As part of a communications network designed for a computer automated rail haulage system, a UHF data channel was developed to exchange information between stationary wayside computers and driverless locomotives. The data link uses modified 800 Mhz FM equipment, and voice frequency FSK modems. The 800 Mhz channel frequency was selected after evaluating available wire and radiated wave approaches, including trolley wire, induction loop, leaky feeder and free space propagation. A major consideration was the relatively high EMI emitted by the locomotive chopper controller. The allocation and control of UHF channels is similar to cellular techniques in the reuse of UHF frequencies to cover different areas separated from one another by sufficient distances so that co-channel interference is insignificant.


Abstract Purpose of the study: Epilepsy is a chronic medical disease in one third of patients. Chronic epilepsy and its antiepileptic drugs (AEDs) therapy are commonly associated with comorbid adverse somatic conditions. This study aimed to evaluate auditory function in patients with idiopathic epilepsy and on treatment with carbamazepine (CBZ). Methods: This is a cross-sectional case-control study. It included 50 patients with idiopathic epilepsy (mean age = 34.56 ± 7.11 and duration of illness = 17.84 ± 7.21years) and 40 healthy subjects. Hearing was evaluated using pure tone audiometry and brainstem auditory evoked potentials (BAEPs) analyses. Results: Mild bilateral hearing impairment and abnormal acoustic reflex (but normal tympanometry) were reported in more than one third of patients. Compared to controls, BAEPs of patients had prolonged waves I, III, V latencies and I–III, III–V and I–V interpeak latencies (IPLs) particularly at high repetition frequencies. Significant correlations were identified between CBZ dose, serum level and duration of treatment with waves I, III and V and I–III, III–V and I–V latencies at high repetition frequencies. Conclusions: Long-term treatment with CBZ may result in delayed auditory conduction within the peripheral pathways and brainstem. This should be taken into account during drug selection and monitoring of patients with epilepsy.


In this review, the status of biocontrol in plant crops in Denmark is analysed and factors governing the present use and future potential are described. In glasshouse vegetables, biocontrol is the dominant method to control pests while it is much less used in glasshouse ornamentals. On outdoor crops, the use of biocontrol is negligible. The main factors determining future prospects include: research, political initiatives, the scale of organic farming, the interest of companies marketing and advising on biocontrol, and public opinion. Good communication between scientists, advisers, growers, government authorities and the public has occurred for many years in Denmark, and has been essential for the successful implementation of biocontrol in glasshouses. Future development of microbial control (to which some organic growers and some members of the public show concerns) will require both research and a debate among the partners, particularly about environmental safety.


11 Background: In 2023 in the US, 82,290 new cases of bladder cancer and 16,670 related deaths were estimated. Prior analyses assessing the economic burden of la/mUC in the current and evolving treatment landscape have been limited. This study aimed to estimate the direct medical costs of treating patients with la/mUC, from US Medicare and commercial perspectives. Methods: A cost model was developed to estimate annual direct medical care costs in patients with la/mUC eligible for 1L platinum-based chemotherapy (PBC) in 2023. Costs (2023 USD)—including drug acquisition and administration, disease management and adverse event (AE) management—were calculated, including subsequent therapy costs. Inputs included estimated number of treated patients per year, treatment duration, progression-free survival and overall survival with various therapies, AEs incidence, and market shares. Efficacy and safety data were sourced from product prescribing information, epidemiology data from Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results (SEER) database and published literature. Market share assumptions were based on market research data. Results: For a hypothetical health plan with 1,000,000 members, 108 and 22 patients with la/mUC from Medicare and commercial perspectives, respectively, were estimated to be eligible for 1L PBC in 2023. Estimated total annual costs per treated patient are shown in the Table below. With market share data comprising 1L PBC, with and without avelumab (AVE) 1L maintenance (61% and 25%) and enfortumab vedotin (EV) + pembrolizumab (PEM) (for cisplatin-ineligible patients, 14%), annual costs of $16,673,645 ($12,861 per treated member per month) and $4,637,226 ($17,852 per treated member per month) were estimated for Medicare and commercial perspectives, respectively. Drug acquisition costs in 1L represented most of the total costs (Medicare, 75%; commercial, 64%). Conclusions: Understanding the economic burden associated with la/mUC treatments may facilitate informed decision making on treatment choice and optimal sequencing. Further real-world studies are needed to assess the impact of these innovative treatments on disease and AE management costs of la/mUC. [Table: see text]


The object underlying the invention is to provide a device of the type mentioned, can be inspected in the borehole even without immersing in the drill holes of different diameter and depth. According to the invention the object is attained in that the apparatus includes an imaging optical system, the imaging of a front system and a rear-imaging system consists which are variable in their mutual position, wherein the entrance pupil of the entire imaging system before the first optically active surface is imaged to be examined region of the wellbore to an electronic receiver and means for coupling in an illumination beam path are arranged in the optical image is imaged. The invention relates to an apparatus for investigation of mechanical parts with recesses and / or openings, in particular for the investigation of boreholes.


A linear code can be thought of as a vector matroid represented by the columns of code's generator matrix; a well-known result in this context is Greene's theorem on a connection of the weight polynomial of the code and the Tutte polynomial of the matroid. We examine this connection from the coding-theoretic viewpoint, building upon the rank polynomial of the code. This enables us to: (1) relate the weight polynomial of codes and the reliability polynomial of linear matroids and to prove new bounds on the latter; (2) prove that the partition polynomial of the Potts model equals the weight polynomial of the cocycle code of the underlying graph; (3) give a simple proof of Greene's theorem and its generalization.


Demographic parameters of the polygynous Rock Sparrow Petronia petronia were investigated in a small patchy population in the Italian Alps. The population included two distinct breeding patches that differed in altitude and breeding success. Survival parameters were estimated by capture‐recapture analysis of 170 individually marked animals. At the whole population level (Cormack‐Jolly Seber model), no sex difference in local survival probability was detected. We then used a multisite capture‐recapture approach (Arnason‐ Schwarz model) to investigate patch-specific survival probability and between-patch dispersal rate conditional on survival. Female local survival in the higher-altitude patch (mean ± se: 0.54 ± 0.04) was significantly greater than in the other patch (0.37 ± 0.04), probably because permanent emigration from the study area was greater. In the higheraltitude patch, breeding dispersal was constrained by the altitude limit and breeding movements were directed toward the patch at lower altitude. The probability of changing patch in the next breeding season was significantly higher for females (range 0.16‐0.21) than for males (0.01‐0.03). Breeding success varied between years and patches, being lower in the patch where frequency of polygamy and female local mortality were higher.


In Michael Varney's nearly 15 years at Genentech, a lot has changed. He arrived in 2005 to build a small-molecule business at a drug company known as primarily an antibody shop—an evolution from its start as a protein firm. Now, as research chief, Varney oversees a pipeline that includes the usual small-molecule and antibody suspects but also more unconventional drugs: antibody-drug conjugates, antisense oligonucleotides, personalized cancer vaccines, and more. Varney and his team have spent much of the past year ruminating on what they think R&D will look like 5 years from now. One conclusion: the molecular landscape will be even more complex. "If you look out into 2025, there's one thing I'm pretty darn sure is going to be real: the kinds of drug modalities are going to be more diverse than they are today," Varney says. It's a necessary evolution. Good drug targets—the kind that scientists are fairly


The present invention provides a protein or M. tuberculosis Rv2693c application and / Rv1984c and / or secondary screening for latent tuberculosis infection use product development and / or design having a differential, diagnosis, diagnosis, screening. The present invention also provides the use of the preparation of these two proteins M. tuberculosis protein chip. Protein chip prepared by the present invention, normal serum and detecting the level of two proteins corresponding to each of IgM antibodies in patients with latent tuberculosis infection, the detection result of the joint analysis of the two corresponding antibody protein, it is determined whether or not the subject is a person lurking tuberculosis infection, test results showed that specific protein chip diagnostic aid optimum operating point of latent tuberculosis infection provided by the present invention was 80.3%, the sensitivity was 75.6%, higher than the prior art latent tuberculosis infection diagnosis index of.


SYNOPSIS

Gelatinous fibres of Salix fragilis L. are characterized by an inner layer of cellulose which is relatively unlignified when compared with normal wood fibres. The gelatinous layers of mature gelatinous fibres sometimes show a reaction with benzidine or with ruthenium red. Fibres may sometimes have a terminal lamella which borders the lumen. It is suggested that the irregular distribution of organelles within differentiating fusiform cells is responsible for the spasmodic histochemical reactions and presence of a terminal lamella.

The Coppick and Fowler method may be used for the localization of lignin in ultra-thin sections.

Although starch grains have often been seen within fibres, their presence has not been clearly related to the presence of gelatinous fibres alone.

From light, polarizing and electron microscopical evidence, the walls of normal wood fibres have been found to be composed of S1 + S2 + S3 layers or of S1 + S2 layers only. The gelatinous fibres invariably have a gelatinous layer which may replace either the S3 or both the S3 + S2 layers.

Microfibrillar disorientations of the gelatinous layer as seen in carbon replicas appear to be caused by the presence of simple pits or incipient slip planes. It appears that the pits through the gelatinous layer may become distended during processing for light microscopy.

The convoluted appearance of the gelatinous layer in some sections is now considered to be an artifact brought about by processing and sectioning of fibres.

No evidence has been found that the gelatinous layer is formed other than by the gradual deposition of wall material, whether or not there may be periods of faster or slower wall synthesis.


Many of the feminist authors have made an attempt to reveal the psyche of their female persona through their literary works. Gloria Naylor too is such Afro-American author whose works chiefly stand out for the presentation of female characters. The present paper is an attempt to show how Naylor through The Women of Brewster Place, tried to unveil the black women's reality. The Women of Brewster Place explores a feminine mystique through a series of strong female character. What makes Gloria different from other feminist writers is her technique of portraying female characters by not assigned the traditional role of a mother and wife but she dared to show them as having originality as well as individuality.


