Background: The predictive value of negative exercise stressechocardiography in subjects with type 2 diabetes (T2DM) isless than in those without T2DM. A reduced end-systolic pressure-volume(SP/ESV) response may identify at risk pts, but the pathophysiologyof this finding has not been determined. We sought to identifyif the abnormal SP/ESV response reflected subclinical diabeticheart disease. Methods: Myocardial dysfunction was sought with resting andexercise echo in 168 apparently healthy T2DM (97 men, 55 ±10 y). Ischemia was excluded by ExE. Conventional data, tissuevelocity, strain and strain rate were acquired at baseline andpeak stress from 6 basal segts in conventional apical views.{Delta}SP/ESV was calculated as [(peak stress systolic blood pressure/peakstress end systolic volume index) -(rest systolic blood pressure/restend systolic volume index)]. Results: Post exercise, 83 subjects showed a {Delta}SP/ESV ≤12 mmHg/ml/m2.These patients were noted to have significantly lower restingdiastolic tissue velocity, lower peak heart rates on exerciseand poorer exercise capacity than those with {Delta}SP/ESV > 12mmHg/ml/m2 [Table]. There were no significant differences betweenthe groups in terms of age, BMI, fasting glucose and systolicstrain or strain rate. In a logistic regression model incorporatingdiastolic tissue velocity, peak heart rate and exercise capacity,all were significant univariate correlates of {Delta}SP/ESV, althoughexercise capacity was the strongest (OR= 0.88, p= 0.02). Conclusions:{Delta}SP/ESV index correlates with resting diastolictissue velocity, peak heart rate and exercise capacity, allof which have known prognostic implications in T2DM. The systolicresponse to stress may provide information analogous to thatprovided by diastolic dysfunction as a marker of subclinicaldisease. © 2009 American Heart Association, Inc.


The paper attempts to develop an understanding of urban implications of telecommunication with a focus on telework in the Australian context. It begins with definitional discrepancy in the telework studies and defines telework as a flexible knowledge-work option in the new economy. It then reviews some of the urban implications of telework in the literature, and analyzes Metropolitan Plan for Sydney 2036 as the major document that shapes the future of Australia's first global city. This analysis identifies policy gaps regarding the lack of telecommunication focus at Sydney metropolitan level. The paper also reveals great opportunities involved in the current strategy to work with telecommunication and to deal with the major planning issues challenging the future of Australia's largest capital city. Considering the major investment on the telecommunication infrastructure namely NBN, this paper is perfectly timed and addresses policy issues that could highly impact the future of urban planning and policies in Australia.


Objective:Schizophrenia is associated with time-processing impairments.However,very little is known about this type of problem in at-risk individuals with schizotypal personality disorder(SPD) features.The current study compared time-processing performance in patients with schizophrenia,individuals with SPD features,and healthy controls.Methods:A number of tasks capturing time discrimination,time production and time reproduction as well as other related abilities were administered to 59 schizophrenia patients,62 individuals with SPD features,and 60 healthy controls.The diagnosis was made according to the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders-IV,Fourth Edition(DSM-IV) criteria.In analyzing the time-processing data,repeated measures were adopted,with group as a between-subjects variable,duration of time as a within-subjects variable,time threshold in time discrimination,accuracy(estimated time/standard time) and coefficient of variation(SD of estimated time/mean of estimated time) of time production and time reproduction as dependent variables.Results:The result showed that patients with schizophrenia,SPD individuals and healthy controls had similar time discrimination threshold(P0.05).In the time production task,SPD individuals had higher accuracy score than healthy controls [(1.03±0.07) vs.(0.99±0.09),P0.05],while patients with schizophrenia had higher coefficient of variation as compared to individuals with SPD features and healthy volunteers[(0.26±0.10) vs.(0.20±0.05),(0.20±0.05);Ps0.01].In the time reproduction task,patients with schizophrenia also scored higher on the coefficient of variation than SPD individuals and healthy controls[(0.21±0.11) vs.(0.15±0.07),(0.17±0.12);Ps0.01].Conclusion:The current findings suggest that both SPD individuals and patients with schizophrenia may have impairments on time processing.The impairments of patients with schizophrenia may be more severe than that of SPD individuals.


Combined with the advantages of principal components analysis(PCA) and linear discriminant analysis(LDA),PCA-LDA on gender classification is presented.Feature sub-space of training samples is obtained by way of PCA,and feature sub-space from LDA is calculated on the basis of PCA.In the meanwhile,the two feature sub-spaces from PCA and LDA are fused,and the fusion feature space is acquired.After training samples and test samples are respectively projected towards the fusion feature space,recognition features are accordingly gained.Nearest neighbor rule is utilized in gender classification.Experimental results on ORL face database show that PCA-LDA is better than PCA in recognition performance,and is a valid method in gender classification.


Four subjects fixated a centrally located dot for a random time period (500-1000 ms). 50 ms after the fixation point was removed, a large hybrid plaid was presented for 500 ms. The direction and contrast ratio of the hybrid plaid were randomly selected on each trial. Contrast ratios were selected from the following set: 1:1,1:2,1:4,1:8, 1:16, and pure gratings. 100 ms after the stimulus was removed, an arrow was presented pointing in a random initial direction. The subject indicated her perceived direction of motion by rotating the arrow with a trackball; subjects were not given any eye movement instructions. Trials was separated by 1000 ms of mean luminance. Each subject ran 900 trials in 10 equal sessions. The position of each subject's right eye was recorded with a dual Purkinje-image eye tracker (Fourward Technology), sampled at 1KHz. 1000 ms until response 100 ms 500 ms 50 ms 500–1000 ms Neurons in area MT signal 2D pattern motion. Their direction selectivity is dependent on the relative contrasts of the elements of a pattern.


We present a hierarchical maximum-margin clustering method for unsupervised data analysis. Our method extends beyond flat maximummargin clustering, and performs clustering recursively in a top-down manner. We propose an effective greedy splitting criteria for selecting which cluster to split next, and employ regularizers that enforce feature sharing/competition for capturing data semantics. Experimental results obtained on four standard datasets show that our method outperforms flat and hierarchical clustering baselines, while forming clean and semantically meaningful cluster hierarchies.


The melting temperature and phase relations of Ca‐Mg‐carbonates depend on the Mg/Ca‐ratio. For instance, at 6 GPa Ca‐rich carbonates with a molar Mg/(Mg+Ca)‐ratio (X Mg ) of 0.2 will transform into a dolomitic melt (X Mg =0.33‐0.31) and calcite crystals (X Mg =0.19‐0.14) at 1350‐1440 °C. Partial melting of Mg‐rich carbonates (X Mg =0.85) will produce a dolomitic melt (X Mg =0.5‐0.8) and Ca‐bearing magnesite (X Mg =0.89‐0.96) at 1400‐1600 °C. Trace element distribution into Ca-Mgcarbonates depends on X Mg , temperature and seems to follow lattice constraints for divalent


Proper implementation of Building Information Modelling (BIM) principles leads to better information management, and consecutively higher productivity in construction projects. BIM is an emerging methodology in the world of the built environment. It is a set of processes and standards, supported by digital technologies that aim to enhance information management in every phase of a project. From design and construction, through operations and maintenance, and finally the demolishing phase, BIM has shown advantages over traditional information management processes. Renewable energy is one of the areas which has significant potential, but a low adoption rate of BIM. The objectives of this paper are twofold. Firstly, to introduce the key concepts of BIM methodology to the reader and secondly, to examine them through the lens of renewable energy projects, more specifically, through the framework proposed in the FieldWork 4 RES platform.


Speeds above which porpoising becomes energetically more economical than swimming are calculated from a hydro-mechanical model for Humboldt (Spheniscus humboldti) and emperor (Aptenodytes forsteri) penguins. Predicted minimum porpoising speeds for S. humboldti are significantly less than observed values. At low porpoising speeds time in air is low and may not be sufficient to permit efficient breathing. It is suggested that ventilatory requirements may set a practicable lower bound on porpoising speed. Other possible constraints on the lower limits to porpoising speed include the requirement of raising the centre of mass high enough for the animal to completely clear the surface and the influence of sea conditions.


Avermectins are one of the most effective antibiotic pesticides for animals and plants.Mutagenesis strain-improving of Strentomyces avermitilis,culture medium optimization and crystallization in the process for producing Avermectins are reviewed,and it is thought as a kind of promising bio-pesticide with low poison.


It is important to have a clear idea of the general features of the moral and psychological profile of cadets of SPHEİ, as well as the characteristics of future officers of various specialty courses. The socio-psychological characteristics of cadets depend largely on the nature and content of their educational and service activities, which include life experience, family situation, upbringing, development, education, etc., can be attributed. All this finds its manifestation in the moral character, behavior, needs and interests, emotional drum, and daily activities of the future officers. Character is a unique expression of mental cognitive processes, feelings, will orientation, temperament and abilities. Orientation of the personality, his occupations, interests, needs, motives of action determine the content of his character, its stability or contradiction. Which action motives will be the main, leading one depends on the character. In the article, the importance of taking into account belonging to this or other types of temperament is also justified in increasing the effectiveness of teacher-student relations.


Every so often, individuals and organizations should spend time in self-reflection and analyze what is working and what is not, what the challenges, are and how these can be turned into new opportunities. Last fall, the American Physiological Society (APS) took just such an initiative. APS employed


An (associative) algebra is a vector space over a field equipped with an associative, bilinear multiplication. By use of a new bilinear operation, any associative algebra morphs into a nonassociative abstract Lie algebra, where the new product in terms of the given associative product, is the commutator. The crux of this paper is to investigate the commutator as it pertains to the general linear group and its subalgebras. This forces us to examine properties of ring theory under the lens of linear algebra, as we determine subalgebras, ideals, and solvability as decomposed into an extension of abelian ideals, and nilpotency, as decomposed into the lower central series and eventual zero subspace. The map sending the Lie algebra L to a derivation of L is called the adjoint representation, where a given Lie algebra is nilpotent if and only if the adjoint is nilpotent. Our goal is to prove Engel's Theorem, which states that if all elements of L are ad-nilpotent, then L is nilpotent.


