This study has sought to comprehend the history of the Management Post-graduation Program from the Federal University of Paraiba. It started from a historiographical perspective aligned to the premises of the Annales' School, having as a historical background the emerging of Post-graduation on Brazil, and using as main reference the National Plans of Post-graduation in Brazil. The methodology adopted has a qualitative character, using as main sources, the minutes of meetings and other documents available as well as interviews with former coordinators and vice-coordinators of the Program. The results point to five distinct phases: (1) creation; (2) consolidation; (3) expansion; (4) retraction;(5) restructuring. The relevance of the study consists on rescuing the institutional memory of this Program, mostly from a deeper discussion about the periods of greatest turmoil, where the CAPES indicated the possibility of disqualification. Keywords : Post graduation, Management, History, Historiography.


Background: Occlusal characteristics of the primary dentition are crucial in predicting and determining permanent tooth alignment and occlusion. The aim of our study was to determine the occlusal characteristics of the primary dentition of 5-year-old children in Greece through a national path�nder survey. Methods: A strati�ed cluster sample of 1222 5-year-old children was selected according to the WHO guidelines for national path�nder surveys. Five occlusal traits were registered clinically in centric occlusion, separately for the left and right sides: sagittal relationships of the second primary molars and primary canines, overjet, overbite, crossbite, and maxillary and mandibular spacing. Results: Most children showed a �ush terminal plane of primary second molars (44.8%), a class I primary canine relationship (52.2%) and normal overjet (46.4%), but a high prevalence of Class II canine relationship (25.6%) and overjet (37.8%) were also observed. A normal overbite was found in 40% of the children and 40% had a deep overbite. Spacing was apparent in both maxilla (71.1% of children) and mandible (56.4%). Both The prevalence of open bite signi�cantly rose in children sucking their �nger and using the paci�er and altered the bilateral second primary molar relationship, by increasing distal step bilaterally. Conclusions: Νon-nutritive habits were associated to altered occlusal features. No sex signi�cant differences were found in either the sagittal relationships of second primary molars and primary canines, or overjet, overbite, crossbite and spacing. and open bite (Chi-square=19.788, p=0.001). The use of paci�er signi�cantly altered overbite by increasing open bite (Chi-square=21.447, p<0.001) and increased the maxillary and mandibular spacing (Chi-square=15.587, p=0.049). Our results did not reveal any correlations of occlusal features to bottle feeding practices.


The goal of this paper is to give a brief summary of the main phonetic transformations from Latin to Modern French, and by doing so, to exemplify the leading role of the word stress and left boundary may play in sound changes. Most of the vowels in unstressed, non initial syllables were suppressed ( a was transformed into mute e (' bona > bonne [ bOn´ ] 'good' 1 ). creating a large number of clusters and word final coda consonants. The disappearance of almost every first consonant member in non word initial clusters (except r and combination with r and l ), the dropping of intervocalic consonants, such as d and t , the vocalisation of [g], [k] and [l] in coda position, creates a large number of hiatus, which were then reduced to a single vowel ( vita > vie [vi] 'life'). After monophthongization of the Latin diphthongs and several periods of diphtongization of the stressed syllables, all diphthongs and triphthongs were monophthongized. These phenomena lead to a drastic reduction of the phonetic length of the words. In spontaneous Modern French, the extension of the basic prosodic unit from the word to the sense group, the complete dropping of mute e (from a ) and the transformation of [e] into mute e create new conditions where the 'old' reduction rules can again apply. All these drastic reductions create a very large number of homophonic (short) words. The double accentuation system of Modern French may to be inherited from its past: the final, syntactic stress from Latin, and the initial, emphatic stress from its Celtic and Germanic influences.


The Yancheng Wetland Nature Reserve has to be confronted with the conflict between resource conservation and exploitation in its management and construction.Threshold management technologies of resource exploitation have been brought forward based on analysis of the needs of overwintering Grus japonensis and disturbance caused by resource exploitation.For access into the reserve,resource exploitations are sorted into three types: moderate exploitation,restricted exploitation and forbidden exploitation.The area accessible for exploitation is limited to the experimental zone,which should be kept no more than 1/10 of the nature reserve,and should not exceed 1/3 of the experimental zone in area.Based on the birds′ needs for overwintering,the time period of a year from the end of September till February of next year should be set as restricted for exploitation activities and from early March till the end of September as accessible for moderate exploitation.It is acceptable to go all out to develop ecotourism,while it is essential to ban any new project of tide flat wetland reclamation and wind energy in the reserve.


OBJECTIVE
The aim of this study was to propose first established diagnostic reference levels (DRLs) in computed tomography (CT) for adults, based on volume-averaged CTDI and dose length product (DLP) metrics in Yazd Province.

MATERIALS AND METHODS
Six multislice CT scanners located at diverse areas of Yazd Province and seven common procedures were selected for the present study. For each procedure, at least twenty patients 18 years and older were sampled at each institution. For each patient, dose report data and scan parameters as well as patient's information were abstracted from picture archiving and communication system.

RESULTS
Proposed DRLs in terms of computed tomography dose index (mGy) and DLP (mGy.cm) were as follows: brain (42, 527), sinus (25, 220), neck (14, 264), abdomen-pelvis (11, 295), routine chest (8, 247), CT pulmonary angiogram (32, 261) and chest HRCT (11, 455), respectively, slightly lower compared to other investigations.

CONCLUSION
The proposed DRLs in this study should be considered as the local DRLs for the seven most common adult CT examinations in Yazd province so as to optimize the patient dose while maintaining acceptable image quality for the clinical task.


Variability in complex systems offering rich set of features is a seriouschallenge to their users in term of flexibility with many possible variants fordifferent application contexts and maintainab ...


A fully instrumented airconditioninglaboratoryunit capable of controlling drying air temperature and humidity integrated with aninstantaneous weighing thin layer drying system was used toinvestigatethethin layerdrying behaviorand desorption equilibrium moisture content o f canola(Brassica napus L. ). To this aim, freshly harvested canolasampleswith moisture content of about 12±0.5% (d.b.)weredriedat temperaturelevelsof40,45,50,55 ∞ C andabsolute air humidity levelsof0.005,0.01,0.015,and0.02Kg/Kg.The instantaneous grain moisture contentwas measured by weighing the sample periodically .Drying was continued untilcanola kernelsreachedaconstant weighttoobtain the hygroscopic equilibriummoisture for different combinations of drying air temperature and absolute humidity. To select a suitable model for describing thethin layer drying of canola,experimental drying d ata were fitted with threethin layer drying models, namely,Page, ModifiedPage and Two-Term Exponentialmodels. Furthermore, fourwidely used desorption isotherm models includingChung-Pfost,Modified ChungPfost,Modified Oswin, andModified Smith wereused to fit the experimental dataof equilibrium moisture content .Finally,non-linear regression analyseswererunandbased onthehighestvalue forR 2 andthelowestvalue for 2 ﷿c, mean bias error (MBE)and root mean square error (RMS E),the most suitable modelsforthin layerdryingand equilibrium moisture contentweredeterminedto beTwo-Term Exponential and Modified Smith, respectively.


The invention relates to an image region merging method. The image region merging method is characterized in that the color histogram distance between an image region A and an image region B is obtained in the following method meeting the expression that , wherein in the expression that , p(k) is a color histogram of the image region A, q(k) is a color histogram of the image region B, K=0,1,...,Ncolor-1, Ncolor represents the number of color quantization regions adopted by a multicolor histogram, [A0, A1] is a supporting region of p(k), [B0, B1] is a supporting region of q(k), and D(p, q) represents the distance between the color histograms of the two image regions; according to the color histogram distance D(p, q), whether the image region A and the image region B is merged or not is judged.


The inside scoop on computing and reporting taxes on restaurant gratuities. You've just eaten an exquisite meal in a fine restaurant. Feeling satiated and generous, you decide to leave the superb wait staff a rather large gratuity. Hours after you've left the restaurant, that tip is pooled with others and divided among the staff. Who pays taxes on tips? Employers, employees or both? CPAs with restaurant clients know that a restaurant is responsible for paying Federal Insurance Contributions Act (FICA) taxes (at 7.65%) on its employees' wages, including tips. Employees also pay a 7.65% share via withholding. These contributions are used to fund Social Security. Because restaurants typically do not know how much tip income employees actually collect, employees are required to report tips to the IRS on Form 4070, Employee's Report of Tips to Employer. Therefore, when employees underreport their tips, restaurants underwithhold the employee share due under IRC section 3101 and also underpay the employer share due under IRC section 3111. Under regulations section 31.3111-3, an employer is obligated to pay employer FICA taxes based only on the amount of income their employees actually report when employees fail to furnish tip reports or their reports are inaccurate. However, under IRC section 3121(q), once the IRS determines that employee tip income is greater than that reported by the employee and sends the restaurant owner notice and demand, the restaurant owner must pay employer FICA tax on those wages. In assessing unreported tip income, the IRS audits the restaurant (not individual employees, as that would be administratively burdensome) and assesses the employer share of FICA based on the aggregate amount of unreported tips from all the restaurant's tipped employees. This is known as use of an aggregate method. One such aggregate method is based on A.J. McQuatters (TC Memo 1973-197). The McQuatters formula works as follows: The IRS reduces the restaurant's total sales by a percentage to account for sharing tips and customers who leave little or no tip. The result is divided by the total number of hours worked by all servers during the year to determine a sales-per-hour average. That average is multiplied by the number of hours worked by each server to determine the server's yearly sales. Each server's annual sales are multiplied by the average tip rate to determine each one's annual tip income. The formula uses the charged tip rate (the tip rate computed on bills charged on credit cards) as a reference point for the average tip rate. While the Seventh, Eleventh and Federal Circuit Courts of Appeal have agreed with the IRS's use of such indirect methods, some district courts have disagreed. The controversy over the validity of the methods warrants an examination of the cases and guidelines by tax advisers to avoid or contest an assessment. SEVENTH CIRCUIT In 330 West Hubbard Restaurant Corp., 203 F3d 990 (7th Cir. 2000), aff'g 37 F. Supp.2d 1050 (1999), Coco Pazzo, a Chicago restaurant, declared both its total charged tips and cash tips reported by employees on Form 8027, Employer's Annual Information Return of Tip Income and Allocated Tips, for 1993-95, the years at issue. By comparing the amounts Coco Pazzo reported on its Form 941, Employer's Quarterly Federal Tax Return, with the amounts it reported collected on form 8027, the IRS determined that the restaurant's employees had underreported $1,112,454 in tips for the three years at issue. The IRS thus demanded an additional $85,104 in FICA taxes from the restaurant. The only issue for the appeals court was whether the IRS could use the aggregate method to assess the employer's share of FICA taxes. The taxpayer contended that the IRS first had to individually determine the tips each employee had underreported. Coco Pazzo's initial argument was that section 3121(q) refers to wages subject to FICA as "tips received by an employee," requiring a prior assessment of individual employees. …


