Objective: The use of antimicrobial prophylaxis to prevent surgical site infections (SSI) is well established. This study examined the association of adherence to antimicrobial prophylaxis for clean neurosurgeries with post-operative surgical site infection (SSI) rates. Methods: A retrospective descriptive study was conducted at the Philippine General Hospital (PGH) among pediatric patients who underwent clean neurosurgical procedures between January 1, 2018 – December 31, 2019. The outcome measured was the development of SSI. Univariate and multivariate analysis was performed to show the association of risk factors with SSI. Compliance to existing antibiotic prophylaxis recommendation was assessed. Results: One hundred eighty-nine (189) medical charts were reviewed. Overall prevalence of SSI was 9.5% and fever was the most common initial symptom of SSI. Staphylococcus species was identified from cultures of surgical sites, consistent with existing literature, however gram-negative organisms including multidrug-resistant organisms (MDRO) were noted. All cases received prophylactic antibiotics, but adherence to all parameters (antimicrobial choice, dose, timing, route, re-dosing and duration of prophylaxis) was low at 7.9%. Appropriate antibiotics were prescribed in only 15.9% and antibiotics were discontinued beyond 24 hours post-surgery in 45.5% of cases. Patients who received a regimen fully compliant with antimicrobial prophylaxis recommendations did not develop SSI. Conclusion: Adherence to existing antimicrobial prophylaxis protocol for neurosurgeries is low at 7.9%. Patients who received a regimen fully compliant with the recommendations did not develop SSI. Interventions to improve compliance to antimicrobial prophylaxis guidelines are needed.


Graft patency is usually the primary endpoint in studies of peripheral arterial bypass surgery, but gives only a limited indication of clinical outcome. The aim of this study was to evaluate reintervention as a study endpoint after femorodistal bypass surgery.


Developing high-assurance security-critical systems is difficult and there are many well-known examples of security weaknesses exploited in practice. Thus a sound methodology supporting secure systems development is urgently needed. Our aim is to aid the task of developing security-critical systems in an approach based on the notation of the Unified Modeling Language (UML). Towards this aim, we use an extension of UML, called UMLsec, that allows expressing security-relevant information within the diagrams in a system-specification. We present tool-support which has been developed for the UMLsec approach. We apply UMLsec to the example of an electronic purse protocol proposed as a global standard. We demonstrate how to detect some vulnerabilities using our approach, suggest improvements, and show that the improved protocol is secure in a precise sense, by using a tool that implements a formal semantics of a simplified fragment of UML.


Trypanosoma musculi produces a chronic infection with a consistently elevated parasitemia in nude mice. Thymic reconstitution of nude mice restores immunity to the infection.


Gridded elevation models of the earth's surface derived from airborne lidar data or other sources can provide qualitative and quantitative information about the terrain and its surface features through analysis of the local spatial variation in elevation. The DEM Breakline and Differencing Analysis Tool was developed to extract and display micro-terrain features and vegetative cover based on the numerical modeling of elevation discontinuities or breaklines (breaks-in-slope), slope, terrain ruggedness, local surface optima, and the local elevation difference between first surface and bare earth input models. Using numerical algorithms developed in-house at the U.S. Army Engineer Research and Development Center, Geospatial Research Laboratory, various parameters are calculated for each cell in the model matrix in an initial processing phase. The results are combined and thresholded by the user in different ways for display and analysis. A graphical user interface provides control of input models, processing, and display as color-mapped overlays. Output displays can be saved as images, and the overlay data can be saved as raster layers for input into geographic information systems for further analysis.


Morphing attack is an important security threat for automatic face recognition systems. High-quality morphed images, i.e. images without significant visual artifacts such as ghosts, noise, and blurring, exhibit higher chances of success, being able to fool both human examiners and commercial face verification algorithms. Therefore, the availability of large sets of high-quality morphs is fundamental for training and testing robust morphing attack detection algorithms. However, producing a high-quality morphed image is an expensive and time-consuming task since manual post-processing is generally required to remove the typical artifacts generated by landmark-based morphing techniques. This work describes an approach based on the Conditional Generative Adversarial Network paradigm for automated morphing artifact retouching and the use of Attention Maps to guide the generation process and limit the retouch to specific areas. In order to work with high-resolution images, the framework is applied on different facial crops, which, once processed and retouched, are accurately blended to reconstruct the whole morphed face. Specifically, we focus on four different squared face regions, i.e. the right and left eyes, the nose, and the mouth, that are frequently affected by artifacts. Several qualitative and quantitative experimental evaluations have been conducted to confirm the effectiveness of the proposal in terms of, among the others, pixel-wise metrics, identity preservation, and human observer analysis. Results confirm the feasibility and the accuracy of the proposed framework.


To observe the clinical effect of small incision non-phacoaemulsifi cation cataract surgery and IOL implantation Methods We studied 100 patients with 128 cataracts eyes,aging from 9 to 86 years old (mean age: 56-8 years), who under went non-phacoemulsification 6.0 mm incision cataract surgery and IOL implantation. Results The results indicated that the preoperative mean cylinder is 0.42±1.16D,the postoperative mean cylinder is 1.68±2.09D,after sugery 95% eyes had less than 1.18D cylinder. The mean diameter of nucleus is 5.18(short) - 7.16(long) mm in 46 cases. The persentage of cases with visual acuity 0.5 is 92.1%, and 1.0 is 70.2% in our cases. Conclusion Severe complications were not found during surgery and this operation method is practial in China.


