin-sensitive (MSSA) and methicillin-resistant (MRSA)]. In addition, gossypol acetate can also inhibit the growth of Gram-negative bacteria when the outer membrane is permeabilized by Polymyxin B nonapeptide (PMBN). Using a cell biological approach, we show that gossypol acetate affects cell division in bacteria by interfering with the assembly of the cell division FtsZ ring. Biochemical analysis shows that the GTPase activity of FtsZ was inhibited and polymerization of FtsZ was enhanced in vitro, consistent with the block to cell division in the bacteria tested. The binding mode of gossypol acetate in FtsZ was modeled using molecular docking and provides an understanding of the compound mode of action. The results point to gossypol (S2303) as a promising antimicrobial compound that inhibits cell division by affecting FtsZ polymerization and has potential to be developed into an effective antimicrobial drug by chemical modification to minimize its cytotoxic effects in eukaryotic cells that were identified in this work.

Additional file 1. Supplementary table 1. Keywords and/or ICD codes used for recruiting patients through CDARS. Supplementary table 2. Institutional Review Board (IRB) numbers of involved hospitals in Hong Kong. Supplementary table 3. Clinical presentations by system and age distribution of patients at disease onset. Supplementary table 4. NMDC score for cases with histological examination done on biopsy (total 51). Supplementary table 5. Characteristics of death cases (total 44). Supplementary table 6. Detail of cases with sudden death (total 10). Supplementary table 7. Types of tissue samples obtained by invasive procedures (total 59 patients) and the examination performedCharacteristics.

We show that the span of the Beurling sequence is dense in the sequence space with a weighted inner product. Based on the condition posed by Bagchi and Baez-Duarte, which is a strengthening condition of Nyman-Beurling criteria, is equivalent to showing the Riemann hypothesis does hold.

Introduction: Total knee arthroplasty has been adopted to be the most successful treatment for advanced knee osteoarthritis. The adoption of multimodal periarticular analgesic (MPI) has been shown to have satisfactory pain control after surgery. However, there is relatively lack of data investigating whether this mode of pain control is effective in enhancing rehabilitation. Method: This is a prospective randomized control trial from July 2017 to June 2018, including 82 patients, in which 43 of them had MPI injection and 39 of them had no MPI injection. Primary outcome measures included the number of days required to perform straight leg raise, length of hospital stay, and Insall knee score upon discharge. Secondary outcome measures included total dose of patient-controlled analgesia (PCA) consumption postoperatively and visual analog scale (VAS) at rest and on motion during postoperative days 1–4. Result: The MPI group performed significantly better than the femoral nerve block (FNB) group in terms of early functional outcome, namely the number of days required to perform straight leg raising and length of hospital stay. The total postoperative PCA consumption and VAS score on motion during postoperative day 1 were also significantly better for MPI group. There was no difference in Insall knee score upon discharge between these two groups. Conclusion: Compared to FNB, MPI depicts a faster inpatient rehabilitation, accounted by its quadriceps-sparing, and better pain relief especially in the early postoperative period.

We show that Kaplansky's unit conjecture is true, under the assumption that the underlying field is complex., Comment: The second lemma contains flaws

In this thesis, two topics in portfolio management have been studied: utility-risk portfolio selection and a paradox in time consistency in mean-variance problem. The first topic is a comprehensive study on utility maximization subject to deviation risk constraints. Under the complete Black-Scholes framework, by using the martingale approach and mean-field heuristic, a static problem including a variational inequality and some constraints on nonlinear moments, called Nonlinear Moment Problem, has been obtained to completely characterize the optimal terminal payoff. By solving the Nonlinear Moment Problem, the various well-posed mean-risk problems already known in the literature have been revisited, and also the existence of the optimal solutions for both utility-downside-risk and utility-strictly-convex-risk problems has been established under the assumption that the underlying utility satisfies the Inada Condition. To the best of our knowledge, the positive answers to the latter two problems have long been absent in the literature. In particular, the existence of an optimal solution for utility-semivariance problem, an example of the utility-downside-risk problem, is in substantial contrast to the nonexistence of an optimal solution for the mean-semivariance problem. This existence result allows us to utilize semivariance as a risk measure in portfolio management. Furthermore, it has been shown that the continuity of the optimal terminal wealth in pricing kernel, thus the solutions in the binomial tree models converge to the solution in the continuous-time Black-Scholes model. The convergence can be applied to provide a numerical method to compute the optimal solution for utility-deviation-risk problem by using the optimal portfolios in the binomial tree models, which are easily computed; such numerical algorithm for optimal solution to utility-risk problem has been absent in the literature. In the second part of this thesis, a paradox in time consistency in mean-variance has been established. People often change their preference over time, so the maximizer for current preference may not be optimal in the future. We call this phenomenon time inconsistency or dynamic inconsistency. To manage the issues of time inconsistency, a game-theoretic approach is widely utilized to provide a time-consistent equilibrium solution for dynamic optimization problem. It has been established that, if investors with mean-variance preference adopt the equilibrium solutions, an investor facing short-selling prohibition can acquire a greater objective value than his counterpart without the prohibition in a buoyant market. It has been further shown that the pure strategy of solely investing in bond can sometimes simultaneously dominate both constrained and unconstrained equilibrium strategies. With numerical experiments, the constrained investor can dominate the unconstrained one for more than 90% of the time horizon. The source of paradox is rooted from the nature of game-theoretic approach on time consistency, which purposely seeks for an equilibrium solution but not the ultimate maximizer. Our obtained results actually advocate that, to properly implement the concept of time consistency in various financial problems, all economic aspects should be critically taken into account at a time. Open Access

This study examined the effectiveness of group music intervention in the treatment of nursing home residents with apathy. Apathy can clinically defined with a score of 40 or above on the apathy evaluation scale (AES). Seventy-seven residents were randomly assigned to the intervention or control group. The intervention group was given a music intervention programme, which included listening to traditional music, including nostalgic songs, and playing musical instruments three times a week, for a total of twelve weeks. Results demonstrated a decrease in apathy scores in the intervention group (z = 4.667, P 0.01), but not in the control group (z = -1.810, P 0.05). Cognitive function, as assessed by Mini Mental State Examination (MMSE) score, was stable in the intervention group (t = 1.720, P 0.05), but declined in the control group (t = -1.973, P 0.05). We conclude that music intervention has the potential to be an effective therapy for the treatment of apathy in the early stages of dementia.