An equivalent circuit model of series cantilever MEMS switch has been established in this paper. Based on the model, the microwave properties of series cantilever MEMS switch are studied and compared with the simulation results by finite element method. The results show that the model established in this paper is valid for computing the properties of MEMS switch.


Aiming at the complicated system of calcining the workpieces in the resistance furnace, This work presents the method of using fuzzy self-adaptive PID controller to improve controlling accuracy of the resistance furnace. It improves system response, makes function more steady and lowers the using of energy and original material. It also lowers waster rate, and calcined workpieces are good in function. The trial results indicate that the control system has the good application value.


This paper presents a methodology for constructing large groups of autonomous characters which respond in real time to the user's interaction, as well as to each other and their environment. The characters are based on steering controllers under the direction of a simple mental model which mediates between several conflicting behavioral goals. The characters are represented graphically by 3d models with a library of animated motions which are choreographed by the behavioral controllers.


For digital modulations applied to the coding of speech signals, a fixed sampling and transmission rate is always chosen. For commercial telephone these rates are respectively, 8 KHz and 64 Kbits/sec, corresponding to a filtered signal bandwidth of 300 to 3300 Hz. A new processing concept (variable sampling and digital quantization) is proposed where a sample is coded with a single binary word. The code word corresponds to an information pair: a variable and adaptive sampling time and a coding angle associated to the signal. The basic principle is conceived around a distribution of the coded samples in amplitude and time (amplitude-time coding) along an adaptive coding curve associated to each coded/decoded sample of the original signal. A variable sampling rate requires a buffer, thus a delay, for transmission at a fixed rate. The transmitted signal so obtained is a transposition of the original speech signal and consequently its characteristics (bandwith, amplitude dynamic range) are modified. Some of the characteristics of the transmitted signal are ultimately used for the digital or even the analog transmission of the signal.


The compatibility of unmodified and modified kaolinite nano clays (Vinyl Clay and Amino Clay) in the in-situ synthesis of polystyrene reinforced with kaolinite clay nanocomposites and its effect on mechanical properties were studied. The effect of catalysts/initiators like AIBN (Azo bis iso butyro nitrile) and BPO (Benzoyl Peroxide) were also compared and their operating conditions in the system were optimized. In-situ synthesis was done by altering the process conditions in three distinct methods. In the first method, BPO was used as the initiator and was synthesized without Nitrogen atmosphere in an open system. Nanocomposites obtained were of poor quality which was evident from its molecular weight and conversion. Second and third methods were conducted in Nitrogen atmosphere in a closed system in which BPO and AIBN respectively were used. Proper temperature control and exchange of heat of polymerization were facilitated. Mechanical properties improved drastically and AIBN proved to be the best initiator with less stringent operating conditions than BPO. In all the three cases vinyl clay gave the best properties because of the compatibility and interfacial adhesion of vinyl group with styrene monomer. Here, the same property enhancement is achieved as commercial polystyrene with lesser amounts of nanofiller. IndexTerms In-situ polymerization, Azo bis iso butyro nitrile, Benzoyl Peroxide, Kaolinite nano clay, Mechanical properties.


The big data era in hydrology is on its way and will be of great significance to design flood prediction. How to discover and extract the most useful information from the abundant data with high correlation becomes an important problem. This paper aims to do a trial on data selection based on peak over threshold (POT) method. Attempts were made to evaluate the impacts of generalized Pareto (GP) distribution for design flood prediction. The daily discharge series of Danjiangkou Reservoir from 1954 to 2014 was taken as case study. The suitable threshold was determined as 1352.7m3/s by applying an automatic threshold technology. And a POT series with 369 independent flood peaks was obtained consequently, which was 6 times more than annual maximum (AM) series. The reasonable results indicated that GP model was a good fitness for POT series. The performances of the POT/GP and AM/P-III models were compared on the basis of the T-year event estimates. It was concluded the design flood estimates of POT/GP model was more reliable than that of AM/P-III model during the rational utilization period of water resources and hydropower works. The experience knowledge derived from small samples can be extended to big data by application of POT method.


: Geographic variation in lepidosis and color pattern was studied in the nominal species Trimorphodon collaris, fasciolata, forbesi, latifascia, tan, and iipsilon. Specimens were grouped into seven geographically separated samples which were then compared. Ranges of most characteristics overlap broadly; others vary independently and discordantly. Ventral-subcaudal scales decrease from north to south. Snakes from the Balsas-Tepalcatepec Basin have fewer dorsal bands than do snakes from other areas. They also have a relatively uniform head pattern. Specimens from other areas have a complex head pattern consisting of prefrontal bars, interocular bars, and discrete parietal marks in various combinations. Head pattern and body band analyses indicate limited genetic exchange between the Balsas-Tepalcatepec Basin samples and those from other areas, apparently the result of secondary contact in southern Jalisco and adjacent Michoacan. The Transverse Volcanic Range and the Sierra Madre del Sur apparently are effective in restricting genetic exchange. The above nominal species are assigned to the synonymy of Trimorphodon tan. Trimorphodon tan tan is maintained for the foothills and plateau populations and T. tan latifascia (new combination) is assigned to the Balsas-Tepalcatepec Basin populations. Trimorphodon tan is redescribed and its distribution delimited. Character variation in a brood from Puebla approaches the variation typical of the entire Puebla sample.


With the help of virtual prototyping and the software of UG and ADAMS which virtual prototyping supports,the model of the crank linkage of the 4V-105 diesel Engines was established. Through the dynamic simulation of the model,the characteristics data of 4V-105 diesel engine running in different condition was saved,comparison with experimental data,authentication model of engineering applications,which provides valuable reference for the analysis of reliability of crankshaft of 4V-105 diesel engine.


The olfactory glomeruli represent morphological and functional units in which olfactory information is processed in specialized synaptic arrangements established between the central processes of sensory neurons, whose cell bodies are located in the olfactory epithelium, and the terminal (intraglomerular) portions of the dendrites of periglomerular, tufted, and mitral cells. The olfactory glomeruli are surrounded by distinctive glial formations in which the peripheral glia interacts with the central glia. We have studied the morphology and organization of neuroglial cells in the layer of olfactory nerves and the glomerular layer of the olfactory bulb in the insectivorous hedgehog (Erinaceus europaeus) with the electron microscope, Golgi method, and immunohistochemistry by using antibodies to glial fibrillary acidic protein (GFAP) and "rip," a monoclonal antibody that stains oligodendrocytes and their processes in the rat (Friedman et al.: Glia 2:380–390, 1989).


Abstract This paper describes the origins, development, and structure of a social planning program offered jointly by the School of Social Work and the Department of Urban and Regional Planning at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Social planning occupies a somewhat marginal position in both departments, producing some problems but also a surprising number of benefits. The exchange has proved useful for both faculty and students in each department, who bring different but compatible orientations and resources to the concentration.


Comparison of the mutation patterns of p53 in human tumors with those of selectable genes in model systems is a powerful approach to identify potential etiological factors for specific tumor types. Recently, we validated use of a yeast assay to permit direct determination of the mutation spectrum induced in human p53 by carcinogens that would reduce uncertainties inherent in comparing spectra induced in different target genes. Here, we describe modifications in the assay designed to facilitate screening for mutants and to permit intracellular exposure of the gene instead of in vitro treatment. This was accomplished by introducing growth‐based selection for transactivation‐deficient p53 mutants into yeast already possessing red/white colony color selection. This improved model system was able to detect cells harboring p53 mutations among cells with wild‐type p53 at a frequency of 10−4 or less. Additionally, UV light was used to verify that the majority of mutagenized cells with the appropriate phenotype on selective medium contained mutations in p53, not elsewhere in the genome. Sequence analysis of UV‐induced mutations revealed that the nature of the mutations was similar to those obtained in previous studies of this mutagen. This system will prove useful in the determination of the ability of environmental agents to mutate the human p53 gene, and thus may contribute to hazard identification. Environ. Mol. Mutagen. 35:31–38, 2000 © 2000 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.


Systematic measurements of pseudorapidity (Δη) and azimuthal (Δφ) correlations between high‐pt charged hadrons and associated particles from the high statistics 200 GeV Au+Au and Cu+Cu datasets will be presented. In previous measurements differences in the near‐side Δη correlation between central Au+Au and the lighter systems d+Au and p+p were observed, including an additional long‐range near‐side correlation in Au+Au collisions. Studies to characterize the properties of the additional correlation will be presented.


This paper proposes an automatic method to diagnose risky cells that are responsible for PSN (Power Supply Noise) violations. We can also find ECO (Engineering Change Order) method (resize or move) to perform on risky cells to repair PSN violations. We apply superposition principle to model the diagnosis and repair as a linear programming problem. We consider not only PSN constraints but also timing constraints to make sure that we can repair all PSN violations without causing new timing violations. With our diagnosis result, designers can perform ECO with very little effort. The experimental results show that we can repair all PSN violations with only less than 2% of all candidate cells.


This article explores to what extent the ideals of covenantal pluralism resonate with or deviate from socio-cultural processes in Cambodia. It examines efforts made by various Khmer Buddhist protagonists to recover moral order following the Khmer Rouge era. Conversely, it describes how power continues to be monopolized by certain actors in a way that undermines trust in institutions and in other people generally. Thus it explores the tension between a religious system that might offer protection for all and a predatory political reality marked by unrestrained greed that benefits the powerful at the expense of the vulnerable.


This paper describes the formal specification of object types for managing inter-media synchronisation and control within PREMO, an emerging ISO/IEC standard for multimedia systems. Object-Z, an object-oriented extension to the Z specification language, is used for this purpose. Some aspects of PREMO are non-trivial to express in Object-Z, and the paper outlines the reasons for choosing this specific language, and sets out recommendations for further research in the use of formal languages in this area. The work reported here has been carried out by members of the ISO/SC24 committee involved in producing the PREMO standard, and has been informed by a number of workshops sponsored by the ERCIM Computer Graphics Network.


