This chapter explores the guidance regarding the use of the female voice that was a common feature of conduct literature in circulation in Britain between 1780 and 1850. Such works place a heavy emphasis on the restraint of the female voice, seeing it as an aural sign of a young woman's modesty, diffidence, and chastity. Concomitantly, they characterised the technique, power, and skill displayed by many contemporary female singers' voices (especially, but not exclusively, the professional singers of Italian opera) as signs of moral corruption and/or the neglect of feminine domestic and religious duties. However, this chapter stresses that this conduct literature was primarily written for a middle-class, evangelical readership. Consequently, it represents a particular perspective on the female voice, one that was certainly gathering steam in these years, but which was by no means universally dominant.


Objective To explore the clinical effects of treating complex tibial plateau fractures with two incisions and double plates fixation.Methods Between February 2004 and November 2008,19 patients with complex tibial plateau fractures were surgically treated with two incisions and double plates fixation in our hospital as Schatzker V(9 cases)and Schatzker VI(10 cases).Exercises to recover the function of knee joint went on gradually from the first day after operation for all cases.Results All patients were followed up for 6~32 months with an average of 17.2 months.All patients achieved bone union.The duration of union averaged 4.5 months.Knee joint function was rated based on Mechant evaluation system as excellent in 11 cases,good in 5 cases and fair in 3 cases.The excellent rate was 84.2%.Conclusion The treatment of complex tibial plateau fractures with two incisions and double plates fixation has advantages of causing little operative trauma,a low rate of incision and soft tissue complication,a long stablized good fracture fixation,an early feasibility of exercise with CPM to recover knee joint function.It is a safe and effective method to treat complex tibial plateau fractures.


During the coupled thermal-hydro-mechanical analysis of porous media,the porosity and viscosity of porous water are the main factors affecting the permeability of the rock mass.Based on the variation law of porosity and viscosity of porous water undertaking loads,a method of stress-dependent porosity and temperature-dependent viscosity of porous water is developed during the numerical analysis.To investigate the influence of mechanical boundary conditions on the thermal stress,a comparison of the results between displacement boundary and stress boundary is made.The study indicates that the values of thermal stress and pore pressure obtained by stress boundary are smaller than those by displacement boundary.The calculated values of pore pressure taking nonlinear seepage behavior into account are closer to the measured ones.


While preparing for work on another problem it was decided to employ the histamine test of gastric secretory function as a part of the study. A search for data concerning the use of the test in children yielded only a few references and revealed the desirability of work on the subject. Literature on the histamine test in the adult is copious. According to Lee,1the test resulted as a development of work by Dale and Richards in 1918 and of Popielski in 1920. Bockus and Bank2accredit Carnot, Koskowski and Liebert with the first observation regarding the effect of histamine on the human stomach. Since its introduction as a test of gastric secretory function, the histamine test has enjoyed great vogue. The enthusiasm with which the test was heralded and accepted is, no doubt, an expression of a widespread recognition of inaccuracy and inadequacy of the gastric function


Over the past decade, sustainable development has become an important aspect in the development of any nations. Importantly sustainability represents the link between society, government and built environment professionals. In relation to that, this study will be aimed on the role of the local governments and their practices in the sustainable development. Another intended study is to provide an in-depth and better understanding of the strength and weaknesses and other relevant factors that promote or hinder the knowledge transfer of sustainable development at local governments. The respondents are from the Malaysian local governments and their stakeholders. Interview and questionnaire are used to collect data from the respondents. This study is to contribute to the enrichment of knowledge transfer of sustainable development at local governments. Therefore, this research seeks to find out the knowledge transfer practices of sustainable development at Malaysian local governments.


The dispute on Ambalat Block between Indonesia and Malaysia has encouraged government institutions to pay more vigilance on the promotion of development programs of border areas. There is a shift of paradigm posing border-areas as the 'frontyard' instead of 'backyard'. It implies that efforts on promoting border development along North Kalimantan region call for an an emergency policy or catch-up strategy. This comprises endeavors for establishing specific institution, providing ample amount of funds, and designing an integrated action plan on the hastening of border development. This paper portrays some essential dimensions of border areas such as general description and problems of border areas, the nature of Ambalat conflict, legal framework of border areas, and recommended strategies to redevelop the North Kalimantan region.


Conventional tillage methods were compared with no tillage systems for the control of root and stalk rot disease of maize caused by Macrophomina phaseolina and Fusarium moniliforme in a field with a recent history of high stalk rot incidence in south-western Nigeria. the incidence of stalk rot was significantly less under no-tillage practices than in conventionally tilled plots during the two-season trial. Application of paraquat or burning of crop residue had no apparent influence on disease incidence. None of the treatments affected the severity of the diseases


At present the environmental problems have the global character and are in concern of the whole mankind. Among the most burning problems are those, which are related to the environmental pollution. The contemporary problems of this issue have encouraged us to study the theme "Formation of the ecological concepts at the lessons of the Russian language in technical institutions". In this article, we determine the ways and methods of forming the ecological education. Such kind of teaching can be realized by means of integrated lessons, for example, Ecology and the Russian language, Ecology and Mathematics, Ecology and Law. In addition, puzzles, (the use ecological terms), written tasks on the ecological topic, word study, crosswords, dictations, exercises on working with the environmental notions can help the teacher to consolidate this theme. Relying on our own teaching experience we have decided to present the fragments of the Russian language lessons in this article, which allow us to form the environmental behavior, deepen and systematizing the knowledge on the environmental protection, learn to see the beauty of nature in order to understand its value. Aim: to present different forms and types of teaching the environmental concepts among the students of technical colleges at the classes of the Russian language. Objectives: 1. to define the main ecological concepts and terms at the classes of the Russian language. 2. to determine the pedagogical conditions of forming the environmental education. 3.toteach students to the main methods of the 689 environmental protection, to the solution of the global environmental problems, to the development of the responsibility for the environmental protection. The main research methods: theoretical analysis of the psychological and educational literature, educational experiment and survey. Keywords: ecological concepts, Russian language, ecological education;


Background: COVID-19 has emerged as a rapidly spreading pandemic with millions of deaths. We aimed to investigate whether metabolic syndrome can be used as a prognostic factor for the outcome of patients infected with this viral disease, regarding the ICU stay, the requirement of mechanical ventilation (MV) and mortality. Methodology : This retrospective study included 90 patients admitted to intensive care unit (ICU) of Ain Shams University for pneumonic COVID-19 with a confirmed positive RT-PCR for COVID-19 and positive changes on chest computed tomography, over a period of 10 months from July 2021 to April 2022. They were divided into two groups according to the presence or absence of metabolic syndrome. The primary outcome measured was the length of ICU stay. Secondary outcome was the percentage of patients requiring mechanical ventilation (MV) and the mortality rate in the two groups. Results : Patients with metabolic syndrome had higher liver transaminases, random blood glucose, triglycerides, ferritin, and P/F ratio compared to those without metabolic syndrome (P < 0.05). Components of metabolic syndrome such as hypertension, type 2 diabetes mellitus, and obesity significantly increased the risk of hospitalization and mortality in COVID-19 patients (P < 0.05). Conclusion: Metabolic syndrome is a better prognostic indicator for severe disease outcomes in patients with COVID-19 than its individual components. Although patients with metabolic syndrome didn't have a higher need for mechanical ventilation, they had longer duration of ICU stay and a higher mortality rate.


Anatheism, a postmodern paradigm pertaining the concept of God, is a divine construct that is the foremost interest of the discussion among sectarian, non-sectarian, and secular philosophers and scholars of the current era. According to Kearney (2010), anatheism has emerged in between theism and atheism as in: Theism - Anatheism - Atheism. In this perspective, this reflection highlights this sacred energy flow in a practical sense of each single-ism in this converging tendencies of Theism and Atheism to the middle, which is Anatheism, based on Kearney's work on Anatheism. In doing this, this reflection focuses on the Introduction, to analyze and explain "What is the anatheist moment of not-knowing that anatheist turn?" (Kearney, 2010, p. 5) by connecting/aligning the emergent of an anatheist with Thomism doctrine on Human Liberty.


Objective To study the effect of the extract of San Qi Compound on rat aortic ring and platelet adhesion,the content of NO in plasma,platelet and aortic tissue,NOS,cNOS and iNOS in aortic tissue.Method The effects of blood vessel were studied by rat aortic ring.The effects of platelet adhesion were studied by the glass-ball-method.The content of NO,NOS,cNOS and iNOS was determined by method of nitroreductase chromatometry in plasma ,platelet and aortic tissue.Result The extract of San Qi Ccompound significantly strenthened the effect of contraction based on 10μmol/L phenylephrine-induced contration in rat aortic ring,but there was vasodilating effect in denuded endothelium.The contractions induced by the extract on rat aortic ring mentioned above were markedly attenuated by preincubation in organ chambers with glibenclamide(1μmol/L) or propranolol(3μmol/L).The extract could very significantly decreased the platelet adhesion.The extract could very significantly decreased the content of NO in plasma,increased the content of NO in platelet,decreased the content of NOS and cNOS and iNOS in aortic tissue.Conclusion The mechanism of contracting effect of blood vessel of the extract may relate to decrease the NO of plasma and to decrease the content of synthetic NOS and cNOS and iNOS in aortic tissue.The mechanism of decreasing platelet adhesion of the extract could relate to release the NO from the platelet.


Background Low serum albumin is predictive of poor survival in nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC). We evaluated the ability of the pretreatment albumin/globulin ratio (AGR) to predict long-term mortality in patients with NPC. Methods This retrospective study examined an unselected cohort of 694 patients with NPC who had documented pretreatment total serum protein and serum albumin levels (ALB). AGR was calculated as [AGR = ALB/(total serum protein - ALB)]. Survival analysis was used to evaluate the predictive value of AGR. Results Multivariate analysis demonstrated that a low pretreatment serum AGR (<1.4) was an independent predictor of poor OS (P  = 0.029) and DMFS (P  = 0.033). A low AGR was significantly associated with advanced stage disease (P<0.001), high white blood cell count (P  = 0.033), high neutrophil count (P  = 0.047), high total serum protein (P<0.001) and low ALB (P<0.001). Conclusion The pretreatment AGR may represent a simple, potentially useful predictive biomarker for evaluating the long-term prognosis of patients with undifferentiated NPC.