▼ Antibiotics are commonly used for the treatment of microbial infections. With the widespread appearance of multi antibiotic-resistant bacteria, it is becoming increasingly more diffi cult to treat bacterial infections with conventional antibiotics. Thus, there is an increasing need for new strategies to cope with infectious diseases. The discovery that many pathogenic bacteria employ quorum sensing (QS) to regulate their pathogenicity and virulence factor production makes the QS system an attractive target for antimicrobial therapy. It has been suggested that inactivating the QS system of a pathogen can result in a signifi cant decrease in virulence factor production. In this study, a variety of NSAIDs, such as diclofenac, ibufen, ketoprofen, naproxen, piroxicam were screened for their capacity to reduce the production of QS-regulated virulence factors and swarming motility in the human pathogen P. aeruginosa . Ketoprofen, diclofenac, ibufen, naproxen and piroxicam reduced the elastase production by 28–47 % compared to the untreated cultures. Pyocyanin production was also inhibited by these compounds but to a lesser extent. In swarming assay plates, ketoprofen and diclofenac treated PA01 strain displayed signifi cant reductions in swarming motility (81 % and 84 % respectively). These fi ndings suggest that especially, ketoprofen and diclofenac, may prevent bacterial colonization, and thereby reducing biofi lm formation, by interfering with QS-controlled swarming motility of P. aeruginosa and combinatory chemotherapy with both conventional antibiotics and tested NSAIDs could be used for the treatment of chronic infections caused by P. aeruginosa and other clinically important pathogens which regulate their pathogenicity via QS. D ow nl oa de d by : R ut ge rs U ni ve rs ity . C op yr ig ht ed m at er ia l. 410 Original Article Ulusoy S, Bosgelmez-Tinaz G. Inhibition of quorum sensing ... Drug Res 2013; 63: 409–413 therapy [ 12 ] . The treatment of P. aeruginosa infections by traditional antibiotic therapies lack effi cacy due to high levels of intrinsic and acquired antibiotic resistance and the capacity of this bacterium to form antibiotic-resistant biofi lms [ 13 ] . Therefore, inhibition of bacterial QS systems may off er new hope in combat with multi-antibiotic-resistant bacteria such as P. aeruginosa . The fi rst demonstration of QS inhibitors came from the Australian red macro alga Delisea pulchra. D. pulchra was found to produce a cocktail of halogenated furanone compounds some of which were able to inhibit QS. This discovery gave rise to the idea that other compounds with similar ability could be found in nature or developed by chemical modifi cation. Up to date, AHL analogs and some natural substances have been shown to attenuate bacterial QS [ 14 – 20 ] . Additionally, a variety of drug molecules that we know today have also been reported to have QS inhibitory activities in addition to their biological eff ects for which they are marketed [ 18 , 21 , 22 ] . These fi ndings highlight the potential of using these known drug molecules in multiple medical applications. For example some macrolide and nonmacrolide antibiotics have been reported to have eff ects on QS systems in Gram-negative bacteria [ 17 , 21 ] . In addition to antiinfl ammatory and antibacterial properties, salicyclic acid has been shown to reduce some of the QS regulated virulence factors in P. aeruginosa [ 23 , 24 ] . These fi ndings led us to investigate antiQS capacity of nonsterodial anti-infl ammatory drugs (NSAIDs). NSAIDs are used primarily for the treatment of pain and infl ammation and represent one of the most commercially successful and important classes of analgesic anti-infl ammatory drugs. In this study, several NSAIDs such as, diclofenac, ibufen, ketoprofen, naproxen sodium, piroxicam have been selected to assess their ability to interfere with QS mechanism in human pathogen P. aeruginosa . To our knowledge, anti-QS activities of these compounds in P. aeruginosa have not been reported earlier. Materials and Methods ▼ Bacterial strains, media and growth conditions P. aeruginosa strains were routinely grown in Luria-Bertani (LB) broth at 37 °C [ 25 ] . The QS inhibitor selector strain QSIS1 was grown at ABT minimal medium supplemented with 0.5 % glucose and 0.5 % Casamino Acids (AB medium, containing 2.5 mg of thiamine/liter). The test medium was supplemented with 3-Oxo-C6-HSL (Sigma-Aldrich), ampicillin, 5-bromo-4-chloro3-indoxyl-D-galactopyranoside (X-Gal, Sigma-Aldrich), and isopropyl-D-thiogalactoside (IPTG, Sigma-Aldrich) which were added in fi nal concentrations of 200 nM, 100 ppm, 80 ppm, and 100 mM, respectively. Nonsterodial anti-infl ammatory drugs (NSAIDs) Stock solutions (250 mM) of diclofenac sodium salt (Sigma), ketoprofen (Sigma-Aldrich), fenoprofen calcium salt (SigmaAldrich), ibufen (Sigma), piroxicam (Sigma) and naproxen (Aldrich) were prepared in methanol and water mixture (50:50) and used at fi nal concentrations of 5 mM in virulence assays. Eff ect of diclofenac, ibufen, ketoprofen, naproxen and piroxicam on the growth of P. aeruginosa PAO1 The minumum inhibitory concentration (MIC) of ibufen, diclofenac, ketoprofen, naproxen and piroxicam was determined using 96-well microplates. Stock solutions (250 mM) of ibufen, diclofenac, ketoprofen, naproxen and piroxicam were prepared in methanol/water mixture. Over night cultures of P. aeruginosa PAO1 were suspended in Muller Hinton Broth (MHB) until turbidity was equal to a 0.5 McFarland standard and added to 96-well microplates supplemented with 2-fold serially diluted test compounds ranging from 6 to 0.046875 mM and then incubated at 37 °C for 24 h. The growth rate of PA01 with and without test compounds was observed by measuring cell density at OD 600 using a spectrophotometer. QSI Screening Assay Quorum sensing inhibitor screen (QSIS) assay was achieved using QSIS1 strain as described by Rasmussen et al. [ 26 ] . QSIS1 was grown at ABT minimal medium supplemented with 0.5 % glucose and 0.5 % casamino acids (AB medium, containing 2.5 mg of thiamine/liter). The test medium was supplemented with 3-Oxo-C6-HSL (Sigma-Aldrich), ampicillin, 5-bromo-4-chloro3-indoxyl-D-galactopyranoside (X-Gal, Sigma-Aldrich), and isopropyl-D-thiogalactoside (IPTG, Sigma-Aldrich) which were added in fi nal concentrations of 200 nM, 100 ppm, 80 ppm, and 100 mM, respectively. After adding overnight culture of QSIS1, agar plates were subsequently made by pouring 25 ml in petri dishes. 50 μl test compounds were pipetted into wells punched in the solidifi ed agar with a sterile cork borer (all compounds were used at 1 mM). The plates were incubated overnight at 30 °C and appearance of circular blue zone around the inoculation indicates the positive QSI active compounds in the test sample. Methanol and patulin used as negative and positive controls respectively. Elastase assay Elastase activity was measured using the elastin Congo red (ECR; Sigma) assay [ 27 ] . Cells were grown in LB broth at 37 °C for 14 h. A 100-μl aliquot of bacterial supernatant was added to 900 μl of ECR buff er (100 mM Tris, 1 mM CaCl 2 , pH 7.5) containing 20 mg of ECR and incubated with shaking at 37 °C for 3 h. Insoluble ECR was removed by centrifugation, and the absorption of the supernatant was measured at 495 nm. LB medium was used as a negative control. Pyocyanin assay Pyocyanin was extracted from culture supernatants and measured by the method of Essar et al. [ 28 ] . A 5 ml volume of chloroform was added to 5 ml of culture supernatant and mixed. The chloroform layer was transferred to a fresh tube and mixed with 1.5 ml of 0.2 M HCl. After centrifugation, the top layer (0.2 M HCl) was removed. The amount of pyocyanin within the extracted layer was determined by measuring A 520 . Swarming motility assay Cells were grown overnight in LB broth and diluted in LB medium to an OD 600 of 0.02. 2 μl aliquot of the diluted culture was inoculated onto the surface of a swarm plate and incubated overnight at 37 °C [ 29 ] . Swarm plates consisted of 2 g of Bacto Agar (Difco) and 3.2 g of Nutrient Broth (Oxoid) in 400 ml of distilled water. After autoclaving, fi lter-sterilized 10 % (w/v) D-glucose in distilled water was added to a fi nal concentration of 0.5 % (w/v). The ability to swarm was assessed by the distance of swarming from the central inoculation site. D ow nl oa de d by : R ut ge rs U ni ve rs ity . C op yr ig ht ed m at er ia l. 411 Original Article Ulusoy S, Bosgelmez-Tinaz G. Inhibition of quorum sensing ... Drug Res 2013; 63: 409–413 Results ▼ Detection of QS inhibitor activity In order to determine the QS inhibitory potential of diclofenac, ibufen, ketoprofen, naproxen and piroxicam, they were initially screened by QSIS1 assay. QSIS1 assay is based on a recombinant bacterium, which will die in the presence of signal molecules but will be rescued if a non-toxic QS inhibitor is present. Diclofenac, ibufen, ketoprofen, naproxen and piroxicam at a concentration of 5 mM showed signifi cant QS inhibitory activity in QSIS1 assay ( ● ▶ Fig. 1 ). 1 mM of patulin was used as a positive control. Eff ect of NSAIDs on the growth of P. aeruginosa PA01 strain To ensure that any reduction in virulence factor production was due to QS inhibition and not bacteriostatic or bactericidal eff ects, P . aeruginosa, PA01 was grown in the presence of diff erent concentrations of test compounds ranging from 0.046875–10 mM. Concentrations up to 5 mM had no eff ect on P . aeruginosa growth. Therefore, a concentration of 5 mM was used to determine the impact of diclofenac, ibufen, ketoprofen, naproxen and piroxicam on the production of virulence factors, and swarming motility. Eff ects of NSAIDs on the inhibition of virulence factors of P. aeruginosa We tested the eff ects of diclofenac, ibufen, ketoprofen, naproxen and piroxicam on the production of 3 QS-regulated virulence factors; elastase and pyocyanin production, and swarmin


1. I experience a general sense of emptiness [EL] Yes More or less No 2. I miss having people around me [EL] Yes More or less No 3. I often feel rejected [EL] Yes More or less No 4. There are plenty of people I can rely on when I have problems [SL] Yes More or less No 5. There are many people I can trust completely [SL] Yes More or less No 6. There are enough people I feel close to [SL] Yes More or less No


Geometric shell shaping is introduced and evaluated for reach increase and nonlinearity tolerance in terms of MI against PM-16QAM and PS-PM-16QAM in a 400ZR compatible transmission setup.


Bird communities of 11 fir forests (Abies pectinata and A. pinsapo + maroccana) and 6 pine forests
 (Pinus silvestris and P. pinaster) were compared along a 2000 km transect from the Vosges (N.-E. France)
 to the Middle Atlas (Marocco). A common background of ca 15 Palearctic bird species accounts for three
 quarters of relative abundances in all communities. However, significant differences appear at several levels.
 (1) Between the medio-european and Mediterranean biogeographical areas, middle latitudes of Spain prevent
 the presence southward of ca 10 species, such as the Goldcrest and the Bullfinch. Conversely, although
 belonging to the same faunistic region, 11 species, such as the Short-toed Tree Creeper and the Serin, are
 more frequent in the Mediterranean than further north. Over the two forest types investigated, there are only
 33 Passerine species, over a total of 54, common to Middle Europe and the Mediterranean area. (2) Abies and
 Pinus forests have in common a striking figure of 46 bird species. The distinctive species are the Firecrest
 and the Blackcap in fir forests, the Crested Tit and the Common Crossbill in pine forests. As already noted
 by various authors, as a consequence of its insularity and mesological peculiarities the Mediterranean forest
 avifauna can be considered as an impoverished version of its Medio-european counterpart. (3) At the broad
 regional scale, a multivariate analysis shows an avifaunistic gradient running from climacic forests, mainly
 on north-facing slopes from Vanoise (French Alps) to the Pyrenees, to para-climacic pre-forests, mainly on
 south-facing slopes, in Andalucia and Marocco. In the former case, boreal bird species account for three
 quarters of the abundances in the community but less than half in the latter where the rest consists predominantly
 of rather biogeographically and ecologically ubiquitous species (Carduelinae, Woodlark, Rock
 Bunting) which, for a mix of ecological and anthropogenic reasons, are able to colonize more and more
 common southward thermo-xerophilous and open wooded landscapes


Despite the overall importance of biodiversity, the quality measures of biodiversity show worrying figures. Numerous human impacts on nature impose serious hazard to its inherent diversity. This expansion of human activities leaves the battle against loss of biodiversity to be a great challenge a challenge that needs to be shared between conservationists, green organisations, public authorities, as well as the private sector. A new wave of green initiatives has emerged within the culture of business and marketing. The reasons for why businesses should engage in environmental actions are many, but the effort has until now considered biodiversity actions relatively little, compared to other areas such as e.g. climate related actions. Nevertheless, the opportunity for businesses to meet their responsibilities and lift a share of the challenge is far from being just a romantic thought. Nor is the challenge of engaging businesses in responsible actions. The core challenge is to create awareness of the environmental phenomenon biodiversity, inform about the significance of business involvement, and encourage the business world to participate in this process of protecting biodiversity as the valuable asset, which the world and its inhabitants cannot afford to stay loosing. This paper focuses on how companies in Denmark in concrete ways can take responsibility for integrating initiatives that align protection of biodiversity with other, more traditional environmental management and corporate social responsibility (CSR) related activities. The paper investigates the institutional setup for engaging in biodiversity actions from a business perspective, considers corporate values and priorities in proposing strategic changes in the favour of biodiversity concerns, and look at accessible and credible approaches to initiate effective strategic actions.


The authors describe and test spai_1.1, a parallel MPI implementation of the sparse approximate inverse (SPAI) preconditioner. They show that SPAI can be very effective for solving a set of very large and difficult problems on a Cray T3E. The results clearly show the value of SPAI (and approximate inverse methods in general) as the viable alternative to ILU-type methods when facing very large and difficult problems. The authors strengthen this conclusion by showing that spai_1.1 also has very good scaling behavior.


