Juvenile Justice Act 2000 is the only beneficial legislation for the children in India, but there are various aspects of it in terms of its implementation; such as the machineries, the professionals involved in it, which play an important role in its implementation. The main objective is to provide a protective umbrella for all children in difficult circumstances. The Act covers all types of children below the age of 18 years, and further support to children till the age of 21 years. Through this Act, we consolidate and amend the law relating to juveniles in conflict with law and children in need of care and protection, by providing for proper care, protection and treatment by catering to their development needs, and by adopting a child-friendly approach in the adjudication and disposition of matters in the best interest of children and for their ultimate rehabilitation and for matters connected therewith or incidental thereto. Therefore the training of the police personnel becomes very important. This paper is an effort to bring about the role of police in protection of child and the hurdles faced by them and to draw out some recommendation to find a solution to the problems in the administration of child laws.


A mask-programmable artificial neural network (ANN) chip architecture, the tile-based ANN chip assembly, test and simulation results, and use it in signal processing systems are presented. The ANN chip architecture itself is a critical portion of the development. It is presented as a tool, in an abstract fashion, and the system design it makes possible and the process by which algorithms are converted to silicon (chip floorplan, tiling, etc.) are emphasized.<<ETX>>


For a large sum of data collected and stored continually, it is more and more necessary to mine association rules from database, and the Apriori algorithm of association rules mining is the most classical algorithm of database mining and is widely used. However, Apriori algorithm has some disadvantages such as low efficiency of candidate item sets and scanning data frequently. Support and confidence are not enough to filter useless association rules. To recover the deficiencies, this paper puts forward an improved Apriori algorithm based on marked transaction compression, which optimizes the parameters of association rules (sup>1/2). Experiments show that this algorithm has much better capability than the original Apriori algorithm. After the second iteration of the algorithm, the candidate sets are reduced to 50%, the number of comparisons is reduced according to the tags, and the computational complexity of generating frequent item sets is decreased to 80%.


In the article the author's approach to the research of the relation of youth to own age is realized. The results of research reflecting specificity of a parity "internal" and «external problems» of the youth and types of the relation to own age are presented. The analysis of the relation to own age shows a measure and quality of comprehension by the young man of the place in the system of standards and priorities of group, referential to it on age and value criteria.


This paper highlights the design, electromagnetic analysis, system modelling, set‐up fabrication, and finally control of an attraction type lab developed levitation prototype. The objectives of this work are parameters' evaluation, for example, force, inductance, and current‐air‐gap characteristics using a novel analytical model, electromagnetic results, and practical experiments. The FE model has been built using standard packages. A novel permeance function‐based approach is developed for the analytical evaluation of parameters. These are verified by actual experiments too with excellent correlation between the sets of results. Agreement between analytical and practical values also show that the modelling is perfect and reliable which further leads to accurate design, fabrication, and implementation of the controller. A simple but reliable controller has been designed, analyzed, and implemented. The performances have been significantly improved. Finally, the steel object has been successfully and steadily levitated in robust condition.


Abstract Guided by Chicana/Latina scholars that have written explicitly about the methodology of feminista pláticas, this article positions feminista pláticas as a methodological disruption in educational research. We argue that embodied knowledge is a necessary part of a feminista plática methodology; it centers our bodymindspirit and the power of vulnerability in the research process. Through a discussion of emotions, language, and the relationship between feminista pláticas and testimonio, we illustrate how this methodology can be used to heal from and resist traditional research approaches that are rooted in whiteness, colonial logics, and white supremacy. A feminista plática methodology creates a space where we can be our most authentic selves and work with and for our collaborators. We conclude with a discussion on positionality and areas that merit further examination in a feminista plática methodology.


Some researches show that FIFO method and LIFO method will produce different assets and earnings reports,and in the tax management and earnings management,LIFO are likely to cause tax savings planning and LIFO liquidation.However,from test logic point of view,the two methods produce different effects,one is characterized as "pre-value" and another is characterized as "value of precipitation".So LIFO can inform capital information much better.When both methods are used,dilemma will be taken place in many aspects.Theoretical analysis and empirical evidences show that under cost constraint,the effects of LIFO on the tax savings plan and liquidation will not happen in the practices,which means current accounting standards that cancel LIFO method still can not achieve the optimal equilibrium.


Based on the procedure proposed by L. V. Keldysh, the ionization rate is calculated for a two-band cosine model of the energy structure of a crystal corresponding to the strong-coupling approximation. The main difference from earlier papers is that it directly takes into account the contribution of Bragg reflections of electrons at the boundaries of the Brillouin zone due to the specific choice of the dispersion relation. As a result of the calculation, a singularity is obtained on the intensity dependence of the ionization rate, which occurs at intensities around 10 TW/cm2 for broad-band insulator crystals. The meaning and physical causes of this singularity are analyzed, as well as the degree to which it is affected by the mathematical procedure used for the calculation.


We study the capture and subsequent annihilation of inelastic dark matter (DM) in the Sun, placing constraints on the DM-nucleon scattering cross section from the null result of the IceCube neutrino telescope. We then compare such constraints with exclusion limits on the same cross section that we derive from XENON1T, PICO and CRESST results. We calculate the cross section for inelastic DM-nucleon scattering within an extension of the effective theory of DM-nucleon interactions which applies to the case of inelastic DM models characterised by a mass splitting between the incoming and outgoing DM particle. We find that for values of the mass splitting parameter larger than about 200 keV, neutrino telescopes place limits on the DM-nucleon scattering cross section which are stronger than the ones from current DM direct detection experiments. The exact mass splitting value for which this occurs depends on whether DM thermalises in the Sun or not. This result applies to all DM-nucleon interactions that generate DM-nucleus scattering cross sections which are independent of the nuclear spin, including the "canonical" spin-independent interaction. We explicitly perform our calculations for a DM candidate with mass of 1 TeV, but our conclusions qualitatively also apply to different masses. Furthermore, we find that exclusion limits from IceCube on the coupling constants of this family of spin-independent interactions are more stringent than the ones from a (hypothetical) reanalysis of XENON1T data based on an extended signal region in nuclear recoil energy. Our results should be taken into account in global analyses of inelastic DM models.


The French sociology of professions has focused mainly on professional groups organized around a common status, whether it be in the public sector (civil servants) or in private practice ("les cadres"). Yet, another dimension of professionalism has been seldom explored : the fact that professionals belong to "disciplinary communities", sharing the same training and the same expert knowledge. This article draws on an empirical case, the professionalization of psychology in France between 1945 and 1985, to explore the tensions between these two conflicting logics, potentially at work in any professionalization process. The crystallization of this profession into a variety of statuses within the state administration has long hindered a "horizontal" development of the psychological profession, each field of practice trying to advance its own interests through separate professional organizations. The adoption of a law protecting the title 'psychologist' in 1985 was an attempt to unify the statuses of psychologists in all fields of practice, but eventually failed, since derogatory statuses were granted to certain categories of psychologists employed in the public sector. This situation, however, might change in the future, under the pressure of European regulations that seem to push towards a greater homogeneity within the professions.


The Filipino global diaspora has precipitated the circulation of embodied modesof identification and belonging. This paper focuses on the experiences of Filipinoyoung people who were born and/or raised abroad, and who have returned to thePhilippines to seek fame and economic mobility in the entertainment industry.These migrant hopefuls, unlike older counterparts, enact the material tensionsand semantic contradictions that form part of popular discourse around lifeabroad. As such, institutional media practices and mass audience perceptionsmirror such conditions and create shifting systems of valuation around suchthings as skin color, accent, and bodily comportment. To respond and conformto these demands, these migrant returnees refashion cultural citizenship bydeploying performances of locality and authenticity with varying successes. Suchcorporeal revisions enable the displacement of attachments to and affinities forvarious expressions of home, citizenship, and selfhood. The main contention ofthis ethnographic and media study is that these experiences constitute what isbeing called an "aesthetics of mobility" where the shifts and travels of meaningsand value inherent among this group return migrants are embodied in ways thatunravel notions of class, gender, race and national belonging. The experiences ofthis youth group provide a distinctive narrative about the travails and travel ofbodies and generations of modern Filipinos in the world.


Gill PJ, Goldacre MJ, Mant D, et al. Increase in emergency admissions to hospital for children aged under 15 in England, 1999–2010: national database analysis (Arch Dis Child 2013;98:328– 34). A numeric error was introduced by the journal's production team. In the Results, it reads: "The total number of admissions for primary-care-sensitive conditions rose 18% (from 172532 to 335038; from 19 to 23 per 1000)." The numbers in bold are incorrect. The correct sentence and numbers should be as follows: "The total number of admissions for primary-care-sensitive conditions rose 18% (from 178043 to 209898; from 19 to 23 per 1000)." We would like to apologise to the authors for this mistake.


Objective To study the effects of poly(lactideco-glycolide) (PLGA) tube on the repair of sciatic nerve defect in rats. Methods Totally 12 adult SD rats were inflicted with a 10 mm defect in their right sciatic nerve, and then randomly received PLGA tube bridging (PLGA tube group) or autogenous nerve grafting (autotransplantation group). The PLGA tube was compounded of 75 polylactic acid and 25 polyglycolic acid. The sciatic nerve function index (SFI) was observed in 4, 8 and 12 weeks after transplantation. In 12 weeks after transplantation, Fast Blue retrograde tracing was performed to assess the neurons in spinal cord and dorsal root ganglia, semi-thin and ultrathin sections were made to observe the number, diameter and myelin thickness of the regenerated axons, and the wet weight of tibialis anterior muscle was measured. Results The number of Fast Blue-labeled cells in the spinal cord and the dorsal root ganglia and the wet weight of tibial muscle were significantly less in PLGA group than in autotransplatation group (P0.05). So the number, diameter and myelin thickness of the regenerated axons were (P0.05). Conclusion The PLGA tube bridging can repair nerve defect to some extent, but the effect is still inferior to that of autogenous nerve grafting.


In this paper, we define the Bezout matrices by the aid of the characteristic polynomials of the k -step Fibonacci, the generalized order- k Pell and the generalized order- k Jacobsthal sequences then we consider the multiplicative orders of the Bezout matrices when read modulo m . Consequently, we obtain the rules for the order of the cyclic groups by reducing the Bezout matrices modulo m .


