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The TOEFL iBT test was introduced in 2005 to better reflect the language demands of real-life academic tasks than did previous versions of the test. The task-based design of the test was intended t...

This study used survival analysis to examine the patterns and factors associated with time to achieving designated score criteria on a test of English as a foreign language. This was modeled using an extension of the Cox regression model, with two criterion score levels defined as achieving a TOEFL iBT® total test scale score at or above the Common European Framework of Reference (CEFR) Level B2 and at Level C1, respectively. Factors included in the model were test taker background characteristics including age, gender, native language type, exposure to English, and reason for testing. Additionally, to account for those who tested more than once within the study period, and thus had multiple records, an indicator for order of testing occasion was included in the model. Results indicate that approximately 82% of the test takers in our study sample tested one time in the study period (2014–2016), and the number of repeaters decreased rapidly across occasions. For those who did not achieve the designated criterion scores at first testing, the likelihood of achievement increases with repeated testing, with a somewhat greater effect for the less stringent B2 criterion. Results also indicate that the association of gender with performance differed across levels.

The COVID-19 Coronavirus originating from Wuhan, China has become a global pandemic. In order to protect their country’s residents, governments worldwide have ordered schools and companies to close and for people to quarantine at home. This has resulted in a dramatic increase in the use of digital devices and activity on the internet. Cybercriminals around the globe have seen this pandemic as an opportunity to initiate cyberattacks. This paper reviews the cyber threats that threaten users globally, as well as some of the attacks that have already occurred during the COVID-19 pandemic. We then make suggestions to countermeasure these attacks and what can be done in the future to improve cybersecurity awareness and prevent them from occurring again.

Background The prognostic impact of systematic revascularization of asymptomatic coronary artery stenosis before transcatheter aortic valve replacement (TAVR) is still debated Purpose The main objectives of this study were to evaluate the feasibility and the safety of a functional evaluation of coronary artery disease (CAD) followed by a selective ischemia-guided percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) after TAVR. Methods This prospective, bi-centric, one-arm, open-label trial included patients with severe aortic stenosis (AS) eligible for TAVR and with significant CAD defined as one or more coronary stenosis ≥70%. Patients with left main stenosis ≥50%, proximal left anterior descending artery (LAD) stenosis ≥90% or > class 2 Canadian cardiovascular society angina pectoris were excluded. Coronary revascularization was not performed before TAVR and myocardial ischemia was evaluated by stress cardiac imaging one month after the procedure using Single-Photon Emission Computed Tomography Myocardial Perfusion Imaging or Stress Echocardiography using dobutamine infusion. The primary endpoint was the composite of all cause of death, stroke, major bleeding (Bleeding Academic Research Consortium (BARC) ≥3), major vascular complication (Valve Academic Research Consortium 2 criteria), myocardial infarction (MI) and hospitalization for cardiac causes at 6 months following TAVR. Results Between June 2016 and March 2019, 71 patients were included with a complete follow-up in 66 patients. The mean age was 84±5.2 years and the mean Euroscore was 13±8.6. Stress cardiac imaging could be achieved in 70% (n=46) of the patients and the main causes to not perform it were patient refusal or secondary impaired medical condition. Significant myocardial ischemia was observed in only 3 patients (4.5%), of whom 2 patients had successful PCI. The primary endpoint occurred at 6 months in 15 patients (23%) including death in 6 patients (9%), stroke in 3 patients (5%) and major bleedings in 3 patients (5%). Acute MI was observed in only 2 patients (3%) that had not-LAD proximal and severe coronary stenosis (≥90%). Hospital readmission (n=27, 41%) was mostly related to non-cardiac causes (n=18, 27%). Conclusions In patients scheduled to TAVR and with significant coronary disease, a strategy of selective ischemia-guided coronary revascularization after TAVR appears safe with a low rate of myocardial infarction and myocardial ischemia requiring revascularization during follow-up. However, the poor adherence of elderly patients to stress test could suggest to perform PCI of proximal and severe coronary lesions. Large-scale and randomized trials are warranted to validate this strategy. Funding Acknowledgement Type of funding source: None

This study illustrates the use of score equity assessment (SEA) for evaluating the fairness of reported test scores from assessments intended for test takers from diverse cultural, linguistic, and educational backgrounds, using a workplace English proficiency test. Subgroups were defined by test-taker background characteristics that research has shown to be associated with performance on language tests. The characteristics studied included gender, age, educational background, language exposure, and previous experience with the assessment. Overall, the empirical results indicated that the statistical and psychometric methods used in producing test scores were not strongly influenced by the subgroups of test takers from which the scores were derived. This result provides evidence in support of the comparability and meaning of test scores across the various test-taker groups studied. This example may encourage language testing programs to incorporate SEA analyses to provide evidence to inform the validity and fairness of reported scores for all groups of test takers.

