Objectives: We have examined the association of methylenetetrahydrofolate reductase (MTHFR) gene A1298C variant, DNA damage, and total antioxidant status (TAS) in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) with and without complications and in healthy controls.Methods: A total of 300 subjects including 100 patients with complications, 100 patients without complications, and 100 controls were included. TAS was assessed by ferric reducing ability of plasma assay. DNA damage was analyzed in lymphocytes using the comet assay. Polymerase chain reaction-restriction fragment length polymorphism analysis was performed to study the MTHFR A1298C gene polymorphism among the study subjects.Results: The results revealed that the MTHFR 1298 AC+CC genotypes were associated with increased risk (2 fold) for diabetes and its complications. When the effect of DNA damage was analyzed, significant differences between individuals with mutant and normal genotype among the diabetic patients (with and without complications) was observed (p≤0.001). In contrary, no significant difference was found between TAS and 1298 genotypes (AA vs. AC+CC) in Type 2 diabetes patients (with and without complications), p=0.338. We also found a significant difference between the genotypes of the MTHFR A1298C and DNA damage, TAS in T2DM patients (with & without complications) when compared to controls, p<0.001.Conclusions: Our findings suggest that the MTHFR A1298C gene polymorphism is considered as a risk factor for the development of diabetes and its complications among south Indians. Therefore, increased DNA damage and decreased TAS along with the occurrence of a mutant genotype in an individual with diabetes may be at an increased risk for the development of chronic complications.


We study an instance of the Affine Sieve, producing a level of distribution beyond that which can be obtained from current techniques, even assuming a Selberg/Ramanujan-type spectral gap. In particular, we consider the set of hypotenuses in a thin orbit of Pythagorean triples. Previous work [Kon07, Kon09, KO12] gave an exponent of distribution alpha < 1/12 coming from Gamburd's [Gam02] gap theta = 5/6, thereby producing R = 13 almost primes in this linear sieve problem (see Sec. 1 for definitions). If conditioned on a best possible gap theta = 1/2, the known method would give an exponent alpha < 1/4, and R = 5 almost primes. The exponent 1/4 is the natural analogue of the "Bombieri-Vinogradov" range of distribution for this problem, see Remark 1.19.
In this paper, we unconditionally prove the exponent alpha < 7/24 (in the "Elliott-Halberstam" range), thereby producing R = 4 almost primes. The main tools involve developing bilinear forms and the dispersion method in the range of incomplete sums for this Affine Sieve problem.


This paper presents a novel direct torque and flux control (DTFC) scheme of interior permanent magnet synchronous motor (IPMSM) drive. The conventional six-sector based DTFC scheme is modified with the proposed eighteen-sector based DTFC scheme in order to reduce the torque/flux ripple of the drive. Furthermore, the motor efficiency is optimized by reference flux estimation through an online loss minimization algorithm (LMA) so that the motor operates at minimum loss condition, which is not possible for conventional control where the reference flux remains constant. The complete drive is simulated using MATLAB/Simulink software and then a prototype is implemented using digital signal processor (DSP) board DS1104 for a laboratory 5-hp motor. Performance of the proposed DTFC scheme is investigated extensively at different operating conditions in both simulation and experiment. It is found from results that the proposed eighteen-sector based DTFC scheme incorporating LMA achieves the lowest possible torque ripples in steady state while maintaining high efficiency.


The article examines the main approaches to improving conditions for the implementation of innovative strategies, the role of innovation infrastructure in the formation and implementation of the strategy of innovative development of economic systems. The efficiency of innovative activity of economic entities is determined in many respects by the level of development of the innovation infrastructure, able to perform basic functions of management, cooperation, integration, and coordination.


Robust Assortment Optimization Under the Markov Chain Choice Model Assortment optimization arises widely in many practical applications. In this problem, the goal is to select products to offer customers in order to maximize the expected revenue. We study a robust assortment-optimization problem under the Markov chain choice model, in which the parameters of the choice model are assumed to be uncertain, and the goal is to maximize the worst case expected revenue over all parameter values in an uncertainty set. Our main contribution is to prove a min-max duality result when the uncertainty set is row-wise. The result is surprising as the objective function does not satisfy the properties usually needed for known min-max results. Inspired by the duality result, we develop an efficient iterative algorithm for computing the optimal robust assortment under the Markov chain choice model. Moreover, our results yield operational insights into the effect of changing the uncertainty set on the optimal robust assortment.


This study extends and applies the theory of micromixing, first introduced in the chemical reaction engineering literature, to the topic of reactive transport in porous media. For all but the simplest linear kinetic and sorption models the fate and transport of a reactive solute depends on the residence times and the details of small‐scale mixing. The latter phenomenon, also called micromixing, is important because it brings into close proximity chemical species that react, and it controls the local concentrations in a flowing system. Solutes with reaction rates or sorption isotherms that depend on species concentration will therefore be affected by micromixing. Two models for micromixing are introduced, the minimum and maximum mixedness models, that provide bounds on the extent of reaction or retardation behavior within the constraints imposed by the residence time distribution (RTD) of a conservative solute in the same flow system. These mixing models prescribe the latest or earliest permissible mixing of parcels of fluid of different residence times, which in turn bounds the degree of reaction of a reactive solute for nonlinear rate laws or sorption isotherms. Simulation results using the bounding models show that micromixing effects are most important for nonlinear reaction curves, solute pulses of short duration, and systems with broad RTD curves. Use of these models is a straightforward and practical way to investigate the importance of a phenomenon for which data are seldom available and whose impact on groundwater reactive transport models has heretofore not been studied in a systematic, bounding manner.


Based on SCP framework,this paper makes an empirical analysis of the market structure,corporate behavior and industry performance of wine industry in China by industrial organization theory.It is found that wine industry of China belongs to highly concentrated oligopoly style and with higher performance.Through the conclusion of current structure-behavior-performance style,it proposes three constructive suggestions including adjusting industrial structure,optimizing the allocation of resources within industry and the strengthening of the marketing methods and brand building.


Objective: To study the associations of the risk of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) in rheumatoid arthritis (RA) and ankylosing spondylitis (AS) patients with chronic hepatitis B (CHB) who have been treated with anti-TNF antagonists by nomograms for the risk of HCC in patients with chronic hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection in Taiwan. Methods: We carried out a retrospective study and reviewed all of the patients of RA and AS treated with etanercept or adalimumab from January 2007 to May 2012 in Chung Shan Medical University Hospital. A series of serum aminotransferase (ALT) levels and hepatitis serologic status, including: HBV surface antigen (HBsAg), HBV surface antibody (HBsAb), HBV core IgG antibody (HBcAb) and HBV-DNA was reviewed. We calculated the risk scores of HCC of those patients with CHB infections and investigated the fluctuations of risk scores in nomograms developed by Yang et al. for risk of HCC in patients with chronic HBV infection in Taiwan. Results: A total of 150 patients with RA or AS were documented to be treated with entanercept and adalimumab. Eighteen (12%) of the 150 patients were positive for HbsAg. None of them had received antiviral treatment for hepatitis B before starting on anti-TNF agents. Two patients were excluded due to missing data. Fifty-six percent (9/16) of patients had increased risk scores for HCC during the anti-TNF treatment; 7 (44%) patients' risk scores remained unchanged or were lowered by interventions such as antiviral treatment or interruption of anti-TNF therapy. Conclusion: Fifty-six percent (9/16) of patients had increased risk scores for HCC during the anti-TNF treatment. Nomograms for risk of HCC in patients with chronic HBV infection are an easy-to-use tool based on independent clinical risk factors for rheumatologists to employ in the communication of risk management and decision making concerning CHB patients treated with anti-TNF therapy. Further investigation and observation of the association of the biological agent with HCC in CHB patients are needed.


The degradation of xenobiotics was investigated in model experiments in soddy-podzolic soil as a function of their concentration, pH moisture content, temperature, and aeration of the soil, and presence of organic and mineral compounds. The main and secondary factors determining the persistence of xenobiotics in soil were established and approximation formulas for calculating their persistance criteria (ty) were proposed.


We consider secret-key agreement with public discussion over a multiple-input single output (MISO) Gaussian channel with an amplitude constraint. We prove that the capacity is achieved by a discrete input, i.e., an input whose support is sparse. The proof follows from the concavity of the conditional mutual information in terms of the input distribution and hence the Karush-Kuhn-Tucker (KKT) condition provides a necessary and sufficient condition for optimality. Then, a contradiction argument that rules out the non-sparsity of any optimal input's support is utilized. The latter approach is essential to apply the identity theorem in a multidimensional setting as Rn is not an open subset of Cn.


Objective To evaluate the impact of three different methods of cesarean section (CS) on the second-time cesarean section. Methods Prospective analysis method was used in this study. Totally 279 cases of the second-time cesarean section in Department of Obstetrics of The People's Hospital of Ningxiang County from April, 2004 to March, 2009 were observed before and after operation. The cases were divided into three groups: uterine lower segmental CS (group I, n=65), new mode CS (group II, n=86), and new modified CS (group III, n=128). The operation time, blood loss, anal exsufflation time, abdominal and pelvic adhesion, and postoperative condition were compared among the three groups. Results There were statistically significant differences in abdominal and pelvic adhesion and blood loss in opening the abdominal wall to exposing the lower uterine segment between new mode CS and uterine lower segmental CS, new modified CS (P0.05), while no statistically significant difference was found between uterine lower segmental CS and new modified CS (P0.05). The time of opening the abdominal wall to exposing the lower uterine segment and the incidence rate of original scar defect were in order of new modified CS, uterine lower segmental CS, and new mode CS, and the difference was statistically significant (P0.05). Conclusions The new modified CS absorbs the advantages of short operation time, mild pain, fast anal exhaust, and quick recovery. It is worthy to be popularized in clinic.


