IN OUR previous blood studies1' 2 of patients with periodontal disease involving alveolar bone loss, our results suggested that some systemic condition operated as one of the contributing factors in some of the subjects studied. This conclusion was based on the finding that differences were found between a control group and a group with periodontal disease in certain blood constituents and characteristics, such as vitamin C, alkaline phosphatase, sugar, total serum protein, serum globulin, cholesterol, leukocyte count and erythrocyte sedimentation rate. Other investigators have reported higher than normal values fortotal calcium, total cholesterol, uric acid, sugar and local phosphatase (phosphatase in gingival blood) in various percentages of cases of periodontal disease in which loss of bone was present. Lower than normal values were reported for vitamin C, erythrocyte count and C02-combining power in such cases. More recently, Seidler, Miller, and Wolf,3 in an investigation of patients with "precocious advanced alveolar bone destruction," reported serum calcium and cholesterol values that ranged toward the upper limit of normality, somewhat lowered serum phosphatase values, flattened glucose tolerance curves and reductions in specific dynamic action of protein and basal metabolic rate. In an extension of our investigation of the etiology of periodontal disease involving alveolar bone loss the following studies were carried out: comprehensive dental examination, blood chemistry, blood count, dietary record, determination of neutral 17-ketosteroids in urine, physical examination, basal metabolism, Kline test, and evaluation of ovarian function. The results of the study of ovarian function will be reported later.


The integrated forging reinforcements was an important reinforcement part of pressure vessel openings,and it ,s usually applied to pressure vessels of containing flammable?explosible?high pressure?high temperature?low temperature and thick wall?requested fatigue analyses?containing extremity or high endanger medium etc.Author optimized several structuresd dimension and angle values,and finally selected the three structures of integrated forging reinforcements after author had comparatively calculated many cases.It settled the disadvantages which small diameter nozzles can ,t calculated according with codes to meet requirement and the integrated forging reinforcement dimension of big diameter nozzles or manhole were too big in past desining.According to the method offered in this text,designer could gain integrated forging reinforcement result of optimization design that not only meeting reinforcing requirement but also diminishing structure dimensions.


This investigation into abandoned vessels and baches (holiday homes) on Rangitoto Island, New Zealand, addresses to what extent archaeological signatures inform the adaptive reuse of discarded watercraft material in local communities. A review of archaeological, archival and oral history data is undertaken to achieve several aims. These include determining the material available for salvage at the time of abandonment, what cultural site formation processes are visible at the individual vessel sites located in the ships' graveyard at Boulder Bay and locating and recording the reuse of abandoned ship material in Rangitoto's three bach communities: Beacon End, Rangitoto Wharf and Islington Bay. Finally, community behaviours towards abandoned vessels are identified and discussed and this information is used to update understandings of post-depositional site formation processes acting on abandoned vessels. This research is archaeologically significant as it contributes to the theme of discarded watercraft reuse, an understudied area which has the potential to reveal meaningful interpretations about human behaviour. Furthermore, it is significant as the behaviours and attitudes of a disappearing community with a strong community identity and a history of reusing material are recorded.


A new aliphatic ester, pentacosanyl heptacosanoate was isolated from Polygonum polystachyum Wallich. alongwith five known compounds heptacosanoic acid, β-sitosterol, β-sitosterol-β-D-glucoside, quercetin, querectin-3-O-L-rhamnopyranoside. Structures of the isolated coin pounds were established by the application of spectroscopic techniques.


Objective:To compare the differences of type 1 diabetes mellitus(T1DM)SD rat models induced by different doses of streptozotocin(STZ)and to optimize the dose for establishment of T1DM models.Methods:Eighty male SD rats were randomly divided into 4 groups including 3 diabetic groups which were injected with 40,50,and 60 mg/kg of STZ(groups D40,D50,and D60)once through caudal vein respectively,and 1 control group which was injected with citrate buffer solution of the same volume.The fasting blood glucose,urine glucose,and daily water intake,urinary output,and food intake,and body weight of rats in all the groups were observed.Results:The model success rates of groups D40,D50,and D60 were 70.0%,100.0%,and 100.0%,and the death rates were 0.0%,10.0%,and 60.0% respectively.All of the rats in the 3 groups showed clinical manifestation of diabetes mellitus.The fasting blood glucose and urine glucose levels had downtrend in group D40 in 2 weeks,but kept high level in groups D50 and D60.Conclusion:The dose of 50 mg/kg of STZ is the best amount for establishment of T1DM rat models by injection through caudal vein which leads to higher success rate,lower death rate,and stable clinical features.


In this paper, we show how evolution and changes in organizations have been analyzed with the lens of complexity, particularly with Cladistics techniques. We argue how the order chosen to select and adopt new practices can affect to the final results, particularly in human resource management. We conclude that cladistics, an evolutionary classification scheme from the biological sciences, can be used also in human resource management context. Particularly we will demonstrate in this paper that this methodology can be very helpful to understand how an organization select and adopt best practices in human resource management in order to achieve a competitive advantage and the importance in the order they implement them.


Autogamy was studied in a set of 90 crosses and their parents viz. six CMS lines and fifteen restorer lines during spring 2005 in two environments. A wide range of variability for autogamy was observed among the parental lines as well as hybrids. Autogamy in the parental lines as well as in hybrids was affected by the environment to a great extent and it was observed to be genotype specific. The self-fertility of the hybrids was positively correlated with the self-fertility of the restorer lines in both the environments while the female parent did not have significant effect on the autogamy of the hybrids. Strong 'S' allele interaction was observed for realization of the autogamy in some of the hybrids.


With the development of the Semantic Web, ontology is playing an increasingly important role in many research areas such as semantic interoperability and knowledge base. However, building ontology manually is time-consuming and error-prone. In such a case, this paper proposes a method of building domain-specific OWL ontology from relational database automatically. This method establishes three mapping rules from relational database schema to ontology class and property. Based on these rules, an initial ontology of material science that can be modified later is built and ontology instances can be generated. At the end of this paper, a prototype of this method is implemented and the experimental result shows this method is effective and useful in ontology learning and knowledge base building.


Planting seedlings is the most used technique for reforestation used today as it has the highest guarantee of success. There are, however, some cases that direct sowing is preferable whether for economic or technical reasons.On the other hand, there may be conditions of urgency or difficult access to a given site where sowing cannot be carried out according to traditional techniques. These situations make area sowing a valid alternative. We give here the first results obtained from the use of 'seed bombs' for forest 'nucleation' intervention. The study conducted in collaboration with the Italian National Forest Service, is developed along two lines of research: aerial means and flight conditions more suitable for aerial sowing and seed bomb preparation. Studies regarding airplanes, helicopters, and drones gave results relative to which type of helicopter is better suited, the ideal flight altitude and speed for seed bomb throwing and the potentiality of drones. Studies made on the planning of a new type of seed bomb have brought about the realization of a biodegradable covering that contains a mix of seeds, dirt and other components. The results of the first attempts of seed bomb throwing are given here including seed engraftment and germination. In the light of experiments conducted so far, aerial seeding seems to be interesting as a new instrument to be used along with traditional techniques in reforestation planning.


Semi-permanent upset sensitivity in DDR SDRAMs is investigated. A technique to reduce sensitivity is examined. The reduction extends to high LET regions for some heavy ion induced upsets.


The purpose of this paper is to give the reader a better understanding of case methodology used in teaching as opposed to case methodology used in research. Both address the same fundamental issues by asking "how" or "why" questions about a contemporary set of events over which the investigator has little or no control. The case method of research rigorously attempts to answer these questions whereas the case method of teaching attempts to stimulate the students by asking these questions and encouraging the students to ask "how" and "why" questions of their own. By addressing these questions in the case methodology of instruction, education receives two significant benefits. First, students are tasked with applying and honing their critical thinking skills, e.g. defining issues, using sound reasoning, and making decisions. Second, instructors maintain that all important tie with industry through the development and use of cases in the classroom. This paper gives a brief description of the evolution of engineering education that emphasizes the need for new teaching methods addressing the needs of educators, students, and industry. This paper will also enlighten the reader on case teaching by presenting a historical account of how case methods of teaching were initially developed and where they are commonly used today. Next, a description is given of what the case method of teaching is and, just as important, what it is not. Finally, the importance of case methodology in engineering research and its potential impact on case methodology in engineering education are discussed.


The blood pressure in the central retinal vein is supposed to be at last as high as the orbital cererbospinal fluid pressure (CSF‐P) plus a hypothetical trans lamina cribrosa outflow resistance‐related pressure. The central retinal vein pressure can non‐invasively be estimated by modified ophthalmodynamometry. The talk will present results of clinical studies in which ophthalmodynamometry was used to estimate the orbital (and intracranial) CSF‐P and to estimate the orbital tissue poressure. The findings could be helpful for the discussion whether an abnormally low CSF‐P is associated with glaucomatous optic neuropathy


In this study, three kinds of commercial probiotics were studied to maximize broiler chickens performance. 160 male broiler plots, commercial strain, 308 vertexes in randomly plan having 4 treatments and 4 replications were divided to 10 groups having similar average weight. Chickens were divided into four groups: 1- control group (without probiotics), 2- experimental group containing Protexin, 3- experimental group containing Primalac, and 4- experimental group containing Calciparine. The effects of probiotics on carcass and some internal organs were measured and results shows that feeding broilers with probiotics have significant effects (P < 0.05) on full carcass weight, empty carcass weight, head weight, neck weight, brain weight and also ileum weight, while it appeared insignificant on other results. According to the results, it can be concluded that feeding chicken broilers with these probiotics have positive effects on growth and carcass traits of chicken broilers. Thus, the use of these probiotics for broiler plots, commercial strain, 308 vertexes is recommended.