International audience; OBJECTIVES:Only few studies evaluated hematogenous prosthetic joint infections. We aimed to describe the characteristics of these infections and factors associated with management failure.METHODS:We selected hematogenously-acquired infections, defined by the occurrence of infectious symptoms more than a year after implantation among records of patients treated for hip and knee prosthetic joint infections at Montpellier University Hospital between January 2004 and May 2015. Failure was defined by death due to prosthesis-related infection, need for prosthesis removal in case of conservative treatment, or recurrence of infectious signs on a new prosthesis.RESULTS:Forty-seven patients with hematogenous prosthetic joint infection were included (33 knee infections and 14 hip infections). Infectious agents were streptococci (43%), Staphylococcus aureus (43%), Gram-negative bacilli (13%), and Listeria monocytogenes (2%). Thirty-one patients were initially treated with debridement and implant retention and 15 with prosthesis removal (three with one-stage surgery, 10 with two-stage surgery). The median duration of antibiotic therapy was 66.5 days. The overall failure rate was 52% (24/48), 71% (22/31) with implant retention strategy, 13% (2/15) with prosthesis removal, and 63% (12/19) in case of Staphylococcus aureus infection. Conservative treatment was appropriate (arthrotomy on a well-implanted prosthesis without sinus tract and symptom onset

Background With the growing indications of transcatheter aortic valve implantation (TAVI) worldwide and among lower risk patients, valve durability has become a crucial issue. Purpose To assess mid and long-term evolution of different generations of percutaneous balloon-expandable prostheses, predictive factors of valve deterioration and its correlation with long-term mortality. Methods All consecutive patients undergoing TAVI for severe aortic stenosis with balloon-expandable prosthesis between 2009 and 2014 and with a minimum follow-up of one-year were included in this monocentric prospective study. All echocardiograms were reviewed by two independent experts. Clinical events were defined according to the Valve Academic Research Consortium criteria. Valve deterioration was defined according to the 2017 EAPCI-ESC-EACTS international consensus statement at the longest follow-up. Results A total of 160 patients were included with a median follow-up of 3.4 years [1.5–4.9] and a maximum of 8 years. Patients were mostly implanted with the first generation Sapien XT valve (n=138, 86.2%). Median age was 85 [79–86] years, with 42.5% of women and a median logistic Euro-SCORE of 14.2% [10.6–23.2]. Immediately after TAVI, mean aortic gradient decreased dramatically from 51±12mmHg to 9±2.6mmHg (p Evolution of mean aortic gradient Conclusions After a maximal 8-year follow-up, valve deterioration after balloon-expandable TAVI is very low. In this high-risk population, TAVI seems to be a safe and durable alternative to surgery in severe aortic stenosis regardless of prosthesis generation. Acknowledgement/Funding Edwards Lifesciences

This paper presents an enhanced cooperative spectrum sharing scheme in a cognitive radio network, which consists of two pairs: a primary transmitter-primary receiver pair and a secondary base station-secondary receiver pair. The developed scheme is based on a three time slots cooperative spectrum sharing, which exploits the maximum diversity gain for both the primary user (PU) and secondary user (SU). The performance of the developed scheme is assessed through the derivation of new closed-form expressions for both the bit error rate and achievable rate for arbitrary signal-to-noise ratio (SNR). In addition, we carry out an asymptotic analysis in the high SNR regime, which proves that the proposed scheme achieves a full diversity order for the PU and SU. Results of analytical expressions and numerical simulations both verify that the proposed scheme achieves significant gains for error and rate performance, for both the PU and SU, in comparison to other baseline schemes.

This study assessed the factor structure of the Test of English for International Communication (TOEIC®) Listening and Reading test, and its invariance across subgroups of test-takers. The subgroups were defined by (a) gender, (b) age, (c) employment status, (d) time spent studying English, and (e) having lived in a country where English is the main language. The study results indicated that a correlated two-factor model corresponding to the two language abilities of listening and reading best accounted for the factor structure of the test. In addition, the underlying construct had the same structure across the test-taker subgroups studied. There were, however, significant differences in the means of the latent construct across the subgroups. This study provides empirical support for the current score reporting practice for the TOEIC test, suggests that the test scores have the same meaning across studied test-taker subgroups, and identifies possible test-taker background characteristics that affect English language abilities as measured by the TOEIC test.