Introduction Proinflammatory cytokine interleukin-17A (IL-17A) is overexpressed in a subset of patients with lung cancer. We hypothesized that IL-17A promotes a protumorigenic inflammatory phenotype and inhibits antitumor immune responses. Methods We generated bitransgenic mice expressing a conditional IL-17A allele along with conditional Kras G12D and performed immune phenotyping of mouse lungs, a survival analysis, and treatment studies with antibodies either blocking programmed cell death 1 (PD-1) or IL-6 or depleting neutrophils. To support the preclinical findings, we analyzed human gene expression data sets and immune profiled patient lung tumors. Results Tumors in IL-17:Kras G12D mice grew more rapidly, resulting in a significantly shorter survival as compared with that of Kras G12D mice. IL-6, granulocyte colony-stimulating factor (G-CSF), milk fat globule-EGF factor 8 protein, and C-X-C motif chemokine ligand 1 were increased in the lungs of IL17:Kras mice. Time course analysis revealed that levels of tumor-associated neutrophils were significantly increased, and lymphocyte recruitment was significantly reduced in IL17:Kras G12D mice as compared with in Kras G12D mice. In therapeutic studies PD-1 blockade was not effective in treating IL-17:Kras G12D tumors. In contrast, blocking IL-6 or depleting neutrophils with an anti–Ly-6G antibody in the IL17:Kras G12D tumors resulted in a clinical response associated with T-cell activation. In tumors from patients with lung cancer with KRAS mutation we found a correlation between higher levels of IL-17A and colony- stimulating factor 3 and a significant correlation among high neutrophil and lower T-cell numbers. Conclusions Here we have shown that an increase in a single cytokine, IL-17A, without additional mutations can promote lung cancer growth by promoting inflammation, which contributes to resistance to PD-1 blockade and sensitizes tumors to cytokine and neutrophil depletion.

Tumor immunology has changed the landscape of cancer treatment. Yet, not all patients benefit as cancer immune responsiveness (CIR) remains a limitation in a considerable proportion of cases. The multifactorial determinants of CIR include the genetic makeup of the patient, the genomic instability central to cancer development, the evolutionary emergence of cancer phenotypes under the influence of immune editing, and external modifiers such as demographics, environment, treatment potency, co-morbidities and cancer-independent alterations including immune homeostasis and polymorphisms in the major and minor histocompatibility molecules, cytokines, and chemokines. Based on the premise that cancer is fundamentally a disorder of the genes arising within a cell biologic process, whose deviations from normality determine the rules of engagement with the host’s response, the Society for Immunotherapy of Cancer (SITC) convened a task force of experts from various disciplines including, immunology, oncology, biophysics, structural biology, molecular and cellular biology, genetics, and bioinformatics to address the complexity of CIR from a holistic view. The task force was launched by a workshop held in San Francisco on May 14–15, 2018 aimed at two preeminent goals: 1) to identify the fundamental questions related to CIR and 2) to create an interactive community of experts that could guide scientific and research priorities by forming a logical progression supported by multiple perspectives to uncover mechanisms of CIR. This workshop was a first step toward a second meeting where the focus would be to address the actionability of some of the questions identified by working groups. In this event, five working groups aimed at defining a path to test hypotheses according to their relevance to human cancer and identifying experimental models closest to human biology, which include: 1) Germline-Genetic, 2) Somatic-Genetic and 3) Genomic-Transcriptional contributions to CIR, 4) Determinant(s) of Immunogenic Cell Death that modulate CIR, and 5) Experimental Models that best represent CIR and its conversion to an immune responsive state. This manuscript summarizes the contributions from each group and should be considered as a first milestone in the path toward a more contemporary understanding of CIR. We appreciate that this effort is far from comprehensive and that other relevant aspects related to CIR such as the microbiome, the individual’s recombined T cell and B cell receptors, and the metabolic status of cancer and immune cells were not fully included. These and other important factors will be included in future activities of the taskforce. The taskforce will focus on prioritization and specific actionable approach to answer the identified questions and implementing the collaborations in the follow-up workshop, which will be held in Houston on September 4–5, 2019.

This article investigates the thought of the mid-Tang scholar monk Shenqing through an examination of his Beishan lu. In this work, Shenqing launched a fervent attack against Southern Chan, while pressing for the harmonization of the Three Teachings. His critique of Southern Chan reflects his Theravadin tendency, as he expressed negative views about Southern Chan's violation of traditional Buddhist teachings. He specifically attacked its de-emphasis on the vinaya, and the fabrication of the 28-Patriarchs theory of transmission. In an effort to establish the orthodoxy of Southern Chan in early Northern Song, Chan clerics found it necessary to respond to Shenqing's critique, as clearly reflected in the writings of the monk Qisong. Beishan lu is a valuable source for a study of Shenqing's thought, and the unfolding of the harmonization of the Three Teachings. It also allows us to trace the historical unfolding of the Southern Chan movement from a different perspective.

Practitioners as well as language approach and language development scholars need to work together to create an environment in which research-based learning methods can be put into practice with developmentally appropriate content. Inadequate attention has been given to the crucial language skills that underpin children's language and literacy development because of a traditional focus on method of teaching. Critical language skills include early vocabulary knowledge, narrative skills and phonological awareness. Highlights of why these skills are important (with reference to research findings from the fields of language acquisition and developmental psychology) are followed by an illustration of how these skills can be incorporated into preschool English lessons.

