Objectives: Despite the growing population of the elderly in Iran, there is no clear picture of the prevalence of chronic diseases among them. Accordingly, the present study tries to specify the prevalence of the most important chronic diseases and multimorbidity among the elderly. In addition, the homogeneity of these diseases has been considered among different socio-economic groups. Methods & Materials: Research data were obtained through a checklist of chronic disease status among the elderly. The sample was selected from the elderly over 60 years old in Tehran in 2019 through multi-stage sampling. The sample size of the study is 1280 persons and the prevalence rate and chi-square tests were used to describe and analyze the data. Results: The results showed that hypertension (40.2%), musculoskeletal disorders (40.2%) and hyperlipidemia (32.4%) had the highest prevalence rate among the elderly in Tehran. The prevalence rate of chronic disease multimorbidity was 79.8, which was higher among men, never married, college-educated, and working-age seniors. Cardiovascular disease, diabetes, hyperlipidemia, and ear diseases have also been found to have different prevalence rates among socioeconomic classes. Conclusions: The prevalence of chronic diseases has varied widely among socioeconomic groups; so the importance of the socio-economic status must be accentuated. Therefore, the pattern of prevalence of some chronic diseases can be influenced by lifestyle. As a result, research and policy-making in this field should be based on the inequalities in socio-economic status.


Children with language impairment (LI) can experience a wide range of social and emotional difficulties in addition to linguistic difficulties, but there is limited understanding about how LI impacts on these broader, psychosocial aspects of children's lives. Furthermore, psychosocial outcomes for children are not assessed routinely in speech and language therapy research and practice. Studies of experiences of disability and impairment in other areas have highlighted the importance of addressing the psychosocial beyond the medical. This study draws on interpretive phenomenological analysis (IPA) to explore children's, parents', peers' and professionals' experiences of children's LI. Using a phenomenological methodology to explore LI from multiple-perspectives, the study sought to uncover psychosocial features of LI and identify goals for support.

Four children, aged 8-10 yrs with a diagnosis of LI, were interviewed about their experiences using arts-based methods. Children's parents, teachers, learning support assistants, speech and language therapists and siblings and/or friends were also interviewed. Analysis of the 22 interviews is presented as four case studies that include each perspective around the child. Themes were identified through coding and analysing within and across cases. A second stage literature review was undertaken to understand, theorise and discuss emerging themes.

Analysis revealed three themes: Agency, Understandings and Misunderstandings, and Making Sense of Difference. Children's experiences of agency were associated with their emotions and their engagement in classroom and social activities, and not always dependent on their communication abilities. Children with LI often had different understandings of others' intentions, situations and instructions to that of their peers, professionals and parents. Mismatches in understandings were associated with children being considered unusual, immature, egocentric or rude by others, impacting on their risk for bullying and social exclusion. There were divergent experiences and understanding of LI. Interpretations included impaired speech, language and social communication; social and emotional immaturity; parental neglect; and other people's attitudes and behaviours.

For children, LI was predominantly relational, that is, it was mainly experienced in relationship with others. Psychosocial goals for intervention include addressing attitudes, understandings and behaviours of professionals and peers towards children, in addition to children's understanding and use of language; promoting children's experience of agency; and addressing children's emotional wellbeing and risk for bullying. Good communication and understanding between children, families and professionals is essential for intervention.


Laboratory experiments were conducted to examine the bioconcentration of 2,2{prime},4,4{prime},5,5{prime} hexachlorobiphenyl (HCBP) in lotic periphyton. The instantaneous rate of uptake and bioconcentration factor (BCF) were determined by following the bioaccumulation of {sup 14}C-HCBP in periphytic communities established on glass slides. The rate of accumulation was highest in the first 3 hours, and equilibrium was reached within eight days. The bioconcentration factor averaged 16,000. The results of a deputation experiment indicated that HCBP desorbed from periphyton, but at a much slower rate than its adsorption. After 28 days of deputation, no significant losses of HCBP in the periphyton had occurred. No significant relationship existed between concentrations of HCBP and dry weight of periphyton, suggesting the sorption was primarily determined by surface area available, and that increases in periphytic biomass would not necessarily result in corresponding increases in surface area available for partitioning of HCBP. The results of this study suggest that lotic periphyton provide a large surface area for adsorption and uptake of persistent lipophilic compounds such as HCBP, and depending on the extent of grazing pressure, could greatly influence the fate and transport of these compounds in lotic systems.


Although anomie or strain theories of delinquency assert that adolescent distress leads to delinquent rebellion, delinquents do not report being more distressed than other youth. P. Willis further observes that rebellious youth who take part in a counterschool subculture tend to move relatively easily if not happily away from school and into early adult work roles that only become problematic later. The delinquent subculture temporarily insulates participants from sources of distress they might otherwise feel. However, this oppositional disposition also provokes educational and employment problems that intervene and interact with the residue of this subculture to ultimately produce distress. This lagged or sleeper effect of adolescent rebellion does not emerge until early midlife. Their panel research finds that adolescent rebellion in the form of subcultural delinquency leads to educational and employment problems and ultimately to feelings of hopelessness among adults who have dropped out of school and become unemployed. The origins of these effects are both cultural and structural


The Institute for Global Initiatives at Kennesaw State University is sponsoring the International Salute to President Betty L. Siegel on Monday' Oct. 17' from noon− 4 p.m. The event is to honor Dr. Siegel as she prepares to step down as president. Full Text: Contact: Frances Weyand' Director of University Relations 770−423−6203 or firstname.lastname@example.com The Institute for Global Initiatives at Kennesaw State University is sponsoring the International Salute to President Betty L. Siegel on Monday' Oct. 17' from noon− 4 p.m. The event is to honor Dr. Siegel as she prepares to step down as president. When: Noon−2 p.m. International food and fanfare on the Campus Green (University Rooms A&B if it rains) Featuring costumes' food and performances from around the world 2−4 p.m. Burruss Building' Room 151 Guest speaker Dr. Toyin Falola' University of Texas at Austin' will speak on Globalization and Global Politics Other events will include a flag parade and panel discussions on global learning ### Kennesaw State University is a comprehensive' residential institution with a growing student population of 18'500 from 132 countries. The third largest state university out of 35 institutions in the University System of Georgia' KSU offers more than 55 undergraduate and graduate degree programs. Source URL: https://web.kennesaw.edu/news/stories/international-salute-president-siegel-ksu Powered by TCPDF (www.tcpdf.org) Kennesaw State University, 1000 Chastain Road, Kennesaw GA 30144 © 2010 Kennesaw State University. All rights reserved. Feedback | 470-578-6000 Page 1 of 1


Atomic fluorescence spectrometry method was employed to determine trace amounts of cadmium in seawater.The concentration range of the standard curve was from 0.01 μg/L to 1.0 μg/L,the detection limit of this method was 0.6 ng/L,the relative standard deviation was less than 3.0%,while the recovery rate of cadmium was from 80% to 110%.The results showed that the method had the merits of operation convenience and rapidity、less interference、higher sensitivity and accuracy.The method was suitable for determination of cadmium in batch samples of seawater and could be widely used in marine monitoring.


This study of the bedrock geology of a portion of the Coichester and Georgia Plains 7.5 minute quadrangles, Vermont, has resulted in a new geologic map (1:24,000) for the region. Significant differences of this map from the existing State Geologic Map (Doll, et al., 1961) include: (1) termination of the Winooski Dolomite outcrop belt at Chimney Corners; (2) extention of the Monkton Quartzite northward to the Milton Dam on the Lamoille River, where it interfingers with the Rugg Brook Dolomite; and (3) differentiation of facies within the Rugg Brook Dolomite. A more detailed map (1:12,000) shows the structure of the outcrop belt of the Rockledge Formation in the northeastern part of the study area. This study also describes the facies of the Cambrian units within the study area and their interpretation as platform, platform margin or basinal deposits. The southern margin of the St. Albans Reentrant is defined by platform margin fades in the Dunham, Monkton and Winooski Formations.


In this study we tested the prediction that male gender allocation in natural populations of common ragweed (Ambrosia artemisiifolia L.) depends more on relative plant height within the neighbouring canopy than on absolute plant height. This is consistent with the assumption that success as a pollen donor for an anemophilous plant within a crowded population will be greater when neighbours are shorter than when neighbours are taller. Data on height and proximity of neighbours, irradiance, and target plant height, biomass, and gender allocation were collected from two natural populations. In one population, these data were also recorded for a group of target plants that had local neighbours artificially removed when the target plants were seedlings. Allocation to male flowers was most strongly positively correlated with height relative to that of close neighbours and with percent irradiance in natural populations. Numerous all-female plants were recorded among the smallest individuals that were suppressed ...