We consider - the space of all innite upper triangular matrices over a eld F. We give a description of all linear maps that satisfy the property: if rank(x)


The Colorado Learning Attitudes about Science Survey for Experimental Physics (E-CLASS) was developed as a broadly applicable assessment tool for undergraduate physics lab courses. At the beginning and end of the semester, the E-CLASS assesses students views about their strategies, habits of mind, and attitudes when doing experiments in lab classes. Students also reflect on how those same strategies, habits-of-mind, and attitudes are practiced by professional researchers. Finally, at the end of the semester, students reflect on how their own course valued those practices in terms of earning a good grade. In response to frequent calls to transform laboratory curricula to more closely align it with the skills and abilities needed for professional research, the E-CLASS is a tool to assess students' perceptions of the gap between classroom laboratory instruction and professional research. The E-CLASS has been validated and administered in all levels of undergraduate physics classes. To aid in its use as a formative assessment tool, E-CLASS provides all participating instructors with a detailed feedback report. Example figures and analysis from the report are presented to demonstrate the capabilities of the E-CLASS. The E-CLASS is actively administered through an online interface and all interested instructors are invited to administer the E-CLASS their own classes and will be provided with a summary of results at the end of the semester.


The invention discloses a sludge pyrolytic digestion process for efficiently recovering heat energy and equipment thereof. The process comprises the following steps of using excess active sludge as raw materials, heating and pressurizing a hydrolyzing reactor with heated steam, performing pyrohydrolysis for 30-90 min at 150-180 DEG C and 0.5-0.7 Mpa; after the completion of the reaction, back flowing the heated steam to the other group of hydrolyzing reactor to perform preheating, blowing the sludge into a flash tank when the pressure is dropped at 0.2-0.3 Mpa, further releasing the steam and back flowing to another hydrolyzing reactor; further diluting the sludge discharged from the flash tank to a moisture content of 88-92% after being cooled to 50-55 DEG C by a heat exchanger, and finally entering an anaerobic digestion pond to perform high temperature anaerobic digestion reaction, wherein the temperature in the pond is controlled at 50 DEG C to 58 DEG C. The process provided by the invention can be used for increasing the feed concentration and shortening the staying time; after the adoption of pyrohydrolysis pretreatment, the treatment capability of the anaerobic digestion system is increased by 2-3 times and the content of methane reaches 65%. Moreover, a plurality of pyrohydrolysis reactors connected in parallel are further adopted in the invention, the heated steam can be efficiently reused through a heat energy recovering system, so that the energy consumption is reduced.


Fast economic growth in Indonesia in many aspects within limited materials, manpower, and project deadlines especially for infrastructure in construction, creativity and a perfect plan is a must for the inevitable challenge in the future, that is why the Value Engineering in construction management needed for the best solution.Drink water pipe bridge at Banjarnegara is using steel rod frame construction, with the same function as using the steel girder. Construction with the steel rod frame can make the efficiency up to 49 % compared to steel girder. Applying the efficient lighter materials from the fabrication process and the exact working time, we got significant cost performance index (>1).


Energy consumption of pump is reduced by increasing temperature difference for circulating water of central air-conditioning,to which more and more attention is paid.To know influence of circulating water with different temperature on properties of air-conditioning terminal equipments more clearly,this paper makes a theoretical analysis and establishes a simulation platform for air-conditioning system of the lab using TRNSYS solftware.On the basis of experimental verification for simulation results,discussed the influence of heat medium water with different temperature difference on heat transfer rate of terminal equipments by simulating.The results indicate that the properties of air-heating coil and fan coil are decreased by increasing the temperature difference,when supplying water temperature is unchangeable.But the property of air-heating coil and fan coil are increased if supplying water temperature is increased largely enough,when the temperature difference is regulated with a certain range.To choose reasonable heat medium water temperature difference,hydraulic stability of air-conditioning system,COP of cold and heat source unit and supplying air temperature difference should be synthetically considered.


Objective To investigate the imaging features of focal nodular hyperplasia and hepatocellular carcinoma on DWI. Methods The data of patients with histopathologically confirmed FNHs and HCCs between August 2008 and November 2010 were collected. A total of 24 patients with 26 FNH lesions and 36 patients with 39 HCC lesions were included in our study. All patients underwent breath-hold DWI with b = 500 s/mm2 and dynamic contrasted-enhanced (DCE) MRI. The imaging findings of FNHs and HCCs were retrospectively analyzed and compared. The signal intensity (SI) of the lesions on DWI were classified as iso-, slightly high, high SI and the distribution of SI between FNHs and HCCs was compared with Fisher exact test. ADC value and lesion-to-liver ADC ratio of FNHs and HCCs were measured and compared by using independent sample t test. ROC was performed to assess the diagnostic value of ADC value and lesion-liver ADC ratio in the characterization FNHs versus HCCs. Results Of 26 FNHs,23 manifested as isointensity or slightly high SI on DWI, but most 25 out of 39 HCCs showed high SI. The distribution of SI between FNHs and HCCs had significant difference ( P = 0. 000). The mean ADC value and lesion-liver ADC ratio for FNHs [ (1.76 ± 0. 62 ) × 10-3 mm2/s and 1.06 ± 0. 18, respectively ] were significantly higher ( P = 0. 001, P = 0. 000, respectively ) than those for HCCs [ ( 1.26 ± 0. 46 ) × 10-3mm2/s and 0. 79 ±0. 12, respectively]. The area (Az) under the ROC for the ADC value and lesionliver ADC ratio for the differentiation of FNHs versus HCCs were 0. 79 ± 0. 05 and 0. 85 ± 0. 05,respectively, with no significant difference (P =0. 270). The specificity of the two measures was 69. 23% and 97.44%, respectively, with significant difference (P = 0. 001 ). Conclusion FNH shows isointensity or slightly high SI with relatively higher ADC value and lesion-liver ADC ratio than those of HCCs on DWI,which is characteristic for its diagnosis and differentiation.

Key words:
Liver neoplasms;  Magnetic resonance imaging;  Comparative study


Shanghai Hard X-ray Free Electron Laser Facility (SHINE) is aimed at producing the X-ray pulses in the photon energy range from 3 keV to 25 keV, which is under construction. To target the design purpose, SHINE requires quite precise clock distribution of the clock and timing system over distance of about 3.1 km. Based on the standard White Rabbit (WR) precision time protocol, this paper presents a prototype design of customized high precision clock and timing system. With the special clock processing methods, the system can meet the requirements of different devices in SHINE, including clock division, precision delay and duty cycle adjustment and adding MASK information. Test results indicate that the skew jitter RMS of distributed clock at the frequency from about 1Hz to 1MHz is less than 20 picoseconds and the clock phase delay can be adjusted up to 1 second with the step of about 400 picoseconds.


Endocrine disruptors (ED) have structural similarities to steroid hormones and can mimic the effect of endogenous 17β-estradiol. Human beings are exposed to the ED by ingestion, inhalation and skin absorption. It should be discovered if endocrine disrupters have an effect on bone in postmenopausal women. It must be determined if the ED increase or influence postmenopausal bone loss. In particular should be confirmed that phytoestrogens inhibit postmenopausal bone loss. The ovariectomized (ovx) rat is an established model for postmenopausal osteoporosis. The endocrine disruptors 4-methyl-benzylidene camphor (4-MBC), octyl-methoxycinnamate (OMC), 4-nonylphenol (NP), phytoestrogens and 17β-estradiol were administered to 3 months old ovx rats by feeding. After 12 weeks, the bone mineral density was measured by peripheral quantitative computed tomography (pQCT). The pQCT measurements were performed on the tibial metaphysis. The estrogen deficiency caused by ovariectomy was demonstrated clearly at the tibial metaphysis. Through application of 17β-estradiol via food bone loss after ovariectomy was significantly reduced. The endocrine disruptor 4-MBC clearly shows estrogen-like effects on the cancellous bone. After ovariectomy, the loss of bone mineral density was significantly lower among 4-MBC administration. NP showed little effect on bone density, OMC doses caused no change. The decrease of bone mineral density after ovariectomy is significantly lower among phytoestrogen application. The endocrine disruptor 4-MBC and phytoestrogens reduce bone loss after ovariectomy.


Ultrasonic NDE applications often require a significant amount of data collection, storage, and in some instances data transmission and analysis. The analysis, storage, and transmission of ultrasonic data can benefit from compression and noise suppression algorithms. In this paper, effort has been focused on the determination of similarities between the wavelet kernel and the ultrasonic echoes to maximize data compression ratios. The design of wavelet kernels via optimization methods improves data compression and denoising. The influence of thresholding into data compression and denoising are investigated. Simulated data, as well as ultrasonic experimental signals are used to verify the results of this study. High data compression ratios and echo detection in very low signal-to-noise ratio is achieved with this approach.


The objective of this scanning tour was to conduct a broad overview of newly developed manufacturing techniques that are in use abroad for steel bridge fabrication and erection. The trip focused on the role of steel production, design, innovation, and fabrication in modern steel fabrication facilities in Japan, Italy, Germany, and the United Kingdom. The team also shared information on U.S. practice, initiatives, and research activities in these areas. As a result of the review, the team identified six high-priority areas on which the U.S. industry should focus: computer aided drawing and computer aided manufacturing; automated recording of inspection, welding variables, and geometric measurements for quality control and virtual assembly; high-performance steels and coatings; cutting and joining steel components, members, and structures; certification and contracting of steel fabrication and erection; and design innovation. Within each of these areas, the team made recommendations for further research, pilot studies, and modifications to existing procedures that will further modernize structural steel fabrication facilities in the United States.