The BCIRG (Breast Cancer International Research Group) 006 and FinHER (Finland Herceptin) trials confirm the results of recently published randomized phase III studies that the addition of trastuzumab to standard chemotherapy improves disease-free survival of patients with HER2-positive breast cancer. Moreover, they included 2 different strategies that seem to reduce trastuzumab-associated cardiotoxicity. However, data are preliminary. Dose-dense chemotherapy can be offered to patients with high-risk HER2-negative breast cancer, based on an updated analysis of the CALBG (Cancer and Acute Leukemia Group B) C9741 trial. Nevertheless, sequential FEC (5-fluorouracil/epirubicin/cyclophosphamide)taxane regimens should be considered as adjuvant chemotherapy for node-positive breast cancer, since FEC and docetaxel have been shown to be superior to a standard FEC therapy. Using paclitaxel as taxane compound is an alternative strategy that needs to be re-evaluated after a longer follow-up period. The combination of docetaxel and cyclophosphamide is restricted to patients in whom anthracyclines are contraindicated and who are at intermediate risk of disease recurrence. An extended adjuvant therapy with letrozole is an option for patients who have completed 5 years of tamoxifen. It can be assumed that patients benefit from letrozole even after a longer period of time since the tamoxifen therapy.


Both in the kitchen and in making food, women have traditionally been the protagonists. Cooking involves a whole series of procedures and different ways of organizing necessary for the production and reproduction of everyday life that seem invisible. While it is true that there have been social and cultural transformations that have led to the diversification and multiplication of activities carried out by women, both inside and outside the home, the archetype of cuisine and the primordial place of women in it continues to prevail according to the traditional criteria.


Sea locks that connect inland canals and rivers to the open sea are crucial links that ensure the efficient navigation of ships. Floating bollards (FBs) are significant components of sea locks, and they are affected by factors such as large ships, speed of entry, and irregular mooring lines coupled with corrosion by chloride salts from seawater intrusion from the environment. These factors aggravate damage to metal structures, which seriously threatens the safety of FBs. Overloading of FBs by mooring forces caused by the illegal use of FBs for the braking of large ships that enter locks at excessive speed is the main cause of structural damage and overload failure for FBs. Controlling the dynamic mooring force acting on the FB is an important prerequisite to ensure the safe passage of a ship through a lock. It is impossible to perform real-time monitoring of the magnitude and direction of the mooring force on an FB by installing load-measuring equipment on the mooring line. Therefore, in this study, the structure of an FB in a sea lock project was taken as an example, and the mathematical relationships between the strain in the load-sensitive area of the FB and the mooring force and the mooring angle were quantified. A dynamic inversion model of the ship mooring force on an FB was proposed. This model used real-time feedback from the strain signal in the load-sensitive region of the FB structure to obtain information about the mooring force. The accuracy of the model was verified by conducting tests with a physical model of the topside structure of the FB and comparing the predicted results with the test data. The research results can lay a theoretical foundation for real-time monitoring of the structural response of an FB under the action of mooring forces and promote the development of intelligent methods for the operation and maintenance of a sea lock, which have important scientific significance and engineering value.


This paper attempts to get at some of the fundamental properties of distributed computing by means of the following question: "How much does each processor in a network of processors need to know about its own identity, the identities of other processors, and the underlying connection network in order for the network to be able to carry out useful functions?" The approach we take is to require that the processors be designed without any knowledge (or only very broad knowledge) of the networks they are to be used in, and furthermore, that all processors with the same number of communication ports be identical. Given a particular network function, e.g., setting up a spanning tree, we ask whether processors may be designed so that when they are embedded in any connected network and started in some initial configuration, they are guaranteed to accomplish the desired function.


This pioneering book develops definitions and concepts related to Quality of Experience in the context of multimedia- and telecommunications-related applications, systems and services and applies these to various fields of communication and media technologies. The editors bring together numerous key-protagonists of the new discipline Quality of Experience and combine the state-of-the-art knowledge in one single volume.


Finding students in Merauke who still do not understand the basic English, starting from elementary to university students is common. Considering the urgency of mastering English nowadays, the introduction of English recommended form the early age. The preliminary observation at an elementary school revealed that many students were unfamiliar with English. This is the background for the author to conduct this community service, namely the introducing the basics English to students of elementary schools in Merauke. This activity involved two class of grade 4 and 2 teachers in one of elementary schools in Merauke. The stages in this activity, carrying out interview for teachers, observation, pre-test, teaching, post-test and interview for students. From the results it was found that students had a positive attitude in learning English, such as being active, enthusiastic and interested in learning English during the learning process and be able to understand the material well. No human resources capable of teaching English is the challenge faced by the school.


A comparison is made between the measured volume of a regular metallic solid and its theoretical volume as calculated using Avogadro's number.


Summary Patients with a monoclonal gammopathy without evidence of lymphoproliferative or plasma cell malignancy within a year are still at risk for malignant transformation to multiple myeloma, Waldenstrom's macro‐globulinaemia or non‐Hodgkin's lymphoma. In a prospective study performed at the Mayo Clinic, the cumulative incidence of malignant transformation was 29% in 14 years. We conducted a retrospective study to determine the frequency of malignant transformation among 334 un‐selected out‐patients with monoclonal gammopathy of undetermined significance (MGUS) from a community hospital in Southeastern Netherlands. The cumulative incidence of malignant transformation was 11% in 14 years (95% confidence interval 6–17%). The long‐term survival of patients with MGUS was slightly lower than that of the average regional population. In a nested case‐control study, presence of a kappa light chain was found to be a risk factor for malignant transformation (70% of patients who developed malignant transformation compared to 30% of the control group, P < 001). Likewise, an initial high gamma globulin level was also found to be a risk factor (18–7g/1 v 13–7g/l in the control group, P<001). As neither risk factor has been described before, the significance of these factors for definition of a high‐risk group among patients with monoclonal gammopathy remains to be determined.


Thermal and package design is carried out for high power laser diodes. Both junction-up and flip-chip configurations are studied. The flip-chip technique is far superior to the junction-up method. For a 300- mu m(L)*500- mu m(W) GaAs laser diode chip with active region of 300 mu m(L)*5 mu m(W), the flip-chip design gives a thermal resistance of 30.14 degrees C/W using a diamond heat sink, and 41.72 degrees C/W using a copper-tungsten heat sink. Calculated result shows that the temperature along the active region is uniform for uniform heat flux. It is thus recommended that the laser chip be designed with uniform heat flux rather than uniform current density along the active region. A technology is suggested to perform flip-chip bonding of the laser chip without incurring the danger of solder getting onto the laser facets.<<ETX>>


Cdc42 and the formins dDAAM and Diaphanous play pivotal roles in heart lumen formation through the spatiotemporal regulation of the actomyosin network.


Studies using the techniques of thin-layer chromatography, mass spectrometry, gas–liquid chromatography, and pyrolysis gas chromatography have shown conclusively that the extreme halophilic actinom...


A guardian has a fiduciary relationship to the ward, but what exactly does that mean? Certainly a guardian is expected to act in the best interests of the ward, but how are those interests determined? Guardians are encouraged to act just as the ward would, but that implies that a guardian is closer to being an agent of the ward than a fiduciary. Yet a guardian must reconcile that agent like duty with obligations to the court who appointed him. In light of the perceived value of implementing the wishes of the ward, increasingly, appointing courts have come to treat guardians less as agents of the court and more as agents of the ward.


Xidalinzi Area in Qianjin Depression of Sanjiang Basin was influenced by stress field of backarc spreading and strike-slip, Mesozoic and Caenozoic systems experienced multi-tectonic movements during early, middle and late Yanshanian and Himalayaian. Yilan-Yitong Fault, Dunmi Fault, Xidalinzi Fault and Dahe No.1 Fault had important effect in the area. The area experienced 3 tectonic evolutional stages including late Jurassic chasmic stage, early Cretaceous local fault-sag compression stage and late Cretaceous Depression, in Mesozoic system, breaking anticline traps, fault nose traps, fault block and composite traps were developed. It was adjacent to the faults, formation erosion line, overlap line or volcanic rock bodies. Traps could be divided into 4 types including 9 subdivisions. Three tectonic styles were developed, which included extension, rotational (strike-slip) and compression-shear structural styles. Study indicates that traps developed in Wufenchang sub-depresson and Liufenchang fault-nose structural zones are beneficial areas for oil and gas exploration.


Critical chapters of the story of Israel, commemorated as festivals, are timed to coincide with turnings in the year of nature. In Judaism, time is marked by the lunar months and the solar seasons and is endowed with sanctity when a turning in the heavens coincides with an episode in Israel's story. Harmony thus characterizes Israel's life on earth and God's abode in heaven. In the words of the Qaddish, "He who makes peace in the heights may make peace for us." The sacred calendar signalled by the sun (for seasons) and the moon (for months), coordinates Israel¹s life here on earth with the movement of the heavenly bodies. The movement of the sun and moon around the earth attests to critical episodes in the Torah's narrative.


In the present note the resu1ts of preliminary studies on tick distribution in two areas of Sardinia (Cagliari
and Ogliastra) are reported.


The purpose of this study is to analyze how the ability of the students of SMA Negeri 1 Sungai Tebelian for the academic year 2021/2022, the research subjects were 16 students of class X IPA1 semester 2. The data collected was in the form of data on students' ability tests in mathematical communication in solving problems. or solve problems presented in the form of stories by communicating everyday language into mathematical language. The test questions used to measure students' mathematical communication skills consist of 4 essay questions on a two-variable system of linear equations. The test results were then analyzed based on indicators of mathematical communication skills. The results of this study can provide information to teachers about students' mathematical communication skills so that teachers are expected to be able to design learning activities that can improve students' mathematical communication skills.


Background: Simulation-based education is a widely utilized tool for experiential learning in nursing education. The aim of this study was to determine nursing students' performance and satisfaction in the classification of pressure injuries using simulation with moulage. Methods: It is an evaluation study with a quasi-experimental, single-group, post-test design that was conducted in the spring semester of the 2019-2020 academic year in the Nursing Department of the Faculty of Health Sciences of Izmir Katip Celebi University, Izmir, Turkey. In total, 66 final-year nursing students, voluntarily participated in the Assessment of Pressure Injury Course. A student characteristics form, a Pressure Injury Classification Form, and a Moulage Satisfaction and Evaluation Form were used as data collection tools. Data were entered into SPSS v. 21, and the results of the analysis were described using descriptive statistics. Results: It was found that 67.2% (n=45) of the students correctly assessed all the stages of pressure injury moulages on the standardized patients. Among the students, 62.1% (n=41) strongly agreed that their assessment skills of pressure injury improved after the simulation. The results related to students' satisfaction indicated that 77.3% (n=51) of the students evaluated the moulages as realistic. The Mean±SD total score of students' evaluation of moulage simulation sessions on standard patients was 4.56±0.59 (range=1-5). Conclusion: This moulage is a simple, easily accessible, low-cost, and effective tool for teaching pressure injury assessment to nursing students. It can be used in clinical skills training and clinical assessment in nursing education.