Background:Clinical assessment of swollen joint count (SJC) in rheumatoid arthritis (RA) might be affected by obesity in terms of obesity-related excess adipose tissue.Objectives:To compare the level of agreement between synovitis evaluated by Power Doppler ultrasound (PDUS) and clinical examination (SJC as component of SDAI) in obese (O) (i.e. Body Mass Index (BMI) >30) versus non-obese (NO) (BMI≤30) RA patients.Methods:RA patients ≥18 years fulfilling 2010 ACR-EULAR criteria were included in the cross-sectional multicentre (13 centres) French observational RABODI study (ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier:NCT03004651). Clinical synovitis was evaluated on 44 joints. ESR and CRP were collected and SDAI, DAS28, DAS were calculated. A standard US examination on 44 joints was performed by an independent investigator blinded to clinical data. US synovitis was defined by a synovial hypertrophy ≥1 and PD signal≥1 on a semi-quantitative scale according to the EULAR-OMERACT scoring system. Levels of agreement between number of synovitis defined by PDUS and clinical examination were compared in O versus NO patients using Chi2 test, and Kappas (k) and ORs were calculated. A patient was considered “discordant” if ≥1 joint was discordantly classified by PDUS and clinical examination. SDAI was calculated and compared, with SJC defined either by clinical examination or PDUS.Results:121 patients were included: mean (SD) age of 58.5 (12.7) years, mean disease duration of 11.1 (9.7) years. 81% were female, 84.3% anti-CCP positive, 63.6% had erosive disease. Mean SDAI was 12.6 (±10.2). 53 (43.8%) had a BMI >30 and 68 (56.2%) ≤30. 59 (48.7%) and 62 (51.2%) had a SDAI≤11 and >11, respectively. The 2 groups were comparable, except for weight (mean (SD) 65.4 (13.5) vs 96.7 (14.7) kg, p< 0.001), some comorbidities (diabetes, asthma and fibromyalgia more frequent in O patients), tender joint count (mean 4.04 (±5.23) in NO vs 7.38 (±8.64) in O, p=0.021). Mean number of SJC was 2.4 (3.3), and PDUS 6.7 (±6.3). Levels of agreement between clinical and PDUS findings were comparable in O vs. NO patients regarding SDAI and other scores (Table). Patients with ≥3 discordant joints were numerically higher in O patients compared to NO (26/53 (49.1%) vs 22/68 (32.4%), p=0.062). At the joint level, discordance was higher in O patients in MCP4 (p=0.057), wrist (p=0.089).Table.Level of agreement between PDUS synovitis and SJC in obese versus normally weighted RA patientsScore with PDUS vs. SJCBMI ≤ 30N=68BMI > 30N=53OR(95%CI)P*SDAINon-Discordant (ND)63461.92(0.57-6.42)0.28Discordant (D)57Kappa0.850.73DAS28ND62471.32(0.4-4.35)0.64D66Kappa0.810.77DAS44ND63520.24(0.03-2.14)0.23D51Kappa0.830.96≥1 synovitisND51351.54(0.7-3.4)0.28D1718Kappa0.500.32Conclusion:In RA patients, despite a perceived higher difficulty to clinically detect SJ in O patients, the discrepancy between clinically- and PDUS defined synovitis was not significantly higher than in NO patients, and did not impact the extend of the definition of disease activity level.Disclosure of Interests:Gael Mouterde: None declared, Federico Manna: None declared, Benoit Le Goff: None declared, Jean-David Albert: None declared, Sandrine Jousse-Joulin: None declared, Frederique Gandjbakhch: None declared, Damien LOEUILLE: None declared, Philippe Gaudin Speakers bureau: Lilly, Muriel PIPERNO: None declared, BANAL Frédéric: None declared, Bénédicte Jamard: None declared, Carine Salliot: None declared, Nicolas Molinari: None declared, Bernard Combe Grant/research support from: Novartis, Pfizer, Roche-Chugai, Consultant of: AbbVie; Gilead Sciences, Inc.; Janssen; Eli Lilly and Company; Pfizer; Roche-Chugai; Sanofi, Speakers bureau: Bristol-Myers Squibb; Gilead Sciences, Inc.; Eli Lilly and Company; Merck Sharp & Dohme; Pfizer; Roche-Chugai; UCB, Maria-Antonietta D’Agostino: None declared, Cédric Lukas: None declared

This study examined the heterogeneity in the English-as-a-second-language (ESL) test population by modeling the relationship between test-taker background characteristics and test performance as measured by the TOEFL iBT® using a confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) with covariate approach. The background characteristics studied included: (a) main reason for taking the TOEFL iBT test; (b) time spent studying English; (c) time spent attending a school, college, or university in which content classes were taught in English; and (d) lived in a country where English is the main language. The results indicated that at most levels of the background characteristics studied, there were statistically significant differences in the means of the four underlying latent factors (reading, listening, speaking, and writing) representing English-language proficiency (ELP). Overall, the effect size differences on the reading, listening, speaking, and writing latent factors among the levels for each of the background variables studied ranged from small to medium. The results of this study provide empirical evidence of the association and possible influence of test-taker background characteristics on the four underlying latent factors representing ELP and, thus, on test performance.

