A Simpler Route for Making Nitrogen-Alkene Rings

A common nitrogen building block used in many natural product and drug syntheses can now be made in its unprotected form in a single step.</jats:p

Educational Conditions of Schoolchildren of 7-8 Grades Competence Formation in Innovative Schools

The article studies methodological system of extracurricular classes, aimed at the development of senior schoolchildren’s key competences, determines educational conditions of schoolchildren’s key competences development in the course of extracurricular activities, develops the principles and ways to control schoolchildren’s independent activity; programs of training workshops for teachers and senior schoolchildren, considers some aspects of senior schoolchildren’s key competences development in the course of extracurricular classes.Educational conditions, which are necessary for competence approach to senior schoolchildren’s extracurricular activities are the following: schoolchildren’s learning and educability levels, motives, interests, professional plans determination; review of requirements for knowledge and skills of schoolchildren, learning from minimal (basic) to the advanced level of academic subject learning.We consider further didactic and methodological works of profound subject provision of the system of extracurricular classes in the framework of competence approach, including initial and major school levels as prospect trends of this problem stud

Malicious code detection in android : the role of sequence characteristics and disassembling methods

The acceptance and widespread use of the Android operating system drew the attention of both legitimate developers and malware authors, which resulted in a significant number of benign and malicious applications available on various online markets. Since the signature-based methods fall short for detecting malicious software effectively considering the vast number of applications, machine learning techniques in this field have also become widespread. In this context, stating the acquired accuracy values in the contingency tables in malware detection studies has become a popular and efficient method and enabled researchers to evaluate their methodologies comparatively. In this study, we wanted to investigate and emphasize the factors that may affect the accuracy values of the models managed by researchers, particularly the disassembly method and the input data characteristics. Firstly, we developed a model that tackles the malware detection problem from a Natural Language Processing (NLP) perspective using Long Short-Term Memory (LSTM). Then, we experimented with different base units (instruction, basic block, method, and class) and representations of source code obtained from three commonly used disassembling tools (JEB, IDA, and Apktool) and examined the results. Our findings exhibit that the disassembly method and different input representations affect the model results. More specifically, the datasets collected by the Apktool achieved better results compared to the other two disassemblers

Coronary arterial anomalies in a large group of patients undergoing coronary angiography in southeast Turkey

Background: The prevalence of coronary artery anomalies (CAA) are reportedbetween 0.6–1.3% in the literature. CAA are usually asymptomatic incidental findings, but they may deteriorate coronary circulation, cause symptoms andlead to sudden cardiac death; especially in young athletes. Since interventionalprocedures are increasing rapidly for treatment of coronary artery disease (CAD) inthe modern era, comprehensive understanding of CAA is becoming progressively critical element in dealing with CAD.Materials and methods: We reviewed the database of the Cardiac Catheterisation Laboratory of Sani Konukoglu University Hospital in Gaziantep, Turkey. All patientswho were subjected to coronary angiography from 1998 to 2006 were included.Results: Among 53,655 coronary angiographies performed, CAA were foundin 653 patients (incidence of 1.21%); 590 (90.3%) patients had anomalies oforigin and distribution and 63 (11.7%) had coronary fistulae. Separate origins ofleft anterior descending (LAD) and left circumflex (LCX) coronary artery from theleft sinus of Valsalva was the most common anomaly (64.1%). Coronary arteriesbranching from anomalous aortic origin was the second most common anomaly(16.5%). Right coronary artery (RCA) originating from left sinus of Valsalva or leftmain coronary artery (LMCA) was observed in 55 (8.4%) patients, LCX arising fromRCA or right sinus of Valsalva (RSV) was seen in 52 (7.9%) patients and LMCA orLAD originating from RSV was seen in 14 (0.2%) patients. There were 16 (2.45%) patients with single coronary artery and 1 (0.15%) patient with LMCA originating from pulmonary artery.Conclusions: The incidence and the pattern of CAA in our patient population were similar with previous studies. Angiographic recognition of these vessels is importantbecause of their clinical significance and importance in patients undergoing coronary angioplasty or cardiac surgery

