Objective
To evaluate the value of radiotherapy following rituximab plus cyclophosphamide, doxorubicin, vincristine, and prednisone (R-CHOP)-based chemotherapy for patients with early-stage Waldeyer's ring diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (WR-DLBCL).

Methods
Eighty-three patients diagnosed with early-stage WR-DLBCL who were admitted to our hospital from 2000 to 2013 were enrolled in the study. In these patients, twenty-five had stage Ⅰ disease and fifty-eight had stage Ⅱ disease. All patients received R-CHOP-based chemotherapy with (n=62) or without (n=21) involved-field radiotherapy (Waldeyer's ring plus cervical lymph nodes). The overall survival (OS), progression-free survival (PFS), and local-regional control (LRC) rates were calculated using the Kaplan-Meier method. The univariate analysis was performed using the log-rank method. The multivariate analysis was performed using the Cox regression model.

Results
In all patients, the 5-year sample size was 18; the 5-year OS, PFS, and LRC rates were 89%, 84%, and 90%, respectively. According to the univariate analysis, patient age greater than 60 years, an increased lactate dehydrogenase level, Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group (ECOG) performance status no less than 2, and International Prognostic Index (IPI) no less than 2 were poor prognostic factors. Patient age greater than 60 years, a tumor size no less than 5 cm, ECOG performance status no less than 2, and IPI no less than 2 were influencing factors for PFS and LRC rates. In addition to the treatment with rituximab, patients treated with consolidative radiotherapy had significantly higher PFS and LRC rates (94% vs. 58%, P=0.003; 100% vs. 61%, P=0.000) as well as slightly higher OS rate (94% vs. 71%, P=0.063) than those treated without radiotherapy.

Conclusions
Consolidative radiotherapy following R-CHOP-based chemotherapy significantly improves PFS, LRC, and probably OS rates for early-stage WR-DLBCL. This conclusion still needs to be confirmed by prospective studies with a large sample size.

Key words:
Waldeyer ring diffuse large B-cell lymphoma/radiotherapy; Waldeyer ring diffuse large B-cell lymphoma/chemotherapy; Rituximab


The pertinence of the fiber element approach to enable thorough numerical investigation on the potential for progressive collapse of reinforced concrete (RC) frame structures owing to interior column exclusion is examined using twenty-nine RC sub-assemblages with five different test setups and three different test scales. A qualitative examination of the results reveals a good agreement between the test results and the outcomes of the fiber-element-based numerical model using the finite element package SeismoStruct. Moreover, minor discrepancies between the test and numerical data demonstrate the capability of the fiber-element-based model to accurately simulate the behavior of RC elements with various boundary conditions and scales under the context of progressive collapse. Given the costly nature of experimental research, test errors, and the lengthy testing process, the proposed numerical model based on the fiber element approach can be considered a viable option for analyzing structures under progressive collapse due to the interior column exclusion scenario. Engineers and researchers can use the conclusions and comments highlighted in the study as a guide to create accurate models for the analysis of RC structures subjected to progressive collapse.


In sport and exercise contexts, it is highly important to control one's impulses and behavioural tendencies to meet specific goals (Englert, 2016). Athletes frequently have to deal with several demands which may deplete their limited self-control resources which may in turn negatively affect their subsequent performance in a wide variety of sports-related tasks (e.g., coordinative, psychological and physical tasks; Birrer & Morgan, 2010). Mindfulness meditation may be beneficial for mechanisms involved during self-control exertion, because it supports efficient emotion regulation, attention regulation and executive functioning (Brown & Ryan, 2003; Masicampo & Baumeister, 2007). In our study, we investigated the effects of a short mindfulness exercise on physical performance in a state with temporarily depleted self-control strength (ego depletion; Baumeister, Tice & Heatherton, 1994). We hypothesised that a short mindfulness exercise can compensate - at least partly - for the ego depletion effect procured by a strenuous cognitive task on physical performance.
Methods: We applied a mixed between- (ego depletion: yes vs. no) within- (two times of measurement, 7 days apart; mindfulness: yes vs. no; order counterbalanced) subjects design to test our hypothesis in a sample of N = 34 sport students (18 women; Mage = 20.85, SDage = 1.31). Ego depletion was manipulated via a well-established transcription task. For the manipulation of mindfulness, participants in the mindfulness condition performed a short mindfulness exercise, while participants in the control condition listened to an audio book. As dependent variable, participants performed a strenuous physical exercise (plank exercise) for as long as possible and we measured the respective duration at both times of measurement.
Results: Depleted participants in the mindfulness condition were able to compensate for the ego depletion effect and held the plank position as long as the non-depleted group. On the contrary, ego depleted participants' performance decreased when listening to the audio book. However, the interaction did not reach statistical significance, F(1, 28) = 2.28, p = .142, n^2 = .08.
Discussion: The Results, at least to some extent, support our hypothesis, indicating that a short mindfulness exercise can help to compensate for ego depletion related performance impairments in sport. Further studies should test longer mindfulness interventions as strategy to deal with ego depletion related impairments.


The phytomass of leaves, branches and trunk of four trees of Pinus peuce was measured (that of leaves and branches., separately for each of three crown segments), and phytomass energy values were established. One tree grew isolated in the zone transitional between conifer belt and subalpine belt, the others were members of a stand in the conifer belt. Comparison of phytomass distribution in age classes supports the assumption that P. peuce is a stable and vigorous component of the upper forest belt of Mt Pirin, and has the potential of expanding its present stands upward into the transitional zone.


Of all groups of Crustacea the Amphipoda would appear to exhibit the widest range, in the modification of their parts or organs, without obliterating the delicate lines of natural affinity running through them as a whole. This is well exemplified in the interesting paper of Dr. R. Willemöes-Suhm, Naturalist to the 'Challenger' Exploring-Expedition, "On a new Grenus of Amphipod Crustaceans" founded by him, and named Thaumops (Phil. Trans, vol. clxiii. p. 629). This genus, although exhibiting many characters in common with Phronima, presents some striking points of difference traceable in the external jaw-feet, caudal appendages, the position of the generative pore, and certain particulars in its internal anatomy. Of the several characters given of the Thaumops the presence of only four caudal appendages is perhaps the most exceptional; for in the generality of the Uroptera there are six besides the telson, which is obviously the equivalent of the seventh abdominal segment of Macrura. Thus the six pairs of abdominal appendages, including the tail-fins of the prawn or shrimp, for example, are represented in Phronima and its allies, with the exception of Thaumops. The manner in which the fourth and fifth pair of swimmerets and the caudal fins of Macrura are modified in the Uroptera is well seen in the accompanying figures; fig. 2 in Phronima and fig. 3 in a neighbouring group of Hyperians, which also serve to show why, at least in the former genus, only five segments have hitherto been recognized in the abdomen.


The lips retraction may provide various degrees of microstomia, reduction in oral opening, allowing changes in the stomatognathic functions, difficulties in dental procedures and aesthetic deformities. Initially, it is indicated the conservative treatment through the use of oral splints (orthoses) capable of applying forces which could halt or reverse the situation. The objective to present paper is the speech therapy approach in a case of face burn with oral commissures retraction evolving to microstomia, associating specific therapy techniques to the orthoses use, aiming the stomatognathic system functionality.


On the basis of the radiotracer technology and the related equipments which have been developed for its industrial application through the nuclear long-term research project, a radiotracer study on sediment transport was carried out as a part of the development of the radiotracer technology for a coastal environment. The crystalline material doped with iridium having a similar composition and specific gravity as those of the bedload sand collected from the research area was produced by the oxide-route method. A radioisotope container was specially designed to inject the radiotracer from 1 m above the sea bedload without radioactive contamination during the transport from the nuclear reactor at KAERI. The position data from the DGPS and the radiation measurement data were collected concurrently and stored by means of the application software programmed with the LabVIEW of the National Instrument. The position data was reprocessed to represent the real position of the radiation probe under water and not that of the DGPS antenna on board. The time dependency of the spatial distribution of the sediment was studied in the area through three tracking measurements after the iridium glass was injected. This trial application showed the potential of the radiotracer technology as an important role for maintaining and developing the coastal environment in the future.


1: History and overview 2: Protein recognition of specific DNA and RNA bonding sites 3: Promoters, sigma factors, and variant RNA polymerases 4: Repressors and activators 5: Post-transcriptional control 6: Prokaryotic DNA topology and gene expression 7: Integration of control devices: A global regulatory network in Escherichia coli 8: Two component systems 9: Switch systems 10: Integration of control devices I. Pathogenecity 11: Integration of control devices II. Sporulation and antibiotic production 12: Evolution of prokaryotic regulatory systems


Under the background of rapid development of mobile Internet and mobile equipment,the library can help readers to exchange and share books information and thus to promote knowledge sharing through providing new LBS.This paper introduces the background of library's LBS,expounds some technologies relevant to the LBS,and probes into library's information services based on the location.


Introduction: We have adapted the existing , optometry diabetic retinopathy screening pathway and software , so that it can be used for wet AMD fast track referral. Purpose: To compare the conventional, optometry wet AMD fast track referral service using FAX transmission, with a teleophthalmology service using colour fundus photography transmitted to a central retinal grading centre. Method: 40 optometry practices involved in diabetic retinopathy screening were enrolled and had modified computer software installed. Referrals were made by conventional fast track FAX to the macular clinic, and patients were photographed by the optometrist and images transmitted to a central grading centre Results of the two pathways were compared in terms of 1)speed of diagnosis and 2)sensitivity and specificity of diagnosis of wet AMD. Results: Over a ten month period, 62 consecutive patients were referred. The mean time for conventional pathway was 20.8 days (range 3-34),and for new teleophthalmology pathway was 6.9 days (range 1-13). Sensitivity of technician grading of images was 96%, Specificity 53%, and consultant ophthalmologist was sensitivity 96%, specificiity 87%. The technician showed a learning effect with specificity increasing from 30.7% for first 31 patient cohort, to 70.6% for the second cohort. One patient had images that could not be graded. Conclusion: Rapid referral of wet AMD cases by optometrists using modified diabetic retinopathy screening software, allows fast and accurate diagnosis, and may reduce unnecessary referrals. Retinal grading technicians can be trained to grade wet AMD images.