Here, we investigate cosmological models with perfect fluid source in the framework of KaluzaKlein FRW space time in a modified theory of gravity known as f (R, T) gravity (Harko et al. 2011) where R is the Ricci scalar and T is the trace of the stress energy tensor of the perfect fluid. By solving the field equations, we have found an exact solution of the field equations using a linearly varying deceleration parameter which can be considered as a five dimensional FRW type cosmological model in f (R, T) gravity. We have determined the spatial volume and average Hubble parameter of the model. We have also determined and discussed the physical parameters, pressure and density for dust, radiation and stiff matter dominated eras.


The spread of Internet of Things (IoT) botnets like those utilizing the Mirai malware were successful enough to power some of the most powerful DDoS attacks that have been seen thus far on the Internet. Two such attacks occurred on October 21, 2016 and September 20, 2016. Since there are an estimated three billion IoT devices currently connected to the Internet, these attacks highlight the need to understand the spread of IoT worms like Mirai and the vulnerability that they create for the Internet. In this work, we describe the spread of IoT worms using a proposed model known as the IoT Botnet with Attack Information (IoT-BAI), which utilizes a variation of the Susceptible-Exposed-Infected-Recovered-Susceptible (SEIRS) epidemic model [14]. The IoT-BAI model has shown that it may be possible to mitigate the frequency of IoT botnet attacks with improved user information which may positively affect user behavior. Additionally, the IoT-BAI model has shown that increased vulnerability to attack can be caused by new hosts entering the IoT population on a daily basis. Models like IoT-BAI could be used to predict user behavior after significant events in the network like a significant botnet attack.


SUMMARY

The auxin production by the tip of the Avena coleoptile seems too high for a complete geotropic response (a curvature of 90°) under the present experimental conditions (weak red light).

It is sufficient for a maximum rate of geotropic curvature, but it is too low for a maximum rate of elongation.

The entrance of indoleacetic acid through the cuticle is 2500–3000 times as difficult as that via the cut surface of a decapitated Avena coleoptile.


In this era, higher education has entered a stage of rapid development, and the degree of popularization has continued to increase.In this case, a healthy and sustainable system is particularly important.The optimal weight equation of the second-level index was established by the projection tracking method, and the particle swarm algorithm was used to solve it and the projection tracking evaluation model was obtained[1]. In addition, a K-means clustering model was established, and three levels of evaluation criteria were obtained: general, good and excellent. In the end, an evaluation system that can assess the health of any country's higher education system has been formed. Then divide the country through three principles.


Let G be a complex Lie group, G_R a real form of G and X a G_R-stable domain of holomorphy in a complex G-manifold. If there is a G_R-invariant strictly plurisubharmonic function on X which has certain exhaustion properties, then we show that the extended domain G.X is also a domain of holomorphy. As an application we give a proof of the extended future tube conjecture. This is the assertion that G.X is a domain of holomorphy in the case where X is the N-fold product of the tube domain in C^4 over the positive light cone in R^4 and G is the connected complex Lorentz group acting diagonally.


Versatile and chemoselective preparation of substituted oxygenated heterocycles is described. Highly diastereoselective metal-catalyzed syntheses of trans-2,6- and cis-2,6-disubstituted tetrahydropyrans (THPs) are presented, along with an easy one-pot access to various ring size benzoannulated spiroketals.


Medicinal plants have a vital part in the health of both humans and animals. Siegesbeckia orientalis L. commonly known as St. Paul's Wort is a natural herb cultivated annually. It is a member of the Asteraceae family, which has been used for centuries to treat a variety of diseases. It can be found in Africa and Asia, as well as tropical, subtropical and temperate zones. Leprosy, syphilis, sores and gangrenous ulcers are all treated with it topically. This herb has a variety of biologically active and beneficial phytoconstituent elements that are thought to be accountable for the plant's health promoting properties. Sesquiterpene lactone, orientin, and diterpenes are bioactive chemical substances discovered in the aerial portions of S. orientalis. The presence of 3, 7-dimethyl quercetin in the whole plant has been documented. antihypertensive, anti-snake venom, immunosuppressive and antiproliferative properties have been observed. The whole plant has traditionally been used as a hypoglycemic agent. Phytochemical studies of the leaves of Siegesbeckia orientalisL revealed the presence of Siegesbeckia orientalis L. The present review highlights the medicinal uses, chemical constituents and pharmacological studies carried out with this plant.


The present study sought to address a number of these issues by investigating the relative contribution of demographic, health, social support and retirement related variables to a number of indices of well-being in a group of retired older adult males. The present study found the nature of retirement (forcedholuntary) was unrelated to well-being outcomes, number of years retired was negatively associated with well-being outcomes and prior job satisfaction was positively related to well-being outcomes. However, retirement variables contributed little to the overall explained variance in well-being indices. The major contributors to outcomes were diagnosis of a long-term illness or disability and satisfaction with social supports. Findings are discussed in relation to the literature and the provision of healthcare to older adults.


In order to overcome the limitation of small data samples in the prediction of spare parts consumption, which leads to low prediction accuracy, a prediction method of spare parts consumption quantity based on Extreme Learning Machine (ELM) was proposed. First, ELM algorithm was used to construct the prediction model of spare parts consumption quantity. Second, Aquila optimizer (AO) was introduced to optimize the ELM model performance and reduce the training time of the model. Finally, the superiority of the proposed method is verified by comparative experiments.


Recent case series of fatalities due to food-induced anaphylaxis indicate that more than 50% of deaths occur in the adolescent age group. Reactions to peanut, tree nuts, seafood and, increasingly, cow's milk account for these deaths.

![Figure][1]

Dr. Sicherer

The victims typically have


A technique is presented for the deformation of a given geometric model (to be called: the skin) by means of a polygonized skeleton model. It is based on recognition of similarities in shape between tehse models by means of a method called dual-connectivity search. The technique uses these similarities in shape to define a semantic relation between the skeleton and the skin such that a smooth deformation for the skin is generated, that resembles, and is derived from, a deformation of the skeleton.


This communication presents a new numerical method for the efficient solution of marching on in time (MOT)-based time domain integral equations (TDIE) for electromagnetic scattering from perfect electrically conducting (PEC) object with large smooth surfaces. A set of space-delayed temporal basis functions is proposed for the temporal discretization, and the curvilinear Rao-Wilson-Glisson (CRWG) basis functions for the spatial discretization. The space-delayed temporal basis functions are firstly extended to the time domain electric field integral equations (TDEFIE), then easily to the time domain combined field integral equations (TDCFIE). Numerical results demonstrate that the new method is stable and effective for the transient scattering problems from PEC objects with large smooth surfaces and a single plane wave incidence. A significant reduction of the number of spatial unknowns is achieved by using the space-delayed temporal basis functions.


Objective
To investigate the clinical efficacy and safety of low dose of urokinase combined with sodium ozagrel in treatment of progressive cerebral infarction patients.

Methods
From 2012 December to December 2014, 100 patients with progressive cerebral infarction were randomly divided into study group and control group with 50 cases in each group. The control group was treated with low molecular dextran and ginkgo leaf injection for treatment, and patients in the study group were treated with low dose urokinase and sodium ozagrel treatment. The neurological condition and adverse reactions of the two groups were detected, analyzed and compared.

Results
The total efficiency of the patients in study group (94.0%) was significantly higher than that in the control group (74.0%), and the differences were significant(P<0.05).

Conclusions
Low dose of urokinase combined with sodium ozagrel has good effect on progressive cerebral infarction patients, and with mild adverse reactions, so it is worthy of popularization and application.

Key words:
Urokinase; Sodium ozagrel; Progressive cerebral infarction


Effective patient provider communication skills can be difficult and time‐consuming to teach. Deliberate practice of communication skills through improvisational theatre exercises, with structured debriefing, can provide a solution for teaching patient‐centred communication skills in time‐limited settings. The objective of this study was to determine if improvisational theatre exercises improved the ratings of patient satisfaction and empathetic communication by standardised patients.


Biodiesel is well recognised as a potential substitute for diesel fuel due to its several benefits such as reliability, renewability, biodegradability, lubricity and lower pollutant emissions. Waste frying oil (WFO) is one of the low cost feedstock for biodiesel production. Several correlations are formulated to predict the heating value of vegetable oils/fats and their biodiesel. However, these correlations do not provide specific results for WFOs due to the fact that the cooking oils undergo several chemical reactions during the frying process and their physical-chemical properties and fatty acid composition are altered. These changes may affect the heating value. In this study, an empirical equation is developed to predict the heating value of WFO in terms of density, kinematic viscosity, iodine value, flash point, saponification value and acid value. At maximum deviation of 5% is observed between measured and correlated heating values. The heating value of WFO can be predicted precisely by using the correlation.