In this paper we analyse the introduction of irrational and real numbers in secondary textbooks, and specifically the propositions on how these should be taught, in a sample of Brazilian textbooks used in state schools and approved by the Ministry of Education. The analyses discussed in this paper follow an institutional perspective (using Chevallard's Anthropological Theory of Didactics). Our results indicate that the notion of irrational number is generally introduced on the basis of the decimal representation of numbers, and that the mathematical need for the construction of the field of real numbers remains unclear in the textbooks. It seems that textbooks used in secondary teaching institutions develop mathematical organisations which focus on the practical block.


The chapters in this volume approach Korean legal history from the perspective of comparative legal traditions. The contributors' shared premise is that the evolution of Korean law can be best understood when viewed in terms of its interactions with outside laws. Of course, this is not an idea unique to Korea. Scholars have shown borrowing is a major vehicle of legal change. Roscoe Pound wrote that the "history of a system of law is largely a history of borrowings of legal materials from other legal systems and of assimilation of materials from outside of the law."1 Alan Watson stated "borrowing from a different jurisdiction has been the principal way in which law has developed."2 State building draws legitimacy from law which, as a supposed symbol of rationality and universal principles, is amenable for diffusion and reception. Both Pound and Watson had Western law in mind—laws originating from Roman law—when they made the observations above, but their views are universally applicable to law, including that of East Asia. Law remains one of the least understood aspects of East Asian tradition, even in the case of Chinese law. Premodern Chinese law, along with the laws of Korea, Japan, and Vietnam, had long been regarded as little more than a recitation of Confucian moral injunctions, with its penal legal system functioning as an apparatus for a sort of Oriental despotism. The conventional view that traditional East Asia did not have a law worthy of its name was a result of an illinformed cultural bias of Western jurists in the nineteenth century. This outdated opinion has been effectively disputed by scholars who showed that features of European codes of the eighteenth century had existed in Chinese codes dating from the Tang (618–907) and Ming (1368–1644) empires.3 It is now broadly accepted that the development of East Asian law was different from


The planning process of the Indian government has undergone many changes since its launch in 1951. Decentralised local level planning is currently accepted as the national planning strat egy. Towards this end, the Constitution (73 rd and 74 th Amendments, 1992 & 1993) has been amended to empower the State Governments to form the Institutions of Local self -Governance (ILG). The mandates of such local level bodies are to draw up and implemen t integrated development schemes. These schemes require the collation and collection of data relating to local resources as well as the appropriate tools for processing the data to generate relevant information for local level planning. To address this need, the Department of Science & Technology (DST), Government of India, launched the Natural Resources Data Management System (NRDMS) programme with the purpose of developing and providing geo-Information and Communication Technologies (geo -ICT) and tools to potential users. NRDMS started in 1982 as an R&D programme and has consumed about US$2 million to date. Many tools and techniques have been developed and demonstrated to potential users, including some ILGs. However, a recent NRDMS programme assessment revealed that utilization of geo -ICT tools and techniques has not been institutionalized in ILGs. The most prominent reasons include: (i) lack of technological capacity at ILGs (ii) poor linkage of geo-ICT with the organizational work flows at ILGs, ( iii) unavailable standardised and up -todate spatial data at all levels and (iv) lack of data sharing. Currently, joint federal efforts between DST and the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) to implement the Indian National Spatial Data Infrastru cture (NSDI) are expected to address the data availability and sharing problem at a federal level. Hence, building the requisite technological and organizational capacity at ILGs deserves special attention. In this paper, we (i) highlight the evolution of the NRDMS programme over the past 20 years, (ii) propose a framework for the assessment & development of technical and organizational capacity of ILGs, (iii) develop a local Spatial Data Infrastructure strategy for the generation and sharing of data pert inent to local level planning and (iv) outline a validation methodology of the proposed framework at the Bankura District of West Bengal in India.


To assess the reasonableness of projects to improve the governance of commercial sex, the author explores how rationality in its current hegemonic Western sense is a cultural construction, perceived differently across time and space within Europe. The author examines some aspects of how varying conclusions are reached about which legal prostitution regime to impose, taking into account the role of cultures, worldviews, and interpretation. The author avoids the conventional classification of policy by country that results in unsubtle and overdetermined nationalistic explanations. Current projects to govern prostitution show how the traditional Western idea of rationality fails to lead to social betterment. Worldwide, social policy on prostitution tends to follow Western cues, in seeming acceptance that West is the best, with the most progressive, most enlightened approach. The rational project is, therefore, not limited to European geography.


Abstract : The case history and necropsy findings of a juvenile female sooty mangabey are presented. The monkey was parasitized by lung worms of the Metastrongylidae family, the larval form of the pentastome Porocephalus armillatus, the malarial parasite Hepatocystis kochi and the pancreatic fluke Brodenia serrata. The possible role of each parasite as a contributing factor in the death of the animal is discussed. (Author)


Based on one-dimension wave theory, the propagation law of elastic wave along the rock bolt, rock medium and their coupling system are researched, and the attenuation law and propagation mechanism of wave in the anchoring system are obtained. Meanwhile, the studies on end reflection and dynamic response under load are also carried out experimentally, the relationship between anchoring length and excited wave length is obtained when the end reflection of bolt emerges, and it is concluded that under the condition of bolt loaded, as the load increases, the reflection of the upper interface of anchoring segment weakens while the end reflection strengthens relatively, hence the energy attenuation increases. These results provide some important theory basis for measuring the effective anchoring length of bolt, judging the bonding quality of anchoring end and surrounding rock, and estimating the utmost load force of bolt.


One of the biggest challenges of horizontal well drilling has always been the technology
barrier involved. Today, horizontal well drilling, is a common practice that have already overcome
most of the technological and operational challenges. The challenges are those related to better
reservoir characterization and the use of tools that achieve higher resolution in order to reduce the
geologic risk during drilling.


Abstract The compact plasma-thrombin technique is a simple and effective method for preparing cells for histopathology. However, the minimum cell suspension concentration necessary to prepare a clot of sufficient size and density has not been determined. A cell line of known concentration was serially diluted in order to determine the minimum cell suspension concentration required to produce a clot of reasonable size and cell density.


Aretino's death in 1556 coincided with a major shift in artistic, ethical and political attitudes governing early modern Italian culture. The experimental and highly creative drive based on the fundamental claim to freedom – in the arts like in religion and politics – that had inspired his generation came to a sudden end, being substituted by a culture in which order, control and obedience were of paramount importance. While this shift had been seasoning for some time, from the mid 1540s onwards, it was able to impose itself only at the end of the next decade, but with great force and long lasting effects. In this violent clash of cultures Pietro Aretino became a key figure of undisputed symbolic importance, recognised by partisans of both sides for whom he was a vilain or a hero. For many he represented even a combination of evil and excellence, as his legacy was seen with both disgust and admiration. Yet, its impact is undisputed, since both detractors and admirers were well aware of the far reaching implications of his example, rejecting it, contemplating it with curiosity, or using it as inspiration for their own projects. Only when in the mid nineteenth century scholarly historiography on early modern Italy developed, Aretino's highly controversial and contested reputation changed. Starting from Burckhardt's still somewhat ambiguous celebration as one of the finest specimens of a 'Renaissance man' wholly dedicated to develop his individuality and enjoy life, Aretino slowly became recognised as what he is: a profoundly innovative and courageous spirit who both as an artist and as a public intellectual imposed himself in a still predominantly closed context, providing fundamentally new ideas and examples to his generation and far beyond. Modern scholarship on Aretino has been developing this assessment into what now is a rich


Objective: To investigate the effect of natural and broken pine pollen on rats growth and development, observe configuration and calculate broken ra te of natural pine pollen in alimentary canal. Methods: 40 weanling SD rats were randomly divided into 2 groups based on body weight, natural pine pollen group and broken pine pollen group. Every group had 20 rats (10 male rats and 10 femal e rats). Natural and broken pine pollen were given at a level of 50% in each gro up. In the end of the experiment (40 days), investigating body weight, weight ga in, food intake, food efficiency and protein efficiency. In dejecta, the configu ration of natural pine pollen was observed under phase contrast microscope, and the broken rate was calculated. Results: there was no significant difference bet ween 2 groups in rats body weight and weight gain (P0 05). Food intake of natural pine pollen group was higher than broken pine pollen grou p (P0 05); food efficiency and protein efficiency w ere lower and significant lower than broken pine pollen group ( P0 01, P0 05 ). The broken rate of natural pine pollen in ali mentary canal was 65 9~67 1% that was lower than the broken rats of broken pi ne pollen. The organs relative weight of adrenal gland of natural pine pollen group was higher than broken pine pollen group (female: P0 01, mal e: P0 05). Conclusion: Ingesting a great deal of natural pine pollen can effect rats growth and development in a certain extent, and natural pine pollen can cause the hyperpla sia of adrenal gland.[


This paper proposes a new solution to balanced inverter to achieve near zero common-mode voltage generation for a three-phase inverter. The neutral-point diode-clamping solves the issue of desynchronization of the balanced inverter. As the switching frequency of PWM inverter can be increased with the advances in power semiconductor technology, the common-mode voltage related issues in motor drives, such as EMI emission and bearing current damage, will become progressively significant. The balanced inverter topology has been previously introduced as a means to achieve common-mode voltage cancellation. However, the topology may suffer from the desynchronization of the switching edges, which leads to imperfect common-mode voltage nullification. This paper analyzes the desynchronization issues of the balanced inverter topology and proposes the neutral-point-clamping diodes as a simple and effective solution.