A histopathological study was made on an infection of Streptococcus sp. in cultured tilapia, Sarotherodon niloticus, which occurred in warm water ponds during the winter of 1980. The external signs were dermal hemorrhage and exophthalmia. The internal signs were dropsy, epicarditis, peritonitis, pale-colored liver, splenomegary and nodule formation in gonads. On histopathological examination, the bacterial dissemination was systemic. Abscesses and granulomas were found to develope in the infected orbital adipose tissue of the exophthalmic eyes. Infiltration of bacteria-laden macrophages and granuloma formation were observed in the infected lesions of the epicardium, capsules of the liver and spleen, peritoneum, stomach, intestine, brain, ovary and testis.


This paper made a systematic presenting for the external environment and spatial structure of enterprise innovation and defined the three-dimensional space of enterprise innovation based on the spatial economics and open innovation perspective. The 'knowledge flow' was used as an important dimension when delving into the dynamic feedback mechanism between the enterprise innovation and three-dimensional space, forming a systematic recognition for interaction mechanism of three-dimensional space, knowledge flow and the enterprise endogenous innovation. And then, a demonstration based on the structural equation model was used to provide a theoretical basis for the innovation decision of an enterprise. It followed that, the economic space, geographic space and human space all constitute the three-dimensional space of enterprise external knowledge flow. In the open innovation system, the non-rigid boundary of enterprises provides the possibility of the overflow, expansion and penetration of external knowledge. Again, through the mediation of knowledge flow, the dynamic interaction of system dynamics between the three-dimensional space and enterprise endogenous innovation was achieved.


Australia needs to create innovative regions to sustain economic prosperity and regional development. In order to do this, regions will need to systematically address their knowledge needs and identify tools that are appropriate in maximising their effectiveness. Many initiatives have focused on information and communication technology (ICT) to enable knowledge exchange and stimulate knowledge generation, but active knowledge management (KM) strategies are required if ICTs are to be used effectively. These strategies must respond to the regional economic and social environments which incorporate small and medium enterprises (SMEs). This paper outlines the importance of KM for supporting regional cluster development and the key ways in which communities of practice (CoPs), a KM technique, have been used to add value in similar contexts. How CoPs and their online counterpart, virtual communities of practice (VCoPs), can be used and developed in regional areas of Australia is considered along with a program for further research.


Supplemental Digital Content is available in the text. Background: The Cockcroft-Gault formula is recommended to determine a renal indication for dose reduction of dabigatran, edoxaban, and rivaroxaban. Nephrology guidelines now recommend the Modification of Diet in Renal Disease (MDRD) and Chronic Kidney Disease Epidemiology Collaboration (CKD-EPI) formulae as more accurate estimates of glomerular filtration rate. Methods: We analyzed anticoagulated patients with atrial fibrillation who were enrolled in the Prevention of Thromboembolic Events – European Registry in Atrial Fibrillation (PREFER in AF). The proportion of patients with dissimilar renal dosing indications was assessed when applying Cockcroft-Gault, MDRD, or CKD-EPI. Thromboembolic and major bleeding events at 1 year were compared in patients in whom Cockcroft-Gault and CKD-EPI provided concordant or discordant results around a threshold of 50 mL/minute. Results: Out of 1288 patients with atrial fibrillation with chronic kidney disease in whom Cockcroft-Gault suggested a dose reduction of dabigatran, edoxaban, or rivaroxaban (creatinine clearance ≤50 mL/minutes), 19% and 16% were reclassified to the respective higher doses, and 24% and 23% to the respective lower doses by applying the MDRD and CKD-EPI formulae, respectively. In patients potentially receiving a different dose of dabigatran, edoxaban, or rivaroxaban when using CKD-EPI, we observed an excess of thromboembolic events (4.1% versus 0.8%; odds ratio, 5.5 [95% CI, 1.5–20.8]; P=0.01). Major bleeding rates were nonsignificantly different in the discordance versus concordance group (5.7% versus 2.7%; odds ratio, 2.2 [95% CI, 0.9–5.6]; P=0.09). Conclusions: The MDRD and CKD-EPI formulae suggest a different dosing in up to a quarter of anticoagulated patients with atrial fibrillation. This seems to impact hard outcomes.


The location of hydrophilic and hydrophobic regions on tetrahedral nanoparticles determines how they pack together into a variety of structures [Also see Report by Huang et al.] The self-assembly and packing of nanoscale particles that have nonspherical shapes is only beginning to be explored. Recent computer simulations have suggested that hard, convex polyhedra can pack more densely than spheres, leading to complex structures of liquid crystals, plastic crystals, crystals, and disordered phases (1). In particular, aperiodic quasicrystalline and crystalline phases occur in the packing of tetrahedra, the simplest polyhedron (2). On page 424 of this issue, Huang et al. report the precise synthesis of rigid giant tetrahedra consisting of hydrophobic and hydrophilic polyhedral oligomeric silsesquioxane (POSS) cages (3). They assemble a diverse range of highly ordered supramolecular lattices by exploiting the location of the hydrophilic POSS cage substituent and the number of substitutions, together with the interplay of crystallization and the collective hydrogen-bonding interactions.


We propose a Darwinian evolutionary model for the development and disappearance of Woodland period cultural elaboration in the Ohio River Valley, and specifically the "climax" of this behavior known as the Hopewell phenomenon. We combine aspects of evolutionary archaeology and evolutionary ecology to provide a model that (1) has testable empirical consequences, and (2) specifically addresses the historical context of development of the phenomenon being explained. Our model builds on Smith's (1987) coevolutionary scenario for the development of symbiosis between Eastern Agricultural Complex (EAC) crops and the human populations exploiting them. After presenting our model, we explore the empirical consequences of ceremonial subsistence and the types of data that would be required to test the model. In our discussion of the extant data we also contrast our scenario with a competing evolutionary explanation for the Hopewell phenomenon: the "waste" hypothesis. The limited available evidence is in line with the empirical expectations of the ceremonial subsistence model and is, to varying degrees, at odds with the empirical expectations for the "waste" explanation. Our ceremonial subsistence model offers a testable alternative that is not falsified by the extant data. However, we recognize the problem is far from solved. Our primary aim is to promote renewed theoretical discussion of the issues raised herein and to encourage new problem-oriented research to provide empirical evidence to test both explanations.


Using of new technology in economical field is one of the main goal of putting electronic government in the definition of society and community. These changes are put in cultural bases and we are not able to anticipate all probable results before encountering cultures with new technology mostly has been one of the theoretical survey and practical difficulties in governing of societies. The rate of people's tendency related to E-Banking and it's development, depends on some economical and social bases. The necessity of a beneficial banking, including global marketing, requires E-Banking not only for a choice, but as an obligation. It is clear that using of E-banking, reduces expenses of task banking. The main objective of this paper is to conduct a descriptive research of correlation type on the impact of e-banking strategy on Melli bank's penetration in the market, in Shiraz, Iran. Statistical data in this survey includes some active costumers of Melli bank branches in Shiraz, that have access to 85 branches under control of the department of branches in Fars province, with distributing some questionnaire the influence of EBanking such as: SATNA, SAHAB, SMS and SABA on marketing was measured that only SMS bank has effect on Melli bank penetration in the market.


Background: Hysterosalphingography (HSG) remains a vital method of assessing tubal patency especially in a resource limited setting such as ours and tubal occlusion is the commonest cause of female infertility in the developing world. Objective : To review abnormal tubal pathological findings in hysterosalphingography (HSG) among women being investigated for primary and secondary infertility in Sokoto. Method: This is a retrospective review of HSG results of 317 women being investigated for both primary and secondary infertility was reviewed. The study was conducted from July 2009 to August 2012. Results : A total of 317 patients were studied. The age ranges of the study participants was from 17 - 48 years with a mean and standard deviation value of 32.5 ± 5.5. Out of the sample size, 139 (43.85%) showed normal HSG findings while 178 (56.15%) patients had abnormal HSG findings. Tubal abnormalities were found in 112 (35.33%) of the patients. The commonest tubal abnormality was tubal blockage. Conclusion : The high incidence of tubal pathology revealed in this study showed that HSG is still a very vital tool for infertility work-up. Early detection and prompt treatment of infection in our women should be encouraged as it is the major leading cause of tubal pathologies and consequently this would reduce the contribution of tubal infertility in this environment. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.3126/ajms.v6i2.10581 Asian Journal of Medical Sciences Vol.6(2) 2015 48-51


Gas pipeline inner inspection tools are driven by the pressure of the transmission gas. However, the velocity of the inspection tool should be limited to a range that provides reasonable inspection precision. A gas-driven bypass device was developed to control the velocity of gas pipeline defect inspection tools. The bypass device uses the differential pressure of the gas in the pipeline to drive a piston that acts as an on/off switch for the bypass channel. Experiments show that the bypass device consumes less than 10 watts and the bypass switching time is several seconds, which is suitable for velocity adjustments of pipeline inspection tools.


