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Study question Although oocyte vitrification is efficient for fertility preservation, the information about damage post-warming is limited. Could the oocyte morphology before vitrification predict the survival rate? Summary answer Precisely measuring the oolemma/whole oocyte surface area ratio may predict the post-warming survival rate before performing oocyte vitrification. What is known already Recent studies suggest that oocyte vitrification has higher post-warming survival and pregnancy rates. However, the oocyte post-warming survival rate depends on the oocyte quality but not maternal age. Furthermore, it has been well received that the cell surface/volume ratio is related to the efficiency of cryoprotective additives permeability. Moreover, the oocyte shows a large perivitelline space (PVS) that is negatively related to clinical outcomes. Nevertheless, no studies precisely defined large PVS by measuring the oolemma/whole oocyte surface area ratio. Therefore, we assessed the correlation between the oolemma/whole oocyte surface area ratio and the post-warming survival rate. Study design, size, duration A retrospective study enrolled 43 IVF cycles undergoing oocyte thawing from 2018 to 2020 at Linkou Chang Gung Memorial Hospital. Participants/materials, setting, methods A total of 161 oocytes were warmed. We excluded the oocyte were shipped to our center, MI stages, and without electric medical images. We retrospectively collected all the electric medical images of warmed oocytes that were measured the surface area of oolemma and whole oocyte using ImageJ. Linear regression and Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve analysis were performed for further analysis. Main results and the role of chance Our finding showed that the maternal age (38.1 ± 5.3) at oocyte vitrification was not correlated to survival rate (P = 0.26) and the oolemma/whole oocyte surface area ratio (P = 0.59). However, the ROC curve revealed that the oolemma/whole oocyte surface area ratio could predict the survival rate post-warm (AUC: 0.67, 95%CI: 0.56-0.78). Limitations, reasons for caution Small sample size limited the power of this study, and the higher advanced maternal age group involved in this study may not represent the younger group’s outcomes. Therefore, future studies need to enlarge the sample size to evaluate the prediction efficiency of the oolemma/whole oocyte surface area ratio. Wider implications of the findings Our study demonstrates the possible factor related to oocyte cryo-damage. The lower oolemma/whole oocyte surface area ratio represents the oocyte having a larger PVS that has a higher chance of damage after thawing, which shows that by precisely qualified the size of PVS could evaluate the oocyte quality before vitrification. Trial registration number Not applicable

N-Carbamylglutamate (NCG), an analogue of N-acetylglutamate (NAG), can promote the synthesis of endogenous Arginine (Arg) in mammals, but not well studied in fish. This study was conducted to investigate the capacity of Arg endogenous synthesis by NCG, and the effects of various dietary NCG doses on growth performance, hepatic health and underlying nutrient regulation metabolism on ERK1/2-mTOR-S6K1 signaling pathway in Japanese seabass (Lateolabrax japonicus). Four experimental diets were prepared with NCG supplement levels of 0 (N0), 360 (N360), 720 (N720) and 3600 (N3600) mg/kg, in which N360 was at the maximum recommended level authorized by MOA, China in fish feed, and the N720 and N3600 levels were 2 and 10-fold of N360, respectively. Each diet was fed to 6 replicates with 30 Japanese seabass (initial body weight, IBW = 11.67 ± 0.02 g) in each tank. The results showed that the dietary NCG supplementation had no significant effects on the SGR and morphometric parameters of Japanese seabass, but 360–720 mg/kg NCG inclusion promoted PPV, while the 10-fold (3600 mg/kg) overdose of NCG had remarkably negative effects with significantly reduced feed efficiency, PPV and LPV. We found that Japanese seabass can utilize 360–720 mg/kg NCG to synthesis Arg to improve the amino acid metabolism by increasing plasma Arg and up-regulating intestinal ASL gene expression. Increased plasma GST and decreased MDA indicated the improved antioxidant response. Dietary NCG inclusion decreased plasma IgM and down-regulated the mRNA levels of inflammation (TNF-α and IL8), apoptosis (caspase family) and fibrosis (TGF-β1) related genes in the liver. The immunofluorescence examination revealed significantly decreased hepatic apoptosis and necrosis signals in the NCG groups. The ameliorated liver function and histological structure were closely related to the improved lipid metabolism parameters with decreased plasma VLDL and hepatic TG and NEFA accumulation, down-regulated fatty acid and cholesterol synthesis and simultaneously increased lipolysis gene mRNA levels, which regulated by inhibiting phosphorylation of ERK1/2-mTOR-S6K1 signaling pathway. Consuming 3600 mg/kg of dietary NCG is not safe for Japanese seabass culturing with the significantly increased FCR and decreased protein and lipid retention, and reduced plasma ALB. Accordingly, the observed efficacy and safety level of dietary NCG in the diet of Japanese seabass is 720 mg/kg.