Advances in the treatment of atherosclerotic disease by transluminal angioplasty and intra-arterial stenting have led to the development of a transfemoral endovascular approach to the treatment of aortic aneurysmal disease. The authors investigated this technique using an endovascular graft employing self-expanding anchors for the exclusion of infrarenal aortic aneurysms. They investigated the technique of transfemoral endovascular aortic grafting in 13 male mongrel dogs weighing an average of 30 kg. Eleven animals had fusiform infrarenal aortic aneurysm models created. One week to three months after surgery all animals underwent midstream aortography under general anesthesia to examine aneurysm morphology. A 14 French catheter was introduced through the right common femoral artery, and under fluoroscopic guidance the endovascular graft was delivered in an infrarenal aortic position. Completion aortography was then performed to confirm placement. They tested two endovascular graft prototypes. The first employed a proximal anchor attached to the graft and a separately delivered distal anchor. Successful graft delivery was achieved in five of six attempts. Unsuccessful graft delivery occurred in 1 case because of an inability to negotiate aneurysm tortuosity. After delivery graft twisting occurred in 1 case and graft invagination occurred in 2 others upon the attempt to deliver the distal anchor. Successful exclusion was achieved in 3 of 4 remaining cases with an aneurysm model using this prototype. The second prototype employing proximal and distal anchors attached to the graft was successfully deployed in seven of seven attempts. Successful aneurysm exclusion was achieved in 5 of these 7 cases. Failure to exclude the aneurysm neck occurred in 2 cases. In this preliminary study the authors found the concept of endovascular delivery of a self-anchoring tube graft to be feasible. The optimal delivery system is flexible and possesses a small outer diameter to allow a transfemoral approach through moder ately tortuous iliac arteries. Accurate delivery is aided by intermittent fluoroscopic examination. Doubly anchored grafts are necessary to ensure aneurysm exclusion and prevent graft twisting. Self expanding anchors allow simple endovascular graft deploy ment in a single pass. Continued animal investigation into the fate of aortic side branches, distal embolization, and graft migration is necessary to ensure the eventual success of this technique.


EDITOR,—John Cairns's editorial entitled "The costs of prevention" should more accurately have been titled "The costs of screening."1 Cairns perpetuates the widespread misconception that prevention consists only of screening programmes. Prevention encompasses much more than screening, …


The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's portion of the House-passed Department of Commerce appropriations bill (HR 2608) for FY 1992 is $1.4 billion, $117 million less than requested by President Bush and about $24 million over FY 1991's appropriation.

The bill cut a major part of the modernization of the National Weather Service. For FY 1992, $423.7 million would go to the NWS, a cut of about $85 million from the president's request of $508.6 million and about $30 million below FY 1991's appropriations.


The pioneers of neurosurgery in nineteenth century Britain, such as Macewen and Horsley, were hampered by insufficient knowledge of neurology and neurophysiology, inadequate anaesthesia, and an underdeveloped surgical technique. By the early years of this century, however, advances had taken place which were seized upon by Harvey Cushing, the American who became the father of modern neurological surgery. Three people were the pillars upon which British neurosurgery has stood: if Norman Dott was the best technician among them and Sir Geoffrey Jefferson the most genial and philosophical, it was Sir Hugh Cairns (Figure 1) who was the greatest teacher1. Cairns had an attractive personality combined with infinite drive and dedication. He allowed nothing to stand in his way if he felt that what he was doing was right. He was a man who inspired his colleagues with respect and devotion and who served his patients and the institutions with which he worked with incredible energy and determination.


AbstractThe importance of stratospheric influences for medium-range numerical weather prediction (NWP) of the troposphere has led to increases in the heights of global model domains at operational centers around the world. Grids now routinely extend to 0.1 hPa (approximately 65 km) in these systems, thereby covering the full depth of the stratosphere and the lower portion of the mesosphere. Increasing the vertical extent of higher-resolution limited-area models (LAMs) nested within the global forecasts is problematic because of the computational cost of additional levels and the possibility of inaccuracy or instability in the high-speed stratospheric jets. An upper-boundary nesting (UBN) technique is developed that allows information from high-topped driving grids to influence the evolution of a lower-topped (~10 hPa) LAM integration in a manner analogous to the treatment of lateral boundary conditions.A stratospheric vortex displacement event in the winter of 2007 is used to study the effectiveness of th...


The controversial black-box warning for antidepressants describing the possible link between use of these drugs and suicide in adolescents has sparked an active debate regarding the appropriate treatment of depression in younger patients. The warning, required in the labeling of at least 32 commonly prescribed antidepressants, not only focuses attention on concerns about these medications for pediatric patients but also highlights a widening gap between the needs of the approximately 2.7 million US children and adolescents with significant depression and the nation's relatively small number of trained child psychiatrists. However, a growing recognition of this unmet need is driving new efforts to address the problem. Primary care pediatricians, family medicine practitioners, and psychiatrists are collaborating to formulate and promote guidelines and other measures.


One way to broadcast a popular video is to partition the video into segments, which are broadcast on several streams periodically. The approach lets multiple users share streams; thus, the stress on scarce bandwidth can be alleviated without sacrificing viewers' waiting time. One representative approach is the staircase broadcasting (SB) scheme, which can broadcast a video using multiple streams by having new viewers wait no longer than /spl theta/(L/N) time, where L is the length of a video, and N is the number of segments. In comparison with other segmented schemes, the SB scheme requires a smaller disk buffer and lower disk transfer rate. However, the scheme mainly supports transmission of CBR-encoded videos. We propose a simple VBR staircase broadcasting (SVSB) scheme, which supports VBR-encoded videos and its bandwidth requirements are constant. Some bounds on the bandwidth consumption, the buffer requirements, and the required disk transfer rate are also developed. Experimental results indicate that the SVSB scheme outperforms the variable bandwidth harmonic broadcasting (VBHB) scheme on maximum buffer requirements, and maximum required disk transfer rate.


Currently, methods for the detection of brain edema in patients or laboratory experiments are not ideal. MRI does not permit time resolution of injury and intracranial pressure monitoring is invasive. The authors have performed experiments on a model of brain edema to examine near infrared imaging as a convenient, low cost and noninvasive method of monitoring brain edema. The authors prepared an in vitro model of edema consisting of serial dilutions of Intralipid/sup TM/, a fat emulsion, to simulate varying degrees of brain water content. NIR light at two wavelengths (920 nm and 980 nm) was used to assess the water content of Intralipid/sup TM/. The authors obtained a correlation coefficient of 0.98 between water content and NIR absorption difference. They used the CCD system to image a model with spatial variations in water content. Their preliminary results suggest NIR spectroscopy as a useful technique for monitoring brain edema in both clinical and laboratory settings.


Some signal reconstruction problems allow for flexibility in the selection of observations and hence the signal formation equation. In such cases, we have the opportunity to determine the best combination of observations before acquiring the data. In previous work, we defined a mean-squared error (MSE) selection criterion based on the known signal formation equation. Furthermore, we proposed the use of sequential backward selection (SBS) to optimize this criterion. Although SBS is suboptimal, it performs consistently well. In this paper, we analyze the performance of SBS and develop an upper bound on the MSE of the SBS-optimized solution. This upper bound provides analytical justification for the claim that SBS performs well in spite of being suboptimal. Furthermore, we derive a lower bound on the MSE of preliminary combinations of rows. This lower bound can be used as a point of reference for evaluating the upper performance bound of the SBS algorithm.


Several projects that have demonstrated the advantages of using thick composite armor technology for structural applications in armored combat vehicles are discussed. The first involved composite cargo doors for the Marine Corps LVTP-7 amphibious landing vehicle. Another was a demonstration composite turret that offered a weight reduction of 15.5 percent. The advantages of this composite armor compared to metallic armors used for combat vehicle hull and turret applications are reduced weight at equal ballistic protection; reduced back armor spall; excellent corrosion resistance; reduced production costs by parts consolidation; and inherent thermal and acoustic insulative properties. Based on the encouraging results of these past programs, the Demonstration Composite Hull Program was started in September 1986. To demonstrate this composite armor technology, the Army's newest infantry fighting vehicle, the Bradley Fighting Vehicle (BFV), was selected as a model. A composite infantry fighting vehicle, designated the CIFV for this program, has been designed and fabricated and is currently undergoing a 6000 mile field endurance test. The CIFV demonstration vehicle uses the BFV engine, transmission, suspension, track and other equipment.


A University of California author or department has made this article openly available. Thanks to the Academic Senate's Open Access Policy, a great many UC-authored scholarly publications will now be freely available on this site. Let us know how this access is important for you. We want to hear your story! Neuronal regeneration takes place in the primary relay of the () olfactory system, the olfactory epithelium OE ; however, its synaptic target in the central nervous system, the olfactory () bulb OB , undergoes continual neurogenesis but not true regeneration. In this review, cell interactions and growth factors regulating neurogenesis in both OE and OB are discussed. In addition, regulation of regeneration in the OE and regulation of neurogenesis in the OB are compared, with the goal of identifying characteristics that may account for the different abilities of these two tissues to regenerate.


Owing to the ease with which aldehydes are oxidized by halogens it has proved impossible to follow the base-catalysed enolization of aldehydes possessing a-halogens by measuring the rate of zero-order halogenation, which is the usual technique applied to ketones. A reaction whose rate appears to be controlled by the ionization rate of acetaldehyde is the condensation between formaldehyde and acetaldehyde, which ultimately yields pentaerythritol. This has a rate law:


A report studying and critically analyzing growth of the media in football from past to future, comparing and contrasting the roles of the print media, radio, television and the internet in particular to find how they have driven changes in the sport. Primary research was used in concurrence with secondary research to support the hypothesis. This study aims to identify the reasons in which fans have changed the way they keep up to date with football and the emergence of technology available to them.