Recent national efforts to promote and enhance clinical research by the National Institutes of Health (NIH), including the Clinical and Translational Science Awards (CTSA) and Roadmap Initiative,[1][1] present new and challenging opportunities for pharmacists who require an advanced knowledge of


TO THE EDITOR: Bochtler et al have observed that patients with light chain (AL) amyloidosis with t(11;14) fare worse with bortezomib-based therapy. This observation is difficult to reconcile given both the fact that a majority of patients with AL have t(11;14), and that bortezomib has been observed to be a highly effective therapy in patients with AL. Making sense of these discrepant observations is only possible in larger studies, and we question whether some of the findings by Bochtler et al are artifacts of small sample size. In a series of 396 patients with AL, 175 of whom had the t(11;14) translocation, we found that t(11;14) is a negative risk factor among patients with less than 10% bone marrow plasma cells. In response to the publication by Bochtler et al, we performed a reanalysis of our published data and found that 51 patients received bortezomib as first-line therapy. There was a nonsignificant, steeper, early death rate among patients who received bortezomib and had t(11;14) compared with those who either did not receive bortezomib but had t(11;14), or who received bortezomib but did not harbor t(11;14). The early death rate among patients who received bortezomib and had t(11;14) raises the specter of potential increased toxicity rather than reduced efficacy of bortezomib; there was no difference in overall survival. When this data set was subjected to multivariable analysis that included bortezomib as first-line therapy, t(11;14), and the Mayo Clinic 2012 staging system, only the Mayo Clinic staging system was a significant risk factor for death. On repeating the multivariable analysis to include only those patients with t(11;14), treatment with bortezomib had no impact on overall survival. As a result of small sample size, neither our analysis nor the analysis by Bochtler et al settle the question of whether patients with AL with the t(11;14) translocation do poorly while receiving bortezomib or if these patients have poor prognoses in general.


Managers world wide should understand that the purpose of outsourcing their business processes is not only to cut costs and handover the processes to an expert, but also to obtain more knowledge about the outsourced processes. The present article attempts to justify the fact that the companies should aim at acquiring knowledge about their outsourced processes and should design ways of learning expertise pertaining to functioning of the same from the vendor. This article addresses issues relating to using outsourcing as a critical tool for increasing a company's knowledge base.


Allergic disorders such as atopic dermatitis and asthma are common hyperimmune disorders in industrialized countries. Although the exact etiology is unclear, several factors may trigger the disease onset. These include susceptible genetic background, environmental factors and an aberrant gut microbiota with a shift of the Th1/Th2 balance towards a Th2 response. Probiotics confer health benefits through multiple action mechanisms including modification of immune system in both systemic immune system and gut associated lymphoid tissue. Although many human clinical trials and mouse studies demonstrated the beneficial effects of probiotics in diverse allergic disorders, therapeutic efficacy is quite diverse depending on administration dose and types of strains or their mixture. To properly modulate allergic diseases, administration of tailor made probiotics with immune tolerance activity is required. Human clinical trials demonstrate a limited benefit of probiotics in atopic dermatitis in a preventive as well as a therapeutic capacity. In addition, beneficial effect of probiotics treatment is limited in the treatment of bronchial asthma. Identification of specific probiotics that has immune modulating activity and elucidation of the underlying mechanism of action will lead to develop probiotics as an as immune modulator targeting allergic disorders. Herein, we briefly review the diverse functions and regulation mechanisms of probiotics in allergic disorders including atopic dermatitis and asthma.[Pediatr Allergy Respir Dis(Korea) 2012;22:325-335]


The drug quality safety is a issue that governments have attached great importance to. The Chinese version of the CMP puts forward strict requirements of " traceability " in the pharmaceutical production process for the pharmaceutical industry.This paper mainly introduces how to realize the electronic record problems and solving method in the production of pharmaceuticals and for automatic control system of wet granulating machine, for meet the "traceability" requirement of the new version of GMP.The electronic record meets the requirements of GMP in pharmaceutical process,so as to ensure the quality of medicines, and achieved good production effect in practical production.


Brillouin distributed sensors have attracted the attention of both academic and industrial sectors, in particular for long distance applications. Here I review some techniques for range increase in BOTDA and explain the challenges behind them.


Background: termination of pregnancy resulting in expulsion of an immature fetus of less than twenty weeks called as abortion. Where aborted fetus is weighing less than 500 g. Human cytomegalovirus infections is one of several factors related to spontaneous abortion. Aim: To determine the levels of oxidative stress (malondialdehyde) (MDA), (ceruloplasmin, transferrin, Vitamin C) (Cp,Tf,Vit.C) in aborted women with cytomegalovirus(IgG, IgG positive). Material and method: A case control study include (60) women aborted with CMV (Patients), (60) healthy women (positive controls) and (60) women aborted without CMV (negative controls). at the period between(November, 2017) to (May, 2018). Spss version 23 had been used for data analysis, P value <0.05 was considered as significant Results: There was a significant increase in the serum levels of (MDA, Tf, Cp) in patient group, and a significant decrease in the serum levels of (Vit.C) in patient group throughout the general comparison among the patients group, negative control group andpositive control group. Age has a big role, with significant statistical difference in detected levels of oxidations. According to age, the results show a presence of a significant increase in (MDA) patient older in comparison with young patients. (p≤0.05). We found significant increase in concentration of serum (Cp, Tf, Vit.C, Cu) in younger patient in comparison with other age groups (p≤0.05). . Conclusion: lipid peroxidation and the antioxidant system associates with abortion with CMV and abortion without CMV levels, the age effects positively on the levels of (MDA, NO) and effects negatively on the levels of (Cp, Tf, Vit.C,), levels of IgG associate with (MDA, Cp, Tf, Vit.C) positively. Key word: Oxidative Stress, Abortion, Cytomegalovirus How to cite this article: Al Nasir AHA (2020):Oxidative stress role in aborted women with cytomegalovirus infection in Thi-Qar Governorate, Iraq, Ann Trop Med & Pub Health; 23:S395. DOI: http://doi.org/10.36295/ASRO.2020.2319 Introduction Pregnancy is an integral stress condition in which many metabolic and physiological functions are changed to considerable extent Profound physiological changes occur during pregnancy (Saladin A and Kenneth S, 2012). Anemia, hyperlipidemia, hypertension, diabetes and preeclampsia may occur as pregnancy complications which also had a role in the oxidative stress (Mathai, 2005; Goonewardene and Shehata, 2011and Okojie et al., 2011). Recurrent spontaneous abortion (RSA) is one of the most common obstetrical complications. It has been shown that the total rate of spontaneous pregnancy loss is 31.0% out of the total abortion cases (Raghupathy R,2003). The commonest reasons of presentation acutely to gynecologists is spontaneous miscarriage, which occurs in 10.9– 30% of all early pregnancies (Nybo Andersen AM et al.,2000; Farquharson, RG Farquharson, RG et al., 2005). Cytomegalovirus and Rubella virus can leading to recurrent spontaneous abortion transmissible in uterus at various stage of gestation can be caused by a wide array of organisms (Stegmann BJ and Carey JC, 2002; Abdul-Karim ET et al., 2009). Cytomegalovirus (CMV) is herpes virus and a leading biological factor causing congenital abnormalities, intra-uterine death of the fetus and recurrent spontaneous miscarriage (Munro SC and Hall B, 2005). During pregnancy, in fact, CMV can stretch the placentafrom the cervix or following both primary and recurrent maternal infection, with subsequent vascular in adequacy, tissue damage,and transmission to the fetus (Yamamoto-Tabata T et al.,2004; Nigro G,2009). Cytomegalovirus (CMV) infection during pregnancy is far more complex than other infections, Al Nasir (2020): Women with CMV infection January 2020 Vol.23 (I) ©Annals of Tropical Medicine & Public Health S395 Sample absorbance value × 10 Cut − off due to theability of the virus to be frequently reactivated during the childbearing age and be transmitted to the fetus through maternal immunity (Stagno S et al., 1977). During pregnancy, women may have either a primary (first) CMVinfection or non-primary infection, in which a earlier infected woman experiences reactivation of a latent virus or re-infection with a new viral strain (Mussi-Pinhataet al.,2009; Wang et al.,2011; De Vriesetal.,2013). The incidence of infection in pregnancy is supposed to be ashigh as 1 to 200 pregnancies, of which around 40% will result in fetalinfections (Philip, 2006). Congenital cytomegalovirus occurs in 0.05%-1.5% of births. Higher rate of infection among populations with lower economic standard of living. The risk of fetal infection is greatest with maternal primarycytomegalovirus infection 30% and much less likely with recurrent infection <1% (Clarnce & Gowen, 2011). Rate of transmission ofcytomegalovirus infection are 3-7 times greater in infant born to adolescent mothers (Clarnce & Gowen, 2011). Perinatal transmission iscommon, accounting for occurrence of 10-60% through the 1st 6 moths of life. The most important perinatal sources of virus are genital tract secretions at delivery and breast milk. Among Cytomegalovirusseropositive mothers, virus is perceptible in breast milk in 96%, withpostnatal transmission occurring in approximately 38% of infant (Joana& Gillhan,2004). About 90% of infected infants are asymptomatic (Philip, 2006) . Aims of Study: 1Investigation of the possible effect of cytomegalovirus on serum oxidative stress. 2Investigation of the role of age on oxidative stress. 3Studying the possible relationships between the value of IgG and each one of the studied parameters Materials and Methods: Design of Study: A case control study is conducted at the Bent Al-Huda hospital in Thi-Qar and in the biochemistry laboratory in college of science, at the period between (November, 2017) to (May, 2018). The study included (180) women, (60) aborted women with cytomegalovirus (patients) aged(15-40) and (60) aborted women without cytomegalovirus (negative control) and (60) healthy women (positive control, However, the mentioned above women were dived according to age into five groups (15-20, 21-25, 26-30 , 31-35, 36-40) years. Exclusion criteria: Cases excluded from this study: pregnant women, smokers, patients with chronic diseases such as diabetes, hypertension, women with any infected other pathogen such as toxoplasmosis, women with positive IgM (CMV) and women which use oral contraceptives or any other drugs. Collection of Blood Sample: About (5mL) of blood was obtained from women by venipuncture . The blood was allowed to clot at 37oC room temperature, and then centrifuged at 3000xg for 10 min. the serum samples was removed and stored at(20oC) for later measurement biochemical parameters, unless used immediately. Patient profile Name: Age: Number of previous abortion: Data of last abortion: Period of marriage: Smoking: Other disease: Number of previous birth: Address: Biochemical tests Anti-CMV antibodies: (IgG,IgM)Lipid peroxidation: ( MDA) Antioxidants: ( CP , Tf , Vitamin C ) Determinationofanti-CMV antibodies(IgG,IgM)by ELISA: The CMV IgG,IgM ELISA (sigma aldrich, USA) Kits are intended for the detection of IgG,IgM antibody to cytomegalovirus (CMV) in human serum or plasma. Diluted patient serum is added to wells coated with purified antigen. IgG,IgMspecific antibody, if present, binds to the antigen. Calculations: -Calculate the cut-off value: Calibrator absorbancex Calibrator Factor (CF). -Calculate the Ab (Antibody) Index of each determination by dividing the absorbance value of each sample by cut-off value. = Ab (Antibody) Index Al Nasir (2020): Women with CMV infection January 2020 Vol.23 (I) ©Annals of Tropical Medicine & Public Health S395 L: light path (1cm) × D × 106 absorbance at532nm L × E0 ) = μmol L MDA( 0.68 εcp Cp (mg/L) =A test − A blank × 10 = ∆A×10 (A2 − A1)Assay Iron conc. μmol⁄l = (A2 − A1)Standard × Conc. of standard(35.80 Determination of Serum Malondialdehyde (μmol/L) concentration: Lipid peroxidation was determined by using the thio bar bituric acid method ( Fong et al., 1973). (Figure2-1). MDA concentrations were calculated using the extinction coefficient of MDA (εMDA) equal to 1.56 x103 mol-1. Cm-1 (Wills, 1969). (MDA) formed from breakdown of polyunsaturated fatty acid, serves as a convenient index of peroxidationreaction. Figure 1: Scheme of the adduct MDA–(TBA)2 (Souza et al., 2012). . The concentration of MDA calculated as follow:(Muslihet al.,2002) E0: Extinction coefficient 1.56×10M. cm D: Dilution factor = 1 ml Vol. Used in ref./0.15 =6.7 Determination of Ceruloplasmin (mg/dl) Concentration: Principle: Plasma (Cp) concentration was measured by the method of (Ravin,1961).Calculation : εcp=the extinction coefficient of Cp equal to 0.68 Determination of Transferrin(g/L)Concentration:Total Iron Binding Capacity (μg/L) Concentration Principle:(Ramsay, 1958; Burtiset al.,1999). T.I.B.C. was determined by addition of sufficient Fe+3 to saturate iron binding sites on apotransferrin. The excess Fe+3 was removed by adsorption with basic magnesium carbonate powder. After centrifugation, bound iron remaining in supernatant was measured with direct method REF 92108 (Ferene) or with deproteinization method REF180008(SFBC). Calculation: Al Nasir (2020): Women with CMV infection January 2020 Vol.23 (I) Tf(g⁄L) = TIBC(μg⁄L) × 0. 007 A standard 2 × k n a l b A − t s e t A dl) = Serum vitamin C(mg/ Calculate Transferrin Concentrations: Determinationof Serum VitaminC Concentration (mg/dl) Calculation: (Shohag et al., 2012). Ethical consideration: A verbal consent from all participant been obtained, with identification of the objectives and work procedure had been pronounced to all. Statistical analysis: The statistical analysis was done by using Microsoft Excel 2010, SPSS version 23. The results were expressed as mean ± standard deviation (mean ± SD) with LSD. One-way ANOVA was used to compare parameters in different studied groups. Pearson's coefficient (r) was