"From the earliest times the Jesuits recognized the significance of books and libraries for their educational purposes". "For the houses of study purchasing of books is as essential as buying of food. A book is a tool in the service of God". The first book published by a Jesuit was an edition of the sermons of the Dominican mystic Johann Tauler. His catechism was the most published book by a Dutch author in history. According to the Bibliotheca Catholica Neerlandica Impressa from 1954, seven hundred Jesuits had their books published in the Low Countries and neighbouring German cities. With the signing of the brief Dominus ac Redemptor on 21 July 1773, Pope Clement XIV abolished the Society of Jesus. In Jesuit church in Antwerp, the contents of twelve libraries lay scattered all over the altars and in the confessionals. What Jesuits had written and collected in their libraries was lost.Keywords: Antwerp; Bibliotheca Catholica Neerlandica Impressa; Jesuits; low countries; Society of Jesus


Learning material is an important part of the implementation of learning, so teachers should be able to design, arrange, and develop their learning material. There are a lot of mathematics learning materials on the market but they are still rarely integrated with Islamic studies. Therefore, the purpose of this study is to develop Islamic context-based learning material to increase students' mathematical understanding. This study is research and development using the PPE model which consists of three stages, namely planning, production, and evaluation. The data collecting techniques used are tested to find out the students' mathematical understanding and questionnaire to find out expert's assessment. The data is analyzed quantitatively using descriptive data analysis techniques. The data obtained from the questionnaire is quantified to get results in the form of percentages to find out the results of the questionnaire from the validation of the learning material experts. The results showed that Islamic context-based learning material has fulfilled the requirements to be considered feasible to be used in the learning process and is feasible to be used as learning support to increase students' mathematical understanding.


Currently,there existed some problems-weakness in financial management functions,looseness in financial and economic disciplines,and distortion in accounting information-which causes loss of state assets.Hence,we should strengthen legal concept,man-age finance according to law,stress team construction of accounting personnel,perform duties,increase budget management,implement financial system,promote national financing,strengthen public supervision,and inhibit waste of capital.


The article critically discusses legislative changes to the Criminal code of the Russian Federation introducted with Federal law of October 25, 2013 № 302-FL. Particular attention is paid to issues of social and criminological conditionality and defects of legislative technique counterterrorism novels.


We examine the effect of edges on the random, sequential, irreversible filling of sites on a lattice. In particular, we focus upon the distance that the edge effect propagates into the bulk and how this varies depending upon the length of the filling species for some simple one- and two-dimensional processes on a square lattice. Primary consideration is given to the saturation state. We find that for random n-mer filling, the edge effect propagates approximately 2n to 3n sites into the lattice. Additionally, we find that the effect of an edge will propagate farther along an adjacent edge (in a corner)


porous limestones (Ocala, Tampa, Hawthorn Formation) near the surface has led to the creation of many favorable habitats. Due to the nearly constant ground-water temperature, updrafts are created in sinks and caveopenings when the surface air temperature is low, a phenomenon which is admirably suited to the dispersal of fern spores. Peculiarities in distribution are correlated with the existence and locations of suitable habitats.


In view of the strategic plan of the Hong Kong Government to implement BIM in all public housing projects starting from 2014, there is a need to review the current use of BIM in Hong Kong. However, there is no thorough study conducted in Hong Kong to provide empirical data for further study. Although the study is conducted in Hong Kong, the results contribute practical insights to the subject in other countries. The main purpose of this paper is to examine the application of BIM among the design firms in Hong Kong and to identify their needs and barriers in the BIM adoption process. From such, suitable directions can be suggested for the government, professional bodies and BIM vendors to foster the local use of BIM. A questionnaire survey was designed to collect primary data regarding the implementation and barriers of BIM usage from design firms in Hong Kong. Respondents were asked to provide opinions on the extent of BIM implementation, their barriers encountered during implementation and the required support from government / professional institutions. Fifty-two responses were received in the survey. Results indicated that BIM application among designers was limited. Several barriers to BIM adoption were identified, including lack of qualified in-house staff, lack of training/education, lack of standards and lack of client demand. The government should collaborate with the industry, professional bodies and education institutes to establish clear standards and guidance on the use of BIM and to provide more tailored training to practitioners and future students.


The article described a study to understand a teacher's usage of first language (L1) in rural Sabah, Malaysia. Literature findings discovered a growing understanding that L1 should be used to assist a learner in learning L2 and that despite some studies done in Malaysian schools, none are based on English Language classrooms in rural Sabah, East Malaysia. Approximately 400 minutes of the teacher's classroom sessions were recorded, and any use of L1 is coded, and then categorised, based on the coding system developed by Sali (2014). The codes revealed that L1 is primarily used for academic and managerial purposes, with more efforts made on giving instructions, talking about learning, and eliciting objectives in mind. There was also the use of languages other than L1, primarily the students' ethnic tongue. Findings were compared against Principled Use of L1 (Cook, 2001), and suggestions were made to assist and further enhance the L1 use of the teacher, keeping in mind the contextual uniqueness of rural Sabah, Malaysia. A larger-scale study could be replicated to confirm the findings further, and to develop a principled use of L1 for rural Sabah ESL/EFL teachers to follow. https://doi.org/10.26803/ijlter.19.6.12


The objective of this study was to investigate Rehmannia 14 (R14), a Chinese herbal medicine, reported to be effective in treating endocrine and renal function disorders in geriatric and Kidney Yang Deficiency cases. Using a geriatric and Kidney Yang Deficiency mouse model (GKDM) with a control group, 60 male Kunming mice expressing clinical signs of GKDM (weight loss, lethargy, cool limbs, decreased rectal temperature) were treated with R14 to investigate its impact on serum concentrations of triiodothyronine (T3), tetraiodothyronine (T4), thyroid stimulating hormone (TSH), adrenocorticotropic hormone (ACTH), cortisol (COR), creatinine (CRE), blood urea nitrogen (BUN) and the content of nitric oxide (NO) in renal homogenates. Study results demonstrated that GKDM model mice had decreased body weight/rectal temperatures and lethargy while R14 treated animals had improved weight gains/normal rectal temperature and improved activity levels. The GKDM mice also had decreased T3/T4/ACTH with increased TSH while the R14 dosed animals had increased T3/T4/ACTH and decreased TSH levels. In addition, R14 exerted protective effects on the kidneys with decreased NO, CRE and BUN concentrations. Study findings concluded that R14 improved serum concentrations of key endocrine indicators of disorders of the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis and has a protective effect on renal function in a GKDM mouse model. The findings from this study provide a basis for the clinical use of R14 in the treatment of endocrine and renal disorders associated with aging and Kidney Yang/Qi Deficiency in animals.


AN INVESTIGATION WAS CONDUCTED THAT COMBINES CURRENT AND ESTABLISHED MIX DESIGN AND THICKNESS DESIGN METHODS WITH LAYERED SYSTEM ANALYSIS FOR DESIGN OF EMULSIFIED ASPHALT TREATED BASES. A FIELD SURVEY WAS CONDUCTED OF IN-SERVICE PROJECTS CONSTRUCTED WITH ASPHALT EMULSION TREATED BASES TO: (1) OBTAIN UNDISTURBED SAMPLES OF STABILIZED BASE FOR LABORATORY TESTING, AND (2) OBSERVE THE PERFORMANCE OF PAVEMENTS CONSTRUCTED WITH EMULSION TREATED BASES UNDER A VARIETY OF ENVIRONMENTS. OBJECTIVES WERE TO: (1) DESCRIBE RESULTS OF FIELD CONDITION SURVEYS OF PAVEMENTS CONSTRUCTED WITH EMULSION STABILIZED BASES, (2) EXPLORE POSSIBLE USES OF LAYERED ELASTIC THEORY FOR THICKNESS DESIGN, (3) STUDY THE INFLUENCE OF CURING TIME ON PERFORMANCE, AND (4) PRESENT A METHOD FOR MIX DESIGN ADEQUATE TO RESIST DEFORMATION. CONDITION SURVEY RESULTS SHOW THAT EMULSION STABLIZED BASES ARE PROVIDING SATISFACTORY PERFORMANCE UNDER A VARIETY OF ENVIRONMENTS AND LOADING CONDITIONS. BY COMBINING THEORETICAL CONCEPTS WITH THE EXISTING DESIGN METHODS OF THE ASPHALT INSTITUTE, A PROCEDURE WAS FOUND THAT APPEARS TO PROVIDE A REASONABLE APPROACH FOR THE DESIGN OF EMULSION STABILIZED BASES. A NOMOGRAPH IS PRESENTED WHICH MAKES IT POSSIBLE TO ESTIMATE THE RESILIENT MODULUS OF THE STABILIZED BASE WITHOUT RESORTING TO COMPLICATED LABORATORY TESTS INVOLVING CARRYING PROCEDURES. MIX DESIGN AND MATERIAL RECOMMENDATIONS TO PREVENT PERMANENT DEFORMATION UNDERLOAD ARE PRESENTED. THESE PROCEDURES ARE BASED ON WELL- ESTABLISHED METHODS FOR EVALUATING THE SHEAR STRENGTH OF MIXES.


After five years implementation,many outputs were acquired by project of changing farmland into forestry.But there are some things which restrict the sustainable development of project.The main reason is compensatory problem. This paper uses game theory to set up dynamic mode and from compensatory point of view to analyze sustainable development of project of changing farmland into forestry.Some suggestions on sustainable development of changing farmland into forest are given: develop different compensation standard according to economicforest and eco-forest;use different compensation standard according to different areas;extend compensatory period and pay different amount of compensation on stage;adjust industry structure in project areas,and more skill trainings should be held to farmer.


Iron(III) oxide-hydroxide, FeOOH, is abundant in the banded iron formations (BIFs). Recent studies indicate that BIFs may carry water down to the lower mantle with subducting slabs. The previous experiments investigating the properties of FeOOH at extreme pressures (P) and temperatures (T) were performed in diamond anvil cells (DACs), where it was compressed inside alkali metal halide pressure-transmitting media (2). Alkali metal halides such as NaCl or KCl are expected to be chemically inert; therefore, they are widely used in DAC experiments. Here, we report the chemical interaction between FeOOH and NaCl pressure medium at 107(2) GPa and 2400(200) K. By means of single-crystal X-ray diffraction (SC-XRD) analysis applied to a multigrain sample, we demonstrate the formation of a Na2FeCl4OHx phase and provide its structural solution and refinement. Our results demonstrate that at high P-T conditions, the alkali metal halides could interact with hydrous phases and thus cannot be used as a pressure transmitting and thermal insulating medium in DAC experiments dedicated to studies of hydroxyl or water-bearing materials at high P-T.