The influence of the addition of organic compounds, such as palmitic acid and cholesteryl myristate, on the porous structure of Fe-Al intermetallics formation has been investigated in detail in this paper. It was found that additives have a significant effect on the final porosity of the obtained sinters. Formed gaseous products from combustion play the role of the foaming agent during Fe-Al intermetallic alloy sintering. The influence of these additives is also clearly noticeable in chemical composition changes of the final products through the increase of carbon content in the porous structure. This is attributed to the thermal decomposition, namely combustion, of the organic additives.


LSE's Maddalena Procopio concludes our series celebrating Kenya's 50th anniversary of independence by examining how the country's popularity means she can pick and choose with whom she does business.


Because a fair society and the strongest possible economy depend upon leaving no one behind, Britain must build on the reforms taking nearly one million children out of poverty and give every child the best possible start in life. So our [fourth] ambition is – by the end of the next decade – child poverty reduced by half – on our way to ending child poverty within twenty years. (Chancellor of the Exchequer, pre-budget report, November 1999)


This paper presents a case study on measuring water vapor profile using a combination of ground-based microwave radiometer and cloud radar. The correlation of water vapor density measured by radiosonde and twelve brightness temperatures observed by microwave radiometer were analyzed to select appropriate channels for retrieving water vapor density. Then, a retrieval algorithms of water vapor density for non-precipitating atmosphere was developed using radar reflectivity measured by cloud radar and selected brightness temperatures. In addition, the potential of the combination for improving the accuracy of water vapor density for rainy atmosphere was also analyzed. The study results indicate that the combination of ground-based microwave radiometer and cloud radar is potential for improving the accuracy of vertical profiles of water vapor density in rainy condition.


alpha (ESR1), was predominately located in the anterior prostate with enriched gene ontology (GO) terms of Wnt and MAPK signaling pathways. Zfp143, the transcription factor of ESR1, was dramatically upre- gulated in the absence of SRD5A2. CONCLUSIONS: Our data demonstrate the heterogeneity of cell populations within the mouse prostate. LE2, with an enhanced estrogen response gene signature, may play an important role in alternative pathways for prostate growth in the absence of SRD5A2. Understanding the underlying androgen-independent pathways contributing to prostate growth can help identify novel therapeutic targets for the management of prostatic diseases. daily. Lateral lobes of prostate were harvested to assess prostatic weight, histological change and mRNA expression of GPER, IL1 b , TGF b , ERK1/2 by qPCR. RESULTS: HFD showed signi fi cantly increased body weight, visceral fat and prostatic weight as well as signi fi cant upregulation of gene expressions in GPER, IL1 b , TGF b , and ERK1/2 compared to ND. Hematoxylin and eosin (HE) staining showed in fl ammatory cell in fi ltra-tion in prostatic tissue section from HFD. In contrast, HFD treated by G15 demonstrated signi fi cantly decreased prostatic weight in association with downregulation of IL1 b , TGF b and ERK1/2 compared to HFD with placebo. mRNA expression of GPER was not signi fi cantly changed between HFD and G15 group. CONCLUSIONS: We demonstrated improvement of prostatic enlargement and in fl ammation by GPER inhibition, which suggest GPER signaling has an important role in development of BPH in obese patients. Therefore, GPER inhibition could be an therapeutic target of BPH with metabolic syndrome. not previously established. METHODS: With Institutional Review Board approval, tissue from patients with BPH requiring surgery was collected (Surgical BPH; S-BPH). For controls, non-cancerous transitional zone tissue from patients who underwent radical prostatectomy for low grade prostate cancer was collected (Incidental BPH; I-BPH). Concentrations of androgens and androgen precursors were analyzed, as were other steroid levels. In vitro BPH cell lines were stimulated with the steroid dexamethasone based upon results and assessed for morphologic changes. RNA-sequencing was performed on patient and in vitro cells. RESULTS: Patients who underwent surgery for BPH who were taking 5ARIs had low DHT and elevated precursor T. Other DHT pre- cursors dehydroepiandrosterone (DHEA) and androstenedione (ASD) were also elevated. A 5ARI induced pathway was noted in patients on this medicine, whereby certain glucocorticoids were elevated, through a suggested mechanism in Figure 1. Dexamethasone induced morpho- logic changes to in vitro cells lines; branching-type morphology was induced compared to controls in 4 BPH cell lines. RNA-sequencing of patient tissue and in vitro cells yielded a unique signature of upregulated genes. CONCLUSIONS: Patients on 5ARIs who progress to requiring surgery for BPH have elevated precursor T and lowered DHT. This con fi rms that there is no successful escape mechanism either through direct or backdoor pathways for DHT synthesis for patients on 5ARIs who fail medical therapy. A 5ARI-induced glucocorticoid pathway was observed. Glucocorticoids induce morphologic changes in vitro stimu- lating prostate branching. expression between single cell subtypes in samples from BPH versus normal prostate. A genetic risk score for BPH was constructed to assess its use for prognostication. Therapeutic targets were identi fi ed from the Open Targets platform. RESULTS: We identi fi ed 17 BPH-associated loci. Two loci were only associated with this condition in men of Western European or Japanese origin, and represent ethnicity-speci fi c risk alleles. We demonstrated differential expression of associated genes in cells derived from BPH compared to normal prostate. For example, we provide evidence that the homeobox gene NKX3.1 speci fi cally plays a role in BPH in basal epithelial cells. Patients with BPH managed with surgery had a higher genetic risk score than those managed conservatively or with non-surgical treatment. Several genes implicated in our genetic analysis are tractable to therapeutic targeting or drug repurposing, and represent attractive targets for new therapeutic development. CONCLUSIONS: These results point to important genes driving the pathophysiology of BPH, and reveal promising candidates for future therapeutic development. Our proof-of-principle that the genetic risk score correlates with the severity of BPH, and the need for surgery, provides a fi rst step towards personalised medicine in the management of this common condition. We used a cohort of non-familial PCa patients of AA and CA origin. Total RNA was extracted from tumor, and adjacent normal epithelium of formalin- fi xed-paraf fi n-embedded (FFPE) specimens by Laser capture microdissection (LCM). Differential gene expression in tumor versus normal tissues between young and old AA and CA patients were analyzed by NanoString using a customized CodeSet of 151 probes sets. The panel was designed to detect 135 target transcripts, which were compiled from 34 genes implicated in or associated with prostate cancer progression, 27 prostate cancer speci fi c gene fusions, 25 cancer associated genes, fi ve genes encoding the ETS-family of transcription factors and genes over-expressed (27) or under-expressed (17) in PCa compared to matched benign epithelium. In addition, fi ve prostate stroma or epithelium speci fi c genes were selected as control and 11 housekeeping genes were included for biological normalization. The differentially expressed genes related to tumor-normal differences the yrs) young yrs) MYCN) uniquely associated with the age and race. The tumor vs. normal ratios of ANXA2 and c-MYC expression in prostate tumors of old and young patients were found to be signi fi cant. We found a clear association of VEGFR1 gene expression with CA young and c-MYC gene with AA young PCa. Our study highlights the potential of using FFPE tissue as a source for the analysis of prognostic biomarkers for PCa. CONCLUSIONS: An unmet challenge in PCa is the identi fi cation of biomarkers for early detection of aggressive disease. Effective biomarkers with high speci fi city will provide early treatment options for high-risk patients. Using Age and Race as the endpoint, we identi fi ed ANXA2, c-MYC and VEGFR1 as age and race associated PCa gene which needs to be further validated in the lager cohort. Our fi ndings clearly highlight distinct racial and age-related differences and addresses the clinical utility of available genetic tests across old and young AA and CA men.


The aim of this placebo-controlled, double-blind randomized study was to evaluate the duration of the effect of once-daily administration of irbesartan in patients with essential hypertension. After a placebo run-in baseline period (of 2–4 weeks), 79 patients were randomized to either irbesartan (one 100 mg tablet per day) or placebo, for 6 weeks. The primary outcome was the reduction in the mean 24-h blood pressure (BP) as assessed by ambulatory BP monitoring under standardized conditions. Seventy-six patients completed the study protocol. In the irbesartan group, the average reductions in 24-h systolic and diastolic BPs were 5.8 and 3.4 mmHg, respectively (95% confidence interval: 3.2–8.4/1.6–5.1 mmHg), and in the placebo group, they were –1.7 and –0.5 mmHg, respectively (95% confidence interval: −4.3 to 1.0/−1.8 to 0.7 mmHg). There were statistically significant differences in the average reductions of 24-h BP (7.5/3.9 mmHg, p<0.001), daytime BP (8.6/4.0 mmHg, p<0.001) and nighttime BP (6.1/3.4 mmHg, p<0.05) as well as casual BP (9.0/5.0 mmHg, p<0.001). The trough/peak (T/P) ratios for the systolic and diastolic BPs were 0.84 and 0.78, respectively, in the irbesartan group. The incidence of adverse events was similar in both groups. The results showed that irbesartan administered 100 mg once daily was well tolerated in the treatment of essential hypertension and was effective in producing sustained 24-h BP control.


On April 3, 2003, a project kickoff meeting was held at the U.S. Department of Energy National Energy Technology Laboratory. As a result of this meeting and follow-up communications, a final work plan was developed, and a schedule of laboratory tasks was developed. Work for the remainder of the second quarter of this project focused on sample collection, initiating laboratory tests, and performing literature searchers. The final project partner, the North Dakota Industrial Commission, signed its contract for participation in the project. This effort will focus on the evaluation of coal combustion by-products (CCBs) for their potential to release mercury and other air toxic elements under different controlled laboratory conditions and will investigate the release of these same air toxic elements in select disposal and utilization field settings to understand the impact of various emission control technologies. The information collected will be evaluated and interpreted together with past Energy & Environmental Research Center (EERC) data and similar data from other studies. Results will be used to determine if mercury release from CCBs, both as currently produced and produced with mercury and other emission controls in place, is a realistic environmental issue. The proposed work will evaluate the impact of mercury and other air toxics on the disposal and/or utilization of CCBs. The project will provide data on the environmental acceptability of CCBs expected to be produced in systems with emission controls for typical disposal and utilization scenarios. The project will develop baseline information on release mechanisms of select elements in both conventional CCBs and modified or experimental CCBs. The modified or experimental CCBs will be selected to represent CCBs from systems that have improved emission controls. Controlling these emissions has high potential to change the chemical characteristics and environmental performance of CCBs. Development of reliable methods to determine the release of mercury from CCBs will provide a means of evaluating the environmental risk associated with CCB management practices. Using appropriate methods to develop a data set of currently produced CCBs and CCBs produced under experimental/simulated conditions will provide a baseline for the CCB industry to understand the impact of various emission control technologies.