This paper illustrates how simple information visualization components can be easily utilized by authors to create powerful interactive "live" documents, or LiveDocs. LiveDocs take advantage of the unique capabilities of the Web as a publishing medium by supporting readers on a network in interacting with visualizations and algorithms for analyzing the data the document discusses. Accessibility to busy readers lacking experience with sophisticated visualization systems is a critical feature for LiveDocs, and we illustrate how setting initial states for our components allows LiveDocs to function as ordinary static documents. In addition, we provide a simple interface for specifying LiveDocs, thereby allowing authors to easily incorporate LiveDoc components into their documents. Finally, our components can be linked together to provide powerful visualization applications. We illustrate these properties with sample LiveDocs used to report results from a real-life study of software evolution.


The paper reviews an assessment of the factors affecting the reliability and durability of poppet valves of highly rated medium speed diesels burning standard or residual oils.Detailed analysis demonstrated that an undercut (tuliped) profile is preferable. Optimum dimensional proportions are derived. The valve behaviour under operating conditions was such as to suggest that it plays a passive part in the phenomenon of 'valve sinkage'. The adoption of 'differentially angled seats' appears to have little meaning in practice. Cylinder head deflection was a governing feature of seat 'guttering'.A review of material properties suggested that the often quoted Eichelberg quality factor is inadequate and an alternative parameter for assessing the suitability of materials is derived. All materials suitable for valve manufacture possess poor resistance to corrosion attack. A number of possible palliatives are examined.


Introduction: Seizure is a common disorder and is also one of the most important reasons for referring to emergency departments of hospitals which has multiple causes. It is believed that early diagnosis of this disorder is extremely important. This study aimed to investigate the causes of the first generalized seizure of adult patients referring to the Emergency Department of Imam Khomeini of Urmia during the second half of 2018. Materials: This study was a cross-sectional descriptive study conducted in the second half of 2017 on all patients suffering with seizure over 18 years of age who had referred to the emergency department of Imam Khomeini Hospital in Urmia by census method. Data were gathered using a checklist which included different variables (age, gender, marriage, and place of residence, education, diagnostic tools, and the ultimate cause of seizures). Results: The results showed that among the total 120 studied patients, 55 were males (45.8%) and 65 patients were females (54.2%). The average age of the participants was52.50 ±20.42 years and most of the participants were married 86(71.5%) and in the age group over 60 (34.4%) were 52, The procedure of diagnostic tests CBD diff / Na / K / Ca / Bs and ESR / CRP in most cases, diagnosis of the causes seizures and CT scan imaging technique (74.5%) of 89 cases necessary that ultimately the most common cause of seizure disorders The cerebral arteries (28.3%) were 34. Conclusion: In this study, the most common cause of seizures is cerebrovascular injury, but due to the high prevalence of seizures following trauma, drug deprivation, elimination of underlying factors and social anomalies will be an important step in preventing seizures.


More than twenty years ago the idea of producing software systems from reusable software components was proposed. Since that time many changes have taken place in Computer Science and Software Engineering, but software systems are still built as one-of-a-kind craftsman efforts. A method for software construction using components is derived using experience from software components, program transformations, systems architecture, industrial large systems automatic programming and program generation. Experience with the method is discussed. The limiting factors of the method that prevent the widespread use of reusable software components are identified.


This paper considers the state-feedback control for high-order stochastic nonlinear time-delay system that is additionally driven by the noise of unknown covariance. Without any assumptions imposing on nonlinear functions, an adaptive composite controller is skillfully obtained on the basis of the Lyapunov-Krasovskii functional and recursive backstepping technique. Through using stochastic stability theory to give the analysis, the proposed adaptive controller can render the closed-loop system globally uniformly ultimately bounded (GUUB). The effectiveness and performance of the proposed scheme is verified by numerical simulation results.


The addition of equality and inequality constraints in generalized predictive control (GPC) strategies switches the classical problem of quadratic cost function minimization into a nonlinear optimization. Some approaches have already been developed, which consider the Lagrange multipliers and gradient optimization. This paper presents the reformulation of GPC under constraints into an adequate form for linear matrix inequalities (LMI) solvers. The optimization of the reformulated problem is performed by linear convex programming. Moreover, it is shown that this new presentation of constrained GPC provides an original flexibility for adding further constraints to the problem. Finally, some simulation results are given and compared to previous approaches of this structure.


In order to elucidate the atomizing mechanism of Coal Water Mixture (CWM), several experiments on the atomization of CWM will be carried out with twin fluid atomizers. The effect of coal sizes on the formation of CWM spray droplets is investigated in detail. It is also found that large droplets of CWM spray consist of numerous fine coal particles and that large coal particles do not form "Nucli" of large spray droplets. From these experimental results, the breakup mechanism of CWM uneer high shear stress by gas-blasting at the exitport of the atomizer is proposed.


We have previously described an animal model for the therapy of human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) infection with HIV-1-specific reverse transcriptase (RT) inhibitors based on a simian immunodeficiency virus (SIV), in which the RT gene of SIV was replaced by the RT gene of HIV-1. In vitro, replication of the hybrid virus, RT-SHIV, was delayed compared with parental SIV. RT-SHIV could induce AIDS-like symptoms and pathologic alterations in rhesus macaques. Characterization of re-isolates recovered from RT-SHIV-infected macaques one-half year after infection revealed that the re-isolates replicated with kinetics similar to those of SIV. Inefficient processing of the Gag-Pol precursor of RT-SHIV may be one reason for the retarded growth of RT-SHIV, because the protease cleavage site between the protease gene and the RT gene was frequently mutated in the RT-SHIV re-isolates. Adaptation of RT-SHIV to the growth in macaques did not result in a relevant loss of sensitivity to nonnucleoside RT inhibitors (NNRTIs). However, because a minor sub-population of the RT-SHIV re-isolates contained a mutation conferring low-level resistance to ddI and ddC, the RT-SHIV/macaque model may underestimate the efficacy of these drugs. Nevertheless, this report further supports the suitability, reliability, and usefulness of the RT-SHIV/macaque model to investigate the antiviral properties of most RT inhibitors in an in vivo setting.


Wheat-germ agglutinin is a lectin with a specificity for N-acetylglucosamine sites on cell surfaces. It in common with several other lectins, it preferentially agglutin-ated the agglutinin


The invention discloses vegetable dried pork and a preparation method thereof. The preparation method comprises the following steps: using pork, fresh onion, tomatoes and celery as main raw materials; and adding auxiliary materials, such as white granulated sugar, soybean oil, honey, glycerin, rice wine, soy sauce, common salt, monosodium glutamate, licorice powder, five-spice powder, and the like. Compared with the prior art, the preparation method reasonably combines the fresh onion, the tomatoes and the celery with special faint scent with pork, and the pork is cut into particles and cooked, fried, baked, packed and processed into a coked poke product. The product has the faint scent of vegetables and the natural sweet smell of the pork, has durable aftertaste and sweet, delicious and palateful aroma and is a leisure food beneficial to all ages.