There is little consensus among different early childhood education stakeholders in Hong Kong on whether it is beneficial or detrimental for children to receive an English bilingual education before the age of 6. This longitudinal study investigated the issue of potential ‘detrimental effects of learning English’ on Hong Kong kindergarten children’s performance in L1 (Cantonese) and L2 (English) over a six-month period. The sample consisted of 53 children, 29 of whom went to international schools and received 90 minutes of daily in-class English instruction, and 24 of whom went to local schools, and received 20 minutes of daily in-class English instruction. Analyses of the relationship between L1 and L2 development showed no evidence that learning a second language is detrimental to the learning of the first. This was despite the large difference in the amount of in-school instruction time the children who went to local vs. international schools received. Children in the international schools vastly outperformed those in the local schools in English. We found no evidence that learning a second language is detrimental to learning more general cognitive skills. The results provided very weak evidence for the opposite. Thus, learning English as a second language in Hong Kong before the age of 6 did not harm children’s learning in any way.

Sarasaeschna kaoi sp. nov. Figures 1–13 Material examined. All type specimens were collected by IL Lee from Matailin Swamp (1050 m) in Yuli, Hualien County, Taiwan. Holotype: ♂, 03-VII- 2013; Paratype: 1 ♀, 23 -VI- 2013; 3 ♂, 25 -VI- 2013; 2 ♂, 03-VII- 2013. Holotype, female paratype and one male paratype (25 -VI- 2013) were deposited at Forest Arthropoda Collection of Taiwan (FACT) in TFRI. Two male paratypes (1 ♂, 25 -VI- 2013 and 1 ♂, 03-VII- 2013) and one male paratype (1 ♂, 03-VII- 2013) to be transferred to National Museum of Natural Science in Taichung City and NDHU, respectively. Etymology. The new species is named to memorize Mr. Yui-Ching Kao who passed away untimely in 2010 during field work. He was an approved and talented researcher in TFRI specialized in the ecology of aquatic plants and fishes, and he kindly encouraged and guided IL Lee during Lee’s stay at his laboratory. Diagnosis. T-mark of postfrons with broad longitudinal stalk as wide as vertex; dorsal stripes of pterothorax widely separated for upper spots by at least 1 / 2 width of vertex; S 4–7 with well-developed AML spots. Male has shorter cerci than its congeners, with length only 1.2 times as long as S 10. Penis with flagella strongly twisted midway and recurved at apical 1 / 3, making apical part of the flagella adjoin the ventral margin of APS. Female with reduced yellow lateral markings in S 2 as described. Male (holotype, Figs. 1 & 2). HEAD: Labium dark brown with median lobe yellowish at base; mandible dark brown with a yellow spot at base; labrum dark brown, laterally with paired large rectangular yellow spots; anteclypeus dark brown; postclypeus yellow, lower margin with paired slim indentations dark brown. Antefrons black with upper 3 / 5 wrinkled, upper margin straight and weakly ridged, lower 1 / 4 yellow (Fig. 6); postfrons weakly depressed medially, with black T-mark and paired transverse yellow spots, longitudinal stalk of T-mark as wide as vertex (Fig. 7). Antenna black. Vertex about 1 / 3 width of frons, tumid, with paired small yellow spots anterodorsally. Occiput small and black. Compound eyes dull green, median seam a little shorter than width of vertex. Black hairs scattered on entire face and head, absent on wrinkled part of antefrons, longer and denser on postfrons, vertex and occiput. PTEROTHORAX: Black, with yellow and pale green markings, front covered with long and dense brown hairs. Dorsal stripes short and bar-shaped, diverging downward from each other and obtuse at both ends, separated from upper oval spots by 1 / 2 width of vertex (Fig. 7). Yellow stripes of mesepimeron round at both ends, broader and adjoining humeral suture in lower half; metepisternum with an upper spot and a tiny speck located at mid point between upper spot and metahoracic spiracle; metepimeron yellow in posterior 3 / 4; mesinfraepisternum yellow, metinfraepisternum with a yellow triangular spot in posterior half. LEGS: black, outer side of fore and hind coxae with small yellow spots; apex of hind femur reaching well beyond posterior margin of S 1. WINGS: Hyaline, yellow brown at basal extremities, veins black. Pterostigma dark brown, braced in all wings and underlain by 2.0– 2.5 cells. Two rows of cell between MA and Mspl in both wings. Triangles four–celled (three-celled in right forewing), hypertriangles and subtriangles free. Numbers of costal crossveins 9: 20: 19: 9 in forewings and 11: 12: 12: 11 in hindwings. ABDOMEN: Black with yellow or pale green markings. S 1 and S 2 swollen, as broad as synthorax, S 3 moderately constricted at middle. Abdomen less expanded at middle than in S. chiangchinlii, weakly spindleshaped from apical half of S 3 to S 7, nearly straight in S 8–10. S 1 unmarked, laterally with a faint spot. S 2 dorsally with round AD spot, paired teardrop-like MD spots and paired round PD spots (Fig. 3), and laterally with subsquare AL spot covering auricle, tiny PL spot above and irregular spot at posterolateral corner. S 3–6 with paired and closely adjoining triangular PD spots, distinctly smaller on S 6; S 3 & S 4 with paired tiny MD spot. Laterally, S 3 with triangular AL spot, S 4–7 with transverse AML spot, distinctly smaller on S 7. S 4 –S 7 with paired rectangular spots covering basal 1 / 3 of each sternite, smaller on S 7. S 8–10 unmarked, base of sternite 8 pale. S 8 comparatively stouter than in other Taiwanese congeners. Auricle moderately developed and sub-triangular, protruding backward and armed with numerous dark denticles on posterior margin. Middorsal carina well discernible on S 4–7, weakly developed in apical half of S 3. Male cerci about 1.2 times as long as S 10, short and slender, with apical 1 / 5 weakly dilated, apex roundly blunt (Fig. 9). Cerci in lateral view gently curved dorsally, and widely and shallowly emarginate ventrally between subbasal and subapical teeth (Fig. 8). Epiproct elongate and as long as cerci, deeply emarginate at apex with two prongs strongly diverging (Fig. 10); ratio of depth to width of apical emargination about 1: 2; apex of epiproct with stout teeth protruding upward in lateral view. FIGURES 1–7. Sarasaeschna kaoi, 1 –3, 6 & 7, holotype male, 4 & 5, paratype female. 1, dorsal; 2, lateral; 3 & 4, S 2, dorsal; 5, abdomen, dorsal; 6, head in front view; 7, head and pterothorax, dorsal. PENILE STRUCTURES: Configuration of penis similar to the other species of the pyanan -group. Flagella flat and extending perpendicularly to APS in basal half, strongly twisted from midlength and recurved in apical 1 / 3, apical part adjoining to ventral margin of APS. Ventrobasal sclerotized plates (dorsoventral processes in von Ellenrieder 2002) of APS well developed, elongate and crest-shaped in lateral view, basal part protruding anteroventrally (Figs. 11 & 12). Female (Paratype): General appearance of female similar to holotype male, differences noted as follows. Paired basal spots on labrum diminished as small transverse stripes; lower margin of postclypeus narrowly brownish. Abdomen shaped as in holotype male, black, S 1 and S 2 dark brown. S 1 with small round AD and teardrop-like PD spots, laterally covered almost entirely by large irregular yellowish patch. S 2 with MD spots boomerang-shaped (Fig. 4), AL spots transversely elongate and notched at upper margin, on the left slightly separated from, on the right connected to, square PL spots to form transverse band. S 3 with AD spot reduced to tiny speck, S 3–6 with paired small MD spots (Fig. 5). Cerci blade-shaped and short, only a little longer than S 10 (Fig. 13). Posterior margin of S 10 protruding posteroventrally into dentigerous plate and armed with numerous closely-set and pointed spinules. Variations in male paratypes: No significant variations were found in the five male paratypes. However, there were minor differences noticed. One male has a tiny dorsal spot on S 1, but MD spots on S 4 are almost undetectable; two males have paired MD spots on S 3–5; AL spots on S 1 are small or tiny in all five paratypes. Crossvein numbers 8: 17–18: 17–18: 7 in costal field of forewings and 9–10: 10–12: 12–13: 11 of hindwings. Triangles three- or four-celled. Measurements (mm). Holotype ♂: abd.+cerci 48, hindwing 41, pterostigma (forewing:hindwing) 4.0: 3.5; Paratypes: ♂ abd.+cerci 45–49, hindwing 41–43, pterostigma 3.3 –4.0:3.0– 3.5; ♀ abd. (ex. cerci) 49, hindwing 44, pterostigma 4.0: 3.5. Habitat and behaviour. So far, S. kaoi has been recorded only from the type locality Matailin Swamp in Yuli, Hualien County. The swamp is located at a depression 1050 m above sea level and adjacent to a mountain ridge belonging to the Coastal Mountain Range in the eastern coast of the island. The swamp was muddy and densely grassy, surrounded mainly by undisturbed evergreen forest (Fig. 14). A small shallow water flowed through the swamp along one side. In Matailin Swamp the males of S. kaoi were observed to guard and patrol their territories exclusively on sunny days at shaded forest margins, while the males of S. lieni usually do this at adjacent open and grassy sites even on cloudy days. This scenario is the same as found in Tsaopi, Yilan County, where S. tsaopiensis is instead the shade guardian. The territories of male S. kaoi were over thick muddy ground covered by fallen leaves and organic detritus, a microhabitat similar to that found in Tsaopi for S. tsaopiensis (personal observation). The paratype female was observed before capture to oviposit on the ground. The activity period of adult S. kaoi in Matailin Swamp was very short, lasting for less than one month from late June to early July, while S. lieni dominated in numbers from middle May to middle June, and its numbers decreased later in June. It seems that the adults of S. kaoi and S. lieni not only differed from each other in microhabitat selection but to some extent also in flight season.