In the crossed atomic and molecular beams the chemical reactions of ytterbium and europium atoms with HCl molecules were observed at the laser excitation of atoms. At the excitation of ytterbium metastable states 3P0 and 3Pz an indicated amount of the reaction product was increased by a factor of three as compared to the case of 3 ~ 1 state excitation. Summury: Recently, due to the problem of laser chemistry and laser isotope separation, one searches the possibilities of selective influence upon the chemical reactions. These works are conducted in the spectroscopy of vibrational and electronvibrational molecular transitions in order to elucidate the possibilities of using of these types of internal energy for the activation of chemical reactions [ 11 -[41. In the field of atomicmolecular reactions, a number of works on alkaline earth atoms indicating the promissing use of electron excitation for atomic-molecular reaction initiation [ 51 , 161 have appeared lately. This paper gives the preliminary experimental results on isotope-selective excitation of the rare earth Yb and Eu with HCl element reactions. The reagents were chosen for the possibility of so-called harpoon-type reaction initiation [ 71 . These reactions, first investigated by Polyani in sodium flame, are characterized by large cross-sections and proceed via ion pair metal-halogen formation. A critical radius of interaction is given by the following expression: e 2 / r k I ( M ) E'(XY 1, where I ( M ) is the ionization potential of metal and E'(XY) is the reagent molecule affinity to electron [71. Thus, at the excitation of atom, i.e., under effective decreasing of the ionization potential, one can consider an increase of the reaction cross-section. It is well to note that, principally, the molecular reagent affinity can be varied by exciting its vibrational degrees of freedom [ 81 . On the other hand, the reagent partners were chosen for the reaction of the atom of metal in the unexcited state to be highly endothermal and in the excited state, exothermal and thermoneutral. From the above mentioned considerations, as a molecular reagent we choose a number of halogen carriers in the order of increasing dissociation energy Clz (Do = 57.2 kcal), CC14 (67.4 kcal), CH3C1 (83 kcal), HC1 (102.2 kcal), BC1, (1 20 kcal). A dissociation energy of the product expected of YbCl and EuCl is D = 70 kcal [6 ] . The evidently exothermal reactions Yb with C1, and Eu with Clz were used as the test ones. Yb and Eu atoms were excited in intercombination transitions 'So 3 3P1, h = 555.648 nm and ' S 7 p -+ ' P 7 / 2 , X= 576.520 nm, respectively. For a Yb atom the metastable states were excited by two lasers with XI = 555.648 and X2 = 679.961 nm using a cascade process 'So --f 3P1 -+ 3S1-+3P0, 3 P 2 . For excitation of the atoms of metal dye lasers were used with argon laser pumping tuned to the transition mentioned above and with the following parameters: Av = 0.1 cm-', P = 0.5 W; Av = 5 . cm-', P = 0.1 W. An experiment was carried out in the crossed atomic and molecular beams. The reaction products were registered by a quadrupole mass-spectrometer with an adapter head having differential pumping-out. As a result of the experiment it was concluded that from the above pairs of the reagents, only in the case of the reaction o f Yb with HCl and Eu with HC1 does one succeed in finding the products at the laser excitation of the atoms of metal. In the unexcited state the reaction products were not found. During cascade population of the metastable states Yb(3Po, 3 P ~ ) an amount of the reaction product was increased by a factor of three. Use of the metastable atoms for such processes turns out to be preferable since, first, during atom transition through the laser beams a considerable part of the atoms can be converted into the excited state, second, excitation can take part beyond the zone of interaction with the reagent, and third, this makes it possible to raise the effective time of interaction between the atom and reagent. To control the selectivity under the conditions of the experiment, we have scanned the frequency of one of the lasers over the isotopical structure of the Eu 6P7,z level and have registered the peak mass variation of the corresponding product EuCI. Thus, in the experiments we first showed the possibility of laser-induced isotope selective atomic-molecular reaction of the rare earth metals Yb and Eu with HCl taking part in single-step excitation and in the cascade metastable state excitation. In conclusion, it is well to note that the use of laser-excited metastable atom states enables the study the selectivity of many "collision" processes such as surface reactions, associative ionization reactions, surface ionization, etc.


Abstract In the search for chemical probes of DNA conformations, we report an efficient synthesis of new Troger's Base analogs derived from polyfunctionalized aminoacridines treated with a stoechiometric amount of formaldehyde in trifluoroacetic acid. For the more sensitive aminoacridines, the Troger's Bases were obtained by nucleophilic substitution of the chloro group of the "pre-formed" corresponding Troger's Base.


The integrity of the metal-insulator-metal (MIM) capacitor with high-k La 2 O 3 dielectrics formed using a 400°C back-end process was investigated. A very high capacitance per unit area of 9.2 fF/μm 2 was achieved for La 2 O 3 MIM capacitors at I MHz, significantly reducing the chip size of radio frequency (rf) circuits. A mathematical derivation, involving measured S parameters, yielded the small voltage-dependent capacitance (ΔC/C) ≤ 100 ppm at 1 GHz, indicating that the precision capacitor circuit can be applied in the rf regime. Furthermore, such a high capacitance density can be maintained as the frequency is increased from 10 KHz to 20 GHz with a large Q factor ≥90.


ABSTRACT The exhibition I Cling to Virtue took place at the Victoria and Albert Museum, London, in 2010. The project was organized around the narrative, material, and visual memories of Monarch Lövy Singh, a character created by the artists Onkar Kular and Noam Toran in collaboration with the writer Keith Jones. In a museum renowned for authenticity and craftsmanship, Monarch's "heirlooms" underscored a different aspect of the cultural: the ability of images and everyday objects to reconfigure otherwise distant histories and geographies. The review below suggests parallels with the use of objects as plot devices in cinema and the efforts of contemporary designers to "re-enchant" the everyday experience of modernity. The statement of practice explains how ICTV queried the idea of authorship and used rapid-prototyped "diagrammatic" versions of everyday things to complicate the experience of artifact and artifice. Hence the problem of what constitutes "history" as opposed to "memory" merged with the paradox of what is true or false in representation.


This book is a hands-on guide to customizing and adapting Microsoft Visual Studio 2005 to best meet the needs of individuals and organizations.


Plant phenotyping using unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) needs to be implemented with appropriate experimental design and corresponding software tools to prevent bottlenecks in the processing chain. In this study 24 durum wheat varieties were compared at two locations in NW and central Spain with irrigated and rain-fed treatments, but at one trial location it was necessary to protect the crops using a plastic mesh. Apart from agronomic components, a field spectrometer and multispectral UAV sensor were employed. The MosaicTool software plugin was developed in the FIJI image analysis platform for quick, semi-automatic plot level extraction from multispectral UAV orthomosaics, but field to UAV spectral data correlations reduced from r=0.95-0.97 to 0.64-0.91 when the mesh was present. Linear Spectral Unmixing (LSU) with renormalization is proposed to correct the UAV data to remove the effects of the protective mesh.


This work investigates the suitability of printed circuit boards (PCBs) for use as windings in a high voltage electronic transformer. To do this, the turns of a transformer winding have been split into separate elements, these being: straight lengths of track; curved lengths of track representing turns close to the transformer core; and curved lengths of track representing turns on the outside of the winding. It is shown that PCBs are capable of insulating against potential differences of several kilovolts between parallel windings. This value can be significantly increased with the inclusion of a soldermask. This suggests that PCBs can be used in the construction of transformer windings designed to operate at tens of kilovolts across the whole board.


The effect of dose rate on radiation-induced gain degradation is compared for verticle npn and lateral pnp bipolar transistors. High dose rate irradiations at elevated temperatures are more effective at simulating low dose rate degradation in the lateral pnp transistors.


Hemifacial spasm (HFS) is a movement disorder characterized by either brief or persistent, intermittent twitching of the muscles innervated by the facial nerve, commonly resulting from compression of the seventh cranial nerve and also can be secondary to abnormal metabolic conditions.1 The most commonly reported and bestrecognized movement disorder secondary to hyperglycemia is hemichorea.2 In this study, we report an unusual case presenting with hemifacial spasm as the initial manifestation of uncontrolled hyperglycemia, which resolved rapidly following the correction of hyperglycemia. This case broadens our understanding of movement disorders associated with hyperglycemia. This study followed the tenets of the Declaration of Helsinki, and was performed according to the guidelines of the Second Affiliated Hospital of Zhejiang University School of Medicine. Written informed consents were obtained from the patient.


There is compelling evidence that sodium–glucose cotransporter 2 (SGLT2) inhibitors exert cardioprotective and renoprotective effects that are far greater than expected based on their effects on glycemia or glycosuria. In large-scale randomized controlled trials, SGLT2 inhibitors reduce the risk of hospitalizations for heart failure by ∼30% and often decrease the risk of cardiovascular death (1). This benefit is particularly striking in patients who have the most marked impairment of systolic function prior to treatment. In parallel, SGLT2 inhibitors also reduce the risk of end-stage renal events, including the occurrence of renal death and the need for dialysis or renal transplantation by ∼30% (2). This benefit is seen even when glomerular filtration rates are sufficiently low to abolish the glycosuric effect of these drugs.

These cardiorenal benefits cannot be explained by an action of SGLT2 inhibitors to lower blood glucose, since similar effects are not seen with antidiabetes drugs that have greater antihyperglycemic actions. Additionally, they cannot be ascribed to a natriuretic action, since these drugs exert only a modest effect on plasma volume or on circulating natriuretic peptides (3).

In 2016, two articles published in Diabetes Care proposed the "thrifty fuel hypothesis" to explain the cardiorenal benefits of SGLT2 inhibitors. Ferrannini et al. (4) and Mudaliar et al. (5) postulated that the action of SGLT2 inhibitors to promote ketogenesis might account for their favorable effects on the heart and kidney because enhanced ketone bodies formation might possibly provide an efficient fuel that could boost the energy state of organs under stress. However, type 2 diabetes represents a state of nutrient overabundance and not energy deprivation, as is evidenced by the enhancement of molecular pathways that promote both energy retention (e.g., through SGLT2 upregulation) and energy storage (6,7). In fact, the stressed heart already preferentially utilizes ketone bodies, …


The financial state of US households has improved, but challenges including underemployment and stagnant wages persist. Action by policymakers and bankers can make a difference.


Based on a sample of 114,098 investments committed by 12,258 limited partners into 20,473 private equity funds, we study an international home bias in fund manager selection in private equity. We find that limited partners overweigh their investments with fund managers domiciled in the same geographical region by 45% on average. The home bias in local fund manager selection holds across investor types, fund characteristics as well as market regions. Investments committed with locally domiciled fund managers are not only being overweighed, but also perform better than investments with fund managers domiciled in foreign market regions. We argue that limited partners benefit from information advantages and better fund access when selecting private equity funds within their home market region.


We have previously shown that glial cells are a target of ethanol toxicity during brain ontogeny, since ethanol affects glial development and impairs the release of neurotrophic factors which are important for neuronal outgrowth and synaptic plasticity. Activity‐dependent neuroprotective protein (ADNP) is a glial factor with anti‐apoptotic and neuroprotective actions. We proposed that some ethanol effects on brain development and synaptic formation are, in part, mediated by the ethanol‐induced impairment of the synthesis and release of ADNP by astroglial cells. We show a reduction in the ADNP mRNA levels in the cerebral cortex and astrocytes from prenatal ethanol exposed (PEE) foetuses. Furthermore, co‐cultures of PEE astrocytes with control neurons cause a marked decrease in neuronal growth, differentiation and synaptic connections relative to the co‐cultures with control astrocytes, effects that were reverted by the addition of NAP, the active peptide of ADNP. We further show that one mechanism by which NAP could exert its actions is the activation of mitogen‐activated protein kinase/extracellular signal‐regulated protein kinase, the phosphatidylinositol‐3‐kinase (PI‐3K)/Akt pathways and the transcription factor cAMP response element‐binding protein. These results indicate that the protective actions of NAP are mediated by triggering signalling pathways which are important in neuronal growth and differentiation contributing to the restoration of PEE‐associated neuronal plasticity.