The invention discloses a display keyboard and an input processing method thereof. The display keyboard comprises at least one input recognition area which is a master key area provided with at least one identification character, and independent character recognition areas which are sub-key areas are distributed to the at least one identification character or at least one character combination consisting of multiple identification characters in the master key area respectively. The characters or the character combination consisting of multiple characters are jointly identified in the master area and further provided with the independent recognition areas namely the sub-key areas respectively, and accordingly when users input characters, accuracy of input content is improved, repeatability of the input characters is lowered, and input speed is increased.


are neuropeptides associated with a variety of stimuli including pain and inflammatory reactions. The NK-1 antagonists were additive to good standard antiemetics in the acute emesis period. It may be that the NK-1 antagonists will be additive to delayed emesis regimens because they were to the acute emesis regimens. Delayed emesis continues to be among the most pressing emetic problems in patients receiving chemotherapy.


Reading novel is something enjoyable and exciting. Besides
bringing pleasure, it also brings knowledge to the readers. Novels usually
offer fictional stories about love, human values, intrigue, betrayal,
wisdom, and life itself.
This research paper is meant to show, what the social life of Oliver
Twist by using sociological approach in Charles Dickens's " Oliver
Twist ". To support this research paper, the writer uses the novel " Oliver
Twist " and the books that support in analyzing it by using sociological
approach.
By using the sociological approach, we can see the social life of
oliver Twist, what he had done in order to survive eventhough he had to
do some criminal act. He must struggle to be exist in a good social class
system, what was right for him, and the effect of Old British Society to
his life.
In this paper, The Sociological Approach are devided into three
namely The Sociological- Mimesis Approach, The Sociological-
Expressive Approach, and The Sociological- Pragmatism Approach.
Based on the three approaches above, it shows us that Oliver Twist has
social living which is relating to the reality, Oliver also has a
commitment to understand the people, and he always thinking and doing
something with practical, sensible, and realistic.


INTRODUCTION AND OBJECTIVES: Mussel inspired approaches to create improved bioadhesives involve synthetic hydrogel systems with catechol moieties grafted onto polymer chains [2], albeit these have lower adhesiveness compared to mussel's strong underwater adhesion. We have demonstrated that the combination of nanoparticles (NPs) and mussel-inspired hydrogel systems can create enhanced tissue adhering nanocomposites (NCs) [3]. Herein we further optimize the tissue adhesion of a nanocomposite of hyaluronate based biomimetic, mussel-inspired hydrogel and PLGA or polydopamine NPs, within a tissue interface, by varying the nanoparticles types, sizes and concentrations. METHODS: Dopamine was grafted onto sodium hyaluronate (HA) (MW:151-300KDa) using EDC/NHS aqueous chemistry, creating a mussel-inspired polymer (HA-Dopa) [4]. NCs were formulated combining HA-Dopa with, poly (D, L-lactic-co-glycolic acid) (PLGA) NPs, or N-hydroxysuccinimide (NHS) modified PLGA NPs (PLGA-NHS) or polydopamine (polydopa) NPs using sodium metaperiodate (PI) as a cross-linker. NCs tissue adhesiveness (Uniaxial lap shear testing, cross head speed:10mm min-1) on a porcine skin-muscle interface (Figure 1A), along with effect of nanoparticle concentration (0-20%w/v), type, and size on the adhesion was investigated. Finally, in vitro cytocompatibility of the optimized NCs was evaluated using human dermal fibroblasts (HDFs). RESULTS: NP mediated enhancement in tissue adhesion resulted in maximal lap shear strength values of 47.1 ± 3.2 kPa in the HA-Dopa-Polydopa group versus HA-Dopa alone (20.1 ± 2.8 kPa) (Figure 1B). The 100-200 nm sized polydopamine NPs were optimal for maximal increase in tissue adhesiveness of HA-Dopa hydrogels, while variation of nanoparticle concentrations in all NC groups revealed the adhesive strength increase to be concentration-dependent. CONCLUSIONS: We report that these nanocomposites may serve as adhesives for applications in tissue interfacing, such as temporary bio-glues for tissue adhesion. Figure. No caption available. Source of Funding: None


Today incontinent urinary diversion continues to be the most widely used diversion technique. A current Medicare evaluation showed that 80% of patients undergoing urinary diversion in the USA are subject to reconstruction by means of an ileal conduit [1]. In particular, older patients, patients with comorbidities, and women more frequently receive an incontinent urinary diversion [2,3]. Even with improved perioperative clinicalcare pathways, urinary diversion remains a morbid procedure. Complications are still common after urinary diversion with ≈ 27% patients re-admitted in the first 90 days after BJUI


Ultra-large scale integration is governed by a hierarchical matrix of limits. The levels of this hierarchy can be codified as 1) fundamental, 2) material, 3) device, 4) circuit, and 5) system. Each level includes both theoretical and practical as well as analogical limits. Theoretically, thermal fluctuations impose a fundamental limit of several kT on switching energy. Scattering limited velocity and critical electric field establish a material limit on switching speed. Avoidance of punchthrough sets a device dimension limit. CMOS power-delay product defines a circuit limit. And, clock skew represents a system limit on ULSI. For conservative design margins, circuit limits project MOSFET channel lengths in the 0.4-0.2 µm range.


1Laboratory for the Study of Calcified Tissues and Biomaterials, Department of Stomatology, Faculty of Dentistry, Universite de Montreal, P.O. Box 6128, Station Centre-Ville, H3C1J4, Montreal, Quebec, Canada 2Shriners Hospital for Children, Montreal, Quebec, Canada C. Nishio1, R. Wazen1, S. Kuroda1, P. Moffatt2, A. Nanci1 P44-EXPRESSION PATTERN of APIN and AMELOTIN DURING FORMATION and REGENERATION of the JUNCTIONAL EPITHELIUM.


The dental ceramics, in addition to chemically stable, have excellent optical properties when compared to the dental structures, thereby guaranteeing a special post in the list of restorative materials aesthetic. The ceramics have presented rapid developments in scientific with the aim of improving its mechanical and physical properties to meet the needs aesthetic that are increasingly demanded by modern society. Through the clinical case reports are shown all the phases of the treatment since the planning and diagnosis, cavitary preparation, molding and adhesive cementation. The clinical case deals with the restoration of the smile and cosmetic improvement preceding through crowns porcelain in items 12, 11, 21 and 22.


Real-time soft error rate of 65-nm QDRII+ static random access memory was measured on the Tibetan-plateau with an altitude of 4300 m. Error types including single-bit upset (SBU), multiple-cell upset (MCU), and burst errors were observed. The MCU ratio is 23%, with a maximum size of nine cells. Majority of the MCU events are vertically oriented along the well stripes. Monte Carlo simulations were further performed to study the characteristics of the neutron-induced secondary ions. Diverse secondary ion species, from the proton to Re, were found, which were significantly affected by the presence or absence of the tungsten layer. The impact of neutron energy on the linear energy transfer (LET), range, and deposited charge of secondary ions in the sensitive volume was revealed.


A scoping design study was performed for a Fusion Materials Irradiation Facility (FMIF). This work summarizes the industry contribution to the national effort. Other organizations involved have included the DOE and national laboratories, as well as the industrial partners. The objective of this work was to obtain a general facility layout incorporating advances in accelerator technology and beam optics design and control since the FMIT design was done, and an associated scoping cost estimate. The baseline design has two beamlines each delivering 125 mA of 35 MeV deuterons onto one of two flowing liquid lithium targets. The system has been designed for a future upgrade to four beamlines delivering up to a total of 500 mA on target. This system can provide an equivalent 14 MeV neutron flux of 2 MW/m{sup 2} in a volume greater than one liter at a flux gradient of less than 10% per centimeter.


Recent studies suggest that the gas sensitivity of porphyrin-functionalized ZnO nanorods can be activated under visible light illumination. Then the use of properly coloured light tuned to the absorbance spectra of individual porphyrins could enable a control of sensors sensitivity. The effect of light on the sensitivity to gases is critically governed by the transport phenomena of electronic charge across the interfaces of organic and inorganic structures. Therefore, accurate measurements of energy levels and contact potential differences in porphyrins functionalized ZnO nanorods are important to intepret the sensing properties of such hybrid materials. For the scope, Kelvin probe measurements of porphyrin-ZnO structures were performed exposing the material in dark and visible light and to organic vapours. Results provide an experimental basis to understand the mutual effects of gas adsorption and illumination to the device conductivity. Copyright © 2012 VBRI press.


This paper focuses on the Wesleyan Evangelical Revival, which is the precursor of the mainline Protestant Missions in Nigeria. The main purpose of this work is to examine how the mainline Protestant Churches in Nigeria align themselves with the main tenets of the Wesleyan Revival. The study therefore employed the historical and phenomenological approach. Personal communications or oral interviews and participant observation were the instruments used. The main findings of this study among others show that: The main doctrinal emphases of the Wesleyan Evangelical Revival are new birth/conversion experience and sanctification/holiness of heart and life. The four mainline Protestant churches, namely, Methodist, Anglican, Presbyterian and Baptist align themselves with the tenets of Evangelicalism. The churches understand and emphasize the scriptural doctrine of salvation. The study however noted that there are divergent views about the meaning of the term "Christian Perfection" or "Entire Sanctification" as taught by John Wesley. It therefore noted the need for harmonization of views on this central tenet of the Wesleyan Revival. It then recommended among other things that in order to adequately align itself with the scriptural doctrine of salvation and holiness, the Church in Nigeria should be intentional in prayer, Bible study, teaching, practical living and mentoring on salvation/ holiness. In conclusion, therefore, there is need for harmonization of views and consistent teaching/preaching on these central and crucial tenets of the Wesleyan Revival. The Church in Nigeria needs to go back to God and cry out to Him in repentance to have mercy on us and revive us again.