The title complex, [CuCl2(C7H6N2S)2], contains a Cu centre with a distorted square-planar coordination geometry, involving two Cl ligands and two endocyclic N atoms from the thiazole moieties [Cu—Cl = 2.275 (2) and 2.297 (2) A, and Cu—N = 1.986 (5) and 1.988 (5) A]. The amino groups participate in intra- and intermolecular N—H⋯Cl hydrogen bonds, with N⋯Cl distances in the range 3.202 (6)–3.316 (6) A.


Diabetic retinopathy is one of the late complications of diabetes mellitus. Recent data have suggested that free radicals possibly play a role in its pathophysiology. Oxidative stress is very high in hyperglycemic condition leading to increased lipid peroxidation of the phospholipid cell membrane. Vitamin E is a chain breaking membrane antioxidant which can prevent lipid peroxidation in the cell membrane. The study was aimed at determining vitamin E plasma level in diabetic retinopathy compared to healthy subjects. In this study vitamin E plasma level in 30 diabetic retinopathy patients and 30 healthy subjects were measured by using (HPLC) technique. The result showed that the mean of vitamin E plasma level in healthy subjects and patients with diabetic retinopathy are 5.09 ± 3.51 and 4.32 ± 2.75 µg/ml respectively (Student t-test, p > 0.05) Total lipid level has a significant influence in increasing the vitamin E plasma level with coefficient correlation r=0.9746 and p<0.01. Further studies are needed to clasify factors that influence vitamin E plasma levels. Keywords: vitamin E - diabetic retinopathy - oxidative stress - lipid peroxidation


959 INTRODUCTION U NTIL VERY RECENTLY , the possibility of starting real telemedicine or telepsychology systems was restricted by the cost of the equipment and by the lack of adequate infrastruc-tures. Nonetheless, the technological advances we are witnessing at present have allowed the publication of a series of pioneering works with good and promising results. The analysis of what is happening in the field of telepsychol-ogy points to an important development to come in the following years. This work presents a telepsychology system to the treatment of public speaking fear. The system is composed of: (a) an assessment protocol that gives the patient a diagnosis of his/her problem, including the interference it is causing him/her, its severity, and the degree of fear and avoidance it is producing; (b) a structured treatment protocol, organized in separate blocks reflecting the patient's progress; in this way, it is possible to ensure that the patient does not skip any step in the treatment (something quite common in the traditional self-help manuals), gaining more control over the process; and (c) an outcome protocol that assesses treatment effectiveness, not only at its end, but also at every intermediate step. It is the first work in a promising research line that examines the possibility of using the Internet for the treatment of psychological disorders. If the program proposed here achieves the necessary effectiveness and soundness, the range of psychological problems to which the program could be applied will broaden in the near future.


An exploration of how characters develop identity through language use in a video game's narrative, specifically in video games that do not allow for players to make narrative-altering choices. The concept of literacies is used to create a critical framework through which to view video games themselves as a literacy, as well as to view them as a discourse. This thesis analyzes how dialogue is used to develop and showcase gender, sexuality, personality, moral identity in characters in and out of the player's control, as well as how dialogue builds the narrative world in which these characters exist. This thesis includes two case studies, on the Borderlands video game series and the Halo video game series, approaching each series from a perspective that showcases how its unique world and characters are created through language. Each series has a specific facet to its narrative that is examined in depth; in the Borderlands series, the importance of storytelling to world-building and moral identity, and in the Halo series, the significance of speech itself as an act. Additionally, Destiny is used as a key supplement to these case studies, as it bridges the gap between the identity-and world-building methods used by Halo and Borderlands. Destiny also incorporates the player's engagement in an online multiplayer universe, creating a unique type of discourse between the player and the game. Finally, as paratexts affect character identity and world-building within each series, the concept of paratexts as they connect to literacy and narrative is thus also examined as an important facet of identityand world-building.


D Clifford, C Ni Chaoimh, E Stanley, J O'B Hourihane. Pediatr Allergy Immunol. 2019;30(1):93–98

To prospectively determine the incidence of Hymenoptera stings in children <5 years.

This is a prospective longitudinal observational study of Irish newborns from the BASELINE Cohort Study. This study included 2137 newborn infants who were recruited from 2008 to 2011 and managed until 5 years of age.

Trained researchers administered questionnaires at 6 months, 12 months, 2 years, and 5 years of age. The questionnaires were used to inquire about the occurrence of sting events. At ages 2 and 5 years, all children were seen for visits and underwent skin prick testing (SPT) to …


There is compelling evidence that white blood cell (WBC) counts impact the risk of thrombosis in patients with myeloproliferative neoplasms (MPN) (Barbui Blood 2013). Moreover, recent publications disclosed significant differences regarding certain disease characteristics and the course of disease in WHO 2008 (Tefferi Blood 2007) classified essential thrombocythemia (ET) and prefibrotic primary myelofibrosis (PMF) (Kvasnicka Am J Hematol 2008; Barbui JCO 2011; Buxhofer-Ausch Am J Hematol 2012). Hence, patients cohorts classified prior to WHO 2008 may likely consist of a mix of patients with ET and prefibrotic PMF.

We aimed to reproduce the influence of WBC counts on the thrombotic risk in patients under real-life conditions. Therefore we assessed data of 825 Austrian patients from a patient registry for anagrelide in ET that was initiated 2001 in Austria due to an official authorities demand and is now being maintained in several Central European countries.

Efficacy of treatment was assessed by investigating the course of platelet counts and event free survival relating to the first minor or major thrombotic event. WBC counts from the first available time points were correlated with the first thrombotic event. The cut off for the WBC subgroup analysis was set at 8,5 G/l. Statistical analysis was performed using the open-source R statistical software package, version 3.0.2. Non-parametric two-sided 95% confidence intervals for medians were calculated. Survival probabilities were assessed by applying the Kaplan-Meier method. For the comparison of time to event between the leukocyte- specific subgroups the log-rank test was used.

Median Follow up of the study cohort is 3,07 years. Platelet count at start of anagrelide was median 777 G/l (95% CI 757-803). After 12, 24 and 36 months patients presented with median platelet counts of 473, 457 and 438 G/l, respectively. Median WBC count at start of therapy was 9 G/l (95% CI 8,7-9,3) and after 12, 24 and 36 months 8,5 G/l, 9,2 G/l and 8,7G/l, respectively. Incidence of thrombotic events per 100 patient- years was 5,14 for all events and 1,65 for major events only. 102 patients experienced at least one minor or major thrombotic event (major events n=36). Median time to the first minor or major thrombotic event was 1,27 years. Probability of event free survival at 1 year is 94,4% and at 3 years 87,6%. Patients with a baseline WBC count of higher than 8,5 G/l exhibit a significantly shorter probability of event free survival than patients below the cut off (p= 0,007 for all thrombotic events; p= 0,026 for major events only).

This data proof the efficacy of anagrelide in lowering platelet counts and reducing significantly the risk of thrombotic events in patients with ET. The significantly shorter event free survival of patients with a WBC count above 8,5 G/l confirms earlier studies for the first time in a real-life setting. This result emphasizes the separation of true ET from prefibrotic PMF by using the WHO 2008 classification. Moreover, further investigations are needed to assess, whether a correlation of certain platelet and leukocyte counts modifies the risk of thrombotic events in MPN.

Disclosures Schloegl: AOP Orphan Pharmaceuticals AG: Research Funding.


Collection contains desert soils and other geologic materials collected from sites in the United States and foreign countries. Soils are useful for test purposes in research related to extraterrestrial life detection, sampling, harsh environmental studies, and determining suitable areas for training astronauts for lunar exploration.


Submitted for the DAMOP11 Meeting of The American Physical Society Dynamics of relaxation and the equilibrium state in an incompletely-chaotic quantum system VLADIMIR YUROVSKY, ABRAHAM BEN-REUVEN, Tel Aviv University, MAXIM OLSHANII, University of Massachusetts Boston — An incompletely-chaotic system, with a perturbation of the integrable part that does not obey selection rules, relaxes to an equilibrium state that lies between the initial state and thermal equilibrium [1]. This behavior, which is controlled by a universal parameter, is confirmed for a system of two atoms in a circular transversally-harmonic waveguide. We analyze here the dynamics of expectation values of generic observables and their fluctuations in the long-time limit with an application to this model. The relaxation demonstrates a non-exponential behavior and its rate depends on the initial-state energy. The fluctuation amplitude decreases with increase of the initial state width. [1] V. A. Yurovsky and M. Olshanii, Phys. Rev. Lett. 106, 025303 (2011) Vladimir Yurovsky Tel Aviv University Date submitted: 02 Feb 2011 Electronic form version 1.4


The Portlandian strata of Buckinghamshire were deposited in sheltered shallowmarine to nonmarine settings during the Late Jurassic regression. Distal environments were characterised by a low diversity gastropod fauna. Proximal marine settings supported micromorphic gastropod faunas, possibly associated with putative algal meadows. Coarsergrained bioclastic substrates were intermittently colonised by the nerineoid Aptyxiella portlandica. Low-salinity lacustrine facies are characterised by low diversity faunas dominated by small provalvatids. Figure 1. Outline of Portlandian stratigraphy in Buckinghamshire; vertical ornament indicates beds locally absent (adapted from Wimbledon, 1980). MERCIAN GEOLOGIST 2006 16 (3) 191 Palaeoecology of Portlandian Gastropods from the South Midlands


a-Si Electronic Portal Imaging Device (EPID) is an important tool to verify the location of the radiation therapy beam with respect to the patient anatomy. But, Electronic Portal Images (EPI) suffer from low contrast. In order to have better in-treatment images to extract relevant features of the anatomy, image processing tools need to be integrated in the Radiology systems. The goal of this research work is to inspect several image processing techniques for contrast enhancement of electronic portal images and gauge parameters like mean, variance, standard deviation, MSE, RMSE, entropy, PSNR, AMBE, normalised cross correlation, average difference, structural content (SC), maximum difference and normalised absolute error (NAE) to study their visual quality improvement. In addition, by adding salt and pepper noise, Gaussian noise and motion blur, we calculate error measurement parameters like Universal Image Quality (UIQ) index, Enhancement Measurement Error (EME), Pearson Correlation Coefficient, SNR and Mean Absolute error (MAE). The improved results point out that image processing tools need to be incorporated into radiology for accurate delivery of dose.