This study aimed to identify contributions of Winnicott's theoretical approach to nursing care. It is a reflexive study that highlights the concepts of holding, facilitating environment, and transitional space. It establishes interface with health care, relevant for nursing care comprehension. Nursing care is approached in the perspective of "good enough" practices, requiring the establishment of arenas for mutual contact, support, protection, and facilitating environment. Winnicott concepts add new values to nursing care, enabling a conceptual vitality for care in a comprehensive perspective. DESCRIPTORS: Nursing. Health care. Psychoanalysis.


The efficacy of neem (Azadiracta indica) against Lernaea cyprinacea was studied. Two types of neem seeds powder, viz; (1) dried and powdered neem seeds and (2) solvent extracted neem seeds powder prepared by treating dried seeds powder with petroleum ether were used in the present study. These experiments were carried out in the month of August 2014. Different types of extracts were prepared by separately solubilising both types of neem` seeds powder in i) 1% NaCl solution and (ii) water at two temperatures (28 oC and 90oC). These extracts were tested at varying concentrations (10, 25, 50 and 100 µg mL-1) against Lernaea. Results indicated that neem seeds powder treated with solvent and further solubilized with hot water (90 oC) at a concentration of 100 µg mL-1 was effective in preventing the hatching of L.cyprinacea eggs and their further development. Nauplii and copepodid-I stages were also exposed to above mentioned neem seed extracts at a concentration of 100µg mL-1. Nauplii became inactive within 2 hrs and copepodids died after 43 minutes exposure to solvent treated neem`s powder extracted with hot water. Fishes (Labeo fimbriatus) survived for an average period of 5 and 30 min in all types of neem seeds extracts except the one extracted with water at 28oC (both solvent treated and untreated neem`s seeds powder).


Background In November 2007, the Italian Competition Authority (ICA) fined Acea for 8.3 million, and Suez Environment (SE) for 3 million for a market-sharing agreement in water services . The…


An algebraic theory of dualities is developed based on the notion of bond algebras. It deals with classical and quantum dualities in a unified fashion explaining the precise connection between quantum dualities and the low temperature (strong-coupling)/high temperature (weak-coupling) dualities of classical statistical mechanics (or (Euclidean) path integrals). Its range of applications includes discrete lattice, continuum field and gauge theories. Dualities are revealed to be local, structure-preserving mappings between model-specific bond algebras that can be implemented as unitary transformations, or partial isometries if gauge symmetries are involved. This characterization permits us to search systematically for dualities and self-dualities in quantum models of arbitrary system size, dimensionality and complexity, and any classical model admitting a transfer matrix or operator representation. In particular, special dualities such as exact dimensional reduction, emergent and gauge-reducing dualities that solve gauge constraints can be easily understood in terms of mappings of bond algebras. As a new example, we show that the ℤ2 Higgs model is dual to the extended toric code model in any number of dimensions. Non-local transformations such as dual variables and Jordan–Wigner dictionaries are algorithmically derived from the local mappings of bond algebras. This permits us to establish a precise connection between quantum dual and classical disorder variables. Our bond-algebraic approach goes beyond the standard approach to classical dualities, and could help resolve the long-standing problem of obtaining duality transformations for lattice non-Abelian models. As an illustration, we present new dualities in any spatial dimension for the quantum Heisenberg model. Finally, we discuss various applications including location of phase boundaries, spectral behavior and, notably, we show how bond-algebraic dualities help constrain and realize fermionization in an arbitrary number of spatial dimensions.


2080 viewing of these articles and therefore were included in our pooled metaanalysis. Second, our outlined search strategy will encompass all studies reporting raw data on liver biochemistries as aspartate aminotransferase or alanine aminotransferase, which was our primary focus. Third, we recognize the significant heterogeneity across certain pooled analyses among the studies. We have listed this specifically in the Discussion section regarding limitations of this article. Fourth, we certainly recognize the limited sample size among the data available at the time of this metaanalysis. See further discussion below as well as within our article. Fifth, as discussed in the Methods section, we chose to assess the degree of bias using the NewcastleOttawa Scale, which is a wellvalidated tool to assess the risk of bias across nonrandomized studies. Sixth, we did not use a designated research protocol in the formulation of this article. However, we have conducted this article according to the standards for systematic reviews and metaanalyses and current journal guidelines. Seventh, although it is true that the current Cochrane Handbook for Systematic Reviews of Interventions states the power of the Egger's test is low when there are fewer than 10 studies, we chose to include this and corresponding funnel plots in our analysis to provide at least some barometer of publication bias. Overall, this systematic review and metaanalysis was done early (before March 22, 2020) when almost all the COVID19 pandemic data originated from China. We have acknowledged the limitations of our study in the Discussion section. Limited sample size and heterogeneity of the studies are a reflection of early studies coming out of China. Despite these limitations, the external validity of this systematic review and metaanalysis remains strong. Since our article was submitted, many other metaanalyses have been performed and have confirmed our findings.(13) We sincerely hope that more studies from Europe and North America will shed additional information on livertest abnormalities and COVID19 infections.


The analysis of Be by a ( gamma ,n) reaction with the use of an Sb/sup 124/ source is highly selective, but suffers from the disadvantage that a large amount of shielding and a large amount of sample are required. The ( alpha ,n) reaction with the use of a Po-Be or a Ra-Be source is suitable except when fluorite is presented in the concentrate. The interferences from boron, fluorine, or lithium in the determination of Be by an ( alpha ,n) reaction can be avoided by counting the hard gamma rays (4.45 and 7.65 Mev) which are emitted by the excited nucleus of C/sup 12/ which is formed as an intermediaten Be/sup 9/ + He/sup 4/ - C/sup 12/ + n/sup 1/. A single- channel, NaI scintillation counter with a discriminator setting of 15 volts cuts out the 0.8 Mev gamma from the Po/ sup 210/ source, and counts only the hard gammas from the excited C/sup 12/ nucleus. Mixtures of Be/sub 3/Al/(Si/sub 6/O/sub 18/) and fluorite (CaF/sub 2/) were irra diated from an alpha source, and it was found that the gamma count (4 Mev or higher in energy) was directly proportional to the Be content. The presencemore » of fluorite did not interfere with the analysis. The relative error did not exceed 15% for a 1% BeO content and, a 30 min. counting time. If the activity of the alpha -source is increased from 5 mc to about one curie, a few hundreths of a percent of BeO can readily be determined in alloys or in solution. (TTT)« less


Abstract : This research analyzes Distributed Operations (DO) and its dependency on joint air fire support when out of range of other indirect fire assets in the 2015 time frame. The (DO) concept for the USMC leverages the strengths of maneuver warfare through integrated networked dispersion. The emerging U.S. technologies and training will enable DO forces to counter the asymmetric adversary. The adaptability and lethality for the squad to battalion sized units will add flexibility to Combatant Commanders. Operational planners and commanders must understand the strengths and limitations of DO forces for proper employment and risk mitigation.


In the present paper, first we obtain sufficient conditions for the existence and uniqueness of the solution of the Cauchy problem for an inhomogeneous neutral linear fractional differential system with distributed delays (even in the neutral part) and Caputo type derivatives, in the case of initial functions with first kind discontinuities. This result allows to prove that the corresponding homogeneous system possesses a fundamental matrix C(t,s) continuous in t,t∈[a,∞),a∈R. As an application, integral representations of the solutions of the Cauchy problem for the considered inhomogeneous systems are obtained.


We study the influence of composition (matrix, fibres, coupling sizes), injection parameters (pressure, temperature) and testing conditions (velocity, temperature) on the rupture characteristics of an injection moulded 30% short glass fiber reinforced polypropylene and the embrittlement and fracture mechanisms


The incorporation of proline into cyclic peptides seems to be the most promising way to induce β‐turn structures. Recently, however, it was shown that N‐methylated amino acids might be even better suited than proline for introducing turn structures. Another property of proline, the ability to effect cis‐peptide bonds, has also been reported for N‐methylated amino acids. These findings raise the question if it might be possible to replace a proline by an N‐methylated amino acid without altering the desired conformational features. The most important benefit of replacing proline by an N‐methylated residue is that one recovers the side‐chain functionalities, which could be used for enhancing binding selectivity, or to tune a cyclic peptide concerning its pharmacological properties.


The article deals with the specificity of using cases in teaching Russian as a foreign language (RFL) to the adults getting higher professional education or studying Russian for personal goals. The research describes operational phases in the educational process of cases and presents the innovative three-component model of the case. The model is based on features of teaching Russian as a foreign language and takes into account the level of the language proficiency, peculiarities of students and learning environment. The authors define greatest challenges and positive aspects of using cases and lay down their efficiency conditions. The structure of the case developed and proposed in the article can be used in teaching any European language (with some modifications connected with features of culture and everyday life of this or that country). Efficiency of the method, proposed in the article, has been tested at Omsk Tank-Automotive Engineering Institute in the groups with the student number not exceeding 10 persons. The article formulates general methodical requirements and conditions enhancing the productivity of teaching Russian as a foreign language while using cases, positive and negative aspects of cases in methods of teaching Russian as a foreign language.


Soccer premier leagues` authorities in Iran are supposed to consider spectators and fans` concerns in to consideration in order to substantiate their destination loyalty. Based on the literature review, safety, service quality, destination image and social environment may be antecedents of destination loyalty in sport tourism. The present study develops a theoretical background in this respect.


