Sine-Gordon Solitons as Heterotic Fivebranes

The Euclidean analogues of the sine-Gordon solitons are used as sources of the heterotic fivebrane solutions in the ten-dimensional heterotic string theory. Some properties of these soliton solutions are discussed. These solitons in principle can appear as string-like objects in 4-dimensional space-time after proper compactifications.Comment: 9 page

Models containing age and NIHSS predict recovery of ambulation and upper limb function six months after stroke: An observational study

Questions: What is the incidence of recovery of ambulation and upper limb function six months after stroke? Can measures such as age and the National Institutes of Health Stroke Scale (NIHSS) be used to develop models to predict the recovery of ambulation and upper limb function? Design: Prospective cohort study. Participants: Consecutive sample of 200 people with stroke admitted to a Sydney Hospital. Outcome measures: Ambulation was measured with item 5 of the Motor Assessment Scale (MAS); patients scoring ≥ 3 could ambulate independently. Upper limb function was measured with items 7 and 8 of the MAS; patients scoring ≥ 5 could move a cup across the table and feed themselves with a spoonful of liquid with the hemiplegic arm. Results: Of the 114 stroke survivors who were unable to ambulate initially, 80 (70%) achieved independent ambulation at six months. Of the 51 stroke survivors who could not move a cup across the table initially, 21 (41%) achieved the upper limb task at six months. Of the 56 stroke survivors who were unable to feed themselves initially, 25 (45%) could feed themselves at six months. Models containing age and severity of stroke (measured with NIHSS) predicted recovery of ambulation and ability to move a cup across the table, whilst a model containing severity of stroke predicted ability to feed oneself. All prediction models showed good discrimination (AUC 0.73 to 0.84). Conclusion: More than two-thirds of people after stroke recovered independent ambulation and less than half recovered upper limb function at six months. Models using age and NIHSS can predict independent ambulation and upper limb function but these prediction models now require external validation before use in clinical practice. © 2013 Australian Physiotherapy Association

The effects of verbal information on children's fear beliefs about social situations

Two experiments explored the role of verbal information in changing children’s fearrelated beliefs about social situations. In Experiment 1, 118 6- to 8- and 12- to 13-year-olds heard positive, negative, or no information about individuals’ experiences of three social situations. Fear beliefs regarding each situation were assessed before and after this manipulation. Verbal information had no significant influence on children’s fear beliefs. In Experiment 2, the same paradigm was used with 80 12- to 13-year-olds, but the information took the form of multiple attitude statements about the situations expressed by groups of peers, older children, or adults. An affective priming task of implicit attitudes was used to complement the explicit questions about fear beliefs. Negative information influenced both explicit and implicit fear beliefs. The source of information and the child’s own social anxiety did not moderate these effects. Implications for our understanding of the socialisation of childhood fears are discussed

Sonographic and cyst fluid cytological changes after EUS-guided pancreatic cyst ablation

Background and Aims The effect of EUS-guided pancreatic cyst ablation (PCA) on sonographic morphology and cyst fluid cytology is unknown. The aim of this study is to evaluate morphological, cytological and change in cyst fluid DNA after PCA. Methods In a prospective single center study, consecutive patients with suspected benign 10 to 50 mm pancreatic cysts underwent baseline EUS-FNA and EUS-PCA followed 2 to 3 months later by repeat EUS, cyst fluid analysis and possible repeat PCA. Surveillance imaging after ablation was performed at least annually and classified as complete (CR), partial (PR), or persistent with <5%, 5% to 25%, and 25% of the original cyst volume, respectively. Results 36 patients underwent EUS-PCA with ethanol alone (n = 8) or ethanol and paclitaxel (n = 28) and CR occurred in 19 (56%). After EUS-PCA, EUS showed an increase in wall diameter in 68%, decreased number of septations in 24%, increased debris in 24%, loss of mural nodule or novel calcification in 21%, and alteration of fluid viscosity in 48%. Follow-up cytology showed increased epithelial cellularity in 27%, loss or decreased cellular atypia in 15%, and increased or appearance of macrophages in 24% and inflammatory cells in 15%. Post-ablation DNA amount increased and quality decreased in 71% each. Between the CR and non-CR patients, there was no significant difference in frequency of sonographic or cytological features. In the CR group, mean DNA quantity was significantly increased after ablation (p=0.023) without a change in quality (p=0.136) Conclusions EUS-PCA induces morphological and cytological changes of the pancreatic cysts none of which appear to predict overall imaging-defined response to ablation