Climate change is a leading factor endangering sustainable food production, and numerous efforts have been enacted to prevent potential future food shortages. Most discussions and research have focused on how to sustain production through the development of new plant varieties that can adapt to changing environments. Drought- and heat-tolerant plants have been introduced to mitigate declining food production. Similarly, plant cultivation technologies have been developed to improve altered environments to be suitable for plant production. These efforts have focused on maintaining the food habits of populations in certain regions and countries. However, food availability may also be secured by changing the food habits of affected populations towards food resources that are relatively uninterrupted by climate change. In Indonesia, most of the population relies on rice as their main staple food; however, the production of rice is dependent on suitable climatic conditions, including rainfall, temperature and water. Resources such as the cassava and sago are not considered a main staple food, and their production is not significantly influenced by climate. This paper discusses the possibility of changing the staple foods of Indonesian populations to more reliable sources in areas affected by climate change. Keywords: adaptation, cassava, climate change, food sustainability, sago, staple food


We describe a real-time speaker recognition that works in sync with ASR engine. In order to improve recognition accuracy, we employed multi-stream i-vectors. The proposed multi-stream i-vectors compensate the limited amount of information contained in a single i-vector. Our approach outperforms than the convensional i-vector method in terms of EER.


In this paper, we study the risk-aversion behavior of an agent in the dynamic framework of consumption/investment decision making that allows the possibility of bankruptcy. Agent's consumption utility is assumed to be represented by a strictly increasing, strictly concave, continuously differentiable function in the general case and by a HARA-type function in the special case treated in the paper. Coefficients of absolute and relative risk aversion are defined to be the well-known curvature measures associated with the derived utility of wealth obtained as the value function of the agent's optimization problem. Through an analysis of these coefficients, we show how the change in agent's risk aversion as his wealth changes depends on his consumption utility and the other problem parameters, including the payment at bankruptcy. Moreover, in the HARA case, we can conclude that the agent's relative risk aversion is nondecreasing with wealth, while his absolute risk aversion is decreasing with wealth only if he is sufficiently wealthy. At lower wealth levels, however, the agent's absolute risk aversion may increase with wealth in some cases.


This study compares the production, at two speaking rates, of 36 consonant vowel‐consonant sequences formed by every possible combination of initial and final consonants /b/, /d/, and /g/, and the syllable nuclei /i/, /u/, /ae/, and /ɔ/. Cinefluorograms and sonograms were obtained while one subject spoke the inventory under two conditions. (1) Citation form: The subject read a randomized list of CVC utterances at a normal rate. (2) Fast rate: The subject read the utterances as quickly as was practicable, in subsets of three, embedded in the carried phrase; /se∂ CVC∂se∂ CVC∂se∂ CVC∂se/. At the faster rate, the duration of the CVC components was approximately 40% of that of the citation forms. Comparisons were made between: (1) amounts of coarticulation of adjacent phoneme representations at the two speaking rates; (2) patterns and speeds of articulator movement at the two rates; (3) responses of different articulators to the increase in rate. From these results, an attempt was made to indicate some properti...


The invention discloses an electronic cigarette micro controller multitask execution method and device. The method includes determining tasks to be executed by a micro controller and the permissible interval duration between two-times execution of each task; dividing the execution time sequence of each task into a plurality of time slices to achieve the effect that the sum of any time slice taken from each task is smaller than or equal to the minimum value in the interval duration; setting a status bit for each task with the status bit pointing at the time slices of the task; executing each task according to the time slice that the current status bit of the task corresponds to and switching the task to the next task after the time slice that the current status bit corresponds to is finished. The method and device has the advantages of improving the task execution efficiency of the electronic cigarette micro controller, enables an electronic cigarette system to be stable, has low requirement for the performance of an electronic cigarette micro controller, and is low in cost and easy to achieve.


In this expository article, we introduce the topological ideas and context central to the Poincare Conjecture. Our account is intended for a general audience, providing intuitive definitions and spatial intuition whenever possible. We define surfaces and their natural generalizations, manifolds. We then discuss the classification of surfaces as it relates to the Poincare and Thurston Geometrization conjectures. Finally, we survey Perelman's results on Ricci flows with surgery.


The focus of workplace communication research on visual rhetoric has tended to be the efficient and unproblematically "effective" functioning of visual texts. By suggesting ways in which the visual representations of science are construed by expert readers, this article responds to a call within our discipline for more critically focused contributions to the study of visual literacy. A former editor-in-chief of the American Journal of Botany was asked to explain his interpretation of visuals appearing over an 80-year period in that journal; his responses illustrate how visual explanations testify to their creators' authority and how, once established, such authority actuates the rational arguments of science. Rhetorical appeals within and arrangement of visual texts are considered, as is the persuasive power of legends and captions.


Handwashing is thought to be effective for the prevention of transmission of infectious pathogens. Scientific studies have shown that after hand washing 80 % of individuals retain some pathogenic bacteria on their hands. The purpose of handwashing is to remove potentially harmful organisms from hands preventing the transmission from person to person. Handwashing with nonantibacterial soap and sanitizer was more effective for the removal of bacteria in the prevention of transmission of infectious diseases. Effective handwashing with soap requires reliable access to the quality of water used. The antimicrobial antibacterial, antiviral efficacy of alcohol-based hand sanitizers and soap were compared. The use of soaps for hand hygiene appeared to be less efficacious against Gram-negative organisms. The comparative study addresses the feasibility and health impacts of promoting hand sanitizer as an alternative hand hygiene option for which waterconstrained environments should be assessed. However, both hand sanitizers and soaps can be used as effective measures to control the spread of diseases.


Nicolae Iorga's life and works contain several examples of cultivating responsibility towards the national cultural heritage. The great historian published articles in the written press and held radio conferences about different sites bearing historic and artistic value. Their preservation, considered the author, could contribute to maintaining the spiritual link between generations and the formation of national consciousness. In Valenii de Munte, where he lived, Iorga founded the School of Moral and National Missionaries "Queen Mary" and the School of Forgotten Arts. The school programmes included excursions to historical sites, courses in pottery, icons restoration, carpet weaving and artistic binding. Many of Nicolae Iorga's ideas in the field of artistic education, continue to be up-to-date models that deserve to be followed.


Neurology 2007;68:1881–1882 The impact of an acquired and static visual field defect can be devastating, with significant functional limitations and decreased quality of life for affected individuals. While most practitioners accept that some level of improved visual performance is possible over time (largely on the basis of adaptive strategies acquired through repeated attempts at daily activities), certain tasks may remain difficult or impossible for patients long after their injury. Over the last several years, the introduction of rehabilitative strategies to ameliorate the effects of visual field loss has been met with a degree of skepticism and, for some, vehement disbelief. One need look no further that the furor surrounding the modality known as vision restoration therapy (VRT, NovaVision AG, Magdeburg, Germany)1,2 to understand the contentious nature of this issue. While subjective improvement in daily functioning has been reported in a majority of patients following completion of VRT, data supporting a true expansion of the hemianopic fields in treated patients have been less convincing. A major criticism of VRT's benefit has been the absence of properly designed studies that control for saccades into the blind hemifield, which have been previously reported in patients with homonymous field defects.3 It is argued that these eye movements can be "learned" over the course of therapy and could conceivably mimic improved vision in the area of field loss when measured by perimetry.4 In addition, improvements following therapy are reported based on a specific visual field paradigm (high-resolution perimetry, or HRP) developed by the inventors of VRT.5 Other perimetric methods, such as Tuebingen Automated Perimetry (TAP)6 and scanning laser ophthalmoscope (SLO) perimetry,4 have failed to yield convincing evidence of VRT's effect. For still others, distrust is predicated on the cost of VRT: approximately $7,000 USD, with no insurance coverage available at present. In this issue of Neurology, Spitzyna et al.7 describe a visual rehabilitation strategy designed to improve saccades into the blind field of patients with hemianopic alexia (HA). In HA, an acquired right-sided homonymous hemianopia results in the loss of visual cues normally used to generate accurate reading saccades. The authors' strategy, which uses a simple moving text stimulus (MT) scrolling from right to left, essentially induces preferential small-field optokinetic nystagmus into the blind field. At the conclusion of the therapeutic protocol, patients completing the MT therapy had measurable improvements in reading speed, and an increase in the amplitude of saccades into the defective hemifield. In contrast to previous studies, these findings were compared to patients who had completed a sham therapy using a spot-thedifference exercise designed to induce non-targeted saccades. By designing the study in this way, the authors were able to elegantly show that the significant improvement seen in the MT group was dependent on their specific intervention, and not due to placebo, visual stimulation, or generation of random saccades. Moreover, the authors suggest that the improvements observed in the treatment group are not due to rehabilitation of central reading processes, or due to a greater portion of the word being appreciated by foveal vision. In fact, no changes in static or dynamic perimetry were seen following treatment. While the sample size is small, the results are encouraging and—thankfully—measurable. Also in direct contrast to other rehabilitative strategies, the treatment protocol is simple, requires a reasonable time commitment (400 minutes over 4 weeks), and is free: the therapy can be accessed at http://www.ucl.ac. uk/mediares/mm/mm-projects/neurology/read_right/ The ire surrounding VRT (and other rehabilitative strategies) stems from the apparent resistance of its proponents to acknowledge that some of the observed benefit may derive from adaptive strategies learned by patients over time, as they practice using the therapy device. Instead, the modest improvement (in essence, less than 5 degrees of field) is ascribed to the induction of cortical plasticity, or the restoration of neurons in the damaged cortex. Nei-


In this investigation, an absolute nodal co-ordinate dynamic formulation is developed for the large deformations and rotations of three-dimensional plate elements. In this formulation, no infinitesimal or finite rotations are used as nodal co-ordinates, instead global displacements and slopes are used as the plate coordinates. Using this interpretation of the plate coordinates the new method does not require the use of co-ordinate transformation to define the global inertia properties of the plates. The resulting mass matrix is the same constant matrix that appears in linear structural dynamics. The stiffness matrix, on the other hand, is a non-linear function of the nodal co-ordinates of the plate even in the case of a linear elastic problem. It is demonstrated in this paper that, unlike the incremental finite element formulations, the proposed method leads to an exact modelling of the rigid body inertia when the plate element moves as a rigid body. It is also demonstrated that by using the proposed method the conventional plate element shape function has a complete set of rigid body modes that can describe an exact arbitrary rigid body displacement. Using this fact, plate elements in the proposed new formulation can be considered as isoparametric elements. As a consequence, an arbitrary rigid body motion of the element results in zero strain. © 1997 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.