The study of soft QCD provides insight into the physics of hadronic cross-sections and hadron formation, while also enabling the validation and tuning of models of particle production and helping to describe and correct for pile-up or soft backgrounds to other processes. Soft QCD measurements in ATLAS [1] at the LHC mainly use the inner tracking detectors, sensitive to charged particles with pT > 100 MeV and |η| < 2.5, and the electromagnetic and hadronic calorimeters, sensitive to electrons, photons and hadrons that have ET greater than a few hundred MeV and |η| < 4.9. Most such measurements utilise Minimum Bias events: inclusive collisions which have been triggered by scintillators located in the region 2.1 < |η| < 3.8.


Subassemblage tests were conducted on the panel zone within steel beam-to-concrete filled steel tube (CFT) column moment connections made from high-strength material to investigate their elastoplastic behavior. The writers propose a nonlinear shear force-deformation model for the panel zone in beam-to-column CFT connections for predicting the elastoplastic behavior of the panel zones. The proposed model includes a superposed model based on a trilinear shear-deformation relationship for the steel tube superposed on one for the concrete core, and a simple model provided as a trilinear model having a yield strength point and an ultimate strength point for this panel zone, as a practical model for design. The writers also propose a method for evaluating load resistance, in which a new theoretical compression strut mechanism is utilized, taking into account the confinement of the tube flange. The results predicted using the superposed and the simple model are found to agree approximately with the experimental results up to a large shear deformation of 0.04 rad.


Amorphous Si0.68C0.32: H prepared by radio frequency glow discharge from a mixture of methane and silane was studied by means of the complementary techniques of electron energy‐loss spectroscopy and electron diffraction. The experimental results are consistent with Si and C forming a tetrahedral network with nearest neighbor distances similar to those in crystalline Si and crystalline SiC. There is evidence that the C atoms tend to be surrounded by four Si atoms rather than a random distribution of C and Si on the tetrahedral network.


SUMMARY The modified profile likelihood is a higher-order approximation to a conditional or a marginal likelihood, when either exists. The directed likelihood based on the modified profile likelihood is standard normal only to first order. In practice, however, it usually achieves most of the distributional improvement obtained by higher-order methods. This note elucidates this point with particular attention to models with many nuisance parameters.


This paper analyzed the background of making classical gardens in Anyang region,expounded the status and value of Anyang classical gardens in Chinese classical gardens system,elaborated the developmental vicissitude and artistic characteristics at every stage of classical gardens in Anyang region,and revealed the profound historical culture accumulation and landscape culture in Anyang region.


From the mathematical point of view, a cellular neural network (CNN) can be characterized by an array of identical nonlinear dynamical systems called cells (neurons) that are locally interconnected. Using the semi-discretization method, in the present talk we construct a discrete-time counterpart of a neutral-type CNN with time-varying delays and impulses. Sufficient conditions for the existence of periodic solutions of the discrete-time system thus obtained are found by using the continuation theorem of coincidence degree theory.


Numerous studies indicate that the language and literacy development of young children is highly contingent upon the construction of an enriching home literacy environment. Using sociocultural theory as a framework, in this article I explore how a bilingual child's language and literacy acquisition is embedded as a social practice within the home literacy environment of everyday life. Drawing on data from a qualitative case study involving parental interviews and home visits, the findings herein reveal that the physical and social context of the home literacy environment is vital in fostering bilingualism and biliteracy for a child with a minority home language background. Knowing the multiple advantages of bilingualism and biliteracy, this study yields evidence to suggest that parents can play an active and conscious role in ensuring the richness of the home literacy environment and its embedded social practices.


General theoretical relationships consistent with experiments are obtained for isotropic homogeneous incompressible-fluid turbulence governed by the Navier-Stokes flow equation. A key quantity that structures the turbulence is the 'broadness' B of the probability measure over velocity fields. Both the decay law and the longitudinal correlation function for small r appear as simple functions of this quasiconstant parameter B.


After its discovery over 200 years ago, oxygen was often used as a 'cure all' to treat a wide range of ailments, with little evidence of benefit other than testimonials. Following scientific studies confirming the mortality benefit of long-term continuous domiciliary oxygen therapy (LTOT) in patients with severely hypoxaemic chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) nearly 40 years ago, continuous oxygen used for 15 or more hours in the day became an accepted part of the management of patients with end-stage lung disease. Nonetheless, many unanswered questions remain about the use of home oxygen, including whether ambulatory oxygen is of benefit, how beneficial oxygen therapy is to patients with chronic lung diseases other than COPD and what are the most efficient and patient-friendly means of delivering oxygen in home and community settings. In this issue of Respirology, Gloeckl et al. provide us with an answer to an important question that should concern both clinicians and consumers, namely, whether a demand oxygen delivery system (or DODS) provides equivalent oxygenation to oxygen provided continuously in patients with COPD. Oxygen for ambulatory use is delivered in gaseous form via cylinders or as liquid oxygen via cylinders/auto-fill reservoirs. Liquid oxygen has, until recently, been used extensively in the United States and some parts of Europe; however, in Australia and the United Kingdom, there has been little use of liquid oxygen, likely due to its expense, and gaseous oxygen cylinders predominate. Portable oxygen concentrators are different devices again, working by selectively removing nitrogen from ambient air. They are well regarded by consumers, particularly with respect to their ergonomic characteristics; however, they are not the focus of Gloeckl et al.'s review. The use of DODS allows extension of the life of oxygen cylinders or reservoirs as the oxygen release is triggered only during inspiration, and the number of cylinders required per week is thereby reduced, decreasing costs and increasing convenience. In this meta-analysis of 10 trials of cross-over design, including 152 participants with COPD, largely fulfilling longterm oxygen criteria, mean oxygen saturation using a DODS was not significantly different from that achieved with continuous oxygen therapy—either at rest or with exertion, although it is observed that patients were tested during laboratory walk tests, not in the community during activities of daily living. It is important to also note that, although the authors described their study as a review of liquid oxygen-delivering devices, included for study were devices delivering gaseous as well as liquid oxygen, and it is not possible to ascertain from this analysis whether liquid or gaseous oxygen provided more consistent oxygenation when continuous delivery was compared with DODS. In the included studies, although mean oxygen saturations showed no significant differences in whether the flow was continuous or demand-delivered, there may be significant intra-individual variations in the included groups. The authors commented that significant desaturation with DODS was noted in some participants, which was attributed to ineffective triggering of the devices but could also reflect a range of other factors, including mouth breathing and altered respiratory rate. It is also important to note that only around 40% of the DODS examined in the studies reviewed are currently available, according to the authors, and that the use of portable concentrators is increasingly popular. Thus, the recommendation in guidelines to assess patients' requirements for ambulatory oxygen therapy using the device they will be using at home remains a key principle. The comparability between devices begs the question as to why oxygen is prescribed for ambulatory use in COPD. In patients who are significantly hypoxaemic and require long-term continuous oxygen therapy, the capacity to use a portable device to maintain oxygen levels during exercise/activity outside the home may slightly extend the duration of relative normoxaemia during the 24-h period; however, it is unclear whether such use adds significant additional mortality benefits (given that usage is at best 1–2 h per day and often less), and it may add burden without improving the quality of life or exercise capacity. Many patients (and their prescribing physicians) believe that ambulatory oxygen is prescribed to enable them to be more active and to relieve their breathlessness (as well relieving exertional hypoxaemia). However, many of the studies included in this meta-analysis and other similar studies show little or no correlation between improvement in oxygenation and improvements in exercise capacity or breathlessness. Demonstration of an increment in walk distance or prevention of desaturation during a laboratorybased walking test has not been shown to translate into tangible benefits in the few studies that have examined domiciliary ambulatory oxygen use with patientreported outcomes. Furthermore, although a randomized cross-over study of patients with desaturation on exertion by Eaton et al. showed a benefit in quality of life with ambulatory oxygen, this was not confirmed in a larger parallel-group randomized controlled trial by


Shortly after birth premature infants are highly susceptible to infection with the Fox type 3 attenuated poliovirus except in the presence of the highest titers of transplacentally acquired antibodies, and the majority of the infants, despite their immaturity, are able to respond to this antigenic stimulus by forming readily detectable titers of virus neutralizing antibodies.


An overview of a suite of Computer Aided Parallelisation Tools (CAPTools) is presented for the parallelisation of FORTRAN based structured mesh computational mechanics codes. In recognition of the limitations of automatic compilers, CAPTools is a semiautomatic, interactive system which embeds user supplied knowledge into its detailed dependence analysis. Applying the decomposition paradigm, then the addition of masks and communication calls yields generic parallel source code for a DMS.


A well-defined macrocyclic aryl-CuIII complex (1) readily reacts with a series of R–SH, Ar–SH, Ar–SeH, and (RO)2(O)–PH (R = alkyl) nucleophiles to quantitatively afford the corresponding aryl alkyl thioethers, biaryl thioethers, biaryl selenide, and aryl dialkyl phosphonates, respectively. Competition experiments using bifunctional substrates revealed the important impact of lower pKa values in order to discriminate between functional groups, although other influencing parameters such as steric effects have been identified. The catalytic version of these reactions is achieved using aryl bromide and aryl chloride model substrates, affording C–S, C–Se, and C–P coupling compounds in excellent to moderate yields. Low-temperature UV–vis and NMR monitoring of the reactions of complex 1 with a variety of nucleophiles support the formation of a ground-state 1–nucleophile adduct. A mechanistic proposal for reaction of 1 with S-nucleophiles involving key nucleophile deprotonation and aryl-nucleophile reductive elim...


