The Effect of Remote Collaborative Work on Design Processes During the Pandemic

At the beginning of 2020, the virus called "COVID-19" spread rapidly all over the world. One of the measures taken to prevent the spread of the virus was social distance rules. Hence, employees and students had to work remotely using communication tools. In the design field, professionals and students working remotely during the pandemic, were limited to the possibilities of the communication tools they used while developing the design process, and they found ways to use these facilities in line with their practice routines in the physical environment. In this article, the tools used during the collaborative design processes conducted remotely during the pandemic were examined with a questionnaire study. Even though designers worked digitally due to the necessity to continue their work in this period, it was observed that they had positive experiences with the special tools they used. However, the transfer of tacit knowledge to design projects in the collaborative design process has been restricted in the collaborative design process due to limited spatial communication. While many designers were discovering the tailored tools for this purpose they could already use, many improvements were suggested through the unaware needs became explicit ones

Corneal biomechanical properties in thyroid eye disease

AbstractThe purpose of this study is to investigate the effect of thyroid eye disease (TED) on the measurement of corneal biomechanical properties and the relationship between these parameters and disease manifestations. A total of 54 eyes of 27 individuals with TED and 52 eyes of 30 healthy control participants were enrolled. Thyroid ophthalmopathy activity was defined using the VISA (vision, inflammation, strabismus, and appearance/exposure) classification for TED. The intraocular pressure (IOP) measurement with Goldmann applanation tonometer (GAT), axial length (AL), keratometry, and central corneal thickness (CCT) measurements were taken from each patient. Corneal biomechanical properties, including corneal hysteresis (CH) and corneal resistance factor (CRF) and noncontact IOP measurements, Goldmann-correlated IOP (IOPg) and corneal-compensated IOP (IOPcc) were measured with the Ocular Response Analyzer (ORA) using the standard technique. Parameters such as best corrected visual acuity, axial length, central corneal thickness, and corneal curvature were not statistically significant between the two groups (p > 0.05). IOP measured with GAT was higher in participants with TED (p < 0.001). The CH of TED patients was significantly lower than that of the control group. There was no significant difference in the corneal resistance factor between groups. However, IOPg and IOPcc were significantly higher in TED patients. CH and VISA grading of TED patients showed a negative correlation (p = 0.007). In conclusion, TED affects the corneal biomechanical properties by decreasing CH. IOP with GAT and IOPg is found to be increased in these patients. As the severity of TED increases, CH decreases in these patients

Self-perceived Body Weight Status and Weight-control Behaviors of High School Students in a Southern City of Turkey

Defining »healthy weight« is not easy and for an adolescent with all concerns about newly developing physiognomy it is even harder. The aim of this study was to find out the frequency of obesity and the association between the body mass index (BMI), weight-control behaviors and self-perceived body weight status in high school students of a southern city of Turkey. The students from 10 schools were randomly selected among 46,271 students of 72 high schools in Adana from 1999 to 2000. The response rate was 94.8% (2,352/2480). The Turkish version of Youth Risk Behavior Survey Questionnaire (YRBSQ) was completed by the students. The students’ weights and heights were measured. The mean age was 16.5±1.0 years of age (range=14–21 years). The mean BMI was 21.0±3.1, 25.5% of students were underweight, 65.7% were normal, 6.4% were overweight and 2.3% were obese (p=0.0001). Of all students, 24.3% defined themselves as thin, 45.3% as normal, 24.9% as overweight and 5.5% as obese (p=0.0001). The percentage of girls defining their body weight as overweight and obese was significantly higher than the boys (p=0.0001). Of all students, 35.5% wanted to lose weight, 22.3% wanted to gain weight, 27.8% wanted to keep their current weight. Intention (p=0.0001) and interventions to lose weight such as going on a diet (p=0.0001), provocative vomiting (p=0.0001) and 24-hours starving (p=0.0001) were significantly higher in girls than boys. Of students, 26.8% (n=620) were on a diet program either to lose or to keep their body weight. There was significant relationship between being on a diet program and intention to change body weight (p=0.047). We concluded that adolescents living in Adana have relatively higher risk of being underweight than being obese and have unhealthy weight changing plans due to their misperception of their body images. Adolescents may be unconscious on plans and attempts to change their body weights and nutrition and we suggest that education on nutrition and health is required for adolescents

Volume XLIX, Number 13, November 10, 1931

3rd World Heart Failure Congress -- NOV 29-DEC 02, 2012 -- Istanbul, TURKEYWOS: 00031169820000

Utility investigation of automated techniques in hematopoietic progenitor cell count and viability assessment in the Good Manufacturing Practice (GMP) settingg

Aim: To compare our parameters as regards: i) cell count via two different automated cell count techniques, and ii) viability via automated trypan blue exclusion and 7-aminoactinomycin D (7-AAD) staining. Method: We used the trypan blue exclusion technique and an automated cell counter and for viability testing, and the trypan blue exclusion technique and the 7-AAD evaluation by flow cytometry. The trypan blue exclusion and the radio frequency techniques were used for automated cell counting. Flow cytometric analysis was performed by evaluating the yielded cellular products for 7-AAD uptake during the cell count of CD34+ cells. Results: The mean values for cell count were estimated as 3.44±1.22x106/ml (range, 2.48-5.71x106/ml) and 4.14±1.94x106/ml (range, 1.77-7.43x106/ml) for the trypan blue exclusion and radio frequency techniques, respectively. Additionally, the mean values for viability analyses via the automated trypan blue exclusion and 7-AAD were 93.38±6.09% (range, 79.00-98.00%) and 99.49±0.60% (range, 98.40-100.00%), respectively. Conclusions: Our study has responded to two fundamental questions: whether the results of both of the automated techniques for cell count correspond with each other, and whether the results of the automated viability assessment conform those of the 7-AAD technique during the manufacturing processes of cellular therapy products intended for clinical use. Even though we have the opportunity to use the hemocytometer in our laboratory setting, the automated trypan blue exclusion technique gives cell count results in concordance within the range of the expectations of our Quality Management System (QMS)

