From Text to Sign Language: Exploiting the Spatial and Motioning Dimension

PACLIC 19 / Taipei, taiwan / December 1-3, 200

Surgical experience of pericardial mesothelioma presenting as constrictive pericarditis

SummaryWe report two cases, which had been initially diagnosed with constrictive pericarditis but later were definitely diagnosed with mesothelioma after receiving pericardiectomy. The two patients complained of dyspnea. Chest computed tomography showed mild pericardial effusion and thickened pericardium, which was found enveloping the heart without any lumps. Pericardiectomy (phrenic nerve to phrenic nerve) was performed and post-operative histology confirmed malignant mesothelioma. One patient had recurrence near the pericardium at 7 months post-operatively and died at 11 months post-operatively. Another patient, after receiving chemotherapy, is still alive at 16 months post-operatively. We consider that pericardial mesothelioma, an extremely rare disease exhibiting clinical signs similar to those of constrictive pericarditis, must be diagnosed at the early stage of its onset

Audit market concentration and audit fees: an international investigation

Several large auditor consolidations in the late 1980s-early 1990s, along with Arthur Andersen’s collapse in 2001, facilitated global audit market concentration. Subsequently, regulators have expressed serious concern over the potential detrimental effects of this concentration, including cartel pricing. This study investigates the association between audit market concentration and audit fees. Using a large sample from 17 countries, our study yields three principal findings. First, consistent with regulators’ concern, a significantly positive association exists between market concentration and fees. Second, the country-level legal regime changes this association dramatically: while significant and positive in countries with a weak legal regime, the association weakens and eventually becomes negative as the legal regime strengthens. Third, these associations are more pronounced among clients of non-Big 4 auditors than those of Big 4 auditors. These findings provide regulators and other stakeholders with important insights into the effects of audit market structure on audit pricing

Observation and analysis of low temperature leak characteristics of the O-ring for hydrogen electric vehicles

Please click Additional Files below to see the full abstrac

Influence of mixed alkali oxides on some melt properties of TV screen glass

The influence of K2O/R2O (R2O = Na2O+K2O) on some melt properties was studied in alkali-alkaline earth-silicate TV screen glasses. Viscosity, surface tension, electrical resistivity, volatilization and devitrification of glass melts were determined. No mixed alkali effect was observed in viscosity, surface tension and liquidus temperature. They showed a linear behavior with increase of K2O/R2O. On the other hand, electrical resistivity and weight loss by volatilization showed a strong mixed alkali effect against relative alkali concentration. According to the dependence of viscosity, electrical resistivity and volatilization on K2O/R2O, the slope change of those properties took place at K2O/R2O = 0.4 to ≈ 0.5. The compositional dependence of viscosity, surface tension and liquidus temperature was discussed in terms of field strength, polarizability and material diffusion, respectively. Α correlation was also discussed between the dependence of properties on K2O/R2O and the production process of TV screen glass. In conclusion, from the viewpoint of both production and application of TV glasses it was suggested that the mole fraction of K2O/R2O should lie between 0.2 and 0.5

Bax-dependent apoptosis induced by ceramide in HL-60 cells

AbstractCeramide is an important lipid messenger involved in mediating a variety of cell functions including apoptosis. In this study, we show that antisense bax inhibits cytochrome c release, poly(ADP-ribose)polymerase cleavage and cell death induced by ceramide in HL-60 cells. In addition, ceramide induces translocation of Bax to mitochondria. The addition of the broad spectrum caspase inhibitor zVAD-fmk prevented ceramide-induced apoptotic cell death but did not inhibit translocation of Bax and mitochondrial cytochrome c release. Furthermore, ceramide inhibits the expression of the antiapoptotic protein Bcl-xL with an increase in the ratio of Bax to Bcl-xL. These data provide direct evidence that Bax plays an important role in regulating ceramide-induced apoptosis