The forced volume magnetostriction ∂ω/∂ h and the electronic contribution to the bulk modulus B e in FeNi alloy are calculated with use of the Libemian-Pettifor virial theorem and the full single site approximation in the 2-field functional integral method in order to clarify the origin of the Invar effect. It is shown that the large ∂ω/∂ h in the Invar region is caused by the large temperature variation of the derivative of (the amplitude of the Fe local moment) with respect to the field h , the softening of the bulk modulus by the increase of the volume change of . It is found that the minimum in B e occurs below T c because of the suppression of the temperature variation of . The high-field susceptibility, the paramagnetic spin susceptibility and ∂ T c /∂ P are also calculated.


By the development of > style was preceded the ideological doctrine promulgated during the reign of Nicholas I. His >, whose triad of <<Orthodoxy, nationality, and autocracp) represented an attempt to revive the Russian past and its traditions. Because they gave specific visual content to this doctrine as a style expressive of the national spirit. The more characteristic product of this doctrine in architectural forms was a memorial Church of Christ the Savior, dedicated to the Russian sacrifice in the Napoleonic invasion and projected by architect Konstantin Ton (1794-1881). In the mid of XIXth some of Tons churches were built in Petersburg and its vicinity under the project of K.Ton in Russian-Byzantine style, as well as churches in Sveaborg, Kostroma, Saratov, Elts, Zadonsk, Rostov-on-Don, Krasnoyarsk and Tomsk. The late 1830s and 1840s years characterized Russian precapitalist era and in architecture corresponded with the decline of neoclassicism. The culmination of this tendency came in the works of architect Montferrand and the Cathedral of St. Isaac of Dalmatia in Petersburg (1818-58). Alexander I initiated the cathedral competition and in 1818 the project was awarded to the young French architect Auguste Ricard de Montferrand (1786-1858). The plan of St. Isaac's cathedral can be classified as (inscribed cross)), but with a longitudinal extension in the manner of a basilica. The culmination of the structure was a large drum in the form of a rotunda and a dome surmounted by a lantern. At each comer of the central cube, the design called for smaller cupolas over drums that also served as the church bell towers. The gilded ribbed dome, resting above a rotunda with monolithic Corinthian columns of red granite and a balustrade, was at the time of its construction one of the largest in Europe (almost 25.8 meters in outer diameter) and technically the most advanced in its triple-shelled iron form and truss system. The tension between the great height of the cupola (total height of the cathedral is 101 meters) and the horizontal emphasis of the structure can be seen as a defect of a structure designed at a period in which the harmony of classical tectonics was no longer clearly understood or valued. Simultaneously with the decline of neoclassicism extends a spectrum of stylistic tendencies. The expansion of architectural palette had already begun in the second half of Nicholas I's reign. It continued with particular intensity through the reigns of Alexander I1 (ruller 1855-81), Alexander I11 (ruller 1881-94) and Nicholas 11 (1894-1917), right up to the fall of the monarchy. The era of reforms that began with the liberation of the serfs in 1861


The result of long-term experiment conducted on fluvo-aquic soil indicated that:different fertilizations had marked effect on the content and properties of soil organic matter(OM).Both chemical and organic straw fertilizers increased the soil OM content,but differed in the effect on the OM properties.Chemical fertilizer tended to increase all fractions of OM and promote the ratio of(loose+stable)/fastened OM fractions,this might lead to the consumption of soil fertility.The effect of organic fertilizer on the OM fractions was not stable.Both chemical and organic fertilizers increased the soil humus content,but the former stimulated the accumulation of humic acid(HA),and showed little effect on the fulvic acid(FA),thus decreased the HA/FA ratio;on the contrary,the latter stimulated the FA,but showed little effect on the HA,and promoted the HA/FA ratio.Chemical fertilizer degraded the soil OM quality and the organic fertilizer improved it,therefore,the combined application of chemical and organic fertilizers was much benefit in practice.


The objective of this project was to review existing GDOT specifications, mix design and construction procedures for asphalt concrete and to make recommendations for improvement where appropriate. The two primary areas of concern were aggregate segregation and rutting of asphalt pavements. Laboratory tests to study segregation showed that the loss of desirable mixture properties is significant when the gradation of the mixture is approximately 10% coarser than the job mix formula on the No. 8 sieve. Quality control is very important in reducing segregation. There is no correlation between the variability of plant sample gradations and the amount of segregation. The study of rutted pavements found that where in-place voids after traffic was low (1.5 to 3%) there were problems with rutting. Several rutted pavement projects had deviations in plant produced material of 2 to 5% on the No. 200 sieve.


Government policy could compress the small scale business sector in any economy if not giving careful attention, hence, this study assessed the nexus between government policies and performance of small scale bread bakeries in Nigeria. Multi-stage sampling technique was used to sample 107 bread bakeries using structured questionnaire. Descriptive, profitability ratios and linear regression were employed. Profit margin was higher for those that were trained by government, received credit and pay tax when compared to their counterparts who did not benefit from these policies. The regression results showed that none of the policy variables was significant with profit but amount paid for registration, year of business registration and licensing procedure significantly affected assets accumulation. Therefore, this study concludes that for any bakery to commence operation, it must be registered and have a specific standard of assets. Hence, governments should streamline the licensing procedure and also reduce registration amount. Keywords: Government Policies, Small scale, bread bakery, performance, Nigeria


Summary The aim of the studies was to examine the effect of feeding the laying hens the mixtures containing of borage (Borago officinalis) seeds on the production results and egg morphological quality and fatty acids composition of the eggs. Experiment was conduced on the Messa 45 laying hens. At 25 weeks of age, the birds were divided in two feeding groups. The laying hens from experimental group (E) received the mixture containing 7 % of borage seeds. The mixture in the control group C did not contain any oil plant seeds and fat was not added. The mixtures given to the hens during the experimental period were characterised by the similar feed value (metabolizable energy ~11 MJ/kg, crude protein ~ 18%). After 2 weeks of feeding the experimental mixtures, 30 eggs were collected in each of the groups and destined for evaluation of morphological quality and fatty acids composition. The following determinations were made: egg weight, thick albumen quality, yolk colour, yolk weight and index of the shell. Feed conversion ratio per one egg was lower in the experimental group E in comparison to the control by 12 g. In E group yolks was smaller than in C group. The analysis of the composition of fatty acids showed a higher level of PUFA in the yolks of the eggs from the experimental group. The ratio of n-6:n-3 acids was favourable in both groups.


Modulation Transfer Function (MTF) is a means of characterizing sensor spatial resolution and is used to measure image quality during in-flight commissioning phase. Another important parameter is the Effective Instantaneous Field of View (EIFOV), which is also used to measure system performance. This work describes three approaches to estimate the effective spatial resolution of Charge-Coupled Device (CCD) cameras aboard China–Brazil Earth Resources Satellite (CBERS)-1 and CBERS-2. These approaches use artificial and natural targets to estimate the EIFOV in across-track and along-track directions. CBERS-1 and CBERS-2 have the same specifications and carry three sensors: the Wide Field Imager (WFI), High-Resolution CCD Camera and Infrared Multispectral Scanner (IRMSS). The results obtained from these methods are compared with those of preflight measurements. The results have shown that the effective spatial resolutions in the across-track direction, for both CBERS-1 and CBERS-2 cameras, are worse than those in the along-track direction. Furthermore, it has been observed that their spatial resolutions are not consistent with the camera specifications in both directions. Although the methodologies presented here have been used to estimate the spatial resolution of CCD cameras aboard CBERS satellite, they can also be used to estimate the spatial resolution of similar sensors.


With the development of data collection and storage techniques,excessive and unorderly rules are generated by traditional association rule mining,which can not meet interest of users. To solve this problem,an interestingness measure of association rules based on information entropy is proposed to mine interestingness association rules. Correlation analysis for categorical variables is adopted to eliminate false and erroneous rules from the primitive set,and a framework for evaluating the interestingness degree of rules based on information entropy is proposed. Since the method does not depend on the prior knowledge of users,it can represent the information hidden in the data accurately. Simulation results on both real and synthetic datasets show that the proposed algorithm performs better than the traditional algorithms,and it discovers interestingness rules from large database efficiently.


Open tender is a very important method for owner to select contractor unit.This paper gives a brief introduction on tender management.


Teaching evaluation plays an important role in the curriculum system,which directly affects the teaching goals.Process evaluation mainly emphasize on "feedback" and "return" effect between teaching and learning.On the basis of revi-ewing the concept of process evaluation,This paper submit a brief analysis of the advantages and limitations in the applica-tion of the process evaluation and put forward some suggestions of teaching applications in process evaluation


In order to avoid the black-hole effect, illumination of higher luminance should be installed at the entrance/exit segments of urban tunnels during the day because the luminance of outside urban tunnels is relatively high. But it basically remains the same higher (current status in China) during the night while the illuminating brightness of outside-tunnel urban roads is relatively lower, which is not conducive to driving safety and wastes lots of energy. Through the comparison research of domestic and foreign relevant standards of tunnel and road lighting, as well as measurement and analysis of the present status of entrance/exit segments lighting of 11 tunnels in Fujian, Guizhou, Chongqing, and the present status of some roads lighting in Beijing, Shanghai, Chengdu and Chongqing, it is found that there are significant differences between the luminance of tunnels entrance/exit segments and the luminance of outside-tunnel roads. Especially when drive from the bright inside to the outside, that is from the inside photopic vision environment to the outside scotopic vision and mesopic vision environment. Due to high speed and poor visual fitness, there exist potential safety hazards. At present, there is no visual fitness standard for lighting of entrance/exit segments of urban tunnels and outside-tunnel roads in china, the domestic and foreign relative researches are still not enough. Based on visual features, with response time as parameter, this article applies the visual efficiency method to study the lighting of entrance/exit segments of urban tunnels and outside-tunnel roads. In this thesis, the method of weakening illumination of entrance/exit segments of urban tunnels on the basis of existing standards and enhancing illumination of outside-tunnel roads has been provided. Thus the reduced value of entrance/exit segments of urban tunnels illumination and outside-tunnel roads illumination can be controlled from 3:1 to 5:1 to adapt to visual features. This thesis provides a new research approaches for achieving driving safety and lighting energy saving.


