Methods: Human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)infected individuals from Argentina, Brazil, and Thailand who had been participating in the Evaluation of Subcutaneous Proleukin (Interleukin-2) in a Randomized International Trial (ESPRIT) study for at least 6 months were invited to complete a self-administered survey on their experience and were asked why they continued to participate. The ESPRIT study is a phase 3, multinational, randomized trial comparing antiretroviral therapy plus interleukin 2 (IL-2) with antiretroviral therapy alone in individuals with HIV disease.


Biomagnetism is a newly rising frontier branches of science for a few decades,While microbiological effect of static magnetic field is a significant component of it.The impact of magnetic radiation on human health attracts people′s attention increasingly.This paper summarized the effect of static magnetic field on microbial growth,biochemical reactions,enzyme and gene mutation.Magnetotactic bacterium becomes the focus of scholars,which has broad application prospects.


pH value is a very important factor for sizing effectiveness of cationic rosin size,in which aluminum sulfate can be commonly used for adjusting pH value.However,for sizing process of recycled fibers,the adjusting effectiveness of aluminum sulfate to pH value is very limited.In the study,sulfuric acid was used as pH value assistant regulator for aluminum sulfate in the rosin sizing process of recycled fibers,which not only stabilized sizing efficiency,but also reduced the production costs.


An algorithm based on GMPE (Ground Motion Prediction Equation) is used for Generating standard and officially Shakemap as early information for disaster mitigation quick respond. We investigate the method developed by USGS (US Geological Survey) namely ShakeMap for generating Peak Ground Motion and Intensity Maps. The 2016 Mw 6.5Pidie Jaya Earthquake which strike-slip mechanism was selected for the scenario earthquake. The appropriate GMPE (i.e.Zhao06_crustal) was selected for this earthquake, which is located at the crust with focal depth of13km and strike-slip mechanism. Strong ground motion on bedrock, without sediment amplification, generate PGA (Peak Ground Acceleration) and PGV (Peak Ground Velocity) spherically uniform. The algorithm able to consider the site effect only for thin sedimentary layer Vs30 without considering deeper structural layer. The amplification effect is calculated based on Vs30 without considering the nonlinear effect and independently each site-class. Because of unavailable spatial distribution Vs30 measurement, the Vs30 was estimated from the topographic gradient and the method is commonly used. Strong ground motion on sediment layer will be amplified following the Vs30 distribution. The intensity map, which is easier to read, shown in MMI (Modified Mercalli Intensity) and SIG-BMKG (Indonesia Earthquake Intensity Scale). The GMPE based shakemap has bias error because of the general equation has not considering complete structural model and radiation pattern of a focal mechanism. An advance method for thefuture development will be much more realistic with the shakemap based on synthetics seismogram calculation.


In this paper, a fuzzy weighted approach is used to solve the multi-criteria decision making problem in a Web server system. The assessments of the Web server by Web administrators are assigned using linguistic terms. The overall assessments of alternatives, with respect to every criteria, are allowed by different weights using a symmetrical triangular fuzzy number with fixed interval confidence. Web administrators' inconsistent optimistic levels can be flexibly assigned by a different desired index of optimism.


Using long-term satellite altimeter data, a new streamline-based algorithm is developed to identify the Kuroshio intrusion types and describe the seasonal variations of related dynamical properties...


(57) Abstract: The present invention relates to an intramedullary nail for use in combination with the proximal bone screw (S) (. 13). Nail (13) and the distal end and the proximal end comprises an elongated body (15) having a central axis extending between the proximal end and a distal end. The proximal end of the body comprises a transverse slot extending through it (21). The transverse slot (21) proximal bone screw is (S) is such that a predetermined angle with respect to the central axis of the body within an angle range at an acute angle to both sides of a plane perpendicular to the central axis of the nail body in through the transverse slot (21), it is configured to be inserted through the proximal end of the body.


The control of cell differentiation at the genetic level is fundamental to both normal growth of tissues and abnormal growth in tumours. Several critical genes responsible for carcinogenesis have been identified. Some of these are known as oncogenes, and the normal functions of certain cellular oncogenes are to control cell differentiation and proliferation. This volume examines recent developments in areas relating to the role of critical genes in carcinogenesis. It covers aspects such as aberrant cell differentiation, somatic cell genetics, cell-cell interaction in relation to tumour promotion, and the role of oncogenes and cellular genes regulating differentiation. Oncologists, molecular biologists, geneticists, cell biologists.


The previous research has been conducted to find out the potential of non-wood fibers as an
alternative for paper-making raw material. The non-wood fibers used are combination of rice straw
and used paper. It was processed by using soda pulping method.The paper waste contains dissolved
lignin component and other organic compounds in high pH condition can produce wastewater with
high chemical oxygen demand(COD). In this research pulp or paper wastewater wast treated through
combination of coagulation flocculation and membrane method to achieve a permitted level of COD.
It was also determined the optimal condition which can reduce the COD value to fulfill the
requirement for water disposal.The initial conditions of paper wastewatear are pH: 14, COD in the
range of 3,000 - 11,000 ppm. The coagulation-flocculation process was conducted by using Poly
Aluminium Chloride( PAC) as coagulant and anionic flocculant. The experiment is conducted by two
steps. firstly determined the optimum coagulation flocculation (coagulant dose)for soluble organic
material removal and then followed by micro-or ultrafiltration process. To produce asymmetric asymmetric
membrane for filtration process. it was synthesized cellulose acetate membrane through phase
inversion technique. The pore size of the membrane was modified by varying the composition of
cellulose acetate in the range of 15-18 % w/w. The COD value of wastewater was analyzed before and
after treatment to find out the effectivity of coagulation and the membrane process by studying its flux
and rejection.The result showed that COD reduction less than 200 ppm can be reached through the
treatment of combination of coagulation - flocculation and micro-or ultrafiltration process. The result
also indicated that with initial COD 6,063 ppm. 10.000 ppm of coagulant, 1 ppm of flocculant and l8% w/w of cellulose acetate membrane. COD can be reduced up to 96.87%


The purpose of our study is to evaluate, monolithic houses that were popular thirty and forty years ago. The world as a whole understands the use of Monolithic Domes and EcoShells. According to a non-profit group Domes for the World Foundation whose mission is for helping people to help themselves by building safe Monolithic Dome or EcoShell structures. Dome structures are being built around the world in much needed areas. They save lives everywhere and can save human life in the United States. Every few months, news brings another tornado that destroyed property or took away human life. In 2012, a Christmas day tornado struck Mobile, Alabama. Tornados are not a seasonal event so buildings and structures for tomorrow need a prevention plan to save life and housing destruction. It is time to examine a monolithic dome structure which meets the prevention plan from storm and tornado destruction. Today, we know much more about tornados. Almost every large tornado near a city has a good chance of being filmed. Thirty and forty years ago, very little coverage was filmed until after the storm when everyone was picking up the pieces. Today, more people have dash cams and cell phones that can record video. The 21st century brought technology to almost everyone and it is possible to see filmed video of a tornado shortly after it strikes.


Hydrogels are water-insoluble crosslinked hydrophilic networks capable of retaining a large amount of water. The present work aimed to develop a novel carboxy-methyl cellulose/acrylamide based hydrogel which could behave both as a nanoreactor and an immobilizing matrix for silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) with promising drug delivery vehicle.The hydrogel containing AgNPs were prepared free radical polymerization using varying amounts of the crosslinker, silver nitrate, initiator etc. followed by in situ reduction with plant leaf extract, acted as both reducing agent and stabilizing agent, was added to the reaction medium. Analysis and characterization of the so obtained both hydrogels were performed through monitoring swelling behavior, FTIR spectroscopy, SEM & EDX, UV–vis spectrophotometer, XRD and TEM. pH response of this only hydrogel & nanocomposite hydrogel shows drug release behaviour in different pH(1.5 & 7.5) which is made it suitable for drug delivery applications.


In a CMAJ practice article, Bagnall and colleagues describe acute rheumatic fever in a member of Canada's immigrant population.[1][1] The same article correctly identifies Canada's First Nations as a population at risk for this disease. Social determinants of health are contributory: poverty,


An Interesting Case. As we announced last week, this Chancery case resulted in judgment for the defendant, with costs. The issues at stake are*of some little importance, and Mr. Justice Sargant's summing-up of them sets forth the salient facts with great lucidity. Briefly, both plaintiff and defendant are qualified specialists in bacteriology and pathology. The former was one of the first to start a private laboratory for work of this nature in London, and he has made a conspicuous success of the undertaking. Several hospitals, indeed, where no definitely appointed pathologist does the work have found it convenient to have


Based on the brief introduction to wavelet and dyadic wavelet,this paper analyzes in-depth the processing method for signal de-noising based on wavelet transformation,applies the wavelet analysis method to the de-noising of the dynamic parameter of the pantograph and overhead contact system OCS) on high-speed electrified railway,and employs simulation result to demonstrate the effectiveness of this de-noising method.


The Mission Statement of the APCC is 'To reduce mortality and morbidity and improve the quality of life of men with prostate cancer by facilitating translational research that will lead to improved prostate cancer management'. National enhancement of translational research endeavours requires establishment of an Australian Prostate Cancer BioResource and associated clinical database. Establishment funds were provided by Prostate Cancer Foundation of Australia (PCFA), Commonwealth Bank and Andrology Australia. Funding for the prospective tissue collection is from NHMRC via an Enabling Grant (July 2004 to June 2009). Tissue collections centre on four nodes, each with a network of affiliated public and private hospitals. The nodes are at Hanson Institute (Adelaide), QUT (Brisbane), Monash Institute (Melbourne), and Garvan Institute (Sydney). The nodes will be linked via a web-based database, which can be interrogated for assembly of specific research tissue cohorts. Access to the tissue and data collections will be equitably available to Australian prostate cancer researchers. An Access Policy has been developed. A business plan and a partial cost recovery program are under development to supplement funding. Fresh tissue procurement began October 2005. Expected annual accrual rate is 800–1000 patients. Between 2–6 × 5 mm punch biopsy cores per patient will be stored at –80°C. Current access to archived tissues for tissue microarray (TMA) construction is approximately 3000 patients. A TMA of 150 patients has been produced. Australian researchers will be able to access the collection in 2006. Tissue will be supplied to ethically approved, high quality research programs after peer review.