Dual-Band Transmitter and Receiver with Bowtie-Antenna in 0.13 μm SiGe BiCMOS for Gas Spectroscopy at 222 - 270 GHz

This paper presents a transmitter (TX) and a receiver (RX) with bowtie-antenna and silicon lens for gas spectroscopy at 222-270 GHz, which are fabricated in IHP’s 0.13 μm SiGe BiCMOS technology. The TX and RX use two integrated local oscillators for 222 – 256 GHz and 250 – 270 GHz, which are switched for dual-band operation. Due to its directivity of about 27 dBi, the single integrated bowtie-antenna with silicon lens enables an EIRP of about 25 dBm for the TX, and therefore a considerably higher EIRP for the 2-band TX compared to previously reported systems. The double sideband noise temperature of the RX is 20,000 K (18.5 dB noise figure) as measured by the Y-factor method. Absorption spectroscopy of gaseous methanol is used as a measure for the performance of the gas spectroscopy system with TX- and RX-modules

Integration of Hi-C with short and long-read genome sequencing reveals the structure of germline rearranged genomes

Here the authors characterize structural variations (SVs) in a cohort of individuals with complex genomic rearrangements, identifying breakpoints by employing short- and long-read genome sequencing and investigate their impact on gene expression and the three-dimensional chromatin architecture. They find breakpoints are enriched in inactive regions and can result in chromatin domain fusions.Structural variants are a common cause of disease and contribute to a large extent to inter-individual variability, but their detection and interpretation remain a challenge. Here, we investigate 11 individuals with complex genomic rearrangements including germline chromothripsis by combining short- and long-read genome sequencing (GS) with Hi-C. Large-scale genomic rearrangements are identified in Hi-C interaction maps, allowing for an independent assessment of breakpoint calls derived from the GS methods, resulting in &gt;300 genomic junctions. Based on a comprehensive breakpoint detection and Hi-C, we achieve a reconstruction of whole rearranged chromosomes. Integrating information on the three-dimensional organization of chromatin, we observe that breakpoints occur more frequently than expected in lamina-associated domains (LADs) and that a majority reshuffle topologically associating domains (TADs). By applying phased RNA-seq, we observe an enrichment of genes showing allelic imbalanced expression (AIG) within 100 kb around the breakpoints. Interestingly, the AIGs hit by a breakpoint (19/22) display both up- and downregulation, thereby suggesting different mechanisms at play, such as gene disruption and rearrangements of regulatory information. However, the majority of interpretable genes located 200 kb around a breakpoint do not show significant expression changes. Thus, there is an overall robustness in the genome towards large-scale chromosome rearrangements

Diagnostic Value of EBUS-TBNA for Lung Cancer with Non-Enlarged Lymph Nodes: A Study in a Tuberculosis-Endemic Country

BACKGROUND: In tuberculosis (TB)-endemic areas, contrast-enhanced computed tomography (CT) and positron emission tomography (PET) findings of lung cancer patients with non-enlarged lymph nodes are frequently discrepant. Endobronchial ultrasound-guided transbronchial aspiration (EBUS-TBNA) enables real-time nodal sampling, and thereby improves nodal diagnosis accuracy. This study aimed to compare the accuracy of nodal diagnosis by using EBUS-TBNA, and PET. METHODS: We studied 43 lung cancer patients with CT-defined non-enlarged mediastinal and hilar lymph nodes and examined 78 lymph nodes using EBUS-TBNA. RESULTS: The sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value, and negative predictive value of EBUS-TBNA were 80.6%, 100%, 100%, and 85.7%, respectively. PET had low specificity (18.9%) and a low positive predictive value (44.4%). The diagnostic accuracy of EBUS-TBNA was higher than that of PET (91% vs. 47.4%; p<0.001). Compared to CT-based nodal assessment, PET yielded a positive diagnostic impact in 36.9% nodes, a negative diagnostic impact in 46.2% nodes, and no diagnostic impact in 16.9% nodes. Patients with lymph nodes showing negative PET diagnostic impact had a high incidence of previous pulmonary TB. Multivariate analysis indicated that detection of hilar nodes on PET was an independent predictor of negative diagnostic impact of PET. CONCLUSION: In a TB-endemic area with a condition of CT-defined non-enlarged lymph node, the negative diagnostic impact of PET limits its clinical usefulness for nodal staging; therefore, EBUS-TBNA, which facilitates direct diagnosis, is preferred