This paper presents a study of the effectiveness of three different algorithms for the parallelization of logic programs based on compile-time detection of independence among goals. The algorithms are embedded in a complete parallelizing compiler, which incorporates different abstract interpretation-based program analyses. The complete system shows the task of automatic program parallelization to be practical. The trade-offs involved in using each of the algorithms in this task are studied experimentally, weaknesses of these identified, and possible improvements discussed.


Contents: Introduction The city without qualities, Joachim Riedl Art in Vienna around 1900, Patrick Werkner Texts on Art, selected byMarkus Neuwirth Divergence and inspiration: Franco-Austrian artistic relationships in Modernism, Matthias Boeckl Gustav Klimt's 'Geometric' compositions, Dieter Bogner Talking hands, Itzhak Goldberg Moser and Hodler, Marie-Amelie zu Salm-Salm Catalogue: Narratives Landscapes Figures Drawings Appendix Biographies Bibliography Index of works.


The sealers of nineteenth century Australia sealers are central to the story of how the Aboriginal Tasmanians have survived. For the Aboriginal Tasmanian women who were taken to live with sealers on the islands off Tasmania's mainland, and had families with them, today have many descendants who continue to remember their ancestors' heritage, culture and Aboriginality. But the sealers were also invaders, responsible for terrible violence towards the Aboriginal peoples of Tasmania. Perhaps, then, it is no surprise to find that textual representations of the sealers vary greatly. The older and more popular texts portray the sealers as only deplorable. More recent representations, however, acknowledge the role the sealers played in the story of Aboriginal Tasmanian survival. these writers have not, however, given equal attention to the sealers' atrocities, possibly for fear of undermining their revisionist task. But perhaps they would have less to fear if they asked why they had to revise the sealers' textual representations in the first place. Look through colonial eyes we can see that representing the sealers as 'saviours' has never been in colonial interests.


We have studied effect of water treatment sludge (WTS) on trace metals of sorghum hybrid (Sorghum bicolor (L.) Moench). In the present report it was for cadmium (Cd) content on background correction (BGC) mode with an atomic absorption spectrophotometer.


Clinicians have long observed that mitral valve prolapse (MVP) appears more commonly in patients with thoracic deformities (e.g., straight back, pectus


In China, at the regional level, the collection and preservation of local documents related to historical and cultural artifacts and institutions is one of the fundamental tasks of the library as a cultural soft power. Global libraries also place high value on the collection and curation of local documents and the development of regional cultural resources. Documentation of local history is a long-term global public library objective. Research on art and cultural heritage, the protection and preservation of these assets, and information exchange services have now become an important part of the documentation of local cultural history.

Libraries have long neglected material culture, and specifically documentation related to visual arts and culture. Documents and artefacts related to material culture and the visual and performing arts are often ephemeral, and frequently disappear due to historical circumstances and environmental degradation, never to be seen again. Combining the work of art and cultural heritage protection with the scientific and technological tools at our disposal, my objective at this 81st IFLA World Congress is to appeal to the global library community to attend to regional culture and artistic heritage. Through modern service technologies and humanistic ideals, we can build a sound repository of local history and culture that will remain available for generations to come.


Resistance causes a decrease in antibacterial efficacy on antibiotics. Escherichia coli has been resistant to cefotaxime with percentage of 90.16% whereas Staphylococcus aureus resistant to cefotaxime with percentage of 82.69%. One effort that can be done to overcome the resistance is to combine antibiotics and plant extract. The purpose of this research were to investigate the antibacterial activity of the combination of cefotaxime and 10 plant extracts against E. coli and Methicillin Resistant Stapylococcus aureus (MRSA) and marker in extract that has the highest antibacterial activity.
The extraction was done by maceration method. Antibacterial activity of extract against bacteria and combination of antibiotics with extract were perfomed with Kirby Bauer method. DMSO or ethanol was used as solvent control while the antibiotic control was cefotaxime. Thin Layer Chromatography (TLC) was done using mobile phase of toluene: ethyl acetate: methanol: formic acid (4:6:1:0,5) and silica gel GF254 nm as stationary phase. The results was observated under visible, UV 254 nm and UV 366 nm light.
The result showed that plant extract did not enchance antibacterial activity of cefotaxime against E. coli and antibacterial activity againt MRSA increased when cefotaxime combined with galangal, garlic, and papaya leaf extract. Antibiotic activity test showed that extract of sappanwood produced the biggest inhibition zone against E. coli and MRSA. The results of the TLC showed that marker compound in sappanwood extract is brazillin.


The present study focuses on the development of an embedded, low-cost and scalable smart camera network dedicated to tracking and counting people in public spaces. In the network, each node is capable of sensing, tracking and counting people while communicating with the adjacent nodes. Each node typically uses a 3D-sensing camera positioned in a downward-view, capable of sensing and tracking people individually. Additionally, it is able to simultaneously communicate with the adjacent nodes and perform people transition between different cameras. The system saves and analyzes the people's global trajectories in order to determine space usage and people's behavior. On the other hand, we constructed a dynamic architecture that accelerates the integration process of new depth cameras to the system functionality. The design and processes definition allows the system to be scalable and easy to install. During the development of this thesis, several smart cameras and services have been implemented and released into the market.


The germplasm evaluation experiment involved evaluation of 56 genotypes of aerobic along with three checks for twelve characters under aerobic condition in augmented design during Kharif, 2013. Grain yield per plant showed very strong positive correlation with 1000-grain weight, followed by biological yield per plant and harvest-index. Therefore, these characters emerged as most important associates of grain yield in aerobic rice. In the present study, majority of significant estimates of correlations between yield and yield components were positive in nature. This represents highly favorable situation for obtaining high response to selection in improving yield and yield components in aerobic rice. Thus, selection practiced for improving these traits individually or simultaneously would bring improvement in other due to correlated response.


Edge illumination is an X-ray phase-contrast imaging technique that can be efficiently applied to both synchrotron radiation and laboratory sources. Its implementation with these two types of setups is here described, and a recently developed method to perform quantitative retrieval of the object attenuation and refraction properties is presented. We report results obtained at two synchrotron radiation facilities and with one of the setups installed in our laboratories at University College London, which show that very high angular sensitivities can be obtained with this technique. The effect of different experimental parameters on the achievable sensitivity is also analyzed. The obtained results will be a useful guide for the design and optimization of future experimental layouts.


An umbilic point U on a surface Sigma is a place where the two principal curvatures of Sigma are equal. U is a singularity of Sigma in three different senses: (i) it is the source of elliptic (E) or hyperbolic (H) umbilic catastrophes in the envelope of normals ('focal surface') of Sigma ; (ii) it has index +or-1/2 depending on whether the principal curvature directions of Sigma (defining the lines of curvature) rotate by +or- pi during a circuit of U; (iii) it has a pattern of the 'star' (S), 'lemon' (L) or 'monstar' (M) type depending on the configuration of lines of curvature near U. We calculate the average density of umbilic points, and the fractions alpha of umbilics of the different sorts, for the case where Sigma is a surface whose (small) deviation from a plane is specified by a Gaussian random function. It is always the case that alpha S= alpha +or-12/=1/2. The other fractions depend on the degree of isotropy of the statistics of Sigma . In the isotropic case the elliptic umbilic fraction is alpha E=1- alpha H=0.268, and the monstar fraction is alpha M=1/2- alpha L=0.053.


This article explores several texts from what Arnold Hunt dubs "art-of-hearing literature", works that informed early modern readers how to listen to sermons. Written by clergy, these texts stress that listeners can be spiritually transformed by listening properly to a sermon and thus opening their souls to grace. This articule argues, however, that these works not only suggest that lay listerners affect the preacher but also depict construction of a sermon's meaning as a cooperative endeavor where laypeople wield significant power. Lay listeners' power over meaning suggests some instability in preached texts, a fluidity of meaning which resembles similar fluidity attributed to printed texts in research on early modern reading. Sometimes these accounts of lay listeners' power over meaning betray deep fear. Poor listening, these texts imply, endangers not only the hearers' souls but also the preacher's ministry, his living, and, in extreme cases, even his life.


Scientific intervention has played a pivotal role in growing aquaculture industry, but much more is required to achieve the set target to double the aquaculture production. Basic understanding of growth process is required for making any scientific strategy for enhancing the aquaculture production. Understanding the molecular mechanism of all these processes will reveal the inside picture of growth. With the recent developments in the field of genomic research in aquaculture, we are now faced with the unprecedented capability to use this technology and apply it in order to improve the feed utilization and to understand the fishes' metabolic response towards a particular diet, feed ingredient or additive in a more comprehensive way. Although in India, nutrigenomics research on important aquaculture species is relatively new, however, transcriptomics studies have highlighted the impacts of different dietary treatments on specific genes that can be targeted via nutritional intervention to increase the performance of the cultured animals. Nutrition is very relevant environmental factor that exerts its effect on the genetic background impairing or improving the likelihood to develop disease. Functional components (Immunostimulants, antioxidants, pre& probiotics) are being considered in fish nutrition aiming to improve fish growth &/or feed efficiency, stress tolerance and disease resistance. By emergent perceptive of dietary manipulation effects on fish production and productivity, research can facilitate us to develop elite feeds with positive effects on economics and animal welfare, and develop "designer fish" that target specific market demands.