Aiming to the development and requirement of current construction project management system in China,a large-scale integrated project management program based on database analysis,health diagnosis,quality supervision and early-warning disposition has been developed in this study.Using management tools,this study integrates project management theory,integration idea and information technology to build a well-defined construction project management structure.Subsequently,using programming technologies(Visual Studio 2005 and C#) and database technology(SQL Server 2005),the proposed C/S-based management platform has been implemented.The test result indicates that the system works very well in dealing with information communication and processing.Moreover,its functional models,such as health diagnosis,quality supervision and early-warning disposition,can also give quantitative analysis results respectively,provide managers with objective project decisions,which have made a great contribution to the scientific evaluation and the efficiency of information.


An object of the present invention is to provide a hard surface to cause scratches of the electrophotographic photosensitive member charging member with the box having an excellent chargeability. Has a surface layer of the conductive substrate and the conductive surface layer comprises: a binder resin, and conductive particles dispersed in the binder resin, and the surface layer containing the resin particles and the roughening, the surface layer, the resin particles on the surface has a plurality of projections, the resin particles, which form a corresponding convex, having a public therein, and the entire particle porosity of less than 2.5% by volume, and, a solid, that resin particles do not have a public particles derived from that the solid is an area which accounts for 11% by volume in the particle porosity is 5 vol% to 20% by volume less than or equal to the charging member at a distance from the conductive base away from the area of the assumption.


Effects of Cl - on corrosion of carbon steel and stainless steel in K 2CO 3+KHCO 3+V 2O 5 solution are studied.The results show that,from anodic passivation curve,Cl - has no obvious effect on corrosion potential,ranges of passivation,transpassive potential,and oxygen evolution. No pitting corrosion has been found in this experiment.However with the increase of Cl - concentration,the passivation current density increases,too.In comparison with the single carbon steel,the corrosion rate of carbon steel/stainless steel couple at 90℃ in this solution is 0.064mm/a,which is double as much as the former's.The corrosion rate of carbon steel of passivated carbon steel/stainless steel couple is 4 0mm/a in K 2CO 3+KHCO 3 solution,which is 64 times as much as that in K 2CO 3+KHCO 3 +V 2O 5 solution.


It is known that semigroups are Ramsey algebras. This paper is an attempt to understand the role associativity plays in a binary system being a Ramsey algebra. Specifically, we show that the nonassociative Moufang loop of octonions is not a Ramsey algebra.


British Rail's new Class 91 25 kV electric locomotive combines the performance potential of the advanced passenger train with the best of conventional locomotive engineering. The author examines the innovative mechanical design of the locomotive and discusses the relatively conventional electrical system employed in the Class 91.<
 >


The utilization of low value agro-industrial waste as valuable end product has become a key research priority in the recent years. Currently, the commercial cultivation of Pleurotus ostreatus using sawdust from rubber tree as the base substrate in Malaysia has been reported. However, the price and demand of the rubber tree sawdust (RS) have been increasing, affecting the overall production cost. Thus, a new inexpensive alternative substrate yet as effective as rubber tree sawdust is needed to replace the RS as the base substrate for the cultivation of P. ostreatus. In this study, the investigation on substrates from various agro-industrial waste in Malaysia was carried out. Nine different substrates were prepared in combinations in the ratio of 0.25 w/w and 0.5 w/w with empty fruit bunch (EFB), palm pressed fibre (PPF), sugarcane bagasse (SGB) and RS as an alternative substrate for the cultivation of P. ostreatus. These substrates were supplemented with fixed ratio of wheat bran and calcium carbonate to increase the yield of P. ostreatus. The number of days mycelium growth, yield (g/kg substrates), BE (%) and nutrient compositions were studied for different the nine combinations of EFB, PPF and SGB to RS. The substrate of 25%PPF + 25%SGB + 50%RS was found as the best formulation in term of growth performance, yield and biological efficiency (BE) (%) with 35 days for first harvest at 318.88 g/kg and 79.72%, respectively. Thus, the combination of EFB, PPF and SGB demonstrated a great potential as an alternative substrate for the cultivation of P. ostreatus when incorporated with RS.The utilization of low value agro-industrial waste as valuable end product has become a key research priority in the recent years. Currently, the commercial cultivation of Pleurotus ostreatus using sawdust from rubber tree as the base substrate in Malaysia has been reported. However, the price and demand of the rubber tree sawdust (RS) have been increasing, affecting the overall production cost. Thus, a new inexpensive alternative substrate yet as effective as rubber tree sawdust is needed to replace the RS as the base substrate for the cultivation of P. ostreatus. In this study, the investigation on substrates from various agro-industrial waste in Malaysia was carried out. Nine different substrates were prepared in combinations in the ratio of 0.25 w/w and 0.5 w/w with empty fruit bunch (EFB), palm pressed fibre (PPF), sugarcane bagasse (SGB) and RS as an alternative substrate for the cultivation of P. ostreatus. These substrates were supplemented with fixed ratio of wheat bran and calcium carbonate to i...


Objective: to find some evidence on the heart itself to further understand the mechanisms of heart impact injuries. Methods: Eleven dogs and thirty four rabbits were subjected to front thoracic impact with different impact velocities and compression response. The pressure changes in left ventricle during impact period, ECG and pathological changes were observed respectively. Results: The injured heart usually showed spotty or striped hemorrhages in the ventricle endocardium close to papillary muscle and valves. Extensive bleeding and contusions on the anterior ventricle wall appeared in the severely injured heart. An high pressure impulse was recorded in left ventricle during the impact period. Heart rupture was found in the severely injured animals. Light microscopic examination showed interstitial bleeding and rupture of the myocardial fibers in the contusion area. The injury severity of heart was well correlated with the viscous criterion. Conclusion: the main reason of heart injuries is the local excessive and high speed deformation caused by the thoracic wall or lung impact together with the instantaneously pressure elevation in ventricle.


Abstract : This monograph examines the insurgency conducted by the Southern States during the last part of the American Civil War and the early period of Reconstruction, specifically from the time period of Sherman's march to March 1867. The paper proposes that the development of the Southern insurgency is a good example of what future insurgencies might be like, This monograph contains six sections: introduction, insurgency theory, US military insurgency/counterinsurgency doctrine, a description of the Southern insurgency, analysis, and conclusion. The theory section primarily examines the works of Crane Brinton and Eric Hoffer to provide a basis for examining insurgency. These works are particularly relevant since they were written before the US Army focused on Mao's 'people's war' insurgencies. The section on doctrine surveys material from the Marine Corps Small Wars Manual to the present rewrite of FM 100-20, Security and Stability Operations. The Southern insurgency is examined to provide material for analysis. The analysis section provides lessons from the Civil War and Reconstruction for inclusion in future doctrine. The conclusion provides a synthesis of the points made concerning insurgency development theory, US doctrine, and the lessons learned. The monograph concludes that there are many different types and forms of insurgency; that more work is needed to develop doctrine to complete our understanding of insurgencies. The examination of the American Civil War and Reconstruction is only an example of this phenomena that may help commanders and soldiers in understanding how to combat insurgencies of the future.


What did I know about 5,000 years of Chinese history when I landed at Peking? Well, I knew the Great Wall was very old and the Silk Road mysterious. I'd heard of Genghis and Kublai Khan, and Marco Polo, Italian guest to the Imperial court. My curiosity was aroused by Peking Man. I had difficulty connecting Peking and Beijing, Mao Tse Tung and Mao Zedong, Kuomintang and Communism, Cantonese and Pinyin. Mr. Turner, my Grade 11 History teacher


et al. 1950). On the other hand, the first symptoms are noticed only a few months after birth, although there is little doubt that the absence of maltase is congenital. It therefore appears that the pathological manifestations are not due to the enzymic defect itself but rather to the progressive glycogen deposition, which causes the disruption of the muscular fibres. This is in agreement with the morphological aspect of the tissues, which contain large vacuoles of glycogen and a small amount of normal cytoplasm. If the above interpretation is confirmed, it can be expected that other deposition diseases might be explained on the basis of the absence of other lysosomal enzymes.


Abstract Computer simulation of tunnelling into materials with a Coulomb gap is presented. The model system is a three-dimensional Coulomb glass lying to one side of an infinite plane. An equipotential near the plane simulates the electrode, which screens the Coulomb interaction between localized electrons in the Coulomb glass. The depth-dependent one-particle density of states is computed, and the results are then used to obtain the tunnelling conductance of the system as a function of voltage.


Interpretation of student behavior in online learning platforms based on log data is complicated by not being able to directly observe the learner. In this paper, we attempt to identify data patterns that signal either guessing on assessment problems or disengaging from the task for students while working through homework modules in an introductory physics class by contrasting data from the general student population with those who completed homework modules in controlled, observed environments. We found that abnormally short problem solving attempts that were previously modeled as a single guessing or answer copying behavior actually consisted of two different types of "guessing" behavior: rapid and strategic guessing. Both types were associated with lower levels of self-confidence, but had different distribution among proctored and unproctored student populations. More importantly, the fraction of rapid guessing increased significantly after campus closure due to COVID-19, but the fraction of strategic guessing remained constant.


Energy spectra of Compton-scattered X-ray from Li metal have been measured at high pressure using synchrotron radiation. Compton profile J(q) was obtained from the observed energy spectra. It was found that J(q) was affected by the application of pressure and the Fermi momentum qF deduced from J(q) increased almost linearly with increasing pressure below 2 GPa. The pressure coefficient of qF, qF-1∂qF/∂P, was estimated to be 3.8×10-2 GPa-1, which is in good agreement with that obtained from the free electron model, 3.3×10-2 GPa-1.