The corrosion inhibition efficiency of a Cochlospermum tinctorium (CTE) on mild steel in 0.5M H2SO4 solution has been investigated using weight loss measurements, thermometric measurement and scanning electron microscopy studies. The weight loss measurement indicates increase corrosion inhibition efficiencies that reach 97%. The weight loss and thermometric data established that the inhibition efficiency on mild steel increases with increase in the concentration of


The invention relates to a mobile terminal and a method for determining the position of a mobile radio terminal (13, 22) within a cellular mobile radio network, the mobile network having a plurality of cells each having a base station (12, 14, 21), said terminal (13, 22) is registered in one or more base stations (12, 14, 21), wherein the position determination by means of the terminal (13, 22) by a direction-finding at least one base station (12, 14, 21) is carried out, the absolute position is known, wherein the direction- integrated means of a in the terminal (13, 22) directional antenna through orientation of the main lobe of the directional antenna on the location of the base station (12, 14, 21).


A translation task from English into Spanish (Castilian) was carried out by 5 graduate students and 1 undergraduate student highly proficient in English and Spanish. The software Inputlog was used to record all pauses and keystrokes during the translation task. Various relations were examined in attempt to draw conclusions about cognitive effort during the translation task. The first relation examined was between self-reported L1 and Verbal Fluency Scores in L1 and L2. We predicted that participants would score higher on the Verbal Fluency Test in their L1 and found this to be true for 4 out of 6 participants. We also investigated the relation between verbal fluency score and perceived level of task difficulty. We predicted that the translation task into Spanish would be perceived as less difficult for the participants who scored higher in Spanish on the verbal fluency score. This result was only the case for one out of 3 participants who scored higher in Spanish on the Verbal Fluency Test. We also looked at the relation between degree RESUMO: Uma tarefa de tradução, do inglês para o espanhol (castelhano), foi realizada por 5 estudantes de pósgraduação e 1 estudante de graduação altamente proficientes em inglês e espanhol. O software Inputlog foi usado para registar todas as pausas e pressionamentos de teclas durante a tarefa de tradução. Várias relações foram examinadas com o objetivo de tirar conclusões sobre o esforço cognitivo durante a tarefa de tradução. A primeira relação examinada foi entre os resultados auto-reportados da Primeira Língua (L1) e a Fluência Verbal em L1 e na Segunda Língua (L2). Nós previmos que os participantes teriam pontuação mais alta no Teste de Fluência Verbal em sua L1, acontecendo isso na verdade com 4 dos 6 participantes. Investigámos também a relação entre a pontuação do Teste de Fluência Verbal e o nível percebido de dificuldade da tarefa. Nós previmos que a tarefa de tradução para o espanhol seria percebida como menos difícil para os participantes que tiveram pontuação mais alta em espanhol na pontuação de * M.A., University of California Santa Barbara, email@example.com ** B.A., University of California Santa Barbara, firstname.lastname@example.com *** M.A., University of California Santa Barbara, firstname.lastname@example.com Craveiro, Ellis, Musselman | p. 690-711 Pauses in a translation task... Domínios de Lingu@gem | Uberlândia | vol. 13, n. 2 | abr. jun. 2019 ISSN 1980-5799 691 of satisfaction with the target text and perceived level of task difficulty and predicted that participants who perceived the translation task as more difficult would be less satisfied with the final product. This was the case for 4 out of 6 participants. Next, we looked at total task time and total pause time, we hypothesized that variations in pause time across participants may be due to differences in L1 however the lowest and highest pause times recorded in our data were both L1 Spanish. Finally, we looked at the number of pauses and mean time of pauses at different segment levels and found results consistent with prior research where as pauses were more frequent at lower segment levels as opposed to higher segment levels. These results suggest that pauses are in fact an indicator of cognitive load during a translation task and that translating into the participant's L1 may help to alleviate some of this cognitive load.


A liquid chromatographic (Lc) method for simultaneous determination of creatinine and o-, m-, and p-methylhippuric acids (metabolites of xylene) in urine is described. the analytical procedure is based on direct injection in system Lc. With this method, which does not require much time and handling, the different acids can be satisfactorily determined with high sensitivity and specificity. A statistical study shows a good reproducibility for the determination of creatinine, o-, m-, and p-methylhippuric acids. the coefficient of variation for 5 determinations in all cases was less than 2%.


Predictions are dangerous, especially those about the future.—Yogi BerraElections have consequences. On November 6, 2012, President Barrack Obama won an overwhelming Electoral College victory and a closer popular vote to give him a second term as president. The United States will continue to have


The present invention relates to a powder hair dye composition the number of Oriental herbs and pearl minerals, hair dye compositions according to the invention and Oriental herb powder, vegetable powder, a dye, a wetting agent, a viscosifier, a first agent to be configured as a binder and .; Pearl and minerals may configure the second zero-cost, the hair dye composition according to the invention is relatively much hypoallergenic, yet more environmentally friendly by using also the addition auxiliary chemical dye precursor as the main component can Oriental herbs and pearl mineral permanent by excluding the use of an oxidizing agent, and possible to prevent the hair and scalp injury, it is not unpleasant specific taken due to the alkaline agent jinim high ease of use, as well as alkaline agents such as ammonia used in permanent hair dyes, as used in the hair dye Mo swelling of Sophie layer (swelling) and improve the dyeing persistence by the fur quality penetration of the dye due to softening (softening) while still imparting a shine to the hair by, and well and which enables the dyeing of natural color, good stability and storage It has a castle.


PURPOSE: To provide a new, improved electric connector used for an IC chip reading system, with its spring contacts formed only by pattern drawing without having to go through a forming step. CONSTITUTION: An electric connector 10 is provided with an insulating housing 12 having a through receptacle, and the insulating housing 12 can be fitted to a printed circuit board. Spring contacts 14 are fitted to the receptacle of the housing 12 and provided with contact pad parts 26 with one ends exposed to the bottom face of the housing 12, and the contact pad parts 26 are surface- engaged with the circuit trace of the printed circuit board. Contact peak parts are formed from the opposite ends of the spring contacts 14, so as to protrude from the upper face of the housing 12, and be engaged through complementary contact parts. A fitting post 30 is provided at an intermediate part between both ends of each spring contact 14 and fixed into a fitting hole of the housing 12.


Recently the Council for the Accreditation of Counseling and Related Educational Program (CACREP) broad granted many graduate counselor education programs eight or more year accreditation. In order for these institutions to have been awarded its accreditation, eight core counseling areas should have been addressed in their program or university alike. For counselor education programs to enter the 21st century, technology and media devices should be embraced in all of the eight core counseling areas. The chapter examines the usefulness and effectiveness of enhanced-technology and media devices of five of the eight core counseling areas for advancement and improvement of effective skills for counselors-in-training (CIT). University web-base and audio/video media devices were the common enhanced-technology devices used among five of the core counseling areas. In addition, the school counseling program technologies were also examined. Finally, implications for counselor education are provided.


Gaussian mixture models (GMMs) have proven extremely successful for text-independent speaker recognition. The standard training method for GMM models is to use MAP adaptation of the means of the mixture components based on speech from a target speaker. Recent methods in compensation for speaker and channel variability have proposed the idea of stacking the means of the GMM model to form a GMM mean supervector. We examine the idea of using the GMM supervector in a support vector machine (SVM) classifier. We propose two new SVM kernels based on distance metrics between GMM models. We show that these SVM kernels produce excellent classification accuracy in a NIST speaker recognition evaluation task.


We re-identified polypore samples collected at 159 sites in Sarawak from 1954 to 2003 that had been maintained at the fungarium of Research, Development and Innovation Division, Forest Department Sarawak, Kuching. We present a list of 115 fungal species and one fungal subspecies out of 476 specimens from Polyporales and six other orders; pictures of all species and subspecies are included.


Thermo, Acoustical and Dielectric (TAD) parameters such as adiabatic compressibility ( β), intermolecular free length (L f), acoustical impendence (Z), dielectric constant ( �), surface tension (S), relaxation time ( �), Gibb's free energy ( �G) and its excess functions (A E ) have been calculatedfor the binary mixtures of lubricating oil-SAE15w40 with toluene and benzene from ultrasound velocity (u),density ( �) and viscosity ( �)measurements. These measurementswere carried out at various concentration of oil from 0% to 100% in steps of 20% at 308.15K.From the data's of TAD parameters and their excess values, it is very obvious that there exist a hetero interaction existing between the unlike molecules.


Site and size control of ordered arrays of semiconductor nanostructures in an efficient way has remained a large challenge and has thus attracted intensive research interest due to their potential applications in integrated optoelectronics. In this work, we report an original approach to grow hexagonally ordered arrays of InGaAs/GaAs nanobars on the designed regions of GaAs substrate coated with silicon dioxide through nanosphere lithography (NSL). To control the growth sites of the nanostructures, microsized wells are first fabricated on a thin silicon dioxide film deposited on the GaAs substrate by photolithography, and bilayers of hexagonally ordered polymer nanospheres are then self-assembled on the silicon dioxide films with two different thicknesses. Finally, an array of nanocavities is created by dry etching through the self-assembled nanospheres. By controlling the etching depth, the nanocavities are etched down to the GaAs substrate first in the wells, leading to epitaxial growth of InGaAs/GaAs n...


A series of Mn–Ce mixed oxide catalysts supported on cordierite, TiO2 or γ-Al2O3 carriers were tested for their catalytic performance towards hazardous gaseous o-dichlorobenzene combustion. The results indicated that superficial MnOx species vary with carriers such as Mn2O3 on the cordierite, Mn3O4 on the TiO2 and amorphous MnOx on the Al2O3 support. The catalysts supported on cordierite with a 9 : 1 Mn/Ce the ratio presented high catalytic performance in a low temperature range of 150–300 °C, which is due to their better reducibility, well-dispersed manganese oxide and enrichment of available active oxygen species on the catalysts surface.


Hydrogenated vegetable oils became popular for cooking in 1950s. Soon it became established that eating food cooked in hydrogenated oils (trans fats) could be the risk factors for cardio vascular diseases. Refined oils were recommended for cooking. It was believed that refined oils are rich in monounsaturated fatty acids (MUFA or omega-6) and will help maintain low cholesterol levels. Further research proved that omega-6 rich diet reduced HDL(High density lipoprotein) as well as LDL (low density lipoprotein). World health organization recommended that we should increase omega-3 i.e. poly unsaturated fatty acids (PUFA). PUFA help in keeping healthy HDL/LDL ratio. A number of reports also suggested that natural saturated fatty acids (nSFA) were not risk factors for coronary heart disease (CHD). In this mini review an account of developments concerning these issues has been presented.