This descriptive research was aimed to study the health impacts (physical, mental, social and spiritual health) of people from the flash flood and mudslide disaster in Uttaradit province in May 2007. The sample of this study consisted of 600 families selected by simple random sampling. The instrument used in this research was a questionnaire developed by the researcher based on a literature review. The content was reviewed by 3 experts and reliability was tested by using Cronbach alpha coefficient ( α = 0.85). The data were analyzed by using descriptive statistics. The research results revealed that the impact on physical health of the samples were injuries (26.7%), disabilities (1.8%) and the most common diseases occurred were skin diseases (49.0%), fever and rash (27.7%) and respiratory diseases (25.7%). The impact of disaster resulted in damage of 99.8 percent the study samples' housing. Regarding the impact on mental health, 66.5 percent of the study samples felt anxiety and seemed fretful vis a vis rain very high to high levels. For social impact, it was found that 40.0 percent of the sample felt that the disaster created environmental problems; 32.2 percent expressed that tourist areas were destroyed and 30.5 percent were not satisfied with the relief efforts of the government. For the spiritual health impact, 49.2 percent of the sample felt the loss of the historic city in Uttaradit province, 42.5 percent felt loss of culture and spirituality due to the destruction of monasteries. However, there were some positive impacts; it was found that 54.0 percent of the sample thought that there were more caring, understanding and harmony among family members. Forty seven point three percent of the samples expressed that there was more concern and empathy among community populace. The results of this research can be applied in future planning to provide relief services for the survivors especially rehabilitation to reduce anxiety by strenthening the social strength observed in the disaster. Key words: health impact, flash flood and mudslide disaster


Manufacturer-reseller relationships are increasingly becoming technology-infused as distribution managers are employing e-business tools to streamline existing channels. This research examines the impact of social and contractual enforcement on the relationship performance. The results of the empirical test involving a sample of 224 resellers suggest that social and contractual enforcement impact relationship performance, while coordination and perceived inequity play a mediating role. Implications of these findings for researchers and managers are discussed.


Long non‐coding RNAs (lncRNAs) play critical roles in regulating immune‐associated diseases and chronic inflammatory disorders. Here, we found that lncRNAs involve in the pathogenesis of psoriasis through integrative analysis of RNA‐seq data sets from a psoriasis cohort. Then, lncRNA‐protein‐coding genes (PCGs) co‐expression network analysis demonstrated that lncRNAs extensively interact with IFN‐γ signalling pathway‐associated genes. Further, we validated 3 lncRNAs associate with IFN‐γ signalling pathway activation upon IFN‐γ stimulated in HaCaT cells, and loss of function experiments indicate their functional roles in the activation of inflammatory cytokine genes. Additionally, microRNA target screening analysis showed that lncRNAs may regulate JAK/STAT pathway activity through complete endogenous RNA (ceRNA) mechanism. Further experimental validation of PRKCQ‐AS1/STAT1/miR‐545‐5p regulatory circuitry showed that lncRNAs regulate the expression of JAK/STAT signalling pathway genes through competing for miR‐545‐5p. In summary, our results demonstrated that dysregulation of lncRNA‐JAK/STAT pathway axis promotes the inflammation level in psoriasis and thus provide potential therapeutic targets for psoriasis treatments.


T original manuscript and its Supporting Information contained a number of minor errors listed below. These only relate to the temperature dependence of γ and have no effect on the extracted disorder values nor on any of the conclusions described in the main text. (1) The statement on page 37072 of the main text and page S-2 of the Supporting Information: "The validity of this model relies on γ being linearly dependent on 1/T, as is the case for all the materials studied in this work..." is incorrect, and should instead read as "For all the materials studied in this work, γ is found to be linearly dependent on 1/T, following the empirical relation suggested by W. D. Gill..." (2) The corresponding eq 2 on page S-2 in the Supporting Information is incorrect, and should instead read as


A recurrent theme across disciplines of health, ecology, and medicine suggests that alterations to the aquatic environment directly and indirectly result in increases in waterborne disease outbreaks. A new research agenda to address the effect of environmental change on human health must be comprehensive and result in implementation plans for mitigation and prevention. The ability to understand the connection between ecosystem structure and function, and the epidemiology of disease can result in informed policy decisions in such diverse areas as resource management, water and waste treatment, agricultural and industrial practice, education, and in disease treatment options. There are at least four subtopics for this workshop:


There are many kinds of problems in large scale engineering construction management,so single management methology can not meet the requirements.Based on analysizing the characters of problems in large scale engineering management,this paper proposes three-layer methology system,which are procedure management,system management and complexity management.Meta-synthesis applied in engineering construction management is analysized,which is proposes to management complex giant systems by system scientists in China.This paper works can provide reference for studying on theory of engineering management and riching connotation of Meta-synthesis.


Electron transfer (ET) interactions of a series of 7-aminocoumarin dyes with aliphatic amine donors have been investigated using steady-state (SS) and time-resolved (TR) fluorescence quenching, picosecond laser flash photolysis (LFP) and pulse radiolysis (PR) techniques. For different coumarin–amine pairs, the estimated quenching constants (kq) from SS and TR fluorescence measurements are found to be similar within the experimental error. That ET from amine donors to excited (S1) coumarin dyes takes place has been established from the LFP and the PR results. For different coumarin–amine pairs, the kq values are seen to correlate well with the free energy changes (ΔG0) for the ET reactions following Marcus' outer-sphere ET theory. The total reorganization energy (λ) estimated from this correlation is seen to be just similar to the solvent reorganization energy (λs). The leveled-off kq value under diffusion-controlled condition (kqDC) appears to be much lower (∼2.5 times) for the present systems compared to...


A planar plunging jel can drive penetrating, attached, wavy or tranquil flows depending on its plunge angle and the geometry of the receiving chamber. Geometries considered here include supported and free-fall weir flows into a rectangular receiving chamber, and idealised siphon-priming model configurations. The very different air entrainment, detrainment and net transport characteristics of these patterns have practical importance for the design of aeration and downshaft hydraulic equipment as well as the priming of large siphon units. Two main studies are reported here, the first concerned with classification and characterisation of some main features of the flow patterns, the second with predictive calculations of bubble transport and detrainment in penetrating flows - the pattern of most practical concern for many applications. In the first part ofour paper, measurements of the conditions leading to each type of flow are described and attention is drawn to hysteresis (Coanda effect) in the pattern tra...


This paper proposes a machine-learning based technique to investigate the significance of the dynamic information for visual perception of consonants. The visual speech information can be described using static (facial appearance) or dynamic (movement) features. The aim of this research is to determine the saliency of dynamic information represented by the lower facial movement for visual speech perception. The experimental results indicate that the facial movement is distinguishable for nine English consonants with a success rate of 85% using the proposed approach. The results suggest that time-varying information of visual speech contained in lower facial movements is useful for machine recognition of consonants and may be an essential cue for human perception of visual speech.


Purpose: C044 has been identified as a marker of breast cancer stem cells, which are important in the development of cancer invasion, metastasis and recurrence. This study aimed to investigate the utility of CD44 expression by immunohistochemistry in differentiating recurrent/metastatic breast cancer from non-recurrent/non-metastatic primary breast cancer in a diagnostic histopathology service setting. Materials and Methods: 4f lm thick sections from 69 archival formalin-fixed, paraffin-embedded breast cancer tissue, comprising 31 recurrent/metastatic and 38 non-recurrent/non-metastatic cancers, diagnosed between the years 2007 and 2015 in the University of Malaya Medical Centre were immunostained with C044 antibody on an automated platform (VENTANA BenchMark Ultra GX). C044 expression was evaluated on scores of 0-3 for intensity (0 = no staining, 1 = faint signal, 2 = moderate, and 3 = intense staining) and extent of positivity (O =no, 1 = 70% positive tumour cells). A cumulative score (Sum) at or above 2 was considered positive. H&E slides of the cancers were also reviewed for histological grading according to the modified Scarff Bloom & Richardson system Demographic information (ethnicity and age) and status of ER, PR and HER2 expressions were obtained from the histopathology reports. A comparison was made of CD44 expression and clinicopathological parameters between recurrent and non-recurrent groups. Result: The groups of recurrent and non-recurrent cancers did not differ significantly in the clinicopathological profiles investigated. The main parameter that achieved a statistically significant difference {p<0.021) was HER2 overexpression which was more common in recurrent {26.9%} than non-recurrent {5. 7%) cancers. CD44 was expressed in almost similar percentage in both recurrent (77.4%) and non-recurrent {71.1%) cancers. Although recurrent cancers had a higher mean CD44 sum {3.7) than the non-recurrent group (mean sum=3), this difference was not statistically significant. Conclusion: CD44 testing by immunohistochemistry does not appear to be useful as an isolated predictive or prognostic marker for recurrence or metastasis. Larger scale studies with outcome data and basic studies on cancer pathogenetic pathways will be required to cast further light on whether CD44 could have clinical utility in cancer progression.


The experiments to simulate astrophysical jet generation are performed using Gekko XII (GXII) HIPER laser system at the Institute of Laser Engineering. In the experiments a fast plasma flow generated by shooting a CH plane (10 μm thickness) is observed at the rear side of the plane. By separating the focal spot of the main beams, a non-uniform plasma is generated. The non-uniform plasma flow in an external magnetic field (0.2∼0.3 T) perpendicular to the plasma is more collimated than that without the external magnetic field. The plasma β, the ratio between the plasma and magnetic pressure, is ≫ 1, and the magnetic Reynolds number is ∼150 in the collimated plasma. It is considered that the magnetic field is distorted by the plasma flow and enhances the jet collimation.