The digital twin is a rather new industrial control and automation systems concept. While the approach so far has gained interest mainly due to capabilities to make advanced simulations and optimizations, recently the possibilities for enhanced security have got attention within the research community. In this article, we discuss how a digital twin replication model and corresponding security architecture can be used to allow data sharing and control of security-critical processes. We identify design-driving security requirements for digital twin based data sharing and control. We show that the proposed state synchronization design meets the expected digital twin synchronization requirements and give a high-level design and evaluation of other security components of the architecture. We also make performance evaluations of a proof of concept for protected software upgrade using the proposed digital twin design. Our new security framework provides a foundation for future research work in this promising new area.


(54) GEOPOLYMER CONCRETE AND METHOD Related U.S. Application Data OF PREPARATION AND CASTING (60) Provisional application No. 60/523,117, filed on Nov. (75) Inventor: Gregory Balfour Johnson, New South 19, 2003. Wales (AU) Publication Classification Correspondence Address: NORRIS, MCLAUGHLIN & MARCUS (51) Int. Cl. 875 THIRDAVE C04B 28/00 (2006.01) 18TH FLOOR C04B I/06 (2006.01) NEW YORK, NY 10022 (US) C04B I4/00 (2006.01) (52) U.S. Cl. ........................... 106/638; 106/705: 106/817 (73) Assignee: ROCLA PTY LTD, Chatswood, New South Wales (AU) (57) ABSTRACT


This paper proposes a robust nonlinear control strategy for a model of an air-breathing hypersonic vehicle. The control objective is to provide robust velocity and altitude tracking in the presence of unknown parameter uncertainties and elevator couplings. The proposed approach takes the advantages of the dynamic inversion method to get a transformed description of the system and then a PI observer is introduced to reconfigure the transformed states together with the transformed unknown effects resulted from the modeling errors. Using the reconfigured transformed state for state feedback controller design and using the estimated unknown effects as a disturbance rejection, the whole control loop with the proposed control design is proved to be stable and robust. Simulations results demonstrate that the proposed control design achieves excellent tracking performance despite the presence of model uncertainties and nonlinearities.


The usage of local plants in medicine is a prospective and economically important direction. Flora of the Republic of Moldova includes a vast diversity of species with the opportunity of being applied in the treatment of cardiovascular diseases, infections, oncology etc. But, for their exploitation it is necessary to apply modern technologies of research, which generate new knowledge for the rational breeding of medical plants, extraction of pharmacologic substances and drug production, also determining an economic potential of their application for SMEs in the country.


Following a penetrating injury to the central nervous system (CNS), transient unsuccessful regeneration is seen correlated with the production of a dense permanent scar. In the brain, basic fibroblast growth factor (basic FGF) is present in neurones, in the vascular basement membrane of blood vessels, and in the ependyma1 cells of the ventricles. In vitro studies suggest its potential as a neurotrophic factor and a growth factor promoting glial proliferation, angiogenesis, and fibrotic scar production after injury.1 In this study we have examined changes in basic FGF levels, distribution, and synthesis in the injured rat brain in order to further implicate it in the CNS wounding response.


In recent times, the deployment of wireless sensor networks becomes important in revolutionary areas such as smart cities, environmental monitoring, smart transportation, and smart industries. The battery power of sensor nodes is limited due to which their efficient utilization is much necessary as the battery is irreplaceable. Efficient energy utilization is addressed as one of the important issues by many researchers recently in WSN. Clustering is one of the fundamental approaches used for efficient energy utilization in WSNs. The clustering method should be effective for the selection of optimal clusters with efficient energy consumption. Extensive modification in the clustering approaches leads to an increase in the lifetime of sensor nodes which is a unique way for network lifetime enhancement. As the technologies were taken to next the level where multiparameters need to be considered in almost every application in clustering, multiple factors affect the clustering and these factors were conflicting in nature too. Due to the conflicting nature of these factors, it becomes difficult to coordinate among them for optimized clustering. In this paper, we have considered multiattributes and made coordination among these attributes for optimal cluster head selection. We have considered Multi-Attribute Decision-Making (MADM) methods for CH's selection from the available alternatives by making suitable coordination among these attributes, and comparative analysis has been taken in LEACH, LEACH-C, EECS, HEED, HEEC, and DEECET algorithms. The experimental results validate that using MADM approaches, the proposed APRO algorithm proves to be one of the better exhibits for choosing the available CHs.


It was inevitable that important relationships between two of the most intensely studied topics in biomedical research, apoptosis and nitric oxide (NO), would become apparent. Apoptosis is essential to normal development as well as physiological cell turnover. Although apoptosis in excess can manifest as tissue damage, a failure to undergo apoptosis constitutes pathological cellular overgrowth. It is now evident that NO and its reaction products can either promote or prevent apoptosis in a multitude of settings. The ubiquitous distribution of the NO synthases and the remarkable diffusibility and diverse chemical reactivity of NO in biological systems make this molecule unique among the regulators of apoptosis. Understanding the factors that govern the consequences of NO exposure on cell viability and identifying the conditions in which NO regulation of apoptosis contribute to pathology are topics of considerable interest and potential importance. In this article, we will review the recent observations on NO as a regulator of apoptosis.

Apoptosis, or programmed cell death, is distinguished from lytic or necrotic cell death by specific biochemical and structural events (see recent review in Reference 11 ). Apoptogenic signals trigger cell-specific signaling pathways, including protease activation, followed by the appearance of morphological changes characteristic of cells undergoing apoptosis, including condensation of nuclei and cytoplasm, blebbing of the cytoplasmic membranes, and finally fragmentation into apoptotic bodies that are phagocytosed by neighboring cells. The elucidation of the signaling events in apoptosis is occurring at a rapid pace and includes the identification of the key roles of cysteine proteases (known as caspases), Bcl-2 family members, and mitochondria.

Caspases, the mammalian counterpart of ced-3 in Caenorhabditis elegans , are a family of cysteine proteases now known to contain at least 14 homologs. Ectopic expression of any of the caspase family proteases can cause apoptosis; however, not all caspase family …


Summary Methotrexate, 50 to 500 mg/kg, was infused i.v. in 6 hr into children with metastatic neoplasms. three hr after termination of drug infusion, leucovorin ( N 5 -formyltetrahydrofolate) administration was initiated and continued at 3-hr intervals throughout the following 24 hr. A total dose equivalent to 5 or 10% by weight of the methotrexate dosage was administered. At termination of drug infusion, serum levels ranged between 71 and 727 µg of methotrexate per ml with drug dosages of 100 and 500 mg per kg, respectively. The mean half-life ± 1 standard deviation of serum methotrexate was 157 ± 31 min. Urinary excretion during the 6 hr of drug infusion ranged between 35 and 53% of the administered dose. Ninety-five % of the drug was excreted in the first 30 hr after initiation of the drug infusion. Transient disappearance or reduction of tumor size was observed for 3 of 9 patients treated at 2- or 3-week intervals with a total of 31 infusions. Hematopoietic depression was minimal. Transient elevations of serum glutamic-oxaloacetic transaminase followed 18 infusions, and evidence of abnormal renal function was observed after 8 infusions. Therapeutic response in 1 patient with rhabdomyosarcoma and 1 patient with osteosarcoma indicates a need to screen the sensitivity of other childhood tumors to high-dose methotrexate therapy plus leucovorin rescue.


In the title compound, C21H24N2O4, the piperidine ring adopts a distorted boat conformation. The crystal structure is stabilized by C—H⋯π interactions involving one of the methoxyphenyl rings.


The "infamous boundary" is the apparent dichotomy between the quantum behaviour of microscopic systems and the classical behaviour of macroscopic systems. A lifetime after the invention of quantum theory, the problem of "quantum collapse" remains unsolved. Wavelike, probabilistic behaviour at the quantum level is resolved into specific outcomes at the observer's end of the measuring apparatus in an instantaneous way that appears to transcend the normal laws of physics.


Objective To investigate the differentiation of animals sensitized with various Mycobacterium tuberculosis by M.tuberculosis CFP10-ESAT6 fusion protein.Methods Guinea pigs were sensitized with various M.tuberculosis,then injected i.d. with CFP10-ESAT6 protein and PPD.The longitudinal and transverse diameters of local indurations at injection sites were measured by double-blind method 24 and 48 h after injection,and the mean diameter was calculated.Results All the skin test results of PPD in guinea pigs sensitized with live and inactivated M.tuberculosis and BCG were positive,and the mean diameters of local durations were(13.91±1.04),(13.11±1.40)and(13.16±1.43)mm respectively.However,CFP10-ESAT6 protein was strong positive in skin test in guinea pigs sensitized with live M.tuberculosis,weak positive or negative in those with inactivated M.tuberculosis,and negative in those with BCG,and the corresponding mean diameters of local durations were(10.53±2.66),(1.61±1.39)and 0 mm respectively.Conclusion M.tuberculosis CFP10-ESAT6 protein may be used for the differentiation of animals sensitized with live and inactivated M.tuberculosis and BCG.


This paper investigated the determination of arctiin content in Fengre Ganmao granules by high performance capillary electrophoresis (HPCE) method. The borax solution of 37.5 mmol concentration containing 12.5% methanol was chosen as buffer solution. The experiment was performed at a constant voltage of 16 kV and UV detection wavelength of 277 nm. The content of arctiin in Fengre Ganmao granules was 10.307mg/g (RSD=5.8%) (n=6). The recovery was in the range of 90.5%-115.1% (n=5). This method is suitable for the detection of the content of arctiin in Fengre Ganmao granules.


The essays collected in this volume strongly suggest that the principles and operations of contemporary rhetoric and contemporary interpretation invite being studied in conjunction with each other--that the are, as Paul Hernadi puts it, "siamese twins." Furthermore, a number of the essays suggest that both rhetoric and interpretation ought to be studied in conjunction with the principles and operations characteristic of contemporary descriptions and critiques of ideology.