The purpose of this phenomenological study is to describe the parenting practices experienced by graduates of masters and doctoral programs identified as having fostered their academic success. The research explores the following questions: How do graduates of masters and doctoral programs describe the parenting practices of their parents that they perceive to have fostered academic success; in what ways did participants' parents' parenting practices motivate graduates of masters and doctoral programs that fostered their academic success; how do graduates of masters and doctoral programs describe the parent-child communication they perceive to have fostered academic success; and which parenting practice or attitude of their parents do graduates of masters and doctoral programs describe as contributing most to fostering their academic success? A snowball sampling of twelve, 24-31 year old graduates of masters and doctoral programs were interviewed and participated in a focus group to describe the parenting practices they perceived to have fostered their academic success. Data was analyzed for significant statements and coded to identify recurring themes. The guiding theories for this study were Vygotsky's (1978) sociocultural learning theory, Bandura's (1977) observational learning theory, and the biblical model of parenting. Findings support these theories and confirm existing studies on parental involvement and achievement. Parent practices, parent motivators, parentchild interaction, and parent values were themes that emerged from the data, revealing the significance of reading, faith, parent-child interaction, and the parents' view of education. Recommendations for future research include replicating this study with a more diverse group of participants and examining the role faith plays in family culture.


Paper XIII Studies on the Influence of Radiostrontium upon the Blood and Bone Marrow Picture of Rabbits (The Radioactive Dust from the Nuclear Detonation) Author(s) Kikuchi, Takehiko; Wakisaka, Gyoichi; Matsuki, Takashi Citation Bulletin of the Institute for Chemical Research, Kyoto University (1954), 32(s): 112-119 Issue Date 1954-11 URL http://hdl.handle.net/2433/75478 Right Type Departmental Bulletin Paper Textversion publisher


In the last decade, scientists have begun to estimate the long-term probability of major earthquakes along the San Andreas fault. In 1985, the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) issued the first official U.S. government earthquake prediction, based on research along a heavily instrumented 25-kilometer section of the fault in sparsely populated central California. Known as the Parkfield segment, this section of the Sand Andreas had experienced its last big earthquake, a magnitude 6, in 1966. Estimated probabilities of major quakes along the entire San Andreas by a working group of California earthquake experts, using new geologic data and careful analysis of past earthquakes, are reported.


Purpose
The HAL syndrome is a sign of the pathology of analysts and commenters when they are dealing with the stakes and risks of AI, then stressing the omnipotence of technologies and expected performances, the autonomy of machine, the problems of human control, the anthropomorphism in handling usages. The perception of new uses, the capacity to appropriate the digital dimension, the very conception of applications, terminals and infrastructures are highly structured by shared vision of technologies that spread within society.

Design/methodology/approach
Analyzing fictional content such as "2001, a Space Odyssey" and the forward-thinking vision of AI it offers contribute to characterize the deep ambiguity of AI. HAL, the computer of 2001, helps us to understand that AI is just an umbrella term that covers very different configurations and systems. The power to inspire coming from HAL holds to its being part of an identifiable genre, fiction, a privileged container for projecting phantasms about future unknown domains.

Findings
The HAL syndrome leads us to relativize the omnipotence granted to technology and willingly circulated by both digital companies and transhumanist thinkers that advocate the use of science and technology – including IT – to enhance the human condition.

Originality/value
The HAL syndrome, as it continues to influence our minds, becomes the basis of the questioning, concerns and enthusiasms triggered by AI. Therefore, it calls for original reflection over the need and modalities of the regulation of the current technological dynamics.


Introduction: In this study, the neuroprotective effect of L-carnitine administered per os in a dose of 25 mg/kg – 800 mg/kg was evaluated. The effects of L-carnitine on changes in mitochondrial function were also studied. Materials and Methods: The neuroprotective effect and mitochondrial function were evaluated in a model of permanent focal ischemia in Wistar-line rats. L-carnitine was administered to rats orally for 72 hours from the moment of modeling ischemia. On the 4th day after the ischemia simulation, the change in the respiratory function of the mitochondria, the opening time of the mitochondrial permeability transition pore, the mitochondrial membrane potential, the concentration of intracellular calcium and the size of the cerebral necrosis zone were determined in rats' brain supernatant. Results: As a result, it was found that the administration of L-carnitine contributed to the restoration of mitochondrial function and a decrease in the size of the brain necrosis zone. At the same time, the administration of L-carnitine in low doses (25 mg/kg – 100 mg/kg) did not have a significant effect on the change in the concentration of intracellular calcium. It should be noted that an increase in the dose of L-carnitine from 200 mg/kg to 800 mg/kg was not accompanied by a significant increase in the therapeutic effect. Discussion: L-carnitine is one of the key biomolecules that directly affect metabolic processes. It is known that L-carnitine acts as a "shuttle" for long-chain fatty acids and thus can affect the alteration of mitochondrial function. However, the detailed nature of the mitochondriotropic action of L-carnitine has not been yet established. This was the focus of this study, which showed that the mitochondrion-oriented effect of L-carnitine is dose-dependent and expressed in the form of restoring the respiratory function of mitochondria, restoring the mitochondrial potential and increasing the latent opening time of the mitochondrial permeability transition pore, reducing the level of intracellular calcium. Conclusion: The study allowed us to expand our understanding of the L-carnitine neuroprotective effect and the effect of this compound on changes in mitochondrial function. Copyright Voronkov AV, Pozdnyakov DI. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC-BY 4.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited. Research Results in Pharmacology 6(4): 29–42 UDC: 616.8-085.2/.3 616-005.8 DOI 10.3897/rrpharmacology.6.57419


Abstract : Interest in the relationship between cognitions and behavior has drawn personality researchers and clinical psychologists to incorporate models of information processing into their own paradigms. In this study, the effect of presenting emotionally salient material preattentively - during shadowing - was examined, along with the interactive effects of personality variables. College students high in anxiety were found to hear sexually explicit messages imbedded in an unattended message, and as a result to experience difficulty in shadowing. Intrusion of the sexually explicit material and interference with shadowing did not occur for those low in anxiety. If subjects did not hear or were not presented with these messages in the unattended channel, personality variables still tended to predict subjects' judgments about these messages. In this one task, evidence was found for mediation of cognitions by emotional and personality factors at both attentive and preattentive levels of processing. These mediational effects were sometimes specific to level of processing, e.g., one emotional message received one response during the highly attentive processing involved in applying a judgment and quite a different response during preattentive processing.


We study pseudo-Riemannian invariant metrics on bicovariant bimodules over Hopf algebras. We clarify some properties of such metrics and prove that pseudo-Riemannian invariant metrics on a bicovariant bimodule and its cocycle deformations are in one to one correspondence.


We show that the Grothendieck-Witt and Witt groups of smooth complex cellular varieties can be identified with their topo- logical KO-groups. As an application, we deduce the values of the Witt groups of all irreducible hermitian symmetric spaces, including smooth complex quadrics, spinor varieties and symplectic Grassman- nians.


Gehler sees state identity formation—understood as a neutral, European, democratic republic uniquely situated between East and West—as a purely elite exercise rather than as a negotiation between constituents and their economic, cultural, or political representatives. (To be fair, he acknowledges the importance of industrial, agricultural, and trade union lobbies for Austrian policy making with respect to EFTA and later EU negotiations, but largely in passing). As a result, Gehler's commendably meticulous account takes place in ministerial offices, plenary sessions, and conversations between diplomatic elites (as recalled in memoirs or in interviews). As impressive as this book is, its intended audience is unclear. Only readers initiated into the intricacies of Austrian domestic affairs will appreciate underlying issues. Biographical sketches appear designated for those unfamiliar with Austrian history. The impressive annex of primary sources is not referenced in the text, and sources are not annotated. German-language sources are not translated, whereas the book itself has been. The translation is highly problematic—it is rendered almost entirely in the passive voice, there are problems with syntax, plurals, capitalization, and even outright inaccuracies. This results in what many will find a laborious reading experience, one that would have been smoother in the original German. In the end, the work would have benefited significantly from a clearer sense of audience, closer editorial supervision, and greater attention to translation. This is unfortunate; readers may find that the limits of presentation work at cross purposes to appreciation of the topic. Still, those interested in diplomatic history and high politics will find much of value in Gehler's volume, even with the challenges identified.


A high strength nickel chromium alloy (50Cr-50Ni-Nb alloy), commonly referred to as IN-657, is specifically used for components in furnaces which are fired by low grade fuel oils containing high levels of vanadium, sodium and sulphur. The purpose of this study is to experimentally investigate the effect of machining parameters on mach inabilit y n turning of Inconel 657. The considered parameters were cutting speed, feed and tool materi al. Cutting force components, tool flank wear and surface roughness were measured based on design of experiments, and then analysis of variance was performed. Experimental results show that tool wear of CBN tools is 50 %lower than that of carbide tools. The Tool material with percentage co ntribution of 48% and 56% is the main parameter that influences the cutting forces and th e flank wear, respectively. Also, the cutting speed with percentage contribution of 48% is the main par ameter that effects the surface roughness. The lowest surface roughness is attained by the cutting speed of 250 m/min and the feed of 0.05 mm/rev by the CBN tool.