Sarasaeschna kaoi sp. nov. Figures 1���13 Material examined. All type specimens were collected by IL Lee from Matailin Swamp (1050 m) in Yuli, Hualien County, Taiwan. Holotype: ♂, 03-VII- 2013; Paratype: 1 ♀, 23 -VI- 2013; 3 ♂, 25 -VI- 2013; 2 ♂, 03-VII- 2013. Holotype, female paratype and one male paratype (25 -VI- 2013) were deposited at Forest Arthropoda Collection of Taiwan (FACT) in TFRI. Two male paratypes (1 ♂, 25 -VI- 2013 and 1 ♂, 03-VII- 2013) and one male paratype (1 ♂, 03-VII- 2013) to be transferred to National Museum of Natural Science in Taichung City and NDHU, respectively. Etymology. The new species is named to memorize Mr. Yui-Ching Kao who passed away untimely in 2010 during field work. He was an approved and talented researcher in TFRI specialized in the ecology of aquatic plants and fishes, and he kindly encouraged and guided IL Lee during Lee���s stay at his laboratory. Diagnosis. T-mark of postfrons with broad longitudinal stalk as wide as vertex; dorsal stripes of pterothorax widely separated for upper spots by at least 1 / 2 width of vertex; S 4���7 with well-developed AML spots. Male has shorter cerci than its congeners, with length only 1.2 times as long as S 10. Penis with flagella strongly twisted midway and recurved at apical 1 / 3, making apical part of the flagella adjoin the ventral margin of APS. Female with reduced yellow lateral markings in S 2 as described. Male (holotype, Figs. 1 & 2). HEAD: Labium dark brown with median lobe yellowish at base; mandible dark brown with a yellow spot at base; labrum dark brown, laterally with paired large rectangular yellow spots; anteclypeus dark brown; postclypeus yellow, lower margin with paired slim indentations dark brown. Antefrons black with upper 3 / 5 wrinkled, upper margin straight and weakly ridged, lower 1 / 4 yellow (Fig. 6); postfrons weakly depressed medially, with black T-mark and paired transverse yellow spots, longitudinal stalk of T-mark as wide as vertex (Fig. 7). Antenna black. Vertex about 1 / 3 width of frons, tumid, with paired small yellow spots anterodorsally. Occiput small and black. Compound eyes dull green, median seam a little shorter than width of vertex. Black hairs scattered on entire face and head, absent on wrinkled part of antefrons, longer and denser on postfrons, vertex and occiput. PTEROTHORAX: Black, with yellow and pale green markings, front covered with long and dense brown hairs. Dorsal stripes short and bar-shaped, diverging downward from each other and obtuse at both ends, separated from upper oval spots by 1 / 2 width of vertex (Fig. 7). Yellow stripes of mesepimeron round at both ends, broader and adjoining humeral suture in lower half; metepisternum with an upper spot and a tiny speck located at mid point between upper spot and metahoracic spiracle; metepimeron yellow in posterior 3 / 4; mesinfraepisternum yellow, metinfraepisternum with a yellow triangular spot in posterior half. LEGS: black, outer side of fore and hind coxae with small yellow spots; apex of hind femur reaching well beyond posterior margin of S 1. WINGS: Hyaline, yellow brown at basal extremities, veins black. Pterostigma dark brown, braced in all wings and underlain by 2.0��� 2.5 cells. Two rows of cell between MA and Mspl in both wings. Triangles four���celled (three-celled in right forewing), hypertriangles and subtriangles free. Numbers of costal crossveins 9: 20: 19: 9 in forewings and 11: 12: 12: 11 in hindwings. ABDOMEN: Black with yellow or pale green markings. S 1 and S 2 swollen, as broad as synthorax, S 3 moderately constricted at middle. Abdomen less expanded at middle than in S. chiangchinlii, weakly spindleshaped from apical half of S 3 to S 7, nearly straight in S 8���10. S 1 unmarked, laterally with a faint spot. S 2 dorsally with round AD spot, paired teardrop-like MD spots and paired round PD spots (Fig. 3), and laterally with subsquare AL spot covering auricle, tiny PL spot above and irregular spot at posterolateral corner. S 3���6 with paired and closely adjoining triangular PD spots, distinctly smaller on S 6; S 3 & S 4 with paired tiny MD spot. Laterally, S 3 with triangular AL spot, S 4���7 with transverse AML spot, distinctly smaller on S 7. S 4 ���S 7 with paired rectangular spots covering basal 1 / 3 of each sternite, smaller on S 7. S 8���10 unmarked, base of sternite 8 pale. S 8 comparatively stouter than in other Taiwanese congeners. Auricle moderately developed and sub-triangular, protruding backward and armed with numerous dark denticles on posterior margin. Middorsal carina well discernible on S 4���7, weakly developed in apical half of S 3. Male cerci about 1.2 times as long as S 10, short and slender, with apical 1 / 5 weakly dilated, apex roundly blunt (Fig. 9). Cerci in lateral view gently curved dorsally, and widely and shallowly emarginate ventrally between subbasal and subapical teeth (Fig. 8). Epiproct elongate and as long as cerci, deeply emarginate at apex with two prongs strongly diverging (Fig. 10); ratio of depth to width of apical emargination about 1: 2; apex of epiproct with stout teeth protruding upward in lateral view. FIGURES 1���7. Sarasaeschna kaoi, 1 ���3, 6 & 7, holotype male, 4 & 5, paratype female. 1, dorsal; 2, lateral; 3 & 4, S 2, dorsal; 5, abdomen, dorsal; 6, head in front view; 7, head and pterothorax, dorsal. PENILE STRUCTURES: Configuration of penis similar to the other species of the pyanan -group. Flagella flat and extending perpendicularly to APS in basal half, strongly twisted from midlength and recurved in apical 1 / 3, apical part adjoining to ventral margin of APS. Ventrobasal sclerotized plates (dorsoventral processes in von Ellenrieder 2002) of APS well developed, elongate and crest-shaped in lateral view, basal part protruding anteroventrally (Figs. 11 & 12). Female (Paratype): General appearance of female similar to holotype male, differences noted as follows. Paired basal spots on labrum diminished as small transverse stripes; lower margin of postclypeus narrowly brownish. Abdomen shaped as in holotype male, black, S 1 and S 2 dark brown. S 1 with small round AD and teardrop-like PD spots, laterally covered almost entirely by large irregular yellowish patch. S 2 with MD spots boomerang-shaped (Fig. 4), AL spots transversely elongate and notched at upper margin, on the left slightly separated from, on the right connected to, square PL spots to form transverse band. S 3 with AD spot reduced to tiny speck, S 3���6 with paired small MD spots (Fig. 5). Cerci blade-shaped and short, only a little longer than S 10 (Fig. 13). Posterior margin of S 10 protruding posteroventrally into dentigerous plate and armed with numerous closely-set and pointed spinules. Variations in male paratypes: No significant variations were found in the five male paratypes. However, there were minor differences noticed. One male has a tiny dorsal spot on S 1, but MD spots on S 4 are almost undetectable; two males have paired MD spots on S 3���5; AL spots on S 1 are small or tiny in all five paratypes. Crossvein numbers 8: 17���18: 17���18: 7 in costal field of forewings and 9���10: 10���12: 12���13: 11 of hindwings. Triangles three- or four-celled. Measurements (mm). Holotype ♂: abd.+cerci 48, hindwing 41, pterostigma (forewing:hindwing) 4.0: 3.5; Paratypes: ♂ abd.+cerci 45���49, hindwing 41���43, pterostigma 3.3 ���4.0:3.0��� 3.5; ♀ abd. (ex. cerci) 49, hindwing 44, pterostigma 4.0: 3.5. Habitat and behaviour. So far, S. kaoi has been recorded only from the type locality Matailin Swamp in Yuli, Hualien County. The swamp is located at a depression 1050 m above sea level and adjacent to a mountain ridge belonging to the Coastal Mountain Range in the eastern coast of the island. The swamp was muddy and densely grassy, surrounded mainly by undisturbed evergreen forest (Fig. 14). A small shallow water flowed through the swamp along one side. In Matailin Swamp the males of S. kaoi were observed to guard and patrol their territories exclusively on sunny days at shaded forest margins, while the males of S. lieni usually do this at adjacent open and grassy sites even on cloudy days. This scenario is the same as found in Tsaopi, Yilan County, where S. tsaopiensis is instead the shade guardian. The territories of male S. kaoi were over thick muddy ground covered by fallen leaves and organic detritus, a microhabitat similar to that found in Tsaopi for S. tsaopiensis (personal observation). The paratype female was observed before capture to oviposit on the ground. The activity period of adult S. kaoi in Matailin Swamp was very short, lasting for less than one month from late June to early July, while S. lieni dominated in numbers from middle May to middle June, and its numbers decreased later in June. It seems that the adults of S. kaoi and S. lieni not only differed from each other in microhabitat selection but to some extent also in flight season., Published as part of Yeh, Wen-Chi, Lee, I-Lung & Wong, Kwok-Ching, 2015, Description of Sarasaeschna kaoi sp. nov. in Taiwan, with notes on the proposed differentiating characters of the pyanan - group (Odonata, Aeshnidae), pp. 122-128 in Zootaxa 3926 (1) on pages 123-126, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.3926.1.6, http://zenodo.org/record/241839, {"references":["von Ellenrieder, N. (2002) A phylogenetic analysis of the extant Aeshnidae (Odonata: Anisoptera). Systematic Entomology, 27 (4), 437 - 467. http: // dx. doi. org / 10.1046 / j. 1365 - 3113.2002.00190. x"]}