This review covers the physiology of thermal injury and pathophysiology of burn wounds in terms of burn wound healing, wound infection, and strategies for controlling and preventing infection. Emerging trends relevant to wounds, such as the development of novel extrudable gel-forming bioabsorbable liquids, and tissue engineering are briefly discussed.


The most significant Atlantic ocs hydrocarbon discovery (gas and minor oil) lies 80 miles off the New Jersey coast. Drilled in eight locations with a 63 percent success rate, this structure has sufficient proven gas resources to be a viable field if additional resources can be identified to SUPPOrt a pipeline and other infrastructure. Due to the economic outlook and difficulties in predicting hydrocarbon occurrences on the structure, exploration during the early 1980's was halted. The geologic origin of the structure and of the hydrocarbon source has major implications to the exploration potential of Atlantic offshore grabens. With current interest in East Coast graben-related traps on and offshore, the geologic history and hydrocarbon potential of this structure should be carefully considered.


1Department of Medical Oncology, Quzhou People's Hospital, Quzhou, 324000, Zhejiang, People's Republic of China; 2Department of Oncology, Sir Run Run Shaw Hospital Zhejiang University School of Medicine, Hangzhou, 310016, Zhejiang, People's Republic of China Background: Polymerase epsilon (POLE) mutations are considered as one of the most potential and promising biomarkers for immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs) in patients with colorectal cancer. However, the treatment of ICIs sometimes also resulted in unsatisfactory results in patients with POLE mutations, which revealed that not all mutations on POLE contribute to tumor regression in colorectal cancer. Case Presentation: We herein reported a case in which the patient with advanced colon cancer harboring somatic POLE F367S mutation, along with microsatellite stability status, has achieved efficacy of complete response to the programmed cell death 1 (PD-1) receptor inhibitor pembrolizumab, as well as a progression-free survival more than 49 months, and still in extension. Conclusion: Somatic POLE F367S mutation might be presented as a sensitive predictor to pembrolizumab in patients with colon cancer.


We present the results of a systematic series of 168 laboratory experiments that examine the critical conditions for the failure of landslide dams, which obstruct the course of mountain rivers. The experiments were carried out by using three different sediment materials with a quasiuniform grain size distribution and with a flume bed slope angles that ranged between 0° and 5.71° (0–10%). Three main typologies of dam failure were observed for increasing values of the dam's downstream-face angle: (1) overtopping; (2) headcutting, which led to the formation of an erosion channel on the dam's downstream face that progressively migrated up to the dam crest; and (3) initial slide of large part of superficial layer of the dam's downstream face, which was followed by headcutting. The experiments focused on the second type of failure to provide a safety criterion based on the upstream reservoir level. The quantities that govern this phenomenon have been identified and a functional relationship is proposed based on...


This study adds to scientific understanding of how employee turnover affects organizational performance in a multi-unit commercial bank setting operating in the United States. Theoretically, expected relationships among turnover, efficiency and performance are outlined. Empirically, two indicators of organizational efficiency are examined and one, cost-per-loan efficiency, is found to fully mediate relations between voluntary employee turnover and two organizational performance outcomes, profitability and customer satisfaction, in both synchronous and longitudinal analyses These results replicate recent findings in disparate industries, suggesting that efficiency may explain why higher levels of turnover are typically associated with lower levels of organizational performance. The need to distinguish among conceptualizations of efficiency is discussed, along with the need to consider temporal effects associated with turnover and efficiency.


The recent discovery of fluorescent nano-crystals "Quantum Dots" have opened up a entirely new field of research in bio-medical imaging. Because of the semi-conducting nature of these nano-crystals certain properties are observed that conventional organic dyes do not have; resistance to photobleaching, very high quantum yield, and tuneable emission. By integrating this technology into existing procedures, the success of the procedures are amplified exponentially.


Abstract : The methods of complex Gaussian multivariate analysis are applied to the problem of detecting signals in noise using data from multiple sensors whose relative locations are arbitrary. Theory is used to predict detection performance in terms of minimum detectable signal (MDS). A computer program implementing the multivariate detection approach is described, demonstrating that computational requirements are modest and verifying theory by simulation. Significant improvements over single-sensor processing (reduction in MDS by a factor equal to the number of sensors) is shown for certain cases. (Author)


In the intensive care unit (ICU), satisfaction with the care of their loved one impacts upon family members' psychological morbidity and maybe the health of patients afterwards. Enhancing family satisfaction is holistic and may impact on health throughout the hospital and beyond.


The derivatives in the transmission-line equation can be approximated by difference formula which must satisfy CFL condition. LOD-FDTD provides an unconditional stability method to get the updating equation by alternately solving for the implicit and explicit equation, which improves the computational efficiency greatly, and saves computer resources and memory. In this paper, simulation results demonstrate the exactness and stability of the engineering LOD-FDTD in transmission-line equation.


This paper focuses on free vibration analysis of an edge cracked pile with circular cross section. The soil medium is modelled as Winkler-Pasternak elastic foundation approach. The governing differential equations of motion are obtained by using Hamilton's principle. The pile–soil system is modeled as Euler–Bernoulli beam resting on Winkler-Pasternak foundation. The considered problem is solved by using finite element method. The cracked pile is modelled as an assembly of two sub-beams connected through a massless elastic rotational spring. In the study, the effects of the location of crack, the depth of the crack and the soil stiffness on the natural frequencies and mode shapes the piles are investigated in detail.


Study carried out at Geriatric Center, Universidade de Brasília – UnB, Brasília (DF), Brazil. 1 Geriatric Medical Center, Hospital Universitário, Universidade de Brasília – UnB, Brasília (DF), Brazil. 2 Sleep Laboratory, Department of Pulmonology, Hospital Universitário, Universidade de Brasília – UnB, Brasília (DF), Brazil. Corresponding author: Einstein Francisco de Camargos – Centro de Medicina do Idoso, HUB, Universidade de Brasília – SGAN 605 – Av. L2 norte – Asa Norte – Brasília (DF), Brazil – CEP 70840-901 – E-mail: firstname.lastname@example.com Received: December 21, 2009; Accepted: September 13, 2010 ABSTRACT Objective: Few studies about sleep have been conducted in healthy older adults. The objective of this study was to describe behavioral and environmental factors that can provide a good quality of sleep in Brazilian healthy older adults. Methods: Healthy older adults without evidence of disease, not taking any medication and who were able to perform instrumental activities of the daily life were included in the study. They were submitted to full geriatric assessment and to The Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index questionnaire. Forty patients (87%) had good sleep quality (PSQI < 5) and were selected to be studied. The following variables were collected: age, sex, education level, family income, employment status; subjective temperature sensation and ventilation conditions in the room; bed conditions; self-analysis of health status; number of awakenings during the night; daytime napping; television set in the sleep environment and types of nighttimes TV programming watched; subjective latency and sleep duration; regularity of sleep onset/waking times; nocturia and sexual frequency. Results: Half of the sample presented overweight or were obese. Sixty per cent (n=24) had a good family income. Self-analysis of health status showed that all patients ranked their health as good, very good or excellent. No subjects referred bad or very bad health conditions. Over 90% of the subjects reported good bed and room conditions. Three-quarters of the sample had at least one episode of waking during the night and 70% reported daytime napping few days per week or daily. Conclusions: In conclusion, we found that adequate sleeping habits, as well as the absence of health disorders, apparently contribute to the results observed. Nocturia, naps and overweight did not affect sleep quality in healthy aged people.


Professor Mackenzie is one of the dwindling few whose presence prevents us from regarding English Hegelianism as a closed chapter. It would be a misfortune if the chapter were to close; neither our need of it nor its own problems are at an end. Its own problems may have been settled in outline, but the solutions still require to be made intelligible and convincing to the non-elect and to be brought into connection with the recent changes in scientific knowledge. And our need of it, or of something like it, is becoming urgent: the "scientific" philosophies now in vogue here are so patchy and prosaic that we ought for our mind's good to keep open before us the vast, coherent, and humanly serious pages written under the influence of Kant and Hegel. Not being myself an Hegelian, I cannot indicate Professor Mackenzie's position in the school. He maintains that to make the conception of a universe intelligible one must postulate a universal mind. Such a mind would be a system of universals. Since we postulate it to account for the existent world we must allow it creative power. This creative power is really the power to produce at the level of existence a set of particulars correspondent to the antecedent universals. The whole process, which occurs in time, is to be regarded after the analogy of the creative imagining of an artist, except that it is ruled throughout by the idea of the Good. Particular minds are at once the constituents and the expression of the absolute mind, and the attainment of the Good is partly dependent on their initiative and effort. Here arises the question of the compatibility of a determining cosmic plan with human freedom, which is curiously answered by the contention that freedom is the end, not the condition, of a finite mind's progress. I must apologize for the sketchiness of the above outline, but the book is sketchy. Indeed, I am seriously at a loss to know why the book was written. It is far too wide in scope and short in treatment, and much too allusive, to be intelligible to a beginner, and I can find in it nothing for more advanced students. The admirable plan of the table of contents is an empty promise: even the sections on the newer developments in physics (to treat which is one of the chief purposes of the book) are nothing more than trivial. Trivial too is the frequency of quotation in so very small a book; even for the casual remark that philosophy has no steady development Professor Mackenzie adduces the support of Bosanquet and cites the locus. The best idea I can give of the essay is to print the entire section headed "The Objectivity of Value":— "Some modes of valuation may be held to be purely subjective, though very few are wholly so. There is nearly always some objective ground for the value that we attach to any particular thing or complex situation; and this is emphatically the case with 'the Good' as conceived by Plato. It is not merely something that we think good. Even what is intrinsically bad may no doubt be valued—as in the declaration of Milton's Satan, 'Evil, be thou my good.' The paradox in such a saying might, of course, be somewhat mollified by substituting what, I suppose, would be its equivalent, 'Malevolence, be thou my source of Joy.' This would help us to see that the paradox is due to different senses of Value. But the important consideration here is that the sources of valuation are always, in some degree, objective. They are not purely subjective, at least in the sense in which subjective implies arbitrary choice. There are always some real grounds for our preferences, though the grounds may often be obscure or inadequate." To comminute 119 pages into 66 ambitiously headed sections covering most of the wide field of philosophy is obviously a fruitless enterprise. I


There is disclosed a method, comprising: - obtaining (301) at a control device (100) of a vehicle (10), a pick-up and / or Einlieferpositionsinformation a pick-up and / or Einlieferposition for a pickup and / or delivery of a shipment, wherein the pick-up and / or Einlieferposition is at least partially dependent on a position of a broadcast receiver and / or Sendungseinlieferers; - causing (302) by the control device (100), the at least partially autonomous moving the vehicle (10) to the pick-up and / or Einlieferposition; and - causing (303) by the control device (100) of providing the program to collect and / or holding of providing for obtaining the transmission at the pick-up and / or Einlieferposition by the vehicle (10).