Plasma lipoproteins such as LDL (low‐density lipoprotein) are important therapeutic targets as they play a crucial role in macrophage biology and metabolic disorders. The impact of lipoprotein profiles on host defense pathways against Gram‐positive bacteria is poorly understood. In this report, we discovered that human serum lipoproteins bind to lipoteichoic acid (LTA) from Staphylococcus aureus and thereby alter the immune response to these bacteria. Size‐exclusion chromatography and solid‐phase‐binding analysis of serum revealed the direct interaction of LTA with apolipoproteins (Apo) B100, ApoA1, and ApoA2. Only ApoB100 and the corresponding LDL exerted biological effects as this binding significantly inhibited LTA‐induced cytokine releases from human and murine immune cells. Serum from hypercholesterolemic mice or humans significantly diminished cytokine induction in response to S. aureus or its LTA. Sera taken from the patients with familial hypercholesterolemia before and after ApoB100‐directed immuno‐apheresis confirmed that ApoB100 inhibited LTA‐induced inflammation in humans. In addition, mice in which LDL secretion was pharmacologically inhibited, displayed significantly increased serum cytokine levels upon infection with S. aureus in vivo. The present study identifies ApoB100 as an important suppressor of innate immune activation in response to S. aureus and its LTA.


We provide examples of inductive fibrant replacements in fibrantly generated model categories constructed as Postnikov towers. These provide new types of arguments to compute homotopy limits in model categories. We provide examples for simplicial and differential graded comodules. Our main application is to show that simplicial comodules and connective differential graded comodules are Quillen equivalent and their derived cotensor products correspond. We deduce that the rational $A$-theory of a simply connected space $X$ is equivalent to the $K$-theory of perfect chain complexes with a $C_*(X; \mathbb{Q})$-comodule structure.


Advances in material, processes, equipment and catalysts involved in hydrocarbon steam reforming for hydrogen production were discussed in the article. The development trends were outlined and some suggestions made.


Sports provides an ideal real world experiment to quantify the effect of management changes, because (here soccer) coaches can be compared to CEOs in terms of responsibility and competition. Probably they face an even stiffer environment and operate in an international multi-billion dollar industry. Therefore, we analyze 1979 games in Austria's Premier Soccer League and find empirically no support of the much discussed coach effect. In other words, replacing a coach after poor performance does not affect the performance of the soccer team. This empirical observation is used to draw inferences on management in general and the replacement of CEOs in particular. Furthermore we analyse why a change of CEO does not affect the composition of boards in short run, thinking about concepts such as staggered boards. The blindfold replacement of the guards does not represent a universal remedy for poor performing companies, although the threat of being replaced is necessary for providing incentives for high efforts ex-ante.


The quality of life related to health is an indicator performance
of health system; however, its condition in people with type 2 diabetes is
unknown, which limits the implementation and evaluation of interventions aimed at improving their health. Objectives: to identify the most affected domains in
the quality of life in people with 2 type diabetes. Methods: systematic search in LILACS,
Pubmed, Embase and Google Scholar data bases for observational studies that
measure quantitatively the quality of life for patients with diabetes type 2, despite
comorbidity or functional status, in the ambulatory or hospital setting in Colombia.
In order to identify the most affected domains, it was carried out a cumulative meta-analysis of observational studies aimed to measure life quality through the Health
Questionnaires SF-36 (Short Form-36) and SF-8 (Short Form-8), and also, a Random
effects model was conducted, which allowed the average as a measure of combined
effect. Results: seven articles were identified, of which four were included in the
quantitative synthesis, the most affected domains according to SF-36 and SF-8 were
general health 49.7 (95% CI: 37.3 to 62.0), physical role 53.6 (95% CI: 35.6 to 71.6),
physical function 53.8 (95% CI: 34.8 to 72.8). Conclusion: Preventive and care programs for people with type 2 diabetes should focus on comprehensive management
that contributes to quality of life improvement concerned health. It is still required to
expand the investigation to account for the results in people's health.


Tubular pottery comprises certain peculiar artifacts that were produced by late Holocene complex hunter-gatherer societies in southeastern South America for unknown purposes. Some authors have related them to mortuary behaviour which has also been suggested by historical sources, while others have considered domestic use. In this paper, the technical, compositional and functional properties of these artifacts are explored in order to contrast both hypotheses, given an example of how technical analysis allows the identification of special pottery within archeological contexts. This analysis includes a study of the fabrics involved using low and high magnification, thin sections, Scanning Electron Microscopy, Energy Dispersive X-ray Spectroscopy, Mössbauer Spectroscopy, Laser Induced Breakdown Spectroscopy and fatty acid profiles. The results show that these tubular artifacts are not fit structurally for utilitarian purposes and show no evidence of domestic use. Based on these results and on historical data, it can be postulated that they were used as part of mortuary rituals, thus becoming part of the select global group of pottery manufactured exclusively for mortuary purposes.


Using nearly 30,000 employee surveys from fourteen companies, we find disability is linked to lower average pay, job security, training, and participation in decisions, and to more negative attitudes toward the job and company. Disability gaps in attitudes vary substantially, however, across companies and worksites, with no attitude gaps in worksites rated highly by all employees for fairness and responsiveness. The results indicate that corporate cultures that are responsive to the needs of all employees are especially beneficial for employees with disabilities.


SUBTITLE: THE ECONOMICS OF AIR SERVICE HELPED CUT-FLOWER IMPORTERS CORNER THE U.S. MARKET, BUT NEW FORCES MAKE MANY GROWERS PERISHABLE.


Genomics and bioinformatics are emerging disciplines that have the potential to fundamentally alter current approaches to molecular systematics. The sequencing of eukaryotic genomes has demonstrated the ability to obtain and interpret nucleotide sequences at a scale and efficiency that was unimaginable just a few years ago. The immense amount of sequence information generated by genome projects has spurred the development of new analytical and data management tools. How can plant systematists take full advantage of these advances? Comparison of plant nuclear genomes will allow the identification of conserved nonrecombining and single copy loci that can serve as robust phylogenetic markers. The growth of molecular phylogenetic studies is dramatically altering organismal classification. The successful integration of these changes will require innovations in the communication of taxonomic information. Reductions in the cost of obtaining and analyzing nucleotide sequences should result in more time and resources being directed to the essential activities of systematists—the documentation and organization of biological diversity, and the interpretation of this diversity in the context of organismal evolution.


Research background: The aim of the scientific contribution is to analyze the aspect of Transport Development of the Greater Tumen Initiative. Economic cooperation among the countries of the Greater Tumen Initiative (GTI) is the basis for interaction in various fields, especially transport.
Purpose of the article: However, taking into account the prevailing trends in Europe-Asia transportation, it is not entirely correct to make the implementation of GTI transport projects dependent on prospective transit freight flows. At first, it is necessary to concentrate on the transport support of foreign trade flows directly between the GTI member countries.
Methods: We propose to assess the stability of foreign trade flows as a cargo base (current and potential) of transport projects within the GTI by absolute time series, which reflects the trend (or its absence, i.e. each next level is higher or lower than the previous one) and its stability, as well as by relative time series, i.e. growth rates, which reflects the stability of the change rate (the growth rate of each subsequent period is higher or lower than the previous one).
Findings & Value added: Based on the results of the assessment of foreign trade flows between the member countries, that forms the current and potential cargo base of transport projects, it was concluded not only about a high degree of stability and potential of foreign economic cooperation, but also about the need of extra measures for its further intensifying, including foreign trade transport services improvement.


Abstract We present a reciprocity and unitarity preserving formulation of the scattering of a scalar plane wave from a two-dimensional, randomly rough surface on which the Neumann boundary condition is satisfied. The theory is formulated on the basis of the Rayleigh hypothesis in terms of a single-particle Green's function G(q‖|k‖) for the surface electromagnetic waves that exist at the surface due to its roughness, where k‖ and q‖ are the projections on the mean scattering plane of the wave vectors of the incident and scattered waves, respectively. The specular scattering is expressed in terms of the average of this Green's function over the ensemble of realizations of the surface profile function (G(q‖|k‖)). The Dyson equation satisfied by (G(q‖|k‖)) is presented, and the properties of the solution are discussed, with particular attention to the proper self-energy in terms of which the averaged Green's function is expressed. The diffuse scattering is expressed in terms of the ensemble average of a two-p...


Although Latin-Americanization is not yet clearly defined,the concept itself shows sufficient proof of the various problems arisen in the modernization process of Latin-American countries.The author holds that similar situation has occurred in China after our GDP per person has exceeded $1 000.While the problems are not exactly the same,it is of some significance to use the phenomenon of Latin-Americanization as a reference in order to build up a harmonious socialist society and to realize our goals of modernizations.


Background The association of genetic and dietary factors with occurrence and progression of chronic diseases such as metabolic syndrome (MetS) has long been addressed but there is a lack of evidence for complex interrelationships, including direct and indirect effects of these variables. Hence, this study is aimed at evaluating the mediating role of glycemic indices in the association of melanocortin-4 receptor (MC4R) rs17782313 polymorphism, sociodemographic, and psychological factors with the risk of MetS in obese adults using structural equation modeling. Methods We performed a cross-sectional analysis of data from 287 apparently healthy adults. Dietary glycemic index (GI) and glycemic load (GL) were calculated from a validated 147-item food frequency questionnaire (FFQ). MC4R s17782313 genotypes were determined by polymerase chain reaction-restriction fragment length polymorphism (PCR-RFLP) method. Structural equation modeling was used to explore direct and indirect effects of genetic and nongenetic factors on MetS. Results MC4R gene variant was directly associated with the risk of MetS (B = 0.010; P = 0.023). On the other hand, this variant was found to be indirectly and positively associated with LDL-C (B = 6.589; P = 0.042) through mediatory effects of GI and GL. Moreover, GI and GL also mediated indirect positive effects of sex and age on LDL-C (B = 3.970; P ≤ 0.01; B = 0.878; P ≤ 0.01, respectively) and HDL (B = 2.203; P ≤ 0.01; B = 0.129; P ≤ 0.01, respectively). MC4R rs17782313 polymorphism had positive effects on GI (B = 1.577; P ≤ 0.01) and GL (B = 1.235; P ≤ 0.01). Conclusion Our data may state a hypothesis of the mediating effect of quantity and quality of carbohydrates consumed in relationship between genetic susceptibility to obesity and cardiometabolic risk factors. Further analyses should be carried out in high-quality cohort studies in order to confirm the findings.