We estimate the effects of deposit insurance premiums on bank demand for reserves and on interbank lending in the federal funds market using a regression kink design that exploits a kink in the schedule of insurance assessment rates of small banks. We find that these premiums reduce demand for reserves and increase the supply of federal funds by these banks. These results are robust to various falsification and validation tests and suggest that deposit insurance premiums affect monetary policy implementation. JEL Codes: E52, E58, G21, G28


To assess the present-day functionality of large-scale sublevel caving (SLC) at LKAB Kiruna a comprehensive measurement program was undertaken involving blast function, fragmentation and gravity fl ...


Server-based architectures used in traditional Wireless Sensor Network (WSN) applications are not suitable when the sensors are installed near the user and local access is desirable. We address this problem by proposing the Personal Sensor Network (PSN), a computer-less architecture that enables users to access the sensor data using their cell phones or any other Bluetooth enabled devices. The use of COTS hardware and widely available software resources results in a solution easy to implement and simple to interface with other WSNs.


The present poster focuses on developement of algorithm Petton for automatic calibration of water balance model Watbal. Watbal was used in european UNESCO's project of water balance of the Danube basin. First there is a general description of optimizing methods, then more deeply analysis of Watbal follows. We present Watbal's equations for water balance, which simulate dynamics of elements of hydrological circle. A description of calibration of six Watbal parameters with Excel's Goal-Seek function in combination with method of trials and errors, which is a standard way of calibration of Watbal, is given. Then description of algorithm Petton, writen in Matlab, which was developed for faster and efficient calibration inside physicaly resonable parametric space, foolows. For water balance analysis Slovenian part of Sava river basin was choosen and was devided in twelve subbasins. Description of gathering and preparing of hydrological and meteo! rological data and their quality follows. At the end the results of calibration of Watbal with help of Petton and of standard calibration are compared. On all results basic statistical analysis are done. It is shown that Petton is quick and effective in calibrating Watbal.


According to the particularity of water system in the pearl delta and power plants there which need plentiful seawater as cooling water and drain warm water to the river,guidelines for assessment of water-dram and utilization in construction projects,specialties of water resources argumentations for these projects and the difficulties are described,with some conclusions drawn and some advice is proposed.


During the last few years, the perylene tetracarboxylic diimide derivative PDIF-CN2 has been identified as one of the most interesting compounds to achieve air-stable n-type organic thin-film transistors. In this work, a detailed investigation on the properties of PDIF-CN2 thin films deposited by supersonic molecular beam deposition technique on HMDS-treated Si/SiO2 surfaces is reported. Our efforts have been addressed to analyze deeply the role played by the growth rate (R) on the thin film properties, working with the substrates kept at room temperature and using a kinetic energy of the impinging molecules of about 17 eV. In this way, we could observe that while, just after the deposition, the layers were not compact, being composed of small and mostly separated islands with a rate-dependent density, an unconventional spreading effect of the condensate took place over time until the formation of a continuous film. According to our results, this spontaneous wetting process occurs over very long time scal...


A composite of iron oxide magnetic nanoparticles and coordination fullerene polymer (C60 Pd3 )n was formed by chemical deposition of spherical polymer nanoparticles on iron oxide magnetic nanoparticles in benzene containing C60 and Pd(0) complexes. The composition of the composite can be controlled by the amount of magnetite and concentration of polymerization precursors as well as the time of polymerization. The magnetic composite material Fe3 O4 -γFe2 O3 /(C60 Pd3 )n was used as a model system to investigate its deposition on a magnetic electrode and its electrochemical properties. The iron oxide magnetic nanoparticles ensures both the magnetic activity of the composite and its nanostructured morphology. Both of these factors are responsible for the enhancement of the electrochemical activity of the polymer phase forming the composite in comparison to the pure polymer material deposited on the same magnetic electrode. In the magnetic field of the electrode, the composite undergoes permanent and strong bonding with the surface of the electrode. The nanostructured morphology of the Fe3 O4 -γFe2 O3 /(C60 Pd3 )n composite also provides very good capacitive properties. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.


This study investigates potential effects of paraffin wax precipitation while waterflooding oil in an offshore fractured carbonate reservoir using unheated seawater. Although initial reservoir temperature is 130°C, continuous injection of 8°C seawater propagates a cold temperature thermal front from the water injection wells. Paraffin wax precipitates from the reservoir oil when chilled to below 25°C. Could this be problematic with respect to water injectivity and oil recovery? What are the nature and distribution of precipitated wax in this rock? How does the chilled-temperature-front propagate in relationship to the waterflood front? Is there incentive to heat the injection water? These are questions that this investigation was undertaken to answer. Laboratory waterflood tests were conducted on analog outcrop cores and reservoir cores using synthetic seawater and reservoir oil. Several scenarios were tested; continuous waterfloods beginning with residual oil saturation and temperature reduction in steps from 65°C to 10°C, and waterfloods starting with 10°C temperature and different initial oil saturations. Oil recovery and water relative permeability were measured. After each test, while maintaining cold temperature, core chips were imaged using an environmental scanning electron microscope (ESEM) to identify whether paraffin wax was present in the pore system and, if so, how it was distributed. Thermal effects were included in waterflood simulations to evaluate progression of the temperature front relative to the waterflood front and to predict the effects of reservoir cooling on oil recovery. Paraffin wax was identified in cores after each laboratory test. Wax occurred in masses that were unevenly distributed in the porous media. Reducing temperature after flooding the cores to residual oil saturation S or improved rather than reduced water injectivity. Even though wax precipitated when temperature fell below the oil cloud-point, as temperature was reduced the volume of liquid oil left in the core shrank, thereby increasing water saturation and water relative permeability. This result was consistent with field experience. In waterfloods starting with temperature below 25°C and oil saturation greater than residual, oil recovery was fairly efficient once water flow was established, despite paraffin wax precipitation. Waterflood simulations, including thermal effects, showed that progression of the chilled-temperature-front lagged the waterfront to the extent that oil was efficiently recovered before regions became cold enough to cause wax to precipitate. With respect to this particular waterflood scenario, there is little additional benefit to be gained from heating the injection water.


Diabetic Retinopathy (DR) is a disease that occurs in the eye which results in blindness as it passes to proliferative stage. Diabetes can significantly result in symptoms like blurring of vision, kidney failure, nervous damage. Hence it has become necessary to identify retinal damage that occurs in diabetic eye due to raised glucose level in its initial stage itself. Hence automated detection of anamoly has become very essential. The appearance of crimson and yellow lesions is considered as the earliest symptoms of DR which are called as hemorrhages and exudates. If DR is analysed at initial stage, blindness does not occur. The damage in retina can hinder the light that passes through nerves of the eye leading to visual loss. The motivation behind this research is to reduce the number of false positives by accurate detection which is possible using proposed fuzzy system based on ANN. Though several classifiers are available to detect the exudates this paper makes analysis of support vector machine using radial basis kernel function with proposed ANN technique. Also, adaptive neuro fuzzy inference system segmentation is performed after feature extraction technique, which makes classifer to outperform. The evaluation results showed that proposed artificial neural network based on fuzzy approach attained significant results compared to other classifiers. Moreover, the proposed algorithm has significant accuracy of 94% and minimum error rate has been observed.


An analysis process helps to determine production bottlenecks as they affect availability and reliability. In this case, it will help to determine how a given amount of capital could be optimally spent to increase gasoline pool availability.


In order to situate this monograph issue this introductory article starts with a brief, selective, and global overview of violence against women in diverse contexts, followed by the editors' own approach on violence against women and the state. Focusing on cross-cutting themes, the introduction presents and discusses the articles included in this monograph, demonstrating the role of the state in addressing sexual violence and domestic or intimate-partner violence in neoliberal globalized societies around the world. By doing so, it problematizes state regulation of gender itself. Furthermore, it indicates some limitations but also possibilities of the forms of state involvement in addressing violence against women. The editors argue that the relationship of the state to violence against women is complicated, historical, and context contingent, with multiple implications for women's lives, including barriers to citizenship. The interface with the transnational level is also examined, in terms of the influence of states beyond their borders, and transnational influences on state policies.


The utility model provides a stereosonic bluetooth headset, which comprises a bluetooth functional module, a power supply module, an electroacoustic conversion module and an MICRO-USB interface, wherein the power supply module is connected in series between the MICRO-USB interface and the bluetooth functional module, and is used for being changed from the MICRO-USB interface and supplying electric power for the bluetooth functional module. In addition, the stereosonic bluetooth headset further comprises a bluetooth/wired audio-frequency switching module; the bluetooth/wired audio-frequency switching module is electrically connected with the bluetooth functional module, the electroacoustic conversion module and the MICRO-USB interface respectively, and is used for realizing the switching between wired audio-frequency input signals and bluetooth audio-frequency input signals; and the wired audio-frequency input and the charging input share one MICRO-USB interface. The utility model realizes wired and wireless multiplexing of the bluetooth headset, and meets the different use demands of consumers; moreover, the wired audio-frequency input and the charging input share one interface, thereby saving board layout space.


Expeditionary airfield matting systems are lightweight, portable surfaces that enable the rapid deployment of infrastructure to support aircraft operations. Individual matting components are assembled via interlocking joints to construct arrays that serve as temporary aircraft operating surfaces. The paper outlines the homogenization of the AM2 portable airfield matting system and its interlocking mechanisms to permit computationally efficient analyses toward understanding mechanisms that influence the global behavior of these arrays and underlying subgrade during aircraft maneuvers. An equivalent orthotropic two-dimensional continuum was developed from finite element analysis of a detailed three-dimensional model and its flexural behavior was validated against experimental data and solid finite element models. Interlocking joints were characterized using node-to-node connector elements based on subscale finite element studies. Both components were implemented into a full-scale model representative of a typical test section, and responses to static high tire pressure aircraft loads were analyzed over a soil foundation representing a California bearing ratio of 6%, yielding promising agreement with experimental data. Results of this study reveal an inherent coupling between load transfer, mat deflection, and near-surface subgrade stress with dependence on tire location, mat core shear flexibility, and joint stiffness.