Bitcoin is a digital currency based on peer-to-peer network to propagate and verify transactions. Bitcoin differs from traditional currencies in that, it does not rely on a centralised authority. In this paper, we present a simulation model of Bitcoin peer-to-peer network which is an event based simulation. Large scale measurements of the real Bitcoin network are performed in order to enable a precise parameterisation of the presented simulation model. In addition, we perform validation results revealing that the presented simulation model behaves as close as the real Bitcoin network. Based on the developed simulation model, evaluation of our proposed Bitcoin Clustering Based Super Node (BCBSN) protocol as a mechanism to speed up information propagation in Bitcoin network is presented. Evaluation results show that the presented clustering protocol is able to reduce the transaction propagation delay with a reasonable proportion.


Although topical retinoic acid effectively restores photoaged skin, the associated irritation limits the utility of the material. Retinaldehyde (RAL) is the natural precursor of retinoic acid and can also be used to treat photoaged skin; the safety profile is good.


Objectives: To validate the ability of candidateCSFbiomarkers to distinguish between the2main forms of frontotemporal lobar degeneration (FTLD), FTLD with TAR DNA-binding protein 43 (TDP-43) inclusions (FTLD-TDP) and FTLD with Tau inclusions (FTLD-Tau). Methods: Antemortem CSF samples were collected from 30 patients with FTLD in a single-center validation cohort, and CSF levels of 5 putative FTLD-TDP biomarkers as well as levels of total Tau (t-Tau) and Tau phosphorylated at threonine 181 (p-Tau181) were measured using independent assays. Biomarkers most associated with FTLD-TDP were then tested in a separate 2-center validation cohort composed of subjects with FTLD-TDP, FTLD-Tau, Alzheimer disease (AD), and cognitively normal subjects. The sensitivity and specificity of FTLD-TDP biomarkers were determined. Results: In the first validation cohort, FTLD-TDP cases had decreased levels of p-Tau181 and interleukin-23, and increased Fas. Reduced ratio of p-Tau181 to t-Tau (p/t-Tau) was the strongest predictor of FTLD-TDP pathology. Analysis in the second validation cohort showed CSF p/t-Tau ratio ,0.37 to distinguish FTLD-TDP from FTLD-Tau, AD, and healthy seniors with 82% sensitivity and 82% specificity. Conclusion: A reduced CSF p/t-Tau ratio represents a reproducible, validated biomarker for FTLD-TDP with performance approaching well-established CSF AD biomarkers. Introducing this biomarker into research and the clinical arena can significantly increase the power of clinical trials targeting abnormal accumulations of TDP-43 or Tau, and select the appropriate patients for target-specific therapies. Classification of evidence: This study provides Class II evidence that the CSF p/t-Tau ratio distinguishes FTLD-TDP from FTLD-Tau. Neurology® 2013;81:1945–1952 GLOSSARY Ab42 5 b-amyloid 1–42; AD 5 Alzheimer disease; ALS 5 amyotrophic lateral sclerosis; AUC 5 area under the curve; CI 5 confidence interval; FTD 5 frontotemporal degeneration; FTLD 5 frontotemporal lobar degeneration; FTLD-Tau 5 frontotemporal lobar degeneration with Tau inclusions; FTLD-TDP 5 frontotemporal lobar degeneration with TAR DNA-binding protein 43 (TDP-43) inclusions; IL 5 interleukin; Penn 5 University of Pennsylvania; PN 5 peripheral neuropathy; PSP 5 progressive supranuclear palsy; p-Tau181 5 Tau phosphorylated at threonine 181; ROC5 receiver operating characteristic; t-Tau 5 total Tau. Frontotemporal lobar degeneration (FTLD) is distinct from Alzheimer disease (AD) and Parkinson disease in that there is poor correlation between the clinical syndromes (such as behavioral variant frontotemporal degeneration [FTD]) and the specific underlying pathology. While some syndromes have better association with FTLD-TDP (FTLD with TAR DNA-binding protein 43 [TDP-43] inclusions) or FTLD-Tau (FTLD with Tau inclusions), it is difficult to use group-level associations to predict each individual's exact pathology. A reliable biomarker that accurately predicts the underlying FTLD pathology at the patient level is desperately needed for successful implementation of substrate-specific therapeutic trials targeting abnormal TDP-43 or Tau accumulations. We previously selected patients with known FTLD-TDP pathology (autopsy, mutations associated with FTLD-TDP, and FTD with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis [ALS] or FTD-ALS) and FTLD-Tau pathology (autopsy, mutations associated with FTLD-Tau, From the Department of Neurology (W.T.H., K.W., J.G., J.J.L., C.H., M.S., A.I.L.), Center for Neurodegenerative Diseases Research (W.T.H., K.W., J.G., J.J.L., C.H., A.I.L.), Alzheimer's Disease Research Center (W.T.H., J.G., J.J.L., C.H., A.I.L.), Emory University School of Medicine, Atlanta, GA; and Departments of Neurology (M.G.) and Laboratory Medicine and Pathology (V.V.D., J.Q.T.), University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia. Go to Neurology.org for full disclosures. Funding information and disclosures deemed relevant by the authors, if any, are provided at the end of the article. © 2013 American Academy of Neurology 1945 and FTD with progressive supranuclear palsy [PSP] or FTD-PSP) from the University of Pennsylvania (Penn) to identify novel antemortemCSF FTLD biomarkers. Using a commercial platform, we found levels of 10 CSF proteins and peptides to differ between FTLDTDP and FTLD-Tau, with a panel of 5 proteins distinguishing FTLD-TDP cases from FTLD-Tau cases with 84% diagnostic accuracy. To validate these 5 biomarkers, we prospectively recruited FTLD subjects to undergo CSF collection at Emory University and set up independent assays to measure the putative CSF biomarkers as well as levels of total Tau (t-Tau) and Tau phosphorylated at threonine 181 (p-Tau181). The most promising biomarker or biomarker panel was then analyzed in a separate validation cohort from Emory and Penn to determine its sensitivity and specificity for FTLD-TDP. METHODS Standard protocol approvals, registrations, and patient consents. Studies conducted at Emory were approved by the Emory Institutional Review Board, and studies conducted at Penn were approved by the Penn Institutional Review Board. We obtained informed consents from each subject or his/her legal representative. W.H. has full access to all the data and final responsibility for the decision to submit for publication. Subjects. We prospectively recruited volunteers to undergo antemortem CSF collection (figure 1). Emory samples included those prospectively collected from 2010 to 2013, and Penn samples included samples collected from 1997 to 2013. Because the exact FTLD pathology is unknown in most clinically diagnosed patients, we included patients followed to autopsy with neuropathologically confirmed diagnosis of FTLD-TDP or FTLD-Tau (n 5 25), and patients carrying mutations predictive of FTLDTDP (C9ORF72 and PGRN, n 5 14) or FTLD-Tau (MAPT, n 5 7). Genetic testing for mutations in C9ORF72, PGRN, andMAPT was performed at Penn for Penn samples, and at Athena Diagnostics (Worcester, MA) or at Penn for Emory samples. We further enriched the cohorts with subjects with FTD-Plus syndromes in which the additional clinical diagnosis accurately predicts the pathology, including FTD-ALS (with ALS characterized by inclusions immunoreactive to TDP-43, n 5 16) and FTD-PSP (with PSP characterized by inclusions immunoreactive to Tau, n 5 14). Finally, patients with semantic dementia and normal CSF Tau and b-amyloid 1–42 (Ab42) levels (i.e., inconsistent with a diagnosis of AD), a primary progressive aphasia syndrome highly associated with FTLD-TDP after exclusion of AD cases, were also included (n5 7). Consecutive patients were recruited if they fulfilled the inclusion criteria. Each patient underwent detailed neurologic and laboratory examination to ensure the accuracy of clinical diagnosis according to established criteria for AD, behavioral variant FTD, semantic dementia, FTD-ALS, and FTD-PSP. We did not include subjects with ALS only or PSP only because discovery work using populations preferentially biased toward these 2 groups may reveal CSF changes associated with the particular disease rather than the general FTLD pathologic subtype. In addition, we also recruited subjects with AD, normal cognition with and without peripheral neuropathy (PN) from Emory for this study to determine whether biomarker changes were specific to FTLD-TDP or nonspecifically associated with brain or peripheral nerve disease. APOE genotyping was performed at each center. CSF sampling and analysis. Baseline CSF samples were obtained prospectively before measurement of CSF biomarkers according to protocols similar to the AD Neuroimaging Initiative. Briefly, lumbar puncture was performed with a 20or 24-gauge spinal needle, and CSF was collected into polypropylene tubes. Aliquots (0.5 mL) were immediately prepared, barcoded, frozen, and stored at 280°C until analysis. Samples from Penn were shipped overnight on dry ice to Emory and handled in a manner that avoided changes in pH due to exposure of frozen samples to CO2 and carbonic acid. No complications from lumbar punctures were observed in the current study. CSF levels of all biomarkers were measured at Emory. CSF levels of Ab42, t-Tau, and p-Tau181 were measured with commercially available kits (AlzBio3; Innogenetics, Ghent, Belgium) in a Luminex 200 platform by a single experienced technician (K.W.) blinded to the FTLD grouping. Specifically, frozen aliquots were allowed to thaw at room temperature for 30 minutes, and each aliquot was then vortexed vigorously for 15 seconds. Once the necessary reagents were loaded into the assay plate, each aliquot was then revortexed for 15 seconds immediately before being loaded into the corresponding wells. In our experience, CSF AD-related peptides become more insoluble with time in vitro, resulting in variable loss of measured levels if the vortexing immediately before well loading is omitted (ranging from 10% in t-Tau and p-Tau181 to nearly 50% for Ab42). The ratio of p-Tau181 to t-Tau was calculated by dividing p-Tau181 by t-Tau. Levels of other candidate CSF FTLD-TDP biomarkers were measured by modifying commercially available immunoassays. Figure 1 Clinicopathologic diagnosis of subjects according to CSF p/t-Tau ratio The first validation cohort (n5 30) contained 10 subjects (3 with FTLD-TDP) with normal p/tTau and 20 subjects (16 with FTLD-TDP) with decreased p/t-Tau, and the second validation cohort (n 5 100) contained 61 subjects (6 with FTLD-TDP) with normal p/t-Tau and 39 subjects (27 with FTLD-TDP) with decreased p/t-Tau. FTLD-TDP 5 frontotemporal lobar degeneration with TAR DNA-binding protein 43 (TDP-43) inclusions; p/t-Tau 5 Tau phosphorylated at threonine 181/total Tau ratio. 1946 Neurology 81 November 26, 2013 Agouti-related peptides and adrenocorticotropic hormones were measured in a multiplex assay (75 mL CSF, overnight primary antibody incubation at 4°C; Millipore, Billerica, MA), while eotaxin-3 (200 mL CSF, overnight primary antibody incubation at 4°C; Millipore)