The intention for this project was to research scholarly articles that explain what dyslexia is and how students are affected by this disability in the classroom and in life daily. As a teacher it is important to address this topic since dyslexia is the leading disability that occurs in classrooms and affects approximately one in five students across the United States. The design of this project was research based, expanding over many topics and subtopics. The eight major subtopics primarily focused on include: what is dyslexia; how dyslexia affect students in classroom environments; how teachers, parents, and mentors can help students in their classroom preference. This can be physically done by using proper teaching techniques, including appropriate accommodations, and/or emotionally done by meeting the academic needs of their students and including activities that are proven to help dyslexic students increase their reading abilities. More topics include how parents can help their student at home; the benefits of diagnosing early, and how dyslexia impacts writing, mathematics, science, social studies, or other subject areas besides reading. There are appendices attached to this project that include a list of historic figures as well as current and public figures with dyslexia and their occupations; a list of writing prompts to help assist those looking for interesting topics at home or in the classroom; and a list of helpful websites that address reading techniques and fun games to encourage reading at home or in the classroom. Furthermore, during the project research, teachers were interviewed who have encountered dyslexia in either special education or inclusive classroom settings. Lastly, an anonymous personal story about their experience with dyslexia in school before becoming a teacher in mathematics is included. These are topics that are necessary to the development of students with dyslexia at any age. How Dyslexia Affects Our Students Burton 3


A significant group of new religious movements in modern Russia consists of structures of Orthodox genesis, usually referred to as para-Orthodox sects. The total number of their adherents is estimated at tens of thousands of people, which are fairly evenly distributed throughout our country and a number of neighboring states. The number of scientific studies devoted to this phenomenon is not too large, while with the beginning of the coronavirus pandemic in 2020, their activity has increased dramatically and has acquired in many cases an openly extremist character. Currently, some para-Orthodox sects are banned on the territory of the Russian Federation, and their leaders regularly become defendants in criminal cases of incitement to hatred. This article attempts to define the criteria for the division of the categories "schism" and "para-Orthodox sect", and also offers a classification of such sects and sectarian groups by the type of leadership, genesis, dominant doctrine and time of occurrence. Separately, the question of the main myths and rumors that exist in this environment is addressed, it is also concluded that it is necessary to develop specialized courses on the phenomenon of such sects within the framework of theological education.


Two new species of the genus Pseudokuzicus are described: Pseudokuzicus (Pseudokuzicus) trianglus sp. nov. and Pseudokuzicus (Pseudokuzicus) platynus sp. nov. from China. In addition, morphological structures, a distribution map for known species distributed in China and a key to the species are provided. All specimens are deposited in the Museum of Hebei University, Baoding, P. R. China.


Over the past several years, that part of the AIAA community that looks specifically at validating computational fluid dynamics (CFD) in the hypersonic flight regime has put forth a significant effort primarily focused on configurations that produce complex flow structures that are very difficult to model computationally. One such example is the 25/55-deg doublecone configuration that was originally tested at the Calspan-University at Buffalo Research Center (CUBRC). More recently, this same double-cone configuration was tested at the Arnold Engineering Development Center (AEDC) Hypervelocity Wind Tunnel No. 9 (Tunnel 9). During the AEDC Tunnel 9 test, surface heat-transfer and pressure data covering a broad range of freestream Reynolds numbers were collected on the configuration. In addition to the surface measurements, high-speed Schlieren flow-field images were collected. The surface data and flow-field video have highlighted a highly unsteady flow field that was not found during the original validation effort. This paper describes the data and numerical analysis efforts using the latest data set collected in Tunnel 9.


We assessed the excess of all causes of mortality by age groups during the chikungunya epidemics in Jamaica, 2014. Excess mortality was estimated by subtracting deaths observed in 2014 from that expected based on the average mortality rate of 2012-2013, with confidence interval of 99%. Overall mortality 91.9 / 100,000 population, 2,499 additional deaths than expected coincided with the peak of the epidemic, there was a strong correlation between the monthly incidence and the excess of deaths (Spearman Rho = 0.939; p <0.005). No other significant epidemiological phenomenon occurred on that island that could explain this increase in mortality. Thus, we suggest that mortality associated with chikungunya is underestimated in Jamaica, as in other countries. The excess of deaths could be a strategic tool for the epidemiological surveillance of chikungunya as it has already been used in influenza and respiratory syncytial.


The adsorption behavior of crystal violet, on chitosan has been studied extensively. A series of experiments were conducted in a batch system to evaluate the effect of the system variables .i.e. initial pH, initial dye concentration, contact time and temperature. The adsorption facts were analyzed by using Langmuir, Freundlich, Temkin and Dubinin-Radushkveich isotherm models. The equilibrium data were best represented by Langmuir isotherm model showing maximum monolayer adsorption capacity 28.5 mg/g. The kinetic data were fitted to pseudo - second order kinetic model which shows that intraparticle diffusion has a significant role in the adsorption process. The thermodynamics of crystal violet onto chitosan indicate its spontaneous and endothermic nature. The adsorbent was analyzed by N2 adsorption - desorption technique, FTIR, SEM, and TG - DTG. Chitosan was shown to be promising adsorbent for the removal of dyes from aqueous solutions.


Thank you for downloading the deadly innocents portraits of children who kill. Maybe you have knowledge that, people have look hundreds times for their chosen readings like this the deadly innocents portraits of children who kill, but end up in infectious downloads. Rather than enjoying a good book with a cup of coffee in the afternoon, instead they are facing with some malicious bugs inside their laptop.


A method for the chemical fractionation of perthane and the isolation of relatively pure o,p' isomer is described. P,p' isomer, and crude mixtures of isomers were administered orally for one to eight weeks to dogs. Pups similarly received either the p,p' or the o,p' isomer. Reciystallized p,p' isomer or crude fractions of perthane containing a mixture of isomers produced moderate to marked adrenocorticolytic atrophy. Relatively pure o,p' perthane was somewhat less active than the p,p' isomer in the pup. The polar by-products added no significant adrenal toxic effect to the crude oily mixture. The total adrenocorticolytic activity of technical perthane in the clog was attributable to the additive effects of its isomers.


The use of tropical forest parks as recreation reso urce is receiving increasing response from the publ ic. A though its contribution as a recreational resource is appa rent, more in-depth information on how it relates t o and benefits the users are still unclear. The purpose of this study is to understand the recreation experience and satisfacti on of visitors in a tropical forest park setting with the use of mixed method approach (quantitative and qualitative techn iques). Three hundred and seven questionnaire surveys and twenty two inte rviews were conducted with purposively sampled clim bers of Mount Kinabalu in Kinabalu Park, Sabah, Malaysia. The Rec reation Experience Preference (REP) scale was used to elicit visitors' experience types gained through participation, and in-depth interview analysis based on Motivation-Hyg iene Theory was conducted to understand their experience. This stud y found seven dimensions of recreation experiences that ranged from "Achievement-Stimulation" (highest mean score) to "Security-Comfort zone " (lowest mean score), which indicate visitors' psychological needs fulfilled from participation. T his study contributes to the understanding of visit or ' recreational experience in the specific site and activity, which highlights the values and importance of this resou rce. Recommendations for park management and avenues for future studies were identified and discussed.


The multiple myeloma is a progressive and fatal illness, characterize for accumulation of wicked plasmatic cells in the bony marrow, detection of a monoclonal seric protein in urine, anemia, renal failure, skeletal destruction with osteolytics lesions, pathological fractures and bony pain. This illness embraces a latent or indolent located spectrum (plasmocitoma) and that it can remain this way per years, until transforming in aggressive, with disseminated forms, with cellular infiltration of several organs. The diagnosis is based on the combination of pathological, clinical and radiological features. This is a study that was carried in the service of Orthopedics of the Hospital Juarez of Mexico in twelve patients with the diagnosis of multiple myeloma, seven men and five women, of 50 to 70 years of age, a 60 years average, with the problem of medullary or radicular compression for invasion of the tumor toward the raquis. Assisted of January of the 2002 to December of the 2003 a groups of radiological, clinical and pathological studies combine to provide the approach diagnosis of myeloma of plasmatic cells (it requires of a bigger approach and a minor, or three minor). The presage is usually incure with a three year old half life and 10% they survive 10 years. In conclusion: with the knowledge of the illness and the help of cabinet studies and laboratory, we can identify the stadium in that it is. To administer the treatment appropriate to prolong the life, giving a better quality of this.


