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Adaptation to current and future climates can be constrained by trade-offs between fitness-related traits. Early seedling emergence often enhances plant fitness in seasonal environments, but if earlier emergence in response to seasonal cues is genetically correlated with lower potential to spread emergence among years (i.e., bet-hedging), then this functional trade-off could constrain adaptive evolution. Consequently, selection favoring both earlier within-year emergence and greater spread of emergence among years-as is expected in more arid environments-may constrain adaptive responses to trait value combinations at which a performance gain in either function (i.e., evolving earlier within- or greater among-year emergence) generates a performance loss in the other. All such trait value combinations that cannot be improved for both functions simultaneously are described as Pareto optimal and together constitute the Pareto front. To investigate how this potential emergence timing trade-off might constrain adaptation to increasing aridity, we sourced seeds of two grasses, Stipa pulchra and Bromus diandrus, from multiple maternal lines within populations across an aridity gradient in California and examined their performance in a greenhouse experiment. We monitored emergence and assayed ungerminated seeds for viability to determine seed persistence, a metric of potential among-year emergence spread. In both species, maternal lines with larger fractions of persistent seeds emerged later, indicating a trade-off between within-year emergence speed and potential among-year emergence spread. In both species, populations on the Pareto front for both earlier emergence and larger seed persistence fraction occupied significantly more arid sites than populations off the Pareto front, consistent with the hypothesis that more arid sites impose the strongest selection for earlier within-year emergence and greater among-year emergence spread. Our results provide an example of how evaluating genetically based correlations within populations and applying Pareto optimality among populations can be used to detect evolutionary constraints and adaptation across environmental gradients.

BackgroundGocovri® (amantadine) extended release capsules are approved for the treatment of dyskinesia in patients with Parkinson's disease (PD) receiving levodopa-based therapy.ObjectiveTo evaluate the long-term safety, tolerability, and efficacy of Gocovri in patients with PD experiencing levodopa-induced dyskinesia.MethodsIn this 2-year open-label trial, patients completing double-blind Gocovri clinical trials or excluded from prior trials because of deep-brain stimulation (DBS) received Gocovri 274 mg once daily at bedtime. The primary objective was to evaluate long-term safety and tolerability. In addition, dyskinesia and OFF time were assessed using Part IV (Motor Complications) scores on the Movement Disorder Society-Unified Parkinson's Disease Rating Scale (MDS-UPDRS).ResultsAmong 223 enrolled patients (mean PD duration, 11.7 years; mean levodopa use, 9.3 years), 75.8% completed 1 year of treatment and 57.8% completed the trial, with a median treatment duration of 1.9 years. Common adverse events were fall (32.7%), hallucination (24.2%), peripheral edema (16.1%), constipation (13.5%), and urinary tract infection (10.3%); 31 patients (13.9%) discontinued because of adverse events considered related to study drug. At baseline, MDS-UPDRS Part IV scores were lower for patients continuing Gocovri (mean, 6.5 points) than for previous placebo (9.4) or DBS groups (10.5) but were similar for all groups by week 8 (6.3, 6.2, 6.4, respectively), and remained low for the duration of the trial (at week 100: 6.9, 7.3, 7.0, respectively).ConclusionsIn patients with PD, Gocovri showed long-term safety and tolerability consistent with double-blind trial findings, and durable reduction in motor complications (dyskinesia and OFF time).