Friction welding is the most efficient method to develop the heavy guide drill and reduce the cost. The paper introduces the drill structural features, technical design, and the establishment and implementation of the technique. Meanwhile, it denotes that the option of friction welding and materials and the combination of machining and heat treatment can ensure the drill quality.


Objective:The purpose of this study is to explore the effects of forced treadmill training on the NR1 and NR2BmRNA expression in hippocampus and learning and memory of rats.Method:16 selected male SD rats were assigned into two groups:control group(C,n=8),training group(T,n=8),and the rats of training group took part in running training for 8 weeks.After training for 7 weeks,the rats of the two groups participate in the learning test of Y maze,and in the 8th week,the rats of the two groups participate in the memory test of Y maze.The rats of T group were decollated after 24 hours of the last training.The expression of NR1 and NR2B were inspected by RT-PCR.Results:After running training of 8 weeks,comparing with C group,the expression level of NR1mRNA of T group increased significantly(55.1% up regulate,P0.01);the expression level of NR2BmRNA of the rats of T group increased significantly(35.6% up regulate,P0.01);The results of Y maze test showed that the ability of learning and memory of the rats of T group were better than these of C group.Conclusion:8 weeks treadmill training can facility the spatial learning process of rats and improve the memory of rats,which may have close relation with the increase of the expression level of NR1 and NR2BmRNA of hippocampus.


Stick and leaf insects (Phasmida) representing 19 species (53 individuals) were collected in a lowland dipterocarp forest (Lambir Hills, Sarawak, Malaysia). Dual-choice tests were conducted to examine whether phasmids discriminate between young and old leaves of seven plant species. A second set of tests examined the preferences of phasmids for leaves from Dryobalanops lanceolata (Dipterocarpaceae) saplings versus leaves from the upper canopy of the same tree species. Haaniella echinata and other fl ightless species (Heteropterygidae and Lonchodinae) fed on nearly all plant species offered and showed signifi cant preferences for old leaves in three plant species. In contrast, fl ying phasmids (Ashiphasmatinae and Necrosciinae) rejected leaves from most plants and did not show consistent leaf age choices. H. echinata and fl ightless phasmids preferred canopy leaves from D. lanceolata over leaves from saplings, regardless of leaf age. Our results are consistent with the hypothesis that young leaves of some plant species are better defended against generalist herbivores than old leaves and that saplings are better defended than adult trees. Since upper canopy leaves were highly palatable to understorey phasmids, factors other than chemical defences must contribute to the low abundance of phasmids in forest canopies.


In the molecular doping of organic semiconductors

(OSC), achieving efficient charge generation

and managing the energetic cost for charge

release from local molecular charge transfer

complexes (CTCs) to the host matrix is of

central importance. Experimentally tremendous

progress has been made in this direction.

However, the relation between OSC film

structure on a nanoscopic level including different

inter-molecular geometrical arrangements

and the macroscopic properties of doped OSC

films is usually only established quite indirectly.

Explicit microscopic insights into the underlying

doping mechanisms and resulting electronic

structure are still scarce and mostly limited

to the study of the individual molecular constituents

or isolated bi-molecular dopant:host

complexes. In the present study we investigate

n-type doping of the frequently investigated

OSC materials ZnPC and F8ZnPc and

their mixtures which are n-doped with 2-Cyc-

DMBI. We report significant electronic differences

for complexes with nominally the same

material composition but different geometrical

structures. One specific important finding in

this context is that complexes containing two

adjacent dopant molecules show much reduced

ionization energy values, leading to substantially

reduced energy cost for charge release. Furthermore our results demonstrate that important

trends towards macroscopic system behavior

can already be obtained with increasing

size and varying composition of the relatively

small molecular dopant-host complexes considered,

including systematic shifts in the Fermi

level energies in the doped OSC.


By coagulation(PAC and AS)-ultrafiltration(UF) combined technology,the raw water from the Huangpu River is studyed by the pilot scale experiment.The results shows that under the same quantity of coagulant added in the raw water and the same condition of operation,both of two technologies offer stable quality of produced water and achieve long,high efficacy and stable operation.In the aspect of bettering produced water and relieving transmembrane pollution,coagulant of PAC is better than AS.


In Reply. —We agree that the capacity to induce amnesia is a desirable attribute of lorazepam and that this drug may have unique advantages in preventing or reducing anticipatory nausea and vomiting. Our own studies1remarked on the amnestic effect, though it was documented less often than by Greenspoon et al. Recent publications are also supportive of a salutary role for lorazepam alone or in combination with other agents.2,3Our current studies are in the direction of documenting whether lorazepam and metoclopramide are particularly effective when given together in patients receiving aggressive emetogenic therapy. There probably is an important role for both agents.


H133A050008. The opinions contained in this publication are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect those of CIRRIE or the Department of Education. Introduction In the name 'Chronic Fatigue Syndrome' (CFS), 'chronic' refers to the long duration of the illness; 'fatigue' indicates the presence of persistent or relapsing debilitating fatigue, and 'syndrome' is used to indicate that the illness encompasses a combination of signs and symptoms which are indicative of a particular disease. From our current understanding of CFS pathophysiology and psychopathology, it is concluded that CFS represents the combination of both physiologic and psychological impairments (van Middendorp et al. 2001). It is becoming increasingly apparent that CFS is not an appropriate name for this severely underestimated illness. Indeed, fatigue is not at all disease-specific, and in many cases it is not the most debilitating symptom either. Myalgic encephalomyelitis (ME) is frequently advocated by patient support groups, but given the lack of evidence in support of central nervous system inflammation it is not an appropriate alternative. In the present manuscript we will use ME/CFS to acknowledge the lack of an appropriate name. ME/CFS patients experience a wide variety of symptoms, including musculoskeletal pain, fatigue, impairments in short-term memory, sore throat, tender lymph nodes, sleep disturbances, headache, and post-exertional malaise. In general, rehabilitation of ME/CFS patients aims at reducing the level of fatigue and associated symptoms; to increase the level of activity; and to improve quality of life (Reid et al. 2000). Although the goals for rehabilitation-1-in people with ME/CFS seem to be straightforward, rehabilitation practice is not. Many experienced clinicians struggle to implement basic rehabilitation principles when treating people with ME/CFS. Therefore, the present manuscript aims at providing basic information required to apply rehabilitation to ME/CFS sufferers. Firstly, we will briefly discuss the diagnostic criteria for ME/CFS. In the second part of the manuscript, the reader is provided with a summary of the main characteristics of ME/CFS pathophysiology. We will focus on those issues that are of prime importance to rehabilitation in those with ME/CFS (e.g. malfunctioning of the body defense system, the exhausted stress response system as well as psychological issues). We will use our current understanding of the illness to provide guidelines for applying rehabilitation to those with ME/CFS. Treatment options like exercise therapy and activity (self-)management will be introduced in the context of ME/CFS. Finally, we will discuss the fact that rehabilitation should not be …


: The aim of the research presented herein is to investigate the mechanical behaviour of cross-laminated timber (CLT)-to-concrete dowel-type connections. For reliable timber-concrete-composite structures, mechanical connections between the two construction materials are of great importance. This paper investigates the nonlinear load-displacement behaviour, giving access to the stiffness and strength, as well as ductile connection failure modes, of a CLT-to-concrete composite connection using a Beam-on-Foundation (BoF) model. The latter is a numerical model that utilizes non-linear springs for the interaction between the fastener and the surrounding CLT and concrete materials. The influence of: (i) fastener diameter, (ii) initial slip, (iii) concrete embedment properties, and (iv) axial fastener resistance due to friction, on the connection shear capacity and slip modulus, was investigated in a parameter study. The nonlinear load-displacement response, connection stiffness and strength predicted by the BoF model were moreover compared to laboratory tests and the European Yield Model (EYM), which supported the validity of the BoF model. In addition, it was shown that the BoF model could enhance the prediction of the slip modulus compared to the current design regulations in Eurocode 5.


Critical velocity of wave breaking at the interface between clay mud suspension and interface of clear water and saline water was discussed. This physical phenomenon was observed in experiments. The critical velocities for wave breaking were recorded. Experimental curves of critical velocity [Uc], versus [Δρ1/2] and [Uc] versus [νgΔρ/ρ1/3] were plotted for the saline water and mud suspension. Because the relationship between the measured υ and [Δρ] is the same for both the saline and turbid water layers, the curve of [Uc] versus [Δρ1/2] can be used as a conventional method to estimate the critical velocity.