In this study,five species of Fritillaria thunbergii Miq from Zhangshui,Panan and Nantong regions,respectively,were used to investigate the effect on the physiological and biochemical characteristics(including phenylalanine ammonia lyase(PAL),polyphenol oxidase(PPO),catalase(CAT),eroxidase(POD) activity and chlorophyll content,etc.) of different producing place,different cultivar.The results showed that the activities of above enzymes and chlorophyll content of narrow leaf Fritillaria were the highest among five cultivars,while these physiological and biochemical characteristics of other Fritillaria was different with different tissues.It was also found that the planting place was the major effecting elements and PAL,CAT,POD activity of cultivar planting at Zhangshui was higher than those planting at Panan and Nantong County,while the PPO activity and chlorophyll content of cultivar planting at Zhangshui was lower than those planting at Panan and Nantong County.


ABSTRACT. Sodium hypochlorite is broadly used as an irrigant during the endodontic therapy, since it plays an important rol as a solvent of the necrotic tissues as well as antiseptic. It is also known that it can produce toxic reactions on the soft periapical tissues. The present article reports a case of hypochlorite extrusion through the tooth apex, gives guidelines in order to prevent this accident and discusses the treatment protocol to establish in case this event takes place.


The purpose of this work is to solve Linear Programming (LP) problems using LU factorization. LU method is based on the fact that a square matrix can be factorized into the product of unit lower triangular matrix (L) and upper triangular matrix (U), and the direct solution was obtained without iterations. Three different problem cases were considered and solved using step-by-step calculations as well as using MATLAB. Results show this method is superior than the traditional simplex method with cases of cycling.


The software AVL BOOST was applied to create the TJ376QE gasoline engine work process model.The model was analyzed by using experimental data,and the intake valve closing angle was studied.Analysis showed that:the intake valve closing angle could be increased above 4 000 r/min,improve volumetric efficiency to a certain extent,and improve contradictions between power and economic performance of the gasoline engine between high and low speeds.The result could be as a certain guiding significance for design improvement of engine.


The authors outline the development of an AI-based expert system for trouble-shooting a car. The system is built on the basis of a hierarchical classification of concepts. Each node in the hierarchical structure represents a malfunction hypothesis. The knowledge is represented by forward-chaining production rules. The organization of rules emulates an expert's approach in problem solving. A control strategy termed 'propose-refine' is used that proposes a set of possible malfunctions and refines them depending on the prevailing situation. Incorporation of judgemental knowledge and uncertainty management are discussed. The expertise embedded in the system is based on the judgemental knowledge obtained from the experts in the field of automobile trouble-shooting.<<ETX>>


Abstract : A broad emission blend is observed near 17 A from a plasma produced in a theta-pinch deuterium discharge seeded with neon. The feature is associated with KL to the nth power yields L to the (m+2) power + light where M > or = 6 double-electron radiative transitions resulting from the filling of a K-shell vacancy in the higher ionization species of the neon atoms by an L-shell electron, the simultaneous ionization (shake-off) or excitation (shake-up) of a second L-shell electron, and the emission of a photon. The observed spectral distribution of the blend is compared with the spectral distributions computed for various ion species by convoluting the instrument profile of the spectrograph with the predicted wavelengths and relative intensities of the shake-up lines and shake-off continua. A percentage probability for radiative- Auger shake-off in agreement with theory is derived from the Ne VIII portion of the measured spectrum. The possibilities of such transitions for enhanced plasma cooling and for gain by stimulated emission are mentioned. (Author)


The MHM paper process started with the release of the Call For Papers (CFP) on 31 March 2014. By the first deadline (31 August 2014), in total 106 abstracts from over 30 different countries were received. The variety of topics and approaches was already apparent at that time, and such a wide interest also provided a firm ground for the conference planning. By the deadline of 31 December 2014, 70 full papers were submitted to review. A double-blind review process was conducted by our international review committee (members listed below) during January and February 2015. The overall quality and relevance of the papers was regarded as very high, and despite numerous comments and revision recommendations addressed to the authors, we did not need to exclude many papers. Finally, 57 papers were received and included in this book.


We have investigated the correlation between urinary isatin concentration and MAO-B inhibitory activity. A sensitive enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) for the measurement of isatin in urine was developed. There was a strong correlation between isatin concentrations determined by this method and the established GC/MS technique. In two sets of urine samples from healthy individuals (N = 63 and N = 21), we have shown that there is no significant correlation between isatin concentration and MAO-B inhibitory activity (r = − 0.1013 and − 0.1597, respectively). Based upon IC50 measures, the concentration of isatin in normal urine (N = 10) was 3– 5 times less than that which could account for the detected MAO-B inhibitory activity. Furthermore, Lineweaver-Burk plots from urine samples (N = 12) compared with isatin showed that the inhibition by isatin was competitive whereas urine samples could elicit either mixed or non-competitive inhibition. We conclude that the MAO-B inhibitory activity in urine cannot be attributed to isatin alone and another inhibitor(s) appears to be present.


Abstract
 A description is provided for Cyberloma acerinae, which infects fish of the families Atherinidae, Gobiidae and Percidae in Europe; infections developing in the host cytoplasm (but not in nerve tissues), without diplokarya, and resulting in tumours (also known as 'xenomas') in which the host nucleus is centrally located. Some information on its dispersal and transmission, habitats and conservation status is given, along with details of its geographical distribution (Asia (Kazakhstan (Aktobe), Russia (Novosibirsk Oblast)) and Europe (Czech Republic, Finland, France, former Soviet Union, Ukraine)). No evaluation has been made of any possible positive economic impact of this species (e.g. as a source of useful products, as a provider of checks and balances within its ecosystem, etc.), although Kvach et al. (2014) observed that it parasitizes some invasive fish, and so may have potential as part of an integrated biological control programme.


Polar heterocyclic compounds in middle distillate fuels have been shown to be involved in the chemical processes implicated in fuel instability. In petroleum and shale derived fuels, short alkyl chain nitrogen-containing aromatics are closely involved in the reactions leading to deposition of sediments and gum. Precursors of these short chain compounds are branched and long chain alkyl substituted cyclic or aromatic compounds that are degraded during thermal refining. This paper analyzes pyrolisis free radical reactions of substituted long chain alkyl pyridines and quinolines.


More and more companies are running Big Data workloads on cloud platforms. Configuration tuning of these data engines continues to be an essential but difficult undertaking. Cloud platforms further add to this complexity due to elasticity of compute resources and availability of different machine types. Data engineers have to choose the machine type and the cluster size in addition to the other configuration options. In this paper, we address the problem of automatically determining good configuration parameters for SQL workloads on SQL-On-Hadoop Engines like Hive and Spark, with the goal of optimizing resource usage and cost. We chose to focus on SQL workloads because SQL or SQL-like languages continue to be the most popular choice of ETL engineers and analysts. We propose a model based approach that relies on simple rules and insights into SQL Data Engine behavior and evaluate its effectiveness on both synthetic and real workloads. We show that very simple models can provide very good recommendations compared to the default configuration. In fact, we found that these were often better than those chosen by experts on real customer workloads. A somewhat surprising result is that more expensive machines with larger RAMs often do not lead to significant improvements in query execution times. The principles behind our model based approach are generic and can be adopted for any big data engine.


Light tunable materials such as azobenzene-containing polymers are nowadays a promising way to achieve optical control of matter up to the nanoscale. In particular, the materials' optical and mechanical responses can be tuned by controlling the spatial and temporal distribution of the projected light field, which allows to achieve precise, reversible manipulation, in real-time, of the materials' response. The understanding of the photomechanical phenomena occurring in azopolymers will be discussed as well as their applications as multifunctional materials.


Purpose: To evaluate the stabilization time of astigmatism and refractive errors after cataract surgery using phacoemulsification and foldable lens implantation.Patients and Methods: The present cross-sectional study was carried out with convenience sampling method and included patients who underwent cataract surgery using phacoemulsification and implantation of foldable intraocular lens. The patients were evaluated and their data including age, sex, uncorrected visual acuity, best corrected visual acuity,  corneal cylinder, cylinder axis,  Sim K, and intra ocular pressure were recorded prior to the surgery as well as in days 2, 3, 4, weeks 1, 2, 5 and day 75 post surgery. Results: Eighty one eyes of 77 patients with mean age of 61.39 ± 10.9 years were evaluated. The mean follow up time was 60.5 ± 48.86 days. The mean keratometry before surgery was 44.90 ± 1.85 diopters, while the mean axial length, the mean intraocular pressure and the mean astigmatism were 23.15 ± 1.98 mm, 14.01 ± 2.95 mmHg and 0.99 ± 1.10 diopters, respectively. The mean postoperative keratometry at last visit was 45.34 ± 1.80 diopters, and the mean intraocular pressure and astigmatism were, 12.46 ± 2.87 mmHg and 1.14 ± 0.96 diopters, respectively. The mean time for refraction stabilization was 11.46 ± 11.40 days and the mean stabilization time for astigmatism was 10.18 ± 11.34 days.
Conclusion: In the present study the mean stabilization time for refraction and astigmatism after cataract surgery in an Iranian population using phacoemulsification and foldable lens implantation was comparable with previous studies.