The Ability to Generate Senescent Progeny as a Mechanism Underlying Breast Cancer Cell Heterogeneity

Background Breast cancer is a remarkably heterogeneous disease. Luminal, basal-like, "normal-like", and ERBB2+ subgroups were identified and were shown to have different prognoses. The mechanisms underlying this heterogeneity are poorly understood. In our study, we explored the role of cellular differentiation and senescence as a potential cause of heterogeneity. Methodology/Principal Findings A panel of breast cancer cell lines, isogenic clones, and breast tumors were used. Based on their ability to generate senescent progeny under low-density clonogenic conditions, we classified breast cancer cell lines as senescent cell progenitor (SCP) and immortal cell progenitor (ICP) subtypes. All SCP cell lines expressed estrogen receptor (ER). Loss of ER expression combined with the accumulation of p21Cip1 correlated with senescence in these cell lines. p21Cip1 knockdown, estrogen-mediated ER activation or ectopic ER overexpression protected cells against senescence. In contrast, tamoxifen triggered a robust senescence response. As ER expression has been linked to luminal differentiation, we compared the differentiation status of SCP and ICP cell lines using stem/progenitor, luminal, and myoepithelial markers. The SCP cells produced CD24+ or ER+ luminal-like and ASMA+ myoepithelial-like progeny, in addition to CD44+ stem/progenitor-like cells. In contrast, ICP cell lines acted as differentiation-defective stem/progenitor cells. Some ICP cell lines generated only CD44+/CD24-/ER-/ASMA- progenitor/stem-like cells, and others also produced CD24+/ER- luminal-like, but not ASMA+ myoepithelial-like cells. Furthermore, gene expression profiles clustered SCP cell lines with luminal A and "normal-like" tumors, and ICP cell lines with luminal B and basal-like tumors. The ICP cells displayed higher tumorigenicity in immunodeficient mice. Conclusions/Significance Luminal A and "normal-like" breast cancer cell lines were able to generate luminal-like and myoepithelial-like progeny undergoing senescence arrest. In contrast, luminal B/basal-like cell lines acted as stem/progenitor cells with defective differentiation capacities. Our findings suggest that the malignancy of breast tumors is directly correlated with stem/progenitor phenotypes and poor differentiation potential. © 2010 Mumcuoglu et al

Differential cross section measurements for the production of a W boson in association with jets in proton–proton collisions at √s = 7 TeV

Measurements are reported of differential cross sections for the production of a W boson, which decays into a muon and a neutrino, in association with jets, as a function of several variables, including the transverse momenta (pT) and pseudorapidities of the four leading jets, the scalar sum of jet transverse momenta (HT), and the difference in azimuthal angle between the directions of each jet and the muon. The data sample of pp collisions at a centre-of-mass energy of 7 TeV was collected with the CMS detector at the LHC and corresponds to an integrated luminosity of 5.0 fb[superscript −1]. The measured cross sections are compared to predictions from Monte Carlo generators, MadGraph + pythia and sherpa, and to next-to-leading-order calculations from BlackHat + sherpa. The differential cross sections are found to be in agreement with the predictions, apart from the pT distributions of the leading jets at high pT values, the distributions of the HT at high-HT and low jet multiplicity, and the distribution of the difference in azimuthal angle between the leading jet and the muon at low values.United States. Dept. of EnergyNational Science Foundation (U.S.)Alfred P. Sloan Foundatio

Penilaian Kinerja Keuangan Koperasi di Kabupaten Pelalawan

This paper describe development and financial performance of cooperative in District Pelalawan among 2007 - 2008. Studies on primary and secondary cooperative in 12 sub-districts. Method in this stady use performance measuring of productivity, efficiency, growth, liquidity, and solvability of cooperative. Productivity of cooperative in Pelalawan was highly but efficiency still low. Profit and income were highly, even liquidity of cooperative very high, and solvability was good

Juxtaposing BTE and ATE – on the role of the European insurance industry in funding civil litigation

One of the ways in which legal services are financed, and indeed shaped, is through private insurance arrangement. Two contrasting types of legal expenses insurance contracts (LEI) seem to dominate in Europe: before the event (BTE) and after the event (ATE) legal expenses insurance. Notwithstanding institutional differences between different legal systems, BTE and ATE insurance arrangements may be instrumental if government policy is geared towards strengthening a market-oriented system of financing access to justice for individuals and business. At the same time, emphasizing the role of a private industry as a keeper of the gates to justice raises issues of accountability and transparency, not readily reconcilable with demands of competition. Moreover, multiple actors (clients, lawyers, courts, insurers) are involved, causing behavioural dynamics which are not easily predicted or influenced. Against this background, this paper looks into BTE and ATE arrangements by analysing the particularities of BTE and ATE arrangements currently available in some European jurisdictions and by painting a picture of their respective markets and legal contexts. This allows for some reflection on the performance of BTE and ATE providers as both financiers and keepers. Two issues emerge from the analysis that are worthy of some further reflection. Firstly, there is the problematic long-term sustainability of some ATE products. Secondly, the challenges faced by policymakers that would like to nudge consumers into voluntarily taking out BTE LEI