Abstract : The purpose of this paper is to determine the value of BOS contracts to the U.S. Navy with regards to Facility Service Contracting. Facility service contracting generally is NOT an inherently governmental function and is therefore a prime target for government outsourcing to private industry. Recently, a strong emphasis has been placed on utilizing the private sector when functions are not inherently governmental in nature, enabling economics and market forces to prevail. The idea is that outsourcing will provide more value to the Navy since private industry already performs facility services and will compete to win contracts. What is the most appropriate method for the Navy to use when contracting for facility services? The history of Navy service contracting will be discussed in a later section, but the Navy has many options in which to contract for facility services. Each military base or region has different requirements with regards to Facility services. The Navy may use a BOS contract, individual service contracts, or a hybrid of the two. In recent years, pilot programs have been initiated to test the feasibility of web base FSC programs where "Regional IDIQ e-FSC's" are used such that customers can order services through a web-base program. However, these pilot programs do not address the fundamental issue of whether the Navy should have a BOS contract or individual FSC contracts.


As a Cornell University graduate student studying gender in Java in the 1980s, I still recall an evening seminar on campus during which Ben Anderson peppered Barbara Hatley with questions following her analysis of gender roles in kethoprak theater.1 After several rhetorical examples of how masculinity and femininity have shifted aesthetic conventions in Java, he asked her, quizzically: "How do you know you are a woman?" Although she attempted several times to respond, the answer seemed obvious to me: as she formulated an answer, he could not resist interrupting her. In that era when scholarship on gender focused on women and femininity, mythic narratives about masculinity made "asking the man question," as Marshall Clark puts it, both redundant and unnecessary (p. 145). Patriarchal privilege was still embodied in dominating the discourse, whereas attending to the emotional valence of malu, or "masculine inferiority, humiliation, and indignation" had not yet been articulated as an interpretative project for understanding Indonesia, as Clark does (p. 95). Ironically,


A system and a method for providing AD(ADvertisement) by displaying grouped independent multiple contents continuously are provided to display grouped more than two independent contents continuously without making a user select each content and offer the AD efficiently by linking with the displayed contents. A contents group database(308) stores contents group information for the grouped contents and AD metadata for the AD provided by linking with the contents. A contents server(304) manages the grouped contents, and transmits the contents and the AD metadata corresponding to the contents by responding to a request of a terminal. An AD server(310) provides an AD file storing AD contents to the terminal. A head-end server(302) provides the contents group information including a list of the grouped contents to the terminal. The contents server transmits the information of the next contents among the grouped contents to the terminal while transmitting the contents and the AD metadata. The contents group information includes a contents group ID and the information for each content included in the contents group.


This GIS is a component of the U.S. Geological Survey, Woods Hole Science Center's Gulf of Mexico GIS database for gas hydrates. This database is intended to organize and display sidescan sonar, seismic-reflection, and sediment sample information collected by the USGS as well as derivative interpretations that are relevant to ongoing hydrate studies in the Gulf of Mexico.


ABSTRACT This article focuses on the significance of material objects for Palestinians in diaspora in terms of their collective identity and memory. The loss of the real places of memory necessitates the creation of material representations to restore bonds to a homeland and in retaining cultural identity. This study illustrates how objects as symbols of a person's collective group ("objects of legacy") help with the creation of a sheltering and nurturing environment, what British psychoanalyst Donald Winnicott calls a "facilitating environment." It also highlights the materiality of objects and argues that their meaning and their capacity to prevent failing memory and sustain a collective identity are generated by their material characteristics and not solely by their social value.


Abstract Introduction. Cholesterol undergoes oxidation via both enzymatic stress- and free radical-mediated mechanisms, generating a wide range of oxysterols. In contrast to oxidative stress-driven metabolites, enzymatic stress-derived oxysterols are scarcely studied in their association with atherosclerotic disease in humans. Methods. 24S-hydroxycholesterol (24S-HC), 25-hydroxycholesterol (25-HC), and 27-hydroxycholesterol (27-HC) were assessed in plasma and arteries with atherosclerotic plaques from 10 patients (54–84 years) with severe peripheral artery disease (PAD) as well as arteries free of atherosclerotic plaques from 13 individuals (45–78 years, controls). Results. Plasma 25-HC was higher in PAD individuals than in controls (6.3[2] vs. 3.9[1.9] ng/mgCol; p = 0.004). 24S-HC and 27-HC levels were, respectively, five- and 20-fold higher in the arterial tissue of PAD individuals than in those of the controls (p = 0.016 and p = 0.001). Plasma C-reactive protein correlated with plasma 24-HC (r = 0.51; p = 0.010), 25-HC (r = 0.75; p < 0.001), 27-HC (r = 0.48; p = 0.015), and with tissue 24S-HC (r = 0.4; p = 0.041) and 27-HC (r = 0.46; p = 0.023). Conclusion. Arterial intima accumulation of 27-HC and 24S-HC is associated with advanced atherosclerotic disease and systemic inflammatory activity in individuals with severe PAD.


The Resonant Wave Energy Converter 3 (REWEC3) is a wave energy converter belonging to the family of Oscillating Water Columns (OWCs). It comprises an oscillating water column and an air pocket connected to a turbine, as in the traditional OWCs. In addition, it has a small vertical U-shaped duct connecting the water column to the open wave field. Because of this particular geometrical configuration, it is also known as U-Oscillating Water Column (U-OWC). The first full-scale prototype was constructed in the Port of Civitavecchia (Rome, Italy), in the context of a major port enlargement. This paper shows some results of the monitoring activity pursued on one U-OWC chamber equipped with sensors measuring water and air pressures. The activity has been conducted for about 1 year. The energetic performance of the plant is investigated in the paper, via the estimation of the capture width ratio.


A 5 year old girl having hereditary sensory neuropathy, type II manifesting as congenital absence of pain sensation and trophic changes in the skin is reported. This child presented with presented with multiple ulcers over hands and feet since 2 years of age. The ulcers were non-healing type with serosanguineous discharge. There is abnormal gait and weakness in upper and lower limbs. On examination there are deep ulcers measuring 5x7x2cms over left feet. Fingers of both hands and feet were mutilated with loss of phalanges, sensations to fine touch, pain and temperature are decreased bilaterally below the mid arm and feet, vibration sensations were normal, proprioception could not be tested due to deformities. Sensory and motor nerve conduction studies showed evidence of sensorimotor axonal neuropathy. INTRODUCTION: The hereditary sensory and autonomic neuropathies (HSAN) includes a number of inherited disorders that are associated with sensory dysfunction (Altered pain and temperature, depressed reflexes) and differing degrees of autonomic dysfunction (Gastroesophageal reflux, Postural hypotention, Excessive sweating). Dyck and Ohta proposed the numerical classification of four distinct forms of HSAN.1 Clinical features, the degree of both sensory and autonomic dysfunction, helps in Diagnosis of these disorders. Biochemical evaluations, with pathologic examinations serving to further confirm differences. Treatments for all these disorders are supportive. Congenital sensory neuropathy (HSAN II) HSAN type II is very low. In prevalence worldwide. CLINICAL PRESENTATION: HSAN II is non-progressive and presents in infancy or early childhood. It is characterized by profound sensory loss and pronounced hypotonia. HSAN II occurs sporadically or with autosomal recessive inheritance. There is no particular ethnic preponderance, or sex preference. Till to date there is no increased incidence of consanguinity. All peripheral sensations are affected but distribution of somatic involvement may alter. Pain, temperature, and position senses are involved. Trophic changes are present, especially in upper and lower extremities, as in our case. Morvan is the physician who first described this disease and hence HSAN II been termed as "Morvan's" disease. The occurrence of 'painless whitlows' or acrodystrophic neuropathy).2,3 HSAN II is associated with repeated occurrence of unrecognized injuries and fractures of hands, feet, and limbs, as well as Charcot joints.4,5 Deep tendon reflexes are decreased and hypotonia is common. Hypotonia delays attainment of developmental milestones. Inspite of marked sensory abnormalities, other aspects of the neurological examination may be normal including mental function, cranial nerves, cerebellar and DOI: 10.14260/jemds/2015/1665


The mission of the UNL project is to allow people across nations to access information in the Internet in their own languages. A good number of researchers in computational linguistic all over the world have already started developing UNL system for their respective native language. But the UNL system is not developed for Bangla. Researchers have been working on this issue. But so far no immense attempt has been made to develop Bangla word dictionary through universal networking language structure. In this paper, we particularly emphasize on development of Bangla Words along with their grammatical attributes with the help of previous works done by English-UNL-Dictionary and morphological analysis in the framework of UNL with goal to produce a Bangla Word Dictionary for UNL which can be used for Enconverter and Deconverter (to convert Bangla natural language sentences to UNL expressions and vice versa.


Studies of early neoplasia have revealed fundamental molecular pathways that drive tumorigenesis. Despite this progress, synthesis of principles of tumorigenesis that span tissue types has lagged. Such forays into the 'comparative anatomy' of cancer can stimulate new models and refine key questions. We envision commonality of pathways important in formation of two early benign neoplasms that are found in different tissues and which are not generally thought to be similar: dysplastic nevi of the skin and intestinal aberrant crypt foci. We propose that these neoplasms result from an ongoing 'tug of war' between the tumor suppression barrier posed by cellular senescence and the tumor-promoting activity of Wnt signaling. Whether or not such neoplasms progress to malignancy or persist in a benign state for many years might be largely determined by the outcome of this tug of war and its modulation by other genetic and epigenetic alterations, such as inactivation of p16INK4a.