Populations and chromosomal races of a species often show variation in life-history characteristics due to phylogeny and environmental factors. We analysed variation in snout–vent length (SVL) and reproductive variables, such as minimum SVL at sexual maturity, litter size and embryo volume in females of the Sceloporus grammicus lizard complex, which includes seven chromosomal races as well as hybrid zones among different combinations of races (F5, F5 + 6, potential but unverified F5 + 6, F6, FM1, FM2, FM2 × F5 hybrid zone, FM3, LS and unverified SGG). The SGG, F5 and LS females were larger than F6 and FM3 females. Females with non-vitellogenic follicles and vitellogenic follicles were smaller than females with embryos. The SVL of females containing embryos varied among chromosomal races, the largest being the same as indicated above, but the smallest was the FM2 × F5 hybrid zone. Litter size was similar among chromosomal races (5.8 embryos), while embryo volumes varied among them. Two patterns of reproductive activity were found: seasonal and continuous reproduction. Our results showed the influence of environmental factors of each locality, which supports the ecological hypothesis. The use of chromosomal races did not reveal a significant phylogenetic effect, because allozyme and molecular data show only small pairwise genetic distances among the S. grammicus populations on the Mexican Plateau. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Virulence is expected to be linked to parasite fitness via transmission. However, it is not clear whether this relationship is genetically determined, nor if it differs when transmission occurs continuously during, or only at the end of, the infection period. Here, we used inbred lines of the macroparasitic spider mite Tetranychus urticae to disentangle genetic vs. nongenetic correlations among traits, while varying parasite density and opportunities for transmission. A positive genetic correlation between virulence and the number of transmitting stages produced was found under continuous transmission. However, if transmission occurred only at the end of the infection period, this genetic correlation disappeared. Instead, we observed a negative relationship between virulence and the number of transmitting stages, driven by density dependence. Thus, within-host density dependence caused by reduced opportunities for transmission may hamper selection for higher virulence, providing a novel explanation as to why limited host availability leads to lower virulence. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Remote sensing image change detection (RSICD) is an essential measure for monitoring the earth's surface changes. In recent years, the explosive growth of very high-resolution (VHR) satellite sensors and the booming innovations in deep learning technology have significantly boosted RSICD development. However, most of the current RSICD models focus on locating accurate change areas while ignoring the efficiency of their method, which limits the practical application of RSICD models, especially for large-scale and emergency RSICD tasks. In this paper, we propose an Efficient Multi-scale-fusion Change Detection Network (EMS-CDNet) for bi-temporal RSICD tasks. Our EMS-CDNet pays more attention to the model's inference speed and the accuracy-efficiency trade-off rather than only pursuing detection accuracy. We designed a multi-scale fusion module for EMS-CDNet, which adopts multi-scale and multi-branch operations to extract multi-scale features simultaneously and aggregate features at different feature levels. In addition to EMS-CDNet's ability to achieve sufficient feature extraction, the multi-scale image input within the designed module alleviates the influence of image registration errors in practical applications, thereby strengthening EMS-CDNet's value for practical RSICD tasks. We also integrated a novel partition unit in EMS-CDNet to lighten the model while maintaining the detection ability of small targets, thus shortening its processing time without a severe accuracy decrease. We conducted experiments on two state-of-the-art (SOTA) public RSICD datasets and our own collected dataset. The public datasets were utilized to comparatively measure the overall accuracy and efficiency measurement of EMS-CDNet, and the dataset of images we collected was used to observe EMS-CDNet's performance under the influence of image registration errors. Our experimental results show that EMS-CDNet achieved a better accuracy-efficiency trade-off than the SOTA public datasets methods. For example, EMS-CDNet reduced the inference time by about 33% while maintaining identical detection accuracy to CLNet (the optimal method among the comparison methods). Furthermore, EMS-CDNet achieved higher accuracy on our collected dataset, with an F1 of 74% and mIoU of 0.806, demonstrating its robustness to image registration errors and showing its value for practical RSICD applications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Inhalation of apomorphine could be a faster‐acting and more user‐friendly alternative to subcutaneous injection for treating off periods in Parkinson's disease (PD). Objective: The aim of this study was to compare the safety and pharmacokinetics of inhaled apomorphine (AZ‐009) with subcutaneous apomorphine (APO‐go PEN) in healthy volunteers (HVs) and to examine the safety, pharmacokinetics, and efficacy of AZ‐009 in patients with PD. Methods: In part A of this study, eight HVs received 1 mg AZ‐009 and 2 mg subcutaneous apomorphine in a randomized crossover manner. In the subsequent single ascending dose parts in HVs (part B, n = 16) and patients with PD (part C, n = 25), participants were