Heat exchanging devices to a great extent determine weight and size and energy indicators of refrigeration equipment. Thus, the total mass of the evaporator and condenser is 50 ÷ 70% of the total mass of vapor compression refrigerating machine, and heat-refrigerating machines reaches 90%. Irreversible losses energy caused by due to heat transfer at finite temperature differences in the apparatus is 30 ÷ 50% of the total energy consumption of refrigeration equipment. Significant losses energy caused by also overcoming resistance when driving liquid and gaseous the workers media in the apparatus. All of the above determines the need to find the most optimal designs of the heat transfer equipment for refrigeration and modes of operation. The authors analyzed the constructions and thermal performances of modern heat exchangers used as evaporators and condensers of refrigerating machines, and consider some of them, according to the authors, the most promising.


TiO2 nanocrystalline powders were prepared by sol-gel method with different process parameters. The phase, morphology and the luminescent property of TiO2 nanocrystalline powders were characterized by XRD, SEM and PL, respectively. The results indicated that the synthesized TiO2 nanocrystalline powders were transformed from anatase into rutile with the increasing of heat treatment temperature, which begin at the temperature of 500 oC and was almost completed at the temperature of 700 oC. And with the increasing of pH value the rutile proportion become larger, the nanograins become fine and powders agglomeration was decreased. The good performance TiO2 nanocrystalline powders were obtained when prepared temperature was 500°Cand pH value was 4. PL results show broad and strong luminescence band appeared near 470nm when TiO2 nanocrystalline powders were excited at 325nm at room temperature.


Parallel programming is a good way for increasing the computational speed. Any network of workstations can be used as a relatively cheap parallel computer. We will show two methods for parallel computation of sequences of convolutions in this paper. They are pipelining and data partitioning. We will show the algorithms for these methods, performance analysis of them and results of some experiments. We will also propose some ways how to optimize the performance of these algorithms.


Nethalide (1-[2'-naphthyl]-2-isopropylaminoethanol hydrochloride) was studied in normal and in atropinized dogs under pentobarbital anesthesia and in dogs with chronic cardiac denervation. When given intravenously in a dose of 6 to 7 mg/kg, it increased cardiac output and stroke volume. The heart rate slowed in normal and in atropinized dogs, was unchanged in dogs with cardiac denervation when anesthetized, and quickened when they were conscious. It can block the β-receptors in peripheral vessels and can abolish the effect of stimulation of the cardiac sympathetic nerves. It can block the chronotropic effects of norepinephnine and epinephrine.


The aim of the study is to use pollen data for quantifying in very general terms the vegetation change in northern Asia over the last 40 ka. A key element in the study is the use the REVEALS method, which accounts for the differences in pollen productivity and dispersal, hence providing more robust abundance estimates than pollen percentage values. In general, I am in favour of suggesting that the paper can be accepted because it is based on a substantial dataset and presents results over a large area which has not been intensively investigated so far.


he study of unsafe conditions and the relationship of the unsafe action and unsafe conditions is very important on the prevention of coal mine accidents caused by rescue. This paper selects the 69 coal mine rescue accidentsfrom 1981 to 2011. Focusing on analysis ofunsafe conditions resulted in accidents, and gets the following conclusions.Among the four unsafe conditions of coal mine rescue accidents, personal protective equipment's unsafe conditions have the highest frequency; followed in descending are unsafe conditions of other equipment, inspection and detection equipment, communications equipment.Unsafe conditions appear in personal protective equipment frequently are in insu cient oxygen supplement of oxygen breathing apparatus (6),nose clip lack of exibility and falling o (8), oxygen breathing carbon dioxide absorber failure (7). Unsafe conditions appear in inspection and detection equipment frequently are carbon monoxide calibrating apparatus alarm fault (5), gas calibrating apparatus no alarm (4). Unsafe condition appears frequently in communications equipment frequently is poor calling e ect (4). Unsafe conditions appear in other equipment frequently are insu cient oxygen supplement of oxygen cylinder (6) and air leakage of oxygen cylinder high-pressure gas pipe (4).It preliminarily explores the relevance of unsafe and unsafe conditions in coal mine rescue accident, and the reasons of unsafe conditions' occurrences.