In this paper, we address the problem of diagnosis of a chronic eye disease which is the Primary Open Angle Glaucoma (POAG) disease. It is called the "sneak thief" of sight since the slowly and undetected damage of the optic nerve in the early stages of the disease. The research tends to achieve an early and accurate diagnosis of glaucoma based on an ensemble classifier by integrating the principal component analysis (PCA) with rotation forest tree (ROT). The evaluation performance has been accomplished with three well known classifiers namely Neural Network (NN), Decision Tree (DT) and Fuzzy Logic classifiers. The data is collected using an empirical data collected of Egypt Air hospital. It was observed that ROT achieved the highest classification accuracy in most tested cases. The experiments show that the overall accuracy offered by the employed technique is high compared to other machine learning techniques used in the research. It is believed that the ensemble classifier ROT could perform high accuracy in classification process.


This book presents texts and images from Hoolboom's films, along with autobiographical reflections on his "life in underground movies." Topics discussed include: the AIDS crisis, the filmmaker's relationships with lovers and family, sexuality, the body, and connections between dreams and cinematic experience. Includes artist's pages and a detailed filmography. 31 bibl. ref.


Abstract A non-conventional way of utilizing magnetic susceptibility - soil kappametry - was tested in the area of a major metallurgical plant VSi KoSice (East Slovakia). Magnetic susceptibility values above background in soil samples indicate higher concentrations of heavy metals in soil. i.e. the soil kappametly can be used as a preliminary quick and inexpensive method for detection of higher hea1.y metal contents in soils. 01999 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved 1. Introduction Heavy metals are important in several ways: they are used industrially in technologically advanced countries. several of them are serious carcinogens, some of them are physiologically essential for plants and animals - and thus have a direct bearing on human health and agricultural products - and many of them are significant as pollutans of ecosystem throughout the world. Heavy metals in soils have recently received increasing attention (Singer - Fine 1989. Gruntorad 1993, Hay et al. 1996, Strzyszcz 1996). These findings also provide incentives for the introduction of new non-conventional methods for studying heavy metals. The soil kappametry is one of these methods.


The conventional imprint cytology assay for diagnosing ocular surface disorders was modified by using cellulose acetate strips cuted in an asymmetrical shape and stained by Giemsa and Shorr. Using this technique we studied inflammatory and neoplasic processes in human (10 men/ 10 women), bovine and equine (10 cows/lO bulls, respectively). The cellulose acetate strips were pressed for about 2-3 seconds over the designed area. Thus this modified impression cytology technique may be helpful in diagnostic the ocular surface disorders.


I have read Dennis Lettenmaier's disturbing editorial on dropping the ball on water resources research Lettenmaier 2008 and reflect here on how we might address the problem of water resources research sliding into "oblivion." What is desperately needed is a stronger connection between our research and policy—to demonstrate the importance of our research. I suggest here an approach that we have found effective in the context of water and food research in the developing world. The Consultative Group for International Agricultural Research CGIAR Challenge Program on Water and Food CPWF . www.waterandfood.org has an ambitious goal—to do waterand food-related research that contributes to increasing food security and poverty alleviation in developing countries while protecting associated ecosystems. The immensity of the problem cannot be overstated: 75% of the poor in developing countries live in rural areas and depend on agriculture and ecosystems for their livelihoods, and 900 million people are living on less than $1/day FAO 2006 . While the CPWF is a small player in the arena of poverty alleviation, this program is making steady progress in achieving impact and influence that goes far beyond the researchers and their associated peer-reviewed journal articles. The CPWF uses an approach called participatory impact pathway analysis PIPA . PIPA was developed to enhance the developmental impact of the program's more than 60 projects, involving over 200 organizations globally. PIPA is based on concepts related to program theory drawn from the fields of evaluation, organizational learning, and social network analysis Douthwaite et al. 2007 . While the original intent of PIPA was to improve the assessment of impact, it has proven to change the content and approach researchers take to achieve impact. The PIPA approach makes explicit a project or program theory of how research can have impact by developing impact pathways. The first Part of specifying impact pathways is the development of a problem tree. Problem trees begin with the identification of problems the project could potentially address and end with problems that the project will directly address. We've found them very accessible and understandable to both researchers and stakeholders. The second component—network maps—explores how stakeholders are linked to and influence each other, and how the project aims to change and influence the existing network to achieve impact. The nature of the change the CPWF and I believe the water resources research community hopes to achieve requires a social process of communication and negotiation. The network maps are crucial; they complement the "harder" mechanistic description of the problem tree with the "softer" behavioral and relational dimensions of a project. In the context of the example given in this


Protein hydroxylation is a post translational modification happens on various amino acids, which is catalyzed by the oxoglutarate and oxygen dependent dioxygenases. The best characterized hydroxylated protein is the hypoxia inducible factor (HIF), which is degraded by VHL/elongin C/elongin B/cullin 2/RBX1 (VCB/CR) E3 complex under normal oxygen conditions. Hypoxia or inhibitors (including FG4592 and MK8617) of PHDs stabilize HIF1a and regulate its downstream targets. Prolyl hydroxylase, including PHD2 and PHD3 has been reported in regulating actin polymerization and cell motility. Here, we found MK8617 regulated cell motility in Von Hippel Lindau (VHL) dependent manner. Through the protein hydroxylation proteome experiment upon MK8617 treatment, we identified Pro70 in actin could be hydroxylated and near to His73, which has been reported be methylated and stabilize actin polymerization. Through the biochemical assay, we found that hydroxylated actin (Pro70) binds to VHL and decrease the His73 methylation through blocking the interaction of actin with SETD3, the His73 methyltransferase, and further regulated actin polymerization and cell motility. In summary, our study revealed that hypoxia and deficiencies in the VHL, in a HIF independent and prolyl hydroxylation dependent manner, regulate actin polymerization and cell motility.


Background: Active breast cancer-associated �broblasts (CAFs) promote tumor growth and spread, and like tumor cells they are also heterogeneous with various molecular sub-types and different pro-tumorigenic capacities. Methods: We have used immunoblotting as well as quantitative RT-PCR to assess the expression of various epithelial/mesenchymal as well as stemness markers in breast stromal �broblasts. Immuno�uorescence was utilized to assess the level of different myoepithelial and luminal markers at the cellular level. Flow cytometry allowed to determine the proportion of CD44-and ALDH1-positive breast �broblasts, while sphere formation assay was used to test the ability of these cells to form mammospheres. Results: We have shown here that IL-6-dependent activation of breast and skin �broblasts promotes mesenchymal-to-epithelial transition in a STAT3-and p16-dependent manner. Interestingly, most primary CAFs isolated from breast cancer patients exhibited such transition and expressed lower levels of the mesenchymal markers N-cadherin and vimentin as compared to their adjacent normal �broblasts (TCFs) isolated from the same patients. We have also shown that while CAFs and IL-6-activated �broblasts express high levels of several myoepithelial markers such as cytokeratin 5/6, cytokeratin 14, cytokeratin 19 and c-KIT, they do not express the luminal marker cytokeratin 18. Furthermore, we present clear evidence that IL-6 treatment promotes mammary stemness characteristics (CD44 high /CD24 low /ALDH high ) in stromal �broblasts in a STAT3-and p16-dependent manner. Similar features were also identi�ed in 12 CAFs isolated from breast tumors, which showed higher proportions of CD44 high and ALDH high cells, compared to their corresponding TCF cells. Importantly, these CD44 high cells have higher abilities to form mammospheres and to enhance cell proliferation of breast cancer cells in a paracrine manner relative to their corresponding CD44 low cells. Conclusions: Together, the present �ndings show novel characteristics of active breast stromal �broblasts


We study a class of advanced argument linear diierence diierential equations analogous to Euler-Cauchy ordinary diierential equations. Solutions of two equations of this type have arisen as adjoint functions in sieve theory, and they are also of use in control theory. Here we study the problem in a general setting. Subject to mild assumptions , each of our equations is shown to have a unique solution which is analytic in the right half-plane. In some cases the solution is a polynomial, and in others it has an asymptotic expansion. Finally, the solution is shown to have a representation as an exponential of a Hellinger type integro-diierential operator acting on a monomial. 0. Introduction We are going to study a class of linear diierence diierential equations with multiple advanced arguments. These equations are analogous to Euler-Cauchy ordinary diierential equations. Two examples are (0.1) (uq(u)) 0 = q(u) + q(u + 1) and (0.2) (up(u)) 0 = p(u) ? p(u + 1); Here, u and are real and positive. (The role of in sieve theory is to measure the average number of residue classes being deleted for each prime used in the sifting.) Here we consider a multi-parameter generalization which encompasses both equations (0.1) and (0.2). We establish uniqueness results in quite general classes and give two representations of a solution. One of these is a generalization of the integral solutions


1. Totonchy MB, Ezaldein HH, Ko CJ, Choi JN. Inverse psoriasiform eruption during pembrolizumab therapy for metastatic melanoma. JAMA Dermatol 2016; 152: 590-2. 2. Scarfì F, Lacava R, Patrizi A, et al. Follicular psoriasis induced by pembrolizumab in a patient with advanced non-small-cell lung cancer. Int J Dermatol 2019; 58: e151-2. 3. Bonigen J, Raynaud-Donzel C, Hureaux J, et al. Anti-PD1-induced psoriasis: a study of 21 patients. J Eur Acad Dermatol Venereol 2017; 31: e254-7. 4. Keating GM. Apremilast: a review in psoriasis and psoriatic arthritis. Drugs 2017; 77: 459-72.


Since Wa nationality tradition organism's habits culture accepting whose environment and the religion effect,it's organism's habits protects concept and behavior balance producing to the nature respecting and treasuring,effective in conscientious or not be conscious the person and ecological environment having maintained in many layers of transmission coexists.Analytical Wa nationality traditional culture,rich organism's habits protection concept and behavior showing implication among them,not only can protect Smriti it's excellent nation tradition culture,and whose research opens and enlightens with theory thinking also with helping be that the present age territory of nationality environment problem provides important wisdom.