International audience; BACKGROUND: Patients who have had a stroke with unknown time of onset have been previously excluded from thrombolysis. We aimed to establish whether intravenous alteplase is safe and effective in such patients when salvageable tissue has been identified with imaging biomarkers. METHODS: We did a systematic review and meta-analysis of individual patient data for trials published before Sept 21, 2020. Randomised trials of intravenous alteplase versus standard of care or placebo in adults with stroke with unknown time of onset with perfusion-diffusion MRI, perfusion CT, or MRI with diffusion weighted imaging-fluid attenuated inversion recovery (DWI-FLAIR) mismatch were eligible. The primary outcome was favourable functional outcome (score of 0-1 on the modified Rankin Scale [mRS]) at 90 days indicating no disability using an unconditional mixed-effect logistic-regression model fitted to estimate the treatment effect. Secondary outcomes were mRS shift towards a better functional outcome and independent outcome (mRS 0-2) at 90 days. Safety outcomes included death, severe disability or death (mRS score 4-6), and symptomatic intracranial haemorrhage. This study is registered with PROSPERO, CRD42020166903. FINDINGS: Of 249 identified abstracts, four trials met our eligibility criteria for inclusion: WAKE-UP, EXTEND, THAWS, and ECASS-4. The four trials provided individual patient data for 843 individuals, of whom 429 (51%) were assigned to alteplase and 414 (49%) to placebo or standard care. A favourable outcome occurred in 199 (47%) of 420 patients with alteplase and in 160 (39%) of 409 patients among controls (adjusted odds ratio [OR] 1·49 [95% CI 1·10-2·03]; p=0·011), with low heterogeneity across studies (I(2)=27%). Alteplase was associated with a significant shift towards better functional outcome (adjusted common OR 1·38 [95% CI 1·05-1·80]; p=0·019), and a higher odds of independent outcome (adjusted OR 1·50 [1·06-2·12]; p=0·022). In the alteplase group, 90 (21%) patients were severely disabled or died (mRS score 4-6), compared with 102 (25%) patients in the control group (adjusted OR 0·76 [0·52-1·11]; p=0·15). 27 (6%) patients died in the alteplase group and 14 (3%) patients died among controls (adjusted OR 2·06 [1·03-4·09]; p=0·040). The prevalence of symptomatic intracranial haemorrhage was higher in the alteplase group than among controls (11 [3%] vs two [\textless1%], adjusted OR 5·58 [1·22-25·50]; p=0·024). INTERPRETATION: In patients who have had a stroke with unknown time of onset with a DWI-FLAIR or perfusion mismatch, intravenous alteplase resulted in better functional outcome at 90 days than placebo or standard care. A net benefit was observed for all functional outcomes despite an increased risk of symptomatic intracranial haemorrhage. Although there were more deaths with alteplase than placebo, there were fewer cases of severe disability or death. FUNDING: None.

Stroke thrombolysis with alteplase is currently recommended 0-4·5 h after stroke onset. We aimed to determine whether perfusion imaging can identify patients with salvageable brain tissue with symptoms 4·5 h or more from stroke onset or with symptoms on waking who might benefit from thrombolysis.In this systematic review and meta-analysis of individual patient data, we searched PubMed for randomised trials published in English between Jan 1, 2006, and March 1, 2019. We also reviewed the reference list of a previous systematic review of thrombolysis and searched ClinicalTrials.gov for interventional studies of ischaemic stroke. Studies of alteplase versus placebo in patients (aged ≥18 years) with ischaemic stroke treated more than 4·5 h after onset, or with wake-up stroke, who were imaged with perfusion-diffusion MRI or CT perfusion were eligible for inclusion. The primary outcome was excellent functional outcome (modified Rankin Scale [mRS] score 0-1) at 3 months, adjusted for baseline age and clinical severity. Safety outcomes were death and symptomatic intracerebral haemorrhage. We calculated odds ratios, adjusted for baseline age and National Institutes of Health Stroke Scale score, using mixed-effects logistic regression models. This study is registered with PROSPERO, number CRD42019128036.We identified three trials that met eligibility criteria: EXTEND, ECASS4-EXTEND, and EPITHET. Of the 414 patients included in the three trials, 213 (51%) were assigned to receive alteplase and 201 (49%) were assigned to receive placebo. Overall, 211 patients in the alteplase group and 199 patients in the placebo group had mRS assessment data at 3 months and thus were included in the analysis of the primary outcome. 76 (36%) of 211 patients in the alteplase group and 58 (29%) of 199 patients in the placebo group had achieved excellent functional outcome at 3 months (adjusted odds ratio [OR] 1·86, 95% CI 1·15-2·99, p=0·011). Symptomatic intracerebral haemorrhage was more common in the alteplase group than the placebo group (ten [5%] of 213 patients vs one [1%] of 201 patients in the placebo group; adjusted OR 9·7, 95% CI 1·23-76·55, p=0·031). 29 (14%) of 213 patients in the alteplase group and 18 (9%) of 201 patients in the placebo group died (adjusted OR 1·55, 0·81-2·96, p=0·66).Patients with ischaemic stroke 4·5-9 h from stroke onset or wake-up stroke with salvageable brain tissue who were treated with alteplase achieved better functional outcomes than did patients given placebo. The rate of symptomatic intracerebral haemorrhage was higher with alteplase, but this increase did not negate the overall net benefit of thrombolysis.None.