Submitted in fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in the Department of Social Work at the University of Zululand, 2001.


This paper is divided into five sections. The first section present a background and problems of the educational experiences of the indigenous people with relation to their ethnic composition, representation of knowledge and culture; and economic challenges in nutshell from Tripura and adopting few cases from the north-east India. The following sections will discuss the empirical study of the educational experiences of Indigenous people of Tripura. In section two, it deals with the composition of ethnic group and their relationship to understand how they shaped the question of mother-tongue (Kokborok) and their impact on the educational experiences of the indigenous people. The third section, deals with the question of whose culture and knowledge is embedded in the educational experience of the indigenous people. It assumes the curriculum as a bulk of knowledge and a method to assess whose knowledge it represents through the educational experiences of the indigenous people. It will further deal with the controversy of Kokborok language, representation of folktale, indigenous games, indigenous festivals and representation of history to identify the question of representation of culture, knowledge, curriculum and their impact on educational experiences. Fourth section will identify the indigenous people's experiences of socio-economic challenges and how it has an impact on their educational experiences. The final section is an option for change and the author's argument and thought process.


The pornography debate occupies a prominent site of apparent contradiction in contemporary culture: a site where the interests of cultural feminism merge with those of the far Right, where an underground enterprise becomes a major growth industry, and where forms of speculation turn alarmingly practical. Another more problematic confluence occurs as a result of this debate. That is, by juxtaposing the 1986 Final Report of the Attorney General's Commission on Pornography (known informally as the Messe Commission's Report) and the Marquis de Sade's 120 Days of Sodom, we will see how pornography and the public discourse


Abstract Almost forty years ago, Ehrlich and Raven (1964) hypothesized that the great diversity of plants and the herbivores that feed on them arose from a process of coevolution. Plants do possess an amazing diversity of traits that are easily imagined as having arisen from an antagonistic interaction between plants and herbivores. Two basic assumptions lie at the root of most theories of coevolution between plants and their herbivores. First, herbivores are agents of natural selection on plant resistance traits. Second, plants incur a significant fitness cost for possessing these resistance traits. An ecological genetic approach can provide rigorous evidence for these coevolutionary assumptions. In this paper, I present new experimental work on the subject of costs of resistance and review and discuss my own previous work bearing directly on these questions. Using both field experiments on natural populations of the mouse-ear cress (Arabidopsis thaliana) and laboratory experiments using genetically modified plants, I demonstrate that herbivores are exerting selection on both a chemical and physical resistance trait and that there are significant fitness costs to possessing these two traits. These results provide direct confirmation that our current models of the evolution of plant defenses are appropriate.


Here we examine the ability of butterflies to learn colour cues in two different behavioural contexts, nectar foraging and oviposition, more or less simultaneously. We first trained female Battus philenor (Papilionidae) butterflies to associate a given colour with the presence of host plant leaf extract and assayed their colour preference; we then trained a subset of these butterflies to associate a second colour with the presence of sucrose solution and assayed colour preference once more. When offered an array of four unscented and unrewarding coloured models, 'single-trained' butterflies consistently alighted most frequently on their oviposition training colour. Green-trained butterflies landed on nontrained colours only about 4% of the time, while butterflies trained to red, yellow or blue made about 23% of their landings on nontrained colours; of those nontrained landings, most were on green. The majority of 'dual-trained' butterflies made the greatest number of visits to both training colours in the appropriate behavioural context; that is, they probed the models of their sucrose-associated colour and alighted on the models of their oviposition-associated colour. Landings or probes on nontrained colours in one context were consistently biased towards what was learned in the alternative context, suggesting an information–processing constraint in the butterflies. This paper provides a clear demonstration that butterflies can learn in two behavioural contexts within a short span of time. A capacity for such dual conditioning presumably permits female butterflies to forage effectively for egg-laying sites and nectar resources even when those activities are intermingled in time. Learning plays an important role in the location and utilization of food and oviposition sites for a broad range of insects, including nectar feeders, herbivores and parasitoids (Papaj & Prokopy 1989; Papaj & Lewis 1993). Although several studies have examined concurrent associative learning of more than one stimulus, most have done so within one behavioural context (e.g. colour and odour in the context of nectar foraging: Couvillion & Bitterman 1988; Villa & Weiss 1990; Funayama et al. 1995). In nature, however, insects will often encounter relevant stimuli in a given sensory modality (e.g. vision, olfaction, etc.) in more than one behavioural context within a very short time span. This is particularly true for individual nonsocial insects, which do not have a division of labour and so must perform a range of tasks. A female butterfly or moth, for example, may use a particular cue, such as colour or shape, when foraging for nectar …