BACKGROUND: Identification of myositis-specific autoantibodies (MSAs) for dermatomyositis (DM) could allow the characterization of an antibody-associated clinical phenotype. OBJECTIVE: We sought to define the clinical phenotype of DM and the risk of cancer, interstitial lung disease (ILD) and calcinosis based on MSA. METHODS: A 3.5-year multicentre prospective study of adult DM patients was conducted to determine the clinical phenotype associated with MSAs and the presence of cancer, ILD and calcinosis. RESULTS: MSAs were detected in 47.1% of 117 included patients. Patients with antimelanoma differentiation-associated protein-5 antibodies (13.7%) had significantly more palmar violaceous macules/papules [odds ratio (OR) 9.9], mechanic's hands (OR 8), cutaneous necrosis (OR 3.2), articular involvement (OR 15.2) and a higher risk of ILD (OR 25.3). Patients with antitranscriptional intermediary factor-1 antibodies (11.1%), antinuclear matrix protein-2 antibodies (6.8%) and antiaminoacyl-transfer RNA synthetase (5.1%) had, respectively, significantly more poikiloderma (OR 5.9), calcinosis (OR 9.8) and articular involvement (OR 15.2). Cutaneous necrosis was the only clinical manifestation significantly associated with cancer (OR 3.1). CONCLUSION: Recognition of the adult DM phenotype associated with MSAs would allow more accurate appraisal of the risk of cancer, ILD and calcinosis.

This paper presents new approaches to characterize the achieved performance of hybrid control-access small cells in the context of two-tier multi-input multi-output (MIMO) cellular networks with random interference distributions. The hybrid scheme at small cells (such as femtocells) allows for sharing radio resources between the two network tiers according to the densities of small cells and their associated users, as well as the observed interference power levels in the two network tiers. The analysis considers MIMO transceivers at all nodes, for which antenna arrays can be utilized to implement transmit antenna selection (TAS) and receive maximal ratio combining (MRC) under MIMO point-to-point channels. Moreover, it tar-gets network-level models of interference sources inside each tier and between the two tiers, which are assumed to follow Poisson field processes. To fully capture the occasions for Poisson field distribution on MIMO spatial domain. Two practical scenarios of interference sources are addressed including highly-correlated or uncorrelated transmit antenna arrays of the serving macrocell base station. The analysis presents new analytical approaches that can characterize the downlink outage probability performance in any tier. Furthermore, the outage performance in high signal-to-noise (SNR) regime is also obtained, which can be useful to deduce diversity and/or coding gains.

This paper presents an enhanced overlay spectrum sharing scheme in a cognitive radio network, which consists of two pairs; a primary transmitter- primary receiver pair and a secondary base station-secondary receiver pair. The developed scheme is based on a three time slots overlay spectrum sharing, which exploits the maximum diversity gain for both the primary and secondary users. The performance of the developed scheme is assessed through the derivation of new closed form expressions for the bit error rate for arbitrary signal-to-noise ratio (SNR). In addition, we carry out an asymptotic analysis in the high SNR regime, which proves that the proposed scheme achieves a full diversity order for the PU and SU. Results of analytical expressions and numerical simulations both verify that the proposed scheme achieves significant gains for error performance, for both the PU and SU, in comparison to other baseline schemes.

Background With the growing indications of trans-catheter aortic-valve implantation (TAVI) and beneficial results among lower risk patients, valve durability is become a crucial issue. Purpose To assess long-term evolution of different generations of percutaneous balloon-expandable prostheses, incidence and predictive factors of structural valve deterioration (SVD). Methods All consecutive patients undergoing TAVI for severe aortic stenosis with balloon-expandable prosthesis between 2009 and 2014 were included in this monocentric prospective study. All echocardiograms were reviewed by two independent experts. Clinical events were defined according to the Valve Academic Research Consortium. SVD was defined according to the 2017 EAPCI-ESC-EACTS international consensus at the longest follow-up. Results A total of 160 patients were included with a median follow-up of 3.4 [1.5–4.9] years and a maximum of 8 years. Patients were mostly implanted with the first generation Sapien XT valve (n = 138, 86.2%). Median age was 85 [79–86] years with a median logistic Euro-SCORE of 14.2% [10.6–23.2]. Immediately after TAVI, mean aortic gradient decreased dramatically from 51 ± 12 mmHg to 9 ± 2.6 mmHg (P Fig. 1 ). Conclusions Up to 8-year follow-up, SVD following balloon-expandable TAVI is very low. TAVI seems to be a safe alternative to surgery in severe aortic stenosis regardless of prosthesis generation.

Background In paediatrics, managing oral anticoagulant therapy with vitamin K antagonists (VKA) remains challenging. This study aimed to assess the correlation between time in therapeutic range (TTR) and quality of life (QoL) in children participating in a non-selective INR self-monitoring VKA-educational program. Methods Children aged from 2 to 18 years under VKA therapy were eligible for this prospective multicentre study. Clinical and demographic data were collected. Health-related QoL was assessed using the PedsQL 4.0 questionnaire. Correlations between QoL scores and TTR were measured. Results A total of 121 children were included in the study (mean age 9.6 ± 4.9 years old). Cardiac conditions represented the predominant indication for VKA. The mean TTR was 0.78 ± 0.15, overall, and 0.76 ± 0.24 over the 3-month period before QoL assessment. The mean total QoL score was 76.2 ± 18 in self-reports, 71.4 ± 22 in mother-reports, and 73.5 ± 19 in father-reports. The TTR correlated with the total QoL scores, in self-reports (r = 0.22, P = 0.04), mother-reports (r = 0.23, P = 0.02), and father-reports (r = 0.28, P = 0.02). The TTR predominantly correlated with school functioning in self-reports (r = 0.38, P = 0.002) and mother-reports (r = 0.40, P Conclusion TTR correlated with QoL in children participating in a non-selective INR self-monitoring VKA-educational program. Regular assessment of QoL in patient education programs participates in understanding the concerns and needs of patients.