Purpose: Recent studies suggest that increased expression of the vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) may play a role in the pathogenesis of diabetic complications. The aim of this study was to assess the potential association of VEGF gene polymorphisms with disease expression of retinopathy in patients with diabetes mellitus. Methods: We studied 96 diabetic patients to determine whether there is an association between diabetic retinopathy in VEGF and VEGFR gene; all patients were unrelated Korean individuals (PDR, n=32; NPDR, n=25; no DMR, n=39). We analyzed VEGF and VEGFR SNP by restriction fragment mass polymorphism (RFMP). PCR was performed with primers designed to introduce a type IIS restriction endonuclease recognition sequence (FokI, BstF5I) ahead of the polymorphism site. The enzymatic cleavage of the products resulted to excision of two oligonucleotide fragments containing the variation site, and then masses of the resulting oligonucleotide fragments were examined by matrix assisted laser desorption time of flight mass spectrometry (MALDI-TOF MS). Difference are seen as the presence, absence, or mass change in peaks corresponding to the fragments affected by existence of polymorphism that have base substitution at the site of variation. Results: We found that the genotype frequencies of two polymorphisms shown to be completely linked to each other (rs3025039; vf1, rs3025040; vf2) and one polymorphism (rs3812867; vfr1) within 3'-untranslated regions (3'-UTR) of the VEGF and VEGFR1 significantly differed between patients with and without retinopathy. The frequencies of the vf1, vf2 and vfr1 did not differ significantly between the NPDR and PDR group Conclusions: These data implicate the polymorphisms in the 3'-UTR of the VEGF and VEGFR1 genes as risk factors for diabetic retinopathy.


Abstract Study question Could the urine estrone–3-glucuronide (E3G) assay be used efficiently to monitor a controlled ovarian hyperstimulation (COH) cycle, in comparison to a serum estradiol (E2) assay? Summary answer E3G testing provides an alternative to serum E2 assessment and a new "patient friendly" approach for COH monitoring. What is known already In many IVF clinics basic monitoring tools for controlled ovarian stimulation during IVF procedure are ultrasound measurements of follicle growth and hormone assessment of serum E2 levels. The monitoring can occur 4–6 times during stimulation, but repeated blood sampling causes patient stress. In contrast, E3G sampling, one of principal metabolites of estradiol in urine, is non-invasive and can be performed by the patients themselves and measured by fluorescent immunoassay. A correlation has been shown between concentrations of E2 present in plasma and concentrations of E3G in different phases of menstruation cycle. Study design, size, duration This is a pilot, prospective study, in a single IVF clinic. Twenty female participants were recruited November 2020 -January 2021, aged 25–43 years and BMI: 18–28kg/m2. Dynamic change of serum E2 and urine E3G at ovarian stimulation monitoring are being analyzed. Participants/materials, setting, methods Concurrent urine E3G and serum E2 values were collected from patients who provided between 2 and 4 samples on different days of their COH IVF cycle. Serum E2 values were assessed routinely, while E3G values were measured and validated using a fluorescent immunoassay Mira Fertility Plus® analyzer.Main results and the role of chance: The urine E3G of assay was validated for intra- and inter-assay variability with a coefficient of variation of < 20%. It was also validated for analytical and functional sensitivity and sample stability. Linear regression of serum E2 and E3G values of 56 early morning urine samples who had evaluated between Days 4 and 13 of menstruation cycle provided an R = 0,81. Urine E3G values also correlated to follicle growth. Patient survey results showed that urine sampling was the preferred method of analysis. Limitations, reasons for caution We have provided proof of principle that urine E3G measurement can be accurately carried out using fluorescent immunoassay technology during routine COH for IVF cycles. The patients' study group has to be expanded in order to enable us to find the appropriate place of urine E3G assay in COH protocol. Wider implications of the findings: Urine E3G testing correlates well to serum E2 assessment in COH. Urine E3G assay provides an alternative to serum-based assessment. The ease of urine sampling allows a reduction in patient discomfort during venopuncture, costs, time, and infection risks in epidemics/pandemics, like COViD–19, and offers a patient-friendly approach to ovarian stimulation. Trial registration number NA


The main purpose of this paper is to study the computational problem of one kind rational polynomials of the classical Gauss sums, and using the purely algebraic methods and the properties of the character sums mod p ( a prime with p ≡ 1 mod 12 ) to give an exact evaluation formula for it.


Controversy regarding the language of the so-called 'Hindustani' area has been an important issue throughout British period which engulfed the Indian freedom movement. Hindi or 'Hindui' was the original form adopted and mentioned as such by the earliest of writers of Hindi. Later, word Urdu came into use to denote the same language called Hindi or Hindui, but with a Persian tilt. The common people continued to regard both forms as one language. Due to Moghal rule, Hindi and later Urdu written in Persian script became the official language of governance. When Britishers came to India they found a very interesting phenomena with regard to language and scripts pravelent in northern Hindi belt. Although the spoken language of the people was one, but it was written in a script, imposed from outside. They tried to confirm the real position by doing various language and script surveys and came to the conclusion that it would be better for communication and understanding if beside Persian script, 'Nagari' script is introduced in Government offices and courts etc. This angered the Muslim community who used to be in an advantageous position with Persian script. Although, language question was never a controversial issue among the common people of this area but due to the two different scripts, it got associated with communal feelings. The emergence of Sanskritized Hindi and Persianized Urdu was the direct outcome of this communal divide. Britishers tried to not only placate this but took full advantage of the issue for dividing people on communal lines. To create communal unity within freedom struggle, Gandhi Ji tried to bring 'Hindustani' into focus which represent the mix of both spoken Hindi and Urdu. He advocated one common language for both the communities which can be written either in Nagari or Persian script. It attracted lot of criticism from both sides. In such a charged atmosphere the question of National language or a National script became more and more controversial. Progressive cultural movement, being the most important literary movement in all Indian Languages, where both Hindi and Urdu writers worked together, tried to understand and solve the language and script problem. On the basis of its analysis and conclusions it mendated that Hindi written in Devnagari script should be the national language of the country and Urdu written in Persian should be regarded as close associate of it. Later, when Indian constitution was framed and implemented, in article 343 regarding the Official language of the Union it was written that 'the official language of the Union shall be Hindi in Devnagari script.'


The effects of childhood maltreatment on adult amygdala function depend on when the maltreatment occurs. The effects of childhood maltreatment on adult amygdala function depend on when the maltreatment occurs.


The research discusses three objectives of the study: 1) to classify the commonest content transfer problems, 2) to clarify the change of meaning or not, and 3) to clarify the change of structural form or not in movie manuscript and its subtitle. The writer uses the theory by Nida and Taber (1969) in order to know the commonest content transfer problems and the structural adjustment.
This research uses descriptive qualitative approach. The data are taken from Ramona and Beezus movie manuscript and its subtitle. The total data are eighty-four. The analysis used in this research is comparative study between English manuscript and Indonesian subtitle.
The results of this research paper are: 1) the commonest content transfer problems involve idioms (21.43%), figurative meanings (5.95%), shifts in central
component meaning (23.81%), pleonastic expressions (14.29%), formulas (11.90%), redistribution of semantic components (10.71%), and provision of contextual conditioning (3.57%); 2) the effects are meaning change (30.95%) and no meaning change (69.04%); 3) the structural form involves sentence structure (98.81%) and corresponding sound (1.19%).


We study one-dimensional coupled map lattices consisting of diffusively coupled Chebyshev maps of N-th order. For small coupling constants a we determine the invariant 1-point and 2-point densities of these nonhyperbolic systems in a perturbative way. For arbitrarily small couplings a\!>\!0 the densities exhibit a selfsimilar cascade of patterns, which we analyse in detail. We prove that there are log-periodic oscillations of the density both in phase space as well as in parameter space. We show that expectations of arbitrary observables scale with in the low-coupling limit, contrasting the case of hyperbolic maps where one has scaling with a. Moreover, we prove that there are log-periodic oscillations of period log N 2 modulating the -dependence of the expectation value of any given observable.


Objective To investigate the expression of stromal cell derived factor(SDF-1) in neovascularization membranes of eyes with proliferative diabetic retinopathy(PDR) and the concentration of SDF-1 in vitreous,and to discuss its correlation with the PDR.Methods The expression of SDF-1 in retinal neovascularization membranes of 12 patients with PDR was examined with immunohistochemical method.The sandwich enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay was used to measure the level of SDF-1 in vitreous of PDR group for 20 eyes,PDR with neovascularization of iris group for 10 eyes,simple proliferative vitreoretinopathy(PVR) group for 20 eyes,normal group for 10 eyes.Results SDF-1 was expressed in 10 cases of 12 neovascularization examples.The mean value of SDF-1 level was(351.31±120.30) ng·L-1 in PDR group,(1 161.49±103.43)ng·L-1 in PDR with neovascularization of iris group,(72.59±8.78)ng·L-1 in simple PVR group,less than 62.5 ng·L-1 in normal group.There was significant differences of SDF-1 level at PDR group compared with PDR with neovascularization of iris group and simple PVR group(t=-18.17,10.31,P0.001).Conclusion SDF-1 may play an important role in retinal neovasularization with PDR,and SDF-1 concentration in vitreous correlate with the PDR disease severity.


Phytochelatins, a series of non-protein thiol compounds, are found universally in higher plants. They usually play an important role in detoxification for heavy metals. If their function mechanism was made clearly, the application of the compounds may be available in remediation on soils polluted by heavy metals. The present paper reviewed the advanced progress of phytochelatin in plant, mainly including the structure of PC, induced biosynthesis, and its function and action in detoxification mechanisms on heavy metals in plants.


Abstract : The proliferation of symbology for Electro-Optical (E-O) displays used in aircraft is a continuing problem. The Symbology Standardization Committee was established to derive a single set of standard symbols for Air Force aircraft JTIDS displays. This report documents the Phase I effort, Paper Study and Analysis of the committee and contains the symbol set recommendations and associated hardware requirements necessary for the JTIDS flight test. The Phase II effort, Simulation and Flight Test, will involve extensive investigation of proposed symbols in order to establish a military standard for JTIDS. (Author)


The chapter concludes the third edition of the book by summarizing what works and what does not in psychotherapy responsiveness and treatment adaptations. The authors present the Task Force conclusions and 28 recommendations for training, practice, research, and policy. The authors conclude that adapting psychotherapy in ways reviewed in this book demonstrably improves treatment outcomes and prevents premature deterioration.