Survey of the needs of patients with spinal cord injury: impact and priority for improvement in hand function in tetraplegics\ud

Objective: To investigate the impact of upper extremity deficit in subjects with tetraplegia.\ud \ud Setting: The United Kingdom and The Netherlands.\ud \ud Study design: Survey among the members of the Dutch and UK Spinal Cord Injury (SCI) Associations.\ud \ud Main outcome parameter: Indication of expected improvement in quality of life (QOL) on a 5-point scale in relation to improvement in hand function and seven other SCI-related impairments.\ud \ud Results: In all, 565 subjects with tetraplegia returned the questionnaire (overall response of 42%). Results in the Dutch and the UK group were comparable. A total of 77% of the tetraplegics expected an important or very important improvement in QOL if their hand function improved. This is comparable to their expectations with regard to improvement in bladder and bowel function. All other items were scored lower.\ud \ud Conclusion: This is the first study in which the impact of upper extremity impairment has been assessed in a large sample of tetraplegic subjects and compared to other SCI-related impairments that have a major impact on the life of subjects with SCI. The present study indicates a high impact as well as a high priority for improvement in hand function in tetraplegics.\ud \u

Stretch for the treatment and prevention of contractures (Review)

Background Contractures are a common complication of neurological and non-neurological conditions, and are characterised by a reduction in joint mobility. Stretch is widely used for the treatment and prevention of contractures. However, it is not clear whether stretch is effective. This review is an update of the original 2010 version of this review. Objectives The aim of this review was to determine the effects of stretch on contractures in people with, or at risk of developing, contractures.The outcomes of interest were joint mobility, quality of life, pain, activity limitations, participation restrictions, spasticity and adverse events. Search methods In November 2015 we searched CENTRAL, DARE, HTA; MEDLINE; Embase; CINAHL; SCI-EXPANDED; PEDro and trials registries. Selection criteria We included randomised controlled trials and controlled clinical trials of stretch applied for the purpose of treating or preventing contractures. Data collection and analysis Two review authors independently selected trials, extracted data, and assessed risk of bias. The outcomes of interest were joint mobility, quality of life, pain, activity limitations, participation restrictions and adverse events. We evaluated outcomes in the short term (up to one week after the last stretch) and in the long term (more than one week). We expressed effects as mean differences (MD) or standardised mean differences (SMD) with 95% confidence intervals (CI). We conducted meta-analyses with a random-effects model. We assessed the quality of the body of evidence for the main outcomes using GRADE.Main results Forty-nine studies with 2135 participants met the inclusion criteria. No study performed stretch for more than seven months. Just over half the studies (51%) were at low risk of selection bias; all studies were at risk of detection bias for self reported outcomes such as pain and at risk of performance bias due to difficulty of blinding the intervention. However, most studies were at low risk of detection bias for objective outcomes including range of motion, and the majority of studies were free from attrition and selective reporting biases. The effect of these biases were unlikely to be important, given that there was little benefit with treatment. There was high-quality evidence that stretch did not have clinically important short-term effects on joint mobility in people with neurological conditions (MD 2°; 95% CI 0° to 3°; 26 studies with 699 participants) or non-neurological conditions (SMD 0.2, 95% CI 0 to 0.3, 19 studies with 925 participants). In people with neurological conditions, it was uncertain whether stretch had clinically important short-term effects on pain (SMD 0.2; 95% CI -0.1 to 0.5; 5 studies with 174 participants) or activity limitations (SMD 0.2; 95% CI -0.1 to 0.5; 8 studies with 247 participants). No trials examined the short-term effects of stretch on quality of life or participation restrictions in people with neurological conditions. Five studies involving 145 participants reported eight adverse events including skin breakdown, bruising, blisters and pain but it was not possible to statistically analyse these data. In people with non-neurological conditions, there was high-quality evidence that stretch did not have clinically important short-term effects on pain (SMD-0.2, 95%CI -0.4 to 0.1; 7 studies with 422 participants) and moderate-quality evidence that stretch did not have clinically important short-term effects on quality of life (SMD 0.3, 95% CI -0.1 to 0.7; 2 studies with 97 participants). The short-term effect of stretch on activity limitations (SMD 0.1; 95% CI -0.2 to 0.3; 5 studies with 356 participants) and participation restrictions were uncertain (SMD -0.2; 95% CI -0.6 to 0.1; 2 studies with 192 participants). Nine studies involving 635 participants reported 41 adverse events including numbness, pain, Raynauds’ phenomenon, venous thrombosis, need for manipulation under anaesthesia, wound infections, haematoma, flexion deficits and swelling but it was not possible to statistically analyse these data. Authors’ conclusions There was high-quality evidence that stretch did not have clinically important effects on joint mobility in people with or without neurological conditions if performed for less than seven months. Sensitivity analyses indicate results were robust in studies at risk of selection and detection biases in comparison to studies at low risk of bias. Sub-group analyses also suggest the effect of stretch is consistent in people with different types of neurological or non-neurological conditions. The effects of stretch performed for periods longer than sevenmonths have not been investigated. There was moderate- and high-quality evidence that stretch did not have clinically important short-term effects on quality of life or pain in people with non-neurological conditions, respectively. The short-term effects of stretch on quality of life and pain in people with neurological conditions, and the short-term effects of stretch on activity limitations and participation restrictions for people with and without neurological conditions are uncertain