Here, we report a novel phlebovirus-like virus sequence detected in a plasma sample from a febrile adult patient collected in the United Republic of Tanzania in 2014. A nearly complete RNA sequence was generated by high-throughput sequencing on a HiSeq 2500 instrument and further confirmed after repeating the analysis, starting from the initial sample. ABSTRACT Here, we report a novel phlebovirus-like virus sequence detected in a plasma sample from a febrile adult patient collected in the United Republic of Tanzania in 2014. A nearly complete RNA sequence was generated by high-throughput sequencing on a HiSeq 2500 instrument and further confirmed after repeating the analysis, starting from the initial sample.


This paper introduces the characteristics of Chinese medical herb,then expounds the pre-sent situation,existing problems and the future of Chinese medical herb applied in animal hus-bandry.


 1 Greenwood County physician received funding through the Kansas Bridging Plan, a loan-forgiveness program offered to primary care medical residents who agree to practice in rural Kansas. "KU is one of the most respected academic and research institutions in the country. I will be forever grateful to the University of Kansas for providing me, and so many other leaders, an educational experience that prepared me to succeed in life and business. The opportunity to receive an education from KU is a critical component in creating future leaders for our state and around the world."


Lambda theories are equational extensions of the untyped lambda calculus that are closed under derivation. The set of lambda theories is naturally equipped with a structure of complete lattice, where the meet of a family of lambda theories is their intersection, and the join is the least lambda theory containing their union. In this paper we study the structure of the lattice of lambda theories by universal algebraic methods. We show that nontrivial quasi-identities in the language of lattices hold in the lattice of lambda theories, while every nontrivial lattice identity fails in the lattice of lambda theories if the language of lambda calculus is enriched by a suitable finite number of constants. We also show that there exists a sublattice of the lattice of lambda theories which satisfies: (i) a restricted form of distributivity, called meet semidistributivity; and (ii) a nontrivial identity in the language of lattices enriched by the relative product of binary relations.


This multi-sited research design investigates and analyzes the impact that the New Mexico tribal casinos have had on the nineteen Pueblo Nations of New Mexico. This research examined Pueblo gaming using Pueblo culture as an indicator of success. This study utilizes cultural methods to evaluate the establishment of casinos in terms of the onset of capitalism, economic independence, sovereignty, misrepresentation, and changing landscape. The research concludes that tribal gaming is a culturally inappropriate development strategy. The methodology utilized in this research included scholarly research into the recent phenomena of tribal gaming through historical and contemporary scholarship, including the emerging development of literature analyzing the growth of tribal gaming. Perhaps more important, the research involved detailed inperson and written interviews with Pueblo tribal members in New Mexico. Using a cultural lens and environmental justice framework, this study favors alternative forms of development that would adhere to cultural values including the importance of community, commitment to family, knowledge of language, attendance of ceremonial ritual, and sacredness of land. Table of


In complex domains, users need to be able to find causal relations between the different attributes that compose them. Our work offers a way to help users to uncover such relations by combining the representativity of ontologies and the flexibility of probabilistic relational models, and provides them with an interactive and iterative process in order to validate or modify the obtained results.


The features of boiler feedwater pump turbine(BFPT),which is the first one to match with 1000MW ultra supercritical coal-fired unit,and its control element are presented,and the system and function of electro-hydraulic governing system(MEH) is mainly introduced as well.The paper can be regarded as the design reference for control system in BFPT of the same large capacity of coal-fired unit.


Bernard Matambo offers a lyrical yet sobering account of the myriad challenges facing young Zimbabweans struggling to realize their dream of attending college in the United States.


DURING 1949 and 1950, 106 patients with acute anterior poliomyelitis were treated on the neurological service of the New York Hospital. During early convalescence changes in the optic fundi resembling papilledema developed in five of these patients. This finding was remarkable, since abnormalities in the optic fundi are apparently rare in poliomyelitis and have been noted by only a few of those who have written about the illness. Wickmann, 1 in his monograph on poliomyelitis, published in 1907, reported one patient with "papillitis." Ruhrah and Mayer, 2 in 1916, reported that 2 out of 338 patients with poliomyelitis had associated disease of the optic nerves. In neither of these patients was examination of the optic fundi reported. Hall, 3 in 1918, described a case of poliomyelitis in which 5.5 D. of neuroretinitis appeared on the 20th day of the illness. These changes were associated with elevation of the spinal fluid


In this paper we prove that both complete and vertical lifts of a Poisson vector field from a Poisson manifold $(M, \pi)$ to its tangent bundle $(TM, \pi_{TM})$ are also Poisson. We use this fact to describe the infinitesimal deformations of Poisson tensor $\pi_{TM}$. We study some of their properties and present a extensive set of examples in a low dimensional case.


In recent years Chinese urbanization level prompted forward unceasingly,the technology advancement degree enhanced day by day,however the urban-rural income gap actually stayed at a high level.To analyze these three thoroughly the dynamic relation,this paper empirically researches into urbanization,technology advancement and urban-rural income gap by a VAR model,granger causality test and impulse response function in China in the period from 1985 to 2009.Results show that technology advancement and urbanization are the causes to urban-rural income gap,and the long impact responses are positive;urbanization propel the technology advancement forward,otherwise,technological advancement has no significant effect on urbanization.


Abstract : This report describes some basic research techniques and algorithms developed to diagnose fronts in cyclonic storms over the ocean with passive microwave data. The need for this research stems from the limited availability of reliable weather reports over the ocean, and the occasional disruption of weather map transmissions. In earlier work we found that strong gradients in integrated atmospheric water vapor are good indicators of surface locations of fronts in midlatitude cyclones over the oceans. A second significant indicator of frontal activity is precipitation. Therefore, we have developed methods for flagging strong gradients in integrated atmospheric water vapor (WVG-flag) and the presence of rain by using data from the Scanning Multichannel Microwave Radiometer (SMMR) aboard polar-orbiting Seasat and Nimbus-7 satellites. The data were not received in real time, but were analyzed from archived tapes. Examination of 65 frontal systems showed the water vapor gradient flag to catch 86% of the fronts while the precipitation flagged 90%. Each flag emphasizes different portions of the cyclone and are therefore complimentary. Ultimately these techniques are intended for operational use with data from the Special Sensor Microwave Imager (SSM/I) which was launched in June 1987 on a satellite in the Defense Meteorological Satellite Program (DMSP). Such data can be received in real time directly by ships at sea.


This paper is concerned with point-to point control of a 3 link planar manipulator where the first two joints are actuated and the third revoluted joint is unactuated. This system is a special case of under-actuated manipulators, which have nonholonomic constraints. The main result of this paper is to show that this system is feedback equivalent to the chained form which is composed of twice differential equations. In addition, we propose a controller that stabilizes the system from any initial position to any desired position.


Abstract The long retention time required for cow manure digestion could be attributed to the presence of complex organic compounds but also, to the high concentration of ammonia (NH4 + plus free NH3) that affects the anaerobic digestion. Both problems could be ameliorated by the utilization of ionic exchanger supports. The subject of the present work was the evaluation of the natural zeolite as ionic exchanger. It was observed that the digester with zeolite addition had the best behaviour during the experiments while inhibition of anaerobic degradation was obtained in a control digester with suspended biomass.


Summarized are the general principles of law that courts use to determine who is liable when tree defects result in personal injury or property damage. Three procedures to minimize liability—tree inspection, documentation of inspection, and adoption of other urban forestry practices—are discussed.


The Authority was asked for information about the number of births following 2 and 3 embryo transfer for a woman age 40 and the number of multiple births following 2 and 3 embryo transfer for a woman age 40.


FOR many years one of the most cogent arguments for federal aid to education has been the fact that there was considerable migration from the states with below average educational expenditures per pupil or per classroom to those in which education was more liberally provided for. This point was confirmed by observation, by studies of specific localities by a score or more of rural sociologists (who have done more than other social scientists with respect to the rural-urban aspects of internal migration), by Carter Goodrich in his book Migration and Economic Opportunity,1 and by the data from the censuses of population. These last simply gave by states the number of persons born in one state and living in another, and in one of the nine census divisions and living in another. In 1930 and for several census periods preceding, roughly one-fourth of the American people were living in a state other than the one in which they had been born.


The aim of this work is the study of the adhesion integrity of metallic Single Lap Joints (SLJs) through the assessment of the MUL2 CODE, software developed by the MUL2 Research Group - Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering of Politecnico di Torino. The MUL2 CODE is implemented through the Carrera Unified Formulation (CUF) for 2D structures based on Hierarchical Legendre Expansion (HLE) polynomials. An efficient method for the Structural Health Monitoring (SHM) of bonded joints is simulated and verified by CUF approach, in order to reduce the computational cost of analyses: by using transient excitations (toneburst signals), the structural health of damaged SLJ can be numerically evaluated. The interaction mechanism between the waves traveling through the investigated specimens is numerically modeled with a simple Finite Elements (FE) model and it is solved via MUL2 CODE and commercial software Ansys Workbench, respectively. Experimental campaigns data are compared with CUF and Ansys results demonstrating the consistence of the MUL2 formulation that is computationally simpler, but very efficient for the joint analysis. The presented and discussed CUF application is able to quantify with a high accuracy the debonding extension in the damaged SLJ, simply tuning the excitation frequency of the SHM technique.


Housing and Communal Services is a monopoly, which if used efficiently must and can function effectively. Having combined budget resourses of federal, regional and local self-government, as well as private business resourses, the state could provide Housing and Communal Services with a greater financial support.


We present a novel type of stable (3+1)D solitary self-trapped wave-packet arising from the interplay between local and nonlocal (in time and space) nonlinearities, which can be generated under experimentally feasible conditions.