Abstract A study has been made of the extraction equilibrium of nickel(II), cobalt(II) and copper(II) from chloride solutions with 5‐dodecylsalicylaldoxime (Aloxime 800), di(2‐ethylhexyl)phosphoric acid (D2EHPA), bis (2,4,4‐trimethylpentyl)phosphinic acid (Cyanex 272) and its sulphur substituted analogs, called respectively Cyanex 302 and Cyanex 301, dissolved in hexane. The configuration of the metal complexes has been determined by the method of continuous variation. With D2EHPA, Cyanex 272 and Aloxime 800, NiL2, and CuL2 complexes were found. To obtain the octahedral coordination in the case of nickel(II), water molecules are required to occupy the axial positions. Similar results were found for cobalt, although in the case of Aloxime 800, the oxidation of cobalt(II) towards cobalt(III) was suggested. In the presence of Cyanex 301 and 302, NiL2(HL)2 species were formed, whereas for cobalt, the coordination of neutral extractant molecules was only observed with Cyanex 302. The coordination of copper(II) with Cyanex 301 and Cyanex 302 was less pronounced based on Job's method. Furthermore, equilibrium constants and distribution coefficients were calculated for the different metal ions principally assuming that only monomeric ligands are involved.


The effects of pressure on antiferromagnetic (AFM) and superconducting phase transitions of 112-type Ca$_{1-x}$La$_{x}$FeAs$_{2}$ were studied, and the in-plane electrical resistivity $\rho_{ab}$ was measured with an indenter-type pressure cell. The AFM phase transition temperatures of $T_{\rm N}$ = 47, 63, and 63 K at ambient pressure for $x$ = 0.18, 0.21, and 0.26 was suppressed by applying pressure $P$, with superconductivity emerging at critical pressures of $P_{\rm c}$ $\simeq$ 0, 1.5, and 3.4 GPa, respectively. Correspondingly, the slope of $T_{\rm N}$ against $P$ decreased as $dT_{\rm N}/P$ $\simeq$ $-$15 and $-$2 K/GPa for $x$ = 0.21 and 0.26, respectively. Thus, although the AFM phase was stabilized with La doping $x$, the AFM phase was suppressed by pressure, and superconductivity eventually emerged.


This paper reports on the design, fabrication, and testing of a SOI-based tuning-fork gyroscope with high Quality factors (Qs). A tuning-fork structure with high Qs is designed and is integrated with on-chip electrostatic transducers for excitation and detection. With a one-mask fabrication technology, this gyroscope design is fabricated on a SOI wafer with a 30μm-thick device layer. The fabricated devices are further tested for their preliminary performance characterization. The measured Qs of a fabricated gyroscope are 162,060 for the drive mode and 85,168 for the sense mode at 16.8kHz. In order to enhance its rate sensitivity, the frequency of the sense mode is tuned using electrostatic tuning toward that of the drive mode and a minimum frequency split of 6Hz between the two modes is demonstrated. Under this nearly matched-mode condition, a prototype device shows a measured rate sensitivity of 0.02mV/°/sec. The theoretical mechanical resolution due to Brownian noise is 0.3°/hr/√Hz.


We report the first human implantation of an angulated plug in a 5 mm PDA in a child of 11 kg. Implanted through a 5 Fr sheath, the plug showed excellent anatomical alignment. Complete occlusion was documented after 6 hr. This device will extend the limits for interventional closure of PDA. Cathet Cardiovasc Intervent 2002;57:88–91. © 2002 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.


1001. Ambach, W. and W. Rehwald. MEASUREMENTS OF THE DECAY RATE OF THE GROSS BETA ACTIVITY IN FIRN SAMPLES FROM AN ALPINE GLACIER, KESSELWANDFERNER, OTZTAL ALPS, AUSTRIA. Arctic and Alpine Research. 1982, 14(2):163-166. The effective half-lives of the gross beta activity of firn samples of the Kesselwandferner, Otztal Alps, Austria, rise systematically, according to their sequence of deposition after 5000 d the long-living nuclides 137<; and 90SR are dominant. The peak values of the gross beta activity in layers from the period of heavy nuclear weapon tests in the atmosphere in the years 1961 to 1963 can be used as reference levels for dating fun cores for decades.


More than 10 years of on-orbit UC1864 SEU data are compared with typical upset rate calculation methodologies and GCR environments. Results suggest that the most common calculation methods overestimate upset rates by at least 2×. Mitigation techniques are also verified via direct in orbit observations.


Zhangya 2 was a new flax varieties bred by crossing with the parental combination of flax new line 8158-1 with white kernels and oil/flax varieties 7669 with red kernels and oil by Zhangye Institute of Agricultural Science.The average yield of Zhangya 2 was 2 935.35 kg/hm2 and 28.28%、17.94% higher than of the check 7511、longya 7 in flax regional test in Zhangye areas which was conducted during the period 1997-1998.The average yield of Zhangya 2 was 1 956.15 kg/hm2 and 3.71% lower than of the check longya 7 in flax regional test in Gansu province which was conducted during the period 2005-2006.The result showed that Zhangya 2 was the seeds of white and oil rate and linolenic acid content were respectively 42.32% and 57.93%~60.48%.The flax varieties was suitable for planting in 2 100 m below the mountains in the Hexi Corridor,flood and drought in the central and eastern Gansu,as well as Xinjiang,Qinghai,Ningxia,and other provinces(autonomous regions) in similar areas.


Introduction Metallic components with graded materials properties are of particular importance for the realization of lightweight design. The scientific basis of such concepts was provided by the Collaborative Research Centre TRR 30, funded by the German Research Foundation DFG between 2006 and 2015. As part of the project, thermo-mechanically graded components were manufactured by hot metal forming processes [1, 2]. Their characteristic properties are to a large extent determined by final machining operations. In this context, residual stresses play an important role for strength and lifetime of the produced parts. A survey about near surface residual stress states after hard turning of differently heat treated quenched and tempered steel AISI 6150 (51CrV4) is given in [3]. In the present paper, results of similar investigations carried out of Jominy end quench samples are reported and compared with results of samples with homogeneous microstructures.


The COVID-19 pandemic brought with it a sharp economic contraction. Worldwide stay-home orders and calls for quarantine disrupt employment and commercial business activities are limited to those considered "essential." Once closure rules are somewhat relaxed, citizens, companies, and independent business owners recalibrate and adapt to new ways of reassuring a safe way to obtain and deliver services and goods. That said, this "new normal" so far has proven more challenging for some industries and sectors than others. Much uncertainty as to life beyond the pandemic still remains. Forecasts predict the world will have to deal with Covid-related disruptions in years to come.

Business cycle theory predicts expansion under certain periods of contraction, recession, or depression. Innovation theorists point to new discoveries and knowledge as the engine of such movements of contraction and expansion. Alas, these theories focus on internal innovation mechanisms that drive such changes.

Although the current recession follows an idiosyncratic health crisis rather than new technological discoveries—a cause unrelated to innovation theory—we have already witnessed many scientific and business innovations since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. Could these pandemic-related novelties be a prerequisite to be able to attain the capstone of the current business cycle? Can external (rather than internal technological) dynamics be a catalyst to boost the next cycle of innovation and economic growth?

This essay hopes to provide a missing piece of the puzzle and a deeper understanding of the business cycle and innovation theories. It demonstrates via the case studies of health-related shocks that such external factors should be factored into economic recession and growth models. As a normative solution, we propose to make certain laws more flexible to allow not only endogenic innovations to drive expansion and recovery but adopt rules that stifle change to increase preparedness and handle crisis.


The essential process of protein biosynthesis in the cell often gets stalled due to the premature abortion of the translation process and generates a byproduct of peptidyl-tRNA molecules. This defect is corrected by peptidyl-tRNA hydrolase (Pth) by hydrolyzing peptidyl-tRNA to yield tRNA and peptides. In order to understand the mechanism of catalytic action and detailed stereochemical features of the substrate binding site, the structure of Pth has been determined at 1.00 A resolution. The Pth enzyme from Acinetobacter baumannii (AbPth) was cloned, expressed, purified and crystallized. The structure was refined to Rcryst and Rfree values of 0.145 and 0.157 respectively. The electron densities were observed for many hydrogen atoms in the structure. In AbPth, the residues, Asn12, His22, Asn70, Asp95 and Asn116 are involved in the catalytic process. The structure determination revealed that His22 Nᵟ1 forms a hydrogen bond with Asp95 Oᵟ2 while His22 Ne2 is hydrogen bonded to Asn116 Nᵟ2. In this case, the side chain of Asn116 adopts a conformation with  value of 65°. Upon ligand binding, Asn116 adopts a different conformation with  value of -70⁰. In the present structure, the conformation of Tyr68 is observed in the disallowed region of Ramachandran's plot with φ, ѱ values of 80⁰, 150⁰. However, it is observed that Tyr68 adopts both disallowed and allowed conformations in Pth enzymes indicating a structural flexibility. The structure determination also revealed multiple conformations of the side chains of a number of amino acid residues.


English resumé Background Early diagnosis and fast treatment are considered of essential importance for the prognosis in most cancer forms. This also applies to gynecological cancer diseases. To promote fast and efficient diagnosis and treatment several initiatives such as specialised investigative programmes have been implemented. Many of these initiatives are based on a number of symptoms that have been shown to be associated with gynecological cancer. Most of the current knowledge about these symptoms is derived from cancer patients from a secondary care setting, where studies may be flawed by recall bias. This means that the predictive values of the symptoms for later cancer diseases are uncertain. Furthermore, studies have shown that low socioeconomic status (SES) and lifestyle are associated with delayed diagnosis and poorer survival among gynecological cancer patients. The current guidelines do, however, not take SES and lifestyle into account, and whether the investigations of the symptoms are influenced by these factors is yet unknown. Efficient investigation is essential when cancer is suspected, but our current knowledge about cancer symptoms is inadequate on a population level. Thus it is crucial to collect information on the prevalence of the symptoms in the general population, including which investigative courses the symptoms lead to. Finally, the prognostic values of the symptoms in the general population also have an impact on the organisation of cancer investigation and for the communication with patients.