1. Mutations in growth differentiation factor 9 (GDF9) and bone morphogenetic protein 15 (BMP15) are significantly associated with reproductive performance in mammals and the objective of the present study was to identify polymorphic sites and elucidate the association between genotypes in BMP15 and GDF9 and egg production. 2. Polymorphisms in BMP15 exon1 and GDF9 exon2 were detected by DNA sequencing and PCR-RFLP. Three SNPs were detected in each of BMP15 (A111G, C231T and C34T) and GDF9 (G593A, T824C and C896T). C34T leads to the substitution of Leu by Phe, which was predicted to affect protein function. 3. Results of the association analysis indicated that C34T had an effect on total egg production at 300 d of age (EN) and age at first laying (AFE). G593A affected EN and both C231T and C896T influenced AFE. The TGC1TGC1 diplotype in BMP15 had the highest EN. 4. In conclusion, EN may be significantly improved by marker-assisted selection of the BMP15 genotypes in maternal lines of Shaobo hens.

Human Mas-related G protein-coupled receptor X1 (MRGPRX1) is a promising target for pain inhibition, mainly because of its restricted expression in nociceptors within the peripheral nervous system. However, constrained by species differences across Mrgprs, drug candidates that activate MRGPRX1 do not activate rodent receptors, leaving no responsive animal model to test the effect on pain in vivo. Here, we generated a transgenic mouse line in which we replaced mouse Mrgprs with human MrgprX1 This humanized mouse allowed us to characterize an agonist [bovine adrenal medulla 8-22 (BAM8-22)] and a positive allosteric modulator (PAM), ML382, of MRGPRX1. Cellular studies suggested that ML382 enhances the ability of BAM8-22 to inhibit high-voltage-activated Ca2+ channels and attenuate spinal nociceptive transmission. Importantly, both BAM8-22 and ML382 effectively attenuated evoked, persistent, and spontaneous pain without causing obvious side effects. Notably, ML382 by itself attenuated both evoked pain hypersensitivity and spontaneous pain in MrgprX1 mice after nerve injury without acquiring coadministration of an exogenous agonist. Our findings suggest that humanized MrgprX1 mice provide a promising preclinical model and that activating MRGPRX1 is an effective way to treat persistent pain.

A high PM 2.5 pollution episode was detected in Shanghai in November 2010. The integrated process rate method, an advanced diagnostic tool, was applied to account for the contribution of different atmospheric processes during the high pollution episode in the Yangtze River Delta region (YRD). The PM 2.5 process analysis indicates that the emission of fine particles is the dominant source of high surface PM 2.5 concentrations in the major cities of the YRD like Shanghai, Nanjing, and Hangzhou, following horizontal transportation and aerosols. The PM 2.5 concentration could be reduced due to vertical advection and diffusion from lower levels to the upper air. The aerosols process such as homogeneous nucleation and condensation producing PM 2.5 occurs throughout the PBL layer in urban areas, causing vertical transport from upper levels down to the surface layer. The aerosols process is much more significant in a downwind rural and coastal site like Zhoushan than in the urban areas. The PM 2.5 change initiated by both horizontal transport and vertical transport is much stronger at 40–2000 m height than in the surface layer, while the PM 2.5 change caused by horizontal diffusion is very small. Dry deposition can significantly reduce concentration of the particulates in the surface level of the atmosphere, and wet deposition can remove the particles in the planetary boundary layer (PBL). The cloud processes can either increase PM 2.5 due to the aqueous-phase oxidation of SO 2 and NO 2 or remove PM 2.5 due to cloud scavenging. Solar radiation and humidity are more important to secondary pollution, and they are the significant external factors affecting the chemical reactions among sulfur dioxide, nitrogen oxides, ammonia, volatile compounds and fine particles.

Double-sided double arc welding (DSDAW), a high efficiency method for welding thick plate of low alloy high strength steel which does not require back chipping is used in this paper, research on multi-pass route planning for thick plate of low alloy high strength plate by double-sided double arc welding. Firstly, establish a double-sided double arc welding system that can realize thick plate of low alloy high strength steel double-sided double arc welding by double robots. Then, Propose the multi-pass route planning for thick plate of low alloy high strength steel by double-sided double arc welding by means of misplaced welding. According to the welding parameters and the geometry size of groove, plan the layers, the number of beads and the concrete position of the welding torch for each bead. Finally, the welding experiment has been done to verify the effectiveness of multi-pass route planning. The results of welding experiment are approximately agreement with the multi-pass route planning results. The backing weld can get better appearance in the front and guarantee fusion penetration in the back simultaneously. On the basis of the multi-pass welding route planning, good fusion and leveling interface can be obtained after filler passes.