The accusation is sometimes made that surgeons who have had the good luck to score an exceptional success are apt to rush into print and report it to the profession without waiting a reasonable time in which to ascertain whether or not the cure can properly be classed as a permanent one. However, I think we may consider the following patient definitely and permanently cured, whose case—possibly unique in point of time between her sphincteric loss and its restoration—I now publish for the first time six years after the operation. My library search has not been thorough, and reports from those who have completely cured patients longer afflicted would be of interest. The patient, a lady in the family of a physician in this city, states that she can now control, even during an occasional diarrhea, her bowel movements as perfectly as ever before the tear. If this muscle, during


Many organic-rich rocks are major sources of oil and gas in sedimentary basins presumably through high-temperature thermal cracking. This view was brought into question with recent reports of marine shales generating catalytic gas in the laboratory at 50°C, 300°C below thermal-cracking temperatures. Gas forms under natural conditions without artificial stimulation. Compositions of methane, ethane and propane are near thermodynamic equilibrium (2C2H6=CH4+C3H8) mirroring those in natural deposits. It is significant because thermal cracking can neither generate hydrocarbons at equilibrium nor can it bring them to equilibrium over geological time. Thus, catalysis must be the source of equilibrium in natural gas habitats and in marine shales. There is experimental evidence for metathesis () as the catalytic path to equilibrium. However, it is without example in contemporary catalysis, and therefore, calls for extraordinary empirical support. Here, we report independent and unequivocal evidence of natural catalytic activity in a marine shale linking metathesis and thermodynamic equilibrium. A Cretaceous Mowry shale catalysed the dimerization of propylene (C3H6) to methyl cyclopentane (MCP, C6H12) and n-hexane (n-C6, C6H14) at 50°C in greater than 99 per cent selectivity. Propylene increased the rate of n-C6 generation by a factor of 100 with 100 per cent selectivity to the straight-chain hexane (n-C6). Propylene also suppressed the generation of all hydrocarbons except cyclopentane, MCP and n-C6. The ratio MCP/n-C6, which swung chaotically between 1 and 25 before propylene addition, was rendered invariant with propylene addition (R2=0.99; MCP/n-C6=1.20±0.034 s.d.). These uniquely catalytic reactions confirm natural catalytic activity in this shale. It appears to be 'palaeoactivity' possibly conceived in early diagenesis and sustained over geological time.


To investigate interrelations of ulcerative colitis (UC) with other diseases, pathological autopsy cases were analyzed using the case-control method. A total of 244 cases of UC and 701 controls were obtained from the Annual of the Pathological Autopsy Cases in Japan, 1978-89, published by the Japanese Society of Pathology. The cases consisted of 132 males and 112 females and their mean ages were 58.2 and 58.4 years, respectively. For each case, 2 or 3 controls were identified. Cases and controls were matched for age (•}5 years), sex and reported medical facility. Stepwise logistic regression analysis revealed that fatty liver, cholangiolitis, gastrointestinal bleeding, sepsis, peritonitis, pulmonary abcess, gastritis, splenitis, gastric ulcer and pneumonia had a significantly positive relationship with UC. In contrast, arteriosclerosis showed a significantly negative relationship with UC. Among the UC patients who died from cancer, the frequency of colon cancer was significantly higher than that among the controls.


I read with interest Dr de Grey's Hypothesis article in the February issue of Bio€ssays('). De Grey's basic premise is that due to age-dependent accumulation of free radical damage, the mitochondrial genome develops aberrations; these confer selective advantage to mitochondria, which become homozygous for the aberration through genetic drift. There are several points that make the hypothesis quite hard to accept, based on published experimental results and our understanding of mitochondrial biology. (1) It is well known that the mitochondrial genome is more damage prone than the nuclear genome. This can be attributed, at least in part, to damage caused by the generation of relatively large quantities of superoxide in the electrontransport chain of the citric acid cycle. Deletions of considerable portions of the mitochondrial genome do occur and their incidence increases between 1000and 1 0000-fold with age in various species: h ~ m a n ( ~ ~ ) , monkeys(5), rats@), mice(7), Dro~ophila(~) and nematodes(8). The accumulation of point mutations in mitochondrial genomes has been reported, but its extent and significance remains controversial at present(9). However, the number of mitochondria per cell in mammals ranges between a few hundreds and roughly one thousand (e.g. in liver cells). Moreover, each mitochondrion carries 5-1 0 whole genome copies. Therefore, despite the striking age-associated increase in the overall levels of deletions, it accounts for less than 0.1% of the total mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) in a tissue (for a review, see ref. 9). It is thus quite unlikely that this phenomenon has a crucial effect on the overall energy metabolism of cells of older individuals. An exception to this would be if the defective mitochondria accumulate in individual cells due to selective advantage of deletion-bearing mitochondrial genomes, as is proposed by de Grey. (2) It can be envisaged that genomes carrying deletions would be replicated more rapidly due to purely mechanistic reasons. If one ignores deletions that include the origins of replication domains of the mtDNA, it can be conceived that clonal populations of mitochondria containing truncated genomes may accumulate in cells as a function of time. These are probably, according to de Grey, mitochondria that cannot carry out the complete citric acid cycle and their components (such as the membrane lipids) would, therefore, be less damaged by oxidative stress. Such mitochondria will not be as readily removed by lysosomes as oxidatively impaired ones. The snag in this argument is that the biogenesis of mitochondria is based on the transposition of hundreds of nuclear gene-encoded proteins (including mitochondrial SOD and glutathione peroxidase, which are essential in the anti-oxidation protection mechanism) from the cytoplasm into the mitochondrion. This is an ATPdependent process involving chaperones and other specific mechanisms; moreover, the folding of the imported proteins is also ATP-dependent('O). If there is little or no generation of ATP in the mitochondrion, due to defects in the citric acid cycle, it would be deficient in assembly and biogenesis of progeny mitochondria. In addition, such mitochondria will have difficulty in the replication of their genomes, since the mtDNA polymerase is encoded by a nuclear gene and is, therefore, imported from the cytoplasm. In summary, a mitochondrion that bears alterations in the transmembrane import mechanism and the processing of imported proteins will be at a severe disadvantage in the cell. (3) De Grey's suggestion to transfect mice with copies of the 13 proteincoding mitochondrial genes, in order to incorporate them into the nuclear genome, is more problematic than meets the eye, particularly for two reasons. (i) The mitochondrial system possesses some code signals for several amino acids which differ from those of the nuclear system. UGA, which is a universal stop codon in eukaryotes, codes for tryptophane in mitochondria. AGA and AGG, which specify arginine in the nuclear system, serve as stop codons in mammalian mitocondria. In addition AUA, which specifies isoleucine in the nuclear system, codes for methionine in mitochondria. (ii) For biogenesis of mitochondria the 13 translocated genes will have to obtain additional sequences for the required lead peptides that are necessary for protein translocation into the organelle. (4) Finally, there has been a considerable body of literature reporting on the reduction in the respiratory capacity of cells of senescent organisms. This can be due to several metabolic alterations such as lowered glycolytic rates resulting in reduced supply of pyruvate and, therefore, acetyl CoA for the initiation of the citric acid cycle. Also oxidative damage to the mitochondrial membranes, lower generation of essential cofactors and a multitude of other alterations that depend on age-related enzyme modifications, are sufficient to explain the reduced levels of metabolic pathways in cells of aging organisms(' l). These modifications are not commonly due to alterations in the genome but are post-translational in nature(12). In summary, there are considerable faults in de Grey's thesis, which implicates damage in the mitochondrial genome as a major factor in the process of aging. It probably contributes only modestly to the process. There is ample evidence that free radical damage to other mitochondrial and cellular components, such as lipids and proteins, plays an important role in the process of senescence.


The fire-retardant fiber is fiber treated with fire retardant, and includes pyramine resin fiber accounting 10-70 wt%, glass fiber and plant fiber. The fire retardant consists of sodium tungstate, sodium molybdate, tartaric acid and citric acid in the ratio of 0.4-0.5 to 0.3-0.6 to 0.2-0.3 to 0.2-0.3. The fire-retardant fiber may be used to produce fire-retardant fabric.


In this paper we estimate the correlation between four different stock return prices. To accomplish this, we use the copula models to study the dependency structure between the variables. The original variables of interest are mapped into more manageable variables by considering joint and marginal distributions of these variables. Then a correlational structure between these variables are obtained. We fit several well-known copula models to the portfolio of the stock return price dataset using consistent information complexity (CICOMP) criterion along with other AIC-type criteria to choose the best copula functional model. CICOMP predominated the AIC-type criterion, both in the case when the fitted models are correctly specified. We expect to get more realistic results using other copula distributions contrary to the Gaussian copula used by Li (2000) that fails to capture the dependence between extreme events.


A suitable modification of the microbiological method for assaying pantothenic acid was developed and the pantothenic acid content in various kinds of poultry-feeding stuffs determined by its use. To assure quantitative liberation of the total amount of the pantothenic acid from the samples it is recommended to digest the samples first with Clarase. Pantothenic acid content was determined in poultry feeds of animal origin, such as fish-meal, meat-scrap, liver-meal and different kinds of milk-powder. It is remarkable that different kinds of fish-meal differ markedly in their pantothenic acid content.


xiv 1.0 INTRODUCTION 1 1.1 History 3 1.2 Classification of Liquid Crystalline Systems 6 1.3 Molecular Design and Synthesis of LC Polymers 16 1 .4 Chain Modification and Structure Consideration on the Stability of LC Polymers. 20 1.5 Characterization of LC Polymers 29 1.6 Differential Scanning Colorimetry 30 1.7 Polarizing LightMicroscopy 33 1.8 X-ray Diffraction 44 1.9 Miscibility Studies 51 1.10 Induced Molecular Orientation 52 1.11 Poly(ester-imide)s 54 2.0 OBJECTIVES 63 3.0 RESULTS AND DISCUSSION 66 3.1 Synthesis ofMonomers 66 3.2 Polycondensation ofAliphatic Poly(ester-imide)s 69 3.3 Polycondensation ofAromatic Poly(ester-_mide)s 95 4.0 CONCLUSIONS AND FUTURE PLANS 100 5.0 EXPERIMENTAL 103 5.1 Materials 103 5.2 Measurements 103 5.3 Preparation of monomers 105 5.3.1 Preparation of monomer 27 105 5.3.2 Preparation ofmonomer 28 106 5.3.3 Preparation ofmonomer 29 107 5.3.4 Preparation of 4,4'-diacetoxybiphenyl 108 5.3.5 Preparation of 1 ,4-diacetoxyhydroquinone 108 5.4 Polycondensation 109 5.4.1 General Procedure for Melt Polymerization 110 5.4.2 Preparation ofAliphatic Poly(ester-imide)s Ill 5.4.3 Preparation ofAromatic Poly(ester-imide)s 116 6.0 REFERENCES 118 APPENDIX 126


The authors proposed a number of immunohistochemical markers to be used in histological diagnostic studies of the heart and protocols for their identification that extend the possibilities for the estimation of the heart function in case of pathological changes and sudden cardiac death.