We present the results of an investigation into how stratigraphic heterogeneities impact on flow in carbonate ramp reservoirs. Although stratigraphic, sedimentologic, and diagenetic heterogeneities in carbonates reservoirs are well documented, the relative influence of different heterogeneities on recovery is poorly understood. A hierarchy of heterogeneity in carbonate reservoirs (presented separately by Hampson et al.) was used to catalogue the wide range of heterogeneities documented from outcrop and subsurface examples at progressively decreasing length-scales of observation. Using the hierarchy as a framework, surface-based models were constructed at progressively increasing levels of geologic detail, and an analysis of the impact of heterogeneities on flow is completed at each level. This top-down modeling approach, combined with the use of efficient, surface-based grids, avoids the problem of spending too much time constructing a very high-resolution model, which is not appropriate for direct flow simulation. Additionally, as increasing levels of detail are included into the models, simulated production behavior changes so that an understanding is generated of the interpretational details required to capture fluid flow patterns and of which heterogeneities are key in controlling flow. Well placements, fluid properties, and / or relative permeability and capillary pressure models may alter how geologic heterogeneities impact on flow. Additional simulations, incorporating different production schemes and rock type models, were used to identify and understand these effects. Experiment Design and Model Set-Up Our modeling experiments use fractional factorial experimental design as a tool to investigate the relative impact of different heterogeneities on a number of flow-based performance criteria. A selection of heterogeneities relevant to hydrocarbon production was chosen from the hierarchy for inclusion in our geologic models. Each heterogeneity is assigned two end-member settings, which are chosen to be representative of a range of documented reservoirs and outcrop analogues (Figure 1 shows the six stratigraphic heterogeneities modeled here, at levels 1-3 of the hierarchy). The experimental design is used to define the combination of heterogeneity settings that are incorporated into the resulting models. This approach allows efficient exploration of the parameter space defined by the end-member settings of the various heterogeneities, and establishes the rank order of heterogeneities that influence the simulated reservoir performance. The results serve as a screening study that can be used to direct effort in subsequent case-specific modeling studies.


8555 Background: Concurrent chemoradiotherapy (CCRT) using etoposide and cisplatin has been the gold standard for limited-stage small-cell lung cancer (LS-SCLC) for decades; however, approximately three out of four cases treated by CCRT inevitably relapse. Amrubicin (AMR), a synthetic anthracycline with a structure similar to doxorubicin, has demonstrated strong antitumor activity against relapsed SCLC and has been the standard second-line treatment for SCLC in Japan. We consider consolidation AMR following CCRT to be a potential treatment for patients with LS-SCLC. Methods: In this single-arm, multicenter phase II study, all patients enrolled were treated using induction CCRT consisting of four cycles of etoposide at 100 mg/m2 on days 1-3 and cisplatin at 60 mg/m2 on day 1 every 3 weeks, plus concurrent thoracic radiotherapy (1.5 Gy twice daily, total 45 Gy) concomitant with the first cycle of chemotherapy. Then, eligible patients received three cycles of AMR at 40 mg/m2 on days 1-3 every 3 weeks as consolidation treatment. The primary endpoint was the 2-year progression-free survival (PFS) rate in patients who received consolidation AMR, and the secondary endpoints were objective response rate (ORR), PFS, overall survival (OS), and safety. This study was terminated early due to slow patient accrual. Results: Of the 36 patients who underwent induction CCRT (ITT population), 28 (78%) received AMR as consolidation therapy (consolidation population) and 24 (67%) completed all planned treatments. The 2-year PFS rate and ORR were 35.7% and 86% (8 CR and 16 PR), respectively, in the consolidation population. The median PFS and median OS were 14.3 months (95%CI, 10.8-46.6) and 60.9 months (95%CI, 29.8-NR), respectively, in the consolidation population. In the ITT population, the median PFS and the median OS were 13.4 months (95%CI, 7.5-19.0) and 60.9 months (95%CI, 29.8-NR), respectively. Grade 3/4 toxicities during the consolidation phase included neutropenia (39%), thrombocytopenia (14%), and febrile neutropenia (7%). There were no treatment-related deaths in the ITT population. Conclusions: Consolidation AMR following standard CCRT consisting of etoposide and cisplatin plus concurrent thoracic radiotherapy was feasible, and demonstrated promising efficacy for LS-SCLC. Clinical trial information: 000002352.


We examined Radiolarian assemblages of Jurassic age in four sections of cherts from the sedimentary cover of the Mirdita ophiolites (Kalur Cherts) and in two sections of chert levels intercalated in carbonate successions of the Mesozoic Albanide continental margin.
In the Kalur Cherts the ages of the radiolarian assemblages range from latest Bajocian-early Bathonian (UAZ. 5), to middle Bathonian - middle Callovianearly Oxfordian (UAZ. 6-8). In the sections from the carbonate successions the ages range from middle Bathonian (UAZ. 6), to late Bathonian-early Callovian - middle Callovian-early Oxfordian (UAZ. 7-8).


Pebble bed reactors contain large numbers of spherical fuel elements arranged randomly. Determining the motion and location of these fuel elements is required for calculating certain parameters of pebble bed reactor operation. This paper documents the PEBBLES static friction model. This model uses a three dimensional differential static friction approximation extended from the two dimensional Cundall and Strack model. The derivation of determining the rotational transformation of pebble to pebble static friction force is provided. A new implementation for a differential rotation method for pebble to container static friction force has been created. Previous published methods are insufficient for pebble bed reactor geometries. A new analytical static friction benchmark is documented that can be used to verify key static friction simulation parameters. This benchmark is based on determining the exact pebble to pebble and pebble to container static friction coefficients required to maintain a stable five sphere pyramid.


There are two common sources of light curing used to polymerize composite resins, the LED (Light Emitted Diode) and the QTH (Quartz Tungsten Halogen). This study aimed to evaluate the effect of using different light curing sources on diametral tensile strength of bulk fill composite resins. Three commercial bulk fill composite resins, Tetric N-Ceram Bulk Fill (Ivoclar-Vivadent, Liechtenstein, Germany), Beautifil-Bulk Restorative® (Shofu, Japan), and Filtek TM Bulk-Fill (3MESPE, USA) were used to make disk specimens (6 mm in diameter, 3 mm in thickness) divided into two different polymerized groups (n=10), with LED for 20s and QTH for 40s light curing sources. Diametral tensile strength was tested using a Universal Mechanical Testing Machine (Shimadzu, Japan). Data were analyzed using one way ANOVA and Bonferonni post hoc tests. The results showed that diametral tensile strength mean value of all bulk fill composite resins polymerized using LED source were higher than QTH. There was no statistically difference between the group polymerized using LED and QTH (p ≥ 0.05), except in Filtek TM Bulk-Fill group (p = 0.012). It can be concluded that different light-curing sources can influence the polimerization effect of Bulk-Fill composite resin in their diametral tensil strength properties. Clinical article (J Int Dent Med Res 2018; 11(2): pp. 491-494)


Objective: To analyze the prevalence of CALR and JAK2 mutation co-occurrence in MF patients in KPK.
Methods: This cross-sectional study included MF patients (n = 50) enrolled in the Hematology/Oncology department of Hayatabad Medical Complex (HMC), IRNUM (Institute of Radiotherapy and Nuclear Medicine), Peshawar and Blood Diseases Clinic, Peshawar. Non-probability convenience sampling technique was used. All Patients with JAK2 V617F positive and negative primary or secondary myelofibrosis were included. After taking blood samples, DNA was extracted manually and analysed for JAK2 mutations using conventional PCR. Sanger sequencing technique was implied to analyse the samples for CALR mutations. Data were recorded & analysed statistically.
Results: Among the 50 patients of myelofibrosis under study, 48(96%) were harboring JAK2 mutations while it was not present in 2 (4%) patients. The typical CALR mutations was not identified in the current study. However, 02 specific genetic variants were identified in 30 patients i.e., a single nucleotide polymorphism (c.1381 G > T) in the 3? UTR and a novel insertion-deletion variant (c. 1099 CTT > AC). Seven patients had the Indel frameshift variant (p.Leu 367 Thr Fx 63), whereas 23 had SNPs. In JAK-2 positive patients (n=28), 06 had the Indel variant, and 22 had the SNPs. Two patients were JAK2 negative, one with SNP and the other with a frameshift mutation.
Conclusion: Majority of the MF patients had a novel frameshift variant (p. Leu367Thr Fx63) (n = 07) and an SNP in the 3? UTR region (G > T) (n = 23) in CALR gene.


Fanconi anemia (FA) is a complex genetic disorder characterized by bone marrow failure, multiple congenital anomalies, and genomic instability resulting in predisposition to cancer. Disruption of the FA signaling network impairs multiple genome-housekeeping processes, including DNA damage recognition and repair in interphase, DNA replication as well as high-fidelity chromosome segregation during mitosis. Recent data published by several groups, including our work (J Clin Invest 2013; 123: 3839-3847), implicated FA signaling in the control of several cell division events essential for chromosomal stability, including the spindle assembly checkpoint (SAC), centrosome maintenance, resolution of ultrafine anaphase bridges and cytokinesis. Understanding the mechanistic origins of chromosomal instability leading to carcinogenesis and bone marrow failure has important scientific and clinical implications. However, the relative contribution of the interphase and mitotic events leading to genomic instability in Fanconi anemia has not been systematically evaluated. In this work, we dissected the origins and mechanistic significance of chromosomal instability in Fanconi anemia ex vivo and in vivo. We employed the cytochalasin micronucleus assay to quantify the patterns of spontaneous and chemotherapy-induced genomic lesions in FA-A patient-derived primary fibroblasts and Fancc-/- mouse embryonic fibroblasts (MEFs). In this assay, dividing cells are treated with cytochalasin to inhibit cytokinesis and generate binucleated daughter cells. The presence of micronuclei in the resulting cells is indicative of genomic instability caused by either interphase DNA damage or chromosome mis-segregation. Centromere-negative micronuclei (CNMs) represent chromosomal fragments due to unresolved ds-DNA damage. Centromere-positive micronuclei (CPMs) result from whole-chromosome mis-segregation during mitosis. The frequency of both CPMs and CNMs was significantly increased in FA-deficient human and murine cells compared to gene-corrected isogenic control cells. These results indicate that genomic instability in FA is caused by a combination of interphase DNA damage and disordered mitosis. We confirmed the biological significance of these findings by showing that FA patient cells are hypersensitive to low concentrations of taxol (a spindle checkpoint-activating chemotherapeutic) similarly to mitomycin C (a cross-linking agent). Finally, we found increased frequency of micronuclei in Fancc-/- murine red blood cells compared to age-matched wild-type mice, which indicates that spontaneous chromosome mis-segregation occurs in FA-deficient bone marrow in vivo. Our study supports the emerging model of the FA family of proteins as holistic guardians of the genome during interphase and mitosis (see figure based on F1000Prime Rep. 2014; 6: 23, modified). This model furthers our understanding of genomic instability in Fanconi anemia and FA-deficient cancers, and opens new inroads towards targeted therapeutic interventions in these diseases. Disclosures No relevant conflicts of interest to declare.