Mass flow controller for controlling a constant mass control to have a loop gain of the flow rate control device under a variety of different types of fluids and operating conditions, and operate with different fluids and / or operating conditions as used in the production of the mass flow rate controller a system and method are provided that comprise a. In addition, the system and method includes reducing the effect of hysteresis in a solenoid driving device and controlled by providing a non-operational signal to the solenoid drive apparatus.


The launching of new polyethylene resins (PE 100) on the pipe market allowed Gaz de France to consider the opportunity to advantageously supply small cities located relatively far from the transmission network. For this kind of cities, the necessary investments for the usual steel pipe technique under 16 bar would not have been profitable. Pipes extruded with these new resins exhibit mechanical characteristics in terms of rapid crack propagation and slow crack growth which permit their use under 8 bar. This pressure level is usually sufficient to supply gas to such relatively small cities. The PE 8 bar technique is only dedicated to the branches from the transmission network to the distribution network. Polyethylene pipes used with a 8 bar maximum operating pressure can be distinguished through their double yellow stripes. Only one single diameter (i.e. 160 mm) is used with a 11 standard ratio. This communication presents the details of this new technique design used since 1999 and its last developments.


This article introduces multi-robot strategies making multiple robots explore an unknown environment in a cooperative manner. Our exploration strategies do not require global localization of a robot or a node. Multiple robots build a Voronoi diagram as a topological map of the environment, while deploying sensor nodes which can sense and communicate. As the sensor network built by one robot meets the network built by another robot, both robots can exchange data with each other. The robots then use the merged sensor network to protect the environment. We introduce an intruder capture algorithm assuming that a robot is able to access any intruder's location utilizing the sensor network. This algorithm is robust to time delay in information sharing utilizing the sensor network. Utilizing the algorithm, we derive upper bounds on the number of robots needed to capture every intruder in the environment. This article proves that the minimum number of robots needed can be computed by finding proper edge covers of the dual graph of the Voronoi diagram.


Nonlinear vibration isolation system used practically is generally a multi-degree-of-freedom system due to effect of nonlinearity on decoupling of system.Furthermore,the base of an on-board machine cannot be assumed as a rigid body but an elastic one with certain mechanical impedance.According to these,the dynamic equations of the nonlinear vibration isolation system for the on-board machine are established and the expressions of the nonlinear iterms are discussed especially.By analyzing the relationship between decoupling and the nonlinear factors,the system is simplified to a 4-degree-of-freedom system and its primary dynamic characteristics are retained.The method of multiple scales is used to analyze the dynamic response of the system in its nonresonant state and the numerical simulation is carried out to confirm the validity of the results obtained by using the method of multiple scales and the effects of the nonlinear factors.


Antimicrobial spectrum of 45 cultures of the S. coelicolor group with respect to closely related strains and other streptomycete species was studied. The spectrum of 7 cultures was narrow and they inhibited closely related strains and certain streptomycete species. These cultures produced antibiotic substances of bacteriocin-like nature. The bacteriocin-like substances of the cultures differed in sensitivity to temperature and proteolytic enzymes and capacity for dialysis through cellophane membranes. Biosynthesis of the antibiotic substances increased after exposure to UV light.


The tasks, talents, and technical capabilities of systems communications professionals have evolved over the past 30 years as the industry itself has grown and transformed the world we live in through several generations of systems. The next generation of systems will be focused on supporting the knowledge worker more effectively and efficiently by focusing on knowledge-enabling business processes. The skills, practices, and understanding of the community of systems documentation professionals are well positioned to contribute and participate in this next evolution.


Through explaining the principles and characteristics of the evaluation method of innovation ability of higher vocational college students majoring in art design, this study gives multiple evaluations of students' innovation ability, and expresses the meth.od in the form of "radar". This method stands out the characteristics of practicality and operability, the comprehensiveness of the in.dex and visibility of the expression.


With increase in axle loads, tire pressures and volume of truck traffic there has been an increase in the rate of which bituminous pavements are exhibiting rutting. Because resistance to rutting can be increased by the addition of crushed aggregate, a need exists for a method of determining what amount of crushed material is required and the characteristics of that crushed material to optimize performance and economy. The Accelerated Testing Facility will be located at the INDOT Research Division Facilities in West Lafayette, Indiana. A pit within the Test Facility will allow prototype scale pavement sections to be installed. An Accelerated Testing System has been designed that will span the pit and incorporate the capability to apply moving wheel loads. Materials used in the test sections as well as environment and loading conditions will be controlled. Structural damage will be scaled by increasing the load so that greater pavement damage is incurred by each pass of the load. Rutting distress will be scaled by increasing asphalt mixture temperature and thereby decreasing the mixture stiffness. Reduced stiffness would increase rutting distress with each load that passes. A number of pavement materials, structure and loading factors can be evaluated in the facility. Subsequent phases of the study will address the relative performance of asphalt mixtures prepared with varying amounts crushed aggregate.


Objective To explore the correlation of Tei index with left ventricular systolic function(LVSF)in patients with coronary artery disease(CAD).Methods The left ventricular Tei index in 34 patients with CAD were detected by pulsed Doppler echocardiography.The left ventricular end diastolic volume(LVEDV),end systolic volume(LVESV)and ejection fraction(LVEF)in 34 patients with CAD were detected by real-time three-dimensional echocardiography,and the correlation of Tei index with LVEDV,LVESV and LVEF in patients with CAD were analyzed.Results Linear correlative analysis showed that the increase of Tei index was positively correlated with the increase of LVEDV and LVESV in patients with CAD(P0.05).Tei index was negative correlation with LVEF(P0.05).Conclusion Tei index which is closely related to LVSF in patients with CAD can accurately reflect the left ventricular integral function combined with LVSF.


ABSTRACT Within the literature that focuses on how to improve sport coaching there is the criticism that "…coach education was founded on a technical rationality model focused on the delivery of sport science knowledge out of context and assumed a novice-expert coach continuum.� (Trudel & Gilbert, 2006). Part of the response to this criticism has been to call for coaches to become reflective practitioners and for action research and critical pedagogy to be used as 'tools' to develop reflective practice. This paper offers an outsider's perspective on the relevance, need and possibilities for critical pedagogy within the field of sport coaching, In particular it will provide an account of the centrality of reflection in coach education and connect reflection, action research and critical pedagogy with particular human interests and particular discourses.


Abstract : This study examines what the key issues are governing the creation and employment of operational reserves by AFCENT in its defense against a no or short notice Warsaw Pact attack. The theoretical notion of operational reserves as discussed by Clausewitz and the use of operational reserves as presented by FM 100-5 provide the background for an historical analysis of how operational reserves were used in three World War II defensive campaigns. From this historical analysis, implications for AFCENT are drawn. The primary conclusion of this study is that for AFCENT, the costs of creating a large operational reserve at the expense of its subordinate commands exceed the benefits. In fact, the concept of a reserve at the operational level appears to be fundamentally different than the concept of a reserve at the tactical level. A combination of several factors, some of the more critical of which are terrain, the political guideline of forward defense, and a defense organized around somewhat disparate national corps does not lend itself to the employment of large centrally controlled operational reserves. AFCENT should not attempt to maintain operational flexibility through the use of a large operational reserve. Rather, it should maintain its flexibility through the proper sequencing of engagements and battles, the acceptance of risk, and the allocation of critical resources such as air, logistics, and reinforcements.


Due in part to recent tragedies such as the terrorist events of September 11 and the widespread effects of Hurricanes Rita and Katrina, there has been a growing body of research examining supply risk and supply disruptions. However, to date, most of these studies have either relied on qualitative tools for better understanding risk, or have created simulations to replicate the effects of these disruptions. Further, most of these studies have focused on specific company practices or the viewpoints from a single country or culture. To address this research gap, the purpose of this exploratory study is to examine the effects of supply disruption occurrence, how supply risk is perceived and managed, and if differences exist between supply management professionals from the USA and Germany. The preliminary findings indicate that some differences in risk perceptions and management do exist between US and German supply management professionals, which may be explained, in part, from cultural orientation and practices.


Holiday hunger has been hitting the headlines as the number of families living in poverty continues to grow, now a leading food company has launched a number of clubs across the UK to tackle the issue.


Since contrast resolution of current radiographic systems exceed human visual perception, the aim of this study was to subjectively evaluate the contrast resolution of different digital radiographic systems. Five radiographic phantoms were prepared containing a solution of dipotassium phosphate (K2HPO4) in 6 different volumes. Each phantom presented the solutions of K2HPO4 in a different sequence and was X-rayed with 5 digital radiographic systems: Digora Toto, Digora Optime, Snapshot, Express and VistaScan. All 25 digital radiographic images were exported, stored in TIFF format and evaluated in the JPEGView software. Ten examiners had to identify the sequence between the lowest and the highest volume of K2HPO4 solution. For each image, the percentage of correct answers was calculated. After 15 days, all images were re-evaluated to test the intra-rater reproducibility. After exploratory analysis of the data in the IBM SPSS software, it was found that the data were not normally distributed using the Shapiro-Wilk test (p>0.05). Thus, the Mann-Whitney test compared the digital systems in pairs, with a significance level of 5% (α=0.05). Intraclass correlation analysis assessed the level of intra-examiner agreement. Intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC) ranged from moderate to almost perfect. The Digora Toto and Express were the systems with the highest values of percentage of correct answers. The Snapshot presented intermediate values and did not differ from Express and Digora Optime. The Digora Optime and VistaScan were the systems with the lowest values of percentage of correct answers. In conclusion, among the digital radiographic systems evaluated, Digora Toto and Express produced radiographic images with the best subjective contrast resolution.