The use of aggregates of limestone for production of road cement concrete leads to numerous technical and economic advantages. Romania owns large limestone resources spread over the entire surface of the country. Based on the results of petrographical, minerological and chemical analysis and on the physical and mechanical tests done on different limestone types from 12 quarries and also, based on the results obtained on concrete produced with the limestone, characteristics necessary for production of cement concrete for use in highway pavement were established. This paper presents some of the laboratory and field test results.


We analyzed the affinity-proteomics data of saliva absorbed to plate-bound Spike protein of SARS-CoV-2, and identified major virus-binding proteins as MUC7, MUC5B, DMBT1, and neutrophil defensins. Furthermore, we found that saliva from healthy donors inhibited the binding of Spike-protein-specific polyclonal antibodies to Spike antigen. These data suggest that the Spike protein's glycoprotein-binding domains (GBD) may be targeted to block virus adherence or entry of SARS-CoV-2.


Breast milk contains bacterial populations thought to influence microbiota composition in the infant gut. However, the origin of bacteria in milk and the process of milk microbe-mediated seeding of the infant gut remains relatively unknown. In this study we hypothesized that breast milk and infant stool microbiota are influenced by sites of mom-infant interaction, especially by the breastfeeding process. To test out our hypothesis we used 16S rRNA and shotgun metagenomic sequencing to identify core breast milk microbes of mom-infant pairs (breastfed and never-latched) and their potential sources. Our results …


We propose to build and operate a new detector for the T2K 280m hall with the purpose of measuring and monitoring the possible neutrino beam left-right asymmetry with respect to the beam axis. The measurement will be performed by means of two identical detectors (modules) made of a sandwich of iron plates and planes of scintillator bars read out by WLS fibers and multianode PMTs. The two modules could be swapped in their positions in order to minimize systematic errors. We show that an overall uncertainty of less than 5% in the measurement of the beam asymmetry could be reached within one year of running.


The study aimed to analyze the quality of particle boards from bark fiber of sago (Metroxylon spp) with citric acid as natural adhesives based on physical properties, mechanical properties, and durability from subterranean termites Coptotermes curvignathus Holmgren. Particle boards are made with a size of 30 cm x 30 cm x 1 cm. The experimental factors used in the study included densities (0.7 gr/cm3 and 0.8 gr/cm3) and concentrations of citric acid adhesives (20% and 30%). The material then flow into hotpress with 1800C for 15 minutes and pressure at 25 kg/cm2. Testing of the physical and mechanical properties of particle boards refers to the JIS A 5908-2003 standard and durability against subterranean termites Coptotermes curvignathus Holmgren was conducted based on SNI 01. 7207-2006. The results showed that the densities factor had a significant effect on density, thickness swelling, MOE, MOR, internal bond, screw holding strength, and weight loss of the particle board against termites. Meanwhile concentration of citric acid adhesive significantly affected the density, moisture content, water absorption, thickness swelling, MOR, internal bond, and screw holding strength. The interaction between the densities factor and concentration of citric acid has a significant effect on thickness swelling and density. The physical and mechanical properties of particle boards which fulfill the JIS A 5908 2003 standard were density, moisture content, MOR, and screw holding strength. The durability of particleboard againts termites has a very strong level. The average values of termites mortality were 94% ~ 100%. The average of wood weight loss values were 9.61%~ 18.51%. The particle board made with a density 0.8 gr/cm3 and concentration of citric acid adhesive 30% achieved the highest values on physical properties, mechanical properties and durability to the termites Coptotermes curvignathus. Keywords : citric acid, Coptotermes curvignathus, Metroxylon spp, particle board, sago


More than a decade has passed since general results concerning secure two-party and multi-party computations were rst announced in 15, 24, 16] (see details in 14]). In a nutshell, assuming the existence of trapdoor permutations, these results assert that one can construct protocols for securely computing any desirable multi-party functionality. These results either require a majority of honest players or allow dishonest players to suspend the execution (while being detected as bad). Subsequent \unconditional" results in the \private channel model" require a 2/3-majority of honest player (cf., 4, 7]). The abovementioned results were presented at a time in which intensive electronic multi-party interactions seemed a remote possibility. So it seems fair to say that, while generating considerable interest within the theory community, these results generated little interest in the applied cryptography community. But times have changed: Intensive electronic multi-party interactions seems almost a reality, and the entire cryptographic community seems very much interested in a variety of natural problems which arise from such a reality. This has triggered the idea of having a special issue on general secure multi-party computation. Most of the current application-oriented interest is focused on the design of eecient and secure schemes for speciic purposes { Threshold Cryptography (cf., 10, 12]) is indeed a good example. Nevertheless, we believe that the general study of secure multi-party computation is important to practice. Firstly, this study clariies fundamental issues regarding security in a multi-party environment. Secondly, it draws the lines between what is possible in principle and what is not. Thirdly, it develops general techniques for design of secure protocols. And last, sometimes, it may even yield schemes (or modules) which may be incorporated in practical systems. Thus, we believe that the current special issue may be both of theoretical and practical interest. In order to put the papers of this special issue in perspective, it seems good to start with a short overview of the area.


Objective:To reduce the rate of diagnostic-error between epilepsy and sleep obstacle syndrome.Method:9 diagnogtic-error cases about epilepsy and sleep obstade syndorome were examined by AEEG(MB800,lead 8)and analysed from 1998.8 to 2002.8 Results:4cases with epilepsy were mis-di- agnosed sleep abstacle syndrome,3cases with sleep abstacle syndrome were mis-diagnosed epilepsy;One case with sleep abstacle syndrome was mis-diagnosed minimal brain dysfunction syndrome and another case was diag- nosed Gilles de la Tourette's syndrome.Conclusion:Sleep obstacle syndorome was confused with epilepsy of- ten.However,the most important difference between them was that EEG of sleep obstade syndorome is normal and the EEG of epilepsy appeartd epileptiform discharges.


Background . Impairment of the endocrine and exocrine function of the pancreas is a common complication in thalassemia major (TM). Multiecho T2* Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) allows the reproducible and noninvasive assessement of pancreatic iron overload. However, there are no prospective studies describing the changes of pancreatic T2* values. So, our aim was to describe the changes in pancreatic T2* values over a follow-up (FU) of 18 months and to evaluate prospectively the effectiveness of the three iron chelators in monotherapy.

Methods. We selected 22 TM patients consecutively enrolled in the Myocardial Iron Overload in Thalassemia (MIOT) Network who had received only one chelator in monotherapy between the two MRI scans. Pancreatic iron burden was measured using a T2* gradient-echo multiecho sequence. The images were analyzed using a previously validated, custom-written software (HIPPO-MIOT®).

Results. Three groups of patients were identified: 9 patients (5 females, mean age 32.8±8.6 years) treated with desferioxamine (DFO – mean dosage 44.8±3.8 mg/kg/die ), 6 patients (2 females, mean age 36.3±6.5 years) treated with deferiprone (DFP– dosage 75mg/kg/die) and 7 patients (6 females, mean age 30.4±9.1 years) treated with deferasirox (DFX – mean dosage 28.2±4.6 mg/kg/die). The percentage of patients with a excellent/good compliance was comparable among the groups.

All patients under DFO therapy showed at the baseline MRI pancreatic iron overload (T2*<26 ms) and at the FU only one had a normal pancreas T2* value ([Figure 1][1], left). Globally there was a significant increment in the pancreatic T2* values (mean difference: 3.66±3.94; P=0.021).

In the DFP group at baseline 5 patients showed pancreatic iron and none recovered at the follow up ([Figure 1][1], center). The patient with a normal baseline pancreatic T2* value, maintained it at the FU. For the subgroup with pancreatic iron at the baseline, there was a significant increment in the pancreatic T2* values (mean difference: 3.99±2.05; P=0.043).

In the DFX group 5 patients showed at the baseline pancreatic iron and although the pancreatic T2* increased for all of them, the normal value was not reached at the follow up ([Figure 1][1], right). Both the patients who showed no pancreatic iron overload at the baseline maintained at the FU the same status. For the subgroup with pancreatic iron at the baseline, there was a significant increment in the pancreatic T2* values (mean difference: 2.48±3.06; P=0.043).

Conclusion : Prospectively in TM patients at the dosages used in the clinical practice all three chelators in monotherapy allowed a significant reduction in pancreatic iron. Further prospective studies involving more patients are needed to establish which is the most effective drug.

![Figure 1][2]

Figure 1

Disclosures Pepe: Novartis: Speakers Bureau; ApoPharma Inc.: Speakers Bureau; Chiesi: Speakers Bureau.

 [1]: #F1
 [2]: pending:yes


Traditionally, Foreign Languages Teaching attached importance to the linguistic acquisition, but ig- nored the significance of cultural factors. In fact, the final purpose of FLT is to let the learners cultivate the a- bility to communicate successfully. Therefore, cultural factors should be taken into consideration all through the teaching activities. Moreover, FLT, at different stages, should be correlated with respected cultural factors at different stages, so that learners' competence in acquiring the language can be improved.


DESCRIBED THE USE 5 - PHENYL - 3H - 1,2 - dithiol 3 -tion - S - oxides, REPLACED IN SOME CASES on the phenyl ring, AS ACTIVE SUBSTANCES AND NEW hepatoprotective drug 5 - - FENIL - 3H - 1 2 - dithiol - 3 - TION - S - OXIDOS ring substituted phenyl.