Abstract Anomalies of precipitation, cloud, thermodynamic, and radiation variables are analyzed on the large spatial scale defined by the tropical oceans. In particular, relationships between the mean tropical oceanic precipitation anomaly and radiative anomalies are examined. It is found that tropical mean precipitation is well correlated with cloud properties and radiative fields. In particular, the tropical mean precipitation anomaly is positively correlated with the top of the atmosphere reflected shortwave anomaly and negatively correlated with the emitted longwave anomaly. The tropical mean relationships are found to primarily result from a coherent oscillation of precipitation and the area of high-level cloudiness. The correlations manifest themselves radiatively as a modest decrease in net downwelling radiation at the top of the atmosphere, and a redistribution of energy from the surface to the atmosphere through reduced solar radiation to the surface and decreased longwave emission to space. Inte...


A new approach was introduced to analyze composite right/left-handed transmission lines (CRLH TLs). The Bloch impedance and the dispersion relations are directly obtained from the S parameters of the unit cells. The LH and RH frequency bands are then identified by the real parts of the Bloch impedance and the phase delay of the unit cells. The new approach has some advantages over the LC parameters extraction method introduced by Caloz et al.(2004). Based on the new approach, a novel resonator is designed using CRLH TLs. The simulation and experimental results accorded well with the theoretical analysis. The novel resonator may have potential applications in filters with high harmonic suppression and compact structures.


On the island of Oahu, Hawaii, an exploratory tunnel for the Interstate Route H-3 highway was completed in December 1989. The purpose of the exploratory tunnel was two-fold; first to locate and intercept any water trapped by dikes in the Koolau Mountain Range; and second to explore and locate where harder, slightly weathered basalt changes into extremely weathered, sometimes soft, saprolite material. The need to locate this transition zone was dictated by experience on a similar highway tunnel located 2.5 miles (4 km) away. The Wilson Tunnel collapsed during construction as the tunnel was advanced full-face. To safeguard against a similar failure and evaluate the geologic conditions within the H-3 highway tunnels, a comprehensive in situ testing program was completed. This program included plate load, pressuremeter, and laboratory tests. The tests in the H-3 exploratory tunnel were used to determine the strength and deformability of the material. The combined test results have allowed for a better understanding of the geologic conditions at the site. With the information from this in situ testing program, the tunnel support and lining design were specifically tailored to the site. A summary of test results and their effects on the tunnel design are provided.


Objective: There have been recent efforts toward creating a health contribution score (HCS) from the Godin Leisure-Time Exercise Questionnaire (GLTEQ) that reflects public-health guidelines for levels of moderate-to-vigorous physical activity (MVPA). The HCS yields categories of insufficiently active (less substantial or low


We study the long time evolution of a quantum particle interacting with a random potential in the Boltzmann–Grad low density limit. We prove that the phase space density of the quantum evolution defined through the Husimi function converges weakly to a linear Boltzmann equation. The Boltzmann collision kernel is given by the full quantum scattering cross-section of the obstacle potential.


Methods Navigator implementation: 2D RF pulses (5) for pencil beam-shaped excitation were implemented into the multi-nuclei spectroscopy software on a 1.5 T Philips Gyroscan NT system. The body coil was connected to the proton channel and was used for transmission and detection. A pencil beam of 20 mm diameter was selected by using an RF pulse with a block-shaped waveform and a spiral k-space trajectory of variable angular speed performing 8 k-space turns. The spatial resolution along the longitudinal axis of the pencil beam was 1 mm. Immediately after signal sampling, data was Fourier transformed and the magnitude was cross-correlated with a reference profile. The navigator signal representing the end-expiration level of the subject was automatically selected as reference in a dedicated preparation phase preceding the actual measurement. Pencil beam excitation and echo readout lasted 12 ms. For signal processing (Fourier transform, cross-correlation) additional 25 ms were necessary. Accordingly one navigator sequence required 37 ms. The excursion of the heart as the result of respiratory motion exhibits two motion components (6). Consequently, two navigator echoes were acquired immediately prior to a 31P spectroscopy experiment (Figure 1). One navigator was positioned in feet-head (FH) direction on the dome of the right hemi-diaphragm, and a second navigator was placed in antero-posterior (AP) direction on the chest wall. Based on the actual motion vector, the frequency of the slice selective adiabatic inversion pulses used in ISIS volume/bar selection and the mixing phase of the demodulator for SI encoding were adapted.


 Abstract— Distributed Generation (DG) is the use of small generating sets connected to the grid or feeding power islands, based on technologies such as internal combustion engines, small and micro turbines, fuel cell, photo voltaic and wind plants. Driven by increasing environmental concerns and increasing amount of new generation technologies, it is expected that many new generation technologies, including renewable generation, will be connected to electrical power system in the near future, therefore stability condition changes shall be studied to improve overall power system operation. In this paper the impact of DG on power system transient stability is investigated by genetic algorithm method. It is observed that both size and location of DG technologies will influence network stability. The fitness evaluation function that drives the GA to the solution is an integral of rotor angle oscillations versus time. each scenario, eleven penetration levels were surveyed. These penetration levels were proportional to load power changes. They used two indicators:  The maximum rotor speed duration  The oscillation duration. They concluded that the impact of the DG on the transmission system transient stability depends on both the technology used and penetration level of DG. In (5) the impact of distributed gas turbine generators on the bulk transmission system was investigated. In (6, 7) the modelling of wind turbines in power system dynamics simulations is addressed. In this paper a methodology is presented for allocation and sizing of distributed generation in power systems in order to improve network transient stability. The optimization process is conducted by Genetic Algorithm. In this case a stability index is introduced as the fitness function of GA. The stability index is integral of power angle oscillations. In each step a three phase short circuit is implemented on one predetermined line afterwards stability criterion is checked and when ever this criterion is optimized, GA shows the best answer.


We investigate the electronic transport properties of methylated deoxyribonucleic-acid (DNA) strands, a biological system in which methyl groups are added to DNA (a major epigenetic modification in gene expression), sandwiched between two metallic platinum electrodes. Our theoretical simulations apply an effective Hamiltonian based on a tight-binding model to obtain current-voltage curves related to the non-methylated/methylated DNA strands. The results suggest potential applications in the development of novel biosensors for molecular diagnostics.


Abstract In the following pages, we share a collection of photos, drawings, and mixed-media creations, most of them especially made for this JoN issue, manifesting C. elegans researchers' affection for their model organism and the founders of the field. This is a celebration of our community's growth, flourish, spread, and bright future. Descriptions provided by the contributors, edited for space. 1


Abstract
To explain the origin of novel strategies I elaborate the managerial judgment perspective as an alternative to the serendipity and managerial foresight views on the origin of novel strategies proposed in the earlier literature. The managerial judgment perspective closely integrates resource-based theories and theories of managerial cognition. It builds centrally on the construct of "management's theory of success" as a representation of managers' beliefs and expectations concerning the factors that lead to desired outcomes in the light of Knightean uncertainty and that is formed through learning from small samples over time. The managerial judgment perspective may be seen as a theory that explains the formation of strategies independently from their eventual performance, but may also shed light on the cognitive antecedents of superior performance. It also argues for a conception of strategic agency in terms of ecological rationality.


We develop and apply a relativistic and non-perturbative approach to bound states and their properties on the light front in Quantum Chromodynamics (QCD). We investigate a Hamiltonian, derived in part from QCD, which features strongly interacting and confined quarks and apply it to heavy flavored mesons. This effective Hamiltonian is developed based on the light-front holographic QCD and an effective one-gluon-exchange interaction. We solve for the mass eigenstates and lightfront wave functions (LFWFs) of this effective Hamiltonian using basis light-front quantization (BLFQ). This effective Hamiltonian was first implemented in the heavy quarkonium system where it provided a successful description of the mass spectrum and other physical observables. In this thesis, we will show that, with the least parameter fitting, we can also produce reasonable results for the unequal-mass heavy flavored mesons: Bc, B, Bs, D, and Ds. In particular, we calculated the mass spectra and corresponding light-front wave functions, illustrate their asymmetric features and employ them to calculate properties of experimental interest such as parton distribution amplitudes and functions. We further investigate the semileptonic decays of Bc to charmonium. Since the gauge boson involved in the semileptonic decay needs to be in the timelike region, the conventional choice of frame, the Drell-Yan frame, is not suitable for these decays. Instead we adopt a general frame to tackle the kinematics. Due to the complex structure of the hadron current matrix that governs these decays, we employ more than one current component and LFWFs at different magnetic projections. There we also show the frame dependence that is due to the Fock sector truncation, that is our limited treatment of the mesons as quark antiquark bound states omitting other possible contributions such as gluon excitations. We also report the dependence of calculated observables on parameters of the basis space, which we show how to minimize.


Objective To evaluate the clinical efficacy and safety of the improved IFL regimen consisting of irinotecan combined with 5-fluorouracil(5-Fu) and leucovorin(CF) in the treatment of refractory advanced gastric cancer.Methods Records of 33 patients with refractory advanced gastric cancer,who had integral clinical data and treated with irinotecan/5-Fu/CF regimen from March.2003 to March.2009,were reviewed.All patients received chemotherapy of the regimen: irinotecan 100 mg/m2 iv gtt d1,CF 100 mg/m2 iv gtt d1-5,5-Fu 300 mg/m2 iv gtt d1-5,one cycle was 21 days.A1l patients received at least two cycles of treatment.Results There was no complete response(CR) patient.The partial remission(PR),stable disease(SD) and progression disease(PR) rates were 24.4%(8/33),36.4%(12/33) and 39.4%(13/33) respectively.Objective response rate(CR+PR) was 24.4%(8/33),clinical tumor control rate was 60.6%(20/33).The therapy was generally well tolerated,the main toxic reactions were nausea,vomiting,diarrhea and myelosuppression.There was no chemotherapy-related death.Conclusion Irinotecan /5-Fu/CF regimen is effective and well tolerated in the patients with refractory advanced gastric cancer.Furthermore,it also meets the social and economoic requirements in our country.