An aryl sulfonium salt, by the chemical formula (I) is: Z represents a hydrogen atom or formula (II): wherein the substituents R


Your Dec 1 editorial states that in our study (Dec 1 p1342) there were difficulties in ensuring that all the target children received the planned number of doses of vitamin A and that unlike Sommer et al in Indonesia we did not analyze data according to those who actually received the capsules. The 1st statement is wrong and on the data analysis point the reverse is true. About 92% of the target children in Hyderabad and 93% of children in the Indonesian study received at least 1 massive dose of vitamin A so there was no difference between the 2 studies with respect to coverage. Unlike Sommer et al we published results according to the number of doses received (table III). Mortality was significantly lower in children who received 2 doses of vitamin A or placebo compared with those who had received 1 dose or no dose. It is surprising that your editorial missed this important observation in the Indian study. Sommers paper does not give mortality rates according to number of doses. We used a liquid preparation of vitamin A not capsules. In the Indonesia study there was no placebo control and this was a major drawback; sufficient care was not taken to eliminate the contact effect. The reduction in mortality observed in vitamin A program villages in Indonesia could be due to better health care to the community under study arising from the regular visits by fieldworkers; the control villages did not have the same visits by fieldworkers; the control villages did not have the same benefit. In the Indian study which unlike the Indonesian study was double-blind there was no room for any differences between the 2 groups in respect of visits or attention by fieldworkers. This may be why the study found no difference in mortality between the supplemented and the control children. Both your editorial and Sommers paper attribute the beneficial effect of vitamin A to a reduction in infection. However there is not evidence for this. Indeed large community studies including the Indonesian one have shown that vitamin A supplementation had no effect on morbidity. Sommer reported that vitamin A supplementation reduced mortality by 34% and suggested that this might be due to a reduction in infection. However subsequent analysis of the data by his Indonesian colleagues revealed that supplementation had no effect on the incidence or severity of disease. It is not clear how vitamin A could reduce mortality without affecting morbidity. The data available do not support the hypothesis that vitamin A status modulated morbidity and consequent mortality in children. (full text)


W. B. Saunders Company, medical publishers, are now established in their new building on West Washington Square—an ideal site right in the heart of Philadelphia's new publishing center. The remarkable success of this house and the rapid growth of their business, with the increased facilities which this growth demanded, necessitated removal to large quarters. They therefore erected a seven story building, housing all their departments under one roof. Constructed of reinforced concrete, the building is absolutely fireproof and equipped with every modern aid for the manufacture and distribution of medical books and for the comfort and convenience of their employees. A cordial invitation is extended the profession to inspect the new plant.


We report a novel method for significantly improving the efficiency of alkali atomic lasers. By pumping alkali-rare gas atomic pairs with a circularly polarized optical field, an increase in the efficiency of >50% has been demonstrated.


The European Open Science Cloud-Synergy (EOSC-Synergy) project delivers services that serve to expand the use of EOSC. One of these services, O3as, is being developed for scientists using chemistry-climate models to determine time series and eventually ozone trends for potential use in the quadrennial Global Assessment of Ozone Depletion, which will be published in 2022. A unified approach from a service like ours, which analyses results from a large number of different climate models, helps to harmonise the calculation of ozone trends efficiently and consistently. With O3as, publication-quality figures can be reproduced quickly and in a coherent way. This is done via a web application where users configure their queries to perform simple analyses. These queries are passed to the O3as service via an O3as REST API call. There, the O3as service processes the query and accesses the reduced dataset. To create a reduced dataset, regular tasks are executed on a high performance computer (HPC) to copy the primary data and perform data preparation (e.g. data reduction, standardisation and parameter unification). O3as uses EGI check-in (OIDC) to identify users and grant access to certain functionalities of the service, udocker (a tool to run Docker containers in multi-user space without root privileges) to perform data reduction in the HPC environment, and the Universitat Politècnica de València (UPV)  Infrastructure Manager to provision service resources (Kubernetes).


1. Mid-Century, 1848-1856 2. Italy, 1859-1861 3. American Interlude, 1861-67 4. The German Question, 1864-1871 5. Eastern Questions, 1871-78 6. Imperial Problems 7. After the Congress, 1878-86 8. Internal Difficulties 9. The Dual Alliance 10. The Sick Man, 1894-1900 11. Other Sick Men 12. Ex Africa Semper 13. Entente Cordiale, 1898-1905 14. Russia, 1904-07 15. Morocco and After, 1905-11 16. The Ottoman Succession, 1878-1913 17. Confused Signals 18. The Gadarene Rush, June-August 1914


The translation matrix for a one-dimension period containing an arbitrary number of isotropic layers and bianisotropic layers is given and analyzed. The conditions of bandgap existence are found in the analytical form. The translation matrix for M periods is obtained without multiplication of the translation matrix for a period.


Uganda is among the most bio-diverse countries and a competitive wildlife-based tourism destination in the world. Community-based tourism approach has been adopted in the country's conservation areas as a strategy to ensure that local communities benefit and support wildlife conservation. This chapter analyses local communities' perceptions of conservation and the benefits they get from tourism in Queen Elizabeth Conservation Area. The study reveals that local communities were concerned about loss of protected resources and support their conservation irrespective of the benefits they get from tourism in the conservation area. There is need to design conservation programmes that focus on local community-conservation-benefits nexus which take into consideration the perceived conservation values, strategies for benefit sharing and incorporation of indigenous knowledge systems.


ABSTRACT This article analyzed 26 countries' long-term relationship between the nominal exchange rate, international palm oil prices, and exports competitiveness from 2007 to 2015. Unit root tests, Kao-Padroni joint tests, a fully modifiable ordinary least squares, and a dynamic ordinary least squares model were used. It was found that an increase in the exchange rate favored palm oil exports' competitiveness as well as a decrease in its price. This study determines the competitiveness of crude and refined palm oil exports through non-conventional statistical analysis.


The antimutagenic activity of the water extract of Rehmannia glutinosa Liboschitz (RG) on the mutagenicity induced by 4-nitroquinoline 1-oxide (4-NQO), N-methyl-N'-nitro-N-nitrosoguanidine (MNNG), mitomycin C (MMC), and benzo(a)pyrene [B(a)P] were studied using the SOS Chromotest with Escherichia coli PQ37. The water extract of RG was separated into methanol soluble and methanol insoluble parts. The methanol soluble part exhibited higher inhibition effects than the methanol insoluble part against the mutagenic activities of five mutagens. Step-wise fractionation of methanol soluble part was done using methanol, ethyl acetate and water. Among these fractions, water fraction had the strongest inhibitory effects against the mutagenenicity of five model mutagens, showing inhibition, but the mutagenic potency was increased slightly by ethyl acetate fraction. The water fraction was further partitioned by sephadex LH-20 column chromtography, and 9 subfractions were obtained. The fraction III showed the strongest inhibitory effects with dose response against the mutagenic activities induced by all the tested chemical mutagens. The inhibition rates of fraction III at concentration of were 29%, 35%, 38%, 25% and 24% against 4-NQO, MNNG, MMC, AFBl and B(a)P, respectively. The fraction III also exhibited a strong bio-an-timutagenicity against 4-NQO and by showing more than 40% inhibition.


A station is not only the public space where socially diverse classes get together and cultural interchanges occur but also the personal and emotional space where the meeting and parting occur for each individual. Thus, it is necessity to consider this dual point from the beginning of the plan to make the simple, comfortable, intuitive and friendly environment for the users in the station. Also, it should be capable of active life style of moderner according to the change of the city environment. Furthermore, as a station is not just a single-purpose space anymore but the versatile space where fulfills the user's needs for the multi-function and the desire for diversity. As the station in these days opened 24 hours for users with the modern, commercial and cultural facilities, the interior design for a station needs to be designed to be easy to use, functional and able to vitalize the environment. In order to make a desirable interior environment in a station, first of all, it is required to grasp the characteristic of the space by analyzing the phenomena of an individual or a group act in a existing space formed by the interrelation between the human and the environment. To reduce the resistance against the new environment from the user, in other words, to increase the satisfaction, it is necessity to induce the behavior of the users to the desirable way toward to the new environment. Consequently, positive methodology with recognitive approach through cognitive psychology, spatial behavior research is required.


Dynamic Structure DEVS allows one to model systems that under go structural and behavioural changes. Dynamic Structure CD++ is a modelling and simulation tool that allows models to be changed at run time to facilitate accurate modelling of dynamic systems. We model and simulate two different examples of dynamic systems focusing on their dynamic behaviour using DS-CD++.


INTRODUCTION Scottish political economists, most notably Adam Smith, undoubtedly played a significant role in the development of economics. Adam Smith promoted the idea of thinking of the economy as a system, and drew attention to many of the questions which have exercised economists' minds ever since: questions of value and distribution, questions of economic growth, trade, taxation and money. But Adam Smith was by no means alone: other Scottish figures who made significant contributions in their own right, as well as influencing, sparring with, or being that, rather than considering each of these figures only individually, and subject to diverse influences, there is a commonality between them which justifies considering them as part of a Scottish tradition. To do so raises further questions, as to the nature of the tradition in relation to other traditions, and as to the longevity of the tradition. All of Macfie, Dow and Mair see the tradition extending long past the period of the Enlightenment, and discuss the Scottish tradition in relation to modern economics. The purpose of this article is to reconsider the question of the nature and existence of a Scottish tradition in political economy, in relation to modern economics. The discussion will draw on recent developments in economic methodology which offer insights not available to the earlier literature on the Scottish political economy tradition and whihc offer a new perspective on the significance of the Scottish approach. First we focus on the notion of tradition itself, in an attempt to clarify its meaning in relation to alternative concepts such as schools and paradigms. By specifying the nature of tradition more explicitly than in the earlier literature, the foundation is provided for the specification of the nature of the Scottish political economy tradition in the following section. Tradition is understood as referring to an approach to theorising and the relationship between theory and reality, rather than the content of theory as such. It is therefore not surprising that Scottish political economy should have inspired diverse theoretical developments. Those developments which can be seen as a continuation of the Scottish tradition differ in terms of theoretical content, but not in underlying approach to theorising; they all come under the umbrella of 'political economy'. Finally we reconsider the concept of tradition, and the Scottish tradition in particular, in the light of recent developments in methodology. In particular, there have been two significant developments each of …


Adequate iodine prophylaxis in women living in an iodine-deficiency region, startingfrom early pregnancy, positively affects its course and in their babies' neonatal period, somatic and psychoneurological status (increased the mean neuropsychological status by 4-5 scores, by Improving the parameters of cognitive functions). This necessitates the use of potassium iodine agents in a dose of at least 200 fig/day, as recommended by the WHO (2001), in all early pregnancy women living in an iodine-deficient region.