There are increasing concerns over facilities cultivation soils of nitrate accumulation in China. Nitrate pollution in secondary salinization soil is regarded as having potential effects on soil microbial communities. Our study was conducted to evaluate effects of secondary salinization on soil microbial functional diversity with the BIOLOG method. The results showed that Average well-color development (AWCD) values declined with the rising of nitrate concentrations to some extent. The results also exhibited that the accumulation of nitrate in soil decreased the carbon sources utilization rates and the microbial species diversity indices. It indicated that nitrate has significantly negative effects on the sole-carbon-source metabolic ability of soil microbial communities. The cluster analysis intuitively demonstrated the distance and relationship between each sample: soil samples with high nitrate content were more close to each other, while soil samples with low were more similar in distances. The principal component analysis (PCA) result further validated that nitrate was inversely correlated to microbial carbon sources utilization intensity and microbial diversity. The four carbon substrates, Carbohydrates, Miscellaneous, Amino acids and Polymers, could reflect most of the information about carbon sources utilization. Microorganisms preferred these four carbon substrates were more vulnerable to nitrate. Thus, these four carbon substrates could be one of the prioritized microbe carbon sources in soil bioremediation.

Many multivariate control charts have been proposed for monitoring several related quality characteristics simultaneously. However, even when an out-of-control signal is detected, the employed multivariate control charts generally do not provide any interpretable information associated with that signal. That is, the contributors of the out-of-control event can not be identified by the charts. Hence, how to tackle this interpretation problem effectively is an important issue in multivariate process control. One rarely addressed but very crucial property of this interpretation problem is that the number of possible outcomes can be very large. According to this key property, a nonparametric discriminant analysis (NDA)-based hierarchical classification scheme is proposed in this paper. A simulation experiment including several popular classification methods was conducted for evaluating the performance of the proposed method. The result shows that our proposed scheme is very competitive when measured against these popular methods.

Background. Ventilatory equivalent (ventilation/CO2 production, VE/VCO2) slope has been suggested to be a much more accurate predicator than peak oxygen consumption (VO2) during exercise for prognosis in patients with heart failure. However, patients tested were predominately male. Methods. To investigate whether peak VO2 and VE/VCO2 slope predict the prognosis of female patients with heart failure, we retrospectively collected data of 39 female candidates referred for heart transplantation (HTx) from 2004 to 2011. Both peak VO2 and VE/VCO2 slope were obtained from the results of an exercise pulmonary function test. The outcome was death or mechanical devices implantation or HTx. Logistic regression was used for data analysis. Results. Mean age and heart failure survival score were 55.8 � 13.7 years and 7.3 � 0.7, respectively. Each increment of VE/VCO2 slope decreased 2-year event-free rate (odds ratio [OR] ¼ 0.88, 95% confidence interval [CI] ¼ 0.79 to 0.98) in the female group. The predictions of VE/VCO2 slope for 1-year event-free survival did not reach statistical significance (OR ¼ 0.92, 95% CI ¼ 0.84 to 1.00). On the other hand, peak VO2 was not a strong predictor for 1- and 2-year event-free survival (OR ¼ 1.22 and 1.16, 95% CI ¼ 0.96 to 1.55 and 0.94 to 1.44, respectively). Conclusions. Impairment in exercise ventilation holds a clinical and long-term prognostic impact in female patients with heart failure. The role of peak VO2 during exercise in prognostic prediction among the cohort should be further investigated.

Betanodaviruses and megalocytiviruses are the causative agents of viral nervous necrosis and iridoviral disease, respectively, among marine species farmed in Taiwan. Because there are few cell lines susceptible to these viruses, we wished to identify additional lines with which to study viral pathology and epidemiology. Thus, we established two clonal cell lines designated GBC1 and GBC4 from the brain of an orange-spotted grouper, Epinephelus coioides. Both cell lines grew well in Leibovitz's L-15 medium supplemented with 5% (GBC1) or 10% (GBC4) fetal bovine serum at temperatures between 20 °C and 35 °C. Cytokeratin immunofluorescence staining revealed that both cell lines were of epithelial origin. GBC4 cells expressed glial fibril acidic protein suggesting, that they are astroglial lineage cells. The modal diploid chromosome number was 44 and 48 for GBC1 and GBC4, respectively. GBC1 cells were highly susceptible to grouper nerve necrosis virus (GNNV) and yielded titers of 1010 TCID50 ml− 1 but were non-susceptible to the giant seaperch iridovirus (GSIV). By contrast, GBC4 cells were susceptible to GSIV with titers approaching 109 TCID50 ml− 1 whereas GNNV infection only yielded titers of 106 TCID50 ml− 1. GNNV propagated in GBC1 across a wide range of temperatures (15–37 °C) whereas in GBC4, GSIV propagated over 15–30 °C. Induction of the Mx protein upon GNNV infection occurred in GBC4 but not in GBC1, suggesting that the Mx protein inhibits virus production. Our results suggest that these two cell lines provide a valuable tool for the isolation and investigation of betanodavirus and megalocytivirus.