In Software Product Lines (SPL), we can bind reusable features to compose a product at different times, which in general are static or dynamic. The former allows customizability without any overhead at runtime. On the other hand, the latter allows feature activation or deactivation while running the application with the cost of performance and memory consumption. To implement features, we might use aspect-oriented programming (AOP), in which aspects enable a clear separation between base code and variable code. In this context, recent work provides AspectJ-based idioms to implement flexible feature binding. However, we identified some design deficiencies. Thus, to solve the issues of these idioms, we incrementally create three new AspectJ-based idioms. Moreover, to evaluate our new idioms, we quantitatively analyze them with respect to code cloning, scattering, tangling, and size by means of software metrics. Besides that, we qualitatively discuss our new idioms in terms of code reusability, changeability, and instrumentation overhead.


Acceptance (larval entry) of an artificial diet by neonate larvae of Laspeyresia pomonella (L.) was not improved by incorporation of apple products or flavors, citric acid, or green coloring into the standard wheat germ diet. Physically altering the surface of the diet by punching holes in the surface, by using foaming agents (gelatin and egg albumin) and particulates such as vermiculite or alfafa meal to make the diet porous or rough, did not result in increased larval entry. Apple juice. malic acid, and citric acid caused some fermentation and syneresis of the diet which spoiled it for larval use. Any procedure or material used that made the diet porous resulted in a rapid dehydration of that diet. Although larval acceptance may have been good on these porous diets, the gradual loss of moisture over the 15- to 20-day larval maturation period eventually made the diet unpalatable, and the larvae starved before they matured.


It was recently noted that the dispersion relation for the magnons of planar SYM can be identified with the Casimir of a certain deformation of the Poincaré algebra, in which the energy and momentum operators are supplemented by a boost generator J. By considering the relationship between J and , we derive a q-deformed super-Poincaré symmetry algebra of the kinematics. Using this, we show that the dynamic magnon representations may be obtained by boosting from a fixed rest-frame representation. We comment on aspects of the coalgebra structure and some implications for the question of boost covariance of the S-matrix.


From 2003 to 2004,the trial compared the characteristics between monoculture and mixed turf of Desmodium trilourum(Linn)DC.The results showed that the mixed turf Desmodium trilourum(Linn) DC + Eremochloa ophiuroides(Munro) Hack.or Desmodium trilourum(Linn)DC+Axonopus compressus (Swartz)Beauv.possess fine rigidity and can be well utilized in the southern China.


This paper illustrates barriers to community capacity building (CCB) in tourism development, based on a questionnaire survey of 175 community leaders carried out in the city of Shiraz in Iran. It builds on the work of other researchers who found that in developing countries, a lack of CCB is an influential barrier to tourism development. The study found that the main barriers to CCB are to be found at the organizational and community levels. The barriers did not manifest equally in every community and tend to exhibit higher intensity and greater persistence in the new district in comparison to the old historic district of Shiraz. Community members have restricted access to decision-making, a lack of resources, knowledge, skills and education and lack a sense of ownership with regard to tourism. The centralization of government is a further problem. This paper shows that concerned leaders, especially those involved in tourism industry, could utilize the results of this study in their efforts to resolve the barriers to tourism development in their communities.


Proton induced absorption over the 350 nm to 2500 nm spectral region and the growth of that absorption with increasing dosage was determined for four glasses (Schott glasses FK3, SF57, IRG7, and Corning Glass Works fused silica 7940). For FK3 and SF57 we can compare the proton induced absorption with x- ray induced absorption. We found protons induced less absorption than x rays for comparable doses by a factor that depended on the glass. Annealing effects with time were also observed. The results indicate that reliance on x ray or electron dosage data overestimates the amount of induced absorption that will occur under realistic orbital conditions where protons dominate the dose. We also searched for proton dose induced index of refraction changes in the glasses, and were able to place an upper limit on the change in n of 10-4. This shows that a prism spectrometer is a feasible candidate for spaceborne observations. The absorption in a holmium oxide filter glass and an optical cement also was characterized.


ABSTRACT This paper examines the discourse on school meals, as evidence suggests that political agendas feed into policy making. The paper fills a void by proposing new insights into how school meals could be reformed, following reflections from a doctoral study and a review of the changing narrative on school food in England. Recommendations include rethinking the coverage on school meals by taking into account this multifaceted area of inquiry by recognising the importance of the physical context of the meals as well as the subjects of school mealtime.


Air is progressively removed from a test tube; the pressure inside is measured using a standard tire-pressure gauge that is found to read atmospheric pressure when the test tube is fully evacuated.


Introduction: Abusing drugs such as morphine continues to be a serious medical and social problem. Defining a habit that increases the devastating effect such as compulsive use and craving is necessary. Methods: This experiment was designed in four groups 1) group-housed (GH) 2) isolation 3) group-housed morphine-treated (GHMT) (4) isolated-housed morphinetreated (IHMT). Rats were received morphine (0.75 mg/rat/day) for three weeks for inducing morphine dependence. BrdU (50 mg/kg/day) injection begins from the first day of the experiment and lasted for 21 days for assessing neurogenesis. At the end of experiment sensitization with open field, copper in serum with an atomic spectrophotometer, taste disturbance for bitter (potassium chloride, KCl) and sour (citrate), mood disturbance with tail suspension test, brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) in CSF with Elisa, malondialdehyde (MDA) in serum with thiobarbituric acid (TBA) and neurogenesis with BrdU staining were assessed. Results: Copper was higher in GHMT rats. Sensitization was higher in IHMT rats. Citrate and KCl consumption were higher in IHMT rats. Time of immobility was higher in IHMT rats. BrdU-positive cells and BDNF were lower in IHMT rats. MDA increased in IHMT rats. Conclusion: Avoiding isolation in a period of morphine injection decreases behaviors that favor morphine abuse. Also avoiding isolation increases neurogenesis that has a positive effect on rewarding center. D ow nl oa de d fr om p pj .p hy ph a. ir at 1 0: 25 + 03 30 o n M on da y N ov em be r 4t h 20 19 257 | Physiol Pharmacol 20 (2016) 256-266 Famitafreshi et al. hypothesized that neurogenesis can modulate brain receptor expression and in this way, it can exert its neuroplasticity effect. Mood regulation is a mandatory part of life. Without it, depression and anxiety develop and this may cause more drug seeking behavior. Revest et al., divided hippocampus into two regions: ventral for mood and rostral for memory (2009). The higher rate of neurogenesis probably is associated with more balance of mood state and co-morbid conditions. So, with promoting the health of hippocampus good behavior maintains. In previous experiments increase appetite for salt along with locomotor activity and rearing in open field have been used for assessing poor prognosis and relapse to drug abuse (Clark and Bernstein, 2004; Valjent et al., 2010). However, in this study, two novel tastes including bitter and sour as tested by potassium chloride (KCl) and citrate respectively were assessed. There is a question about the nature of sensitization as it is a primary taste disturbance or it is something else. Some experts believe that it is due to taste disturbances as in one study genes for this hypothesis have been identified (Nesil et al., 2015). In this experiment, KCl and citrate were used for assessing the nature of sensitization as it is taste disturbance or not. Copper is an essential element that is necessary for differentiation of new neurons during embryonic development (Watanabe and Tezuka, 2006). One of the organs in the brain that needs copper is hippocampus that regulates cognitive behaviors through NMDA receptors (Schlief et al., 2005). The copper increase in the sub ventricular zone and choroid plexus during elderly is responsible for the decline in cognitive abilities (Fu et al., 2015a). Copper plays an important role in Alzheimer disease along with deterioration of oxidative –stress status (Dong et al., 2008). Also, neurogenesis can be affected by alternations of the copper level and bioavailability (Fu et al., 2015b). Brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) is one of the major neurotrophic factors that primarily support the growth and survival of cholinergic, dopaminergic and motor neurons. BDNF is synthesized by sensory neurons and glia and may have both autocrine and paracrine functions in mediating activity-dependent plasticity. It is highly expressed in brain areas that are known to regulate cognitive and emotional behaviors such as the hippocampus and amygdala (Ichisaka et al., 2003). Stress-oxidative (SO) status is one of the main determinants of body health. Malondialdehyde (MDA) production rate is one of the predictors of SO status. MDA overproduction causes lipid peroxidation of membrane lipids. We know that many enzymes and cellular components including signaling molecules are made of lipids (Ayala et al., 2014). In this way, disturbance of MDA production and degradation cause destructive effects including disruption of neurogenesis. In this experiment, MDA level was assessed for estimating its role for reduction of neurogenesis besides possible reduction of BDNF. Isolation is a condition with adverse effects to the brain. In several studies, social isolation has impaired brain function. On the other hand, socialization has been associated with better brain functions. Socialization can be modeled by two paradigms: two animals in one cage or three animals in one cage. In this study, two rats were put in one cage (Peitz et al., 2013). Also for isolation, one rat was put in one small cage (Yorgason et al., 2013). This study designed for the purpose of defining behaviors that employ and strengthening such good behaviors and weakens behaviors associated with poor prognosis and discovering some new behaviors. The aim of this study was to prove that brain functions that are necessary for better tolerance and reduce the risk of relapsing work well in the socialized state. So this study designed in isolation and social state to prove the above hypothesis. Materials and methods Animals and experimental procedure The experimental protocols followed in this study were conformed to the guidelines for the care and use of laboratory animals published by the national institution of health (NIH publication No. 85-23, revised 1996) and was further approved by the institutional ethical committee at Tehran University of Medical Science (Tehran, Iran). In this study male Sprague-Dawley rats weighting 200 to 250 grams were used. In each group, 9 rats were used. In socialized groups, one rat was used for modeling socialization. For social isolation, animals were isolated in cages covered with black plastic for 14 days plus one week for adaptation to the D ow nl oa de d fr om p pj .p hy ph a. ir at 1 0: 25 + 03 30 o n M on da y N ov em be r 4t h 20 19 Addiction in socially isolated state increases KCl and citrate consumption Physiol Pharmacol 20 (2016) 256-266 | 258 environment (Ibi et al., 2008). Morphine-treated animals in the group-housed groups were housed with healthy rats. For induction of morphine addiction and dependence, based on previous experiments, we used a daily injection of morphine (0.75 mg/day/ip for three weeks). However because assessing addiction needs experiment, and this has proved to us by previous protocols, we did not assess withdrawal signs for assessing addiction (Di Chiara et al., 2004). For assessing neurogenesis, BrdU (50 mg/kg/day) was injected from the first day of the experiment and lasted for 21 days. In the end of the experiments, rats were anesthetized and then sacrificed. Before sacrificing serum was obtained for assessing copper, MDA and CSF were collected for BDNF assessment, and then the brain removed from the skull for sectioning and labeling. Open field test The experiment was performed in open field arena with a diameter of 969625. 25 squares of 15.5 cm are inside of the arena. Rats were placed individually in the center of the arena. The total duration of the test was 5 minutes. Video-tap was taken to score locomotors frequency (i.e. number of lines crossed with all four paws), rearing frequency (i.e. number of times rat stood erect on its hind legs with its forelegs in the air) and measure duration of immobility (i.e. total time in the second with spontaneous movement) (Reis Ede et al., 2014). Citrate preference test In this experiment citrate (Sigma-Aldrich) at a concentration of 50 mM was prepared. The two-bottle test was performed for 48 hours. To prevent potential location preference of drinking, the position of the bottles was changed every 24 h. Food and water were available ad libitum prior to the citrate preference test. At the end of the experiment, the preference for the citrate was determined as the percentage of citrate solution ingested relative to the total intake (Tordoff and Bachmanov, 2002). Twenty-four hour two-bottle test for KCl We measured overnight KCl intake to gain insight if rats show an appetite for KCl in long-term. In this experiment, rats were given a 24-h two-bottle choice test with dH2O and 200 mM KCl (Merck). The relative positions of the two bottles were counterbalanced across rats. Relative intake of potassium bottle to total intake was calculated (Guenthner et al., 2008). Tail suspension test This test is applied for assessing mood state. In this test, rats are suspended by their tail with tester's hand and time of immobility is considered as an index of low mood state or anhedonia (Gu et al., 2014).