The real estate sector has been a major source of strength for the global economy since the most recent economic downturn. This has been particularly true of the residential property sector: in most countries house prices have been quite strong over the past few years. Rising house prices, together with low interest rates, have boosted mortgage refinancing activities, encouraged consumer spending and supported macroeconomic performance. By contrast, real commercial property prices in most economies have remained well below their peak levels reached in the late 1980s and the early 1990s. Despite this, delinquency rates for commercial real estate loans have been much lower than their historical averages. As a result, banks' loan portfolios have remained in reasonably good shape overall and the share of non-performing loans has been relatively low (BIS (2003a)).


A new analytical formulation of the temperature at thermal runaway in silicon BJT's is presented and supported by measurements on a thermally very sensitive silicon-on-glass process. The linear relationship between V/sub BE/ and V/sub CB/ for a given collector current is used to define a straightforward method for electrically determining the biasing conditions at thermal runaway.


In turbomachinery the secondary flow system includes flow phenomena occurring outside the main channel, where the gaseous medium performs work on blades. Secondary air distribution constitutes a very complex and closely interrelated system that affects most of the gas turbine components. One of the most important examples of the secondary flow is leakage occurring in seals, e.g. at the rotor and stator tips, on the shaft or on the sides of the blade rim. Owing to its simplicity, low price, easy maintenance and high temperature capability, the labyrinth seal is a prime sealing solution that may be selected from numerous types of sealing structures applied in turbomachinery. For this reason, an experimental study of this particular structure has been carried out. The paper presents leakage performance of the smooth-land labyrinth seal.


A new numerical domain decomposition method is proposed for solving elliptic equations on compact Riemannian manifolds. The advantage of this method is to avoid global triangulations or grids on manifolds. Our method is numerically tested on some $4$-dimensional manifolds such as the unit sphere $S^{4}$, the complex projective space $\mathbb{CP}^{2}$ and the product manifold $S^{2} \times S^{2}$.


Using a Heegaard diagram for the pullback of a knot K ⊂ S3 in its double branched cover Σ2(K), we give a combinatorial proof for the invariance of the associated knot Floer homology over ℤ.


Abstract : This report is a translation of a book received by USACRREL as part of its cooperative program with the Institute of Glaciology and Cryopedology, Academica Sinica, People's Republic of China. The bibliography covers the following topics: glaciers by geographic regions, applied glaciology including snow, avalanches, and river ice, permafrost (cryopedology), mud flows, and survey techniques including mapping, remote sensing, and isotope analyses. A list of Chinese journals is included. (Author)


ABSTRACT By using the mean spherical approximation, we obtain an analytical expression for the static structure factor (SSF) for a monodisperse system of particles interacting through a potential given by a hard-sphere contribution and M Yukawa terms. This expression depends on scaling matrix Γ, which is determined by solving a set of nonlinear equations. Our theoretical results show that using three Yukawa terms in the closure relation greatly improves the accuracy when compared with hypernetted-chain closure and Monte Carlo simulation data, which display a secondary low-k peak in the SSF, due to the formation of an intermediate range order structure governed by a short-range attraction and a long-range repulsion. We discuss the appearance of such a peak in terms of the microstructure order given by the radial distribution function. Following the original proposal made by Waisman (Mol Phys. 1973; 25:45–48), we give an explicit expression that improves the structural properties of a hard-sphere system.


This paper proposes an online extrinsic camera calibration system able to determine the pitch and roll angle of a moving, forward-looking camera relative to the road surface. Some road surfaces do not show enough texture to allow reliable optical flow calculation and accurate per-frame pitch and roll estimations, respectively. If inaccurate per-frame estimations are regarded in the final calibration, no exact and stable determination of calibration is possible. Therefore, the main contribution of this paper is a classifier system which enables us to distinguish between accurate and inaccurate per-frame angle estimations. To achieve a final calibration only the accurate (classified as positive) per-frame estimations are incorporated in a temporal filter. In our research we found that a fixed amount of positive classified per-frame estimations (a fixed temporal filter length) can be specified which guarantees an exact final calibration. With that, our system is able to autonomously signalizes the moment at which an accurate calibration is achieved while driving. With our developed system, road surfaces with no texture only delay the moment at which a final calibration is achieved but do not affect the exactness of calibration.


The straightforward account by Tao Jie of the history of Uncle Tom's Cabin in China raises questions of great interest to contemporary American Studies scholarship. To the old question - how shall we represent America's "usable past?" - is added another: "Usable to whom?" This question, now being asked by a wide variety of multiculturalists reexamining our literature and history from revisionist perspectives, is the central issue raised by Tao's essay. Here we are given a specific case study for cross-cultural comparison that allows us to contrast the America we imagine we have been exporting to the America other cultures reinvent. Equally important, Tao provides us with the opportunity to examine one of the most compelling of our cultural documents from the perspective of 20th-century Chinese history and see how, stage by stage, the translators interpreted the story to respond to changing forces in Chinese cultural history.


The ground state of a quantum vacancy in a 2D antiferromagnet is found to involve a long-range dipolar distortion of the staggered magnetization. An effective Hamiltonian for vacancies interacting with long-wavelength spin waves is derived. The implications for the antiferromagnetic long-range order are discussed.


Two of the biggest issues in the healthcare system today are antibiotic resistant bacteria and biofilms. Antibiotic‐resistant bacterial strains are increasing, and current treatment options have become limited forcing medical facilities to search for alternatives. Recent studies utilizing phage therapy have provided promising results supporting the use of bacteriophages to treat bacterial infections. (Hatfull, 2021). A bacteriophage is a virus that only infects prokaryotic bacterial cells and therefore, potentially used to treat bacterial infections without risk of infecting the patient's eukaryotic cells. This research focuses on the isolation and microbiological characterization of bacteriophages isolated from environmental samples against the Actinomycete host, Gordonia rubripertincta. Gordonia species are typically found in soil and aquatic habitats and have recently been identified as primary agents of infections in both humans and animals (Pope, et al., 2020). Due to these organisms' ability to form biofilms, infections have been found following various surgical procedures and applications of catheters (Arenskötter, et al., 2004). Following a Gordonia‐enrichment protocol, standard viral lab techniques such as serial dilutions, pick‐a‐plaque, and spot‐plating were performed resulting in pure viral colonies. Genomic DNA was isolated and sequenced by the Pittsburgh Bacteriophage Institute. Genomes were annotated using Phamerator™, PECAAN™, and NCBI BLAST bioinformatics programs. Host‐range specificity studies and gene knock‐out experiments were conducted using phylogenetically‐related Actinomycetes to assist understanding of the molecular interactions between phage and host throughout the infection cycle. Several bacteriophages were identified which exhibit both lytic and temperate life cycles against known clinical, biofilm‐producing Actinomycete bacteria Nocardia asteroides and N. corallina.This research exemplifies the potential of using phage therapy to create an alternative treatment for antibiotic‐resistant bacteria and biofilms within the healthcare system.


This paper presents some results of the second phase of the Technology Foresight (TF) study in Slovenia conducted in 2007 and 2008. The main goal of the TF study was to identify key technologies and R&D areas that are significant for the Slovenian economy. The main goal of this paper was to open some non-technological issues that came out of our research and discussions with experts that participated in discussion panels. The article promotes TF as a methodology, as a tool and as a valuable source of information for strategic planning in government, academic and business communities.


The present invention is chloro as the refrigerant in the negative pressure liquid cooling system - to a method of replacing at trifluoropropene - existing refrigerant in use of trifluoropropene and cooling device chloro. Chloro - trifluoropropene, in particular, is 1-chloro-3,3,3-trifluoropropene, has high efficiency and unexpectedly high capacity in a liquid cooling system applications, an alternative R-123 and R-11 including useful as a more environmentally sustainable refrigerant for such applications.


Contents: Preface. Horace Mann Meets the Wizard of Oz. Liberation With Jell-O and Wonder Bread: Educating the New Woman. Cowboys and Jocks: Visions of Manliness. Comodification of Leisure and Cultural Control: Schools, Movies, and Radio. The American Way and the Manufacturing of Consent. Participating in the American Dream. Sonya's Choice: Fast-Food Education.


This paper presents the application of a hybrid approach comprising of Neural Network (NN) and Ge netic Algorithm (GA) for modeling and optimization of Creep Feed Deep Surface Grinding (CFDSG) process. Finite Element Method (FEM) has been used to generate d ata set for NN model to predict the equivalent thermal stress within the contact zone of the work piece. Subsequently, NN model has been coupled with GA to find optimum input-output parameters of CFDSG. The proposed hybrid approach is well capable to predict thermal stresses in the workpiece quickly and also minimize it with reasonable accuracy during CFDSG process.


Evolutionary games are studied where the teaching activity of players can evolve in time. Initially all players following either the cooperative or defecting strategy are distributed on a square lattice. The rate of strategy adoption is determined by the payoff difference and a teaching activity characterizing the donor's capability to enforce its strategy on the opponent. Each successful strategy adoption process is accompanied by an increase in the donor's teaching activity. By applying an optimum value of the increment, this simple mechanism spontaneously creates relevant inhomogeneities in the teaching activities that support the maintenance of cooperation for both the prisoner's dilemma and the snowdrift game.