randomized to placebo or AZ‐009 up to 4 mg. In patients, after medication withdrawal, Movement Disorder Society‐Unified Parkinson's Disease Rating Scale part III and on/off states were assessed predose and postdose. Results: AZ‐009 was rapidly absorbed with peak plasma concentrations at 2 minutes, as compared to 30 minutes for subcutaneous apomorphine. Adverse events for AZ‐009 were comparable to subcutaneous apomorphine, except for mild and transient throat irritation. Adverse events limited AZ‐009 dose escalation in HVs to 3 mg. Patients tolerated up to 4 mg. In patients with PD, 2, 3, and 4 mg AZ‐009 reduced mean Movement Disorder Society‐Unified Parkinson's Disease Rating Scale part III score (standard deviation) by 10.7 (13.6), 12.8 (7.9), and 10.3 (3.7) points, respectively, compared to 4.8 (4.9) after placebo at 10 minutes postdose. The percentage of patients achieving full on within 45 minutes postdose increased dose dependently: 0% (placebo), 17% (2 mg), 50% (3 mg), and 83% (4 mg). Conclusions: AZ‐009 appears to be a rapid‐acting and reasonably well‐tolerated formulation for treating off periods. © 2022 The Authors. Movement Disorders published by Wiley Periodicals LLC on behalf of International Parkinson and Movement Disorder Society [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Dystonia is a painful OFF-related complication in Parkinson's disease (PD) with limited treatment options. Post-hoc analysis using pooled data from two extended-release amantadine pivotal trials and follow-on open-label extension. Dystonia was assessed using the Unified Dyskinesia Rating Scale (UDysRS) Part 2 and the Movement Disorder Society-Unified PD Rating Scale (MDS-UPDRS) item 4.6. Of 196 participants, 119 (60.7%) reported OFF-related dystonia at baseline per UDysRS. Twelve-week treatment with extended-release amantadine improved OFF dystonia (treatment differences vs placebo: UDysRS Part 2, -1.0 [-1.9,-0.1]; p = 0.03 and MDS-UPDRS Item 4.6, −0.3 [-0.6,-0.05]; p = 0.02). There was no correlation between changes in OFF time and changes in OFF dystonia. Double-blind improvements in OFF dystonia were sustained throughout the 2-year follow-up. Extended-release amantadine yielded a sustained reduction in OFF-related dystonia in PD patients that was independent from a reduction in OFF time. A randomized controlled trial is warranted to confirm these findings. • In this pooled analysis, 60.7% of PD patients with dyskinesia also had OFF dystonia. • 12 weeks treatment with extended-release amantadine improved OFF dystonia. • The improvement in OFF dystonia was not dependent on the reduction in OFF time. • Therapeutic benefits were sustained through 100 weeks of open-label treatment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Clinical trials for antiparkinsonian drugs aimed at managing motor complications typically use patient diaries to divide levodopa-induced dyskinesias (LID) into "troublesome" and "non-troublesome" categories. Yet, given the choice, most patients would prefer to live without experiencing any dyskinesia. However, the concept of evaluating time spent ON without any dyskinesia as an outcome has never been tested. We conducted analyses of pooled Gocovri pivotal trial data in order to evaluate the extent to which Gocovri increased the time PD patients spent ON without dyskinesia (troublesome or non-troublesome), beyond its already identified improvement in reducing troublesome dyskinesia. Methods: Patients enrolled in phase 3 trials (EASE LID [NCT02136914] or EASE LID 3 [NCT02274766]) recorded time spent in the following PD diary states at baseline and Week 12 (endpoint): asleep, OFF, ON with troublesome dyskinesia, ON with non-troublesome dyskinesia, and ON without dyskinesia. Mixed model repeated measures analyses with estimated Cohen D effect sizes were performed on the modified intent to treat population to evaluate changes in time spent in these states. Results: Patients randomized to receive Gocovri showed an increase in ON time without dyskinesia and corresponding decreases in ON time with dyskinesia and OFF time vs. placebo. Treatment effects were statistically significant for Gocovri vs. placebo starting at Week 2 and were sustained until Week 12. On MMRM analysis at Week 12, patients in the Gocovri group showed an adjusted mean ± SE increase over placebo of 2.9 ± 0.6 h in ON time without dyskinesia (Cohen D effect size 0.79) and an adjusted mean ± SE decrease of −1.9 ± 0.6 h in ON time with dyskinesia (troublesome + non-troublesome) (Cohen D effect size 0.49), that included a −1.5 ± 0.4 h placebo-adjusted reduction in ON time with troublesome dyskinesia and a −0.6 ± 0.4 h reduction in ON time with non-troublesome dyskinesia. OFF time was reduced by −1.0 ± 0.3 h compared to placebo. Conclusions: Gocovri treatment more than doubled the daily time patients spent ON without dyskinesia. These results suggest that the Gocovri treatment effect was driven by a reduction in overall motor complications including ON time with both troublesome and non-troublesome dyskinesia as well as time spent OFF. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Neutrosophic (over, off, under) set and logic were defined for the first time in 1995 by Florentin Smarandache, and presented during 1995-2018 to various national and international conferences and seminars. The (over, off, under) neutrosophic geometric programming was put forward by Huda et al. in (2016) in an attempt to define a new type of geometric programming using (over, off, under) neutrosophic less than or equal to. This paper completes the basic notions of (over, off, under) neutrosophic geometric programming illustrating its convexity condition, and its decomposition theorems.