Recent correlational studies provide support for a transactional relationship between reading and behavior problems. A transactional relationship implies that reading problems cause behavior problems, and vice versa. This study took this basic finding and examined its implications for intervention. Specifically, this study employed single-case experimental methods to examine the collateral (e.g., reading intervention improves behavioral performance) confined (e.g., reading intervention improves reading performance) and combined (e.g., reading plus behavioral intervention) effects of reading and behavioral interventions. Preliminary results indicated that both reading and behavioral interventions produced confined, collateral, and combined effects on reading and behavioral outcomes. Although a transactional relationship was demonstrated for the majority of participants, findings indicated that behavior function potentially moderates the effectiveness of the reading intervention to improve behavior, suggesting that a transactional relationship may not be universally true. The implications and limitations of the results, as well as directions for future research are discussed.


.--Selected aspects of the breedin L biology of the Common Moorhen and Purple Gallinule were compared in coastal marshes and rice fields of Louisiana during two breeding seasons. Both species constructed trial-nests, egg-nests, and elevated platforms in marsh and rice fields. Nests were constructed over water out of plant parts available near the nest site. The interiors of Common Moorhen nests were significantly larger, but external di- mensions were similar for both species. The mean height above water level of Purple Gallinule nests was significantly greater than for nests of the Common Moorhen. Purple Gallinules had a 78.6% nesting success rate, while 63.3% of Common Moorhen nests were successful. Success for both species was distributed uniformly over the range of nest heights. Average clutch sizes for Common Moorhen were 6.7 in the marsh and 8.6 in rice fields. Common Moorhen and Purple Gallinule both produced significantly larger clutches in rice fields than in marshes.


On the basis of considering all the influencing factors of unsymmetrical loaded tunnels,excavation of unsymmetrical loaded tunnels under different conditions of transversal gradient,surrounding rock grades and thickness of side covering soil were simulated by using FLAC.Then,the deformation behavior and key points' displacements of tunnel excavation were analysed.It is pointed out that the affect of unsymmetrical loading is no longer remarkable when the thickness of side covering soil is larger than 20 m,and pre-reinforcement is needed before excavation when the thickness of side covering soil is less than 15 m.Based on this,the pre-reinforcements of tunnel under different conditions were simulated.The results show that under the condition of surrounding rocks of grade V,the main problem is the insufficient counter pressure of shallow buried side when the thickness of side covering soil is less than 7 m,while the overpressure of deep buried side needed to be solved when the thickness is larger than 7 m.The results have been verified in practice.The conclusion can be a reference for design and construction of similar engineering projects.


A new orchid genus, Ypsilorchis Z. J. Liu, S. C. Chen & L. J. Chen, is established based on Ypsilor- chis fissipetala (Finet) Z. J. Liu, S. C. Chen & L. J. Chen (basionym: Liparis fissipetala Finet). The new genus differs from Liparis and its allies by having two granular-waxy pollinia each with a somewhat elastic caudicle, deeply bilobed petals and strongly crisped-margined leaves with an apical awn to 1 mm long. These features are an indication of its distant relation to the members of the subtribe Liparidinae, and thus a new subtribe, Ypsilor- chidinae Z. J. Liu, S. C. Chen & L. J. Chen, is proposed.


In this study, the steam distribution system of the Ecuadorian hospital IESS Ambato is analyzed to improve its energy efficiency. Therefore, heat losses in the current system were calculated based on theoretical heat transfer concepts, the geometry of the installation, and actual temperature measurements in the hospital. The calculations show that complete thermal insulation can reduce energy loss in the steam distribution system by 38% in comparison to the current state.
Further calculations reveal that an investment in insulation is also recommendable from an economic point of view. Considering the prices for energy in Ecuador and for insulating the pipes, such an investment would pay off in less than three years, which shows the enormous economic potential of improving the insulation in steam systems. Hence, it is highly recommendable to install glass wool insulation around all pipes in the steam distribution system.


Objective To study the effect of the indications, surgical procedures and skills of multichannel cochlear implantation on bilateral severe or profound sensorineural deaf patients through analysis and evaluation of the data of those who had undergone the operation. Methods Thirteen patients were enrolled in this study. All of them were implanted multichannel cochlear(model Nucleus 24 or Clarion C1) through facial nerve recess approach. They were assessed by audiology and aural image before surgery. Eight prelingual patients underwent audition and speech or language skills rehabilitation training for 3-19 months. The clinical materials of them were analysed. Results All the 13 patients were implanted successfully without any complications intra- and postoperatively. An X-ray film of the temporal bones two weeks later proved that all the electrodes located properly in cochlears. Mapping was done one month after surgery showing that the hearing recovered completely in all patients. One postlingual deaf patient was able to do dialogue after simple speech training. Of the 11 prelingual patients recovered various extents in audition and speech after training. One case was too young to be trained. Conclusion The cochlear implantation is a routine treatment for bilateral severe or profound sensorineural deafness. The main indications were postlingual deaf in adults, prelingual deaf in children and in some youngsters. Preoperative preparations, audiology and aural image assessments are important premises for a successful cochlear implant. Mapping and adjustments of cochlear speech processor and systematic audition and speech skills rehabilitation training ensure the increase of the treatment.


Diabetes mellitus often leads to a serious eye disease called diabetic retinopathy, which is one major cause of blindness among adults. Since this blindness can be prevented if the diabetic retinopathy is detected at an early stage and appropriate medical treatment is provided, routine screening tests with fundus images are very important. However, as the number of diabetic patients increases, the routine screening tests are becoming big burdens for ophthalmologists. To reduce these burdens, in this paper, we propose a diagnosis support method by using convex optimization. The proposed method decomposes a green channel fundus image into a basic image composed of non-disease parts, a positive image including exudates, and a negative image including hemorrhages. Numerical experiments show the effectiveness of our method.


A method of minimization is suggested which is applicable to the functionals dependent on the parameters sought for exclusively through the functional argument, and having convergence significantly better than that of the general methods in common use. The method is highly efficient in solving a number of concrete problems. (auth)


In the 1980s, Jane Collier revisited a village in Andalucia, where she and others had conducted fieldwork 20 years earlier, to investigate family relationships and to explore the larger question of the development of a "modern subjectivity" among the people. Whereas the villagers she met in the 1960s stressed the importance of meeting social obligations, the people she interviewed more recently emphasized the need to think for oneself: status concerns in choosing a spouse had apparently been replaced by romantic love, patriarchal authority by partnership marriages, parental demands for obedience by hopes of earning children's affection, mourners' respect for the dead by personal expressions of grief. In each of these areas, the author detected a modern concern for "producing oneself", which emerged with changes in how villagers experienced social inequality.


The three-axis attitude control of magnetic actuated rigid spacecraft is considered in this paper. In the presented work, second order sliding mode control (2-SMC) with a nonlinear sliding surface is considered to generate continuous control with a finite time convergence property. The super-twisting control algorithm is considered for 2-SMC. The simulation results show that super-twisting based control with considered nonlinear sliding surface, is able to generate sufficient control torque, which results three-axis controllable spacecraft. Results show that controller steers the attitude trajectories to their nearest equilibrium. The robustness of controller is evaluated by subjecting cyclic disturbance torques, and inertia uncertainty.


Focus on the seriously problem of our country airport noise pollution,the Frankfurt airport adopt carry out noise charge method to effective achieved the goal of noise regulation has be introduced.Then analysed the characteristic of the Frankfurt airport noise charge model,and point out domestic airport can learn from Frankfurt airport effective noise charge system to solution the noise pollution problem.Finally,analysed the impact of airport noise charge policy for airlines operation from two aspects of fleet planning and flight scheduling.


The paper analyses principal relations of macroeconomic
development and institutional aspects of social policy in the
context of integration trends of the last decade and in the
process of transformation. It examines particularly common and
specific features of the transformation process with regard to
economic performance related to social policy. In the field of
social policy the paper investigates the issues closely
associated with labour mobility and protection at work in the
integrated labour market of the EU.


The Institute for Production Engineering and Forming Machines at the Technische Universität Darmstadt examines the reduction of uncertainty of bar structures by integrating adaptive components into the bars. As sensors, these components allow a monitoring of appearing loads, as actuators they allow an active influencing on appearing disturbances. One approach for producing those structures is given by incremental forming processes. They feature the advantage to combine the forming of the parts as well as the integration of the active components in one process. The research contains numerical analyses and experimental tests.


The p-xylyl radical has been produced in a jet from the precursor p-xylene with a corona excited supersonic expansion. Rotationally cooled vibronic emission spectra in the transition of 12A2→12B2 of the p-xylyl radical have been recorded using a Fourier transform spectrometer. The spectra were analyzed on the basis of the known vibrational frequencies and the bandshapes given by the rotational selection rules.


Multi-Access Edge Computing (MEC) paradigm has been widely studied as a potential solution to cope with the challenges emerging from new generations of mobile networks. By processing applications' data closer to the users, service providers are able to offload origin servers and their underlying network infrastructure, which consequently reduces users' experienced latency. In this paper, we consider internet-based applications with strict latency tolerance which are primarily enabled by the MEC architecture, e.g., Virtual Reality (VR) control systems, cloud gaming, and smart healthcare. Moreover, nodes at the edge may host application-related tasks as well as assist in their provision. We introduce the Task Distribution (TD) problem, where the objective is to maximize the overall Quality of Service (QoS) while ensuring that tasks' latency requirements are satisfied. The TD problem is modeled as an Integer Programming problem, taking into account three components: (i) tasks' priority assignment, (ii) placement and (iii) routing through the MEC network. We propose to approach the TD problem through an approximation scheme, called Shortest-Flow Approximation (SFA), which considers pre-determined network flows selected according to a Betweenness-based criterion. In our experiments, we first extract useful insights on the TD problem that help characterize its solution. Then, we evaluate SFA's performance empirically across different experimental settings, showing numerical results confirming its proximity to the optimal solution.


The invention discloses a double-adhesive friction material which comprises the following components in percentage by mass: 30-70% of inorganic adhesive, 8-25% of organic resin adhesive, 15-40% of reinforced fibre, 5-15% of friction performance conditioning agent and 5-20% of filler. The friction material has approximately equal frictional wear performance to the traditional resin base friction material, and thermostability of the friction material is obviously superior to that of the traditional resin base friction material; mechanical strength is increased, brittleness is improved, and influence of friction heat can be effectively resisted. The double-adhesive friction material is suitable for replacing the resin base friction material under the working condition of heavy load or longer dragging friction time.