Static and dynamic frictional phenomena at the interface with random impurities are investigated in a two-chain model with incommensurate structure. Static frictional force is caused by the impurity pinning and/or by the pinning due to the regular potential, which is responsible for the breaking of analyticity transition for impurity-free cases. It is confirmed that the static frictional force is always finite in the presence of impurities, in contrast to the impurity-free system. The nature of impurity pinning is discussed in connection with that in density waves. The kinetic frictional force of a steady sliding state is also investigated numerically. The relationship between the sliding velocity dependence of the kinetic frictional force and the strength of impurity potential is discussed. {copyright} {ital 1997} {ital The American Physical Society}


Objective To investigate the relationship of hyperglycemia to trauma score,infection,MODS and survival time of the dead patients caused by trauma.Methods A total of 455 cases of dead trauma patients selected randomly from our hospital,were divided into two groups with normal blood glucose(n=57) or hyperglycemia(n=298).The RTC,GCS and the cases of infection and MODS as well as the survival time of two groups were recorded,and the coefficients of relationship between the blood glucose and the indexes of MODS in the dead trauma patients were calculated.Results The levels of RTC,GCS in the group with hyperglycemia were higher than that with normal blood glucose(P0.01).The rate of survival time more than 3 days in the group with hyperglycemia were higher than that with normal blood glucose(P0.01).The rates of infection and MODS in the group with hyperglycemia were higher than that with normal blood glucose(P0.01).There was positive correlation between the hyperglycemia and the indexes of MODS of dead trauma patients(P0.01).Conclusion The dead trauma patients with hyperglycemia have a long survival time and a high risk of infection and MODS,and the changes of fasting blood glucose may contribute to the diagnosis of MODS caused by trauma.The dead trauma patients with normal blood glucose have a low risk of MODS,but represents a serious wound degree and short survival time.The MODS may be the primary reason for the dead of trauma patients with hyperglycemia,and the massive haemorrhage and serious brain injured may be the primary reason for the dead of trauma patients with normal blood glucose.


Student Programs Like Aquatic Science Sampling Headquarters (SPLASSH) is a social network for investigating, sharing, and visualizing data involving water. SPLASSH is designed around the Meteor.js web framework, which builds upon Comet technology to push, or deliver content from the server to end-users for real-time interaction. SPLASSH first presented viewers with a parallax scrolling page with information about the project's mission. The second phase of SPLASSH plans to engage users by prompting them to share how they are using water. For example, users will post short status updates regarding their interaction with water, whether they are boating, swimming, fishing, or exploring. After the initial rollout, the third phase of SPLASSH will target two audiences, people curious about water and students and citizen scientists involved in water studies who are interested in sharing their data. SPLASSH will allow general users, students, and citizens to produce, consume, and visualize data while being recognized for their participation through gamification. The various forms of data postings will disseminate findings, network interested parties, and track trends in water use and information.


Effective influence of the drug Cerebral and its micro- and macrofractions on the mean lifespan and degenerative process dynamics of Drosophila melanogaster have been investigated. No dose--effect dependence was detected when different concentrations of Cerebral were used. The administration of Cerebral as a neuroactivating remedy combined with piracetam and verapamil was most effective, leading to an increase in the lifespan and a delay in the appearance of brain degenerative processes.


Coming into 1990s, unusual heavy floods happened in Manas River in the summer of 1996 and 1999. The floods lasted long and caused severe economic loss. Studying the floods' features will help the flood forecast and supervision. The efforts have been made to summarize the environment background by systematically analyzing the hydrologic and climatic data.


We compared the robustness of univariate and multivariate statistical procedures to control Type I error rates when the normality and homocedasticity assumptions were not fulfilled. The procedures we evaluated are the mixed model adjusted by means of the SAS Proc Mixed module, and Bootstrap-F approach, Brown–Forsythe multivariate approach, Welch–James multivariate approach, and Welch–James multivariate approach with robust estimators. The results suggest that the Kenward Roger, Brown–Forsythe, Welch–James, and Improved Generalized Aprroximate procedures satisfactorily kept Type I error rates within the nominal levels for both the main and interaction effects under most of the conditions assessed.


Production cars are designed to understeer and rarely do they oversteer. If a car could automatically compensate for an understeer/oversteer problem, the driver would enjoy nearly neutral steering under varying operating conditions. Four-wheel steering is a serious effort on the part of automotive design engineers to provide near-neutral steering. Also in situations like low speed cornering, vehicle parking and driving in city conditions with heavy traffic in tight spaces, driving would be very difficult due to vehicle's larger wheelbase and track width. Hence there is a requirement of a mechanism which result in less turning radius and it can be achieved by implementing four wheel steering mechanism instead of regular two wheel steering. In this project Maruti Suzuki 800 is considered as a benchmark vehicle. The main aim of this project is to turn the rear wheels out of phase to the front wheels. In order to achieve this, a mechanism which consists of two bevel gears and intermediate shaft which transmit 100% torque as well turns rear wheels in out of phase was developed. The mechanism was modelled using CATIA and the motion simulation was done using ADAMS. A physical prototype was realised. The prototype was tested for its cornering ability through constant radius test and was found 50% reduction in turning radius and the vehicle was operated at low speed of 10 kmph. Nomenclature L Wheelbase (mm) R Turning radius (mm) a2 Distance of CG from rear axle (mm) δif Inner angle of front tire (degree) δof Outer angle of front tire (degree) δir Inner angle of rear tire (degree) δif Outer angle of rear tire (degree) R1 Distance between instantaneous centre and the axis of the vehicle (mm) Wf Load on front axle (kg) W Total weight of car (kg) C1 Distance of instantaneous centre from front axle axis (mm) C2 Distance of instantaneous centre from rear axle axis (mm) wf Front track width (mm) wr Rear track width (mm) δ Total steering angle of the vehicle (degree) δi Total inner angle of the vehicle (degree) δo Total outer angle of the vehicle (degree)


The relation a true sentence bears to the world is often considered the central word-world connection, based perhaps on a relation of reference between the parts of the sentence and parts of the world. We'll start by reading a series of articles focused on a lively contemporary debate between those who accept this common-place, who regard the analysis of this robust correspondence between a true sentence and the world as an important philosophical problem, and those who reject it (at least as the correspondence theorists intend it), holding instead that 'truth' is a simple syntactic device with no underlying nature in need of investigation. Much of our focus will be on understanding the 'disquotational' or 'deflationary' theory stemming from the writings of W. V. Quine, Hartry Field and Stephen Leeds, but we'll also take a look at the 'minimalism' of Crispin Wright, Patricia Marino's 'modest correspondence theory', and some related issues in the philosophy of mathematics.


The article presents the results of the analysis of a part of the Vyazemsky Nature Park, according to the main taxation indicators. It has been established that this territory is significantly degraded during forestry operations and improper control, as evidenced by huge losses in the stock and quality of the stand.


An apparatus for heating and cooling a semiconductor device in a handler for testing the semiconductor device is provided. The apparatus includes: a thermal conductive mounting plate having a plurality of seating recesses on which the semiconductor devices are mounted; a thermal conductive heating plate installed adjacent to a lower side of the mounting plate and having at least one heater installed therein, for transferring heat to the mounting plate; a thermal conductive cooling plate installed adjacent to a lower side of the heating plate on a main body of the handler and having a flow groove such that a cooling fluid fed from an external cooling fluid supply source flows and then is exhausted to an outside; a heating control means for controlling heat irradiated from the heater of the heating plate to control heating temperature of the mounting plate; and a cooling control means for controlling amount of the cooling fluid fed to the cooling plate to control cooling temperature of the mounting plate.


Abstract Introduction: Application of in vitro-to-in vivo extrapolation to chemical safety assessment has gained significant attention in the past few years. Accurate prediction of hepatic metaboli...


The angular measure of musical intervals, traceable to Ptolemy (1 oct=180°; 2 oct=360°), was first determined correctly by Drobisch (1855) as 360° × log2 r, where r is the frequency ratio. Using this concept, Drobisch sketched an ascending tonal spiral (i.e., a helix) without giving its equation. Donkin (1874) provided an equation for a spiral on a plane surface, Baravallee and Tipple (1946) presented an equi‐angular spiral on a plane surface to demonstrate Mercator's equal temperament of 53. Elaborating upon Euler's (1739) binary‐log measure of musical intervals (log2 r) for rotational angles, we propose a helix with the equation f201.63=261.63×2ω/2π=261.63×e0.09315(ω/2π) to represent, reference middle C, the growth of frequency in the octave system as a function of the rotational angle ω/2π in radians. Applications of this equation to the invariances of the relative pitch sense (e.g., MAJOR THIRD+MINOR THIRD=PERFECT FIFTH) are discussed. Furthermore, the model is made descriptive for orientation by the ...


Ultra wideband (UWB) systems are characterized by the transmission of very low power spectral density signals using bandwidths from 500 MHz up to several GHz and propagating through dense multipath channels. Digital communications using UWB impulse radio concern, among others, high data rate transmissions, for instance between 1 Mbps and 1 Gbps. The aim of this analysis is to define a generic UWB model, in terms of signal shape, modulation scheme and channel representation. Then, this model is used to specify and evaluate a brand-new principle of UWB receiver based on a mono band complex processing and maximum ratio combining.