This paper was aimed at finding out the process of the implementation of Problem-Based Learning (PBL) in guiding students' critical thinking, the lecturer's beliefs toward the use of Problem-Based Learning (PBL) in guiding students' critical thinking, and the students' perception toward the use of Problem-Based Learning (PBL) in guiding their critical thinking. This study employed a qualitative study that was designed as a case study. The writer took the third grade students of English education program of a private university in West Java that consisted of thirty-four students and a lecturer as a sample purposively. The findings revealed that there are several stages that can guide the students' critical thinking and encourage the effective teaching and learning process. Moreover, the role of the lecturer in PBL class is just as a facilitator who encourages the students to use their thinking totally. Furthermore, the lecturer believed that he has opportunities to guide the students' critical thinking. In addition, generally the students perceive that their critical thinking have been guided since they have been taught by means of Problem-Based Learning (PBL). However, in that process the students and the lecturer still find challenge; particularly it is caused by the lack of information. Based on these findings, it is recommended that the lecturer should implement the appropriate method to conduct the teaching and learning process in order to guide students' critical thinking; moreover to create an effective teaching and learning process. Key words :    Problem-based learning (PBL), lecturer's beliefs, students' perception.


Tour and travel industry is about connections, it connects people, places, and culture. It is involved with facilitating and enhancing tourism. It is an entrepreneurial activity that ensures all tourism activities are carried out smoothly and efficiently. This study aims at addressing the strategies that are employed by the industry to enhance the competitiveness of such an industry.
The significance of the study was to provide the entrepreneur with information of the strategies they would put in place so as to be more competitive and have a sustainable competitive advantage. The main limitation for this study was time due to the fact that the study is for academic purposes and was supposed to be completed within the scheduled timeframe. Also, some of the targeted entrepreneurs could not be reached since they use their mobile phones as their office. The ministry of tourism could not provide the physical address of the registered tour and travel firms. The study adopted both secondary and primary methods of data collection and analysis. Questionnaires and personal interview were used to collect the data. The study targeted
a population of 15 respondents who own firms in tour and travel industry. However, only 10 respondents could be accessed while 3 respondents could not be reached for an interview and 2
could not provide any information. Data collected was then analyzed qualitatively and quantitatively using measures of central tendency. Tables, means and percentages were used to
present the findings. The study found out that entrepreneurs in tour and travel industry should adopt a combination of strategies for them to have a sustainable competitive advantage. When
strategies are integrated, it was found out that the distribution channels and market increase, the profitability of the industry improves, the customer base expands and technology improves.
Therefore it can be concluded that strategies have an implication to the competitiveness of the tour and travel industry and players should adopt the strategies that contribute more to competitiveness.


Describes the results of an investigation on the information gathering behaviour of arts scholars in Sri Lanka's universities. The method involves a questionnaire to collect both qualitative and quantitative data and descriptive statistical methods were applied in the analysis of data. The overall response rate was around 70 per cent and each university was considered as a cluster. Arts scholars gather information for three basic types of activities; teaching, research and administration. The respondents spend 45‐55 per cent of their time in the library and the majority ranked "to keep up with current developments" as the main reason for seeking information. In comparison to scientists, arts scholars appear to use publishers' catalogues as the most important source for new developments in their relevant fields. Many do not use index card files or outside assistance in searching literature.


This is an openaccess article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License. This article was made open access via a Publish and Read agreement between the Microbiology Society and the corresponding author's institution. This is a month about communities, both of people and of microbes, and how microbiology can play important roles in science communication and education. Our hashtag #publishingforthecommunity emphasises how publishing in Microbiology Society journals, and in fact most learned society journals, ensures that the profits of publishing are invested directly back in promoting the subjects closest to our hearts. First up this month is the highly readable Peter Wildy Prize Lecture which was delivered by Graham Hatfull (@GHatfull) from the University of Pittsburgh, USA, at our annual conference back in the Spring [1]. Graham has been a leading proponent of an interesting initiative called SEAPHAGES, to engage high school pupils into science by offering simple, but highly rewarding, research projects that can be run at scale and across multiple institutions. SEAPHAGES now runs across over 150 schools with over 5000 students participating annually. The microbiology behind this is the discovery of new bacteriophage, with the students screening diverse soil or compost samples in their hunt. Each student does a simple phage extraction, mixing this with a bacterial culture and plating, followed by recovery of resulting phage after plaquing. This can then be purified and the phage DNA sequenced, annotated and compared to other phage. Due to the enormous diversity of phage in the environment many of the students get to name their own discovery, which must be a pretty cool experience for them and as Hatfull's article title suggests 'Who wouldn't want to discover a new virus?'


The article discusses the possible inclusion in the 2011 Federal Budget of a proposal by the Pharmaceutical Society of Australia (PSA) to base a pharmacist in each Medicare Local (ML), supported by a fully functioning e-health system. The AMA's opposition to the PSA submission as well as the National Rural Health Alliance's support for the concept of pharmacists and e-health in MLs is considered.


The Forever Dog is an illustrated children's book designed to help young children cope with the loss of a beloved pet.

The story describes the bond between a young boy and his dog and the feelings the boy experiences when his best canine friend dies suddenly. The beautiful color illustrations add to the warmth of this book, which is suitable for children up to about age 10.

The author deals with the response to grief well. The boy goes through feelings of disbelief, anger, sorrow, and peaceful resolution, all the while supported by a loving mother. This may help young children to normalize their reactions to grief, and guide parents on how to best support their children. The loss of a pet is often a child's first experience with death. If parents handle this loss appropriately, they will provide their children with the means to cope with grief in the future.

My only criticism of this book is with the unseen veterinarian who doesn't appear to give the family the opportunity to be with their dog during his final moments, nor to allow the child to properly say good-bye. Otherwise, the loss of this special pet is handled with honesty, respect, and sensitivity.

I would recommend The Forever Dog to parents, veterinarians, and grief counselors. This book could facilitate honest discussion about pet loss and bereavement, making it an invaluable tool in navigating the difficult territory of children and grief.


During the hydraulic fracturing of shale oil wells, the cement sheath is faced with the problem of integrity failure, which easily induces sustained annular pressure and affects normal production. Therefore, taking the shale oil well in the Jimsar area of China as an example, the calculation model of the full-well cement sheath stress is derived based on the theory of elasticity. The reliability of this model was verified by the finite element method. This paper calculates the full-well cement sheath stress distribution and analyzes the cement sheath failure zones and influencing factors in hydraulic fracturing. The results show that the shallow cement sheath is primarily in tensile failure, and the deep cement sheath is primarily in compression failure. Using high Poisson's ratio cement above the surface casing shoe and low elastic modulus cement below the surface casing shoe, along with increasing the wall thickness of the production casing, will help reduce the failure length of the cement sheath. The study results have important implications for controlling wellbore integrity in shale oil wells.

 Multi-stage hydraulic fracturing technology for horizontal shale oil wells is vital to improve reservoir conditions and increase shale oil production capacity (Wang et al., 2012; Zhang et al., 2015; He et al., 2021). Multi-stage hydraulic fracturing is characterized by large discharge volume, high pressure, and long operation time, which leads to a harsh casing-cement sheath service environment and easily induces wellbore integrity problems (Lian et al., 2002; Tian et al., 2015). Of the 15,000 wells tested in the Gulf of Mexico, approximately 43% experienced cement ring integrity problems during completion, ultimately resulting in sustained annular pressure (Muehlenbachs, 2011; Vengosh et al., 2014). Similar problems existed during shale oil development in the Jimsar area of China. The cement sheath integrity problem during hydraulic fracturing severely restricts large-scale development activities in shale oil fields.
 The cement sheath stress is closely related to the service environment. During the fracturing of shale oil horizontal wells, the internal casing pressure, formation properties, and in-situ stress conditions vary at different depths, which affect the cement sheath stress and failure risk (Liu et al., 2017; Xi et al., 2018). Therefore, revealing the full-well cement sheath stress state in horizontal shale oil wells during hydraulic fracturing and elucidating the main controlling factors of cement sheath integrity failure are of great significance to controlling the wellbore integrity of shale oil wells.


Despite valuable prior research which identified a variety of factors of information technology (IT) governance, their inter-connectedness remains complex and highly unpredictable. It also remains ...


Objective:To investigate the effects of daily wake-up strategy on multiple trauma patients receiving postoperative sedation and analgesia.Methods:Thirty-six patients with multiple traumas were analyzed retrospectively.All the cases who were transferred to ICU after operation and received mechanical ventilation and sustained implementation of fentanyl and midazolam were divided into wake-up group(n = 18) and control group(n = 18).The patients in the wake-up group were applied daily wake-up strategy and special care interventions,while the control group received only the routine treatment and care.The dosage of sedative and analgesic drugs,the duration of mechanical ventilation,the length of ICU stay and the hospital cost were compared between the two groups.Results:The differences were statistically significant(P 0.05 to P 0.01) in the wake-up group and the control group in the dosage of sedative and analgesic drugs,duration of mechanical ventilation,length of ICU stay and hospital costs.Conclusions:The daily wake-up strategy combined with proper nursing care may not only reduce the dosage of sedative and analgesic drugs,shorten the length of mechanical ventilation and ICU stay but decrease the hospital cost for the multiple trauma patients receiving postoperative sedation and analgesia.


Christophorus Hegendorphinus, who was born at Leipzig in 1500 and died at Luneburg in 1540, is chiefly known for his Dialogi pueriles, which were often published together with the Paedologia of Petrus Mosellanus. Hegendorphinus became rector of the University of Leipzig at the early age of twenty-three. This did not prevent him from leaving behind a large body of work in which we find many facets of the man reflected: the jurist, the teacher, the exegete, the textual editor, the scholiast, the dramatist, and even the catechist (he was the author of one of the first Lutheran catechisms). He had a great admiration for Erasmus, whom he numbered among the 'optimarum literarum principes'. His personal contacts with the scholar from Rotterdam do not appear to have been particularly numerous, unlike his borrowings from Erasmus's work. Hegendorphinus's familiarity with Erasmus's writings was far-reaching and he enjoyed imitating them (he wrote a Methodus conscribendi epistolas, with considerable borrowings from Erasmus's epistolographic work) and annotating them (in addition to an edition of De copia to which he added many scholia, he also produced an Explicatio locorum implicatissimorum in Colloquiis Erasmi, published by Johann Setzer at Hagenau in 1526, together with the Christiana studiosae iuuentutis institutio.) Hegendorphinus's aim in bringing out this Explicatio was to furnish readers of the Colloquia with a key to a number of obscure allusions, quotations or expressions. In his 58 explanatory notes he systematically, and often tacitly, made use of the Adagia. 'Erasmian' expressions were already present to excess in the Dialogi pueriles, as becomes clear from the (printed) marginalia in an improved and enlarged edition of this work published by Valentin Schumann at Leipzig in 1520. Although this edition contains six new dialogues it seems to have been quite forgotten. The writer of the present article had the good luck to come across a copy in the University Library of Leipzig and is at the moment engaged in preparing a critical edition.