Ultra-nanocrystalline diamond (UNCD) films prepared by microwave plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition were implanted using 0.3 MeV nitrogen ions under a dose of 10 13 , 10 14 , and 10 15 ions cm − 2 . While the surface morphology of the UNCD films was not pronounced modified, the crystallinity of the films was changed appreciably due to ion implantation. The scratch test has been used to study the adhesion of the film to the substrate, which illustrated that the critical load, used as a measure of the adhesive strength, is found to increase with ion dose. Secondary ion mass spectroscopy (SIMS) analyses on the interfacial morphology indicated that the main factor in improving the adhesive strength is the modification on interfacial structure through inter-diffusion between film and substrate.

The fabric of a sand strongly dominates its stress–strain behavior during monotonic and cyclic shearing. In this study, two pairs of piezoelectric ceramic transducers built into a triaxial cell, which are capable of measuring the compressive and shear wave velocities propagating in the axial direction, were developed. A series of triaxial tests using different stress paths were conducted on sand to investigate their mechanical properties and to simultaneously measure the compressive and shear wave velocities. The measured wave velocities varied, depending on stress path and stress state. A new measure, referred to as the fabric index, was derived using elastic theory for a cross-anisotropic material in association with a micromechanics-based stress–strain model. This index was used to evaluate fabric evolution along various stress paths in three types of sand. The effects of confining pressure, current stress ratio, stress path, and stress history on the fabric index are discussed in detail.

This paper, for the first time, reports the nano-size effect of ZnO nanowire (NW) on reversible sulfuration-desulfuration reaction process. ZnO NWs with diameter of 50nm are recently found to be sulfurated by H 2 S to form ZnS, which can be latterly desulfurized by ambient oxygen back to ZnO when H 2 S is removed. This sensing mechanism is different from the widely used conventional one for reductive gases like H 2 S [1]. Based on the nano-material property, higher sensitivity of ZnO NW to ultra-low concentration H 2 S is expected by size shrinking. A novel nano-structure of tree-branch ZnO NWs, with the branch diameter as 20nm, is in situ grown at the hot-plate of a micro-sensor. Both the 20nm ZnO-NWs sensor and the 50nm sensor are compared by experiment, resulting in good validation of the nano-size effect. The tree-branched 20nm ZnO-NWs sensor exhibits resoluble sensing to 20ppb H 2 S.

Silicon wafers are the most extensively used material for integrated circuit (IC) substrates. Before taking the form of a wafer, a single crystal silicon ingot must go through a series of machining processes, including slicing, lapping, surface grinding, edge profiling, and polishing. A key requirement of the processes is to produce extremely flat surfaces on work pieces up to 350 mm in diameter. A total thickness variation (TTV) of less than 15 μm is strictly demanded by the industry for an 0.18 μm IC process. Furthermore, the surfaces should be smooth (Ra

The design consideration of the superhigh speed HTS Maglev vehicle system of 1000 m test line is presented on the basis of the experiment results of HTS Maglev vehicle in the years before last. The gross weight of NdFeB of test line guideway is 6750 kg. The low temperature rectangle-shape liquid nitrogen vessel on board has high mechanical strength at 77 K of the temperature. The vessel has 5 mm of bottom thickness and 12 hours of continuous working time. There are two seats in the HTS Maglev vehicle. The total load of the Maglev vehicle is 500 kg including 150 kg of weight of two passengers in the weight. The vehicle body is the quasiellipsoidal shape, and the outside outline size of the vehicle with shell is about 2.3 m of length 0.95 m of height, and 1.2 m of width. The vehicle is driven by a linear motor which is controlled by a ground controlling system. Drive acceleration is 5 g (about 49 m/s/sup 2/), and the acceleration section length is 300 m. The maximum speed of the vehicle is over 600 km/h when there is no onboard man, and the manned speed is still up to 100 km/h.

This paper provides a method for producing a novel type coded micro-carrier. A simple and cost effective solution for bio-molecule applications was developed. Application relevant items such as manufacture process, biospecific interaction, and analysis method are discussed. For low cost fabrication, the use of LIGA-like process is suggested. LIGA-like process is used as a dry patterning process in which an intense beam of light from an excimer laser is used to pattern a material directly. This process has found extensive application in the microelectronics industry for patterning of polymer materials. The use of LIGA-like techniques offers two attractive features: first, we can cut the polymer into many tiny micro-carriers with micrometer precision. Second, LIGA-like process allows to encode with high precision spatial information onto the micro-carrier that can be used in the identification of the bio-molecule. This paper gives a description of the basic idea, describes the fabrication of the novel micro-carrier that we called "coded micro-carrier," and of the image processing algorithms used for the analysis of bio-molecules. This study also provides a test method for identifying a bio-molecule, which includes mixing several coded micro-carriers with the hybridized unknown bio-molecules; and identifying the codes on the micro-carrier via image recognition system. The numbers and types of the known micro-carrier can be flexibly adjusted according to the number of tested bio-molecules.