Background: COVID-19 pandemic not only causes physical problems but also becomes a stressor and give problems to mental health that are commonly found in adolescence. Mental health disorders, such as anxiety and depression, can increase the risk of many physical health problems and reduce performance in work and social environment as well. Therefore, this literature review is aimed to discuss further and to broaden insight about the importance of mental health disorders and efforts to prevent mental health disorders among teenagers during the COVID-19 pandemic. Reviews: The COVID-19 pandemic has negative impacts in mental health. Depression and anxiety are the most common mental health condition in the general population that reported an increase until three times compared before the pandemic. Several studies about COVID-19 and anxiety showed that the younger population (especially young adults) tended to have more anxiety. The most distressing issue for teenagers in the pandemic is not being able to see their friends, being fear of their friends or family getting sick or dying from COVID-19. In addition, when compared to the older population, the younger population also uses social media more often that can cause anxiety due to information overload and misinformation. Summary: COVID-19 pandemic gives rise to various mental health problems among teenagers. Understanding the symptoms and prevention of mental health disorders such as health promotion and protection from specific mental illness are becoming the primary prevention of mental health problems


A 2D full-wave FDTD code is being developed and integrated wi th the output of a state-of-the-art turbulence code implementing a complete synthetic diagnos tic capable of coping with the complex signature of turbulence. The turbulence code used is a gyrofluid el ectromagnetic model with global geometry (GEMR). The X-mode wave-propagation code solves Maxwell eq uations using a finite-difference timedomain technique coupled to the ordinary differential equa tions of the motion or to differential equations describing the plasma behaviour. The plasma current equati on is handled through a novel solver (JE) that allows a fast direct FDTD implementation which constit utes an improvement over the much slower Runge-Kutta solvers, traditionally used.


One atypical newcastle disease virus(NDV) isolated from a chicken farm in Shandong Weifang in the year 2004 that without any typical ND symptom was studied.This test amplified Fusion(F) gene of Shandong isolate strain(ShD-5-04) by reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction(RT-PCR) technique.The F gene was sequenced after the products of amplification being cloned.The results showed that:the F gene of Shandong isolate strain(ShD-5-04) has 1 662 bp length in opening reading fragment(ORF) and encods 489 amino acids.Compared with the published virulent strains and avirulent strains of NDV,the homology of the nucleotide of F gene is 84.1%-88.7% and the homology of the deduced amino acid sequences of F gene is 88.1%-93.3%;The amino acid sequences of cleavage site regeion(112-117) of F gene were similar to that of all other virulent strains.The results also showed that the Shandong isolate strain(ShD-5-04) was a virulent strain of DNV.It can concluded that antibody impression is the reason to cause atypical ND in this case,not caused by variant virus.


3D calculations with Computational Fluid Dynamics were carried out to evaluate the flow pattern under industrial conditions with different gas flow rates at the steel plant of Saarstahl AG. The generated flow pattern consists of a circulating loop characterised by an upward flow driven by the argon gas and a downward flow close to the wall on the opposite side of the porous plug in the case of a gas flow rate of 27 STP m3/h. When this high gas flow rate is used, the gas bubbles are taking a straight way from the inlet, but further up the momentum from the circulating steel is affecting the path of the gas bubbles followed by a breakthrough zone at the top surface. Intensive experiments with the 170‐t ladle of Saarstahl AG revealed typical open‐eyes. Large open‐eyes coupled with turbulences in the surface were generated in the case of gas flow rates between 20 and 30 STP m3/h. Intensive turbulences and even smoke formation were identified when a gas flow rate of > 30 STP m3/h was applied.


Indoleacetic acid (IAA) can act as a phytohormone to modulate plant growth and development, thus persistent search for IAA-producing microbes is underway for a potential application in promoting plant growth. In this paper, an IAA-producing bacterium was obtained from maize rhizosphere in biochar-amending field. This strain is a Gram-negative and facultative anaerobic rod. Phenotypic examination and 16S rRNA gene sequencing suggest that this strain is a new strain of the Enterobacter species. We designated this strain LX3. LX3 produced up to 200 mg/L of IAA in nutrient broth and promoted barley development and increased plant chlorophyll level. This suggests that LX3 has potential as a biofertilizer.


Swanson, Rebecca M.; Gibbs, Rachel L.; Cadaret, Caitlin; Erickson, Galen E.; Schmidt, Ty B.; Cupp, Andrea; and Yates, Dustin T., "Beef cows with atypical estrous cyclicity at puberty produced calves with deficits in preweaning muscling, metabolic indicators, and myoblast function but not in feedlot performance" (2020). Faculty Papers and Publications in Animal Science. 1111. https://digitalcommons.unl.edu/animalscifacpub/1111


The paper deals with a current discussion in Sweden on a possible new approach proposed by Professor Anders Klevmarken, to the treatment of owner occupied housing in the Consumer Price Index (CPI). That approach uses a dynamic model in which consumers maximise their utility due to not only current consumption but also future consumption possibili- ties depending on assets and liabilities. The new approach has subsequently been thoroughly discussed in the Swedish CPI Board, and some questions have been identified that still remain to be fully resolved. The paper describes some properties and some possible variants of the pro- posed model, and some main topics in the current discussion. The treatment of mortgage interest may be seen in different ways, potentially leading to notably different outcomes. Particularly, a still open question is if and how the consequences of house price changes on mortgage interest cost should be shown as mortgage interest cost changes in the index. Call for a new approach For some years now, the Consumer Price Index Board has been assigned by the Swedish Government (2001) to look into possibilities of improving the Consumer Price Index (CPI), with regard to the calculations of housing costs for owner occupiers. The issue has been previously treated by a Government Commission (SOU 1999:124), in a report from the National Institute of Economic Research (2002) and in an article by Ribe (2004).


Uncertainties in the gain and zero‐level of the existing radio and microwave frequency sky surveys often dominate the error budget in studies of anisotropies and spectral distortions of the Cosmic Background Radiation.This paper discusses our existing prototype and the planned instruments and the observation techniques which are necessary for conducting an extended observational campaign to map the total sky brightness. Some experimental difficulties are outlined, and possible solutions are given.


As utility computing resources become more ubiquitous, service providers increasingly look to the cloud for an in-full or in-part infrastructure to serve utility computing customers on demand. Given the costs associated with cloud infrastructure, dynamic scheduling of cloud resources can significantly lower costs while providing an acceptable service level. We investigated several methods for predicting the required cloud capacity in the presence of time-varying customer demand of application environments. We evaluated and compared their performance, using historical data of the Virtual Computing Laboratory (VCL) at North Carolina State University. We show that a simple heuristic, whereby we continuously maintain a fixed reserve capacity, performs better than the other methods.


1 Male rats were deprived as weanlings of dietary vitamin E and fed on a high polyunsaturated fatty acid (PUFA) diet for 6 months. Rats fed on a high PUFA or on an untreated diet served as controls. Mesenteric arterial beds were isolated and perfused at a constant flow rate (5 ml min−1) and the function of sympathetic nerves, smooth muscle and endothelium was assessed. 2 Electrical field stimulation (4–32 Hz, 90 V, 1 ms, for 30 s) elicited frequency‐dependent vasoconstriction of the mesenteric arterial preparations. Response curves were similar between untreated control and PUFA‐fed control groups. Maximum vasoconstrictor responses (at 24 and 32 Hz) were significantly attenuated in rats deprived of vitamin E and on a high PUFA diet compared to the PUFA‐fed controls (P<0.05). 3 Exogenous noradrenaline (NA;0.15–500 nmol) elicited dose‐dependent constriction of the mesenteric arterial beds. Preparations from rats fed on a high PUFA diet elicited significantly smaller responses compared to the control group. There was no significant difference in constrictor responses of PUFA rats deprived of vitamin E compared to the PUFA controls. Vasoconstrictor responses to doses of adenosine 5′‐triphosphate (ATP) (5–5000 nmol) were significantly impaired in vitamin E‐deficiency with a high PUFA diet compared to a high PUFA diet alone (P< < 0.001). Constrictor responses to potassium chloride (0.15 mmol) were significantly impaired in vitamin E‐deficient PUFA rats compared to the PUFA‐fed control group (P<0.05). 4 Vasodilator responses were assessed in preparations in which tone was raised by continuous perfusion with methoxamine (4–25 μm). Mesenteric arterial beds from PUFA‐fed rats deprived of vitamin E acquired significantly less tone, 59.8 ± 4.6 mmHg (n = 7), than PUFA‐fed controls 116.9 ± 7.6 mmHg (n = 7) (P< 0.001) and were refractory to further increases in tone with further additions of methoxamine. Methoxamine‐induced tone of PUFA‐fed controls was greater than in P that in the untreated controls (83.9 ± 7.4 mmHg; n = 5) (P<0.05). Responses to the endothelium‐dependent vasodilators acetylcholine (ACh) and ATP were significantly reduced in preparations from rats fed on the vitamin E‐deficient high‐PUFA diet compared to PUFA controls. Vasodilator responses to ACh were greater in PUFA controls than in untreated controls and this reached statistical significance at 5 nmol ACh. 5 Vasodilator responses to sodium nitroprusside, which acts directly on the vascular smooth muscle, were similar in untreated control and PUFA control groups. Responses were significantly attenuated in vitamin E‐deficient PUFA rats compared to the PUFA control group (P< <0.001). 6 These results indicate that a combination of a high PUFA diet and vitamin E deficiency impairs mesenteric arterial function at the level of the vascular smooth muscle. A high PUFA diet alone attenuates responses to NA and augments endothelium‐dependent vasodilatation. The detrimental effects of loss of antioxidant activity due to vitamin E‐deficiency on vascular function may be exacerbated by a high PUFA diet.