Despite what trial headlines may tell us [1], it remains a cast-iron truth that many appropriately selected patients benefit from renal stenting. Unfortunately it also remains true that a small number of procedures are complicated by atheroembolization, causing renal failure or limb gangrene. The transition from use of large bore sheaths for renal artery engagement to lower profile guiding catheters over the last few years may have served to reduce atheroembolic risk. Similarly, adoption of a transradial rather than transfemoral approach avoids having to cross the plaque-laden infrarenal aorta, with the added benefit of reducing access-site complications [2]. Might the use of embolic protection devices (EPDs) during renal intervention further reduce adverse events? Studies, experience, and guidelines inform us that use of an embolic protection strategy is mandatory for carotid interventions, highly encouraged for vein graft interventions, but discouraged for routine native coronary interventions. In this regard, the renal artery might be considered more akin to the carotid rather than coronary circulation. Even a small degree of distal embolization may provoke an irreversible decline in renal function after renal intervention, like a debilitating stroke from a minor embolus during carotid intervention. Atheroembolic events from coronary procedures, conversely, detected as small troponin leaks, are seldom of clinical consequence. Moreover, the plaque volume of a stenosed 6 mm diameter renal artery will be 4-fold greater than a similar stenosis in a 3 mm coronary artery, and would thus seem likely to exhibit a greater propensity for clinically meaningful embolization during intervention. In this regard, early retrospective observational reports suggested that renal interventions performed using an embolic protection strategy may result in stabilization of renal function that had until then been in decline [3]. In contrast, the prospective, randomized RESIST trial was less supportive [4]. In a two-by-two factorial design, 100 patients with impaired renal function and renal artery stenosis were randomized to stenting with or without an EPD, and with or without abciximab therapy. Those who had intervention with an EPD and who were additionally given abciximab exhibited improvement in renal function at 1 month. However, the three remaining groups (including the EPD subset who did not receive abciximab) showed similar levels of renal function decline. Paul and coworkers should be acknowledged for contributing to the field in two important ways. First, their group described the use of the angiographic ''Renal Frame Count (RFC)'' as a method to assess blood flow and microvascular integrity in the renal circulation [5]. Second, in this issue of the journal, they report in a retrospective study that the use of EPDs was associated with significant reduction in RFC (improved blood flow) compared with interventions that did not use EPDs [6]. The improvement in renal blood flow was noted both in patients treated primarily for hypertension and also in those treated primarily for chronic kidney disease. Improvement was even more pronounced in the latter group, providing further evidence that EPDs may protect against microvascular embolization during interventions. It should be noted however that the EPD group had higher RFC (i.e., lower blood flow) at baseline and thus may have had more ''opportunity to improve'' with intervention. Similarly, the EPD group had lower blood pressures at baseline, and exhibited less of a reduction with intervention compared to the non-EPD group. As the authors acknowledge, these observations undoubtedly reflect selection bias in the choice of EPD vs no EPD


Objective
To explore the value of abdomen arc incision in sigmoid colon and rectum cancer surgery.

Methods
The clinical data of 45 routine abdominal arc incision sigmoid colon and rectum cancer patients at the First Affiliated Hospital of Qiqihar Medical University from July 2014 to June 2016 were retrospectively analyzed.

Results
45 patients were underwent successfully surgery with abdominal arc incision without side effect. The median postoperative analgesia time was 1.8 days, the median exhaust time was 3.2 days, the median lymph node dissection number was 14, the median incision length was 11 cm. Compared with the previous traditional surgery, the operation time, blood loss, complications and length of hospital stay were not apparent increased.

Conclusions
We can complete the sigmoid colon and rectal cancer surgery with abdominal arc incision successfully, with artistic hidden incision and less postoperative pain, consistence with the conception of rapid rehabilitation surgery and aesthetic surgery. The operation is relatively simple to facilitate basic hospitals, and does not increase the risks and complications. So the abdomen arc incision is worth popularizing in clinical application.

Key words:
Colorectal neoplasms; Surgical procedures, operative; Lymph node dissection; Arc incision


This report describes laboratory experiments performed to examine the feasibility and rate of isotopic dilution of uranium-235 in Tank 43H supernatant liquid.


In this era of Big Data, due to expeditious exchange of information on the web, words are being used to denote newer meanings, causing linguistic shift. With the recent availability of large amounts of digitized texts, an automated analysis of the evolution of language has become possible. Our study mainly focuses on improving the detection of new word senses. This paper presents a unique proposal based on network features to improve the precision of new word sense detection. For a candidate word where a new sense (birth) has been detected by comparing the sense clusters induced at two different time points, we further compare the network properties of the subgraphs induced from novel sense cluster across these two time points. Using the mean fractional change in edge density, structural similarity and average path length as features in an SVM classifier, manual evaluation gives precision values of 0.86 and 0.74 for the task of new sense detection, when tested on 2 distinct time-point pairs, in comparison to the precision values in the range of 0.23-0.32, when the proposed scheme is not used. The outlined method can therefore be used as a new post-hoc step to improve the precision of novel word sense detection in a robust and reliable way where the underlying framework uses a graph structure. Another important observation is that even though our proposal is a post-hoc step, it can be used in isolation and that itself results in a very decent performance achieving a precision of 0.54-0.62. Finally, we show that our method is able to detect the well-known historical shifts in 80% cases.


Background : Forty per cent of patients with inflammatory bowel disease fail to respond to standard dose azathioprine (2 mg/kg/day).


The aim of this research was to evaluate Farmer Field School's (FFS) capacity to boost the knowledge of farmers in Calabar Agricultural Zone, Cross River State, Nigeria. Specifically, the research aimed to describe the socio-economic characteristics of respondents; assess the effectiveness of FFS on training farmers, improving their knowledge and utilization of new technologies; and ascertain constraints faced by farmers in FFS training. The study adopted multi-stage and purposive sampling techniques to select 318 respondents. Descriptive statistics such as means and percentages were employed to analyze the data. The results revealed that most (64.5%) of the respondents were men; 39.3 and 86.5% were married with a mean household size of 6 persons. On participation, the results indicated that FFS was perceived to be effective in allowing farmers to participate highly in activities such as location of experimental site ( =2.94), experimenting with new methods and techniques ( =2.90) among others. From the findings, it was revealed that FFS was effective in training participants, such as in helping them to learn new ways of doing things in their farm ( =2.84) among others. Analysis of the results further revealed that Farmer Field School was effective in increasing the knowledge of participants on many factors in the farm environment. FFS was also perceived to be effective in influencing most of the participants to utilize about 71% of the technologies captured in this study. The most salient constraints uncovered by the study were non-availability of inputs, followed by inadequate trial and training materials. After thorough investigation and analysis, it was concluded that FFS is an effective agricultural knowledge booster. Based on the findings, it was recommended that FFS should be utilized to design and implement trainings, especially when introducing any innovation to farmers.


Bioactive molecular compounds are essential for drug discovery. The biological activity of these compounds needs to be predicted as this is used to determine the drug-target ability. As ineffective drugs are discarded after production, leading to resource and time wastage, it is important to predict bioactive molecules with models having high predictive performance. This study utilizes the stacked ensemble which uses the prediction of multiple base classifiers as features, used to train a meta classifier which makes the final prediction. Using three datasets DS1, DS2, and DS3 gotten from MDL Drug Data Report (MDDR) database, the performance of stacked ensemble was compared to three other ensembles: adaboost, bagging, and vote ensemble, based on different evaluation criteria and also a statistical method, Kendall's W test. The accuracy of Stacked ensemble ranged from 96.7002%, 98.2260% and 94.9007% for the three datasets respectively, although Vote had the best accuracy using dataset DS2 which consist of structurally homogeneous bioactive molecules. Also, using Kendall's W test to rank the ensembles, Stacked ensemble was ranked best with datasets DS1 and DS3, with both having a mean average of 4.00 and an overall level of agreement, W, of 0.986 and 1.000 respectively. Using dataset DS2, it was ranked after Vote and Adaboost with mean average of 2.33 and an overall level of agreement, W of 0.857. Stacked ensemble is recommended for the prediction of heterogeneous bioactive molecules during drug discovery and can also be implemented in other research areas.


Dr. Andrew J. Rogers (left) Florida's Man of the Year in Entomology, receives his plaque from Dr. H. V. Weems, Jr., (right) Chairman, Honors and Awards Committee. Photograph taken by F. W. Mead, at the 56th Annual Meeting of the Florida Entomological Society, 12-14 September 1973, Deauville Hotel, Miami Beach.


Fuzzy Logic Controllers Lee90] (FLCs) are being widely and successfully applied in diierent areas. Fuzzy Logic Controllers can be considered as knowledge-based systems, incorporating human knowledge into their Knowledge Base through Fuzzy Rules and Fuzzy Membership Functions (among other information elements). The deenition of these Fuzzy Rules and Fuzzy Membership Functions is actually aaected by subjective decisions, having a great innuence over the performance of the Fuzzy Controller. From this point of view, FLCs can be interpreted as a particular type of real time expert systems. A second interpretation more adequate for the analysis of the control properties of the FLC is to think about FLCs as non-linear, time-invariant control laws. In addition, recent works have demonstrated the ability of Fuzzy Controllers to approximate continuous functions on a compact set with an arbitrary degree of precision; diierent kinds of FLCs are universal approximators ((Buc93, Cas95]). Combining ideas related to these diierent interpretations, some eeorts have been made to obtain an improvement in system performance (a better approximation to an optimal controller, with a certain performance criterion) by incorporating learning mechanisms to modify predeened rules and/or membership functions, represented as parameterized expressions. The main goal will be to combine the ability to incorporate experts' knowledge with a knowledge-based point of view (Knowledge engineering), 1 Dr. Velasco (email@example.com) is with Dept. Ingenier a de Sistemas Telemm aticos and Dr. Magdalena (email@example.com) is with Dept. Matemm atica Aplicada a las Tenolog as de la Informacii on.