Self assembled Znx-1CdxS nanowires, synthesized on a Indium tin oxide coated glass substrate with low composition of Cd as x=0.09, were fabricated non-precursor via a co-evaporation method using of solid sources of CdS and ZnS. We studies that ZnCdS nanowires are dislocation-free and the single crystalline hexagonal wurtzite structure showed by transmission electron microscopy and selected area electron diffraction pattern. Cathode luminescence spectra showed an near band edge peak at 383nm originated from nanowires at 80K and 300K. Core level spectra of the Cd 3d, Zn 2p and S 2p in the ZnCdS nanorods were obtained by x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy. Prepared ZnCdS nanorods showed different shape with increase of substrate temperature at the growth.


This paper is an examination of forces operating at geographical scales from global to local which help to explain the shelter conditions of the working class in Quito and Guayaquil, Ecuador. To achieve such an empirical understanding, it is necessary to employ concepts and interpretations which themselves are social products and require close scrutiny. Considerable attention is therefore devoted to influences such as regional tension and perspective bias on interpretations of the cities by urban and housing experts. The principal sources of evidence are a household-level survey of shelter in Quito and Guayaquil, and a survey of housing professionals with regard to the interpretation of the shelter conditions and differences. Geographically based biases are prominent in the survey of housing experts, suggesting that research should examine these more carefully than in the past. The study concludes with a richer understanding of both the empirical reality of urban Ecuador and the frameworks and concepts used to interpret it.


The invention discloses a preparation method of a fluorocarbon coating. The fluorocarbon coating is composed of a component A and a component B. When in use, the component A and component B are mixed in a mass ratio of (1-2):1. The component A is composed of fluorocarbon polyurethane prepolymer, a nano inorganic filler, a hydrolysis stabilizer, a dispersing agent, a leveling agent, a tin catalyst, an initiator, hydroxy acrylate and an anhydrous diluter; and the component B is composed of a hydroxy acrylic resin, an isocyanate curing agent and an anhydrous diluter. The method can effectively enhance the crosslinking density of the polymers in the fluorocarbon coating, so that the fluorocarbon coating has more compact IPN (interpenetrating network) structure. The prepared fluorocarbon coating has the advantages of excellent weather resistance, excellent water resistance, excellent chemical resistance, excellent salt spray resistance, outstanding hardness and outstanding abrasion resistance, and is a high-performance fluorocarbon coating applicable to solar cell back panels.


The Nordic welfare states are facing new challenges in an increasingly globalised world. Fiercer competition has underlined the need for the Nordics to enhance competitiveness – and to suppor ...


Computing and information technology are among the fastest growing US industries, and participating in efforts to attract and retain a diverse workforce will provide a valuable contribution toward meeting future demands in these professions.


The paper presents the research carried out on a laboratory scale in order to establish the heat treatment parameters for the thick sheets used for naval constructions (welded joints). Investigations were carried out on steel sheets with two different chemical compositions.In the same cooling conditions, returns were made at different times and temperatures. For the different sheet thicknesses of 15, 20, 22 and 24 mm, various heat treatment options were performed, by changing the cooling conditions of the sheets, respectively the cooling speeds, conditions that can be achieved in the industry.The laboratory results showed that the required values for the mechanical characteristics are obtained only by cooling in water under pressure followed by a return at temperatures equal to or greater than 650 °C, a time greater than 70 min.


More than 10 years ago molecular methods for blood group, platelet and granulocyte antigen prediction
became available, but today they are still less established than HLA genotyping, which has often


We provide updated predictions for the hadronic decays $\bar{B}_s^0\to D_s^{(*)+} \pi^-$ and $\bar{B}^0\to D^{(*)+} K^-$. They are based on $\mathcal{O}(\alpha_s^2)$ results for the QCD factorization amplitudes at leading power and on recent results for the $\bar{B}_{(s)} \to D_{(s)}^{(*)}$ form factors up to order ${\cal O}(\Lambda_{\rm QCD}^2/m_c^2)$ in the heavy-quark expansion. We give quantitative estimates of the matrix elements entering the hadronic decay amplitudes at order ${\cal O}(\Lambda_{\rm QCD}/m_b)$ for the first time. Our results are very precise, and uncover a substantial discrepancy between the theory predictions and the experimental measurements. We explore two possibilities for this discrepancy: non-factorizable contributions larger than predicted by the QCD factorization power counting, and contributions beyond the Standard Model. We determine the $f_s/f_d$ fragmentation fraction for the CDF, D0 and LHCb experiments for both scenarios.


Describes a new family of error detection codes called weighted sum codes. These codes are preferred over four existing codes (CRC, Fletcher checksum, Internet checksum, and XTP CXOR), because they combine powerful error detection properties (as good as the CRC) with attractive implementation properties. One variant, WSC-1, has efficient software and hardware implementations; while a second variant, WSC-2, is almost as efficient in software (still significantly better than CRC) and offers commutative processing (that enables efficient out-of-order, parallel, and incremental update processing). >


Recently, Chung and et al. ([11], 1991c) introduced a new concept of a manifold, denoted by *g-SE , in Einstein's n-dimensional *g-unified field theory. The manifold *g-SE is a generalized n-dimensional Riemannian manifold on which the differential geometric structure is imposed by the unified field tensor * through the SE-connection which is both Einstein and semi-symmetric. In this paper, they proved a necessary and sufficient condition for the unique existence of SE-connection and presented a beautiful and surveyable tensorial representation of the SE-connection in terms of the tensor * . This paper is the first part of the following series of two papers: I. The SE-curvature tensor of *g-SE II. The contracted SE-curvature tensors of *g-SE In the present paper we investigate the properties of SE-curvature tensor of *g-SE , with main emphasis on the derivation of several useful generalized identities involving it. In our subsequent paper, we are concerned with contracted curvature tensors of *g-SE and several generalized identities involving them. In particular, we prove the first variation of the generalized Bianchi's identity in *g-SE , which has a great deal of useful physical applications.tions.


Sergio Grech interviews the Maltese actor Joe Fenech about his experiences on the stage. This series takes us from the beginning of his career up to the years 1960s.


Practical arguments for actions are arguments which, besides their epistemic function, shall motivate an addressee to execute the justified action. First, a strategy is developed how this motivational and other requirements can be met. Part of this strategy is to identify a thesis for which holds that believing it motivates in the required manner. Second, relying on empirical decision theory, such a thesis is identified. Finally, precise validity criteria for the respective arguments are developed.


Nanomedicines (i.e., Au@CoFeB-Rg3) were developed by conjugating multimode nanohybrids with active ingredients of natural herbs using Au@CoFeB nanoparticles as one model of multimode nanohybrids an...


The Cost reduction of E.E.E. Parts during Procurement phase has been always an important issue for all Space Programmes. This paper analyses the Major NCR's with Lot related failures detected during Quality Conformance Inspections ( Q.C.I. ) as Precap or LAT / Final Customer Source Inspections ( F.C.S.I. ) performed on ESAOPL parts for a specific Space Programme (Artemis) versus the various Costs involved as: - Manufacturer visit Charges -LAT Charges -Destructive samples Cost for LAT - Inspector Costs (travel, expenses, reports).


A low complexity Hybrid Automatic Repeat reQuest (HARQ) scheme for a polar code decoder is presented which provides a coding gain at the expense of information throughput at very low SNRs. Unlike complex incremental redundancy HARQ schemes or those which use a CRC to identify a decoding failure, only two nodes within the polar tree are monitored to predict a decoding failure. The performance of this low complexity algorithm is compared with an ideal Genie algorithm that has access to the transmitted symbols to identify a decoding failure. It is shown that the frame error rate (FER) of the HARQ algorithm follows the Genie algorithm from low to high signal-to-noise ratios (SNRs) and ensures the information throughput reverts back to 100% at high SNRs. Simulation results are presented for the rate 1/2 (N = 8, K = 4) and rate 5/8 (N = 16, K = 10) polar codes from the 5G standard over an additive white gaussian noise (AWGN).


Inspired by the English film title Shock of Feng Xiaogang's 《唐山大地震》,This paper aims to analyze the translation of Chinese film titles from the functional perspective in the hope of elaborating the application of Skopos Theory and finding a guiding theory oriented by AIDA principle.Its ultimate purpose is to challenge the translator to produce target titles with four defined functions: informative,expressive,aesthetic and vocative function.Thus the translator is creatively free to choose any translation strategies to serve the particular functions and finally realize the Skopos of the translation.


It is commonly stated in Newtonian Mechanics that the torque with respect to the laboratory frame is equal to the torque with respect to the center of mass frame plus an R£F factor, with R being the position of the center of mass and F denoting the total external force. Although this assertion is true, there is a subtlety in the demonstration that is overlooked in the textbooks. In addition, it is necessary to point out that if the reference frame attached to the center of mass rotates with respect to certain inertial frame, the assertion is no longer true.