The similarities and differences in molecular mechanisms regulating invertebrate and mammalian folliculogenesis are starting to be deciphered. In Drosophila, the neoplastic tumor suppressor gene discslarge is crucial for suppressing proliferation and movement of follicle cells relative to the growing oocyte. Lethal giant larvae and scribble play similar roles and have been suggested to collaborate intimately with discslarge. We have identified and determined the expression pattern of murine homologs of these Drosophila genes. In situ data shows that murine discslarge-1, discslarge-3, discslarge-4, lethal giant larvae, and scribble are expressed in both overlapping and distinct patterns in oocytes and granulosa cells in maturing follicles. Disclarge-4 is expressed in the surface epithelium and is lost in mouse carcinogenic surface epithelial cells. All of these genes, as well as discslarge-2 and discslarge-5, are expressed in human ovaries. Our data suggests that as in Drosophila, these tumor suppressors may cooperate during mammalian folliculogenesis, but also have distinct functions.

The problem of close-packed dimers on the honeycomb lattice was solved by Kasteleyn in 1963. Here we extend the solution to include interactions between neighboring dimers in two spatial lattice directions. The solution is obtained by using the method of Bethe ansatz and by converting the dimer problem into a five-vertex problem. The complete phase diagram is obtained and it is found that a new frozen phase, in which the attracting dimers prevail, arises when the interaction is attractive. For repulsive dimer interactions a new first-order line separating two frozen phases occurs. The transitions are continuous and the critical behavior in the disorder regime is found to be the same as in the case of noninteracting dimers characterized by a specific heat exponent $\a=1/2$., Comment: latex, 29 pages + 7 figures

How to provide better primary care and achieve the right level of public-private balance in doing so is at the centre of many healthcare reforms around the world. In a healthcare system like Hong Kong, where inpatient services are largely funded through general taxation and ambulatory services out of pocket, the family doctor model of primary care is underdeveloped. Since 2008, the Government has taken forward various initiatives to promote primary care and encourage more use of private services. However, little is known in Hong Kong or elsewhere about consumers' willingness to pay (WTP) for private services when care is available in the public sector. This study assessed willingness of the Hong Kong elderly to pay for specific primary care and preventive services in the private sector, through a cross-sectional in-person questionnaire survey and focus group discussions among respondents. The survey revealed that the WTP for private services in general was low among the elderly; particularly, reported WTP for chronic conditions and preventive care both fell below the current market prices. Sub-group analysis showed higher WTP among healthier and more affluent elderly. Among other things, concerns over affordability and uncertainty (of price and quality) in the private sector were associated with this low level of WTP. These results suggest that most elderly, who are heavy users of public health services but with limited income, may not use more private services without seeing significant reduction in price. Financial incentives for consumers alone may not be enough to promote primary care or public-private partnership. Public education on the value of prevention and primary care, as well as supply-side interventions should both be considered. Hong Kong's policy-making process of the initiative studied here may also provide lessons for other countries with ongoing healthcare reforms.

The structure and properties of the crown of a human tooth were used as a model for the design and processing of dental restorative materials. The synthetic analog to the crown was composed of a dentin-like material (alumina-glass or alumina-polymer composite) and an enamel-like material (calcium phosphate-based coating). The dentin composites had high strength (~450 MPa and ~160 MPa for aluminaglass and alumina-PMMA composites, respectively) and good fracture toughness ( ~3.8 MPa m 1 2 and ~3.3 MPa m 1 2 for alumina-glass and alumina-PMMA composites, respectively). The calcium phosphate-based enamel region was roughly 80 μm thick, dense and fully crystalline. Bonding between the dentin and enamel in the analog was accomplished in a manner similar to the dentinoenamel junction in the natural tooth. A region of interpentrating phases from the synthetic dentin and enamel coating was created and excellent bonding was achieved using a eutectic melt in the CaO-Al 2 O 3 -SiO 2 system.

The quantitative relationship between serum albumin level and surgical outcomes has not been clearly established. This study included 3732 patients with colon cancer who underwent a potentially curative colectomy. Post-operative mortality and morbidity were analysed according to the patients' demographic data, pre-operative comorbidities, and tumour-related factors. Age, asthma, renal impairment, and albumin level were significantly associated with post-operative morbidity and mortality in the multivariate analyses. Logistic regression analysis revealed linear relationships of post-operative morbidity and mortality with albumin level. The morbidity and mortality rates decreased by 7.3% and 15.6%, respectively, for each 0.1 g/dL increase in albumin level. This finding remained significant in the hypoalbuminaemia subgroup but not in the normoalbuminaemia subgroup. That is, the morbidity and mortality rates significantly decreased by 8.7% and 17.7%, respectively (both P

We consider a statistical mechanical model describing flux lines in type II superconductors by embedding the flux lines on a lattice wound on torus. The lines are nonintersecting and each loop of lines is associated with a fugacity z = −1. It is shown that the exact solution of this model leads to a second-order transition between the Meissner and the superconducting states as well as a first-order transition between the superconducting and the normal states.