Collier, KJ. & Winterbourn, MJ. (1990). Structure of epilithon in some acidic and circumneutral streams in South Westland, New Zealand. New Zealand Natural Sciences 17:1-11. The composition and biomass of epilithon colonising introduced substrata was investigated in two acid (pH 4.3-5.7), brownwater and two circumneutral (pH 6.6-8.0), Clearwater streams in South Westland. Scanning electron microscopy showed that epilithon in the circumneutral streams was composed primarily of diatoms (mostly Gomphonema subclavatum and Achnanthes minutissima) and blue-green algae, whereas in the acid streams other species of diatoms (mainly Fragilaria and Eunotia species), filamentous algae (including Stigeoclonium sp. and Tribonema sp.) and deposits of amorphous material (possibly adsorbed or precipitated organic carbon) were common. Energy-dispersive X-ray analysis indicated that silicon was the most abundant element in epilithon at all sites, presumably reflecting the presence of siliceous diatom frustules or mineral particles. Calcium was significantly more abundant (4-30 times) in epilithon from the circumneutral streams, whereas iron was significantly more common in epilithon at one of the acid, brownwater sites. The ratios of organic carbon to chlorophyll a + phaeophytin a concentration were significantly greater at acid than circumneutral sites (x = 452 and 197, respectively), indicating that algae comprised proportionately less of the epilithic carbon at the former sites. Adsorbed or precipitated organic carbon appears to be a major component of epilithon in acid, brownwater streams, whereas low algal biomass may be maintained by a combination of nutrient-limitation, growth inhibition by humic substances, and physical abrasion of stone sur-


Chronic parodontitis takes the special place among the inflammatory parodontium diseases because of its prevalence, the significant influence on the patient's life quality, necessity of having long complex treatment. The adherence to the treatment is one of the leading factors effecting on the treatment of diseases.
Objective of the study is to estimate the effectiveness of the standard complex therapy of chronic parodontitis in the patients having different levels of the adherence to the treatment.
Methodology. 107 patients (male and female) aged 30-40 having chronic mild and moderate parodontitis were examined. The dental examination included questionnaire, instrumental examination to determine certain indices: OHI-S,PMA, PI.
To study the adherence to the treatment the questionnaire "Questionnaire of the quantitative estimation of the adherence to the treatment" (QAA-25) was carried out, also the objective and quantitative indices of the level of the adherence in the patients to the doctor's recommendations in the long treatment were calculated. On carrying out the standard conservative therapy of chronic parodontitis the dynamic observation was performed in 17, 14 days, in 1 and 6 months. The comparative analysis of indices of the effective treatment was carried out including the disease severity and the level of the adherence to the treatment.
Results. In the patients having the high level of the adherence the standard method of chronical parodontitis treatment resulted in the compensation of the state (in 83.4% of cases in mild chronic parodontitis and in 58,3% of cases in moderate chronic parodontitis). If the patients had the low adherence they were inclined to the recurrent course of chronic parodontitis (in 33 % of cases).
Conclusion. The level of the adherence to the treatment influences on the efficiency of the standard therapy and the outcome of the disease. In the patients having the high level of the adherence the standard method of chronical parodontitis treatment resulted in the compensation of the state. If the patients had the low adherence they were inclined to the recurrent course of chronic parodontitis.
To have an individualized approach to the complex treatment it is necessary to take into consideration the level of the adherence of the patients to the long treatment.