The paper presents the results of an experimental investigation into film MHD flows on models of liquid-metal contact devices (LMCD) with solid and porouas sublayers. The effect of wettability and electroconductivity of the sublayer and side walls material as well as of the sublayer porosity and magnetic field direction on the film flow formation conditions is investigated. An estimation of the thermal characteristics of the LMCD with a porous sublayer and energy receiver channel is made. The advantages of the LMCD with a porous sublayer are discussed from the view point of heat transfer intensification and control of the flow parameters on the sublayer


The invention relates to a portable equipment box, which comprises a box body, a cover body, a first hinge, a first LED (Light Emitting Diode) module, second LED modules and a transparent lamp cover. The box body is provided with an opening. The cover body is arranged at the opening and is pivoted with the box body. A holding tank is arranged at the top of the cover body. The first hinge is connected between the box body and the cover body. The first LED module is arranged on the internal side of the cover body. The second LED modules are arranged in the holding tank. The transparent lamp cover is held in the holding tank and covers the second LED modules. When the cover body is opened, the first LED module works and is used for illuminating the internal part of the box body. The second LED modules are used for illuminating the external world. After the cover body of the portable equipment box is opened, the cover body can be locked by self. Moreover, the operation under dark environments is facilitated.


Introduction: Fruits of Sapindus trifoliatus (ST) Linn., are used as traditional medicine for birth control purpose. The present study is performed to evaluate its acclaimed post-coital pregnancy interception, along with associated toxicity profiles and to assess its effects on reproductive hormones. Methodology: The traditional formulation and saponin rich butanol extract of fruits of Sapindus trifoliatus Linn. are investigated on small animals for its acute and sub-acute toxicity study, contraceptive property, estrogenic and anti-estrogenic activities, gonadal and gonadotrophic hormones and lipid-carbohydrate profiling. Results: Toxicity studies reveal non-toxic nature of the extract at bioactive dose levels. The extract at dose of 20 mg/kg body weight inhibited fetal implantation (100%), as confirmed by laparotomy on 10th day of pregnancy. The extract also exhibits antiestrogenic activity in presence of reference hormome and significant variations in gonadal and gonadotrophic hormones in serum. Conclusions: The present findings justify the use of soapnut fruits for pregnancy interception purpose, which may be due to antizygotic, blastocytotoxic or anti-implantation activity. Decreased levels of estrogen and progesterone in test animals may hinder tubal transport of blastocyst and make the uterus unreceptive for implantation. Changes in lipid and carbohydrate levels also confer Sapindus trifoliatus to be a promising anti-fertility agent with minimal risk factors


Boron nitride (BN) is a new polymer processing aid which not only eliminates surface melt fracture in the extrusion of molten polymers, but also postpones the critical shear rate for the onset of gross melt fracture to significantly higher values that depend on resin type and additive concentration. In this work, the influence of BN as a polymer processing additive is first examined in the extrusion blow molding of high‐density polyethylene (HDPE) resins in order to evaluate its usefulness and performance in operations other than continuous extrusion. The equipment used includes both a Battenfeld/Fisher 50‐mm extrusion blow molding machine and a parallel‐plate rheometer. Two types of HDPE, which are blended with boron nitride at various concentration levels, are tested accordingly. It is found that the degree of BN dispersion, characteristics of the HDPE resins, extrusion temperature, and induction time play an important role in eliminating melt fracture. Finally, the influence of combining BN with fluoroelastomer, as an enhanced and potentially better processing aid on the melt fracture of a third HDPE is examined. It is found that such a combination is a superior processing aid that allows extrusion blow molding at very high shear rates.


PART I: MORPHOLOGY AND TAXONOMY: S.R. Gradstein: Morphology and classification of the Hepaticae R.E. Longton: Mosses. PART II: CHEMICAL CONSTITUENTS: J.D. Connolly: Monoterpenoids and sesqiterpenoids from the Hepaticae Akihiko Matsuo and K. Daisuke: Structures of New Sesqiteroids from the liverwort Mylia taylorii C.L. Wu: Some new findings on the chemistry of Taiwanese liverworts V. Herout: Diterpenes and higher terpenes from liverworts G.W. Patterson , G.R. Wolfe, T.A. Salt, and P.L. Chiu: Sterols of bryophytes with emphasis on the configuration at C-24 D.S. Rycroft: Some recent NMR studies of diterpenoids from the Hepaticae P. Karunen: The acyl lipids of bryophytes K.R. Markham: Bryophyte flavonoids, their structures, distribution and evolutionary significance H. Geiger: Biflavonoids in bryophytes J. Gorham: Phenolic compounds other than flavonoids from bryophytes R. Takeda: Phenolic compounds from Anthcerotae T.H. Eicher: Recent results from the synthesis of chemical constituents of bryophytes. PART III: BIOCHEMISTRY AND PHYSIOLOGY: H. Rudolph: Biochemical and physiological aspects of bryophytes J. Wilschke, E. Hoppe, and H. Rudolph: Biosynthesis of sphagnum mosses M. M. Johri and B.M.A. Henriques: Nitrate reductase from the moss Funaria D.V. Basile and M. R. Basile: Hydroxyproline metabolism and hydroxyproline containing glycoproteins in leafy liverworts S. Hunack and L. Meinunger: Plant growth regulatory activities of bryophytes, a contribution to the chemical ecology of mosses and liverorts D. H. Brown and J.M. Wells: The extracellular and intracellular uptake of inorganic chemicals by bryophytes R. Herrmann: Biomonitoring of organic and inorganic trace pollutants by means of mosses. PART IV: METABOLISM OF BRYOPHYTE AND CELL CULTURES: H. Becker: Secondary metabolites from in vitro cultures of liverworts K. Katoh and R. Tadeka: Growth and production of secondary metabolites by cultured bryophyte cells Y. Ohta and T. Takata: Secondary metabolite production in cultured cells of liverworts. PART V: BIOLOGICAL ACTIVITY OF NATURAL PRODUCTS: Y. Asakawa: Terpenoids and aromatic compounds with pharmacological activity from bryophytes M. Tori: Synthetic study of biologically active compounds from liverworts. PART VI: CHEMOTAXONOMIC RELEVANCE OF SECONDARY METABOLITES: R. Mues: The significance of flavonoids for the classification of bryophyte taxa at different taxonomic ranks J. Szeykowski and I. Odrzykoski: Chemical differentiation of Aneura pinguis (L.) Dum. ( Hepaticae aneuraceae ) in Poland and some comments on application of enzymatic markers in bryology K. Koponen, T. Koponen, T.H. Pyysalo, K. Himberg, and P. Mansikkamaki: Composition of volatile compounds in Splachnaceae.


The archipelago of Svalbard is located at the junction of Arctic Ocean, the North Atlantic and the Barents Sea. During a field campaign in May 2000, seawater, sea ice and seaweed, were collected in Kongsfjorden at the western coast of Spitsbergen. Possible sources for artificial radionuclides in the marine Svalbard environment are long-distance transported discharges from nuclear reprocessing plants, dumped radioactive waste, accidents with ships, submarines and power plants containing radioactive material, and global fallout from nuclear test explosions. Samples were taken to measure the radioisotopes technetium ("Tc, sea water and seaweed), plutonium (sea water) and caesium ('"Cs, sea water and melted sea ice). Certain processes are unique for the high-arctic environment such as formation of sea ice. The fast ice in Kongsfjorden provides an opportunity to investigate to what degree radionuclides accumulate in sea ice compared with the seawater below. Another important question relates to how radionuclides accumulate in the Arctic in different types of seaweed. First results from laboratory analyses of the samples taken in May 2000 show "Tc concentrations in seawater similar to levels measured in the western Barents Sea in 1999-2000. Corresponding measurements along the Norwegian coast are one order of magnitude higher. Enhanced values measured at Hilles0y (Northern Norway), in the Barents Sea and off Svalbard and can be explained with increased discharges of "Tc-contamina ted wastewater at the Sellafield reprocessing plant since 1994.


Test is a method of measuring students′ mastery of a certain language.At present,in higher vocational colleges,there exist some defects in English test,which restrict students′ development in English practical applied competence.In author′s opinion,the English examination model in higher vocational colleges should be improved,thus students′applied competence can be really tested,and their cultivation in applied competence can also be promoted.


(57) Abstract: wrinkles, sagging, photodamaged skin, sensitive skin, dry skin, peeling easily skin, red skin, irritated skin, the skin condition selected from the group consisting of itching and age-spots of the skin a topical composition and cosmetic method for treating, the composition comprises: (a) at least 50 wt% of conjugated linoleic acid and / or moieties is present as the cis 9 trans 11 isomer of conjugated linoleic acid and, / or derivatives thereof comprising conjugated linoleic acid moieties, and (b) a carrier which is dermatologically acceptable.


Abstract This paper presents a novel approximation technique based on metaheuristics and weighted residual function (WRF) for tackling singular boundary value problems (BVPs) arising in engineering and science. With the aid of certain fundamental concepts of mathematics, Fourier series expansion, and metaheuristic optimisation algorithms, singular BVPs can be approximated as an optimisation problem with boundary conditions as constraints. The target is to minimise the WRF (i.e. error function) constructed in approximation of BVPs. The scheme involves generational distance metric for quality evaluation of the approximate solutions against exact solutions (i.e. error evaluator metric). Four test problems including two linear and two non-linear singular BVPs are considered in this paper to check the efficiency and accuracy of the proposed algorithm. The optimisation task is performed using three different optimisers including the particle swarm optimisation, the water cycle algorithm, and the harmony search algorithm. Optimisation results obtained show that the suggested technique can be successfully applied for approximate solving of singular BVPs.