Abstract The aim of the study was to identify sources of resistance of Passiflora rootstocks to Fusarium sp. in two experimental areas with histories of disease foci in Mato Grosso state, Brazil. The experiment was carried out from June 2012 to December 2015 and was of randomized block design with eight treatments in which susceptible cultivar P. edulis was grafted onto hybrids CPAC MJ-H-87, CPAC MJ-H-76, CPAC MJ-H-86 and CPAC MJ-H-88, the commercial cultivar and native P. edulis, P. nitida and P. alata. Mortality rates of grafted plants were evaluated up to 640 days after transplantation. All Fusarium sp. isolates were identified as F. oxysporum f. sp. passiflorae. Plant mortality occurred earlier in the clay area than in the area with sandy clay loam. Grafted plants involving P. edulis as rootstocks were highly susceptible to Fusarium sp. with overall mortality rates above 56.25% considering both soil types, while plants with CPAC MJ-H-76 or native P. nitida rootstocks were more resistant with mortality rates below 12.5%. Grafted plants with CPAC MJ-H-86 as rootstock were highly resistant in clay soil but highly susceptible in soil with high proportion of sand. Only grafted plants involving CPAC MJ-H-76 as rootstock showed moderate resistance.


Biological characteristics (oviposition and survival rates) and esterase banding patterns in native PAGE were investigated to evaluate variation among three populations of Bemisia tabaci Gennadius (Homoptera: Aleyrodidae). Reproductive capabilities of whiteflies from cotton (Gossypium hirsutum L.) and pumpkin (Cucurbita maxima Duchesne) populations were similar on the three host plant species tested. These populations, which had the same wild‐type field origin, reproduced better on either cotton and pumpkin than on poinsettia (Euphorbia pulcherrima Willdenow). In contrast, poinsettia whiteflies exhibited relatively similar reproductive capabilities for the three host species tested. Pumpkin and cotton whiteflies had similar esterase banding patterns ('A' type), while poinsettia whiteflies yielded a different banding pattern ('B' type). In transmission studies, whiteflies from cotton or pumpkin sources did not induce silverleaf (SSL) or white stem (WS) symptoms in Cucurbita spp. tested. In contrast, poinsettia whiteflies were associated routinely with SSL and WS symptoms in Cucurbita spp. following colonization by whitefly adults. From these data, it was possible to correlate a specific esterase banding pattern (A or B) with reproductive capabilities and the ability to induce SSL and WS symptoms.


The study was performed to evaluate the nephroprotective activity on Carbon Tetrachloride induced nephrotoxicity in Wister rats. Rats were divided into group of five. Group I received normal saline solution. Group II received only CCl4 treatment. Group III received silymarin as standard drug. Group IV and V were treated p.o with ethanolic plant extract at low and high dose respectively. The kidney function test (estimation of serum creatinine, total protein and protein urea), physical analysis of urine, determination of biochemical enzymatic parameters and histological studies were conducted. CCl4 treatment caused nephrotoxicity as it showed marked changes in physical, urinary and blood parameters. Co-administration of plant extract with CCl4 has markedly improved all the parameters with a significant reduction in lipid peroxidation and rise in GSH levels. These results suggest that the ethanolic plant extract may be useful in reducing the CCl4 induced Nephrotoxicity.


OBJECTIVE To investigate bacterial distribution and antimicrobial resistance in north China in 2010. METHODS Bacterial susceptibility testing was carried out according to an agreed protocol and standard.The results were analyzed by WHONET 5.5. RESULTS A total of 20 071 clinical isolates were collected from Jan to Dec 2010,of which Gram-negative strains and Gram-positive strains accounted for 67.5% and 32.5%,respectively.The incidence of MRSA and MRCNS were 55.6%and 71.4%respectively.There were 5.1% and 0.2% of E.faecalis and 5.5%and 1.8%of E.faecium strains resistant to vancomycin and teicoplanin,respectively.58.1% of E.coli,32.0% of Klebsiella pneumonia,30.1% of Klebsiella oxytoca and 21.3%of P.mirabilis were ESBLs-positive strains.Isolates of Enterobacteriaceae were still highly sensitive to imipenem and meropenem,the average susceptibility was more than 93.0%.However,up to 29.0%,22.8% of Pseudomonas aeruginosa strains were resistant to the two carbapenems.In the 201 strains of S.pneumoniae,5.4% were identified as PRSP.β-lactamase were detected in 14.8% of Hemophylus influenzae isolates. CONCLUSIONS Bacterial resistance is still on the rise in the area.Vancomycin-resistant Enterococci,carbapenems-resistant Enterobacteriaceae and multidrug-resistant non-fermenters are getting common,which need effective measures to contain further deterioration.


Individuals affected by severe motor impairment lose the ability to move and interact effectively. The severity of motor impairment varies across affected individuals, and conditions like LIS and ALS can fluctuate and deteriorate over time, sometimes within the same day. Despite the increasing availability of augmentative and assistive technologies, existing solutions do not easily adapt to these changing capabilities. In this paper, we present Eyehome 3.0, an extensible multimodal input system which builds user interfaces that adapt to the user via recurrent neural networks. In particular, eye gaze data is used to inform the layout of these user interfaces. We also present a framework for easily developing additional layouts and applications for the system, and how additional devices can be incorporated. We discuss how our participatory design work with Amado, a person with LIS, helped drive the development of the system.


A teaching technique is described which provides variety for Human Sexuality classes of all sizes. For the past 15 years, I have incorporated in class discussions community experts and guests who deal with various social and social psychological aspects of human sexuality on a daily basis. This paper contains discussions of various community professionals and guests that have extensive daily experience on topics covered in the class. This technique provides the students with information about views, policies, and procedures used in the community.


We propose a control system for a master-slave manipulator system having a rate-controlled slave manipulator. In this system, the master manipulator is stiffness-controlled in the Cartesian coordinate system, and the slave manipulator is damping-controlled in the Cartesian coordinate system. The desired velocity of the slave arm is given by a displacement of the master arm from a nominal position. The operator feels virtual contact force from the environment because the contact force is proportional to the displacement when the slave arm motion is constrained by the environment. The proposed method is experimentally applied to manipulators with three degrees of freedom. The experimental results illustrate the validity of the proposed system.


Memory is one of the most fundamental mental processes, and various approaches have been used to understand the mechanisms underlying this process. Nitric oxide (NO), cGMP and protein kinase G (PKG) are involved in the modulation of synaptic plasticity in various brain regions. YC‐1, which is a benzylindazole derivative, greatly potentiated the response of soluble guanylate cyclase to NO (up to several hundreds fold). We have previously shown that YC‐1 markedly enhances long‐term potentiation in hippocampal and amygdala slices via NO‐cGMP‐PKG‐dependent pathway. We here further investigated whether YC‐1 promotes learning behaviour in Morris water maze and avoidance tests. It was found that YC‐1 shortened the escape latency in the task of water maze, increased and decreased the retention scores in passive and active avoidance task, respectively. Administration of YC‐1 30 min after foot‐shock stimulation did not significantly affect retention scores in response to passive avoidance test. Administration of scopolamine, a muscarinic antagonist, markedly impaired the memory acquisition. Pretreatment of YC‐1 inhibited the scopolamine‐induced learning deficit. The enhancement of learning behaviour by YC‐1 was antagonized by intracerebroventricular injection of NOS inhibitor L‐NAME and PKG inhibitors of KT5823 and Rp‐8‐Br‐PET‐cGMPS, indicating that NO‐cGMP‐PKG pathway is also involved in the learning enhancement action of YC‐1. YC‐1 is thus a good drug candidate for the improvement of learning and memory.


Berries, especially their antimicrobial properties, have been studied intensively at VTT over the past ten years in several research projects. In these in vitro studies phenolic berry extracts of common Nordic berries selectively inhibited the growth of harmful bacteria and human intestinal pathogens, without affecting the growth of beneficial lactic acid bacteria.


Ramnath Narayanawamy The Soviet economy is currently in a period of transition from the traditional economic system inherited from the Stalin era to the beginnings of a new system which in many essential respects still needs to be explicitly articulated.


Besides giant elliptical galaxies, a number of low-mass stellar systems inhabit the cores of galaxy clusters, such as dwarf elliptical galaxies (dEs/dSphs), ultra-compact dwarf galaxies (UCDs), and globular clusters. The detailed morphological examination of faint dwarf galaxies has, until recently, been limited to the Local Group (LG) and the two very nearby galaxy clusters Virgo and Fornax. Here, we compare the structural parameters of a large number of dEs/dSphs in the more distant clusters Hydra I and Centaurus to other dynamically hot stellar systems.


1 | IJREAMV02I061823 www.ijream.org © 2016, IJREAM All Rights Reserved. Abstract Data mining concept deals with the mining of knowledge from a huge amount of data. Many techniques exists and are used for the classification and clustering of the data which already exists in an organized form which is based on the likeness or the similarities between the documents in the text processing field. Clustering is a technique that organizes large amount of unordered or unsorted text documents into lesser number of many meaningful and logical clusters. To specify how different two given documents are clustering mechanism needs a particular metrics. In this paper work, we worked on, Cosine similarity, Euclidean distance and Similarity measure for text processing distance measures. The effect of these three measures is evaluated on a real-world data set for the testing of text classification and text clustering problems. The performance obtained by the Similarity measure for text processing is better than that achieved by other measures is hence proved.


Early years consultant and trainer, Tamsin Grimmer, discusses ways to encourage different types of transforming play, allowing children to explore and build an understanding of scientific concepts and processes at an early age. Transforming – children like to explore and see changes, e.g. adding colour to cornflour, mixing paints together, making or manipulating play dough, adding juice to food to see what happens, adding water to sand and/or making sand moulds.


An interesting finding, that the calcined soils can be used as the anode materials for lithium ion batteries (LIBs), is issued for the first time in this work. In the present work, the soils were respectively sintered at 200°C, 400°C, 600°C and 800°C for 2 h, leading to the formation of material a, b, c and d. All the prepared materials were carefully characterized by XRD which indicated that SiO2 was the main component in all resultant materials. SEM images strongly indicated that the morphologies of the resultant materials were closely related to the calcination temperature, and when the calcination temperature was increased from 200°C to 800°C, the lumpy particles were converted into plate-like particles. The consequences of the electrochemical measurements documented that all the prepared materials could deliver a discharge capacity. Interestingly, the discharge capacity of material c was maintained at about 30 mAh g -1 under the current density of 100 mA g -1 after 20 cycles. Although the discharge capacity reported in this work was lower when compared to the currently reported anode materials, this interesting finding was very meaningful to the development of anode materials, owing to the abundant resources of soil and the rather lower preparation cost as well as the very simple preparation process.