Introduction La dermatomyosite (DM) est caracterisee par des manifestations cutanees typiques et une atteinte musculaire variable. L’augmentation du risque de cancer, la pneumopathie interstitielle diffuse (PID) et le developpement d’une calcinose cutanee sont des complications determinant son pronostic. La presence d’auto-anticorps (auto-Ac) specifiques des myosites (MSA) pourrait s’associer a des phenotypes cliniques distincts. Cependant, la plupart des etudes disponibles sont retrospectives, monocentriques et le plus souvent sans donnee dermatologique detaillee. Notre etude vise a definir les caracteristiques cliniques et les complications evolutives associees a chaque MSA au cours de la DM adulte. Patients et methodes Il s’agit d’une etude de cohorte prospective d’adultes atteints de DM nouvellement diagnostiquee, realisee dans 12 services de dermatologie entre 2013 et 2015, avec un suivi poursuivi 1 an plus tard. Les manifestations dermatologiques, musculaires, articulaires et pulmonaires et l’association a un eventuel cancer etaient colligees via un questionnaire standardise, les photos cliniques et l’imagerie complementaire. Une recherche des MSA par immunodot etait systematiquement realisee avant toute introduction de traitement immunosuppresseur systemique. Resultats Au total, 117 patients etaient inclus. Quarante-sept pour cent des patients etaient porteurs d’au moins un MSA. Les Ac anti-MDA5 (melanoma differenciation-associated gene-5), anti-TIF1γ (transcriptional intermediary factor-1γ), anti-Mi2, anti-NXP2 (nuclear matrix protein-2), anti-SAE (small-ubiquitin-like-modifier-activating-enzyme) et anti-ARS (Aminoacyl-transfer-RNA synthetase) etaient respectivement presents chez 16 (14 %), 13 (11 %), 10 (8 %), 8 (7 %), 6 (5 %) et 6 (5 %) patients. La positivite de l’Ac anti-MDA5 s’associait a une augmentation du risque de necroses cutanees (OR = 3,25 ; p = 0,043), d’erytheme palmaire (OR = 9,9 ; p = 0,0002), de mains de mecaniciens (OR = 8 ; p = 0,0014), d’atteinte articulaire (OR = 15,2 ; p Discussion Notre etude confirme la valeur predictive clinique des MSA au cours des DM, en particulier du risque augmente de PID, calcinose et cancer respectivement en presence des Ac anti-MDA5, anti-NXP2 et anti-TIF1γ. Conclusion Au cours de la DM adulte, les MSA s’associent a des signes cliniques dermatologiques et des complications evolutives distinctes comme le cancer, la PID et la calcinose.

This paper presents new approaches to characterize the achieved performance of hybrid control-access small cells in the context of two-tier multi-input multi-output (MIMO) cellular networks with random interference distributions. The hybrids cheme at small cells (such as femtocells) allows for sharing radio resources between the two network tiers according to the densities of small cells and their associated users, as well as the observed interference power levels in the two network tiers. The analysis considers MIMO transceivers at all nodes, for which antenna arrays can be utilized to implement transmit antenna selection (TAS) and receive maximal ratio combining (MRC) under MIMO point-to-point channels. Moreover, it targets network-level models of interference sources inside each tier and between the two tiers, which are assumed to follow Poisson field processes. To fully capture the occasions for Poisson field distribution on MIMO spatial domain. Two practical scenarios of interference sources are addressed including highly-correlated or uncorrelated transmit antenna arrays of the serving macrocell base station. The analysis presents new analytical approaches that can characterize the downlink outage probability performance in any tier. Furthermore, the outage performance in high signal-tonoise (SNR) regime is also obtained, which can be useful to deduce diversity and/or coding gains. TRUE pub

IntroductionDespite increasing awareness of high prevalence of psychiatric disorders in people with intellectual disability (ID), diagnostic tools are few and scarcely used in daily practice. SPAID-G (psychiatric instrument for the intellectually disabled adult-general version) is the first Italian for carrying out psychiatric diagnostic orientations in adults with ID. It was designed to be easy and quick instrument for daily clinical practice.Objectives/AimsThe present study was aimed at evaluating psychometric and psychodiagnostic characteristics of the SPAID-G and at supplying new data on the prevalence rate of psychiatric disorders in a multicentric Italian sample of people with ID living in different settings.MethodsThe SPAID-G was consecutively administered to more than 800 persons with ID attending residential, rehabilitative or clinical services across Italy. A part of the sample was also assessed for psychopathology through the use of DASH-II, PDD-MRS and clinically diagnosed in accordance to DSM-IV-TR and DSM-5 criteria.ResultsSPAID internal consistency, inter-rater reliability and concordance with DASH-II and PDD-MRS resulted to be good. Around 40% of the sample was assessed to have a cluster of psychopathological symptoms that could be consistent with a psychiatric diagnosis. Autism, impulse control disorder and personality disorder resulted to be the most frequent over threshold scores.ConclusionsThe SPAID-G seems to be a valid and cost-effective screening tool for the psychiatric assessment within the Italian population with ID.Disclosure of interestThe authors have not supplied their declaration of competing interest.