Background and Aim: This Study was performed in order to determine the mean difference of retinal nerve fiber layer thickness in both eyes of non-amblyopic anisometropia and evaluation of its relationship with near stereopsis of these individuals. Materials and Methods: In the present analytical descriptive study, 23 patients with non-amblyopic anisometropia were chosen (13 men, 10 women, with an average age of 27.82 and with the range age of 18-35 years). Patients were studied after applying the inclusion and exclusion criteria. The difference of nerve fiber layer thickness in both eyes of non-amblyopic anisometropia was determined and then its relationship with near stereopsis was evaluated. Results: Anisometropic patients were divided into 3 groups: anisoastigmatism, anisomyopic, and anisohypropic. The difference of the means of the retinal nerve fiber layer thickness was found to be 0.08 between the right and the left eyes in anisometropic patients, which is not statistically significant (P= 0.979). The difference of the means in anisoastigmatic group was calulcated to be 0.72±5.21 and .83± 4.19 in non-anisoastigmatic group, which was not statistically significant, either (P= 0.436). The difference of the means in was 1.00±4.10 anisomyopic group and 1.10±5.30 in non-anisomyopic group, which waere not significant, either (P= 0.296). The data of the anisohypropic group was not stiatistically studied due to the insufficiency of participants (one individual only). The correlation coefficient between the thickness difference and stereopsis was found to be %19.6, reveling no statistically significant difference (P= 0.371). Conclusion: There is no significant difference between the mean of thickness of retinal nerve fiber layers of right and left eyes in patients with non-amblyopic anisometropia. Also, there is no significant relationship between near stereopsis and the aforementioned thickness difference in these individuals.


Calligraphy has existed in many shapes in China, ever since the first Chinese characters were written. Calligraphy has been an important tool within politics as well as being an important art form. Contemporary Calligraphy has lost the prestige it once had, but is still used within politics though not to the same extent.
Calligraphy as an art form has developed immensely during the latter part of the 20th century and is today highly appreciated and multi facetted.
Calligraphy within the digital realm is a topic widely studied, where digital aid can make the study of calligraphy easier.
According to a survey answered by Chinese in China, the participants have changed their views on Calligraphy since their youth. Although computers have taken over, calligraphy is still revered as a means to soothe ones mind. One generation back, calligraphy was one of the more important skills to master. In modern China, calligraphy has given way for Computer and English skills.


INCE our 1951 paper was published, we S have not encountered any cases of immediate postintubation laryngeal obstruction due to the formation of a membrane in the larynx or edema of the vocal cords. We continue to see postintubation vocal cord granulomas, about one every 3 years. Anesthesiologists are not aware of these unless they are told about them, since they do not appear until 2 or more weeks after the intubation. Postintubation hoarseness still is common, but this disappears uneventfully unless a granuloma develops.


M any factors exist to make the study of proteins challenging at best. In sperm biology, these factors are coupled with the fact that a single human ejaculate can contain more than 100 million sperm cells at different stages of development and in various states of activity. In addition, these cells are transported in an active carrier and exchange extensively with both male and female reproductive tracts; ultimately, the stochastic noise means defining the function and malfunction of sperm proteins is a huge task. To make substantial progress in studying low-level, fast-changing, highly regulated, and hence important proteins, we must think outside the mass spectrometry instrument. Alternate splicing and polyadenylation, along with the use of differential promoters, enable multiple isoforms of a protein to be produced from a single gene, and posttranslational modification means even an individual isoform can present a heterologous population. Protein turnover and association with targeting subunits also contribute to making the human proteome both several orders of magnitude more complex than the genome and a transient entity, hence only definable at a fixed point in time under a specific set of conditions. Nonetheless, proteomics certainly has the potential to play a major role in characterizing the complex journey from gamete generation to fertilization, diagnosis of fertility problems, and helping to shift reproductive technologies toward safer, more cost-effective, less invasive methods (Aitken and Baker, 2007; Barratt, 2008). The high sensitivity, mass accuracy, and speed of the new generation of mass spectrometry instruments and technical developments in proteomics analysis are regularly discussed (Cañas et al, 2006; Mann and Kelleher, 2008). Also, researchers in the field now recognize that because of the sheer quantity and variability in quality and relevance of mass spectrometry data, there is a need to employ powerful bioinformatics and human expertise to avoid erroneous protein identification (Turck et al, 2007; Aebersold, 2009; Bell et al, 2009; Proteomics 2.0). This ironically echoes the calls from workers in sperm research during the last decade for the employment of universal standards and strict quality control for clinical semen and sperm analyses (Auger et al, 2000; Keel et al, 2000; Björndahl et al, 2004; Brazil et al, 2004; Keel, 2004; Björndahl and Barratt, 2005). Indeed, recently several good proteomics studies in human fertility have been reported (Oliva et al, 2009; Brewis and Gadella, 2010). It is, however, evident that several complicating factors are still hindering progress in such investigations.


We propose a method for determination of nanoantenna transmitted phase for coupled, resonant nanoantennas in a heterogeneous array, necessary for design of metaholograms with ~90% optical efficiency. Progress toward fabrication of V02 nanoantennas is demonstrated. © 2019 The Author(s)


One of the best methods used to delineate basement structures and configuration is the airborne magnetic survey data. The goal of this research is to accurately delineate the deep-seated basement configuration and structures. Production of geophysical maps after processing the data, including two-dimensional (2D) and three-dimensional (3D) magnetic susceptibility layered-earth models for high-resolution airborne RTP magnetic data over the eastern part of the Gulf of Suez, was conducted to accurately detect the shallow and deep-seated basement structures. The well data was used to correlate and control the depth of the basement during the 2D and 3D modelling. Results of the estimation of the depth to the basement showed that Analytical Signal (AS), Source Parameter Imaging (SPI) and Euler methods have very similar results. The eastern part in the three maps indicates more shallow depths that reach 300 m in some locations; on the other hand, the western part of the area indicates deeper depths to the basement, which in some places reaches 5000 m from the existing averaged ground surface. The 3D modelling showed an adequate matching between the depth to the basement in the calculated and observed data. The sedimentary section is tectonically affected by such deep-seated basement structures with a set of faults that extend from the basement upwards through the sedimentary cover. Generally, these faulted sedimentary blocks may constitute potential structural traps for the hydrocarbon accumulation.


The hysteretic damping capacity and high recoverable strains characterizing the superelastic response of shape memory alloys (SMA) make these materials attractive for protection systems of structures subjected to dynamic loads. A successful implementation however is conditioned by functional fatigue exhibited by the SMA when subjected to cyclic loading. The residual deformation upon cycling and the efficiency in material usage are the two most restrictive issues in this sense. In this paper, a device equipped with superelastic NiTi SMA wires and capable of supporting external tension compression loads with optimized properties is presented. It is shown how the introduction of the wires' pre-straining allows for the absorption of deleterious residual deformation without affecting the self-centering capabilities upon unloading, in contrast with what occurs for pre-strained tendons. These features were experimentally verified in an in-scale prototype composed of two 1.2 mm diameter superelastic NiTi SMA wires. In order to numerically assess the dynamic response of a simple structure subjected to seismic excitations, a multilinear superelasticity model for the NiTi wires was developed.


OBJECTIVE
To compare the features of paraneoplastic syndrome of inappropriate antidiuretic hormone with those of limbic encephalitis.

DESIGN
Case study.

SETTING
Academic medical center.

PATIENT
A 46-year-old woman with progressive memory impairment, hyponatremia, and seizures.

INTERVENTIONS
Magnetic resonance imaging of the brain, fluoro-2-deoxyglucose positron emission tomography of the body, and immunohistochemical analysis of a resected tumor.

RESULTS
Though the patient presented with clinical features of classic limbic encephalitis, magnetic resonance imaging, electroencephalogram, and cerebrospinal fluid analysis findings were unremarkable. Her chronic hyponatremia was ultimately found to be due to ectopic secretion of antidiuretic hormone by a neuroendocrine tumor with Merkel cell carcinoma phenotype.