The invention relates to a light emitting diode module (13) of a lighting device for a motor vehicle. The light emitting diode module (13) comprises a support element (15) on which at least one light emitting diode (19) mounted and is contacted. To simplify the mounting of light emitting diodes (19) in a light emitting diode module (13) of an illumination device and standardize particularly, it is proposed that the at least one light emitting diode (19) is mounted on a line support (17) and contacted, and (the lead frame 17 ) is in turn secured to the carrier element (15) and contacted.


This paper describes the mathematical model of concentration waves passing through a layer of adsorbent. The analytic solution to this model deduced for eigenwaves of adsorptive layer had been found. It allows finding the analytical decisions for concentration signal of arbitrary waveform passing through adsorbing layer. To do this the concentration signal at the input of the adsorption layer must be decomposed into the set of eigenwaves, and then to obtain the analytical solution for each of these proper concentration waves at the outlet of adsorbed layer. Next, all solutions for their proper concentration waves are combined into a new solution, which is the solution for an arbitrary concentration signal that passes through the adsorbent layer. This approach allows us to find solutions for any periodic adsorption processes and allows to consider the variable component concentrations or variable flow losses at the entrance to the adsorption layer. A wave approach to the analysis of periodic adsorption processes gives an explanation to the empirical Van Deemter equation used in the practice of gas chromatography.


Objective To observe the therapeutic effect and safety of Weialu combined with narrow-band UVB on vitiligo.Methods The 77 patients were divided into 4 groups and the treatment group were treated with Weialu combined with narrow-band UVB.The control group 1,2,3 were treated with Weialu alone,narrow-band UVB alone,and Sicorten plus respectively.Results The total effective rates of treatment group,control group1,control group 2,and control group 3 were 75.0%,42.1%,42.1% and 36.8%,respectively.There were statistical differences of total effective rates between the treatment group and other control groups(P0.05),while there were no statistical differences in the cure rates among the groups(P0.05).Better responses were observed on the head and the face(P0.05).No statistical differences of adverse effects were observed between treatment group and control groups(P0.05).Conclusion Weialu combined with narrow-band UVB is effective for treatment of vitiligo.


Cytosolic protein, p62/SQSTM1, regulates the protein turnover rate, and it interacts with various stress signaling proteins in cells. Accumulations of p62/SQSTM1 have been reported in hearts with cardiomyopathy. We recently reported that p62/SQSTM1 protein deletions reduced beta‐adrenergic response in myocytes and improved chronic ischemia‐induced Calcium (Ca) defect. Here, we studied acute and chronic stress‐induced Ca handling in myocytes genetically suppressed p62/SQSTM1 protein.


We discuss the advantages of the conversion of electromagnetic field problems to the Fredholm second‐kind integral equations (analytical regularization) and Fredholm second‐kind infinite‐matrix equations (analytical preconditioning). Special attention is paid to specific features of the characterization of metals and dielectrics in the optical range and their effect on the problem formulation and on the methods applicable to the mentioned conversion.


The Plurality of cultures in the country of Indonesia can be seen from the diverse ethnics and tribal minorities and the majorities either. The numbers of Klenteng/temple as one of the places of worship of minority Chinese community which has now been given freedom by the government of Indonesia, are still very few. Jin De Yuan Klenteng is one of the mainstay of tourism in the Area Chinatown, Glodok who entered the Old City area in the world. Therefore, the aesthetic value in the pagoda is very important to be raised in order to remain attractive as a tourism asset. How the application of aesthetic elements on the exterior of Jin De Yuan temple, and any decoration is used, by looking at the positive side of social relationships and cultural preservation, is the  point that must be noticed and developed by all of us.


We study the coherent emission from transitions corresponding to different pairs of electron (e) and heavy (hh) or light (Ih) hole subbands in a 500-A wide GaAs-Al/sub 0.3/Ga/sub 0.7/As quantum well by spectrally resolved transient four wave mixing (FWM). The low-temperature linear absorption spectrum shows exciton transitions between electron and hole subbands with the same quantum number as well as exciton transitions.


ABSTRACT The ZrN–SiAlON composite refractory powder was successfully synthesised from zircon and bauxite minerals by the carbothermal reduction nitridation or the aluminothermic reduction nitridation method with three typical reducers, including carbon coke, carbon black and aluminium powder. The effect of reaction temperatures on phase composition and microstructure was investigated using X-ray diffraction and a scanning electron microscopy (SEM), respectively. The thermodynamics equilibrium relationships of the condensed phases were analysed as well. The results showed that carbon coke was the most optimum reducer and when it was used as the reducer, the main final products were granular ZrN with a little β-SiAlON. Nevertheless, ZrO2 was produced during reduction at 1600°C when the reducer was carbon black, because the activity of carbon black was the poorest. Additionally, more byproducts were produced in the case of Al powder used as reducer at 1600°C, such as AlN polytype and Al2O3.


The Overfull Conjecture states that a graph G with 3∆(G) ≥ n(G) is Class 2 if and only if it has a ∆(G)-overfull subgraph. M. Plantholt showed that the Overfull Conjecture is true for graphs with even order and high minimum degree. In this paper we look at graphs with odd order and show under which restrictions the Overfull Conjecture holds true for these.


A simple method of mass-producing shortleaf x slash pine hybrids was attempted. Large quantities of slash pine pollen were spread on unbagged shortleaf flowers in the hope of recovering a high percentage of hybrid progeny and thus materially reducing the cost of producing such hybrids by conventional controlled pollination. The hybrid is very promising, but, as Snyder and Squillace (1965) have shown, seed yields from controlled pollinations have averaged only 8.5 sound seeds per cone.


An improved mayfly algorithm is proposed for the energy saving optimization of parallel chilled water pumps in central air conditioning system, with the minimum energy consumption of parallel pump units as the optimization objective and the speed ratio of each pump as the optimization variable for the solution. For the problem of uneven random initialization of mayflies, the variable definition method of Circle chaotic mapping is used to make the initial position of the population uniformly distributed in the solution space, and the mayfly fitness value and the optimal fitness value are incorporated into the calculation of the weight coefficient, which better balances the global exploration and local exploitation of the algorithm. For the problem that the algorithm is easy to fall into the local optimum at the later stage, a multi-subpopulation cooperative strategy is proposed to improve the global search ability of the algorithm. Finally, the performance of the improved mayfly algorithm is tested with two parallel pumping system cases, and the stability and time complexity of the algorithm are verified. The experiments show that the algorithm can get a better operation strategy in solving the parallel water pump energy saving optimization problem, and can achieve energy saving effect of 0.72%  8.68% compared with other optimization algorithms, and the convergence speed and stability of the algorithm have been significantly improved, which can be better applied to practical needs.


Severe community‐acquired pneumonia (SCAP) is highly prevalent in the Aboriginal population. Few pneumonia severity scores are validated in this population.


2-t-Butyl-4-methylphenol and paraformaldehyde were employed as starting materials to synthesize antioxidant 2246 [(2,2'-methylenebis(4-methyl-6-t-butylphenol)] in the presence of acidic ion-exchange resins as a catalyst(DNW-1).The influences of catalyst amount,solvent amount,reaction time and temperature,as well as the ratios of reactants worked on the yield and purity of antioxidant 2246 were discussed.Optimum reaction conditions were obtained as follows:2-t-butyl-4-methylphenol 32.8 g,paraformaldehyde 3.9 g,DNW-1 12 g,n-heptane 100 mL,span 80 0.5 g,reaction temperature 84~86 ℃,reaction time 4.5 h,the yield(corresponding purity) of antioxidant 2246 was 94.6%(96.6%).The process reduced the waste water effluents.


This letter is in response to an editorial Ecology of Contraception (Obstetrics and Gynecology June 1972) by W.E. Crisp. Dr. Crisp has proposed that a warning be placed on all contraceptive packages saying "Warning--to protect against cancer all women having sexual relations should have an annual examination." Dr. Pion finds the idea good but not the proposed message and takes issue with several statements from Dr. Crisps article. He says 1) it is not well known that incidence of cervical carcinoma is directly related to age at first coitus and number of sexual partners; and 2) that it has not been proved that pills IUDs and foam do not physically protect the cervix or that their availability has relaxed morals and led to skyrocketing VD and increased cases of cervical neoplasia. The author feels all women should have an annual exam whether or not they are having sexual relations and that condoms should be sold as contraceptives as well as agents to protect against disease. Dr. Pion suggests that information included with contraceptives might instruct as to their proper use indicate the conceptive probability if breakage or spillage occur recommend an examination should there be menstrual delay and give a description of venereal disease and methods of prevention.


The present invention discloses a hexagonal mesoporous silicon-containing wound healing gel and preparation method. The composition of the invention comprises: hexagonal mesoporous silica, basic fibroblast growth factor FGF-21, chitosan, surface active agents, surfactants, glyceryl stearate, carbomer, pH adjusting agent and Deionized water. The present invention utilizes mesoporous silica load active substances and active ingredients, can improve its stability and achieve sustained effect; growth factors can stimulate cell migration, cell division and growth between protein synthesis and promote skin capillary formation and tissue growth, conducive scar revision; chitosan can inhibit a variety of bacteria, but also has good film, is conducive to wound healing and hemostasis; Meanwhile, the system also play a role in glycerol monostearate moisturize the skin.


The International Breast Cancer Study Group conducted a phase III trial in Australian/New Zealand (ANZ) and Swiss/German/Austrian (SGA) centres on training doctors in clear and ethical information delivery about treatment options and strategies to encourage shared decision making.


Practice teaching is an important part of quality assurance in distance education,especially the effect of engineering practice teaching will directly affect the quality of professional training.In the development process of China's distance education,practice teaching has always faced with many difficulties,among which the practical teaching of engineering is the most difficult.In the field of design and implementation of distance education practice teaching,appropriate countermeasures should be taken to ensure the quality of engineering practice teaching.