The original evangelization of Peddur reached in particular one family, which fact has conditioned the entire subsequent history of Christianity in this community. Other conditioning factors were the acceptance of the message by those who would gain socially thereby and the popular identification of missionaries with British administrators. With decreasing moral support from foreign agencies, the Christian community in Peddur is being forced back into traditional social patterns of caste, etc., with which it earlier had come into conflict, and it is losing much of its spiritual vitality; and ideological conflicts with Hinduism have not been resolved creatively.


social agencies at a disadvantage. But the actual threat of impending action of this sort can be depended upon to galvanize local dealers into action, if they are called into the deliberations in time. Many of them are actuated by the same sense of compassion and duty to the unfortunate which lie at the base of our astounding community response to the appeals of distress. Moreover, it is good business to meet the prices of the commissary, if those can be accurately determined. Generally speaking, dealers would rather forego some profits now, than lose custom which they may never get back.


Based on classical perturbation theory method,the dielectric resonator was taken as research object,the essential relation between the resonator and dielectric properties of the materials was elaborated,the Vector Network Analyzer was controlled by personal computer to realize automatic measurement.It is shown that the more precise tan δ will be obtained if the perturbation method was considered rather than the approximately method.In the mean while,conductor loss wasn't ignored to the materials with low tan δ.Further,it explains that the theoretical analysis and experimental result were consistent,then it provides the reference for studying and using the Microwave Dielectric Ceramics(MWDC).


Since its emergence in the 19th century, academic psychology has striven to become accepted as a scientific discipline. This emphasis on "science" has led to many unprecedented advancements in the understanding of human behavior. However, the view that psychology must be approached as a science has become ingrained in the field over time, and critically discussing the implications of this notion has turned into a taboo. In this article, I examine the benefits and limitations of applying the scientific paradigm to psychology, and I propose when it is not optimal to approach psychology as a science if the field is to maximize its potential. Importantly, I do not imply that practicing psychology as a "non-science" means practicing it as a pseudoscience. Quite to the contrary, I argue that not always enforcing the scientific viewpoint can prevent pseudoscientific practices and make the field more scientific in the long run.


It is shown that the magnitude of the ambiguity function can be easily displayed on a spectrum analyzer. The technique used employs delay lines operating only on the modulation waveform. Examples of measured ambiguity functions are given for FM sine waves. These results are shown to be in agreement with theory.


This paper presents a wideband supply-modulated system with a floating ground RF power amplifier and a reverse buck topology DC/DC converter. The power amplifier and the reverse buck converter are based on microwave GaN technology. The system is operating at 1620 MHz and 40 V supply and shows 39% overall power-added efficiency at an average output power of 14.6 W for an 8 MHz OFDM modulated signal with 8.6 dB PAPR. The implemented floating-ground RF power amplifier accommodates signals with up to 40 MHz bandwidth. The reverse buck converter switches at 45 MHz with a PAE of 80–91% over duty cycles from 40–100% equivalent to supply voltages of 16–40 V. For the first time a reverse buck topology system enabling GaN switching operation referred to ground is shown in dynamic operation with performance similar to or exceeding classical systems.


Religious-political radicalism becomes widespread, having various forms and features of manifestation, associated with crisis events occurring in society. Determinants of their generation are associated with social injustice, sociopolitical tensions, separatist tendencies, social systems, Extremism an extreme form of radicalism in different its manifestations, by certain social causes, the of which is important for specific definition. various regions of the world, extremism its forms of manifestation, it on a form of terrorism. extremism a system of counteraction, preventive measures, society and the extremist in are they have nothing in common with the values of Islam. them implies organized opposition in society, conditions for a mutually respectful, tolerant attitude of representatives of various and cultures. Representatives of these the youth towards the struggle against the power of the existing state. was the activity of the North Caucasian Wahhabis who attempted to create a Caucasian Caliphate in the North Caucasus. Only state measures allowed eliminating the ideology and practice of Wahhabism, began to carry out measures in the regions using traditional values, combining with civilizational and technological achievements, carrying out prevention among the youth. is the the


Aiming at the health state prognostics problem of complicated equipments,of which the fault shows gradual failure,a new prognostics method based on the multiple features extraction was presented compounding multiple distance and shape similarity(M-DSSE)and relevance vector machine(RVM).The M-DSSE method was developed to evaluate the health index of equipments and the RVM regressive model was used to predict the performance trend based on the health index information,which greatly supported the predictive maintenance.The application on a certain aerial electromechanical device suggests the approach is capable to solve the health state prognostics problem of complicated equipments,and the results are consistent with the practical situation.


Congestion owing to traffic is one of the crucial complications in urban cities, which is need to be addressed to improve traffic control and operation. The present traffic system is a timer-based system that operates irrespective of the amount of traffic and the existence of emergency vehicles like ambulances and fire engines. Vehicle flow discovery appears to be an important part of modern world traffic control and operation system. This design proposes a novel smart traffic system that utilizes real-time Average Vehicle Area and Emergency vehicle detection to optimize traffic flow and improve emergency response times. This system employs YOLOv4 and MobileNet V2 Convolutional neural network pre-trained model to accurately detect the number of vehicles present on the road, Average Vehicle Area and identify emergency vehicles in real-time. Using this information, this system can dynamically adjust traffic signals and reroute vehicles to minimize congestion and ensure priority access for emergency vehicles. Experimental results show that this system significantly reduces average travel times and emergency response times, making it a promising solution for modern traffic management and emergency services.


Dynamic Programming Matching (DPM) is a mathematical optimization technique for sequentially structured problems, which has, over the years, played a major role in providing primary algorithms in pattern recognition fields. Most practical applications of this method in signature verification have been based on the practical implementational version proposed by Sakoe and Chiba [9], and il usually applied as a case of slope constraint p = 0. We found, in this case, a modified version of DPM by applying a heuristic (forward seeking) implementation is more efficient, offering significantly reduced processing complexity as well as slightly improved verification performance.


Abstract:  In contrast to anurans, acoustic communication and hearing within Order Urodela is poorly understood. Several studies have documented sound production in a few salamander species; however, these studies did not examine auditory ranges of these salamanders simultaneously. Two-Toed Amphiumas (Amphiuma means) were used as a model to examine the ecological significance of sound production in salamanders. We conducted a series of behavioral trials to validate sound production in this species, and auditory-evoked potentials (AEPs) were measured to assess hearing abilities. Amphiuma means produced three unique broadband acoustic signals: low-, mid-, and high-frequency clicks. All acoustic signals were produced when A. means were placed in groups, but not when housed individually. The audiogram was relatively flat at 100–700 Hz; above this range, sensitivity declined with increasing frequency. No auditory responses were detected between 1.5 and 10 kHz. The dominant frequencies of the acoustic signals (2.7–11.7 kHz) were higher than the audiogram bandwidth, although the lower bound of lower-frequency clicks could effectively stimulate the auditory system for communication at short distances. Our study suggests that A. means utilizes acoustic signals during social interactions.


Cloud manufacturing is a new manufacturing paradigm which creates an open environment for transactions among the enterprises. Research on transaction modes and regularities in a cloud manufacturing environment is important for promoting the applications of cloud manufacturing. To this end, we design and implement a simulation platform according to the typical transaction processes of enterprises in the cloud manufacturing environment. In the simulation platform, enterprises are encapsulated into Service Agents, and thus the activities of service agents can be used to describe enterprise behaviors. By defining different rules, simulations for different business models can be conducted. Detailed descriptions of the platform architecture, functions, and key technologies are presented. The feasibility of the simulation platform is verified through a case study.


Data on legal abortion in Eastern Europe, based mainly on materials presented at the 1960 International Conference on Abortion, Problems and Abortion Control, held in Rostock-Warnemunde, East Germany, are discussed. In most countries of Eastern Europe, since 1955, abortion on demand of the mother or because of social indications has been legalized. East Germany, however, has not legalized abortion for other than medical reasons. By 1959, legal abortions had risen to one-tenth the number of live births in Poland, to one-third each in Bulgaria and Czechoslovakia, and exceeded live births in Hungary. Criminal abortion declined. Legal abortions have been restricted to the first 3 months of pregnancy unless there was a medical indication, and this provision resulted in very low death rates related to abortions in Hungary and Czechoslovakia (6/100,000 abortions). The low death rates compare favorably with mortality from all complications of pregnancy, childbirth, and the puerperium in other advanced Western countries. It is concluded that while society's attitude toward induced abortion is a social and moral problem, that issue should not be clouded by unfounded claims of inherent procedural dangers.


Natural killer activity against K562 targets and recombinant interleukin-2 induced cytotoxicity to NK resistant targets (MEL-4 and T24) was investigated in 15 melanoma patients. Before elective surgery no differences in cytotoxic activities were demonstrated when compared with patients with colorectal adenocarcinoma and controls. No correlation with the depth of the melanoma lesion was observed. Numbers of precursors of IL-2 induced killers in melanoma patients were in normal range. In conclusion, no defects in non-specific NK and IL-2 induced behavior in peripheral blood of melanoma patients were found. Other factors, specific, non-specific, related or unrelated to the tumor side should be thus considered.


The combined application of autoradiography and electron microscopy allowed the assignment of molecular components to individual micellar fibres in a mixed gel. Resolution was of the order of 0.1 μm. As a result, it was shown that bimolecular sheets of N‐dodecyl‐l‐mannonamide (= l‐Man‐12) completely separated from helical rods consisting of tritiated N‐octyl‐d‐gluconamide (= d‐Glu‐8). The method should be useful for the analysis of several other synthetic supramolecular systems.