In this paper, we consider a cognitive radio network consisting of a primary transmitter-primary receiver pair, and a secondary base station-secondary receiver pair. To improve the performance of both the primary and secondary pair, we propose an overlay spectrum sharing scheme where the primary user (PU) leases half of its time slots to the secondary user (SU) in exchange for the SU cooperatively relaying the PU's data using the amplify and forward scheme. The proposed scheme will involve the design of antenna weights and power allocation to meet a certain error or rate design criterion for both the PU and SU. To analyze the performance of the proposed scheme, we derive new closed form expressions for the rate and bit error rate for arbitrary signal-to-noise ratio (SNR). In addition, we carry out an asymptotic analysis in the high SNR regime to obtain the diversity order. These expressions, along with numerical analysis, reveal that the proposed cooperative overlay scheme can achieve significant performance gains, for both the PU and the SU, compared to a conventional noncooperative underlay scheme, which gives both users the incentive to cooperate.

Balvedi RPA, Versiani MA, Manna FF, Biffi JCG. A comparison of two techniques for the removal of calcium hydroxide from root canals. International Endodontic Journal, 43, 763–768, 2010.

The gold standard for the coverage of full-thickness skin defects is autologous skin grafts. However, poor skin quality and scar contracture are well-known problems in functional, highly strained regions. The use of dermal substitutes is an appropriate way to minimise scar contraction and, thereby, to optimise the quality of the reconstructed skin. The aim of this study was to evaluate the impact of the collagen-elastin matrix, Matriderm, for the single-step reconstruction of joint-associated defects of the upper extremity. Seventeen patients with full-thickness skin defects of the upper extremity were treated with the dermal substitute, Matriderm, and unmeshed skin graft in the functional critical region of the distal upper extremity in a single-step procedure. The take rate of the matrix-and-skin graft was 96%. Long-term follow-up revealed an overall Vancouver scar scale of 1.7. No limitation concerning hand function was observed; DASH-score analysis revealed excellent hand function in patients with burn injury and patients with a defect due to the harvest of a radial forearm flap achieved satisfying hand function. This matrix represents a viable alternative to other types of defect coverage and should therefore be considered in the treatment of skin injuries, especially in very delicate regions such as the joint regions. The possibility of performing a one-stage procedure is supposed to be a major advantage in comparison to a two-stage procedure.

Introduction Les infections de protheses hematogenes sont une entite rarement individualisee dans la litterature. L’objectif de cette etude est de decrire les caracteristiques de ces infections et les facteurs associes a l’echec de leur prise en charge initiale. Materiels et methodes Tous les dossiers de patients pris en charge entre janvier 2004 et mai 2015 dans deux centres pour une infection documentee bacteriologiquement de prothese de hanche ou de genou ont ete analyses afin de selectionner les infections acquises par voie hematogene, definies par une survenue des premiers symptomes sur un tableau aigu plus d’un an apres la pose. Resultats Quarante-sept patients presentant une infection de prothese hematogene ont ete inclus dont 33 arthrites sur prothese de genou et 14 arthrites sur prothese de hanche. Les agents infectieux isoles etaient des streptocoques (20 cas dont 3 streptocoques du groupe A), Staphylococcus aureus (20 cas, dont 2 resistants a la meticilline), des bacilles gram negatif (6 cas) et Listeria monocytogenes (1 cas). Une porte d’entree etait retrouvee dans plus de la moitie des cas, le plus souvent cutanee. Trente et un patients ont ete traites initialement par lavage avec conservation des implants et 15 par ablation de la prothese (dont 3 suivie d’une repose en 1 temps, 10 d’une repose en 2 temps et 2 sans repose). Un patient n’a pas ete pris en charge chirurgicalement. La duree mediane d’antibiotherapie etait de 66,5 jours (11–1020). Le taux d’echec, defini par la persistance ou la recidive de signes infectieux justifiant l’ablation des implants initiaux ou nouvellement poses etait globalement de 52 % (24/48), 71 % (22/31) en cas de conservation des implants et 13 % (2/15) en cas d’ablation. En cas d’infection a S . aureus , le taux d’echec etait de 63 % (12/19). Lorsque le traitement conservateur etait conforme aux recommandations francaises de 2007 dans ses indications et de par la voie d’abord a ciel ouvert, le taux d’echec restait eleve a 69 % (9/13). Les facteurs associes a l’echec etaient les antecedents de reprise chirurgicale de la prothese et le traitement chirurgical conservateur. Conclusion Le risque eleve d’echec du traitement conservateur en cas d’infection de prothese hematogene doit faire discuter l’ablation systematique des implants, lorsque le terrain le permet, notamment en cas de reprise anterieure et d’infection a S . aureus .