An ozone climatology is presented, based entirely on ozone observations over the target period 1980–1991. The climatology gives zonal mean ozone values, as well as the corresponding interannual standard deviation, for 17 zonal bands (80°S–S0°N) at 19 pressure levels (1000–0.3 hPa), for each month of the year. It is intended mainly for climate simulations with general circulation models (GCMs). For the troposphere and lower stratosphere (1000–10 hPa) the climatology is compiled from ozonesonde observations of 30 ozonesonde stations located around the world. To account for tropospheric longitudinal variability within a zonal band, a data set giving tropospheric total ozone values between 50°S and 50°N is used. For stations within this latitude range the tropospheric profile is scaled with a factor derived from this data set to make it more representative of the zonal mean. Consequently, the corrected profiles of the individual stations are combined within each zonal band, using weighted averaging. These zonal profiles are then attached to zonal monthly mean SBUV-SBUV/2 (solar backscattered ultraviolet) observations in the stratosphere (30–0.3 hPa). Three overlap layers, at 30, 20, and 10 hPa, give an indication of how well these two data sets match. Where possible, the integral of the combined ozone profiles is made consistent with total ozone mapping (TOMS) profiles, by applying a correction factor to the ozonesonde part of the profile, derived from TOMS minus the integrated SBUV-SBUV/2 profile. The resulting climatology is compared with three other ozone climatologies: the predecessor of this one, a climatology compiled by the State University of New York, and a climatology used in the GCM at the Max Planck Institute in Hamburg, Germany. Apparent improvements are better consistent with TOMS (compared with the first climatology) and more realistic ozone values in the tropics and polar regions (compared with the first and second climatologies). There is an overall strong improvement compared with the third climatology, which was generated from an analytical formula and old ozone observations in the 1970s. A unique further advantage of the current climatology is the accompanying standard deviation climatology, giving an indication of the natural variability and reliability of the mean ozone values.


Deep neural networks (DNNs) are increasingly being deployed to perform safety-critical tasks. The opacity of DNNs, which prevents humans from reasoning about them, presents new safety and security challenges. To address these challenges, the verification community has begun developing techniques for rigorously analyzing DNNs, with numerous verification algorithms proposed in recent years. While a significant amount of work has gone into developing these verification algorithms, little work has been devoted to rigorously studying the computability and complexity of the underlying theoretical problems. Here, we seek to contribute to the bridging of this gap. We focus on two kinds of DNNs: those that employ piecewise-linear activation functions (e.g., ReLU), and those that employ piecewise-smooth activation functions (e.g., Sigmoids). We prove the two following theorems: 1) The decidability of verifying DNNs with a particular set of piecewise-smooth activation functions is equivalent to a well-known, open problem formulated by Tarski; and 2) The DNN verification problem for any quantifier-free linear arithmetic specification can be reduced to the DNN reachability problem, whose approximation is NP-complete. These results answer two fundamental questions about the computability and complexity of DNN verification, and the ways it is affected by the network's activation functions and error tolerance; and could help guide future efforts in developing DNN verification tools.


The growing practice of accumulating personal data to generate predictions about users, leverages the need for mechanisms that allow people a more effective control of their data. An emerging field of studies called Human-Data Interaction (HDI), proposes the inclusion of human at the center of the data flow, providing mechanisms for citizens to interact explicitly with the collected data. Researches in HDI have discussed ways to offer Transparency Enhancing Tools (TETs), i.e., tools that support people on HDI issues related to privacy and personal data protection. Many works conducted about TETs focuses on usability issues, exploring aspects such as efficiency, user satisfaction and ease of learning. In this work, on the other hand, we aim to assess the communicability of HDI mechanisms in TETs. Hence, we applied the Semiotic Inspection Method (SIM) to investigate if and how HDI concepts are applied in two different TETs used for personal data management. We triangulated results from the study with findings from another investigation about communicability issues carried out in the same domain, but by observing and interviewing users.


Copyright © 2020 Academy of Acute Care Physical Therapy, APTA ABSTRACT Purpose: Transcatheter aortic valve replacement (tAVR) has emerged as a less-invasive alternative to traditional surgical aortic valve replacement. The purpose of this study was to examine the effect of a novel clinical pathway with an emphasis on early physical therapy and occupational therapy on patients undergoing tAVR in the acute care setting. Methods: A retrospective study was conducted involving 189 patients who underwent tAVR. The control group (n = 74) included patients who underwent tAVR prior to the implementation of the pathway. The intervention group (n = 115) included patients who underwent tAVR following the implementation of the pathway. Inpatient length of stay and discharge disposition were measured. Results: No differences in demographics or clinical variables were found; for example, mean age was 79.5 ± 11.2 years, with 57% male in the control group versus 81.6 ± 8.4 years and 59% male in the intervention group. Length of stay was significantly lower in the intervention group (control 6.9 ± 5.4 days, intervention 4.8 ± 5.4 days, P = .009) and significantly shorter length of stay postprocedure (control 4.8 ± 2.9 days, intervention 3.5 ± 4.0, P = .015). The incidence of the patient's discharge disposition to home increased from 77% of patients in the control group to 86% of patients in the intervention group but was not statistically significant (P = .118). Conclusions: A clinical pathway specific to patients post-tAVR provided early mobility, targeted education, individualized functional goals, and discharge disposition recommendations. Patients in the intervention group experienced reduced hospital length of stay.


Using approximate forms of the absorption coefficient, the frequency‐integrated differential formulations for nongray gases are obtained for continuum and for line radiation.


The paper describes a methodology adopted in the Landscape Protection Plan of Enna, and Siracusa, based on geo-referenced data. Results confirm the relationship with cultural and economic features of the communities. The risk of landscape transformation has been evaluated, taking into account several features of the sprawled settlements, The proposal identifies four categories for landscape protection. A set of general rules aimed at enhancing the quality of these settlements is defined. .


1. Laboratory reared reindeer oestrid flies Hypoderma tarandi and Cephenemyia trompe (Diptera: Oestridae) were weighed to determine progressive weight loss and death weights at treatments with various temperature and humidity conditions.


Results from a study of 100 Head Start children and their teachers suggested that teacher–child relationship quality was associated with children's classroom behaviors. Specifically, teacher–child conflict was strongly related to children's externalizing behaviors. Based on these findings, we present recommendations for the development of policies and practices designed to prevent Head Start children's challenging behaviors and promote their social-emotional competence by enhancing the quality of teacher–child relationships. The results of this study suggest that teachers and children could benefit from the following: (a) teacher training and ongoing feedback regarding the identification of young children's challenging behaviors; (b) extensive support, observation, and feedback for teachers regarding their interactions and relationships with children, particularly those exhibiting challenging behaviors; (c) teacher training and consultation on the use of behavior management techniques within the context o...


Undergraduate training in Ear, Nose and Throat (ENT) surgery is often challenged by the short posting and limited patient contact. Multimedia is an useful tool in medical education to enhance clinical skills training. However, there is limited research on the development of such tools. We describe the development of an innovative multimedia set, where Mayer's principles for designing multimedia were followed in preparing an interactive CD-ROM. The developed set integrated basic sciences and clinical applications. The views of a sample of fourth year medical students and general practitioners were explored about the usefulness of this developed multimedia in facilitating the acquisition of clinical skills. The instructor led the live demonstration for the clinical examination. Then, students interacted with the multimedia set in a ratio of 4 students to 1 computer. Immediately afterwards, they practiced the technique of clinical examination of the nose. End of the session feedback revealed that most of the students found the innovative set had simplified the difficult techniques and rated it very good to excellent. Shortcomings in producing a perfect media tool are related to unavailability of media professionals in the institute. However, the prototype product was found effective in acquisition clinical skills and enhancing cognitive outcome. The continuous development of multimedia materials will improve the skills of the crew and the quality of the multimedia product.


"Having a PA work with me is akin to finding that perfect Ballroom Dance partner, someone who gets it. That moment went everything comes together; when movement no longer requires talking, it just happens. Having a partner who knows what is needed and what comes next, that is the sense I get from working with my PA." -Personal communication from an Experienced Physician to the author. Name withheld on request. Abstract


The purpose of this study was to examine the effectiveness of a set of reflection tools used with college students engaged in service-learning immersion trips. The tools were a set of writing and discussion activities that directed students to ask questions and make observations about the communities they were visiting and to connect those questions and observations to their own values, beliefs, and sources of beliefs. The tools evoked a greater depth of reflection on beliefs and a greater depth of immersion into communities for students. Students became more in tune with their beliefs, changed their beliefs, and articulated their beliefs more clearly through these service-learning immersions, and that process was facilitated by the reflection tools. Students also learned more about the communities that they visited, made personal connections to those communities, and had a greater sense of being immersed in those communities. This process was facilitated by the reflection tools.


Two new subterranean leiodid taxa of the genus Spelaeobates Müller, 1901 from three pits in northern Dalmatia (Croatia), S. coriniensissp. nov. and S. coriniensis nonveillerissp. nov., are described. The morphological traits of the new taxa are enumerated and illustrated. These two taxa are placed in the subgenus Spelaeobates Müller, 1901. The relationships of these two taxa and their close relatives are clarified. Data on the sexual dimorphism of the two new taxa and on the intrasubspecific variability of S. coriniensis nonveillerissp. nov. are presented. We also redescribed S. novaki, the type species of both the genus Spelaeobates and the subgenus Spelaeobates and the closest relative of the newly described species. A key for identification of the taxa of the genus Spelaeobates is included. The new taxa are endemic to the Dinaric Alps of Croatia. Spelaeobates (Pretneriella) kraussi Müller, 1903 and S. (P.) pharensis langhofferi Müller, 1931 were found for the first time outside their type locality.


Abstract W. E. B. Du Bois's novel Dark Princess (1928) has become a paradigmatic text for left internationalism and Afro-Asian solidarity. Du Bois's hybrid progressivism enchants the American welfare state by giving it an intellectual genealogy that emphasizes Eastern political thought. Dark Princess engages with the Arthashastra, an ancient work of political theory that was ostensibly written by the chief adviser to Chandragupta, who unified the Indian subcontinent. The Arthashastra, and the legend concerning its composition, stimulated a Du Boisian fantasy of global leadership, one that parallels the contemporary recuperation of the Arthashastra for power politics. However, the Arthashastra's discussion of social programs and infrastructure also introduces the concept of the welfare state. Interweaving the Arthashastra with Black life in Chicago, Du Bois gives the progressive activist Sara Andrews a surprising agency. Today the most important aspect of Dark Princess is its vision of an antiracist and culturally syncretic New Deal.