Tuberculosis is an infectious disease that can infect one person to another caused by the bacterium Mycobacterium tuberculosis. This disease is not only transmitted to people of productive age (15-45), but teenagers or children under 15 years can also be infected with the bacteria. Every year new cases are found in Indonesia, such as in the work area of the Paninggaran Health Center, Paninggaran District. Public Health Centers and Hospitals are health facilities for the community that have the facilities and infrastructure to determine how large the coverage of health figures for the community is. From this analysis, it can be found the obstacles that must be faced, namely how to provide information to the public about the spread of Tuberculosis in Paninggaran District. This is what underlies this research to create an Android-based Geographic Information System application for the distribution of tuberculosis in Paninggaran District with menus that are useful for the wider community and easy to use. The method used in this research is the Waterfall Method. The final result of this study is a "Geographical Information System for the Distribution of Tuberculosis in Paninggaran District" in the form of an android application for the community and a website for admins, namely Paninggaran Health Center officers, so that it can facilitate the distribution of information about Tuberculosis to the community and related health services, this application can also displays a map of the distribution of Tuberculosis disease, the location of where Tuberculosis patients live, the number of Tuberculosis case data and educational news about Tuberculosis disease.


A qualitative study of 13 self-identified Black and African American college students across three institutions revealed important findings relevant for understanding the multifaceted and complex ways in which these students both perceived and made meaning of the multiple facets of their identities. Implications for the ways in which social identity factors are seen as cooperative and coherent are discussed. Also, provocative findings related to the incorporation of non-unitary facets of identity are shared.


The authors have studied the characteristics of production and reception of IL2 at different variants of diabetes (Type 1, 2, and latent autoimmune diabetes of adults (LADA). The clinical models in the early stages of the disease are used to clarify the effect of IL2 and its receptor on the vector and speed development of cellmediated cytotoxic reactions and loss insulin producing tissue in patients with autoimmune diabetes. It had been demonstrated that the effects of IL2 in patients with autoimmune diabetes are predominant in the speed limit of cytotoxic cellular reactions in the islets of Langerhans, preservation of endogenous insulin secretion in LADA, and these effects of IL2 are realized by modulating the number and subpopulation composition of Tlymphocyte helpers.


Continuous measurement of electrocardiogram (ECG) signal is required for detecting various cardiac abnormalities, such as arrhythmia. Wearable devices have become ubiquitous as continuous monitoring devices. Due to power and memory restrictions in wearable devices, signal acquisition may need to be done in smaller segments using compressive sensing (CS) techniques. However such acquisitions may lead to poor recovery of compressed measurements. A Kronecker-based novel recovery technique has been recently proposed to improve the recovery of compressed signals where the recovery is achieved through a single recovery of concatenated compressed signal segments. In this article, a mathematical reasoning for improvement using the Kronecker-based recovery over standard CS recovery procedure is presented. A detailed investigation of Kronecker-based recovery technique of compressed ECG signal is presented using ECG signals from MIT-BIH Arrhythmia Database. As a part of this investigation, the quality of recovery with random and deterministic sensing of ECG signals and impact of choice of sparsifying dictionaries under various compression ratios (CRs) are considered. Deterministic sensing with deterministic binary block diagonal (DBBD) matrix and discrete cosine transform (DCT) as sparsifying basis is seen to provide the best recovery for ECG signals. Kronecker-based recovery of noisy ECG signals is possible with DBBD measurement matrix.


In this paper,six different irrigation gradients are arrranged for populus bolleana under field conditions in order to observe water use of populus bolleana under different irrigation treatments and its growth index.The results show that water consumption amount will increase as the irrigation amount increases.Total water consumption amount of each irrigation treatment in accordance with order during its growth period(from May to September) were 568.28,661.14,790.72,928.57,1 036.63,1 202.71 mm;growth index such as ground diameter and new branch length increase with the gradual increase in irrigation water amount,760 mm irrigation levels increase significantly.Combine with the current situation of water resources and conditions of agricultural production of the Manas River basin,we give the irrigation schedule of 4 years old populus bolleana preliminary:the irrigation norm was 7 600 m3/hm2,from May to September irrigation takes place once a month,irrigation takes place twice in June,July and August,the total irrigation times during its growth period are 8 times,the irrigation quota is 950 m3/hm2.


Application of the computer has a great influence on the structure mechanics.The practice of the course construction and the program design teaching has been described in the paper.


The article is devoted to the study of the degree and pattern of irreversible changes in the organs and systems of the body using the SLICC damage index in patients with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) and systemic scleroderma (SSc) with a disease duration of more than 5 years. Data were obtained from a high incidence of adverse changes in patients with SLE and SSc. In patients with SLE, adverse changes in the cardiovascular system, central nervous system in the form of acute cerebral circulation disorders and seizures, as well as venous thrombosis, damage to the organ of vision in the form of cataracts, proteinuria (more than 3.5 g per day) and alopecia prevailed. Patients with SSc more often developed lesions of the respiratory organs in the form of pulmonary fibrosis and pulmonary hypertension, the musculoskeletal system, skin and neuropathy of the cranial nerves and peripheral nerves.


The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effect of phenobarbital and SKF 525A pretreatment on the placental transfer of cyclophosphamide in mice. Phenobarbital and SKF 525A pretreatments produce a corresponding decrease and increase in cyclophosphamide teratogenicity. 14C-cyclophosphamide (20 mg/kg i.p., specific activity 026 µc/µmol) was administered on day 10 of gestation. Peak maternal plasma levels of radioactivity of nonpretreated and phenobarbital-pretreated mice were noted at 8 minutes. Peak plasma radioactivity was noted at 16 minutes in SKF 525A-pretreated mice. Plasma radioactivity in all groups was one-tenth the peak activity 256 minutes later. In nonpretreated mice, maternal liver had the highest radioactivity and placenta the lowest at 8 minutes. Radioactivity in embryos was markedly affected by pretreatment: SKF 525A significantly (P < 05) increased embryo radioactivity content over control level at 8 to 128 minutes. Phenobarbital pretreatment significantly reduced embryo radioactivity measured at 32 and 64 minutes. The fraction of unchanged drug present was increased by SKF 525A pretreatment in embryos, amnionic fluid and maternal plasma and urine. Phenobarbital pretreatment decreased the fraction of unchanged drug. The differences in radioactivity in embryos were due to unchanged cyclophosphamide rather than to cyclophosphamide metabolites. Modification of the cyclophosphamide teratogenic responses in mice by phenobarbital and SKF 525A pretreatments appears to be due to alteration in the amount of unchanged cyclophosphamide which reaches the embryo.


Abstract Currently, the most reliable estimate of the prevalence of obesity in Virginia's Thomas Jefferson Health District (TJHD) comes from an annual telephone survey conducted by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. This district-wide estimate has limited use to decision makers who must target health interventions at a more granular level. A survey is one way of obtaining more granular estimates. This article describes the process of stratifying targeted geographic units (here, ZIP Code Tabulation Areas, or ZCTAs) prior to conducting the survey for those situations where cost considerations make it infeasible to sample each geographic unit (here, ZCTA) in the region (here, TJHD). Feature selection, allocation factor analysis, and hierarchical clustering were used to stratify ZCTAs. We describe the survey sampling strategy that we developed, by creating strata of ZCTAs; the data analysis using the R survey package; and the results. The resulting maps of obesity prevalence show stark differences in prevalence depending on the area of the health district, highlighting the importance of assessing health outcomes at a granular level. Our approach is a detailed and reproducible set of steps that can be used by others who face similar scenarios. Supplementary files for this article are available online.


The aim of this investigation is to analyze how secondary school teachers appropriate the discourse of chemistry curriculum innovation. The study is based on interviews carried out with 12 teachers who have taken part in the PRO-MEDIO and PRO-CIENCIAS programs of continued training and innovation implemented in Minas Gerais State in Brazil, from 1997 to 1999. The appropriation of the innovation discourse by the teachers is dealt with based on the "metalinguistic" perspective of Mikhail Bakhtin, using mainly the concepts of appropriation of the discourse of the other and polyphony. Thus, it was possible to listen to the different voices within the discourse of each teacher, in a complex process of justification, accordance, competition and dissimulation, among other dynamics, creating and re-creating the meanings of innovation. The teacher's experience sometimes acts as an ally to the school culture in the criticism of idealized academic discourses; sometimes it is in opposition to certain traditional teaching practices, becomes an ally of innovation.


E-glass fabric was treated with organic acids. Acid treatment leaches nonsiliceous ions from the glass structure via ion exchange. The degree of removal is determined by the strength of the acid and leaching time. The results, which are compared with those for mineral acids, show that the acid anion is involved in the leaching process.


The chapter explores and describes community participation in the National Development Plan through Primary Health Care by using case studies of LGBT organizations in South Africa. Post-Apartheid and democratic South Africa has endorsed community participation as one of the fundamental pillars of the public Primary Health Care approach in its governance structures. This chapter focuses on the current major health issue in South Africa, the HIV epidemic, which is one of the leading causes of death in the country. Particular attention is paid to members of the LGBT community because of their discrimination in public healthcare facilities on grounds of their sexual orientation. The chapter relies on secondary sources of data collection from extant literature, textbooks, journal articles, and internet sources. Challenges to address LGBT community discrimination in HIV testing, prevention, treatment, care, and support were identified and solutions to uphold their human rights were proffered. These solutions are based on the principles of social justice, inclusion, diversity, and equality.


ABSTRACT In the semi-presidential system of Lithuania, a tradition to elect non-partisan presidents coexists with re-occurring conflicts between prime ministers and presidents over cabinet composition. We investigate what factors increase the probability of presidential activism in this field, i.e. when the president attempts to affect ministerial selection. We explain the outcomes of such activism by the electoral cycles and the political weakness of prime ministers and their party governments. More specifically, we argue that prime ministers are most vulnerable to presidential activism right after presidential elections and when they do not enjoy strong support in parliament. We test these hypotheses with a data set chronicling all instances of competition between the prime ministers and presidents over ministerial selection. The quantitative analysis is supplemented with qualitative insights from interviews with former cabinet members and high-level officials.


The article revealed some problems influence of international standards of juvenile criminaljustice policies of modern states in the sphere of criminal procedure with the involvement of a minor subject. The author shows the role of certain international instruments in defining the principles and strategies of modern juvenile criminal procedure policy.