CONCLUSIONS
Patients presenting with memory impairment, seizures, and hyponatremia should undergo a thorough workup for occult malignancy. In addition to considering classic immune-mediated paraneoplastic limbic encephalitis, the ectopic secretion of antidiuretic hormone should be included in the differential diagnosis.


Introduction:
 VT inducibility is often used to assess the efficacy of VT ablation. Sinus rhythm voltage maps (VMs) are used to guide ablation of VT substrate, but catheter manipulation may mechanically traumatize critical sites, altering VT inducibility. We prospectively evaluated the effect of VM on VT inducibility.

 Methods:
 Twenty-nine patients (mean age 62, 70% ischemic cardiomyopathy) with planned VT ablation underwent initial programmed electric stimulation (PES). Fifteen patients then underwent VM followed by repeat PES and 14 patients underwent a waiting period with ICE imaging and transseptal puncture but no VM (imaging group) before repeat PES. Responses to repeat PES were categorized as type I if the same VT was induced, type II if a different VT was induced, and type III if no VT was inducible.

 Results:
 In the VM group, the same VT was inducible in 3 patients, a different VT in 9, and no VT in 3 patients (figure). In contrast, those in the imaging group had the same VT induced in 10 patients, a different VT in 3 and no VT in 1 patient. There was no difference in the number of extrastimuli needed to induce VT between the two PES in either group. VT cycle length in the VM group was shorter after mapping (295 vs 331ms), although this was not statistically significant. There was no difference between the groups in anesthesia method, time between initial and second PES, type of cardiomyopathy, or ejection fraction.

 Conclusions:
 The mechanical effects of VM can alter inducibility of VT independent of ablation. This may contribute to late recurrences of VT by preventing mapping of clinically relevant VT circuits, or falsely indicating effective ablation when PES is repeated only after ablation.


TiO2 aerogel–metal organic framework (MOF) nanocomposite was synthesized using sol–gel method followed by subcritical drying technique and employed as a photoanode material in quasi-solid dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs). The nanocomposite material showed a BET surface area of 250 m2 g−1 with an average pore size of 5 nm. Field emission scanning electron microscopic images revealed the continuous arrangement of pore-solid network structure. Energy-dispersive X-ray analysis shows the presence of MOF clusters on TiO2 aerogel network. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopic analysis also supports the presence of MOF clusters in the aerogel network and indicates the presence of some oxygen vacancies in the nanocomposite material. The TiO2 aerogel–MOF nanocomposite was used as photoanode in DSSC and an overall power conversion efficiency 2.34% along with a short-circuit current density 6.22 mA cm−2 was achieved.


In this paper, we study a Cherrier-Escobar problem for the extended problem corresponding to the elliptic Schr¨odinger-to-Neumann map on a compact 3-dimensional Riemannian manifold with boundary. Using the algebraic topological argument of Bahri-Coron[6], we show solvability under the assumption that the extended problem corresponding to the elliptic Schr¨odinger-to-Neumann map has a positive first eigenvalue, a positive Green's function, and also verifies the strong maximum principle.


Numerical simulation on the rib turbulated flow inside a convergent and divergent rectangular channel with square ribs of different rib heights and at different Reynolds numbers (Re = 20,000, 40,000 and 60,000). The ribs were arranged in a staggered fashion between the upper and lower surfaces of the channel walls. Computational investigations are carried out using computational fluid dynamic software ANSYS Fluent 14.0. Suitable solver settings like turbulence models were identified from the literature and the boundary conditions for the simulations on a solution of independent grid. Computations were carried out for both convergent and divergent channels with 0 (smooth duct), 1.5, 3, 6, 9 and 12 mm rib heights, to identify the ribbed channel with optimal performance, assessed using a thermo hydraulic performance (THP) parameter. The convergent and divergent rectangular channels show higher Nu values than the standard correlation values.


Environmental monitoring programs often require accurate determination of sampling site locations in aquatic environments. This is especially true when a {open_quotes}picture{close_quotes} of high resolution is needed for observing a changing variable in a given area and location is assumed to be important to the distribution of that variable. Sample site location can be difficult if few visible land marks are available for reference on a large body of water. The use of navigational systems such as Global Positioning System (GPS) and its predecessor, Loran-C, provide an excellent method for sample site location. McFarland (1992) discusses the practicality of GPS for location determination. This article discusses the use of Loran-C in a sampling scheme implemented at the South Texas Project Electrical Generating Station (STPEGS), Wadsworth, Texas.


We describe and experimentally demonstrate a method to create spin‐polarized ballistic electrons through spin‐orbit coupling in a two‐dimensional electron system in an InSb/InAlSb heterostructure. Reflection of a spin‐unpolarized injected beam from a lithographic barrier creates two fully spin‐polarized side beams, in addition to an unpolarized specularly reflected beam. Antidot lattices were also fabricated in the InSb/InAlSb heterostructure. The temperature dependence of the antidot magnetoresistance from 0.4 K to 50 K was studied to characterize ballistic electron transport in InSb/InAlSb.


individual author's mind (prescind from the author's mind/text controversy) is interpretation, not history. On this view history is not simply meant. It should be admitted that a philosophy of history is not Patte's central concern and that to some extent at least he is using " the historian " as a pedagogical contrast to make his own views appear more clearly. Another example of contentious rhetoric. In summary, then, while both books make good introductions they should be used carefully and argumentatively. I have indicated some points of argument. Argument would be fruitful and would assist in carrying out the task which the books set themselves, namely the introduction of a mode of analysis. The mode is still, within the English-speaking world, somewhat foreign; it is not yet the domesticated mind.


The experience of endovascular treatment of bronchial hemorrhage while malignant lesions of lungs in 41 patients taken from September 1994 till September 2006 is given in the article. Among the patients were 30 men and 11 women. The age rate was from 35 till 80 years old. 30 patients had right-sided lesions, 7 patients had left-sided and 4 had both sided process. The most frequent was bronchial hemorrhage of 1a and 1b degrees, 1c and 2a, 2b, 3 degrees were observed rarer. The stop of bronchial hemorrhage was achieved by bronchial arteries opacification and their roentgenoendovascular occlusion by polyurethane embolus. In 2 cases roentgenoendovascular occlusion of segmental branch of bronchial artery was performed. Endovascular occlusion of bronchial artery was made in all patients. In 3 patients in 3 days the relapse of bronchial hemorrhage after removal of bronchoobturator set to all patients into the zone of interest before endovascular operation was observed. In other 38 patients after removal of bronchoobturator the relapses were not observed. One of 3 pointed patients died because of massive bronchial hemorrhage with asphyxia at the moment of removal of bronchooccluders. 2 other patients were operated in the nearest period. Endovascular occlusion of bronchial arteries at bronchial hemorrhage at carcinoma of lung lets to provide effective hemostasis and have time for stabilization of patient for further planned treatment.


Purpose: Evaluation of gestational age by measurement of placental thickness with ultrasonography in second and third trimester of pregnancy.
Methods: This was a prospective observational study conducted in department of obstetrics and gynecology on 200 pregnant women  in second and third trimester  with  singleton live fetus . All women were subjected to USG for estimation of gestational age by placental thickness (measured at the level of umbilical cord insertion).
Results: Mean age was 24.5±3.18yrs. Mean Placental thickness increase linearly with gestational age till 33 week thereafter decreases marginally from 34 to 40 weeks of gestation.strong correlation (r=0.969,p<0.0001) with gestational age. Linear regression analysis yielded mathematical equation for calculation of gestational age in second and third trimester as Y(Gestational Age) = 1.0573×placental thickness -1.1834, R2=0.9391
Conclusion: Placental thickness on USG seems to be good parameter for calculation of gestational age of fetus in second and third  trimester specially 13 to 33 weeks of gestation .
Keywords: Ultrasonography (USG), Placental thickness, Gestation age.


A lot of effort has been spent over the last few years in the development of digital speech coding methods and their subsequent standardization. Algorithms have evolved which provide good quality speech at sub 8 kbps bit rates although at a much computational expense. Speech compression is proposed based on code excited linear prediction algorithm and implementation in DSP algorithm. Algorithm based on three-stage technique which involves simulate, evaluate, debug and implementation in G.723 low delay code excited linear prediction (LD-CELP)[4] algorithm. First stage, the algorithm is evaluated via simulation to determine whether it meets the design criterion. Then, it is implemented in real-time based an object oriented approach. After the algorithm is thoroughly tested, it is further refined to obtain tighter and faster coding. This technique can be applied to other real-time DSP algorithms. A simulation result shows that better speech quality is obtained. The techniques described in this paper are applicable to any other speech codec.


Y Zhang, X Yu, M Ichikawa. J Allergy Clin Immunol. 2014;133(5):1400–1409, 1409.e1–5

The goal of this study was to investigate the clinical, laboratory, and molecular characteristics of patients with similar findings, including immunodeficiency, significant atopy, immune dysregulation, and neurocognitive developmental defects.

Eight patients from 2 different families underwent clinical, laboratory, and genetic evaluation.

Patients were assessed clinically followed by an immunologic evaluation and whole-exome sequencing, directed Sanger sequencing, and specific ex vivo biochemical studies.

All patients had a history of significant atopic dermatitis as well as other allergic findings, including asthma, food allergy, and/or environmental allergy. Staphylococcal soft tissue infections, …


Abstract This paper describes a classroom‐based research study designed to determine how students in an undergraduate multicultural education course experience difficult and emotional content about racism. Samples of students' reflective writing were used as sources of data, and Janet Helms' theory of racial identity development served as the framework for analysis. Findings suggest that coursework in multicultural education can influence white students' racial identities. In addition, the experiences of one white student are highlighted as she grappled with issues of white privilege and multicultural teaching. This study illustrates how reflective writing in combination with teaching practices informed by psychological theory helped to expand students' understanding of racism while facilitating the development of their racial identities.