El sistema de refuerzo de estructuras de concreto mediante materiales compuestos se emplea de forma intensiva desde hace 50 años. Sin embargo, aún son numerosas las incógnitas respecto a su comportamiento a largo plazo, por lo cual es fundamental el control de la unión entre el concreto y el refuerzo para asegurar su calidad. Es un sistema de refuerzo que se rea-liza por adhesión, y como consecuencia de la incertidumbre sobre la tensión de adherencia, en la práctica se resuelve con anclajes que encarecen la obra y que resultan inviables en grandes superficies de refuerzo. Una correcta puesta en obra y con garantías del adecuado comportamiento del refuerzo optimiza y valoriza este sistema. La implantación de un plan de control de calidad apropiado garantiza la optimización del refuerzo y permite establecer los criterios de mantenimiento adecuados. En esta investigación se ha desarrollado un plan experimental para el control de calidad de la puesta en obra, basado en el estudio de la unión entre concreto y las bandas de refuerzo, teniendo en cuenta diferentes tipos de concreto y sistemas de preparación superficial. Un plan de control de calidad in situ con ensayos semidestructivos tipo pull-off y no destructivos tipo ultrasonidos permite verificar la efectividad del refuerzo.

Purpose: To investigate the center-periphery distribution of ON and OFF retinal responses in complete congenital stationary night blindness (cCSNB). Methods: Photopic full-field flash ERGs (photopic ffERGs) and OPs (photopic ffOPs) and slow m-sequence (to enhance OP prominence) mfERGs (and filtered mfOPs) evoked by a 37 hexagon stimulus array were recorded from normal subjects and cCSNB patients. Discrete wavelet transform (DWT) analysis of photopic ffERGs and mfERGs was also performed in order to assess the contribution of the ON and OFF retinal pathways (i.e., OFF-to-ON ratio) in both cohorts. Results: As expected, the photopic ffERG (and ffOPs) responses in cCSNB were devoid of the first two of the three OPs (i.e., OP2 and OP3 and OP4) normally seen on the ascending limb of the b-wave. A similar finding was also noted in the mfERGs (and mfOPs) of ring 4. In contrast, the mfERGs (and mfOPs) of ring 1 included all three OPs. DWT analysis revealed that while in normal subjects, the OFF-to-ON ratio of mfERGs slightly increased from rings 1 to 4 (from 0.61 ± 0.03 to 0.78 ± 0.04; p < 0.05; median: from 0.62 to 0.79; p < 0.05), in cCSNB this ratio increased significantly more [from 0.73 ± 0.13 (ring 1) to 1.18 ± 0.17 (ring 4); p < 0.05; median: 0.78 to 1.22; p < 0.05], hence from a normal ON-dominated ratio (central ring) to an OFF-dominated ratio (peripheral ring). Conclusions: Our results show a clear discrepancy of ON and OFF mfOP components in cCSNB. Responses originating from the most central ring (i.e., ring 1) disclosed a near-normal electrophysiological contribution (as revealed with the presence of OP2, OP3 and OP4 as well as with the DWT OFF-to-ON ratio) of the retinal ON and OFF pathways in mfERG (and mfOPs) responses compared to responses from the more peripheral ring (and ffOP) which are devoid of the ON OPs (i.e., OP2 and OP3). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Carbidopa (CD) and levodopa (LD) extended release (CD-LD ER) capsules are designed to combine both immediate and extended release pharmacokinetics. In the phase 3, randomized, double-blind, ADVANCE-PD trial, patients randomized to CD-LD ER experienced a 1.17-hour greater reduction in OFF time compared to patients randomized to CD-LD IR (p < 0.0001). Objective: To compare CD-LD IR optimization to CD-LD ER conversion based on patient dyskinesia status at baseline using data from the ADVANCE-PD trial. Methods: This was a retrospective analysis of the ADVANCE-PD study. Patients were categorized by dyskinesia status at baseline into 1) those who had No Dyskinesia (ND), 2) those who had Non-Troublesome Dyskinesia Only (NTDO), and 3) those who had Troublesome Dyskinesia (TD). Results: Comparative reductions in OFF time favoring CD-LD ER over CD-LD IR were similar for the ND (–1.08 h, p = 0.0071, n = 183) and NTDO (–1.12 h, p = 0.0104, n = 131) groups, and smaller for the TD group (–0.82 h, p = 0.2382, n = 79). Reductions in OFF time for both CD-LD ER conversion and CD-LD IR adjustment were largest within the ND group and smallest within the TD group (CD-LD ER: ND –2.86 h, NTDO –2.11 h, TD –1.36 h; CD-LD IR: ND –1.78 h, NTDO –0.99 h, TD –0.55 h). Conclusion: Responses to both CD-LD IR adjustment and CD-LD ER conversion depended on baseline dyskinesia status. Significant reductions in OFF time with CD-LD ER compared to CD-LD IR were observed in the ND and NTDO groups. In the TD group, comparing CD-LD ER conversion to CD-LD IR optimization, benefits were still observed, but there was less reduction in OFF time, less reduction in troublesome dyskinesia, and fewer patients self-rated themselves much or very much improved than in the ND and NTDO groups. These data suggest that in clinical practice, the best chances for success with conversion from CD-LD IR to CD-LD ER are in patients without TD. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Parkinson's disease (PD) patients using levodopa commonly develop dyskinesia and OFF episodes that reduce quality of life. Objective: Evaluate prevalence of troublesome dyskinesia and OFF through the day, assessed by 30-minute intervals, as well as the mean number and duration of troublesome dyskinesia and OFF episodes, transitions between PD states, and effects of Gocovri® (amantadine) extended release capsules on these episodes. Methods: Evaluate diary data from pooled Gocovri phase 3, placebo-controlled trials—analyzed for 17 hours following wake-up—at baseline and week 12. Results: Diaries were evaluable for 162 patients. At baseline, 67% of patients woke up OFF, with prevalence decreasing to 13% at 2 hours and then remaining relatively steady at ∼12% (range, 6–17%) across half-hour intervals thereafter. Troublesome dyskinesia prevalence rose steadily from 5% to 24% over the first 2 hours, then fluctuated between 20% and 44% through the rest of the waking day. At baseline, patients experienced a mean of 3.0 daily episodes of troublesome dyskinesia (average duration 2.0 hours each), and 2.2 daily episodes of OFF (average duration 1.1 hour each). At week 12, Gocovri-treated patients showed greater reductions than placebo in troublesome dyskinesia and OFF episodes per day (treatment difference: –1.0 episodes and –0.4 episodes, respectively) and average episode duration (treatment difference: –0.6 hours and –0.3 hours, respectively). Mean duration of individual episodes of ON without troublesome dyskinesia (Good ON) increased by 5.0 hours for Gocovri, compared with 2.0 hours for placebo. Patients taking Gocovri experienced 2.2 fewer transitions between states than patients taking placebo. Conclusions: Troublesome dyskinesia and OFF occurred in the morning and throughout the waking day. Gocovri-treated patients experienced fewer, shorter episodes of both troublesome dyskinesia and OFF, thereby increasing the duration of continuous Good ON episodes and reducing the frequency of transitions between motor states. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background and purpose: In patients with Parkinson's disease (PD) with motor fluctuations, total daily OFF time is comprised of both end‐of‐dose time and the time taken to turn ON with medication. However, little is known about the impact of delays in ON time. Methods: This was a single‐visit pilot study of fluctuating patients with PD attending a routine appointment. During a single visit, adult patients with idiopathic PD who were treated with levodopa for at least 1 year completed a questionnaire evaluating the time waiting for ON and the symptoms experienced while waiting to turn ON. Patients then completed a 5‐day home time‐to‐ON diary, where they documented how long it took to turn ON following their first morning dose of levodopa in 5‐min increments. Results: A total of 151 consecutive patients completed the study survey, of whom 97 (64.2%) experienced motor fluctuations. Of the patients experiencing motor fluctuations, 54 (56%) reported delays in ON time (latency >30 min) following their first morning dose of levodopa. Half (51%) reported that they had experienced delayed ON at least once in the previous week and 21% reported having delayed ON during all seven mornings of the previous week. In addition, 10% of patients reported having dose failures on four or more mornings during the previous week. The most common symptoms experienced while waiting for ON were slowness (94.8%), fatigue (87.6%), reduced dexterity (82.5%), problems in walking (66.0%) and problems with balance (59.8%). Conclusion: Early‐morning OFF problems such as delays in time to ON and dose failures are common in levodopa‐treated patients with PD. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Direct shear stress may be the main reason in failure of some typical concrete members like corbels, brackets and ledger beams. The theoretical analysis of these members simulated as push-off specimens were based on a two-dimensional plane stress by finite element method. The main variables to be studied theoretically were fiber percentage, the shear rebar reinforcement ratio crossing the shear plane at right angles and the actual distribution of shearing stress in the shear plane. The comparison shows that the theoretical results are in good agreement with the experimental values conducted by other researchers

El presente artículo examina el emprendimiento por oportunidad en el contexto del cambio de la matriz productiva en el Ecuador, basado en una revisión bibliográfica de la literatura de fuentes oficiales locales e índices internacionales. En el marco y contexto del trabajo de investigación se persigue como objetivo el emprendimiento por oportunidad sustentado en innovación y tecnología, así como aquellos elementos que posibiliten la creación de empresas intensivas en el conocimiento, que se originen de los resultados académicos y de investigación de las universidades ecuatorianas que permitan como evidencia el cambio de la matriz productiva. Para el estudio se ha realizado una revisión de literatura de diferentes fuentes, que permitieron analizar el emprendimiento por oportunidad y la innovación con el fin de profundizar en la temática estableciendo de esta forma las bases teóricas que permitieron sustentar la comprensión del tema desarrollado. Los autores concluyen, con la investigación realizada, que el Ecuador no posee un sistema nacional de innovación sólido que permita crear las condiciones adecuadas para facilitar la transferencia de conocimientos desde la universidad hacia la industria y que propicie la creación de empresas con alto valor agregado, no obstante, en la actualidad el gobierno, se encuentra impulsando la creación del Ecosistema de Innovación Social en el Ecuador.