ABSTRACT Despite legislative efforts to enhance safety in public swimming pools, diving injuries are still common. This study investigated the characteristics of emergency departments (EDs) visits for diving accidents. This study utilized 2006–2014 data from the Nationwide Emergency Department Sample and examined visits for accidents due to diving or jumping into water (swimming pool). Data were stratified by age categories. Over 83,000 ED visits were found and the majority of visits were by males. Significantly more patients were in the 15–24 age category. The majority of patients were discharged and were covered by private insurance. Total charges for the six-year period approached $620 million. Spinal cord injuries were more common in those over age 25, whereas intracranial injuries occurred more frequently in younger patients. This study provides a profile of patients presenting to US EDs for diving-related injuries.


Business friendship literature draw largely upon relationship norms to study effects of friendship on customer's product valuation. The present study provide a whole new analysis to explore the mechanism behind the effects of friendship on valuation as well as perceived product quality based on self-expansion model. The authors propose that self-expansion by including a friend-seller's resources (their products in this study's context), identities and perspectives into oneself will positively affects customer's product psychological ownership, attitude toward the seller and product knowledge accordingly which in turn jointly increase customer's product valuation and evaluation. Empirical results from 266 respondents covering 193 restaurants provide evidence of this study's hypothesis. For product quality is an intrinsic cue for product valuation, the present study also examines multiple-step multiple mediated effects of perceived product quality in the relationship between friendship and valuation. The current research makes several contributions to business friendship literature and helps managers better understand their customers.


PhD Complications of endovascular thrombectomy limit its current utility to a subset of patients. Expanding the utility of mechanical thrombectomy is possible with the addition of blood biomarkers ...


The invention discloses a storage management method based on NOR Flash. Data fragments on the NOR Flash are managed by adopting a node data structure list; effective data nodes are linked according to an address offset sequence; at each moment of writing or updating data, only a node needs to be newly constructed, and the original repeated data nodes are remarked; due to the logic write operation, the complicated erase and write back operation is simplified to be direct write operation, and the complicated erase process is put into the later garbage recycling process; therefore the process is greatly simplified, the performance is improved, and data loss caused by power failure during data write back is also avoided. The invention provides an interface for directly reading, writing and accessing a NOR Flash storage medium; the boundary and the erase of a NOR Flash page do not need to be considered; alignment on the bit width and the boundary of an access address is automatically processed; furthermore, the NOR Flash write life is balanced.


Investigation and evaluation of individual official land prices is done by national and local governments in a semi-automatic way using the ALPA system and needs 40 billion wons budget annually. Due to the total amount of land parcels to be evaluated(approximately 2.7 million parcels per year) and the limited capabilities of ALPA system, current land price appraisal procedures need to be greatly improved. Especially, investigation of the individual land parcel characteristics which is done by officers in terms of both field surveys and manual procedures result in erroneous final land price evaluation. This study develops a digital cadastral map based methodology for extracting land parcel characteristics automatically in the individual land price appraisal and implement a prototype system to demonstrate the effectiveness and accuracy of the new methodology. We conclude that this new methodology is very effective and shows reasonable accuracy compared to the current manual procedure.


The chicken MHC is organized in two genetically independent gene complexes B@ and RFP-Y@. Previous studies have shown the localization of the B@ complex on a small microchromosome. By using two-color fluorescent in situ hybridization, we demonstrate the localization of the RFP-Y@ complex to the same chromosome. A recombination hot spot between the two loci might account for their independent segregation.


The Raman laser fiberoptics (RLFO) method using Raman spectroscopy for determination of chemical composition and optical fibers allowing multiplex, in situ, and remote possibilities, enabled chemical analysis of various human urinary and renal calculi. Raman spectra of about 40 constituents (synthetic or natural) in the authors''s possession and its 437 various binary and ternary mixtures are recorded using 1.06 micrometers radiation of a Nd:YAG laser and a FT Raman interferometer. These spectra--most of them are fluorescence free--constituted the calculi library. In the presence of urine, unknown stones can then be identified by RLFO method using an automatic computer procedure (at the present time, the Bruker IR search program is used). The results obtained for the identification of the stones are satisfactory. Major constituents of a complex calculus (


The pottery illustrated here is only a small proportion of the total recovered; the intention is to present a brief survey of the commoner fabrics and surface treatments. The stratigraphic connections from trench to trench were, as discovered, not entirely satisfactory. Though the lowest two of the four trenches which were dug (1969) into settlement debris on the north scarp, viz. G1d and G2b, produced no substantial structural features, the sequence of surfaces, tip lines and aggradations was reasonably clear (Fig. 1). In the trenches above G2b, i.e. G2d and G3b, stratigraphic observations were limited. No lines of aggradation could be observed, the trenches apparently being taken up by the remains or debris of a thick mud brick wall or walls. Into this mass of mud-brick were dug pits. Above both features (mud-brick and pits) began a series of structures and associated deposits, datable (after the 1972 season) to the middle or second half of the first millennium B.C. The pottery presented here comes from the lowest two trenches, G2b and G1d.


This study reports a paper-like micro-supercapacitor (SC) with in-plane interdigital buckypaper electrodes on a filter membrane substrate. A vacuum filtration method assisted by lithography techniques is proposed for patterning buckypaper. The proposed micro-SC features advantages including a flexible structure, simple fabrication, easy chip integration, and high specific capacitance. Increasing the aspect ratio of the patterned buckypaper electrodes effectively enhances the specific capacitance of the SC. The specific capacitance measured by cyclic voltammetry was 107.27 mF/cm2 at a scan rate of 20 mV/sec. The measured charge-discharge behaviors at various discharge rates show the electrochemical stability of the device.


Privacy requirements can be modeled within the distributed constraint satisfaction framework, where the constraints are secrets of the participants. In [20] we introduced a first technique allowing agents to solve distributed constraint problems (DisCSPs), without revealing anything and without trusting each other or some server. The first technique we propose now, MPC-DisCSP2, is a dm times improvement form variables of domain size d. A second technique we propose, MPC-DisCSP3, has a similar complexity as MPC-DisCSP2, a little bit slower in the worst case, but guarantees that the returned solutions are picked according to a uniform distribution over the total set of solutions. A third technique, MPC-DisCSP0, is based solely on secure arithmetic circuit evaluation and the distribuition for picking its solutions can be manipulated in a more flexible way. Nevertheless this last technique has a O(dm!dm) complexity. All techniques of [20] can be extended to solve optimization for distributed weighted CSPs.


Studies have demonstrated that an 862 MHz RF cavity higher order mode (HOM) causes longitudinal coupled-bunch (LCB) dipole and quadrupole oscillations at specific RF tuner positions with associated increases in longitudinal, horizontal, and vertical electron beam sizes. In the XRF2 cavity a reconfiguration of damping antennae removed the 862 MHz HOM. High speed I(t) stripline measurements showed that a strong quadrupole oscillation resulted when the HOM was induced in the XRF3 cavity. The reason that a symmetric six bunch pattern was found to be effective in damping this mode is explained.


PURPOSE
To report the results of percutaneous coronary interventions, in Brazil, in the years 1996-97, comparing them to those of 1992-93.

METHODS
Data were collected in a standard form and the 1996-97 results were compared to those of 1992-93.

RESULTS
The current Registry received data from 79% effective members of the SBHCI in 127 hospitals, including 22,025 patients, 60.67% of whom underwent PTCA, 36.57% stent implantation, 2.3% PTRA, 0.06% DCA and 0.4% laser angioplasty. Balloon angioplasty was the most frequent procedure in 1996-97, but its overall rate fell from 6.75% to 55.8% (p = 0.0001) concomitantly, there was a 35% relative increase in the use of stents from 1992-93 to 1996-97. The success rate of the later period was higher (89.7% vs 92.8%, p = 0.000001), with lower residual stenosis (22% vs 19%, p = 0.001). Besides, there were lower major complications rates: acute myocardial infarction (2.5% vs 1.2%, p = 0.002) and death (1.8% vs 1.4%, p = 0.0003).

CONCLUSION
The procedures most often carried out in both periods were balloon angioplasty (60.67%) and implantation of stents (36.57%); the success rate high, abrupt closure rate was low (1.5%). These favorable results corroborate the high standards of the Brazilian Interventional Cardiology.


Alloantibodies recognizing human leukocyte antigens (HLA) can cause immune‐mediated refractoriness to platelet transfusion. An association between HLA alloimmunization and red blood cell (RBC) alloimmunization has been suggested but remains uncertain.


IT is probably true to say that no other European has so completely mastered the complex drum rhythms and music of the Northern Rhodesian peoples as the Rev. A. M. Jones. In this book, published for the African Music Society, the author pays a generous tribute to the drummer, Mr. Kombe, who gave him the opportunity for a closer analysis of his rhythms. Father Jones has given a very detailed account of the Icila dance of the Lala people which, he states, is typical of Northern Rhodesian dancing as a whole. He deals first with the dance and its choreography, then the hand-dapping, and then the song, which has new variations each year and for every special occasion. For the purpose of this book the writer has analysed an old-style version of the dance which displays its general and permanent characteristics. In his analysis of the rhythms and the functions of the three drums: Icibitiku, Akache, and the Master Drum Ikulu, Father Jones breaks new ground in the study of African drumming by his discovery of the ' nonsense syllables ' which the musician uses to enable him to hold the conflicting rhythms. In order to analyse the Ikulu drum variations Father Jones went to infinite trouble to invent a means of recording the beats as they were actually made, using metal drums beaten with brass rings, and getting the hand-dappers to wear metal rings on their fingers. The tin drums and brass rings were linked with a car battery and electro-magnets which operated stylos writing on a strip of cash-till paper. But, as has been pointed out by another reviewer, better results were obtained by phonophotographic devices more than twenty years ago by Metfessel, who was able to get precise information on the pitch and timbre as well.


A sower assembly (10) comprising at least one coulter (2) upstream of a press wheel (1), a support wheel (4) and at least one opening disc (5) characterized in that the disc opener (5) is adjacent to the ploughshare (2).