This chapter is based on a study of the effects of different exit routes from working life on the individual worker's self-esteem. We compared three exit routes, retirement or exit on disability pension (life-long option based on medical evaluation), retirement or exit on optional age pension (available between age 62 and 66), and ordinary old age pension (taking effect between 67 and 70 years of age). The hypotheses were tested on data from a panel study of a random sample of Norwegian workforce that conducted two measurements five years apart. Self-esteem was measured by the Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale. The results revealed that, compared to those remaining at work, exiting on disability pension led to reduced self-esteem, while exiting on optional early pension or ordinary old age pension showed similar trends, although the differences were not significant for these groups. Exit on disability pension seemed to be a more negative experience for the individual, probably threatening the "self-maintenance motive" or the "motive of self-worth". The findings present a unique contribution to the research on selfesteem and exit from working life.


The swirling flows are ubiquitous in nature and technical applications. Frequently they interact with energy releases of various kinds: chemical energy release in combustion, or energy release from internal degrees of freedom in gas discharge, or Joule heat in electrohydrodynamics, or the heat, associated with a phase transition, or simply energy release from some heating device. Swirl is often used to stabilize combustion in burner devices and inside the combustion chambers of jet engines [1]. Using nonequilibrium state of the medium created with the discharge is often proposed as a flow control tool in aviation. As vortices near the wings or the helicopter rotor blades and the vortex wake behind the aircraft represent the essential features of the flow, it is desirable to control them, using non-mechanical techniques, first of all, thermal and electrical ones. An example of vortex—energy release interaction in nature is tropical storm formation, which is presumably driven by the influence of the heat from condensation upon the structure of a cyclone. In this paper, we extend our previous studies [2, 3], concerning the interaction of a columnar vortex with energy release in nonequilibrium medium with one internal degree of freedom and consider the influence of energy release upon the structure of swirling flow inside a pipe. The results appear to be quite different for these two problems: a free columnar vortex is robust against thermal or nonequilibrium perturbations and only moderate changes can be obtained like moderate increase of azimuthal velocity or transformation into elliptical shape in the case of vortical Rayleigh-Taylor instability, whereas for the swirling flow in a pipe the structure of the flow and the position of recirculation region is remarkably changed even for low energy release values. The reason of this difference is that in the first case an existing vortex is affected and in the second one — the conditions for vortex formation are affected. As in our previous study of von Karman vortex street in nonequilibrium gas [4], it appears much easier to control new vortex formation with energy release than to influence upon an existing vortex.


Spatial crowdsourcing (SC) has been proved quite successful by employing human participants to achieve certain tasks like Uber and Gigwalk. Meanwhile, with the fast devel-opment of unmanned aerial vehicles (e.g., drones), they have become a new source of data collectors equipped with a variety of different sensors. In this paper, we propose a novel SC scenario, enabling human participants to work collaboratively with drones in the presence of multiple charging stations to achieve certain data collection tasks, like videography and surveillance. We propose a novel deep reinforcement learning (D RL) framework called "FD- MAPPO (Cubic Map)", which consists of a fully de-centralized multi-agent DRL (MADRL) algorithm called "Fully Decentralized Multi-Agent Proximal Policy Optimization (FD-MAPPO)", and a spatiotemporal memory augmented neural network with novel cubic writing and spatially contextual reading mechanisms called "Cubic Map". Cubic Map extracts long-term spatiotemporal features, navigates drones to accurately locate the position of the target, i.e., charging stations or sensors. Extensive results on two real datasets of KAIST and NCSU campuses show that FD- MAPPO (Cubic Map) consistently outperforms six other baselines in terms of efficiency.


Inland harbours, essential links between the Mediterranean and Northern Europe, are the object of the Priority Program Studies of inland harbours in Central Europe as hubs for European communication networks, funded by the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG). Since 2016, the project has also focused on the French inland river network, in association with the Friedrich-Schiller-University Jena (Germany) and the University of Burgundy (Dijon, France).
Inland harbours can be perceived as multifaceted phenomena, based on comparative, diachronic, multidisciplinary analyses. The modes of harbour installation and the socio-economic processes are examined here, together with the management of waterways and the conditions for navigability, from the 1st century BC to the 15th century AD. The French GIS dataset was compiled to fit the existing database structure, which already contains data for Germany, Benelux, and Northern Italy. Although data distribution for France is still patchy, at this state of the project, our dataset can already be useful for many spatial and / or quantitative analyses. This paper therefore proposes, first, a critical overview of the database, and then a discussion of the type of analyses that can accommodate heterogeneous data. Various methods, including network analysis (Strahler order), and pattern analysis (focusing on the rhythm of appearance and abandonment of harbours), are used to examine the harbour phenomenon within the broader context of historical river uses, competing riverine activities, and reaction to climatic changes.


We review some recent developments which make use of the concept of 'superstatistics', an effective description for nonequilibrium systems with a varying intensive parameter such as the inverse temperature. We describe how the asymptotic decay of stationary probability densities can be determined using a variational principle, and present some new results on the typical behaviour of correlation functions in dynamical superstatistical models. We briefly describe some recent applications of the superstatistics concept in hydrodynamics, astrophysics, and finance.


The objective of this research was to get an effective termiticides to control termites (C. curvignathus) in the laboratory. The research was conducted at Pest Laboratory, Agricultural Faculty, University of Sumatera Utara, Medan, from April until May 2014. The method used Randomized Complete Design Nonfactorial with seven treatments. The tratments were (control, cassava bark 25g/L water, cassava bark 50g/L water, cassava bark 75g/L water, cassava bark 100g/L water, kerosene and termiticide (active ingredient imidakloprid) and three replications. The results showed that kerosene was more effective to control termite that the others with mortality of 95% followed by imidacloprid termitisida (85%), cassava bark 100g / L (76.67%), whereas cassava bark 75g / L, 50 g / L, 25g / L weren't effective to control termite with percentage of mortality were 65, 50, 46.67% respectively. Termite's death marked by the existence of body color changed from pale white to blackish brown color and stiff body shape then into wrinkles.Keywords : termiticide, Captotermes curvignathus, mortality


Immunological failure is identified from the estimation of certain parameters of a mathematical model of the HIV infection dynamics. This identification is supported by clinical research results from an original clinical trial. Standard clinical data were collected from infected patients starting Highly Active Anti-Retroviral Therapy (HAART), just after one month following therapy initiation and were used to carry out the model identification. The early diagnosis is shown to be consistent with the patients monitoring after six months.


A paramagnetic measuring instrument comprises a mag netic circuit, formed from ferromagnetic material and having pole ends defining a discontinuity, and a gas measuring chamber disposed in the discontinuity be tween the pole ends. The measuring chamber includes a frame shaped outer part formed from nonmagnetic ma terial and having a central opening extending between the pole ends; two ferromagnetic pole shoes each re spectively disposed adjacent a separate one of the pole ends and extending into the opening of the outer part; two distribution channels disposed in the outer part on opposite sides of the measuring gap for supplying a measuring gas and a comparison gas, respectively, to the measuring gap; and inlet and outlet gas lines for supplying the measuring gas and the comparison gas, respectively, and removing the mixture formed from the measuring and comparison gases. According to the invention, the cross section of the opening of the outer part of the measuring chamber, as well as the pole faces, are rectangular. Furthermore, the distribution channels extend in straight lines, parallel to one another, at the two opposite shorter sides of the measuring gap. The distribution channels have a length corresponding to the length L of the shorter sides and have a heighth and a depth t, respectively, which in each case is greater than the width W of the measuring gap.


Macrogastra ventricosa, previously known only as subfossil in central Poland, was found in an alder forest in the erkowsko-Czeszewski Landscape Park.


This study provides a phenomenological description of pre- and postretirement perceptions of family and their impact on adjustment to retirement. The study is qualitative and employs interviews as a means of collecting life stories and life scenarios of men on the eve of their retirement transition. The findings corroborate that retirement is a family transition. The most important results shed light on retirees' loneliness and need for support. Supportive preretirement interventions are recommended. In addition, the results showed family perceptions' contribution to postretirement adjustment. Thus, in order to help the retirees to accept their retirement transition, it suggests that the preretirement intervention should focus on the family as a whole, especially when retirees plan their future.


Objective To compare the clinical effect and safety of dezocine and sufentanil in postoperative patientcontrolled epidural analgesia(PCEA)after cesarean section.Methods A total of 60 puerperae undergoing cesarean section through epidural anesthesia were randomly divided into group A treated with50μg sufentanil and 10 mg dezocine respectively combined with100 ml of 0.178% methansulfonic ropivacaine.PCEA load was given15 minutes before the end of the surgery,the baseline dose of PCEA was 2ml/h,the patient-controlled dose was 0.5 ml and the lock time was 15minutes.The visual analogue scale(VAS)score of incision and visceral pain,Ramsay score,modified Bromage score,and the adverse reactions and complications of the patients were observed.Results The VAS score of incision pain and the Bromage score were not significantly different between two groups(P0.05).The VAS score of visceral pain was higher,the Ramsay score was lower and the incidence of adverse reactions was higher in group A than those in group B(P0.05).Conclusion The combination of 10 mg Dezocine and 0.178% methansulfonic ropivacaine has clear effect in epidural anesthesia of patients after cesarean section,and the incidence of adverse reaction and side effect is low.