Takayasu arteritis(TA) is a kind of chronic vasculitis that mainly affects the aorta and its major branches,as well as pulmonary arteries.Women at reproductive age are most often affected.Hypertension is the common clinical manifestation of TA,which is uraually refractory to antihypertensive treatment.The management of hypertension caused by TA needs an integrated approach.Corticosteroids with/without immunosuppressive agents are the mainstay of treatment to suppress vascular inflammation,and to prevent damage to vessels,while often being accompanied by antithrombotic and anti-atherosclerosis measures.Angioplasty or surgery may be necessary in some TA patients who have symptomatic and hemodynamically significant arterial stenosis or aortic regurgitation.Improved understanding for TA in clinician will provide better diagnosis and therapy for the disease.


Abstract Abstract In this paper we present an automatic tuning methodology for PID controllers for distributed-lag processes. The technique is based on the evaluation of a closed-loop set-point or load disturbance step response and it can be therefore employed with process routine operating data. Further, a performance assessment index is also proposed in order to establish when the performance of a PID controller can be improved by retuning it according to the proposed method. Simulation results show the effectiveness of the approach.


Wireless Sensor Networks (WSNs) are deployed generally in a hostile environment, where an adversary captures some nodes that are physically connected in the network. It initially reprograms the nodes and makes them replicate into a number of clones, thereby having control over them. In order to provide a distributed solution to resolve the above specified problem specified above, a framework based on Authentic Node Placement based Message Verification and Passing Strategy (ANP-MVPS) is proposed. Some of the solutions offered by existing techniques are not satisfactory due to Energy and Memory constraints. This turns to be a serious drawback for protocols used in WSN's resource constrained environment. In this work, three diverse factors are considered for investigation. They are: Firstly, modeling of Authentic Node Placement based Message Verification and Passing Strategy (ANP-MVPS) is performed to identify the distributed mechanism of clone in a network and prevent the replication of clone among them. Secondly, the parameter selection Probability of Occurrence of IP, Mean Time Intervals, Time to Live, ACK value, Time Stamp Field, SYN value, Differentiated Service Field and Sequence Number are considered before performing classification. Thirdly, an efficient Naive Bayesian classifier for security analysis based on trust value (NB-TV) is used to estimate the performance metrics like accuracy, sensitivity, specificity, F-measure, Recall etc. This method shows satisfactory results when compared to existing techniques. The simulation was carried out in MATLAB environment. The proposed method shows better trade off in contrast to prevailing techniques.


Along with bacteria and ciliate protozoa, the anaerobic chytrid fungi are an important component of the rumen microbiota where they contribute significantly to fibre digestion (Gordon and Phillips, 1998). The addition of cellulolytic anaerobic fungi to the rumen of cattle or sheep with depleted fungal populations either because of their young age or following specific dietary treatment resulted in increased feed intake (Gordon and Phillips, 1993; 1998). Subsequently, strains of anaerobic fungi with higher cellulolytic activities than those normally isolated from sheep have been found which lead to the suggestion that these 'elite' fungi could be dosed into sheep for improved nutrient supply from pasture (Gordon and Phillips, 1998). The influence of dosing a non-indigenous anaerobic fungus into the rumen of penned sheep is now reported. Eleven Merino-cross wethers (47 ± 1.7 kg, mean ± s.e.), permanently fistulated in the rumen, were kept in metabolism cages and fed ad libitum a poor-quality diet of hammer-milled lucerne hay, barley and wheat straws (2:3:3, w/w; 44.7 % DM digestibility) with interval feeders. Live weights were recorded weekly and dye bands were applied to estimate wool growth. After the initial feeding period (10 d) for determining DM intake and digestibility (period A), the sheep were divided into two groups on the basis of voluntary feed intake per unit of metabolic body weight. Five sheep (47 ± 2.3 g/kg


Plasma rotation and radial electric field in the presence of resonant magnetic perturbations (RMPs) is considered. The situation is discussed in detail where no change of poloidal rotation is observed while the radial electric field and toroidal rotation are changing self-consistently when RMPs are switched on. Recent experimental results from DIII-D are discussed in connection with this model.


AbstractThe Effect of Li Zhong Tang on the Suppression of Th2 Differentiation by IFN-γ Response in IgE Hyperproduction and Atopic Dermatitis-like Skin Lesions Induced NC/Nga Mouse Seo Hui Yeon, Han Jae Kyung, Kim Yun HeeDepartment of Pediatrics, College of Oriental Medicine, Daejeon University ObjectivesThe purpose of this study is to investigate the effect of Li Zhong Tang(LZH-T) on atopic dermatitis by using NC/Nga atopic dermatitis mouse. MethodsFirst, in vitro, we isolated B cells from NC/Nga mouse which induced atopic dermatitis-like skin for 18 weeks. We analyzed FACS by intracellular staining of IFN-γ, GATA-3+ and also analyzed cytokines by using real-time PCR. Secondly, in vivo, after administration of LZH-T to the 12 weeks old mouse with atopic dermatitis. We analyzed serum IgE, IFN-γ level and observed the changes of activated cell. ResultsIn vitro, LZH-T decreased the levels of CD4+/IFN-γ+ and increased the levels of CD4+/GATA3+.In vivo, serum IgE levels were decreased and IFN-γ levels were increased in LZH-T group compared to the control group. In PBMCs, the percentage of activated cell - granulocytes, CD3+, CD3+CD4+, B220+CD23+, and CCR3+ were decreased and CD19+, CD3+CD8+ were increased in LZH-T group compared to the control group.ConclusionsThis study demonstrates immunological activity of GPJST on atopic dermatitis-like model mice.Key words: Atopic dermatitis, Li Zhong Tang, NC/Nga mouse


In this paper,many involved technologies of building a parameterized design of francis turbine structure are systematically discussed,including special technology of water turbine,computer aided design,database,structural optimization and practice application of francis turbine parameter design.


TIC 470710327, a massive compact hierarchical triple-star system, was recently identified by NASA's Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS). TIC 470710327 is comprised of a compact (1.10 d) circular eclipsing binary, with total mass $\approx 10.9-13.2\ \rm {M_{\odot }}$, and a more massive ($\approx 14-17\ \rm {M_{\odot }}$) eccentric non-eclipsing tertiary in a 52.04 d orbit. Here we present a progenitor scenario for TIC 470710327 in which '2+2' quadruple dynamics result in Zeipel-Lidov-Kozai (ZLK) oscillations that lead to a contact phase of the more massive binary. In this scenario, the two binary systems should form in a very similar manner, and dynamics trigger the merger of the more massive binary either during late phases of star formation or several Myr after the zero-age main sequence (ZAMS), when the stars begin to expand. Any evidence that the tertiary is a highly-magnetised (∼1 − 10 kG), slowly-rotating blue main-sequence star would hint towards a quadruple origin. Finally, our scenario suggests that the population of inclined, compact multiple-stellar systems is reduced into co-planar systems, via mergers, late during star formation or early in the main sequence. The elucidation of the origin of TIC 470710327 is crucial in our understanding of multiple massive-star formation and evolution.


This researchaims to determine how the execution Encumbrance through an auction to be determined by the District Court of Pekalongan and what weaknesses and execution Mortgage solution through an auction to be determined by the District Court of Pekalongan. Mortgage execution through an auction based on the determination District Court of Pekalongan held upon the request of the winning bidder. Request execution Mortgage by auction by the auction winner made after terlelang not willing to vacate voluntarily execution object. Mortgage weakness execution through an auction based on the determination that the District Court Pekalongan there are two opinions on the application process execution Encumbrance through an auction to be determined by the District Court if there is a lawsuit against the object of the auction following the application execution. The first opinion the petition can still be processed until the issuance of the determination of the District Court. The second opinion request for execution should be delayed pending completion of a lawsuit against the auction object. This is due to the absence of explicit provision governing the execution Mortgage application process through the auction in case there is a lawsuit in the execution object, especially if there is a lawsuit against the object of execution in case the application execution has been carried out. Similarly, in the case of the emergence of a lawsuit before the application for execution is done. Whether the execution can be carried out or not. This gives rise to a variety of opinions that may be detrimental to the winning bidder. For it should be no explicit provision governing the execution Mortgage application process through the auction in case there is a lawsuit in the execution object other drawback is the resistance of the current terkesekusi will be executed.Keywords: Execution; Mortgage; Auctions; Determination.


Large reversible photochromic changes were observed in SrTiO 3 double doped with Mo and either Fe or Ni. The photochromic absorption is induced by irradiation in the vicinity of 4000 A and decays thermally in minutes or can be bleached to its original state by long wavelength radiation. A model is presented in which a charge is transferred between the Fe and Mo ions via the conduction or valence bands. Optical absorption, heat treatment, and EPR data are presented, which support the model.


It has been many decades since the fabulous 21-cm-long North Carolina emerald crystal figured in the monumental work Gems and Precious Stones of North America (Kunz 1892) was stolen, along with three smaller similar crystals, from the American Museum of Natural History, disappearing from public display forever. Since that sad day in 1950, mining ventures, small and large, have come and gone in the vicinity of Hiddenite, North Carolina, the place from which an increasingly impressive number of beryl variety emerald, spodumene variety hiddenite, and associated rutile, monazite, mica, quartz, and other pocket mineral specimens and gems have been recovered. Clearly, the most important and certainly best publicized of these finds have been made by Jamie Hill of North American Emerald Mines, Inc., owner of part of the former Ellis and Rist mine properties (Brown and Wilson 2001). None of these intermittent finds would have occurred without boundless optimism, enthusiasm, and persistence, coupled with a willingness to use high-tech methodologies when warranted in conjunction with seat-of-the-pants prospecting. Hill's latest discovery, two exceptionally fine emerald crystals weighing 150 and 143.5 carats found on 8 November 2006, are pictured here along with photos of some of his other recent finds. Figure 1. The North American Emerald mine (2006), where many fine emeralds have been recovered. ROBERT B. COOK Department of Geology and Geography Auburn University Auburn, Alabama 36849 firstname.lastname@example.com