A Tithonian sequence of shallow-water limestones, intercalated with siliciclastics and overlain by dolomite, was re covered during drilling at ODP Site 639 on the edge of a tilted fault block. The carbonates were strongly affected by fracturing, dolomitization, dedolomitization, and compaction. The chronology and nature of the fractures, fracture in filling, and diagenesis of the host rock are established and correlated for both the limestone and the dolomite. A first phase of dolomitization affected limestone that was already, at least partially, indurated. In the limestone unit, fractures were filled by calcite and dolomite; most of the dolomite was recrystallized into calcite, except for the up per part. In the dolomitic unit, the first-formed dolomite was progressively recrystallized into saddle dolomite, as frac tures were simultaneously activated. The dolomitic textures become less magnesian (the molar ratio Mg/Ca goes from 1.04-0.98 to 0.80), and the 50 (PDB) ranges from 10%o to 8%o. The varying pores and fissures are either ce mented by a calcic saddle dolomite (Mg/Ca ranging from 0.95 to 0.80) or filled with diverse internal sediments of detrital calcic dolomite, consisting of detrital dolomite silt (50 from 9%o to 7%o) and laminated yellow filling (with different 50 values that range from 4%o to + 3%o). These internal sediments clearly contain elements of the host rock and fragments of saddle crystals. They are covered by marls with calpionellids of early Valanginian age, which permits dating of most of the diagenetic phases as pre-Valanginian. The dolomitization appears to be related to fracturing resulting from extensional tectonics; it is also partially related to an erosional episode. Two models of dolomitization can be proposed from the petrographic characteristics and iso topic data. Early replacement of aragonite bioclasts by sparite, dissolution linked to dolomitization, and negative 50 values of dolomite suggest a freshwater influence and "mixing zone" model. On the other hand, the significant pres ence of saddle dolomite and repeated negative 5O values suggest a temperature effect; because we can dismiss deep burial, hydrothermal formation of dolomite would be the most probable model. For both of these hypotheses, the vadose filling of cavities and fractures by silt suggests emersion, and the different, and even positive, 50 values of the last-formed yellow internal sediment could suggest dolomitization of the top of the sequence under saline to hypersaline conditions. Fracturing resulting in the reopening of porosity and the draining of dolomitizing fluids was linked to extensional tectonics prior to the tilting of the block. These features indicate an earlier beginning to the rifting of the Iberian mar gin than previously known. Dolomitization, emersion, and erosion correspond to eustatic sea-level lowering at the Ber riasian/Valanginian boundary. Diagenesis, rather than sedimentation, seems to mark this global event and to provide a record of the regional tectonic history.


In Cantabrian Mountains (N Spain), summer pastures are mostly utilized for beef cattle production. This work aimed to study cow and calf performance of two local breeds, Asturiana de los Valles (AV) and Asturiana de la Montaña (AM), grazing at different pasture mixtures from June to October. Data were recorded from 1995 to 2013 in a high mountain area, which was divided in two plots of 30 ha each: one with 70% grassland and 30% Calluna-heathland cover (C30), and another with 30% grassland and 70% heathland cover (C70). The effects of vegetation cover, breed, physiological status and their interactions on body weight (BW) and body condition score (BCS) changes were analysed. In general, AV cows showed worse (P<0.001) BW and BCS changes than AM cows (-81 vs. 18 g/day; -0.16 vs. 0.03 BCS units). In C30, cows gained 80 g/day and maintained BCS (0.00), whereas in C70 cows lost 143 g/day and 0.14 BCS points. An interaction (P<0.01) between breed and vegetation cover indicated that the differences between breeds mostly occurred in C70 plot. Lactating cows lost BW and BCS, whereas non-lactating cows used to gain BW and BCS (-253 vs. 190 g/day; -0.22 vs. 0.09 BCS units; P<0.001). Regarding calf growth, no differences were found between breeds in spite of the greater mature BW size in AV breed, while greater BW gains were observed in C30 than in C70 (769 vs. 557 g/day; P<0.001). Cattle from AM breed present a better adaptation to high mountain conditions, particularly when the availability of quality pasture is limiting.


An ultrasoft x-ray and extreme ultraviolet spectrometer built and calibrated in the wavelength range of 7–60 Å is reported here. Details of the alignment of this flat field spectrometer with both a laser and a telescope are presented. The light path function rather than a standard calibration function, i.e. a polynomial function, is introduced as the fit function, which gives good agreement with the spectrometer design values and makes the calibration more reliable when extended to the region outside the points used for calibration, compared with a standard calibration function. The calibration results of a Manson ultrasoft x-ray source (model 2) with source targets of Cu, Fe and Ti are presented with all the peaks marked.


"Rib-to-deck joints of orthotropic steel decks (OSDs) in steel bridges are susceptible to longitudinal fatigue cracking, which often results in considerable costs as well as traffic interruption. This paper numerically simulated the Crack II of rib-to-deck joint and analyzed the crack failure mode of the joint. To mitigate such cracking, a strengthening method using internal welding was investigated. The effects of initial crack size, internal weld size and crack depth on the stress intensity factor (SIF) of crack tip on rib-to-deck fatigue details were studied by finite element method. The finite element analysis demonstrated that the proposed method can significantly improve the detailed stress range of the weld root, lead to the transfer of crack development mode, and prolong the fatigue life of rib-to-deck joints. Numerical analysis validated the beneficial effect of strengthening measures on the stress intensity factors at crack tips. Calculation of stress intensity factors at crack tips resulted that the crack development law, and the application range of reinforcement method was analyzed. This study provided a reference to the design and application of internal welding in the strengthening of weld details in OSDs."


A method and system is provided for coordinating radio resources in shared or unlicensed frequency bands. Specifically, a set of operating parameters and a receiver-transmitter feedback mechanism are provided that govern the coordination of radio spectrum usage by a plurality of wireless devices. This is achieved by rewarding good receivers and transmitter behavior and/or restricting radio spectrum occupation time. The set of operating parameters include the transmission power, spectrum access probability, spectrum occupation time, and a Receiver Success Rate (RSR).


Chronicles that success in stable periods makes organizations particularly vulnerable when sharp, sudden change is necessary. Suggests organizations need to both manage radical change and gradual change. Suggests the parallel of business organizations is to prosper through revolutionary adaptation and survive the discontinuities. Sums up that finding ways to ensure your organization survives is the critical management role ‐ with all ideas welcome.


AIM
This study aimed to examine the association between smoking type and the prevalence of atopic dermatitis and asthma in men and women.

BACKGROUND
Cases of allergic diseases have been steadily increasing worldwide. Smoking is associated with serious diseases. Only a few studies have assessed the association between smoking and atopic dermatitis and asthma in adults, and gender difference studies are scarce despite a significant difference in smoking rates.

METHODS
We conducted a secondary cross-sectional analysis of 17 886 adults with atopic dermatitis and 17 889 with asthma aged ≥19 years, using raw data from the Fifth Korea national Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (2010-2012).

RESULTS
The prevalence of atopic dermatitis in men was not associated with active or passive smoking, whereas asthma prevalence in men was associated with indoor passive smoking exposure at home. We found that atopic dermatitis prevalence in women was associated with current smoking status, whereas asthma prevalence in women was associated with the presence of an indoor daily smoker at home and indoor passive smoking exposure at home.

CONCLUSION
Asthmatic adults should be informed of the hazards of passive smoking, and women with atopic dermatitis should in particular be dissuaded from smoking.


In 1983 Ian Hacking published his monograph Representing and Intervening, which presented one of the ®rst philosophical treatments of experimental science. By drawing attention to the role of experiments in science, it presented a new approach to the realism debate and to the constructivist critique of rationality. An important new element of those discussions was the role of manipulation and intervention in experimental practice. Hacking claimed that a proper understanding of the role of manipulation could save at least some of the realist claims of science. Interest in different aspects of experiments in physics has grown ever since, both in philosophy of science and in history and sociology of science. The Philosophy of Scienti®c Experimentation, edited by Hans Radder, is a new contribution to this ®eld. It contains a collection of articles by 12 philosophers with an interest in experiment. As Radder summarizes in his introductory chapter, each essay examines one or more of six interconnected themes that run through the book: (1) the philosophical implications of actively and intentionally interfering with the material world while conducting experiments; (2) issues of causality in experiments; (3) the link between science and technology; (4) the role of theory in experimentation; (5) the impact of modelling and computer simulation on experimentation; (6) the philosophical implications of the design, operation and use of scienti®c instruments.


The coordination degree between environmental and economic development, the dynamic trend of coordination degree from 1990 to 1997 in Chengdu were analysed in the paper. At the same time,the types of coordination development were classified. Finally, the author set forth the conclusion that Chengdu fall into the same category of good coordination, but the standard of environmental development is far away behind the level of economic development.


1. Concerning the effect of surface cover precision on model simulation, only a limited amount of verification data was available for the Detroit-Windsor domain, including METAR, radiosondes and two Twin Otter aircraft flights. The majority of this data exists at altitudes above the surface layer, where the model would be most sensitive to change in the local land surface cover. Among those limited points of comparison, the finest resolution (10 arc-seconds) leads to model estimates that are closest to the observations, but such limited verification unfortunately prohibits the ability to draw robust conclusions as to which surface cover resolution performs best with the model. In lieu of sufficient verification, the statistical analyses provide a measure of model senC13460


The Kiso river delta locates in the southern part of the Nobi plain, central Japan. Evolution of the delta has been strongly influenced by post-glacial sea-level changes, and landforms of the delta changed remarkably during the Holocene. Holocene sediments of the delta can be classified into the lower sandy, middle muddy, upper sandy and -uppermost terrestrial units. Silty or sandy transitional zones can be recognized in the upper and lower horizones of the middle muddy units by means of a particle size analysis. Sediments of the transitional zones are considered to be deposited between the foreset and bottom set beds of the delta as delta front sediments. Based on the 14C ages and characteristics of the sedimentary facies, Holocene sequence and evolution of the Kiso river delta are considered as follows. The post glacial transgression in the early Holocene (10000-8500 years BP) was slow, and in this slow transgressive stage, the lower sandy unit deposited as the flood plain sediments. During the rapid transgressive stage in the period between 8500-6500 years BP, the lower Kiso river delta submerged and the coast line retreated towards the central part of the present Nobi plain. Lower sandy unit deposited as a foreset bed of the Kiso river delta in the rapid transgressive stage. In the middle Holocene, muddy sediments of the middle unit deposited as a bottom set bed, and the sandy sediments deposited aggradationally in the innermost part of the embayment as a foreset bed of the Kiso river delta. The delta was in the central part of the present Nobi plain. This aggradational stage was in the period between 6500-5500 years BP. Following the culmination of the post glacial transgression since 5500 years BP, the Kiso river delta has advanced towards the southern direction. In this progradational stage, the upper sandy unit deposited progradationally as a foreset bed of the Kiso river delta. Surface of the delta has been covered with flood plain sediments as the uppermost terrestrial unit, and the delta front has advanced towards the present coastline. During the periods of ca. 5000-4500 years BP and ca. 3000-2000 years BP, slight regressions of the sea-level can be seen in the Kiso river delta region.