A novel procedure to measure the antioxidant capacity of Yerba maté extracts

Yerba maté extracts have in vitro antioxidant capacity attributed to the presence of polyphenolic compounds, mainly chlorogenic acids and dicaffeoylquinic acid derivatives. DPPH is one of the most used assays to measure the antioxidant capacity of pure compounds and plant extracts. It is difficult to compare the results between studies because this assay is applied in too many different conditions by the different research groups. Thus, in order to assess the antioxidant capacity of yerba maté extracts, the following procedure is proposed: 100 µL of an aqueous dilution of the extracts is mixed in duplicate with 3.0 mL of a DPPH 'work solution in absolute methanol (100 µM.L-1), with an incubation time of 120 minutes in darkness at 37 ± 1 °C, and then absorbance is read at 517 nm against absolute methanol. The results should be expressed as ascorbic acid equivalents or Trolox equivalents in mass percentage (g% dm, dry matter) in order to facilitate comparisons. The AOC of the ethanolic extracts ranged between 12.8 and 23.1 g TE % dm and from 9.1 to 16.4 g AAE % dm. The AOC determined by the DPPH assay proposed in the present study can be related to the total polyphenolic content determined by the Folin-Ciocalteu assay

Neutrophil to Lymphocyte Ratio and Outcomes in Patients with New-Onset or Worsening Heart Failure with Reduced and Preserved Ejection Fraction

Inflammation is thought to play a role in heart failure (HF) pathophysiology. Neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio (NLR) is a simple, routinely available measure of inflammation. Its relationship with other inflammatory biomarkers and its association with clinical outcomes in addition to other risk markers have not been comprehensively evaluated in HF patients. Methods We evaluated patients with worsening or new-onset HF from the BIOlogy Study to Tailored Treatment in Chronic Heart Failure (BIOSTAT-CHF) study who had available NLR at baseline. The primary outcome was time to all-cause mortality or HF hospitalization. Outcomes were validated in a separate HF population. Results 1622 patients were evaluated (including 523 ventricular ejection fraction [LVEF] < 40% and 662 LVEF ≥ 40%). NLR was significantly correlated with biomarkers related to inflammation as well as NT-proBNP. NLR was significantly associated with the primary outcome in patients irrespective of LVEF (hazard ratio [HR] 1.18 per standard deviation increase; 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.11–1.26, P < 0.001). Patients with NLR in the highest tertile had significantly worse outcome than those in the lowest independent of LVEF (<40%: HR 2.75; 95% CI 1.84–4.09, P < 0.001; LVEF ≥ 40%: HR 1.51; 95% CI 1.05–2.16, P = 0.026). When NLR was added to the BIOSTAT-CHF risk score, there were improvements in integrated discrimination index (IDI) and net reclassification index (NRI) for occurrence of the primary outcome (IDI + 0.009; 95% CI 0.00–0.019, P = 0.030; continuous NRI + 0.112, 95% CI 0.012–0.176, P = 0.040). Elevated NLR was similarly associated with adverse outcome in the validation cohort. Decrease in NLR at 6 months was associated with reduced incidence of the primary outcome (HR 0.75; 95% CI 0.57–0.98, P = 0.036). Conclusions Elevated NLR is significantly associated with elevated markers of inflammation in HF patients and is associated with worse outcome. Elevated NLR might potentially be useful in identifying high-risk HF patients and may represent a treatment target