Article history: Received: …………. Accepted: ………… Available online: 7 Feb 2013 ZJRMS 2013; 15(X): XX-XX Background: The most common method for improving the quality of life especially in chronic heart disease is rehabilitation. For increasing the level of knowledge about effect of rehabilitation and its' impression on improving the quality of life in patients. This study evaluates effect of one month cardiac rehabilitation on lower limb strength and the static and dynamic balance of CABG patients. Materials and Methods: This study is based on clinical trial before and after rehabilitation. the exercise protocol lasted for one month, three times per week, each session lasting 1 hour, on 30 male patients in two groups in control (N=15) and experimental group (N=15) after CABG in the centre of rehabilitation in Javad-Alaeme Heart Hospital, Mashhad. The strength of lower limb by chair standing test, the static balance by standing on one leg and dynamic balance by time up and go (TUG) test, was evaluated before and after 1 month rehabilitation in training group and detraining in control group. Data were analyzed with SPSS-16 and used t-test analysis (p≤0.05). Results: The strength of lower limb (p=0.001), static balance (p=0.023) and dynamic balance (p=0.037) increased significantly after one month of cardiac rehabilitation. Conclusion: The result of this study indicates that cardiac rehabilitation after coronary artery bypass surgery causes significant increase in strength of lower limb and balance in patients, the more muscle strength is associated with an increase in ability of performing daily activities and so it causes improved quality of life.


Proteolytic activation of the renal epithelial sodium channel ENaC involves cleavage events in its α- and γ-subunits and is thought to mediate sodium retention in nephrotic syndrome (NS). However, detection of proteolytically processed ENaC in kidney tissue from nephrotic mice has been elusive so far. We used a refined Western blot technique to reliably discriminate full-length α- and γ-ENaC and their cleavage products after proteolysis at their proximal and distal cleavage sites (designated from the N-terminus), respectively. Proteolytic ENaC activation was investigated in kidneys from mice with experimental NS induced by doxorubicin or inducible podocin deficiency with or without treatment with the serine protease inhibitor aprotinin. Nephrotic mice developed sodium retention and increased expression of fragments of α- and γ-ENaC cleaved at both the proximal and more prominently at the distal cleavage site, respectively. Treatment with aprotinin but not with the mineralocorticoid receptor antagonist canrenoate prevented sodium retention and upregulation of the cleavage products in nephrotic mice. Increased expression of cleavage products of α- and γ-ENaC was similarly found in healthy mice treated with a low salt diet, sensitive to mineralocorticoid receptor blockade. In human nephrectomy specimens, γ-ENaC was found in the full-length form and predominantly cleaved at its distal cleavage site. In conclusion, murine experimental NS leads to aprotinin-sensitive proteolytic activation of ENaC at both proximal and more prominently distal cleavage sites of its α- and γ-subunit, most likely by urinary serine protease activity or proteasuria.


Background: Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a new infectious disease and to date become a global pandemic. COVID-19 has symptoms varies in severity from mild to severe and can be fatal. Vitamin D deficiency could affect individual's immunity and increase the risk of mortality in COVID-19 patients.Methods: We did a literature review study to describe the association between vitamin D deficiency and mortality in COVID-19 patients. Literature search was done using PubMed database with keyword "COVID-19" AND "Vitamin D Deficiency" AND "Outcome". Articles published before June 30th 2021 and published in English language were included in this study. Inclusion criteria is case control or cohort study which evaluate association between vitamin D deficiency and mortality in COVID-19 patients.Result: 13 eligible articles which met inclusion and exclusion criteria were included in this study. All subjects in included studies were COVID-19 patients confirmed by laboratory RT-PCR. Mean age of the subjects in included studies were range from 55-79 years old, with proportion of male more than female in most of the studies. 25(OH)D level <20 ng/ml was definition of vitamin D deficiency most often used. Vitamin D deficiency were significantly associated with COVID-19 mortality, with OR in 3 studies range from 3,87-6,84 and HR in 3 studies range from 4,15-14,73.Conclusion: This literature review concluded that vitamin D deficiency had the potency to be risk factor for mortality in COVID-19 patients.


In article the pedagogical potential of uniform educational and social environment of high school as anticipating condition of formation of design culture of students is investigated, the major factors defining the form of its organization are theoretically proved. The design culture is considered as интегративное the quality of the person characterized by knowledge of social designing, valuable orientations, social activity and readiness for realization of socially-significant ideas.


This study aims to reveal the connectivity rearrangement in the brain in response to the introduction of various endocannabinoid receptor ligands including both agonists and anthagonists. Rats of WAG/Rij and Wistar lines were investigated before and after introduction of WIN55,212-2 and SLV326 respectively. Local field potentials from different cortical areas, thalamic nuclei and hippocampus were recorded. Coupling analysis was performed using nonlinear Granger causality technique with models specially developed for the considered data. The results were statistically analyzed using ANOVA and t-test. Both coupling increase and decrease in different channel pairs was detected leading to complex evolution of brain network in time and causing the transition from baseline to seizure and between different types of epileptic activity.


The invention is not SOCIETE and polyimides containing 4,4'-methylene diphenyl diisocyanate carbonate, the average functionality of the polyols of 2 to 4 and a hydroxyl equivalent weight of the polyol is 2200 to 3500 and the polyoxyethylene moiety of the polyol from 40 to 68 manufactured from a polyoxyalkylene polyol which contains an amount of the weight percent isocyanate-terminated prepolymer a; And it relates to the use of using it in flexible polyurethane foam production process.


It was shown that the relative quantum yield of the photoinactivation (B) of acetylcholine esterase (ACF) in membranes is controlled by the temperature in the interval from 10 to 35 deg C. The dependence obtained B = f(t) has an S- shaped form, characteristic for cooperative transitions, with t1/2 at 18 deg C, and the ratio B/sub 35 deg //B/sub 10 deg / ~ 2. Solubilization of the erythrocyte membrane with sodium desoxycholate (DO)C), destroying the albumin- lipid contact, makes B independent of temperature. Comparison of the B of ACF in the membrane, in the albumin-lipid complex, and in solution, as well as in the presence of DOC during irradiation at different wave lengths (289 and 247 nm) made it possible to conclude that the level of photosensitivity of the ACE in the membrane. as well as the modifieation of the induction temperature, were determined by the character of the intermembrane albumin-lipid interaction, being changed by means of the structure cooperative transition at 18 deg C. The possible mechanisms of the effeet of the lipid and its structural composition in the membrane on the photosensitivity of ACE were discussed. (tr-auth) A density gradient of 70 to 100% (v/v) formamide wasmore » prepared for the study of both native and denatured bacterial UNA. Random single- and double-stranded breaks were introduced by treating the DNA with various doses of x-irradiation. A comparison was then made between two techniques of denaturation: by heating to 10O deg C followed by immediate cooling, and by gentle heating in high concentrations of formamide. No significant difference was found between the molecular weights of DNA molecules thus denatured. However, the development of this gradient provides a useful tool for centrifugation studies of denatured forms of DNA in a neutral, rather than alkaline environment. (auth)« less


The method and the creative thinking of the concept product design involves the modes of thinking and design.The aim is to create.Ways of thinking actually means the modes of creation.Way of thinking decides significance of product design,and the value of the design.Meanwhile,the scientific method is the process of turning the creative thinking into visible and tangible products on the basis of the relative knowledge and techniques.The design of concept product,design methods and the modes of thinking are dialectically united and complementary.


THERE IS AN urgent need to reduce operating costs in the Australian Sugar Industry. The development work undertaken on the coupling link has continued and has been consolidated with further design iterations, culminating in a production model for this concept. The effective coupling of cane bins remains an area of high cost to the raw sugar business. The coupling link and Willison Coupling combination is considered the most effective means of coupling cane bins together today, incurring the lowest whole-of-life cost. The coupling link concept requires two cane bins to be permanently linked together into a 'bin-pair'. Another benefit of a 'bin-pair' includes the elimination of single bin pushers at the tippler. The introduction of coupling links into a cane bin fleet is only possible if field and factory operations are performed in two bin modules. Further design improvements were explored through modelling work and laboratory tests using field data to validate the design. The final result is a robust coupling system that is less prone to derailment, exhibits higher reliability and a reduced ownership cost when compared to other cane train coupling systems.


book may derive from this central premise. I believe, for instance, that Nasar fails to give due consideration to possible conflicts between popular citizen tastes and pressing urban problems evolving around land use, transportation, and other such issues. Citizens' proven penchant for the appearance of effluence and high social status (as described by Nasar himself) reinforces this concern. One suspects that evaluative studies, given their shaky theoretical justification, might be employed for the quick cosmetic fix, in spite of Nasar's own cautions to


Background: With the rapid growth in the number of fellowship programs in Hospice and Palliative Medicine (HPM), many are in the process of developing ways to demonstrate that fellows are attaining educational milestones. Reflection and self-assessment are key components of 2 Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME) competencies, practice-based learning and improvement, and systems-based practice, which have both been historically challenging to learn and assess. Objective: This article describes results of a content analysis of narrative data collected from HPM fellows' self-assessments as they performed hospice home visits independently in a new clinical rotation. Design: This was a prospective qualitative study. Settings/Participants: Eight fellows completed 217 unsupervised hospice home visits from 2014 to 2016. Measurements: Fellows completed weekly self-assessment forms, which captured both clinical visit information and practice data elicited from responses to open-ended reflection prompts. Results: Analysis of 29 self-assessment forms generated 6 themes: patient- and family-centered care, self-efficacy, systems-based care, commitment to doing their best, catalyst for professional growth, and purpose and meaning in work. The fellows recognized numerous barriers distinct to providing care in homes. All fellows felt prepared to perform home visits throughout the rotation and after training. Conclusions: Narrative data collected during the independent home visit rotation provided evidence that HPM fellows detected gaps in their performance, planned for practice improvements in subsequent visits, and valued working within an interprofessional team. Built-in opportunities for fellows to reflect during training are critical in meeting ACGME milestones, and are integral to their professional development.