The night you were born I dreamt I saw whales in the ocean, large humps of backs rising out of the sea, grey like your hands, and lingering there, in the air, skin full of urchins and moss. The sight was wondrous, like your eyes, the first time you looked at us, into the blue of me, the hazel of your father, your gaze a miraculous mix of us both. And when I was done, with the whales and your birthing, I began to walk back to the land, and the water was shallow, the pain was not bad, I was still amazed at what I had seen, and I realized I'd been walking on the backs of whales the whole time. What I'd taken for earth was the wet of their bodies, hovering firm beneath the surface ofwater, providing a path over ocean, allowing me to meet you half way, between that world and this, taking me gently back home to the shore where I never before had been.


We conducted a dissipative particle dynamics simulation on the motion of polymer-grafted nanoparticles in entangled polymer melts. Three regimes for the mean square displacement of the nanoparticle...


This paper examines the subgame-perfect pure-strategy equilibria in discounted supergames with perfect monitoring. It is shown that all the equilibrium paths are composed of fragments called elementary subpaths. This characterization result makes it possible to compute and analyze the equilibrium paths and payoffs by using a collection of elementary subpaths. It is also shown that all the equilibrium paths can be compactly represented by a directed graph when there are finitely many elementary subpaths. In general, there may be infinitely many elementary subpaths, but it is always possible to construct finite approximations. When the subpaths are allowed to be approximatively incentive compatible, it is possible to compute in a finite number of steps a graph that represents all the equilibrium paths. The directed graphs can be used in analyzing the complexity of equilibrium outcomes. In particular, it is shown that the size and the density of the equilibrium set can be measured by the asymptotic growth rate of equilibrium paths and the Hausdorff dimension of the payoff set. JEL Classification: C72, C73


Fast neutron capture cross sections of /sup 169/Tm, /sup 191/Ir, /sup 193/Ir, and /sup 175/Lu, and the /sup 6/Li(n,..cap alpha..)/sup 3/H cross sections to which they are normalized are presented in tabular form for neutron energies between 3 and 2000 keV.


As a medical student, I knew I wanted to work in global health and wanted to choose a specialty that was useful in resource poor countries. I rotated in several African hospitals where expensive laboratory tests and drugs were unavailable. The surgeons were extremely effective because they had to treat patients without these additional resources. I love the immediacy of surgical care and the chance to make dramatic interventions in very sick patients.

The president of Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF) USA gave a speech at …


Every doctor who in his professional career wants to share his experiences in the pages of specialized medical journals, faces the problem of analysing and evaluating his material in a statistical manner. Given the specificity of our profession, it is not easy. In order to meet this problem, the paper set the goal to briefly systematize and explain the basic statistical methods needed in publishing scientific papers by doctors. The method of selecting the research sample is discussed and the necessary concepts necessary for its implementation are explained. It was divided into a random and non-random sample. The theory and method of application of measurement scales were briefly discussed and the practical division of these scales was made. The concise content and form allows for independent use of statistical methods in the basic scope needed in publishing medical works.


ABSTRACT A multi-analytical approach was used to characterize color remains from Xalla, a Teotihuacan palace complex (project Teotihuacan, Elite and Government. Excavations in Xalla led by Linda R. Manzanilla). Color samples were obtained from polished lithic instruments and pigment ores. Those samples were analyzed combining microscopic and spectroscopic techniques. Our results coincide with previous studies in Teotihuacan, with the chromatic palette displaying a predominance of iron oxides such as hematite, yellow ochre and natural earths, as well as malachite, celadonite and glauconite. We have enlarged the corpus of raw materials with the characterization of jarosite and bone white and mica as aggregate. The identification of raw materials crossed with functional analysis of polished lithic artefacts suggests a production and application process for the pigmenting materials that were divided in four phases, from the crushing of the raw material to the application and finishing of the painted surfaces. GRAPHICAL ABSTRACT


Apples and oranges: the habilitation of continental comparitivism, Patrick M. Crowley. Part I: The EU-Canada Nexus: Why compare Canada and the European Union?, John Erik Fossum Canada and the EU: towards a new partnership, Donald Barry. Part II: Governing the EU: What Can the EU Learn from Canada?: Governing the EU democratically: some lessons from Canadian fiscal federalism, Amy Verdun Intergovernmental relations in the EU and Canada: the place of local government, John Sutcliffe. Part III: Policies in an Intergovernmental Context: What Can Canada and NAFTA Learn from the EU?: A comparative analysis of environmental policy in the EU and NAFTA, Patrick Crowley and Joe Jozwiak Monetary Union in North America: the debate and the role of the EMU, Paul Bowles, Osvaldo Croci and Brian MacLean Exchange rate arrangements in NAFTA: do we need an Exchange Rate Mechanism?, Patrick Crowley and Robin Rowley. Part IV: Policies for Nation Building: National identity: European Union and Canadian policies in comparative perspective, Edelgard Mahant The politics of inclusion and exclusion: immigration policies in Canada and the EU, Genevieve Bouchard and William Chandler Index.


An elegant chapter of recent medical history is the clarification of the pathogenesis of acquired myasthenia gravis. 1 It is now recognized as an immunologic disorder, a principal aspect of which is antibody attack on the acetylcholine receptor protein. The muscle cell receptor apparatus is perturbed, and many remaining binding sites for the neuromuscular excitatory transmitter, acetylcholine, may be disrupted by antibody, giving rise to the fatigability and weakness that are the clinical hallmarks of the disease. Transient neonatal myasthenia gravis, 2 which occurs in about 10% to 15% of offspring of affected mothers, for many years has provided a provocative clue that humoral factors are important in this disease. The report in this issue of theJournalby Donaldson and five collaborators from three medical centers, "Antiacetylcholine Receptor Antibody in Neonatal Myasthenia Gravis" (p 222), provides confirmation that maternal antibody crosses the placenta to the infant. The elevated antibody


The medical data, in the form of prescriptions and test reports, is very extensive
which needs a comprehensive analysis.

The gene expression data set is formulated using a very large number of genes associated
to thousands of samples. Identifying the relevant biological information from these complex associations
is a difficult task.

For this purpose, a variety of classification algorithms are available which can be used to
automatically detect the desired information. K-Nearest Neighbour Algorithm, Latent Dirichlet Allocation,
Gaussian Naïve Bayes and support Vector Classifier are some of the well known algorithms
used for the classification task. Nonnegative Matrix Factorization is a technique which has
gained a lot of popularity because of its nonnegativity constraints. This technique can be used for
better interpretability of data.

In this paper, we applied NMF as a pre-processing step for better results. We also evaluated
the given classifiers on the basis of four criteria: accuracy, precision, specificity and Recall.

The experimental results shows that these classifiers give better performance when
NMF is applied at pre-processing of data before giving it to the said classifiers. Gaussian Naïve Bias
algorithm showed a significant improvement in classification after the application of NMF at preprocessing.


This paper describes the state-of-the-art of the design of It is concerend principally with the effect of stress on the transition from primary to secondary stresses, as the anelasticity, sound propagation, plastic deformation and decompression around the tunnel, and emphasizes the fracture, and recrystallization and grain growth that researchers. A study is presented of deformations between includes a comprehensive bibliography. to the rigidity of the area left unlined between the tunnelling face and the part already lined. The development from the old rigid linings to flexible ones is described, with special reference to the new Austrian method and to the use of prefabricated wedges installed by the shield method. It is emphasized that the rupture of concrete linings which have been laid can sometimes be due to shear stress along the joints. Subsidence caused by a gap between tunnel and lining and by seepage of underground water into the tunnel is also studied. In conclusion, the paper stresses the importance of the auscultation of completed works for the purpose of proving hypotheses and refining methods of calculation. See also IRRD abstracts nos. 216638 to 216643. /TRRL/


Objective: To assess metabolic and endocrine defects in girls genetically predisposed to polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS). Design: Controlled cross-sectional study. Setting: University hospital. Patients: Nine girls aged 8-14 years having a first-degree relative diagnosed with PCOS (PCOSr) and 10 age-matched girls unrelated to PCOS. Intervention: None. Main outcome measure: Insulin sensitivity (ISfsivgtt) determined by frequently sampled IV glucose tolérance testing (GTT) and insulin-induced non-esterified fatty acid (NEFA) suppression, estimated by the log-linear slope of NEFA levels during the first 20 min of GTT. Results: In comparison to Controls, PCOSr had higher body mass index Z-score (BMIz), waist circumference and waist/height ratio. Levels of the androgen 17ahydroxyprogesterone (17-OHP) were significantly increased in PCOSr, independently of adiposity, and inversely correlated with ISfsivgttISfsivgtt was decreased and the NEFA suppression was less steep in PCOSr as compared to Controls, independently of BMI-z and 17-OHP. The NEFA suppression was more pronounced with increasing ISfsivgtt. independently of adiposity. Conclusions: Girls at high risk of developing PCOS display increased adiposity and 17-OHP levels, but are mainly characterized by global insulin résistance and résistance to insulin-induced suppression of lipolysis that were independent of adiposity and 17OHP levels. Therefore, genetic prédisposition to PCOS may be related to early insulin résistance and adipocyte dysfunction.