Background This study examined the prognostic factors that affect the surgical outcome of anterior spinal fusion in patients with cervical compressive myelopathy (CCM). Methods A retrospective review of the result of surgical treatment in 49 cases of CCM using anterior spinal fusion surgical techniques. The study period was from June 1990 to June 2008, with a mean followup of 6.57 years. Seven patients died during the followup period because of other medical diseases. The Japanese Orthopaedic Association score for cervical myelopathy and recovery rate were used to assess the functional results of the remaining 42 cases. Results A mean Japanese Orthopaedic Association score improvement from 10.21 to 14.23 points after the operation was observed. The overall recovery rate was 65.38%, with excellent or good results of 80%. After a year of followup, we did not find significant improvement or deterioration on the neurological status on further followup. Acute complications were not common. One patient underwent reoperation because of slipping of the graft during resuscitation after early postoperative acute myocardial infarction. This patient showed postoperative neurological deterioration. Two patients had subsidence of the graft, three had pseudoarthrosis, and two had graft resorption. There were also three patients with degenerative changes of the adjacent vertebra. No reoperation was done for patients with these late complications in this review. Conclusion Anterior cervical decompression with bone fusion is a viable surgical option for patients with one level of anterior cervical cord compression, especially for patients with kyphosis or straight canal spine. For patients with two- to three-level involvement, anterior cervical decompression with bone fusion provides good functional result in proper selection of cases. We also identified some prognostic factors (male sex, symptoms less than 1 year, and age less than 70 years) in predicting a favourable outcome of anterior spinal fusion for CCM.