Abstract Two challenges loom large for efforts to develop a theology of evolution. The first is the problem of purpose: can evolutionary processes, in which chance plays so prominent a role, be understood as the context of God's purposive action? The second is the problem of the pervasiveness of suffering and death in evolution. To the extent that we succeed in responding to the first difficulty by giving an account of how God's purposes are enacted in the history of life, we deepen the conundrum about God's relation to natural evils. In particular, if we embrace evolution as God's clever way of making life make itself, we will find it difficult to sustain the classical theological claim that death is a disruptive interloper in God's good creation.


Who were the Tennents? Writing in June 1857, Robert James Tennent recounted some of the claims that had been made regarding his family's history. The name Tennent, he noted, was believed to have been 'derived from the royally allied D'Annands of the Scottish south west', and numbered among his ancestors were individuals who 'filled the highest municipal dignities in the Scottish Metropolis', 'married sisters of archbishops and kinswomen of lords', 'sat in an English parliament so long ago as the middle of the 16 th century' and 'fought for Mary at Layside'. Later, another had 'followed the court of James to England', while 'the Scottish branch took a full share of persecution and worldly ruin with the Covenanters'. In their own mythology the Tennents were thus a family of long and distinguished antecedents, but to place them in their more immediate context we must leave aside these intriguing tales of barons, bishops and covenanters and begin instead with a more humble figure – the Revd John Tennent. 'Blest Tenant … faithful servant of the Lord' Save for the facts that he was born to William Tennent, a farmer, of Mid Cather, Midlothianshire, and his wife, Margaret Tennent, nee Dunne, in May 1727; that he preached first in May 1749; and that he was ordained as minister of the joint County Antrim and County Londonderry charges of Ballyrashane, Derrykeighan and Roseyards on 16 May 1751, little is known of the Revd John Tennent's early life.


Aim: To evaluate the impact of adding L-carnitine (LC) to usual endometrial preparation on endometrial receptivity in women with at least one prior implantation failure during intra-cytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI)/frozen embryo transfer (FET) cycles.Methods: This prospective, double-blinded, placebo-controlled, randomized, parallel-group, concealed allocation, superiority trial was conducted at a private specialized IVF center at Benha, El-Qalubia, Egypt, between November 2015 and May 2017. The study included 124 infertile couples with at least one prior implantation failure (PIF) in ICSI/FET cycles ; they were allocated to receive usual endometrial preparation plus 3 gm LC/daily until transfer (62) or received placebo (62) plus usual estradiol valerate. Outcomes were endometrial thickness, implantation rate, chemical pregnancy rate, clinical pregnancy rate, ongoing implantation rate, ongoing pregnancy rate, live birth rate and live borne babies rate.Results: Infertile women with at least one prior implantation failure in ICSI/FET cycles co-treated with L-Carnitine showed significantly thicker endometrium (mm) 9.8 ± 1.2 in LC vs 8.4 ± 0.7 in non LC with Δ (95% CI) = 1.4 (1.74, 1.05) and higher chemical pregnancy rate 46 (74.2%) in LC vs 22 (35.4%) in non LC with ΔPP (95% CI) = 38.8 (71.46; 52.96) and RR (95% CI) = 2.09 (1.44, 30.1) and NNT (95% CI) = 3 (2, 5). Also, higher clinical pregnancy rate was (34 (54.8%)) in LC vs 14 (22.6%) in non LC with ΔPP (95% CI) = 32.2% (15.13, 46.77) and RR (95% CI) = 2.4 (1.45, 40.5) and NNT (95% CI) = 4 (3-7) as well as higher live birth rate and live bone rate of singletons fetus (P < 0.05).Conclusion: Data presented in this trial supported the supplementation of LC to usual endometrial preparation in women with at least one prior implantation failure in ICSI/FET cycles as it improved endometrial receptivity indicated by improved implantation rate, clinical pregnancy rate and live birth rate.


Solving the optimization problems based on numerical models is an important step in the design of machinery and equipment. Special attention is given to the calculation gradient of the target and limitation functions behavior with the variation of design variables (known as sensitivity). Using the sensitivity function and varying the design variables the designer gets the opportunity to analyze various basic design variants quickly and efficiently without timeconsuming calculations for each of them. This allows speeding up greatly the design process and reducing its time input. In this regard the numerical models development using algorithms of sensitivity calculation for the strength and vibration analysis of structures is an urgent task.


In the era of the IPP, maintenance management software needs to integrate with other business tools, as part of an enterprise asset management system. This trend is exemplified by Saltend, the UK's largest merchant plant.


This paper presents an application of vibration control to a half-car model using recurrent neural networks. The robust vibration control is formulated as equality constrained optimization problem. Simulation results show that the close-loop system has good response performance in the presence of disturbances generated by an isolated bump. The study shows potential in using neural networks for the active vibration control in precision machine design.


This is the second volume of a colour atlas presenting a comprehensive summary of the histopathology and cytopathology of preneoplastic and neoplastic lesions in laboratory rodents. The first volume covered lesions of the mammary gland, liver, pancreas, kidney, urinary bladder, central nervous system, bone, haematopoietic and lymphatic system. This book contains chapters on skin, salivary gland, lung, oesophagus, stomach, intestines, pituitary gland, thyroid gland, adrenal gland, male and female genital tract and soft-tissue tumours. Each chapter is introduced by a short text explaining the principles and standards of the classification of preneoplasia and neoplasia in the rodent tissues described. Examples of lesions are presented by a large number of microscopic colour illustrations providing a sound basis for correct diagnosis, which should be useful for the evaluation of many animal experiments, including carcinogenesis bio-assays.


The invention discloses a method for anode treatment of aluminum casting profile which comprises anodic treatment, charging chemical agent, surface polishing, surface activating treatment, mechanical grinding, high temperature water scrubbing.


III-V materials are candidates for high mobility channel and low contact resistance SD at 5nm technology node and beyond [1]. Traditional Si+ ion implant of In0.53Ga0.47As at room temperature causes amorphization of fin and formation of stacking fault defects upon activation anneal. We have demonstrated heated implant can eliminate amorphization induced crystalline damages and improve fin conductance.


Investors and advisers see the Management Expense Ratio (MER) as a useful means of comparing the cost of investing in one superannuation or investment fund against another. This paper, however, contends that the MER is an unreliable and naive method of fee disclosure that does not allow a uniform comparison between funds. This is because there is no consistency in the definition of management expenses for the purpose of the MER calculation and due to variations in the methods used to calculate funds under management. In all, five significant issues are identified that reveal the MER is an unreliable tool for investment decision making. Using a hypothetical investment fund, the distortion on MER is illustrated between funds when taking account of differing asset valuation techniques, changes in the periodicity of fee calculation, and the growth in funds under management. This variance is evaluated using the Growth Distortion Model. The paper proposes a new framework for fee disclosure, the Performance Cost Ratio, which overcomes the current deficiencies in Australian investment fund fee disclosure.


Pulse waveform is the key to the traditional Chinese pulse diagnosis. However, its baseline wander introduced in the acquisition may result in misdiagnosis. What's more, recent advancements in the pulse variability analysis require more accuracy of baseline estimation. In this paper, a wavelet based cascaded adaptive filter (CAF) was presented to remove this drift. The CAF works in two stages. The first stage is a discrete Meyer wavelet approximation and the second stage is a cubic spline estimation. The experimental results on 50 simulated and 200 real pulse signals demonstrate the powerful effect of CAF both in removing the baseline wander and in preserving the diagnostic information of pulse waveform, comparing with some traditional methods, such as cubic spline estimation, morphology filter and linear-phase FIR least-squares-error digital filter. In addition, this CAF is easy to be accomplished and needs no prior knowledge on pulse and its baseline drift.


UE TO NEW concepts of thyroid function D and the ready availability of thyroidsuppressive drugs, the anesthetic management of patients with uncontrolled hyperactive thyroid disease is no longer a frequent problem. Recently, two thyrotoxic patients presented themselves at our hospital within a 3-week period. Failure to recognize the magnitude of the problem contributed to the development of thyrotoxic crisis and pulmonary edema in the first case. The second patient, a known hyperthyroid, required an emergency cesarean section for placental abruption and hemorrhage. This report discusses modern anesthetic management of the hyperthyroid patient requiring emergency surgery, in the light of our experience with these patients.


In this paper, we propose a task-parallel programming extension for the JPEG decoder of the libjpeg-turbo library. Efficient JPEG decoding is especially important for resourceconstrained mobile devices such as smartphones, where decoding (e.g., browsing of web pages containing images, image search aso) is far more common than image encoding. The aim of our work is to utilize multiple CPU cores for JPEG decompression from a single client thread. Our method is orthogonal to libjpeg-turbo's support for data-parallelism (SIMD). Experimental evaluation of our approach on a 4-core Intel i7-2600K CPU shows speed-ups of up to 2.5x over the sequential, and up to 34% over the SIMD-version of the libjpeg-turbo JPEG decoder.