The skin is the external component of the body that hides/covers various biological organs, muscles, and countless body components. According to the study, the leading cause of skin cancer in the body is the body's exposure to ultraviolet radiation (UV). The skin has multiple layers, but cancer starts in two of them: the epidermis and the dermis. The most prevalent indicators are changes in your skin or the emergence of a mole in multiple spots on your skin. The sole strategy to avoid cancer is to avoid UV rays as much as possible, which would prevent your skin from getting into touch with the cancer. Statistics suggest that instances of this cancer have not only risen, but are growing quickly, as the ozone layer degrades, leading it to no longer emit hazardous light and, as a consequence, our skin comes into touch with it. Many various approaches like machine learning, deep learning and transfer learning are being employed for the following issue. The many approaches employed include naive bayes, logistic regression, random forest, decision tree, artificial neural network and convolutional neural network. The study attempts to apply the deep learning techniques and transfer learning methods to offer a result to indicate which performs better for the following task.


Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Corona Virus -2 (SARS-CoV-2), puzzled the whole world with its diverse, unique clinical spectrum, and unprecedented transmission dynamics. The disease caused by this virus is named as Coronavirus disease-19 (COVID-19), reported first time in Wuhan, China, in December 2019. It had spread to almost all countries of the world disrupting the health and economy of many countries. It was the recent zoonotic spillover disease reported in humans from the Coronavirus group, without proper medicine and non-existence of prior immunity, this disease posed a challenge to both the scientific and medical fraternity. The search for safe, effective drugs to treat the disease and vaccines against the causative agent SARS- CoV-2 had begun all over the world with public and private partnerships. Many countries are part of the solidarity trail for identifying the effective drugs, clinical trials and vaccines for this global pandemic. Here in this review, we are focussing on the different vaccine production platforms being used in the preparation of vaccines against SARS-CoV-2, their current status and prospects. Vaccine production technology significantly advanced in recent times by imbibing the cutting edge technologies such as nucleic acid based technologies such as DNA/RNA/Codon deoptimization and availability of safe and effective viral vectors produced through rDNA technology. The availability of complete genome sequence of SARS-CoV-2, geared up for the production of vaccine candidates based on these new vaccine production platforms, and in a record time of 4-5 months, these vaccine candidates entered in human clinical trials for the evaluation of safety and efficacy. Prior knowledge on SARS and MERS-CoV's structural and genomic features, vaccine production platforms used in making vaccines against them greatly augmented in the SARS-CoV-2 vaccine efforts. As per World Health Organization (WHO) a total of202 vaccine candidates are under developing for SARS-CoV-2, among them 47 entered in clinical trials and 156 are in the preclinical stage. These vaccines are prepared by an amalgamation of both new and old traditional vaccine production platforms such as nucleic acid base platforms, inactivated, live attenuated, recombinant viral vectors, protein and peptide-based vaccines. The success of these vaccine candidates lies in the generation of effective immune response for SARS-CoV-2 across all age groups and people with co-morbidities. We briefly summarize the different strategies of SARS-CoV-2 vaccine production and their prospects with an emphasis on different routes of administration and added a basic mathematical model depicting the importance of vaccination for any pandemic.


An approach for evaluation of apiaries' location in flat-hilly regions by using a mathematical model is presented. The study was conducted in 2021 based on the assessment of the existing bee forage resources as Black locust (Robinia pseudoacacia), Linden (Tilia cordata), Sunflower (Helianthus annuus), Rapeseed (Brassica napus), Lavender (Lavandula) and the number of bee colonies kept in three different regions in the North-eastern part of Bulgaria. We use the mathematical model designed to estimate the potential location where hives can be placed, comparable to a coefficient characterizing the extent to which this place is desired to be created. The evaluation coefficient named ρi , preferably in a given place, the sum of the "values" of all feeding places in relation to the given apiary place are taken in consideration. Possible solutions are illustrated with numerical values giving assessment of potential distribution sites for cases without overpopulation of the area with bee colonies and for areas with overpopulation. The effectiveness of the proposed approach is reported in two directions. On the one hand, the benefit for beekeepers in their selection of suitable places for apiaries guaranteeing optimal nutrition of bee colonies. The correct assessment of the location will provide pollen and nectar for bees, reduction of harmful effects of overpopulation with bee colonies and high yields of bee products. On the other hand, the benefit for farmers growing flowering agricultural crops in the respective area is expressed in guaranteeing better pollination of crops, which is a prerequisite for higher yields.


Abstract Background: Flower growers have high potential for exposures to pesticides. Occupational factors, such as tasks performed, the production method (organic or conventional), the use of personal protective equipment (PPE), and workplace characteristics influence the intensity of pesticide exposure. Objective: To evaluate occupational characteristics affecting urinary concentration of dialkylphosphate (DAP) metabolites of organophosphate pesticides among a group of Mexican floricultural workers. Methods: A questionnaire was administered to 117 workers who also provided a first morning urine sample. According to tasks performed and the production methods, pesticide contact was defined as low, medium, or high. PPE use was categorized as acceptable, fairly acceptable, and unacceptable. Urinary concentration of DAP metabolites were determined using gas–liquid chromatography. Association between occupational characteristics and DAP urinary concentrations was assessed by means of linear regression models. Results: After adjusting for potential confounders, the workers in the medium and high contact categories had significantly higher DAP concentrations than those in the low contact category (β: 0.3, CI 95%: 0.1–0.5). Greenhouse workers had greater DAP concentrations than outdoors workers (β: 0.3, CI 95%: 0.1–0.5). Compared with non-acceptable use of PPE, acceptable use of PPE was associated with lower DAP concentrations (β: −0.4, CI 95% −0.6 to −0.1). Conclusion: Improved safety training is needed for correct PPE usage, especially among flower growers who use conventional pest control methods and who work in a greenhouse environment.


This paper reports the results of direct observation with high temporal and spatial resolution of the behavior of liquid metal under the plasma of the cathode spot of low-current vacuum arcs. New data have been obtained on the interplay between the formation of liquid-metal microstructures and the motion of the cathode spot.


and social issues related to adjustable autonomy and its applications. Second, Dimensions of Adjustable Autonomy discussed the varied dimensions and interpretations of adjustable autonomy, seeking a core definition and theme statement. Third, Future Directions discussed the future research directions for adjustable autonomy systems, including challenge problems, practical applications, and metrics and evaluation. Agents with Adjustable Autonomy


According to the equivalent continuum method and coordinates transformation, the anisotropic properties of the stiffness and the strength of planer lattice grid composites were researched. Anisotropic properties of various lattice grid composites with three to five stacks of struts were discussed and compared. The criteria of stiffness isotropy and orthotropy were concluded. Ordinarily, the grid stiffness is anisotropic. But with two or four symmetries the lattice is orthotropic and quasi-isotropic with at least six symmetries. The initial yield or brittle failure strength of typical lattice grid compoaites was studied and compared. The strength of the lattice grid composite is always anisotropic, even if their stiffness is quasi-isotropic. The degree of anisotropy of the strength is normally stronger than the stiffness anisotropy. With more symmetries, more bar rows and more uniform equivalent rigidities of struts, the variation of the strength gets smaller.


A new compact microstrip broadband filter based on the multimode stub-loaded resonator is investigated. A third-order bandpass response can be realised by properly incorporating the first three resonator modes of the proposed resonator at distant frequencies into the passband. Thus, the filter can be designed with only one resonator, resulting in an extremely small size. For demonstration, a compact broadband filter with a size of 0.5λ g by 0.07λ g has been designed and fabricated. Good agreement is achieved between simulation and measurement.


In this article, the authors present the formation of the I-Center project, the goal of which is the creation of a computer science service platform, ensuring the effective operation of scientific and research work in the field of metal forming through the consolidation and realization of the research goals of the Metal Forming Institute in Poznan. The main stages of the project's realization are discussed. Also presented, are the forecasted results of the I-Center project (ICT), which will arise in the areas of scientific and research and development work, organizational and decision-making structures, management, the works of research teams, the actions of the center of coordination and monitoring of research projects, and the ICT integrationservice structure as well as in the field of scientific and research cooperation and the exchange of knowledge. Słowa kluczowe: Program Operacyjny Innowacyjna Gospodarka, zarządzanie infrastrukturą badawczą, innowacyjność, zarządzanie procesami badawczymi, infrastruktura informatyczna