This paper aims at engaging Kant's and Schelling's theories of time in dialogue. It begins with Schelling's famous criticism of Kant's theory of time in his Weltalter (Ages of the World). It will examine this question from four main perspectives, namely the unity of time; time and a unitary object of experience; subjectivity of time; and the problem of infinity of time. It will show that Schelling's criticism may instigate some fundamental reflections on Kant's theory of time, the relation between objective and subjective time, and the possibilities of connecting Kant's different meanings of time in his first Critique. Further, it will show that despite the fundamental differences between Kant's and Schelling's philosophical systems, some of Schelling's ideas about time may have their earlier expressions in Kant. While Schelling has gone further and radicalized some insights from Kant in his own version of idealism, his criticism of Kant may find possible responses from the latter's first Critique.

Compressive sensing (CS) has been widely studied and applied in many fields. Recently, the way to perform secure compressive sensing (SCS) has become a topic of growing interest. The existing works on SCS usually take the sensing matrix as a key and the resultant security level is not evaluated in depth. They can only be considered as a preliminary exploration on SCS, but a concrete and operable encipher model is not given yet. In this paper, we are going to investigate SCS in a systematic way. The relationship between CS and symmetric-key cipher indicates some possible encryption models. To this end, we propose the two-level protection models (TLPM) for SCS which are developed from measurements taking and something else, respectively. It is believed that these models will provide a new point of view and stimulate further research in both CS and cryptography. Specifically, an efficient and secure encryption scheme for parallel compressive sensing (PCS) is designed by embedding a two-layer protection in PCS using chaos. The first layer is undertaken by random permutation on a two-dimensional signal, which is proved to be an acceptable permutation with overwhelming probability. The other layer is to sample the permuted signal column by column with the same chaotic measurement matrix, which satisfies the restricted isometry property of PCS with overwhelming probability. Both the random permutation and the measurement matrix are constructed under the control of a chaotic system. Simulation results show that unlike the general joint compression and encryption schemes in which encryption always leads to the same or a lower compression ratio, the proposed approach of embedding encryption in PCS actually improves the compression performance. Besides, the proposed approach possesses high transmission robustness against additive Gaussian white noise and cropping attack., Comment: 10 pages, 6 figures

When a public institution contracts with a developer for a co-development project, there are two main options for arrangements: the equity or the cooperative joint venture. Equity is basically a shareholding arrangement, whereby inputs are valued at market worth in exchange for respective shares of ownership of the joint development. Under cooperative joint ventures, however, shares of ownership are not necessarily based on the values of the inputs. The partners simply draw up a contract that defines the inputs and apportions the outputs of the joint development. This paper argues that a cooperative joint venture between a public institution and a private developer is basically an arrangement to reduce dissipation of rent under public ownership. Unlike the equity arrangement, cooperative joint ventures necessarily lead to an apparent transfer of shares from the public institution to the private developer. Evidence found thus far in Hong Kong and China is consistent with this hypothesis. Variations of the ...