The diploma thesis deals with the relationship between a drawing and colour in the watercolour technique. The first chapter of the theoretical part is dedicated to a drawing. It surrounds us everywhere – from the first child's lines by a pencil across an empty sheet of paper and drawing with a finger in the sand to an architect's sketches and a biologist's notes. Despite being considered the basis of all fine arts and the fundamental means of communication, its role has changed throughout history. The description of the development of a drawing into an individual field is preceded by the research into its aim and functions as well as by the definition of a line and a point as its basic art elements.
The second chapter focuses on the development of watercolour, which has recently been gaining in popularity. Works by famous painters who found their expression also in this exciting technique have been used to present the use of watercolour in painting landscapes. Painters started using wash drawings and adding colours as early as in the Middle Ages, therefore the third chapter of this diploma thesis is dedicated to the synthesis of a line and the watercolour. It continues with the description of materials and methods used in creating a good watercolour. The empirical part presents artistic works combining watercolour and a line.
The pedagogical part consists of a lesson preparation as well as the analysis of works created in an art workshop,


Psychosocial risk factors and protective factors, which are one of the main areas of psychology-psychiatry, psychological counseling and guidance and educational sciences, are one of the important factors affecting psychological resilience of individuals in childhood and adolescence. The protective elements that help us understand how individuals respond in difficult living conditions and the factors affecting this process have been evaluated in the frame of psychological resilience in the last 30 years and the necessary studies have been carried out. Studies have shown that there may be many risk factors that are individual, familial and environmental oriented during childhood and adolescence, and that the levels of psychological resilience of individuals can be an important factor in dealing with these risk factors. Therefore, the aim of this study is to determine the psychosocial risk factors and preventive and preventive strategies encountered in childhood and adolescence.


There are known methods and apparatus for the passivation of defects of a semiconductor substrate, in particular a solar cell based on silicon described. According to the method, the substrate is acted upon during a first process phase with electromagnetic radiation, wherein the radiation directed onto the substrate comprises wavelengths at least in the range below 1200 nm and an intensity of at least 8000 Watts / m This may lead to heating of the substrate, or it may be a temperature control can be provided. Subsequently, the substrate while one of the first process phase following temperature-holding phase is irradiated with electromagnetic radiation, directed at the substrate radiation primarily wave lengths in the range below 1200 nm and an intensity of at least 8000 Watts / m The apparatus includes a continuous furnace in an elongate processing chamber having at least three zones arranged in sequence from the first process zone, temperature-holding zone and cooling zone and at least one transport unit for receiving and transporting the substrate through the zones. The apparatus further comprises at least a first radiation source that can emit electromagnetic radiation onto a lying in the first process zone region of the transport unit, and the suitable wavelengths in the range below 1200 nm and an intensity of at least 8000 Watts / m At least a first cooling unit is arranged in heat-conducting contact with the located in the temperature holding zone region of the transport unit.


Bonding failures of asphalt concrete mixtures occur because of stripping of asphalt cement films from the aggregate surface, raveling, and softening of the asphalt cement matrix. Of primary concern is stripping, which has been shown to be a major cause of distress for asphalt mixtures in Saudi Arabia as well as in other parts of the world. Many contractors have been using liquid antistripping agents, which are costly. In addition, field engineers have believed that stripping agents might create adverse effects in a Saudi environment. In response to this problem, a comparative study was performed to evaluate antistripping additives using Saudi asphalt cements and local aggregates. The effectiveness was examined along with different types of additives and sulfur-extended asphalt by using the Texas boiling test. Test results indicate that treatment with a lime slurry is the most effective method on all materials except two types of natural sands. It is also observed that the chemical reaction or physical adsorption appears to occur immediately after adding lime slurry to aggregates.


9.3 Why Community-Driven Development? ............................................................................................... 304 9.3.1 Complements market and public sector activities ........................................................................ 304 9.3.2 Enhances sustainability ..................................................................................................................... 305 9.3.3 Improves efficiency and effectiveness............................................................................................. 306 9.3.4 Allows poverty reduction efforts to be taken to scale................................................................... 307 9.3.5 Makes development more inclusive of the interests of poor people and vulnerable groups . 307 9.3.6 Empowers poor people, builds social capital, and strengthens governance ............................. 307 9.4 Alternative Institutional Arrangements.................................................................................................. 308 9.4.1 Partnerships between CBOs and local or municipal governments............................................. 311 9.4.2 Partnerships between CBOs and private support organizations (NGOs or private firms) ..... 312 9.4.3 Direct partnership between CBOs and central government or central fund............................. 314 9.4.4 Choosing institutional arrangements that fit country context..................................................... 315 9.5 Multisector and Single-Sector Instruments ............................................................................................ 317 9.5.1 Benefits of multisector instruments................................................................................................. 317 9.5.2 Benefits of single-sector instruments............................................................................................... 317 9.6 Financing Options...................................................................................................................................... 318 9.6.1 Leveraging private and community financing .............................................................................. 318 9.6.2 Developing a financing strategy ...................................................................................................... 320 9.7 Principles for Sustainability and Effectiveness ...................................................................................... 320 9.7.1 Establish an enabling environment through relevant institutional and policy reform............ 321 9.7.2 Make investments responsive to informed demand..................................................................... 323 9.7.3 Build participatory mechanisms for community control and stakeholder involvement......... 323 9.7.4 Ensure social and gender inclusion ................................................................................................. 323 9.7.5 Invest in capacity building of CBOs ................................................................................................ 324 9.7.6 Facilitate community access to information................................................................................... 325 9.7.7 Develop simple rules and strong incentives, supported by monitoring and evaluation......... 326 9.7.8 Maintain flexibility in design of arrangements.............................................................................. 326 9.7.9 Design for scaling up......................................................................................................................... 327 9.7.10 Invest in an exit strategy ................................................................................................................... 327 References ............................................................................................................................................................... 328


ABSTRACT This discussion of Anne Friedman and Ora Nakash's paper focuses on questions and considerations of how socio-political trauma is transmitted and how it may be addressed in therapeutic treatment. It looks especially at developmental considerations of how trauma is communicated and received. The psychoanalytic literature on transmission of racial and Holocaust trauma (e.g., Gerson, Levy-Warren, Salberg, Stoute) is utilized as a basis for raising questions about the utility of using the concept of the repetition compulsion as a means for describing the potential traumatic impact of neo-liberalism. In the clinical realm, the discussion moves to the complex issues related to how and when to address socio-political trauma in treatment, and to what end we do so.


An instrument developed to measure the magnetic properties of materials in a variety of forms by oscillographic techniques is described. Magnetic hysteresis loops can readily be obtained for specimens in rod, powder, tape, or wire form having cross‐sectional areas as small as 10−5 cm2 or as large as 0.3 cm2 (¼ in. rod).With slight modifications, the instrument can be adapted to magnetic measurements of materials as a function of frequency, temperature, tension, torsion, or pressure using the appropriate setup.


We cultured human adult peripheral and umbilical cord blood mononuclear cells in methylcellulose and measured the synthetic rates of globin chains in individual erythropoietic bursts. Globin chains were labeled with 14C‐amino acids in culture, separated by isoelectric focusing in slab gels containing 8 M urea and 3% Nonidet P‐40, and quantitated by fluorographic methods. All bursts exhibited Gγ, Aγ, and β chains in varying ratios. Cumulative frequency distributions of individual bursts differing in the ratios of Gγ/(Gγ + Aγ) and γ/(γ + γ) approached normal distributions. These results indicated that perinatal hemoglobin switching and the hemoglobin switching of cultured adult erythropoietic precursors do not involve population changes in the precursors. Further, a positive correlation between γ/(γ + γ) and Gγ/(Gγ + Aγ) ratios of individual bursts existed in all of the samples. Switching between γ and β chains and switching of Gγ:Aγ ratios may share common regulatory mechanisms.


The ZnO thin films are used in the field of pharmaceutical sciences and it has more number of applications which plays an important role on antibacterial activity. In modern era, the ZnO thin films pepared by biological and chemical methods using microorganisms, enzymes, and plant extracts has been suggested as ecofriendly to environment. The potential toxicity of ZnO thin films were investigated using both Gram positive and Gram negative bacteria as test organisms. The results showed that ZnO thin film nanoparticles enhanced the good antibacterial activity.


Wetlands perform certain functions, including water filtration and the provision of wildlife habitats, from which humans benefit in the form of drinkable water and biodiversity. Trees produce oxygen, capture air and water pollutants, and provide shade, which help humans breathe, manage storm waters, and find a comfortable place to relax on a hot day. These are services that are provided by functioning ecosystems and are measured through the ecological economics of ecosystem services. The study of ecosystem services has provided an important insight: for the most part, those very services are ignored or undervalued. Although humans derive enormous benefits from ecosystem services, these services are neither bought or sold in the marketplace, and, therefore, have no market value.

This Article applies the idea of ecosystem services to the management of watersheds and, in particular, the manner in which decisions in floodplains often undermine ecosystem functionality in floodplains. For instance, road and home construction along water courses and riverbed dredging can disrupt (or trade-off) the ecosystem's ability to provide flood control and habitat services. The dangers in making such trade-off decisions are illustrated by the flood damage suffered during Tropical Storm Irene and contextualized within the framework of ecosystems services.


In this paper, we propose to detect and quantify the fault of inter-turn short-circuit in the winding of a Doubly Fed Induction Machine (DFIM). This is essential to detect this type of defect at an early stage because this one can produce damage to the machine. So, we must be able firstly to detect the fault and secondly to quantify its severity. Our study responds to this and necessities a few calculi. We present in this paper a low sample time (1kHz), and we offer theoretical analysis with a model of our DFIM without fault, and a model included this fault. An analysis of the representation on the D-Q basis is done. After, we confirm these results through the exploitation of a platform which comprises a DFIM and a Data Acquisition (DAQ) system. The obtained results are rather hopeful.