Cut roses grown hydroponically in greenhouses produce flowers year-round in flushes, indicating changes in plant biomass during each flowering cycle. Due to this cyclical nature of productivity, it is difficult to optimize the supply of nutrients to plants in this system. To address these concerns, this research aimed to quantify the nutrient uptake of cut roses during a flowering cycle, identify the relationship between nutrient uptake and plant growth, and predict nutrient uptake potential using the nutrient uptake model developed based on Michaelis-Menten function. Data on nutrient uptake rate for NO3-N, NH4-N, P, K, Ca and Mg and on plant growth responses corresponding to nutrient concentration were collected weekly from selfrooted, one-year old Rosa hybrida 'Vital' plants grown aero-hydroponically in modified Hoagland solutions of six nutrient solution concentrations: 0.7, 0.8, 1.4, 1.6, 2.1, and 2.4 EC. For all macronutrients, nutrient absorption during a flowering cycle increased as solution concentration increased. Uptake rate for most macronutrients shifted in time, declining in the middle of flowering cycle when new shoots appear and then increasing as stems reach harvestable maturity. The model coefficients that were estimated based on nutrient uptake data fitted well with Michaelis-Menten function. This result indicated that nutrient uptake potential of cut roses grown hydroponically could be predicted by the new nutrient uptake model developed based on modified Michaelis-Menten function. The model predicted highest uptake potential (per unit root surface area and day) for NO3-N at 17.07 mmol m day, followed by K (12.67 mmol m day), NH4-N (12.22 mmol m day), Ca (4.39 mmol m day), P (3.12 mmol m day), and Mg (1.57 mmol m day). INTRODUCTION Intensive management practices for field, greenhouse, and nursery crops generally involve the use of considerable amount of fertilizers. Excessive fertilizer application contributes to environmental loads as pollution run-off. Soilless plant growth systems are widely used to reduce irrigation water and fertilizers usage. Cut roses grown hydroponically in greenhouses produce flowers year-round in flushes. This production system indicates changes in biomass production of rose plants during each flowering cycle. Due to this cyclical nature of productivity, it is difficult to optimize the supply of nutrients to the plants using this system. In general, cut rose plant decreases its nutrient uptake rate following a previous harvest (initiation of a new cycle) until the minimum absorption rates are reached as new flower shoots begin to elongate rapidly, followed by increased uptake rates until flower shoots reach commercial maturity (Cabrera et al., 1995). Lorenzo et al. (2000) reported a similar pattern for NO3, PO4, and K. Rose plants also exhibit daily patterns of NO3 uptake (Bougoul et al., 2000). In the mathematical model developed by Silberbush and Lieth (2004) to predict NO3 and K uptake of hydroponically grown 'Kardinal' cut roses, a logistic equation describes the growth of flower shoots while the root parts are assumed to have constant dry weight. Proc. XXVII IHC-S5 Ornamentals, Now! Ed.-in-Chief: R.A. Criley Acta Hort. 766, ISHS 2008 46 Most of the work done on nutrient uptake of cut roses has focused largely on nitrate and information on uptake of the other essential nutrients is not available. Understanding the dynamics of year-round nutrient uptake over flowering cycles of roses in hydroponic systems will improve nutrient recycling systems, minimize environmental impacts, and sustain cut roses productivity and quality. The objective of this research was to quantify the uptake rate of essential nutrients during a flowering cycle, identify the relationship between nutrient uptake and plant growth, and predict nutrient uptake potential with the Michaelis-Menten function as a nutrient uptake model. MATERIALS AND METHODS Data Collection and Analysis Self-rooted, three-month old 'Vital' rose plants were established in 25-L containers with solution recycling and air bubbling systems. At the start of the experiment, primary flowering shoots and fine roots in each plant were trimmed, retaining four five-leaflet leaves with about 0.035 m leaf area. The experimental set-up was placed in a greenhouse with controlled environment maintained at 25/18°C as day/night temperature and at 14hour photoperiod through supplemental lighting of about PAR 700 μmol m s. Plant nutrient solutions consisted of six levels of nutrient concentrations combined with three strength levels for both recycling type and standard (non-recycling) type, with modified Hoagland solution (Hoagland and Arnon, 1950). The six levels of nutrient solution concentration were adjusted as 0.7, 0.8, 1.4, 1.6, 2.1, and 2.4 EC, as electrical conductivities of total nutrient ions. Ion compositions in nutrient solutions are shown in Table 1. Nutrient solutions were replaced every 7 days, and de-ionized water was added to maintain volume. After each nutrient solution replacement, one group of eight plants was selected for destructive sampling. Root length and mean radius were measured using Tennant's (1975) line intersect method. Root surface area was calculated assuming the roots to be cylindrical (Silberbush and Lieth, 2004). At the same time, nutrient solution samples were taken and analyzed to determine macronutrient uptake rates per plant. The following methods of analysis were employed: NO3-N and NH4-N by the diffusion conductivity method; K, Ca and Mg by flame emission with an ion absorption spectrophotometer; and P by the stannous chloride colorimetric method with a Brinkman PL800 colorimeter. Modeling The influx potential of the six macronutrients into the roots was obtained by fitting estimated coefficients to a Michaelis-Menten function (Barber, 1995). The uptake rate for a nutrient through the root surfaces, I, is modeled as a function of the nutrient concentration C in the growth medium, according to Michaelis-Menten function: Imax (CCm) I (C) = Km + (CCm) (1) Where Imax, Km and Cm are coefficients. Imax is the maximum ion influx, Km is Michaelis constant as ion concentration at 1/2 Imax, and Cm is minimum concentration where influx becomes operational. To use this function and to predict nutrient uptake potential of cut roses corresponding to nutrient concentration, plant root surface area was calculated and model coefficients were estimated by SAS NLIN procedure for non-linear regression analysis using macronutrient absorption data (Version 8.02, SAS Institute Inc., Cary, NC, USA).


The quiet zone, a term coined by Jere Mead in 1970 to reference small conducting airways in the lung, denotes the fact that disease can accumulate in this anatomical region while remaining clinically silent and undetectable by either patients or their clinicians (1). Although the role played by loss of small airways in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease is widely recognized, the importance of these airways in idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) is less well appreciated. The current pathogenic paradigm in IPF postulates that the disease arises because of premature senescence of alveolar epithelial cells following repetitive alveolar injury in genetically susceptible individuals (2). This gives rise to an aberrant wound healing response that favors accumulation of extracellular matrix and abnormal remodeling of the lung. The alveolus and the alveolar epithelium have long been center stage in the search for the initial site of injury in IPF. Ultrastructural studies consistently report damage, necrosis, and apoptosis of alveolar epithelial cells with associated denudation of the basement membrane (3). In animal models, the selective induction of apoptosis of type II alveolar epithelial cells triggers the development of fibrosis (4). Similarly, interfering with reepithelialization of the alveolus after acute lung injury results in an exaggerated fibrotic response (5). Clinically, the absence of airflow obstruction in IPF has been taken to infer that the disease is confined to the alveolus. More recent data have called into question the primacy of alveolar injury and disruption of the alveolar epithelium as the initial lesion of IPF. Genetic studies have identified a gain-of-function polymorphism in the promotor region of the gene for MUC5B as the most commonly occurring risk allele for IPF (6). MUC5B encodes a mucin expressed by the epithelium lining respiratory bronchioles. Although the mechanism by which excessive mucin production gives rise to IPF is unknown, it has been proposed that that accumulation in distal respiratory bronchioles leads to retention of injurious particles, resulting in focal and persistent injury, repair, and regeneration at the bronchoalveolar junction (7). Further evidence for a role of small airways in IPF pathogenesis comes from studies of single-cell transcriptomics performed on explant lungs (8). These have shownmarked changes in the expression profile of numerous epithelial cell types in the fibrotic lung in comparison to healthy control lungs and identification of two unique Club-cell populations. A recent study by Verleden and colleagues used a variety of techniques to make a detailed assessment of the full bronchial tree in IPF explant lungs (9). The authors demonstrated that small airways ,2 mm in diameter show increased visibility owing to airway wall thickening and distortion of the airway lumen. At the same time, micro–computed tomography (CT) demonstrated a 60% reduction in terminal bronchioles in IPF lungs compared with healthy control lungs. This reduction was equally evident in regions of minimal fibrosis and areas of dense established fibrosis. The extent of small airway loss was not affected by pack-year smoking history. In the current issue of the Journal, Ikezoe and colleagues (pp. 1048–1059) publish a further exploration of the relationship between small airway loss and fibrosis in IPF (10). Using microCT and by undertaking a systematic uniform random sampling approach within whole explant lungs, the authors were able to assess the full spectrum of disease in lungs from donors with IPF. In keeping with the prior study, Ikezoe and colleagues demonstrate that in IPF lungs compared with age-matched controls, numbers of terminal bronchioles and respiratory transitional bronchioles are significantly reduced, and terminal bronchiole airway walls thickened even in regions lacking evidence of parenchymal fibrosis. In regions of fibrosis, the terminal bronchioles have thicker walls and dilated and distorted lumens, which lead to the formation of honeycomb cysts. Although the study was performed in end-stage explant lungs, the authors took advantage of the heterogeneity of fibrosis in IPF to postulate that small airway loss occurs early in the evolution of IPF and that it appears to precede the development of fibrosis. The study does have a number of limitations, not least of which is that the authors had to rely on explant lungs to conduct their assessment of IPF lung tissue. This is understandable given that adequate samples of lung tissue are not generally available in any circumstance apart from after lung transplant. The number of lungs studied was small, but the authors ensured, as far as possible, that these were well matched. A lack of longitudinal sampling (again challenging given the techniques involved) raises the possibility that a loss of small airways in early life may predispose to IPF development rather than necessarily representing a step in the pathogenesis of the disease. It is to be hoped that technological improvements in the resolution of CT imaging will enable these questions to be addressed in the future. Ikezoe and coworkers are to be congratulated on providing robust evidence for an important role of the small airways in the earliest stages of the development of IPF (10). Their study has a This article is open access and distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial No Derivatives License 4.0. For commercial usage and reprints, please e-mail Diane Gern.


A wet sieving technique for the aggregate analysis of soils is descriptionbed. The apparatus used is simple and inexpensive and can be readily constructed in most laboratories. The results obtained by this method are highly reproducible.


The article highlights the results of the correlation analysis between the levels of moral competence measured with the help of the MCT (Moral Competence Test) of G. Lind and statements of the Questionnaire of Properties and State of Conscience (QPSC) of V. Marenov through the example of series of results from Russia and Georgia. Four samples are presented in the study: Georgians up to 25 years, Georgians who are older than 25, Russians up to 25 years age and Russians who are older than 25. In the course of the study there were revealed the connections between the moral competence, religiousness, and emotional relations in the family. The obtained results discovered significant differences in the level of moral competence among the representatives of Russian and Georgian cultures, as well as different systems of correlation. Thus, the highest level of moral competence was traced in the sample of Russian students. A significant difference was found in the level of moral competence in the generation of Georgians up to 25 and older than this age. It can be assumed that significant increase of moral competence among the younger generation of Georgians as compared with the older one could witness the decrease of the level of religiousness, and the increase of moral reflection. The results of the carried out analysis presented additional hypothesis for further study; they will be tested with regard to the bigger sample. The present data will be compared with the results of Sh. Schwartz Questionnaire and the L. Kohlberg dilemma.