At present, most gologists have been studied animal aging of molecular levels, which made become research fields a new hot spot in forensic medicine and anthropology. In recent years,some biology markers that have great correlation with age are found at the cell and molecular level, for example, telomere length、telomerase activation、DNA methylation level and mtDNA damage as aging conjecture basis. It was great importance of correlation with age in forensic medicine's conjecture and researching population Structure of Animals.


The fluoridating efficiencies of five fluoridated toothpastes have previously been studied in an in vivo model. The aim of this study was to correlate fluoride uptake in partially demineralized enamel


A new lighting and enlargement on phase spectrogram (PS) and frequency spectrogram (FS) is presented in this paper. These representations result from the coupling of power spectrogram and short time Fourier transform (STFT). The main contribution is the construction of the 3D phase spectrogram (3DPS) and the 3D frequency spectrogram (3DFS). These new tools allow such specific test signals as small slope linear chirp, phase jump and small frequency jump to be analyzed. An application case of musical signal analysis is reported. The main objective is to detect small frequency and phase variations in order to characterize each type of sound attack without losing the amplitude information given by power spectrogram.


BACKGROUND
Main objective of this study was to determine whether Hounsfield units (HU) measured in three areas of the axis correlate with successful fusion in patients with type II and shallow type III C2 fractures undergoing anterior odontoid screw osteosynthesis (AOSF).

METHODS
Forty-five patients with C2 fractures treated via AOSF were analyzed. Only bony fusion with bone trabeculations across the fracture line was considered a successful result. Preoperative HU values were measured in three zones- corpus, watershed and dens. Statistical analysis was performed to determine significant differences between HU of fused and unfused patients in all three zones of a complete and adjusted patient cohort.

RESULTS
Statistically significant differences of HU values were found between fused (corpus- 363.7, watershed- 327.9) and unfused (corpus- 279.5, watershed- 194.2) of the complete cohort and the adjusted cohort. Cut-off HU values in the watershed zone were calculated for the complete (250 and 300) and adjusted cohort (240 and 260), dividing patients into three groups of bone quality. Patients with high watershed bone quality (HU >300) achieved successful fusion in 84.62%, patients with low bone quality (HU <250) in 3.85% and patients with medium bone quality (HU 250-300) in 50%.

CONCLUSIONS
Preoperative measurement of HU can be used to predict the probability of successful fusion in patients undergoing AOSF for type II and shallow type III C2 fractures. AOSF is a highly effective treatment modality in patients with watershed HU >300, whereas alternatives should be considered in patients with watershed HU <250.


Sudden variations of voltage can be damaging for voltage-sensitive loads. Dynamic voltage restorer (DVR), which is a power-electronic converter-based device, is an economical solution for voltage variations compensation. In this paper, a high-frequency (HF) transformer-based DVR is designed for household applications. As the household application is considered, the DVR will be low-power and it should be designed to be compact and economic. Therefore, the HF transformer is used in the design in order the system to be more compact and economic. Also, unlike other HF transformer-based DVR structures, no energy storage is used and the number of active converter stages is minimised. The topology selection and compensation capacity are justified in the paper. The simulation results of the designed DVR are presented to verify its performance.


Making a durable joint requires adapting the one present at birth to its subsequent mechanical usage and then maintaining it. The total loads on a joint's momentarily loaded area plus the size of that area determine the unit loads on its articular cartilage and subchondral bone. Given those facts, this model suggests the following.


The utilization of sewage sludge and organic compost in agriculture is a disputed issue. Its most important use is in the return of valuable plant nutrients to farmland. Opponents are concerned that sewage sludge and organic compost passes high toxic/pollutant loads into the environment which accumulate in soil and food sources. Based on an extensive data and literature search, the regional utilisation potential for sewage sludge and organic compost fertilizers in agriculture was recorded. Nutrient and pollutant assessments facilitate a direct comparison of mineral, animal, sewage sludge and organic compost fertilizers. The sewage sludge and organic compost fertilizer resources in Schleswig-Holstein can cover approx. 10 % of the phosphate requirement on farmland. From the viewpoint of preventive soil protection, the induced toxic loads of copper, lead and zinc are a problem.


Students aspiring to careers in the themed entertainment and attractions industry have few formal options to learn and demonstrate skills and knowledge specific to the industry. Students have shown initiative in developing extracurricular activities, and industry has reached out to offer "next generation" programs and internships. It still remains problematic for industry employers to select the best qualified students from a large pool of aspirants and for motivated candidates to stand out as highly qualified for these opportunities. The Ryerson Invitational Thrill Design Competition (RITDC) was developed to address this problem. RITDC provides learning experiences and performance evaluation with not only completion as an indicator of accomplishment, but concurrent interactive evaluation by judges from industry. As such, although the competition is formally an extracurricular activity, it functions as stopgap curriculum. This paper describes the origin and evolution of the competition and the challenges it has encountered, and the response from participants and industry. Keywords—themed entertainment, attractions, student design competition, internship


Decentralization in development planning and administration is being attempted in novel ways as governments seek to generate economic growth and at the same time achieve greater social equity. Little has been done to assess comparatively the nature and effectiveness of these experiments. This article is based on a selection of eight case studies, each set in a different Asian country, where an innovative approach to decentralization has been adopted by the central government in order to achieve development aims. The stimulus to innovate is considered, the different forms of decentralization compared and a tentative comparative evaluation is made of the effectiveness of decentralizing development planning and implementation. What the analysis shows is that despite diversity in the objectives and differences in the forms decentralized programmes took there were common problems centring on administrative capability. This, the author argues, has important implications for governments and international agencies.


In response to Dr Nicholas Pimlott's Commentary ("Who has time for family medicine?"[1][1]), incorporating more primary care practitioners when forming clinical practice guidelines would be a good start to improving guidelines. Involving a substantial number of patients in the process would be


Matteo Nanni (ed.), Music and Culture in the Age of the Council of Basel, Turnhout (Brepols) 2013, 358 p., 1 CD (Epitome musical), ISBN 978-2-503-55041-1, EUR 80,00.


This essay discusses the written version of an inaugural address by Oldenhuis,and explores the scope which (Dutch)law provides for legal pluralism on the basis of the legal freedom to pursue one's own religious truth and to organize oneself accordingly. This presupposes tolerance of others holding their own truth. It would, however, be a serious mistake and a threat to civil and religious freedom and tolerance to assume that freedom can only exist as long as one does not does not profess truth.


Objective To study the relationship between bone metabolism of divers and environmental factors under the condition of special diving operation Method The biochemical markers as bone mineral density(BMD)of radius, serum calcium(Ca), phosphorus(P), alkalinephosphatase(ALP), bone gla protein(BGP)and urine NT x , Ca/Cr were determined in 73 divers The results were compared with those of control group Result No differences were found in serum Ca P ALP of divers between the two groups Serum BGP and BMD were higher than control group; urine NT x and Ca/Cr were lower than control group; the results were all significant as against those of control group( P 0.01) Conclusion Whether such environmental factors as weight, under the condition of special operation could accelerate the bone metabolism requires further study


In general, in one aspect, a three dimensional (3D) display includes an optical stack, a backlight, panel electronics and a backlight driver. The optical stack is to present left eye and right eye images. The backlight is to illuminate the optical stack so the left eye and right eye images are visible and to provide signals for synchronizing the image illuminated on the optical stack with shutter glasses worn by a user to enable a left eye to view the left eye images and a right eye to view the right eye images. The panel electronics are to generate the left eye and right eye images on the optical stack. The backlight driver is to control operation of the backlight.


Measuring device (10) for high-precision transit time measurement with a plurality of rows of logic elements ([1, 1] to [m, n]), a first measuring input (11) for a first measuring signal and a second measuring input (12) for a second measuring signal, wherein each of the logic elements has first and second signal inputs for first and second input signals and is configured to output a first logical output value when a logic level of the first input signal changes after startup and a logic level of the second input signal has remained constant since startup and output a second logical output value if, after startup, the logic level of the second input signal changes and the logic level of the first input signal has remained constant since startup, wherein the first measuring input is connected to the first signal input of a first logic element of a first series of logic elements and the second measuring input to the second signal input of a last logic element of a last series of logic elements, and where the first ...


Abstract : Correlation analysis of drift data obtained from three spaced interferometers was performed. A surprisingly low value for the drift velocity has been obtained in a large number of cases analyzed. The drift direction and its variation over a twelve month period has been found to be in agreement with scintillation data obtained earlier and analyzed by the Putter straight line technique using the same experimental setup. The characteristic velocity was, in nearly all the cases, much larger than the drift velocity. Only on ten percent of the occasions (seven out of sixty five) the magnitude of the drift velocity V exceeded the characteristic velocity V sub c. There is an uncertainty as to whether V sub c is a measure of the random changes in the irregularities or of the quality of the records. However, the ratio V sub c/V was found to increase twofold for data obtained during the sunrise and pre-sunrise hours when contrasted with data obtained during daylight and early evening hours. Since noise and interference are smaller during the pre-sunrise hours than during the daylight hours then V sub c is significant in this experiment. Correlation ellipses were found to be oriented in the northwest-southeast quadrants with deviations of from 20 to 40 degrees with respect to the drift velocity. Axial ratios, for the seven cases computed, varied from two to five. A discussion of Yerg's six point analysis is included and it is shown that, with certain limitations, the method yields reliable results. (Author)


Two stability-indicating methods were developed for determination of midodrine in the presence of its acidic degradation product (the metabolite). The degradation product was isolated via acid degradation and then characterized and structurally elucidated. The first method was the first derivative of the ratio spectra 1DD. The second method was a high performance liquid chromatographic one. Selective quantification of midodrine in pure form, pharmaceutical formulation and/or in the presence of its degradant was demonstrated. The indication of stability was done under condition likely to be expected at normal storage condition.