Background As part of its ongoing healthcare reform, the Hong Kong Government introduced a voucher scheme, intended for encouraging older patients to use primary healthcare services in the private sector, thereby, reducing burden on the overwhelmed public sector. The voucher program is also considered one of the strategies to further develop the public private partnership in healthcare, a policy direction of high political priority as indicated in the Chief Executive Policy Address in 2008-09. This study assessed whether the voucher scheme, as implemented so far, has reached its intended goals, and how it might be further improved in the context of public-private partnership. Methods This was a cross-sectional study using structured questionnaires by face-to-face interviews with older people aged 70 or above in Hong Kong, the target group of the demand-side voucher program. Results 71.2% of 1,026 older people were aware of the new voucher scheme but only 35.0% had ever used it. The majority of the older people used the vouchers for acute curative services in the private sector (82.4%) and spent less on preventive services. Despite the provision of vouchers valued US$30 per year as an incentive to encourage the use of private primary care services, after 12-months of implementation, 66.2% of all respondents agreed with the statement that "the voucher scheme does not change their health seeking behaviours on seeing public or private healthcare professionals". The most common reasons for no change in their behaviours included "I am used to seeing doctors in the public system" and "The amount of the subsidy is too low". Those who usually used a mix of public and private doctors and those with better self-reported health condition compared to last year were more likely to perceive a change in their own health seeking behaviours. Conclusions Our study showed that despite a reasonably high awareness of the voucher scheme, its usage was low. The voucher alone was not enough to realize the government's policy of greater use of the private primary care services. Greater publicity and more variety of media promotion would increase awareness but the effectiveness of vouchers in changing older people's behaviour needs to be revisited. Designating vouchers for use of preventive services with evidence-based practice could be considered. In addition to the demand-side subsidies, improving transparency and comparability of private services against the public sector might be necessary.

1. The objectives of the study were to find polymorphic sites and elucidate the association between SNPs in the nuclear receptor coactivator 1 (NCOA1) gene and reproductive traits. 2. SNPs were detected by PCR-SSCP and DNA sequencing. Four SNPs were detected, including T10155007A, T10125838C, G10118492A and G10109315T. Three polymorphisms were associated with total egg production at the age of 300 d and the G10109315T polymorphism was associated with age at first egg. 3. In conclusion, the NCOA1 gene can be used as a molecular marker for reproductive traits in hens.

This study catalogs the cellular events underlying the formation of a human testis. These events were identified by immunocytochemistry using antibodies that served as markers for specific cell types, then contrasted with the events occurring in the developing mouse testis. The presence of germ cells in the embryonic gonadal ridge and of coelomic epithelial cells that give rise to Sertoli cells was observed at 7 weeks. This was followed by the appearance of Sertoli cells in testicular tubules and of Leydig cells at 9 weeks and by the appearance of vascular endothelial cells and peritubular myoid cells at 12 weeks. Overall the temporal sequence of events in humans was similar, albeit longer, than what occurs in mice. Notably, Leydig cell differentiation occurs earlier in the sequence of events and germ cell maturation occurs during fetal life. The candidate testis-determining genes, FGF9, GATA4, FOG2, EMX2, and CBX2 were expressed at 7 weeks suggesting a role in early gonadal development, such as that observed in mice. In addition, expression of FGF9 in germ cells following testis determination suggests a role in germ cell maturation.

A highly scaled, high performance 45 nm CMOS technology utilizing extensive immersion lithography to achieve the industry's highest scaling factor with ELK (k=2.55) BEOL is presented. A record gate density 2.4X higher than that of 65 nm is achieved. Refined strained-CMOS demonstrated 1200/750 μA/μm Idsat at 100 nA/μm Ioff, Vdd=1 V, which has the best Ion-Lg performance reported for bulk CMOS device. The proposed 45 nm technology is not only manufacturing friendly but also has well-controlled leakage and mismatch evidenced by a functional 32 Mb 0.242 μm2 SRAM.

IN RAT orthotopic liver transplantation (OLT), PVG recipients of DA livers (tolerogenic model) survive without immunosuppression and become tolerant of subsequent grafts of other DA organs such as skin, heart, and kidney. Many aspects of the mechanism regarding this naturally achieved tolerance have been discussed in our previous reports. However, the mechanism of liver allograft tolerance from the aspect of the complement system and its regulatory proteins has not yet been investigated. The complement system comprises a group of proteins that interact with other immune system molecules to provide many of the effector functions of humoral immunity and inflammation. Clusterin, which is a plasma glycoprotein, regulates the complement system by inhibiting the membrane attack complex (MAC) formation. Here, we studied the kinetics of clusterin expression after transplantation in the tolerogenic model (DA-PVG) compared with syngenic model (DA-DA) and acute rejector model (DA-LEW) by immunoblotting and Northern blotting.