A novel type of waist cross-linked micelle (WCM) was developed as an intelligent drug carrier via the self-assembly guiding free radical polymerization of an amphiphilic oligomer: octadecyl, polyethylene glycol butenedioates (O–B–EGs). By changing the concentration of O–B–EG reaction solution, WCMs with monolayer, compound and vesicle-like morphologies were obtained. These WCMs showed controllable temperature responsive properties. DLS and UV-vis analyses indicate that the critical temperatures at which WCMs show an abrupt change in particle size evidently increases with the increase in the molecular weight of the PEG chains. Direct switching of the release of pyrene in WCMs is also realized by a slight change of temperature. Pyrene is released rapidly at the temperatures around the critical temperature of the WCMs, but a further increase in temperature shuts down the release of pyrene. More importantly, these WCMs exhibit reversible and rapid pyrene releasing-absorbing behavior. We suggest that these excellent properties endow WCMs with great potential in drug encapsulation and controlled release


In the issue of theJournalof February 3 Dr. W. A. Fisher reviews an article of mine on the above subject read before the Tennessee State Medical Society. In the article I stated that it was not expected that every doctor should become a specialist but that he should understand enough to know his ignorance; that it was not necessary for him to be able to fit glasses but he should understand the main indications for the use of spectacles, viz.: Presbyobia, diminished vision, asthenopia, headache, functional nervous diseases, etc.; he should be able to diagnose between cataract and glaucoma as a cause of poor vision, and also be familiar with the diagnosis of inflammations of the conjunctiva, cornea and iris; he should be informed on the indications and contraindications for the use of atropin, eserin and similar drugs. My article was an endeavor to outline a statement of


18 healthy volunteers were involved and the effect of functional neuromuscular electrical stimulation, which causes flexion of the hand, on the corticospinal excitability during motor imagery and resting state was investigated in this study. It was shown that the combined action of functional electrical stimulation and the kinesthetic representation of movements leads to an increase in the amplitudes of motor evoked potentilals, caused by a single-pulse transcranial magnetic stimulation. At the same time, in the state of motor rest this effect was not obtained. Since a change in corticospinal excitability at the cortical level may affect the processes of plastic reorganization necessary for the restoration of motor functions after strokes and other neurotraumas, the results of this work have a direct practical potential. In particular, the possibility of creating effective training complexes for the restoration of motor functions based on brain-computer interfaces, based on the presentation of movements with functional neuromuscular stimulation as a sensor-motor feedback, is discussed. Rehabilitation with the use of such training complexes will help to shed light on the mechanisms of motor recovery, which are based on the phenomena of neuroplasticity, due to changes in the level of excitability of the neurons of the sensorimotor cortex.


In this paper we introduce a new family of poverty measures for comparing and ordering social situations. The aggregation scheme of these poverty measures is based on the one-parameter family of exponential means. The poverty measures introduced satisfy interesting properties and the dual decomposition of the underlying exponential means induces a natural decomposition of the proposed poverty indices themselves into three underlying factors: incidence, intensity, and inequality among the poor.


"He's not moving his left arm."

No mother wants to hear that about her newborn in the delivery room. I was a fourth-year medical student; my husband was a surgical resident. We couldn't contain the windstorm of scary diagnoses that came over us as we heard those words. Did he have a congenital syndrome? A stroke? Over the next few days, the pediatricians reassured us it was "just a brachial plexus palsy" and we had nothing to be concerned about. The comment that put my motherly fears to rest: "I've never seen a case that didn't recover."

My delivery was complicated by shoulder dystocia and my son, Andy, was born with a brachial plexus birth palsy, giving him a flaccid left arm that had the characteristic "waiter's tip," with some movement in his fingers, but none in his arm. My heart ached every time I swaddled him and felt no resistance from his left arm. "Is there anything special we should do for him?" we asked before we left the hospital. The answer was always a reassuring, "No—we treat these children normally because they all end up getting better." Four different pediatricians, no special exercises, no extra precautions, no additional visits. We were so relieved. Andy was a normal baby.

Over the next few weeks, my husband and I watched our son's arm, but we were not overly concerned, trusting what we'd been told. Sure, …


The energy of a molecular graph is a popular parameter that is defined as the sum of the absolute values of eigenvalues of the graph. It is well known that in the case of trees the energy is related to the matching polynomial and thus also to the Hosoya index via a certain Coulson integral. Ye and Yuan [On the minimal energy of trees with a given number of pendent vertices, MATCH Commun. Math. Comput. Chem. 57 (2007) 193-201.] and Yu and Lv [Minimum energy on trees with k pendent vertices, Lin. Algebra Appl. 418 (2006) 625-633] independently characterized the trees with the minimal energy among the trees with a given number of pendent vertices (that is, vertices of degree one). Let Tn,t be the set of trees of order n with at least t vertices of degree two. In the present paper, we characterize the tree with minimal energy or Hosoya index in Tn,t. ∗ The project supported by NSFC (10831001). † Corresponding author. E-mail: firstname.lastname@example.com MATCH Communications in Mathematical and in Computer Chemistry MATCH Commun. Math. Comput. Chem. 62 (2009) 473-480


Petroglyph manufacture probably often involved indirect percussion, especially for carefully made lines and edges of larger figures. Experimental replication shows that during indirect percussion, debitage is produced from the chisel-stone that should be recoverable in archaeological context at rock art sites. Following experiments that demonstrated how the debitage is produced, this report describes its characteristic shape and provides suggestions as to what sorts of contexts might contain this evidence.


The title compound, {[Ho(C7H3NO4)(C7H4NO4)(H2O)2]·4H2O}n, prepared by hydrothermal synthesis, is isostructural with its LaIII-, CeIII-, PrIII-, NdIII-, SmIII-, GdIII- and TbIII-containing analogues. The HoIII ion is nine-coordinated by four O and two N atoms from two independent pyridine-2,6-dicarboxylate groups, one carboxylate O atom belonging to a neighboring pyridine-2,6-dicarboxylate ligand and two water molecules. The bridging pyridine-2,6-dicarboxylate ligand gives rise to infinite chains. The crystal structure contains O—H⋯O hydrogen bonds, which connect the chains into a three-dimensional network.


This paper will summarize the evolution of the EMAT technology since GE's initial product launch in 2002. A key focus of this paper will be outlining several tool and analysis enhancements that result from the evaluation of over a 1000kms of EmatScan CD pipeline inspection and 250 field confirmations. These tool and analysis enhancements are now incorporated in GE's new 30 inch Third Generation EmatScan (Gen III EMAT) In Line Inspection (ILI) tool


Objective The portable micro-injection pump is a microcomputer-controlled piston pump without alternating current,which is characterized by portability and multi-sized infusion bags(50-500 ml).This multi-centered randomized controlled clinical trial was to evaluate the efficiency and safety of the micro-injection pump in continuous venous medication.Methods A total of 132 patients with diabetes mellitus were equally randomized to a trial and a control group,the former medicated with the portable micro-injection pump and the latter with the WZ-50C2 micro-injection pump,both for 4 hours.Comparisons were made between the two groups in the precision of total volume,stability of speed,incidence of adverse events and rate of conformance. Results No significant differences were found between the two groups in infusion precision and speed stability(P0.05),nor in incidence of adverse events(P0.05) and rate of conformance(P0.05).Conclusion The portable micro-injection pump has similar efficiency,safety and conformance rate in continuous venous medication.


[Objective]The research aimed to study the diet of Bufo gargarizans,and to provide references for its application and protection.[Method]From April to June in 2008,an investigation on the status of food of B.gargarizans was made in Mudanjiang region and the diversity of foods was analyzed.[Result]The results showed that B.gargarizans had wide food diversity.The index of the food diversity of female B.gargarizans(H1) was 3.786 7,less than that of male B.gargarizans(H2=3.838 2).[Conclusion]The helpfulness index of B.gargarizans is superior to mankind and plays an important part in keeping the balance of nature and getting rid of agricultural pests.


In his first extensive interview, Nicolay I. Kuchersky, President of Kyzylkumredmetzoloto and General Director of the Novoi Mining and Metallurgy Combine, discusses the business of mining uranium in Uzbekistan. This is a companion article following one that took an in-depth look at this newly independent country's activities in uranium mining. The president of the responsible organization discusses plans, wages, and interactions with the western world.


Widely frequency-tunable terahertz-wave generation with enhanced output power was investigated using slot-antenna-integrated uni-traveling-carrier photodiodes (UTC-PDs). Based on numerical analysis, the optimum antenna configuration for simultaneously attaining increased output power and relatively broad bandwidth was determined. Slot-antenna-integrated UTC-PDs (short- and long-slot) and a broadband bowtie-antenna-integrated UTC-PD were fabricated and analyzed by comparing their characteristics. The slot-antenna-integrated UTC-PDs exhibited two to three times larger output power at their resonant peak frequencies than that of the bowtie-antenna-integrated UTC-PD. Output-power enhancement was attained at frequencies from 900 GHz to 1.6 THz for the short-slot device and from 350 to 850 GHz for the long-slot device, and these characteristics were in good agreement with the numerical analysis. The typical output power obtained was 3.5 μW for the short-slot device at 1.25 THz and 28 μW for the long-slot device at 700 GHz both for a photocurrent of 10 mA with a bias voltage of −0.4 V.


Aim: This paper presents the results of the studies on "Stimix Zoostim" and "Normosil" probiotics and their influence on fecal microflora, hematologic indicators, immunoresistance, nutrient digestibility, and growth intensity of mother-bonded calves. Materials and Methods: The calves of the control group were fed with their basic diet (BD) without "Stimix Zoostim" or "Normosil," whereas the calves of the experimental group were fed with their BD supplemented with "Stimix Zoostim" and Normosil." For 10-20-day-old calves, the daily dose was 10 mL per head, whereas 21-90-day-old calves received 15 mL of probiotics per head per day. The calves of the experimental group were administered probiotics every day. Calves aged 10 to 60 days received probiotics with milk, and then at the age of 61 to 90 days, received probiotics with water. (This is a sequential process. At 60 days old, calf rearing with milk stops, and after that, we use probiotics added to water to rear them). Both groups were administered probiotics twice a day, specifically 50% of the daily dose at each feeding time. Results: The results in this study proved that "Stimix Zoostim" and "Normosil" probiotics exhibit high probiotic activity and have a positive effect on the calves' fecal microflora. Feeding the calves with probiotics resulted in a significant increase in the number of normal flora, such as lactic acid bacteria and bifidobacteria, and a decrease in the amount of Escherichia. It also resulted in an increase in red blood cells, hemoglobin, and γ-globulins within the physiological range. In our study, we found that the phagocytic reaction in the blood serum of the experimental group was slightly enhanced, suggesting a high response of the body to infectious agents. Conclusion: Thus, the group of calves receiving probiotic "Stimix Zoostim" exhibited an exceedance of phagocytic activity by 4.8% and the group receiving "Normosil" by 4.4%, in comparison with the control group. The daily dose of 10 mL of probiotics per head for 10-20-day-old calves and 15 mL per head for 21-90-day-old calves also had a positive effect on nutrient digestibility, growth, and forage consumption. The economic benefit per animal was 149.23 and 157.0 rubles, respectively.