Polycanthagyna ornithocephala (McLachlan, 1896) (Figs. 1 a, 1 b, 2 c, 3 c, 4 c) Material examined (all final stadium larvae). 13 and 2 ��, 5 -VII- 2007, Alibang (25 �� 15 ��� 53 N, 121 �� 34 ��� 57 E), Shimen, New Taipei City, Taiwan; and the adult emerged on 27 -VII- 2007. Other materials. P. erythromelas- 33 and 1 ��, 24 -V- 2007, Guishan (24 �� 53 ��� 59 N, 121 �� 32 ��� 28 E), Xindian, New Taipei City, Taiwan; 33 and 1 ��, 24 -X- 2007, Aowanda (23 �� 58 ��� 33 N, 121 ��07��� 43 E), Renai, Nantou County, Taiwan; 33 and 4 �� larvae, 19 -I- 2008, Chajiao (24 �� 52 ��� 20 N, 121 �� 24 ��� 14 E), Sanxia, New Taipei City, Taiwan. P. m e l an ic t er a- 53 and 2 ��, 3 -III- 2007, Wudu (25 ��05��� 14 N, 121 �� 40 ��� 42 E), Keelung, Taiwan; 23 and 1 ��, 31 -III- 2008, Shuanglienpi (24 �� 44 ��� 57 N, 121 �� 37 ��� 30 E), Yuanshan, Yilan County, Taiwan. Diagnosis: These larvae are easily distinguished from other anisopteran larvae by the long, flat mentum, antennae with 7 segments, and smooth abdomen without dorsal hooks. The head is a little flattened and its posterolateral margins broadly rounded. The legs are slender and pale, usually ornamented with rings of brown. The abdomen is widest in the middle and tapers to its slender tip. Head: Dark brown without conspicuous spots. Labrum, anteclypeus and postclypeus brownish yellow. Labium flat and elongate, prementum approximately 1.6 times as long as broad. Movable hook sharp. Antennae filiform, 7 -segmented (Fig. 1 b), length ratio of each segment 1.0: 1.1: 2.1: 1.2: 1.3: 1.4: 0.9. Compound eyes broadly protruding anterolaterally, occiput roundly obtuse. Thorax: Wing sheaths parallel, hind wing sheaths reaching posterior margin of 4 th abdominal segment. Supracoxal processes of prothorax short and obtuse, protruding at about 90 �� from each other. Legs brownish with black spots, tarsi 3 -segmented. Abdomen: Dark brown and broadly elongate. Lateral spines present on S 6 ���S 9 (Fig. 3 c), dorsal hooks absent. Male larvae with a triangular projection above epiproct. Paraproct 2.0 times as long as cerci, cerci with inner margin strongly and suddenly curved outwards apically. Female ovipositor reaching 1 / 5 length of paraproct (Fig. 4 c). Measurements. Body length: 3 37.3 mm, �� 40.1���41.6 mm; maximum head width: 3 8.0 mm, �� 8.9���9.2 mm; length of hind wing sheaths: 3 8.9 mm, �� 9.8���10.1 mm., Published as part of Wong, Kwok-Ching, Yeh, Wen-Chi & Chan, Tsung-Wei, 2012, Description of the final stadium larvae of Polycanthagyna ornithocephala (McLachlan, 1896) from Taiwan, with a key to the known larvae of the genus (Odonata: Anisoptera: Aeshnidae), pp. 64-68 in Zootaxa 3238 on pages 65-66, DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.211820, {"references":["McLachlan, R. (1896) On Odonata from the province of Szechuen, in Western China, and from Moupin in Eastern Tibet. Annals and Magazine of Natural History, (6) 17, 364 - 374."]}

Key to the final stadium larvae of Taiwanese Polycanthagyna species 1. Cerci parallel-sided, female ovipositor reaching only 3 / 4 of S 10..................................... P. erythromelas - Cerci with inner margin curved outwards apically, female ovipositor reaching at least the posterior margin of S 10......... 2 2. Paraproct 2.0 times as long as cerci, cerci with inner margin strongly and suddenly curved outwards apically; female ovipositor extending far beyond S 10.................................................................. P. ornithocephala - Paraproct 1.6 times as long as cerci, cerci with inner margin slightly and smoothly curved outwards apically, female ovipositor reaching to posterior margin of S 10............................................................. P. melanictera

Key to the final stadium larvae of Taiwanese Polycanthagyna species 1. Cerci parallel-sided, female ovipositor reaching only 3 / 4 of S 10..................................... P. erythromelas - Cerci with inner margin curved outwards apically, female ovipositor reaching at least the posterior margin of S 10......... 2 2. Paraproct 2.0 times as long as cerci, cerci with inner margin strongly and suddenly curved outwards apically; female ovipositor extending far beyond S 10.................................................................. P. ornithocephala - Paraproct 1.6 times as long as cerci, cerci with inner margin slightly and smoothly curved outwards apically, female ovipositor reaching to posterior margin of S 10............................................................. P. melanictera, Published as part of Wong, Kwok-Ching, Yeh, Wen-Chi & Chan, Tsung-Wei, 2012, Description of the final stadium larvae of Polycanthagyna ornithocephala (McLachlan, 1896) from Taiwan, with a key to the known larvae of the genus (Odonata: Anisoptera: Aeshnidae), pp. 64-68 in Zootaxa 3238 on page 68, DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.211820