Physiological, anatomical, and psychophysical evidence points to important differences between visual processing of short-wave cone increments and decrement (S+ and S-) stimuli. The present study uses the pedestal discrimination paradigm to investigate potential differences, using S+ and S- tests presented on (L)ong-wave, (M)edium-wave, S, L+M, L-M, and achromatic pedestals, of both contrast polarities. Results show that high contrast 'purplish' (S+ or -(L+M)) pedestals produce substantially more masking of both S+ and S- tests than 'yellowish' (S- or +(L+M)) pedestals do. The other pedestals produce no masking. These findings suggest greater nonlinearity - either a static nonlinearity or contrast gain control - in the mechanisms responsible for the 'purplish' polarity, likely the S ON pathway. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In my review of Zoltán Puskas's OFF at the Novi Sad Theatre, I considered the implementation of contemporary performing currents, especially verbatim, in an atypical, most creative albeit minority-determined theatre environment. The work, based on regulatory administrative documents, problematizes the relation of society to art and vice versa, suggesting a new – or quite old – view of such engagement. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The terms "on" and "off" were used by Marsden and his contemporaries over 40 years ago to describe times when Parkinson's disease patients experienced good motor function ("on") and immobility ("off"). Yet there remains no published consensus definition of "off", leading clinicians and patients to develop individualized impressions of "off" determinations. In this paper, we first discuss the evolution of the terminology and understanding of "off" states since Marsden's time, which now include non-motor as well as motor symptoms. We then review pathophysiology and risk factors for the development of "off" states as well as tools to detect the "off" state, before proposing a practical definition of "off" for consideration. A common, practical definition of the "off" state could improve clinical recognition of "off" symptoms and lead to significant benefit for patients. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In minor off-grid islands, energy is typically supplied by diesel generator set, while water, when not shipped with water tankers, is produced by means of desalination systems (typically based on reverse osmosis). The additional demand of desalination related power to the already inefficient diesel power systems may worsen gen-set performance. State-of-the-art remedial strategies advocate the use of renewable energy technologies in order to reduce the impact on diesel generators. Nevertheless, many small islands, due to their environmental value and tourist vocation or due to the quality of the local grid, do suffer of more stringent limitations reducing the potential of penetration of renewable energy. To this end, the present work aims at reporting on the influence of water desalination system on diesel generators load levelling. The study of different matching scenario, using a time-dependent model, demonstrates the possibility of finding management strategy paying-off with improved generator performance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Humans are more sensitive to luminance decrements than increments, as evidenced by lower thresholds and shorter latencies for dark stimuli. This asymmetry is consistent with results of neurophysiological recordings in dorsal lateral geniculate nucleus (dLGN) and primary visual cortex (V1) of cat and monkey. Specifically, V1 population responses demonstrate that darks elicit higher levels of activation than brights, and the latency of OFF responses in dLGN and V1 is shorter than that of ON responses. The removal of a dark or bright disc often generates the perception of a negative afterimage, and here we ask whether there also exist asymmetries for negative afterimages elicited by dark and bright discs. If so, do the poststimulus responses of subcortical ON and OFF cells parallel such afterimage asymmetries? To test these hypotheses, we performed psychophysical experiments in humans and single-cell/S-potential recordings in cat dLGN. Psychophysically, we found that bright afterimages elicited by luminance decrements are stronger and last longer than dark afterimages elicited by luminance increments of equal sizes. Neurophysiologically, we found that ON cells responded to the removal of a dark disc with higher firing rates that were maintained for longer than OFF cells to the removal of a bright disc. The ON and OFF cell asymmetry was most pronounced at long stimulus durations in the dLGN. We conclude that subcortical response strength differences between ON and OFF channels parallel the asymmetries between bright and dark negative afterimages, further supporting a subcortical origin of bright and dark afterimage perception. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We investigated the effects of interaction between Cotesia plutellae (Kurdjumov) and Bacillus thuringiensis Berliner on parasitism and an immune effector (phenoloxidase activity) of a Bt-susceptible and a Bt-resistant population of Plutella xylostella (Linnaeus) in laboratory. Parasitism success of C. plutellae varied depending on the use of B. thuringiensis or its toxin, and the timing of application. Percentage parasitism was significantly greater on Cry1Ac-treated hosts than B. thuringiensis var. kurstaki-treated hosts (the susceptible population), and greater when hosts were treated with B. thuringiensis var. kurstaki before parasitism compared to that after parasitism (the resistant population). Specific phenoloxidase activity was significantly reduced in Cry1Ac-treated or parasitized hosts, but combined effect of the toxin and the parasitoid caused a greater reduction in phenoloxidase activity. The lower phenoloxidase activity in unparasitized resistant population of P. xylostella compared with the susceptible one is likely to be due to fitness costs, manifesting a possible trade-off between pathogen resistance and parasitoid resistance. However, C. plutellae overwhelmingly suppressed phenoloxidase activity of both the susceptible and resistant populations of P. xylostella. We found that the interaction between B. thuringiensis and C. plutellae was synergistic, which is promising for integration of the pathogen and the parasitoid in management of P. xylostella populations.

El artículo es producto de la investigación "Modelo de gestión del potencial humano, basado en competencias, para el desarrollo de la actividad empresarial, en la población vulnerable de Santiago de Cali". Su objetivo general está enfocado en diseñar, estructurar e implementar un modelo de gestión del potencial humano, basado en competencias, en la población vulnerable de Santiago de Cali, tomando como base de estudio e implementación, las comunas 20 y 21, que posibilite mejorar su actividad empresarial, y contribuya al mejoramiento de su calidad de vida. Debido a que el desarrollo de la actividad empresarial que caracteriza a la población marginal de las grandes ciudades es precario, en particular, en la ciudad de Cali, en esta investigación se plantea el diseño de un modelo cuyas estrategias se fundamentan en: los modelos de Spin off, con las incubadoras o viveros empresariales, el aprendizaje continuo y colaborativo, la generación de unidades productivas de base tecnológica, la vinculación de agentes externos e internos de apoyo para integrar y dinamizar el modelo, para lo cual se estructura desde la Facultad de Ciencias Económicas Administrativas y Contables de la Universidad Libre Cali, un nodo que articula la unidad de emprendimiento, el centro de prácticas empresariales y el centro de investigaciones, igualmente se establecen los canales de interrelación estratégica con una red social de apoyo empresarial conformada por actores como: Gobierno, sector financiero, sector productivo y ONG.

A zinc-containing offretite ( Zn-OFF ) was synthesized using a hydrothermal method. The goal was to prepare a Zn-OFF zeolite with adsorption properties for selective removal of thiophenic chemical species in gasoline. It was expected that this new sorbent would perform favorably under the conditions close to the ones of FCC units. Following the Zn-OFF synthesis, several characterization techniques were used such as: a) temperature programmed desorption (TPD), b) temperature programmed reduction (TPR), c) temperature programmed oxidization (TPO), d) X-ray diffraction, e) N 2 isotherm, f) UV–vis spectra, g) Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM) and h) Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (FTIR). In addition, chemical characterization was developed using Inductively Coupled Plasma Atomic Emission Spectrometry (ICP-AES) and X-Ray Fluorescence (XRF). It was proven on this basis, that zinc species are most likely included in the zeolite framework. Regarding the influence of Zn on the OFF zeolites, it was shown that Zn considerably increases (doubles) the weak acidity measured by TPD as well as shifts the TPD peak towards a higher temperature range. Additionally, FTIR pyridine adsorption also showed in the case of the Zn-OFF in comparison with the OFF, a 2.5 times higher abundance of Lewis acid sites versus Brönsted sites. It is speculated on this basis, that the Zn in the OFF structure increases species adsorption, changing the adsorption bonding strengths. Regarding the Zn-OFF performance, it was proven in a CREC Riser Simulator unit that one can achieve 37 wt% of 2-methylthiophene removal with less than 1.3 wt% being converted into coke. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study investigates commonalities and differences in overall rhetorical structure within the Iranian EFL subjects in their Persian and English pre- and post-argumentative essays and also it examines the effect of two different treatments, namely, models with implicit instruction, and models alone. After conducting TOFEL test, 76 subjects were selected. They were randomly divided into two groups, an experimental group which received no-instruction treatment, and a control group which was instructed implicitly. A pre-test and a post-test were administered before and after the treatment. The quantitative analysis of the post-argumentative essays revealed that the implicit group outperformed the no-instruction group. This study is significant for genre analysis and contrastive rhetoric research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: The purpose of this study was to determine the contribution of different types of retinal neurons to the d-wave of the primate electroretinogram using pharmacological agents. NMDA+TTX was used to suppress inner retinal activity, and APB and PDA to block the activity of the ON- and OFF-pathways, respectively. Results indicated that the inner retinal neurons had a small but certain contribution to the d-wave. The initial rapid phase of the d-wave originates from the activity of the cone OFF-pathway nearly exclusively, and the later slow phase is shaped by the cone photoreceptors. The cone ON-pathway acts in a direction opposite to that of the other components. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

: ObjectivesWe studied the acute effects of cardiac resynchronization therapy (CRT) on functional mitral regurgitation in heart failure (HF) patients with left bundle branch block (LBBB).: BackgroundBoth an increase in left ventricular (LV) closing force and mitral valve tethering have been implicated as mechanisms for functional mitral regurgitation (FMR) in dilated hearts. We hypothesized that an increase in LV closing force achieved by CRT could act to reduce FMR.: MethodsTwenty-four HF patients with LBBB and FMR were studied after implantation of a biventricular CRT system. Acute changes in FMR severity between intrinsic conduction (OFF) and CRT were quantified according to the proximal isovelocity surface area method by measuring the effective regurgitant orifice area (EROA). Results were compared with the changes in estimated maximal rate of left ventricular systolic pressure rise (LV+dP/dtmax) and transmitral pressure gradients (TMP), both measured by Doppler echocardiography.: ResultsCardiac resynchronization therapy was associated with a significant reduction in FMR severity. Effective regurgitant orifice area decreased from 25 ± 19 mm2 (OFF) to 13 ± 8 mm2 (CRT). The change in EROA was directly related to the increase in LV+dP/dtmax (r = −0.83, p < 0.0001). Compared with OFF, TMP increased more rapidly during CRT, and a higher maximal TMP was observed (OFF 73 ± 24 mm Hg vs. CRT 85 ± 26 mm Hg, p < 0.01).: ConclusionsFunctional mitral regurgitation is reduced by CRT in patients with HF and LBBB. This effect is directly related to the increased closing force (LV+dP/dtmax). The results support the hypothesis that an increase in TMP, mediated by a rise in LV+dP/dtmax due to more coordinated LV contraction, may facilitate effective mitral valve closure. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

The aim of this work was to determine the influence of cochlear implantation (CI) on vestibular canal and otolithic function. Between 1995 and 1999, 15 patients (6 females, 9 males; 9-77 years old) underwent a vestibular examination before and after CI. Electronystagmography was performed between 5 and 8 days after CI in 9 patients, and with a time delay of 2-24 months in 10 patients. Pre- and postoperative evaluation included electronystagmography with caloric (44°C, 30°C, ice-water) and pendular rotatory testing. Otolithic function was measured postoperatively using off-vertical axis rotation (OVAR) in six patients. Preoperative data (n = 14) showed areflexia on caloric and rotatory pendular testing in deafness cases due to meningitis (n = 2) and in 2/5 patients with sudden idiopathic bilateral deafness. Two patients suffering from an idiopathic deafness had a unilateral hyporeflexia. Vestibular function was normal in the other eight patients. Immediately following CI, among patients with normal preoperative canal function, three developed vertiginous symptoms with spontaneous nystagmus, which disappeared within days to weeks. Later, postoperative canal evaluation was normal in 5/8 patients (62%) with initially preserved vestibular function: areflexia was measured ipsilaterally to the implanted ear in 1 patient and contralaterally in 2 patients. Hyporeflexia was measured ipsilateral to the implanted ear in two patients. OVAR examination, performed 2-19 months after surgery, showed a preserved otolithic function in all 6 tested patients. Transient vertigo on electrical CI stimulation was described in only one patient during the first postoperative weeks. The following conclusions can be drawn. Patients with deafness due to meningitis had an eradicated vestibular function. In other etiologies, vestibular function was most often preserved. CI did not usually abolish vestibular function, but the canal function was disturbed temporarily in 20% of cases. Otolithic function was preserved in all six CI patients tested in this series. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]