A simple and rapid HPLC method for the determination of clobetasol 17-propionate in cosmetic formulations, with antidranduff and antiseborrheic activity, has been developed. The chromatographic separation was carried out on a 5 μm Purospher-Lichrocart column using water-acetonitrile (40:60, v/v) as the mobile phase and UV detection at 237 nm. The extraction procedure has been validated analysing samples spiked with known amounts of the active principle. The recoveries were greater than 94% and the reproducibility was within 3.0%.

Using as a template genomic DNA extracted from the cultivar Ofanto of durum wheat (Triticum turgidum var. durum Desf), and as DNA primers two oligonucleotides spanning Lipoxygenase-1 (LOX-1) gene region, evolutionary conserved in different plants, we have amplified in a PCR reaction a 1200 bp fragment. This DNA fragment has been subcloned and used to prepare probes in Slot-blot experiments. Our aim was to detect the expression LOX gene(s), at level of RNA, in different cultivars of Durum wheat. Preliminary results indicates that there are significant variations in the expression of LOX gene(s) in the tested samples, and a good negative correlation of LOX-1 mRNA levels with both semolina p-carotene content and semolina yellow index of durm wheat varieties utilized. The physiological, significance of this relation will be discussed.

A method is proposed for extraction, separation, identification and quantitative measurement of boldine (I) in pharmaceuticals. The extraction of (I) from the matrix (syrups, tablets, extracts) was realized with aqueous ammonium chloride (0.02 M, pH=3.0 with perchloric acid) and the clean-up of the extract was performed by solid-phase extraction by means of cartridges containing a strong cation-exchange sorbent, from which (I) was eluted with aqueous ammonium chloride (1 M, pH=10.0 with ammonia). The final eluate was examined by HPLC. Chromatography was performed on a C-8 column with a gradient elution from 15:85 to 30:70 of acetonitrile-water containing 0.1 M sodium perchlorate (pH=3.0), in 20 min. A diode array detector was used at 302 nm for detection. The method gives recovery values greater than 98% and the reproducibility is within 6.0%.

The development of high-throughput fitness measurement methods provides unprecedented power to test evolutionary theories. However, with this comes new challenges regarding data quality and data analysis. We illustrate this by reanalysing the fitness distribution in several environments of yeast mutants (homo- and heterozygous) from the yeast deletion project. Originally created to study functional properties of genes, evolutionary biologists took advantage of this database to study evolutionary questions, such as dominance for fitness of mutations. We uncover several problems in this data set strongly affecting these questions that have remained unnoticed despite the numerous studies based on it. High-throughput methodologies are necessarily challenging, both experimentally and for data analysis: our point is not to criticize these approaches, but to pinpoint these challenges and to propose several improvements that may help avoid several shortcomings. Further, in the light of this finding, we question the conclusions regarding theories of dominance that have been made using this data set. We show that the data on deletion of small effects are not sufficiently reliable to be informative on this question. On the other hand, deletions of large effect exhibit no correlation between homo- and heterozygous fitness effects, a pattern that sheds new light on the h-s correlation issue, with several consequences for the debate over the different theories of dominance.

8 nickel-sensitive subjects were given a gradually increasing daily oral intake of NiSO4 in water. The exposure lasted from between 91 and 178 days and the total intake ranged from between 113 and 278 mg of Ni++. While 6 subjects were continuously exposed over the entire period, the other 2 were exposed for 2 shorter periods with an interval between the 2 exposures of 84 and 63 days, respectively. Nickel exposure was well tolerated by all subjects, and there was no worsening of the cutaneous manifestations. Ni++ serum and urine concentrations were repeatedly assayed. A reduction of intestinal adsorption and an activation of the renal excretion were shown through an evaluation of the ratios of Ni++ serum concentration/Ni++ cumulative oral intake, Ni++ urinary amount/nickel cumulative oral intake and Ni++ serum amount/Ni++ urine amount. The course of Ni++ faecal amounts, calculated indirectly, increased rapidly in time and was consistent with the other courses. In many subjects, the decrease in serum concentrations was followed by a slight increase. It is likely that this phenomenon is due to the release of epidermally stored nickel. These data seem to indicate that in some sensitive subjects, prolonged oral exposure to NiSO4 in water reduces the intestinal adsorption of nickel and activates its renal excretion, also promoting the mobilization of accumulated element.

The petite-positive yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae can be efficiently and completely converted to respiratory-deficient cytoplasmic petite mutants by intercalating drugs. Rho0 petites from Schizosaccharomyces pombe could only be obtained in strains carrying a nuclear mutation. In this paper we report the efficient isolation of rho0 mutants in a Sch. pombe strain containing a mitochondrial mutator mutation. We also show that the alkaloid lycorine is able to differentiate between cells containing defective mitochondrial DNA (mit-) and those lacking mitochondrial DNA completely (rho0). Rho0 cells are resistant to the alkaloid whereas mit- and wild-type cells show the same sensitivity.