In recent years, botnet has become a popular technique for deploying cybercrime because it is hard to be prevented and easily cause devastating loss. Therefore, in this paper, we proposed a novel approach that can automatically generate effective payload-based models purely based on the traffic of actual bot instances instead of signatures hand-tuned by human experts. In the learning phase, we group the packets of the botnet traffic and the benign traffic collected in advance according to their payload size and extract the signatures in the payload in order to generate the payload-based models. We then identify the high quality signatures to reduce the size of models via the information gain ratio and the probability. During the matching phase, the proposed approach uses these payload-based models to check each incoming packet. Moreover, these models can efficiently discriminate the malicious botnet traffic from the benign traffic since it doesn't perform any correlation between different packets. The proposed approach was evaluated with several real-world network traces. Experimental results demonstrate that the proposed approach can detect botnet traffic traces successfully (about 96.4%) with high efficiency and an acceptable low false alarm rate (about 0.9%).


Purpose: The aim of this study was to investigate the histopathologic characteristics and the clinical outcome of neuroendocrine carcinoma of the stomach. Methods: The medical records of 16 patients diagnosed with neuroendocrine carcinoma between 1990 and 2001 at the Department of Surgery, Yonsei University College of Medicine were reviewed. Results: There were 13 male and 3 female patients. The mean age at the time of diagnosis was 62.8 years. The presenting symptoms were epigastric pain or postprandial abdominal discomfort in ten patients, melena in two, and weight loss in one, the remaining three were diagnosed incidentally. Ten patients had a tumor in the upper or middle one third of the stomach and the remaining six patients had a tumor in the distal one third. The mean size of the tumor was 5.3 cm, ranging from 2 cm to 9 cm. The tumor extended beyond the serosa in ten patients (invading the pancreas in one patient), and was limited to the muscle layer proper in five patients, and to the submucosal layer in only one patient. Regional lymph node metastasis was noted in 11 patients. Tumor cells extended to the perigastric lymph nodes in 5 patients and the extra-perigastric lymph nodes in 6 patients, including paraaortic lymph nodes metastasis in 2 patients. Liver metastasis was present in one patient. Seven patients were alive without any evidence of recurrence at a mean follow-up of 75.7 months (range 9125), and one other was alive with a recurrent disease in the peritoneal cavity. The remaining eight patients died of disease recurrence or progression at an average of 10.6 months after diagnosis. Conclusion: Neuroendocrine carcinoma of the stomach is more likely to develop in the male and is usually found at an advanced stage at the time of diagnosis. It also has a tendency to infiltrate deeply into the gastric wall with frequent regional lymph node metastasis. Neuroendocrine carcinoma is a peculiar histologic subtype of gastric cancer which takes an aggressive clinical course.


Background: Endoscopic ultrasound (EUS) allows bile duct drainage in case of endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography (ERCP) failure or inaccessible papilla, during the same anesthetic time, as an alternative to delayed radiological drainage. Our study aims were to review indications, techniques, and early complications (<7 days) of biliary drainage by EUS as a second-line treatment after ERCP failure, including inaccessible papilla and failed ERCP. Methods: This was a retrospective evaluation carried out between 2002 and 2016. Results: Out of >8400 ERCPs performed during this period, 31 patients (68 years range 14–92) were included. 66% (19/29) had failed bile duct drainage due to neoplastic infiltration and the others had inaccessible papilla: roux-en-Y limb (3/10), duodenal stenosis (6/10), or stent (1/10). 65% were drained transgastrically and 35% through the bulb. Drainage was achieved by placing a transmural stent in 79% of cases, "rendezvous" in 14%, and anterograde access in 7%. Two gallbladder drainages were performed in inoperable patients with acute cholecystitis. Average procedural time was 68 min. There were four early complications, including pneumoperitoneum before CO2 use, three stent migrations, or malposition, all of which treated endoscopically. Conclusions: EUS-guided biliary and vesicular drainage can be safely performed even in low rates of ERCP failures.


A field experiment was conducted to assess the effect of integrated nutrient management on the yield and yield components of three corn cultivar in Agricultural and Natural Resources Research Centre in Lorestan, Iran. The experimental design was a randomized complete block design arranged in factorial with three replications. The first factor comprised three corn cultivars (Single cross 704, Single cross 677 and Single cross 580) and the second factor was three levels of fertilizers [Chemical (100% urea), full organic (100% vermicompost) and integrated (50% urea and 50% vermicompost)]. The results showed that corn cultivars vary in yield components related traits such as ear length, ear diameter, seed number in row, row number, seed weight and seed and biological yield as well as protein yield. In addition, vermicompost application had great impact on corn yield components related traits especially when it was combined with chemical fertilizer. Integrated fertilizer management significantly increased ear diameter, seed number in row, row number, see weight, seed and biological yield and protein yield compared to full chemical and full organic treatments. In general, to get maximum yield, the application of integrated organic and inorganic fertilizer is best option.


Drs Schooling and Leung provide a number of hypotheses on why cardiometabolic diseases and risks may still be conditions of affluence. Our study1 on the associations of 4 cardiometabolic risks with macroeconomic variables provides a bird's eye view of global risk-factor distributions and inequalities at snapshots in time, including how these distributions have changed over nearly 3 decades. As emphasized in our study, these cross-sectional associations should not be interpreted as the causal influences of macroeconomic variables on cardiometabolic risk factors in specific countries. For example, although high-income countries on average had lower …


In this paper, we introduce the Ocean-TUNE project which aims to provide a community testbed for underwater wireless sensor networks. We focus on the recent developments of UCONN's Ocean-TUNE testbed. Specifically, we describe the hardware and software systems, the evolution of the testbed and our vision of the Ocean-TUNE project. Recent experiment results collected from the testbed are also presented and discussed.


Retraction of 'Anomalies in growth of electrodeposited Ni–Fe nanogranular films' by T. I. Zubar et al., CrystEngComm, 2018, 20, 2306–2315.


There is a growing adoption of solar home systems to support sustainable development and address poor electricity supply in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA). This has resulted in the rise of solar mobile phone charging businesses, especially in off-grid communities. An area that remains under-researched that needs to be addressed is how these solar mobile phone charging businesses provide opportunities for women in rural communities in SSA. We employ the concept of Sen's Capability Approach to evaluate how the solar mobile phone charging businesses have improved the lives of women by focusing on opportunities provided for expanding their freedom to participate in social, economic, and political activities. Our analysis shows that women's involvement in solar mobile phone charging businesses has enhanced their individual and collective capabilities to participate in development activities; however, certain contextual factors hinder the generation of these capabilities. The paper concludes with some implications for theory and practice.


Abstract Story drift of structure is an important indication of structural damage subjected earthquake excitation. It is thus more reasonable to include base shear and story displacement volume in the assessment of seismic resistant capability of structure. The purpose of this study is to apply lateral displacement reaction model of structural member established through experiments as a base and put in use the derived relation between member deformation and story displacement of structure, integrated with the influence of dynamic p-Δ effect and the required consideration for the structure's functionality, to evaluate earthquake proof capability of moment-resisting frames of reinforced concreté structure. This proposed evaluation method is indicated by the collapse ground acceleration and the extreme volume of story drift. To test the correctness and simplicity of this proposed method, example analysis can be employed and compared the proposed method with elastic static earthquake proof method, nonlinear dynamic analysis method and capacity spectrum method. The analysis outcome shows that the analysis results of proposed method are the nearest to the results of dynamic analysis, and this method is also the simplest and most accurate than the others.


The development of small and medium enterprises in Indonesia is growing rapidly but there are still many obstacles. This problem is suspected because many owners do not have a spirit entrepreneurship, good management skills and the right business strategy in business. T he owners and managers of small businesses required to better understanding the market conditions and passion of the consumers because of competition in business . This study aims to determine the relationship between entrepreneurial orientation, management skills and marketing strategies to increase business performance . This research was conducted by distributing questionnaires on small businesses of manufacturing industry in Magetan. The number of respondents who researched is 96 including the owners or managers of manufacturing small businesses in Magetan. For analyzing and interpreting the data, the analytical techniques used in this research is by using Partial Least Square (PLS). From the results  of studies proved that the entrepreneurial orientation and management skills have positive and significant impact on the marketing strategy. E ntrepreneurial orientation and management skills affect the performance of small businesses when mediated by marketing strategies. Only management capabilities directly influence the performance of a small business without a marketing strategy. Keywords : entrepreneurial orientation, management skills, marketing strategies, business performance


This paper introduces a new method for the simplification and multiscale generalization of contour lines based on progressive simplification of TIN. Examples show that the algorithm is effective and efficient in avoiding the occurrence of intersection of contour lines and can produce multiscale generalization result simultaneously.


Hydrogen bonded multi-component crystalline solids with desired physicochemical properties owing to their diverse potential applications have attracted great research attention. Minor differences in hydrogen bond interactions manipulate the molecular arrangements...


By using density-functional tight-binding method, we have shown the size and composition dependent variation of band gap and excitation spectra of both GaxAl1−xAs and AlxGa1−xAs alloyed semiconductor nanocrystals. The two systems differ with respect to the surface atoms, while in one case the surface atoms are Ga, while in another case it is Al, and hence the effect of structural relaxations in GaxAl1−xAs and AlxGa1−xAs are different leading to different final structures and properties. We observed a bowing effect in the band gap values as it is experimentally found in many semiconductor alloys.


Nowadays building maintenance has become increasingly important for many building owners and organization to ensure comfortability and safety of building users. This study is about building maintenance system which involving two parties, the maintenance management and the building's user. The study is focusing the level of user satisfaction
about the service delivery in government building in Penang. The process of study involves literature review from books, journal, magazines, questionnaires and others. A
case study is also carried out to obtain the necessary data. The case study includes be given the questionnaires survey on the staff of the Gunasama Federal Building in Penang. The data collected are analyzed by choosing of Gunasama Federal building such as Tunku Syed Putra Building and Kompleks Tun Abdul Razak (KOMTAR) in Penang. Distribution of questionnaire to evaluate the service delivery on maintenance management in government building in Penang from the perception of building users (staff). Beside that ,distribution of questionnaires also to analyzed the percentage of building staff that satisfied with service delivery on maintenance management on government building in Penang. Based on case study was show the majority of building users are satisfied with the service delivery on maintenance management for both governments building. However, have a several recommendation or suggestion to existing maintenance management has been identified. It's because the life of both government building more than 30 years. Indirectly, the
recommendation and suggestion will be a guideline for an effective service delivery and maintenance management.