Grapevine xylem sap enhances biofilm development by Xylella fastidiosa

Xylella fastidiosa is able to form biofilms within xylem vessels of many economically important crops. Vessel blockage is believed to be a major contributor to disease development caused by this bacterium. This report shows that Vitis riparia xylem sap increases growth rate and induces a characteristic biofilm architecture as compared with biofilms formed in PD2 and PW media. In addition, stable cultures could be maintained, frozen and reestablished in xylem sap. These findings are important as xylem sap provides a natural medium that facilitates the identification of virulence determinants of Pierce's diseas

Intumescences On Poplar Leaves. I. Structure And Development

Peer Reviewedhttps://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/141211/1/ajb208869.pd

Going Straight: The Politics of Time and Space in David Eldridge’s Incomplete and Random Acts of Kindness

Amelia Howe Kritzer states that a contemporary British play is commonly thought of as political if it presents "a political issue or comments on what is already perceived as a political issue" (10). Since 1989, however, the economic and political system in the UK has become increasingly monologic. In such a monologic political system, Shavian dialogic forms of political theatre, which present a dialectical discussion of a political issue, lose their efficacy. As a result, some British playwrights have moved toward more interventionist strategies of political engagement, which involve our lived experience of social structures through their dramaturgy. These plays re-order normative representations of social structures, of offering a symbolic re-ordering of social structures within their form. As such, their form represents what Adorno terms, "and analogy of that other condition which should be" (194). David Harvey argues that in late capitalist society, our experience of time and space has become increasingly compressed. Consequently, our temporary axis of succession, which constitutes the fundamental organisation of Shavian drama, no longer reflects our lived experience of time in the world outside the theatre. Therefore, plays that re-order structures of time and space have political efficacy in that they expose a gap between representations of time and space as linear and concrete and our lived experience of time and space as compressed. This essay argues that David Eldridge's 'Incomplete and Random Acts of Kindness' articulates a complete breakdown in the temporal axis of succession in its structure. Its dramaturgy reflects the experience of space-time compression. Thus, it is a highly political play, not on the basis of its content, but in terms of the way in which its structure mediates and negotiates our lived experience of social structures under the pressures of late capitalism