CIT 6 is a luminous carbon star currently evolving off the asymptotic giant branch into a tiny proto-planetary nebula. The star is surrounded by a thick dust shell that reprocesses much of the photospheric radiation, making it one of the brightest infrared sources in the sky. Spacecraft imaging at optical and near-IR wavelengths demonstrates that the nebulosity is already attaining a bipolar morphology, with strong polarization by scattering tracing out a centrosymmetric pattern around the central star. Long-term monitoring with optical polarimetry, spectroscopy, and spectropolarimetry demonstrates that the optical spectrum is comprised of two major components. The optical-near-IR spectrum longward of ~6000 Å depicts the photospheric features of the carbon star. This emission varies strongly on the ~640 day stellar pulsation period and shows broad changes in the degree and position angle of polarization on a timescale of about a decade. At shorter wavelengths, a nearly featureless blue continuum is seen, strongly polarized at roughly right angles to the red component. This component does not vary significantly in either brightness or polarization on the pulsation period. Associating the spectral components with morphological features in the images, it is straightforward to ascribe the red light to emission from the carbon star that is scattered by dust within the nebular lobes. The blue continuum originates in the southern lobe, and the unique polarization of this component arises through scattering in a narrow fan that is observed in b-band images to protrude at right angles from the bipolar axis. While seemingly coincidental, a consistent explanation for this component is a main-sequence companion star of spectral type A-F, buried within the same nebular material. The separation of this probable companion is greater than 40 AU, implying an orbital period greater than 150 yr and making it an unlikely explanation for axially symmetric mass loss from the carbon star. The deepest NICMOS images reveal several faint, diffuse arcs of light 1''-4'' from the central star that are highly polarized (P ~ 30%-40%) and therefore shine primarily by reflection. These nearly concentric features have characteristic scattering optical depths 0.01 ≲ τs ≲ 0.1 and individual masses ~10-8 to 10-7 M☉. The arcs attest to a recent period of spherically symmetric mass loss that was modulated by an as yet unknown mechanism. The subsequent transition to a superwind and axial symmetry occurred within the span of only a few hundred years.


The invention discloses a cellphone and a singing self-evaluating method. The cellphone comprises an audio data collecting module, an audio data storing module, an audio data comparing module and a result evaluating module, wherein the audio data collecting module is used for collecting audio data when a user sings, the audio data storage module is used for storing the collected audio data when the user sings, the audio data comparing module is used for comparing original audio data with the audio data for the same song sung by the user, and the result evaluating module is used for giving out the evaluating result for the singing level of the user according to the compared results. The cellphone is capable of providing the user with a chance for evaluating self singing level conveniently, and accordingly, singing ways and methods of the user can be improved, and singing capability can be improved. The cellphone is convenient in use, practical in functions and high in interactivity, cost of the user is reduced and time and energy of the user are saved.


Research on magnetic susceptibility analysis of leachate of solid waste of Kendari in two leachate  in  order  to  determine  the  value  of  magnetic  susceptibility  and  determine  the magnetic minerals contained in the leachate (leachate). Measurements in this study consisted of measurement of magnetic susceptibility. The results of measurements of magnetic susceptibility values show that the range of values of magnetic susceptibility at low frequencies are mixed. Value of magnetic susceptibility of leachate (leachate) ranging from 3.7 x 10-8m3kg-1  up to 38 x 10-8m3kg-1. Based on the value of the dominant magnetic mineral in each pool of the final disposal (landfill) Municipal Solid Waste Kendari is suspected to have any kind of magnetic minerals hematite (Fe2O3) and Pyrite (FeS2)


Introduction The role of induction therapy using anti-lymphocytic serum is poorly understood in LT as it is its utility in tolerance induction. We aimed to assess efficacy of a high-dose of rabbit anti-lymphocytic serum (r-ATG, Grafalon®, Neovii) administered intra-operatively in combination with TAC (Prograft®, Astellas) in primary adult LT. Materials and Methods Investigator-driven, single-centre, open-label, prospective RCT stratifying pts into an intra-operative dose of 9 mg/kg r-ATG followed by TAC monotherapy maintenance IS (TAC-ATG group; n=97) and TAC monotherapy IS (TAC group, n=109).The primary endpoint was minimization of IS to monotherapy within 12 months. Safety endpoints were patient (PS) and graft survival (GS). The secondary endpoint was one-year biopsy-proven acute cellular rejection (ACR). 200 patients were required to provide a power of 80% to detect a difference of 9% in attaining TAC monotherapy within 12 mo, accepting 5% level of &agr; error. Means were compared with t-test and proportions with Pearson's &khgr;2 test. Time to clinical rejection, PS and GS were analysed with the Kaplan–Meier method and compared with the log-rank test. All patients had similar clinical, biochemical and histological follow-up (FU) including protocol biopsies. ACR treatment was based on concordance of Banff score > 5 and biochemical score (including bilirubin, platelet and eosinophilia) >2. Steroid-resistant rejection (SRR) was defined as absence of response to 3-5 pulses of 200 mg methylprednisolone. Mean FU for TAC-ATG and TAC groups were 87 and 95 months. Results 78/80 (97.5%) TAC-ATG and 100/101 (99.0%) TAC pts were steroid free (p=0.429). A second immunosuppressant (steroids, mycophenolate, azathioprine or mTOR inhibitor) was administered in 29/80 (36.3%) TAC-ATG and 35/101 (34.7%) TAC pts (p=0.823). One-year mean TAC trough level was 5.19 (±3.06) mg, in TAC-ATG and 5.04 (±2.80) mg in TAC pts (p=0.738). No statistically significant differences in one-year PS (83% TAC-ATG vs. 92% TAC pts, p=0.260) and GS (76% TAC-ATG vs. 90% TAC pts, p=0.054) were observed. A 6-9 Banff score was seen in 27/107 (25.2%) TAC and 14/83 (16.9%) TAC-ATG pts (p=0.164). No difference was observed in relation to the number of treated rejection (15% TAC-ATG vs. 18% TAC pts developed steroid-sensitive rejection (SSR), p=0.449); 2% TAC-ATG and 3% TAC pts (p=0.628) developed SRR. Chronic rejection was diagnosed in 1% in TAC-ATG vs. 4% in TAC pts (p=0.307). Discussion This first ever-done RCT comparing TAC and single intra-operative high-dose of r-ATG induction vs. TAC monotherapy as IS in adult LT did not show any benefit in relation to IS minimization nor survival. Rejection treatment based on concordance between histology and biochemistry was similar in both groups. Conclusions The studied induction protocol did not offer short-term clinical benefit. Long-term results have to be awaited in order to analyse its' influence on tolerance induction. (EudraCT 2006-004830-34). Unrestricted grant from Neovii - Fresenius for immunological research not presented in this study.


Sugar beet is a technical crop of the temperate zone which is predominantly used for the sugar production in our country. In industry it is also utilized for the production of bioethanol and molasses. The use of this crop is significant in pharmacy and forage growing, too. At our territory sugar beet rangs among the cultural crops with the long-time growing tradition and the subsequent processing in the sugar industry. Since the accession of the Slovak Republic into the EU the sugar-making industry in Slovakia has been influenced significantly by the regulations of the Common Organization of Sugar Market which regulates the quantity of produced sugar by the system of the assigned domestic quotas. Recently a slight increase of sugar beet harvesting area as well as sugar beet production has been recorded, however, sugar production has fluctuated. in the sugarbeet season 2013/2014. 190 growers grew sugar beet with the average saccharinity of 16.80 %. Sugar beet was processed in two sugar refineries Považský cukor, Plc. in Trenčianska Teplá and Slovenské cukrovary, Ltd. in Sereď with the processing capacity of more than 10, 000 tonnes of sugar beet per day. Both sugar refineries produced totally 172, 568 tonnes of sugar and they exceeded the production quota by 60, 248.5 tonnes (53.6 %). Our paper deals with the evaluation of the selected economic and marketing indicators of sugar beet growing in 2008 – 2014.


Depressive illness is not only common in patients of End Stage Renal Disease (ESRD) but also an independent risk factor for morbidity and mortality. The relation between depressive illness, Quality of Life and caregiver burden in this vulnerable group is complex. We attempted to study these 3 important psychosocial domains in patients of ESRD on hemodialysis, peritoneal dialysis as well as those ESRD patients who were not on any dialysis yet

 A cross sectional analytical comparative controlled design was done to compare 3 domains of depressive burden, quality of life and caregiver burden in 3 group of patients – ESRD patients on hemodialysis, ESRD patients on peritoneal dialysis and ESRD patients not on any dialysis
 Statistical methods used - χ2 statistic or Fisher's exact test for categorical variables and comparison of group means. ANOVA was used for continuous variables where more than 3 groups were compared. Correlational analysis done using Spearman's correlation coefficient . A p-value of <0.05 was considered significant. SPSS 20.0 was used

 Depressive symptoms were present significantly across all 3 groups of ESRD. Depressive disorder was significantly higher in the Hemodialysis group (HD) as compared to peritoneal dialysis (PD) group( p=0.038). Mean QOL was significantly higher for PD. Caregiver burden was higher in the HD group.
 The study brought out the huge burden of depressive symptoms and depressive illness in patients on ESRD across all 3 group of patients and the significantly higher burden of depressive illness and lower QoL and higher caregiver burden in the hemodialysis group. This assumes significance because the majority of our ESRD patients are on HD

 This depressive burden is the hidden factor behind poor Quality of Life as well as poor overall satisfaction as well as treatment outcome in our patients of ESRD whether or not on dialysis. Apart from the inherent factors related to the illness or the type of dialysis, sociodemographic factors seem to play a role in QoL and CG burden in the hemodialyis group. To address this hidden depressive burden comprehensively, we recommend closer cooperation between nephrologist, psychiatrist and psychosocial workers to improve the overall treatment outcome in ESRD patients.


[...]severe allergic reactions to vaccines are extremely rare and anaphylaxis occurs in approximately 1.3 of one million doses of vaccine (1).However, we do not have much detail about the allergic reactions that may develop with the COVID-19 vaccine (2-4). [...]all healthcare facilities in charge of vaccination should be equipped with trained personnel and equipment to both recognize allergic reactions and provide appropriate treatment. While adverse reactions in inactivated vaccines are usually local and non-serious, adverse reactions in vaccines produced with new techniques cause systemic and serious adverse reactions (14,15). [...]this study aimed to evaluate the knowledge levels of healthcare professionals working in vaccination centers during the COVID-19 vaccination process regarding the use of adrenaline in case of anaphylaxis. In order for such important trainings to be carried out effectively, they need to be repeated frequently. Since anaphylaxis is a rare clinical condition by its nature, anaphylaxis approach is easily forgotten.