A study on the possibility of transmission of live hepatitis A vaccine (H2-strain) from vaccinees to nonvaccinees was conducted. As a result, no seroconversion was found among 87 seronegative nonvaccinees, who had a close contact with their 141 subcutaneously vaccinated classmates nor was it found among 101 seronegative children administered the vaccine orally. The above fundings suggest that by losing the ability to be transmitted orally the vaccine virus may result in a decreasing possibility of dissemination among contacts. A 4-year study on the protective efficacy of the H2-strain vaccine was done at 11 primary schools starting at 1991 in Shaoxing County. Since then, there has been no hepatitis A reported among 18102 cumulative person-years in the vaccination group, while 495 cases occurred among 242168 cumulative person-years in the control groups. A large scale vaccination with a cumulative vaccination coverage of 89.45% was carried out in Jiaojiang City among children 1-15 years old. Hepatitis A in this age group in the city, which had 12-87 cases per annum with an average of 32 for 8 years before vaccination, decreased drastically to 0-1 cases after vaccination. The protective efficacy of H2-strain vaccine proved to be satisfactory.

ALTERATION of cellular senescence following transplantation may be associated with posttransplant carcinogenesis. A study of the aging of donor grafts also may be important for the donor selection in living-related or cadeveric orthotopic liver transplantation (OLT). Telomere and telomerase are involved in the central timing mechanisms for cellular aging. Here, we studied telomerase activity in livers from various rat OLT models.

In this paper, the problem of extremizing a function ƒ(x) subject to the constraint ϑ(x) = 0 is considered. Here, ƒ is a scalar, x an n-vector, and ϑ a q-vector, where 0 ⩽ q < n. This problem is transformed into that of minimizing the unconstrained function R(x, λ), where x and λ are regarded as independent variables. The q-vector λ is the Lagrange multiplier associated with the constraint and the function R(x, λ) is the performance index measuring the cumulative error in the optimum condition and the constraint. The minimum R(x, λ) = 0 of the performance index is sought by applying quadratically convergent algorithms for unconstrained function minimization: the (n + q)-vector y = [x, λ]T is the independent variable associated with the performance index R(y).Since the performance index R(y) involves the first derivatives ƒx and ϑx, the gradient G(y) = Ry(y), which is employed in quadratically convergent algorithms, involves the second derivatives ƒxx and ϑxx. To avoid the explicit use of these second derivatives, a two-point determination of the gradient G(y) is developed: the (n + q)-vector G(y) is computed numerically through only two evaluations of the function R(y).Concerning the one-dimensional determination of the stepsize α, a two-point quasilinearization search is developed. This method requires only two evaluations of the function R(y), but preserves the eventual quadratic convergence of the quasilinearization method. Two terminating conditions are investigated: exact search and one-cycle search.Thus, the method presented here is a first-order method. For the ideal case of a quadratic function subject to a linear constraint, it converges to the solution in n + q iterations, at most. The total computational effort involved is equivalent to, at most, 3(n + q) + 1 evaluations of the function R(y).Three numerical examples are given using both the exact search and the one-cycle search. The results are presented in terms of number of iterations and number of function evaluations for convergence.

American Institute of Mining, Metallurgical, and Petroleum Engineers, Inc. Abstract A new method for solving two-dimensional cross-sectional and three-dimensional reservoir simulation problems has been developed. It uses the basic reservoir flow equations, but it solves them only approximately. The new method has been tested on a variety of problems. The results of these tests show the approximations involved to be quite accurate in reservoirs that have good vertical communication. In reservoirs with restricted vertical communication, the results are less accurate but are generally good enough for most engineering purposes. The new method uses less computing time than conventional simulation. The amount of improvement obtained is quite problem-dependent; decreases of 28 to 67 percent problem-dependent; decreases of 28 to 67 percent were obtained in the set of test cases run. Introduction Reservoirs have three dimensions. However, for economic reasons, they are often modeled in two dimensions. Several approaches have been attempted to reduce three-dimensional problems to two dimensions. Breitenbach et al. problems to two dimensions. Breitenbach et al. assumed that the degree of fluid segregation could be estimated beforehand and used this assumption to calculate average interblock relative permeabilities. Coats et al. used pseudo relative permeability and capillary pressure functions based on vertical equilibrium. These two approaches did not account for reservoir stratification. Hearn accounted for stratification but had to assume that no crossflow occurred. Only Jacks et al. could account for both crossflow and reservoir stratification. However, they had to run a series of representative cross sections to generate their pseudo functions. This paper describes a new approach. The three-dimensional grid is retained instead of being reduced to two dimensions. The full three-dimensional set of equations is solved, but it is solved only approximately. This generally results in a significant reduction of computing time. In most cases, this is done with little loss in accuracy.