This paper directly measures the causal effects of sex-selective abortions on the sex ratio at birth by exploiting the exogenous county-level variation in the availability of B-ultrasound machines. Using data from the 1990 Census of Fujian Province and local records on the introduction time of B-ultrasound machines, we find that the availability of B-ultrasound machines increases the sex ratio at birth by 0.025 in rural areas and 0.117 in urban areas. The rise of sex ratio is especially significant for second births in rural areas when the first birth is a girl.


................................................................................................................... i ACKNOWLEDGEMENT ............................................................................................. ii DEDICATION ............................................................................................................. iii LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS ........................................................................................ iv TABLE OF CONTENTS ............................................................................................... v ABBREVIATIONS AND ACRONYMS .................................................................. viii


A collapsible container assembly comprising a folding container having at least four walls, with the at least four walls being pivotable relative to each other to allow the folding container to collapse in a parallelogram motion, and an inside cellular structure connected to the at least four walls. The cellular structure comprises a plurality of interconnected panels forming a plurality of cells, with the panels being formed of soft, deformable material. The folding container can be folded with the inside cellular structure therein such that the collapsible container assembly will be substantially flat when the folding container is moved to a collapsed position.


Purpose To explore the effects of LPS pretreatment on endotoxin-induced uveitis and PI3K/AKT pathway. Methods Endotoxin-induced uveitis was induced by a single subcutaneous injection of 200 μg LPS. For the endotoxin tolerance group, induction of EIU was preceded by daily subcutaneous injection of 0.1 mg/kg LPS for five days. Clinical scores were graded at 24 h after EIU under a slit lamp microscope. HE stain was performed to observe the histopathology. Aqueous humor TNF-α concentration was quantified with enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. The expressions of PI3K and AKT were detected through Western blot analyses, and the activation of AKT was detected through immunofluorescence study. Results Endotoxin tolerance produced suppressive effects by significantly reducing the inflammatory reaction of anterior segment of the rats as measured by slit lamp and histopathology. Low dose of LPS pretreatment significantly reduced TNF-α concentrations and the expressions of PI3K and AKT. Furthermore, the activation of AKT was also inhibited. Conclusions LPS pretreatment can ameliorate endotoxin-induced uveitis in rats. This protection of endotoxin tolerance against EIU is associated with PI3K/AKT pathway by reducing level of TNF-α in the aqueous humor.


OBJECTIVE
To determine the nucleotide sequence of the ITS (internal transcribed spacer) gene of Leishmania donovani isolates from hill foci (L. d. SC10 and L. d. 6), and to find out the difference of the gene sequences between the two isolates.

METHODS
Specific ITS fragments from nuclear DNA of two Leishmania isolates were amplified by PCR, cloned into pMD18-T vector, and finally sequenced by the dideoxy chain termination method.

RESULTS
Sequence analysis showed that the amplified DNA fragments of the two isolates were 1027 bp ( L. d. SC10) and 1 028 bp (L. d. 6) respectively, showing a sequence difference.

CONCLUSION
Sequence difference exists between the Leishmania isolates L. d. SC10 and L. d. 6 from hill foci in China.


The matching operation constrained job shop scheduling problem in manufacturing field is studied based on classical scheduling theory. General job shop scheduling whose constraints mainly require working procedures to be sequential, the constraints we considered are further enriched by matching machining, results in much more complicated solvability. A mathematical model of matching operation constrained job shop scheduling problem is established. In order to assure the delivery time, the backward heuristic scheduling algorithm is proposed to solve the model. Finally, a case is presented to verify the algorithm and simulation result is given for comparison.


This investigation is to consider the impact of a temperature-dependent variable viscosity of a reactive hydromagnetic Couette fluid flowing within parallel plates. The variable property of the fluid viscosity is thought to be an exponential relation of temperature under the impact of magnetic strength. The differential equations controlling the smooth movement of fluid and energy transfer are modeled and solved by using the series solution of modified Adomian decomposition technique (mADM). The outcomes are shown in tables and graphs for different estimations of thermophysical properties present in the flow regime together with the rate of entropy generation and irreversibility distribution outcome.


Article history: Received 2 February 2013 Received in revised form 16 March 2013 Accepted 16 March 2013 Available online 23 March 2013


The patient is a 40-year-old white man who was admitted to our inpatient service involuntarily on a court order for acute psychosis. He had been expressing bizarre delusions about "the devil" and winning the lottery. He expressed paranoid delusions about people being after him for his money. He also experienced auditory and visual hallucinations. He did not have any disorganized thoughts or behavior outside of this delusional system and did not show any negative symptoms of psychosis. He did not have any suicidal or homicidal thoughts and was involuntarily committed to treatment based on his inability to take care of himself. He did not have manic or depressive symptoms. He reported that he had stopped drinking alcohol about a week before the index admission. He denied experiencing any withdrawal symptoms, such as tremors, diapho-


The Workshop Digital Identity Management has evolved during the last decade as one of the most interesting events on identity management issues. Starting from a community with a background mainly in computer science, it has developed towards an interdisciplinary workshop where a lively interactive community discusses identity topics from technical, sociological, economical, legal, psychological and many more angles. The goal of this workshop is to share the latest findings, identify key challenges, inspire debates, and foster collaboration between industries and academia towards interoperable identity service infrastructures.


The cake filtration is considered to be a low cost process for the continuous separation of inorganic and organic particles and also provides a very gentle product treatment. The continuous sedimentation in the centrifugal field or the precoat filtration on a vacuum drum filter is currently used for the separation of biological microparticles. Separation in a centrifugal field with a low density difference between the particles and the continuous phase requires a high centrifugal force to achieve the desired separation efficiency. Therefore a large amount of energy is required to accelerate the suspension. An alternative separation method for biological microparticles would be the cake filtration, but this method however causes a high filter cake resistance.
The aim of this project is to develop a continuous thin film filtration method for the cake filtration. In order to realize this, microporous membranes with pore diameters ranging from 0.1-1 μm will be used. Besides the advantage of a particle free filtrate, using these semipermeable membranes will result in a filtration without any gas flow rate. These semipermeable membranes are permeable for liquids but will block the gas flow. Concerning this the characterization of the pore size distribution and the capillary pressure of those membranes are necessary. To determine the cake filtration resistance and the filter medium resistance at different pressures and different concentrations of particles in the suspension, a pressure filter device will be used. Measuring the dry mass can provide information about the dewatering efficiency of this process and allows a comparison of the different membranes at various experimental conditions and filtration resistances.


Although interest in solar water pumping has been steadily growing, misconceptions persist about the applicability and cost-effectiveness of such systems in remote settings. The primary barrier to wide scale adoption of solar water pumping is that policy makers and practitioners at the local, national and international levels lack valid and transparent information on performance in a broad range of contexts and of the full life-cycle costs. In an attempt to fill this information gap, this paper presents upfront and recurring costs from 85 rural solar water pumping schemes of various sizes that have been designed, constructed and supported by Water Mission in eight countries. The average life-cycle costs associated with the reviewed schemes were within and on the lower end of IRC WASHCost benchmark ranges for both piped water schemes and boreholes fitted with handpumps. These findings indicate solar pumping is a viable and cost-effective intervention for rural water supply.


The leaves of Salix mucronata (safsaf willow), widely distributed along the Nile River in Egypt, is used in traditional medicine. This prompted us to examine the bioactive components in its leaves using in-vitro antioxidant and antiinflammatory assays. Bioassay-guided purification of the methanolic extract afforded six known phenolic compounds (1-6). Hexane extract did not contain bioactive compounds except chlorophyll. Pure isolates 1-3 and 6 inhibited lipid peroxidation (LPO) by 56-86% at 5 μg/mL and cyclooxygenase enzymes (COX-1 and -2) by 22-75% at 25 μg/mL. This is the first report on the bioassay-guided characterization of constituents in S. mucronata leaves. Our results support the anecdotal medicinal claims of safsaf leaves.


BACKGROUND
18β- glycyrrhetinic acid (Gly) is the major bioactive component of licorice roots and rhizomes of the Glycyrrhiza glabra species. It shows many activities as antiviral, anti-inflammatory, antioxidant, antimicrobial, antifungal, however its use in health field is very limited due to the low water solubility.

METHODS
This paper deals with the development of a new technological approach for Gly dissolution rate enhancement. It consists in the intercalation of Gly in molecular form (guest) in the interlamellar spaces between the inorganic spaces (host) of the anionc clays "hydrotalcites" (HTlc) to obtain the hybrids MgAl-HTlc-Gly and ZnAl-HTlc-Gly. Gly can find applications both for systemic and local therapies, thus advantages in the use of the hybrids in these two fields was investigated.

RESULTS
MgAl-HTlc-Gly and ZnAl-HTlc-Gly can be orally administered as dry powder (e.g. in hard capsules). In vitro release studies, performed in intestinal environment conditions, showed that Gly dissolution rate from hybrids is enhanced in comparison to the crystalline form. Because of the antiinflammatory and antifungal activities, Gly is an interesting molecule to be used for treatment of vulvovaginal Candidiasis. Thus, mucoadhesive vaginal emulgels containing the hybrids were developed and characterized. These formulations are advantageous as are able to prolong contact time between the formulation and the vaginal mucosa and to improve Gly dissolution rate, with consequent enhanced topical bioavailability.

CONCLUSIONS
The obtained results suggest that the purposed technology is able to enhance Gly dissolution, property maintained when the hybrids are formulated both as oral or topical products.


Objective:To observe the efficacy of tendon penetration acupuncture in treating peripheral facial paralysis.Methods:Sixty patients with peripheral facial paralysis were randomly allocated to two groups with 30 cases in each.The treatment group received tendon penetration acupuncture and the control group received traditional acupuncture.Ten days was for a course,and there were a total of 3 courses.Results:There were 17 cases cured,9 cases markedly effective in 3 cases,1 case ineffective in the treatment group and 13 cases were cured,6 cases markedly effective in 8 cases,3 ineffective in the control.The total effective rate was 96.7% in the treatment,versus 90% in the control.And the total effective rate in the treatment group was significantly superior to that in the control(P0.05).Conclusion:The tendon penetration acupuncture can obtain satisfactory clinical effect in treating peripheral facial paralysis.