The dielectric recovery strength (DRS) of vacuum circuit breaker (VCB) interrupter is closely related to the travel characteristic of contact, which determines the overvoltage caused by switching off shunt reactor (SR) in offshore wind farm (OWF). Firstly, the travel characteristic of contact is analyzed in detail. A field experiment of 35 kV substation is performed and the relationship between contact travel and DRS in different periods is obtained. Then, a novel VCB model considering the travel characteristic is proposed and used to study the arc behavior of the VCB interrupter. The mechanism of multiple reignitions and the sensitivity analysis for switching overvoltage are discussed. Finally, a hybrid method of grey relational grade (GRG) and response surface method (RSM) is employed to optimize the contact travel in order to suppress arc reignition. A group of optimal travel parameters of VCB contact are obtained for minimizing the overvoltage peak.


The discrimination of true and false MOUTAI liquor was carried out by using NIR transmission spectroscopy and Gas Chromatrgraphy. The eleven batchs MOUTAI liquor of 2004 were selected as the standard samples and the other liquor about 51 samples as the reference samples.The Discrimination analysis model was utilized to build the NIR and GC fingerprint model of MOUTAI liquor. Then the two model were used to classify the five stimulating samples. The results showed that the discrimination results were in accordance with the sense-organ evaluation and the fact.


This paper reports on results of employing piezoelectric composites as sensors for detecting simulated damage events and monitoring dynamic and impact loads in composite structures. Two piezoelectric composite materials have been developed and characterized. The materials have been prepared by dispersing ceramic powder into a polymer matrix. Calcium modified lead titanate (PTCa) was used as the ceramic phase, while a non-polar epoxy resin, (Epon 828) and vinylidene fluoride trifluoroethylene (P(VDF-TrFE)), a polar copolymer, were used as the polymer matrix phases. PTCa/epoxy and PTCa/P(VDF-TrFE) composite materials were employed as embedded sensors in composite laminates to detect elastic waves propagating in such structures and to monitor transient applied loads. Furthermore, these materials could be used as sensors in health assessment techniques for composite materials where diagnostic waves methods are utilized.


Laser peen forming (LPF) is an emerging modern process of metal plate bending. It uses laser-induced shock wave pressure to induce unbalanced residual stress field in the materials, the moment of the residual stress causes the plate to develop plastic bending deformation. After the process of LPF is introduced, a model for laser shock wave loading is presented, and the process of LPF and distribution of residual stresses fields are dynamical simulated by using FEM code ABAQUS. The relationship among the size of residual stress and deformation with laser peening time, peening tracks, coverage rate and surface topography are discussed. The experiments of laser peen forming for 6061-T6 aluminium alloy Plate were carried out with high power pulsed Nd:Glass laser system, some typical deformed shape of plate were obtained, good agreement between the experimental and numerical results were achieved. The results indicate that the track of laser peening is the key factor to influence the shape of plate. With the aid of simulation technique, laser process parameters can be optimized and the deformation contour for LPF process can be predicted.Laser peen forming (LPF) is an emerging modern process of metal plate bending. It uses laser-induced shock wave pressure to induce unbalanced residual stress field in the materials, the moment of the residual stress causes the plate to develop plastic bending deformation. After the process of LPF is introduced, a model for laser shock wave loading is presented, and the process of LPF and distribution of residual stresses fields are dynamical simulated by using FEM code ABAQUS. The relationship among the size of residual stress and deformation with laser peening time, peening tracks, coverage rate and surface topography are discussed. The experiments of laser peen forming for 6061-T6 aluminium alloy Plate were carried out with high power pulsed Nd:Glass laser system, some typical deformed shape of plate were obtained, good agreement between the experimental and numerical results were achieved. The results indicate that the track of laser peening is the key factor to influence the shape of plate. With the a...


From the philosophical perspective, the direct and realistic principle of education is superior to the universal principle in terms of the nature of education.


Simple Summary The immune system has a natural ability to work against cancer cells; however, in many cases this ability is insufficient, and cancers develop methods enabling them to escape from the supervision of immune cells. Novel therapeutic methods used in neoplastic diseases are based on encouraging immune cells to fight against cancer. In some cases, boosted by this approach, the immune system may damage not only tumor cells, but also other cells, tissues and organs in the human body. Kidney involvement, for example, is directly dangerous for patients' health and may have an impact on human body homeostasis and the excretion of xenobiotics. However, renal function impairment in patients treated with immunotherapy is thought to be relatively rare but may be severe. Knowledge of early diagnosis and proper management are essential for physicians utilizing immunotherapy in daily clinical practice. Abstract Modern oncological therapy utilizes various types of immunotherapy. Immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs), chimeric antigen receptor T cells (CAR-T) therapy, cancer vaccines, tumor-targeting monoclonal antibodies (TT-mAbs), bispecific antibodies and cytokine therapy improve patients' outcomes. However, stimulation of the immune system, beneficial in terms of fighting against cancer, generates the risk of harm to other cells in a patient's body. Kidney damage belongs to the relatively rare adverse events (AEs). Best described, but still, superficially, are renal AEs in patients treated with ICIs. International guidelines issued by the European Society for Medical Oncology (ESMO) and the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) cover the management of immune-related adverse events (irAEs) during ICI therapy. There are fewer data concerning real occurrence and possible presentations of renal adverse drug reactions of other immunotherapeutic methods. This implies the need for the collection of safety data during ongoing clinical trials and in the real-life world to characterize the hazard related to the use of new immunotherapies and management of irAEs.


International Accounting Standards are steadily becoming the norm. The European Union agreement that all listed companies in Europe must comply by the year 2005 has hastened the process further. This brings particular challenges for all organisations in the financial services world but for insurance companies in particular. The authors assess what changes will be required in insurance company reporting and lay particular stress on risk management.


The FF-TLOM (Free Form Thick Layered Object Manufacturing) technology is a Rapid Prototyping process based on flexible blade cutting of polystyrene foam. The heated blade is shaped by three parameters, which allows an infinite amount of minimum strain energy blade shapes with none, one or two inflexions. In the shaping domain stable and unstable blade shapes can exist. Stable shapes are defined as curves with none and one-inflexion and are applied for operational cutting of foam layers with the FF-TLOM technology. The tool motions are generated from the static tool poses and are calculated for a linear change of the flexible blade, when the cutting tool moves from one tool position to the next. The cutting blade is positioned to the foam slab with help of a point relative positioned on the flexible blade. The tool frame is positioned with a point fixed relatively to the tool frame. During the tool motions the blade curvature is changed and will introduce a shift of the half way point fixed on the blade (especially in the case of asymmetrical support inclinations and high curvature). Next the local displacement of the blade points in the bending plane of the blade due to blade shaping and tool pitching are quantified during the tool motions. These displacements induce an angle of attack of the blade in cutting direction, and will influence cutting speed and cutting accuracy. The quantification software is developed and will be used in the future for an overall prediction of the total tool curve displacements due to blade shaping, such as roll, pitch, yaw and linear positioning motions of the tool. A general rule for FF-TLOM cutting is minimization of all tool motions, which are not related to the forward cutting motion.Copyright © 2004 by ASME


Glioblastoma IDH-wildtype (GBM-IDH-WT) recurs despite the standard of care which includes surgical resection and concurrent chemoradiotherapy. Optimal treatment for recurrent GBM-IDH-WT (rGBM) is not standardized and multiple therapeutic approaches are utilized. Clinical trials have shown that Tumor-Treating Fields (TTF) provide equal benefits compared to physician's chemotherapy choice for patients with rGBM. However, not all rGBM patients respond equally to TTF and understanding which patients will benefit from TTF therapy is critical.

 We reviewed clinical, molecular, and outcome characteristics of rGBM patients between 09/2009 to 2/2019 in our institution. Patients who received TTF-treatment at the time of 1st recurrence were selected for analysis. Tumors were analyzed for mutations in 315 cancer-related genes by next-generation sequencing. Post-progression survival (PPS) defined as the interval from 1st recurrence to death or the time of analysis, was examined using the Log-rank test and multivariable Cox-regression model.

 149 rGBM patients were identified of which 29 (19%) were treated with TTF. Overall, no significant difference in survival was observed in rGBM patients who received TTF therapy (13.9-months vs 10.9-months, p= 0.06). However, among TTF-treated patients (n= 29), there was improved survival in PTEN-mutant (n= 14) patients compared to PTEN-wt (n= 15), (22.2-months vs 11.6- months, p= 0.017). No differences in TTF usage were observed between groups. Within the PTEN-mutant patients (70/149, 47%), those treated with TTF (n= 14) had longer PPS (22.2-months vs 9.3-months, p= 0.005). No survival benefit with TTF-treatment was observed in PTEN-wt patients (79/149, 53%).

 Patients with GBM-PTEN-mutant tumors show a significant improvement in survival when treated with TTF at recurrence. Understanding the molecular mechanism underpinning the differences in response to TTF therapy could help elucidate the mechanism of action of TTF and identify patients that will benefit the most from this therapeutic option.