Now, the computer multimedia has been widely applied in nursing field, provides the reform and development of the nursing teaching, nursing teachers must have the information quality, can use computer aided to creative teaching activities, this topic research has very important meaning, can for future nursing education means and methods to provide a very important idea and mode, at the same time, computer aided technology can promote the reform of nursing education system, the use of modern education technology means, improve the education level, conducive to the cultivation of nursing students to become the new information-based nursing talents, at the same time, Nursing teachers should adapt to computer multimedia teaching, strengthen information technology training, and become a nursing teacher with good information awareness, information ability and information quality[1].


The curing reactions of polyurethane resins are accelerated by electron donors (e.g., hydroxyl group) and electron accepting materials (e.g., carboxyl group and dibutyltin dilaurate). As the critical extent of reaction is reached, a three-dimensional cross-linked network is formed. Afterwards, most of the reactive functional groups are attached to the cross-linked network. The mobilities of these reactive functional groups are seriously restricted and the curing reactions become diffusion controlled. This could lead to incomplete extent of reaction. Based on elementary reaction mechanisms a kinetic model is developed. The concept of diffusion-limited reactions is used to describe the phenomenon of limiting extent of reaction. Changes in free volume are related to changes in the rate constants with extent of reaction. When the model is applied to experimental data available in the literature, agreement between the model predictions and experimental data is reasonably good.


OBJECTIVE
The purpose of this study was to evaluate the usefulness of double arterial phase CT for the detection of small hypervascular hepatocellular carcinomas, using an automated bolus-tracking technique to initiate the hepatic arterial phase CT.

MATERIALS AND METHODS
Double arterial and late phase contrast-enhanced helical CT scans were obtained on 287 consecutive patients suspected of having hepatocellular carcinoma. These included 56 patients with 90 small (< or 3 cm) hepatocellular carcinomas and 50 patients with no hepatocellular carcinomas. CT scans of these patients were interpreted by three reviewers. The first arterial phase scan was initiated automatically 10 sec after the bolus-tracking program detected the threshold enhancement of 50 H in the abdominal aorta. Three reviewers interpreted the late phase CT scans in combination with the first, second, or both hepatic arterial phases. Measures of the reviewers' detection of hepatocellular carcinoma included analysis of interobserver variation, sensitivity, specificity, and area under receiver operating characteristic curve (A(z)).

RESULTS
The time elapsed from bolus initiation to threshold aortic enhancement ranged from 10 to 24 sec (mean, 13 sec), resulting in initiation of the first arterial phase CT scan from 20 to 34 sec (mean, 23 sec). The combination of late phase CT and both first and second arterial phase images showed significantly better performance than the combination of the late phase and either the first or second arterial phases, although the difference was most evident in comparison with the combination of second arterial and late phases.

CONCLUSION
An automated bolus-tracking program can be used to optimize the timing of hepatic arterial phase CT. Multiphasic CT performed using this technique is useful in detection of small hepatocellular carcinoma.


Wavelet analysis has the characteristics of timing and frequency adapting to each other. Two-dimensional wavelet analysis can rotate and amplify the signal in frequency domain. So, in this paper, two-dimensional wavelet analysis is used to detect the position of the injury of simply supported plate. This article simulates an injury and two injuries in a simply supported plate and the detection of the location of the injury. This article verifies that the feasibility of this method.


The export of non-oil and gas leading commodities (palm oil, rubber and cocoa) contributes the largest state revenue. Copula is used to model the dependency between two variables that have different marginal distributions. The data to be used is secondary data from the Commodity Futures Trading Supervisory Agency (BAPPEBTI) starting from January 1, 2018 - February 28, 2020 for the period before the Covid-19 pandemic and March 1, 2020 - November 26, 2021 for the period after the Covid-19 pandemic. The dependency of the two variables to be measured is the price of palm oil, rubber and cocoa before and after the start of the Covid-19 pandemic in Indonesia. The Copula that will be used are Joe, Gumbel, Frank, Gaussian, Clayton, and Student's t. The best Copula model obtained for palm oil and rubber dependencies is the Joe Copula, while palm oil and cocoa and cocoa rubber dependencies are the Clayton Copula.


During the period 2011-2019 plum cultivars Top, Topfirst, Tophit, Topgigant Plus and Topstar Plus, introduced from Germany, were studied together with the Stanley as a standard. The plantation was created in the spring of 2011 at planting distances of 4 × 3 m. The trees were grafted on Prunus cerasifera seedlings, trained as freegrowing crowns, and grown without irrigation. At the end of the 8th year after planting, Topfirst trees had the thickest stems and Top had the thinnest ones. The cultivars formed trees with a smaller crown volume than Stanley. Their flowering began after that of Stanley, and the harvest period was from July 10 to September 10. The fruit of Topfirst were ripened first, and Top at the latest. The highest yields were obtained from Stanley and Topfirst, and with the highest productivity coefficient were Topend Plus and Top. The fruit weight ranged from 22.4 g at Top to 77.5 g at Topgigant Plus. The studied cultivars are suitable for cultivation in the region of Kyustendil and can successfully enrich the plum assortment.


Thyroidectomy is one of the most surgical interventions in endocrine surgery. When the operation is performed in respective surgical centers, the operation is safe with low morbidity and 0% mortality.

 The study was a quasi-experimental study carried out at Ain Shams University Hospital. Sixty patients with benign and malignant goiter disorders underwent primary (not recurrent) total thyroidectomy. The patients were assigned into two groups: group 1 (interventional group) included 30 cases operated upon with methylene blue spraying technique and group 2 (control group) 30 cases established with the conventional technique. Methylene blue was sprayed over the thyroid lobe and perilober area. Parathyroides and recurrent laryngeal nerve were identified and evaluated.

 Recurrent laryngeal nerve was not stained and remained white in all cases while all other tissues were stained blue. Four to seven minutes later the parathyroid glands washed out the blue stain and regain their original yellow color. Thyroid gland wash-out time was 19 min.

 Methylene blue spraying is a new technique that allows identification of both parathyroid glands and recurrent laryngeal nerves. This technique is safe, effective, and technically feasible.


The high temperature oxidation behavior of a new nickel-based superalloy was investigated at 850℃and 950℃in air by means of TGA,XRD and SEM/EDX.The results show that oxidation kinetics basically obeys parabolic law.The formed oxide scale is consisted of three layers at 850℃and 950℃.The outer layer is mainly composed of complex oxides and spinals,and the middle one is a continuous layer and finally the inner one is a dis-continuous layer of Al_2O_3. The out layer is rich in Ta,which may suppress the diffusion rate of Al.As a result,a continuous oxide layer of Al_2O_3 is formed in the middle of the scale to restrain the growth of oxide scale and decrease the oxidation rate.


Background: Chronic kidney disease (CKD) is a complex disease impacting more than twenty million individuals in the United States. Progression of CKD is associated with a number of serious complications, including increased incidence of cardiovascular disease, hyperlipidemia, anemia and metabolic bone disease. CKD patients should be assessed for the presence of these complications and receive optimal treatment to reduce their morbidity and mortality. A multidisciplinary approach is required to accomplish this goal. Aim: The aim of the study to estimation myeloperoxidase activity in CKD patients and its association with other biochemical parameters (Creatinine and eGFR). Patients and Methods: A Case-control study is carried out Baghdad in the Imamian Kadhimian Medical City and Al- Karamah Teaching Hospital between August 2022 and March 2023. The number of CKD male under study was 60 male whose ages were between 25 to 50 years old. In addition, the control group consisted of 30 healthy volunteer males aged between 25 to 50 years and they did not have any diseases. Blood samples collected from each male for measurement of Myeloperoxidase (MPO) by Enzyme linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA), measure of serum creatinine by Abbott c4000 clinical chemistry analyzer and eGFR by MDRD equation. The study showed that the reduced mean level of myeloperoxidase (p value <0.001) in patients group compared with control group, (19.9±6.82 ng/ml) and (42.4±4.98 ng/ml) respectively. Our study revealed that with increasing CKD stage, the myeloperoxidase levels decrease. Also, the elevated mean level of creatinine was 7.47±2.8 mg/dl in patient group was highly significant than control group 0.84±0.158 mg/dl p value <0.001. The decrease mean of GFR was 9.42±3.53 in patients compared with controls 109±22.6 with high statistically significance (p<0.001). The study found a positive correlation between MPO and GFR and negative correlation of serum myeloperoxidase with serum creatinine level in CKD patients.


GENESIS OF LIVER TRANSPLANTATION AT ASAN MEDICAL CENTER Asan Medical Center (AMC), established in 1989, is the largest hospital in Korea with a capacity of 2700 beds. AMC has a clinical focus on liver transplantation (LT), an area of increasing demand in Korea. Subsequent to an extensive training in large animals, the first LT (a deceased donor liver transplant [DDLT]) was performed in August 1992, recorded as the third of its kind in Korea. In 1994, AMC performed the first successful pediatric living donor LT (LDLT) in Korea. AMC has completed >300 LDLTs annually since 2010 and has become the by far largest volume transplant center in Korea (performing 41.6% of all LDLT in the country) and in the world.


Wide-band technology is an important direction for microstrip antenna.Based on the rectangular microstrip antenna theory,the patch is put on the air substrate and excited by a coaxial probe which is stretched from the top of ridge-shaped ground plate,thus the probe inductance is reduced and wideband operation is obtained.A microstrip antenna array is simulated and optimization of the parameters of design are done through Ansoft HFSS software.A real antenna is made and measured in microwave anechoic chamber.Results show that requirement toantenna design is achieved.


This article explores the lack of routinely collected data to support the monitoring of adolescent health. It describes international and local surveys that have been used to fill this information gap.