Recently, a colour image encryption algorithm based on chaos was proposed by cascading two position permutation operations and one substitution operation, which are all determined by some pseudo-random number sequences generated by iterating the Logistic map. This paper evaluates the security level of the encryption algorithm and finds that the position permutation-only part and the substitution part can be separately broken with only $\lceil (\log_2(3MN))/8 \rceil$ and 2 chosen plain-images, respectively, where $MN$ is the size of the plain-image. Concise theoretical analyses are provided to support the chosen-plaintext attack, which are verified by experimental results also., Comment: 5 pages, 1 figure

Cardiovascular disease and falls are common causes of morbidity and mortality in older people and the prevalence of both increases with age. Arterial stiffness is a predictor of adverse cardiovascular events and considered a marker of “vascular ageing”. The concept of vascular ageing has not been explored in relation to falls. A review of the literature on the epidemiology of falls including cardiovascular factors in falls and measurement of cardiovascular integrity was undertaken. This work set out to explore the possible relationships between cardiovascular factors and falls in older people living in the community. The aims of the study were to establish correlations between different cardiovascular measurements, cognition, cerebral structural changes and falls in older people. The participants in the study came from a longitudinal study (Memory and Ageing Study) which includes clinical and neuropsychological assessment, blood tests and cerebral magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) measures as part of its test battery. Participants were then invited for postural stability and cardiovascular assessment. A number of validated methods for measuring postural stability (falls risk and balance) and cardiovascular integrity were administered. Five hundred and thirty one participants, aged between 73 to 92 years, were assessed at baseline and then followed prospectively for falls over a 12 month period. Significant findings of the study include: 1. Arterial stiffness was found to correlate with postural stability. 2. In men, arterial stiffness was found to correlate with the following cognitive domains: processing speed, attention and executive function. 3. Arterial stiffness was higher among fallers. 4. Use of cardiovascular medications was not associated with falls, with the exception that fallers were taking fewer medications affecting the renin-angiotensin system. The study findings provide links between vascular ageing and falls by uncovering associations between arterial stiffness, postural stability, neuropsychological performance and falls. Clinically, they support the increasing trend to treat cardiovascular disease and hypertension in older people. Cardiovascular medication use in the older people appears not to increase the risk of falls and the use of medications affecting the renin-angiotensin system may decrease falls risk.

The aim of the study was to investigate the effects of a chicken-meat extract known as Essence of Chicken (EOC) on immune function in a normal and scalded animal model. In this experimental study, 120 rats were randomly allocated into three groups: a SHAM group (inflicted with a sham wound), a BURN group (inflicted with a full-thickness scald wound covering 30 % of total body surface area) and a CONTROL group. Rats in the SHAM and BURN groups were further divided into normal saline (NS)-fed and EOC-fed groups. They were fed by force-feeding with a feeding needle and blood samples were taken from each group on days 1, 8, 15 and 22 postburn. Serum IgG, IgA and IgM concentrations were determined by ELISA and the results of the EOC-fed and NS-fed cohorts of both the SHAM and BURN groups were compared. The level of significance was set atP

The LKB1 tumor suppressor encodes a key metabolic sensor that integrates cell growth and metabolism. LKB1 is mutationally inactivated in multiple adult malignancies, including >20% of lung cancers, often simultaneously with activating KRAS mutations. LKB1 mutations are an important predictor of poor outcome and resistance to current therapeutic approaches. We employed an integrative approach to define novel therapeutic targets in Lkb1 mutant lung cancers. Matched cell lines from genetically engineered mouse models of cancer driven by activated Kras alone or in combination with Lkb1 deletion, were employed in high-throughput RNAi, kinase inhibitor, and metabolite screens. These screens identified knockdown of either Dtymk (deoxythymidylate kinase) or Chek1 (checkpoint kinase 1) as synthetically lethal with Lkb1 deficiency in both mouse and human lung cancer cell lines, and revealed that Lkb1 inactivation conferred marked sensitivity to treatment with CHEK1 inhibitors. Lkb1 deficient cells had a distinct metabolic profile, characterized by striking decreases in multiple nucleotide metabolites. Knockdown of DTYMK inhibited dTTP biosynthesis and, consequently, DNA synthesis, and knockdown of CHEK1 caused accumulation of DNA damage. We hypothesize that Lkb1 loss enhances dependence on these enzymes due to broad defects in nucleotide metabolism. Our studies support the development of therapies target DTYMK and CHEK1 in LKB1 mutant non-small cell lung cancer. Citation Format: {Authors}. {Abstract title} [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the 103rd Annual Meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research; 2012 Mar 31-Apr 4; Chicago, IL. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2012;72(8 Suppl):Abstract nr LB-260. doi:1538-7445.AM2012-LB-260

A chaos-based cryptosystem for fractal image coding is proposed. The Renyi chaotic map is employed to determine the order of processing the range blocks and to generate the keystream for masking the encoded sequence. Compared with the standard approach of fractal image coding followed by the Advanced Encryption Standard, our scheme offers a higher sensitivity to both plaintext and ciphertext at a comparable operating efficiency. The keystream generated by the Renyi chaotic map passes the randomness tests set by the United States National Institute of Standards and Technology, and so the proposed scheme is sensitive to the key.

not Available.

Many historians have accepted the view that the two prominent Filipino leaders — Manuel Quezon and Sergio Osmena — were not really in favour of immediate Philippine independence despite their constant open advocacy of such an aspiration. For instance, Roy W. Curry wrote that “… the eloquent Quezon was playing independence as a necessary political expedience while privately fearing that it might be granted”, whereas Bonifacio S. Salamanca suggested “… at least the two foremost leaders of the Filipino elite — Quezon and Osmena — did not really desire immediate independence, or even want to have a date fixed for the future recognition of Philippine independence”.