Climate change is one of the issues most debated by the scientific community with a special focus to the combined effects of anthropogenic modifications of the atmosphere and the natural climatic cycles. Various scenarios have been formulated in order to forecast the global atmospheric circulation and consequently the variability of the global distribution of air temperature and rainfall. The effects of climate change have been analysed with respect to the risks of desertification, droughts and floods, remaining mainly limited to the atmospheric and surface components of the hydrologic cycle. Consequently the impact of the climate change on the recharge of regional aquifers and on the groundwater circulation is still a challenging topic especially in those areas whose aqueduct systems depend basically on springs or wells, such as the Campania region (Southern Italy). In order to analyse the long-term climatic variability and its influence on groundwater circulation, we analysed decadal patterns of precipitation, air temperature and spring discharges in the Campania region (Southern Italy), coupled with the North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO). The time series of precipitation and air temperature were gathered over 90 yr, in the period from 1921 to 2010, choosing 18 rain gauges and 9 air temperature stations among those with the most continuous functioning as well as arranged in a homogeneous spatial distribution. Moreover, for the same period, we gathered the time series of the winter NAO index (December to March mean) and of the discharges of the Sanità spring, belonging to an extended carbonate aquifer (Cervialto Mount) located in the central-eastern area of the Campania region, as well as of two other shorter time series of spring discharges. The hydrogeological features of this aquifer, its relevance due to the feeding of an important regional aqueduct system, as well as the unique availability of a long-lasting time series of spring discharges, allowed us to consider it as an ideal test site, representative of the other carbonate aquifers in the Campania region. The time series of regional normalised indexes of mean annual precipitation, mean annual air temperature and mean annual effective precipitation, as well as the time series of the normalised annual discharge index were calculated. Different methods were applied to analyse the time series: long-term trend analysis, through smoothing numerical techniques, cross-correlation and Fourier analysis. The investigation of the normalised indexes has highlighted long-term complex periodicities, strongly correlated with the winter NAO index. Moreover, we also found robust correlations among precipitation indexes and the annual discharge index, as well as between the latter and the NAO index itself. Although the effects of the North Atlantic Oscillation had already been proved on long-term precipitation and streamflow patterns of different European countries and Mediterranean areas, the results obtained appear original because they establish a link between a large-scale atmospheric cycle and the groundwater circulation of regional aquifers. Therefore, we demonstrated that the winter NAO index can be considered as an effective proxy to forecast the decadal variability of groundwater circulation in Mediterranean areas and in estimating critical scenarios for the feeding of aqueduct systems.

In this paper, we consider a two hop cognitive radio network where there are multiple primary and secondary users. We propose the design of antenna weights at the source and relay based on zero forcing principles. These antenna weights are designed to cancel the interference among the secondary users while maintaining fairness, and to ensure interference free signals at each primary user. To analyze the performance of our proposed design, we derive new exact expressions for the signal to interference and noise ratio at each secondary user, which are subsequently used to analyze the error performance.

In this paper, we consider an underlay cognitive radio network consisting of a primary transmitter (PT), a primary receiver (PR), a secondary transmitter (ST) and a secondary receiver (SR). We propose a two time slot spectrum sharing scheme based on cooperative relay transmission in addition to a practical design of the antenna weights at the ST to achieve high performance at the primary and the secondary networks. To analyze the performance of our proposed scheme, we first derive a closed form expression for the diversity order achieved at the PR and the SR. We then show through simulations that our proposed scheme, compared to conventional systems where no cooperation occurs, results in an improved quality of service at both the primary and the secondary networks, namely, the error rate and the ergodic capacity.

In the era of massive astronomical datasets, efficient identification of candidate quasars and the reconstruction of their three dimensional distribution in the Universe is a key requirement for constraining some of the main issues regarding the formation and evolution of QSOs. A method for the determination of photometric redshifts of QSOs based on multiwavelength photometry and on a combination of data mining techniques will be discussed. This procedure, specifically suited for accompanying the candidate selection method discussed in (D’Abrusco et al. 2008), makes use of specific tools developed under the EuroVO and NVO frameworks for data gathering, pre-processing and mining, while relying on the scaling capabilities of the computing grid. This method allowed us to obtain photometric redshifts with an increased accuracy (up to 30%) with respect to the literature.

The L3 experiment is one of the six large detectors designed for the new generation of electron-positron accelerators. It is the only detector that concentrates its efforts on limited goals of measuring electrons, muons and photons. By not attempting to identify hadrons, L3 has been able to provide an order of magnitude better resolution for electrons, muons and photons. Vertices and hadron jets are also studied. The construction of L3 has involved much state of the art technology in new principles of vertex detection and in new crystals for large scale electromagnetic shower detection and ultraprecise muon detection. This paper presents a summary of the construction of L3.