Prolonged wait times to visit a specialist physician are a significant limitation of Canadian medicine. The median wait time to see a neurologist in Southwestern Ontario is 60 d, and 32% of neurologists in Canada reported a mean wait time of 24.1 weeks for nonurgent consultations. Increased morbidity, mortality, and costs to the healthcare system are a consequence of these delays. In epilepsy, delay to diagnosis and treatment produces greater risk of increased number of seizures, seizurerelated injuries, or death. The expansion of virtual medicine services has been one potential solution. Between 2008 and 2014, the Ontario Telemedicine Network (OTN) provided 652,337 visits. However, despite expanded access to specialists, wait times have remained unchanged as practitioners have merely shifted time spent in clinic to time spent seeing patients virtually. In order to achieve both expansion of access and reduction of wait times, the delivery of virtual medicine needs to be rethought with a perspective that the virtual visit compliments the traditional consultation and does not replace it. In certain subspecialties such as pediatric epilepsy, models of care conceived from this perspective can reduce the duration of the patient visit without sacrificing quality of care. The resultant, additive downstream effect is an overall reduction in time from referral to specialist consultation diminishing morbidity, mortality, and costs as patients undergo more specific investigations, more accurate diagnoses, and more appropriate treatments in a timelier manner. With this approach in mind, the team at the Neurology Centre of Toronto (NCT) – a community-based, multidisciplinary neurology practice for adults and children – established and piloted an innovative virtual method to deliver epilepsy care in Ontario that expands access and reduces wait times while being met with high patient satisfaction. The pilot ran from April 4 to June 21, 2020, during the COVID-19 pandemic. We will be presenting brief patient-level survey data on the pilot later in this letter. The Virtual Rapid Access Epilepsy Clinic (VEC) is an online, "walk-in" style clinic, where appointments are conducted by video conference over OTN. The Virtual Care Team consists of an epilepsy specialist, a preliminary assessor (physician assistant (PA), or a nurse with specialized training in epilepsy), and a social worker from Epilepsy Toronto – a patient advocacy organization with an extended reach throughout Ontario. After obtaining a referral, patients register online (Figure 1). An email is sent with the time of their appointment, instructions, and a link to connect to their Virtual Care Room. Appointments are booked every 20 min. Patient intake is conducted by a Preliminary Assessor (Nurse/PA) in the Virtual Care Room. Case review occurs in a separate Virtual Conference Room with the Virtual Care Team (Epileptologist, Social Worker & Preliminary Assessor) to discuss the treatment plan. The team returns to the Virtual Care Room to communicate with the patient, answer questions, connect the patient to community resources, and refine the treatment plan. Any further action taken is based on the needs of each patient. After each visit, a treatment plan with follow-up instructions and an emergency contact protocol is sent to the patient via email, while a comprehensive note is sent to the referring physician. In NCT's model, a triage process eliminates cases that likely require a physical examination. Members of the Virtual Care Team are trained to identify patients in whom a physical exam would necessitate a change in management. All referrals are triaged by a PA who applies the following exclusion criteria: (1) new onset focal neurologic deficits and (2) new non-neurologic issues without a diagnosis (e.g. new onset arrhythmia, acute infection, symptoms/signs of COVID-19, etc). Excluded patients are booked into a traditional, in-person assessment. The decision of the PA is not definitive, if the virtual care team later discovers details about a patient's case that would necessitate an in-person assessment, they may still recommend one even if the patient has "passed" the initial triage. Post-visit surveys were conducted and responses indicated that the VEC promoted a patient-centered care model and provided high patient satisfaction (51% responder rate; 44/86 patients). Wait times at NCT for standard appointments in April 2020, prior to the development of the VEC, were 4–6 months. Following the initiation of VEC, patients were consistently seen less than one week from referral. Most patients were "very likely" or 'likely' (34/44, 77%) to use the virtual clinic over a traditional in-person appointment assuming that COVID-19 limitations are not in place. The goal of this report was to demonstrate proof of concept of the VEC's novel model of care. Focus of this initial analysis was placed on the VEC's success in shortening the time interval from referral to consultation, while ensuring patient perception of quality of care remained intact. No clinical health outcomes were assessed. Patient satisfaction survey results were overwhelmingly positive. The authors appreciate there is an inherent bias, given the lack of a control group; however, these results provide some signaling evidence for success of the implementation of this type of model of care. Given that this report is descriptive in nature, it supports proof of concept and next steps are clear: (1) concerted analysis that addresses safety and outcomes in comparison to traditional, in-person visits utilizing time to consultation as a quantitative metric and (2) analysis of specific patient concerns to demonstrate and optimize quality. Given the high patient satisfaction with this model, the VEC currently plays an intricate role in the delivery of NCT's services. This model is easily scalable within epilepsy and other areas of neurology. NCT is piloting similar virtual clinics for treating patients with headaches, concussion, tics and Tourette syndrome, multiple sclerosis, and medical cannabis for neurological disorders. These clinics become particularly important during times of unforeseen healthcare crises, such as the COVID-19 pandemic, when healthcare resources and access to specialist care become limited. It is our goal that these virtual clinics will drive the improvement of access to specialist care, reduce wait times, and promote health equity for patients in Ontario and Canada. LE JOURNAL CANADIEN DES SCIENCES NEUROLOGIQUES


Mantle muscle tissue of Idiosepius pygmaeus was examined to describe changes in structure and organization associated with growth. Growth in I. pygmaeus|DD was a function of both an increase in muscle fibre number and fibre size within muscle blocks. Continuous fibre production over the observed life span of I. pygmaeus was indicated by the presence of very small muscle fibres (< 1.0 μm in diameter) in substantial proportions in all sizes of individuals. Muscle blocks became larger as animals increased in size, although new muscle blocks were generated in all sizes of individuals. Mantle muscle fibres had a maximum size of 11 μm. Therefore, for an individual to continue increasing muscle block sizes, new fibres must be produced. This is further evidence of continuous fibre production throughout the size range of I. pygmaeus examined. The relative rates of muscle fibre generation and fibre growth depended on the size of the animal and position along the mantle (anterior, mid or posterior mantle). The predominance of small fibres and blocks at the anterior end of the mantle suggested that this was the primary growth region. Mitochondriapoor and mitochondria-rich muscle fibres from small individuals had much larger mitochondrial cores than muscle fibres from larger animals. Changes in the muscle structure are discussed with respect to the metabolic and energetic requirements of I. pygmaeus, and how these may change with growth.


With the development of the Internet, the amount of information on the Internet is increasing rapidly, which makes it difficult for people to select the information they really want. A recommendation system is an effective way to solve this problem. Fake users can be injected by criminals to attack the recommendation system; therefore, accurate identification of fake users is a necessary feature of the recommendation system. Existing fake user detection algorithms focus on designing recognition methods for different types of attacks and have limited detection capabilities against unknown or hybrid attacks. The use of deep learning models can automate the extraction of false user scoring features, but neural network models are not applicable to discrete user scoring data. In this paper, random walking is used to rearrange the otherwise discrete user rating data into a rating feature matrix with spatial continuity. The rating data and the text data have some similarity in the distribution mode. By effective analogy, the TextCNN model originally used in NLP domain can be improved and applied to the classification task of rating feature matrix. Combining the ideas of random walking and word vector processing, this paper proposes a TextCNN detection model for user rating data. To verify the validity of the proposed model, the model is tested on MoiveLens dataset against 7 different attack detection algorithms, and exhibits better performance when compared with 4 attack detection algorithms. Especially for the Aop attack, the proposed model has nearly 100% detection performance with F1 – value as the evaluation index.


Polyelectrolyte multilayer microcapsules were prepared by a layer-by-layer deposition of poly(ethyleneimine) (PEI) or poly(allylamine hydrochloride) (PAH) and poly(styrene sulfonate) (PSS) on a calcium carbonate particle containing fluorescein isothiocyanate-concanavalin A (FITC-Con A)/glycogen conjugates. Fluorescence microscope and scanning electron microscope observations revealed that the microcapsules thus prepared are spherical with a diameter of 3–5 μm. The fluorescence intensity of the microcapsules was enhanced upon addition of sugars, depending on the type of sugar and its concentration. The enhanced fluorescence intensity was rationalized by sugar-induced decomposition of the FITC-Con A/glycogen conjugates and resulting dequenching of the fluorescence of FITC-Con A. The capsule can be used repeatedly a few times after washing in buffer solution, although FITC-Con A leaked out of the capsules gradually.


Cruise ship tourism,as a new fashionable tourism,has been playing more and more important role in the development of port city,and it has also become one of the cores of the tourism development in Qingdao.On the premise of the actuality analysis of Qingdao cruise ship tourism,this paper analyzes the strengths,weaknesses,opportunities and threats of Qingdao cruise ship tourism development through SWOT analysis,and puts forward some corresponding suggestions to develop Qingdao cruise ship tourism.


S OBJECTIVE:To study the effect of roxithromycin on cellular immune function and to study its anti-in-flammatory and immunoregulation effects beside its antibacterial effect.METHODS:The mice were randomized into negative control group,roxithromycin(high,medium,low dosage group)groups and dexamethasone group,the splenic lymphocyte conversion ratio of each group was determined by in vivo method and in vitro method respectively after14days of intragastric administration of drugs.RESULTS:Compared with the negative control group,roxithromycin(high,medium,low dosage)groups could significantly reduce splenic lymphocyte conversion ratio of mice(P0.05or P0.01),the similar results achieved between the in vivo determination method and the in vitro method.CONCLUSION:Roxithromycin may have anti-inflam-mation and immunoregulation effects.