The utility model relates to a hydraulic roller winch control mechanism, which belongs to the roller winch technical field. The hydraulic roller winch control mechanism is proposed that a hydraulic dynamic source can drive a hydraulic motor through a control valve by a pipeline, and the hydraulic motor drives a roller; and the hydraulic roller winch control mechanism is characterized in that: a main circuit forms the hydraulic dynamic source by an electric proportional variable pump and a hydraulic control variable pump through the parallel connection; the hydraulic dynamic source drives the hydraulic motor; an oil control hole of the electric proportional variable pump is connected with an oil control hole of the hydraulic control variable pump through a unidirectional valve; an oil control channel is connected into a hydraulic guiding control valve and the unidirectional valve so as to form a control structure which integrates the hydraulic control with the electric control. After adopting the local hydraulic control and the fixed remote control as well as movable remote control, through integrating the electric control with the hydraulic control, the hydraulic roller winch control mechanism enriches the control methods of the work progress, and greatly improves the construction efficiency.


Education enhances the capabilities of an individual. Thus, those who are denied the rights to education face the possibilities of limited chances in the future. UNESCO for instance, argues that meaningful education is the key to advance social justice; as people who are marginalised in education face the prospect of bleak future chances. On that note, the enrollment of the almajirai boys in the Tsangaya schools of the Almajiri education system, otherwise call Tsangaya negates this UNESCO standard for proper
educational advancement. The most difficult problem in the reformation and integration of the Tsangaya system into the mainstream educational system is based on the age-long cultural belief that the western education is contradictory to the whole essence of Islamic belief. Some believed that a child with western belief will eventually lose his Islamic identity and embrace vices that negate the values and principles of Islam. The variables to the denial of secular education in the North, mystify Almajirai as social misfits, as commodity for both the terrorists and politicians. Yet no known study has analyzed information on the rights of secular education in far Northern Nigeria. This study, therefore examined the Metaphor of Almajirai and the Rights of Secular Education in the Far Northern Nigeria. The study is based on both primary as well as secondary data. The sample size was chosen based on multi-stage sampling method. Thirty households were systematically sampled from four Local Government Areas, which yielded a sample size of 120 households selected from the three states in Far Northern Nigeria. It was observed that the almajiri activity is closely associated to violent crimes such as terrorism and kidnapping. The study concluded that the government should provide secular education to replace Almajiri education in Northern Nigeria.


In 1983 Bruce Eastwood published his now-classical analysis of the beautifully illustrated Carolingian planetary diagram (Figure 1) in the Leiden Aratea manuscript Voss. Q. 79, fol. 93v. He explained that the Leiden diagram reflects a number of astronomical concepts that appear regularly in Carolingian astronomy, the most basic of them being an apsidal diagram with data described in the Plinian astronomy then currently


Are employers utilizing temporary workers as a means to decrease the funds allocated to the training and development of full-time workers? This article examines industry trends in the utilization of contingent workers and training expenditures in an attempt to explain the relation between the two variables. The article also examines the ethical responsibility of organizations to train and develop employees. Data were collected from organizations that participated in a survey soliciting information regarding temporary workers and training expenditures between the years 1980 and 1999. The results suggest that a relation does exist between the variables. Data were also collected from Fortune magazine databases concerning "America's Most Admired Companies" and the "100 Best Companies to Work for" (see Appendixes A and B). These data suggest that training has an impact on the various attributes of organizations that are included on these lists.


BACKGROUND: Gastritis is one of the most common diseases found in internal medicine clinics and daily life.

AIM: The purpose of this study was to determine the histopathological changes of gastric rat model of aspirin-induced gastritis.

MATERIALS AND METHODS: Group K(−) is a negative control (normal) not given any treatment, Group K(+) is a positive control induced by aspirin 200 mg/kgBW, Group 1 (P1) is a treatment group induced by aspirin 200 mg/kgBW with ethanol extract of chayote 100 mg/kgBW, po, Group 2 (P2) was the treatment group induced by aspirin 200 mg/kgBW with ethanol extract of chayote 200 mg/kgBW, po, Group 3 (P3) was the treatment group induced by aspirin 200 mg/kgBW with ethyl acetate fraction chayote 100 mg/kgBW, PO, Group 4 (P4) was the treatment group induced by aspirin 200 mg/kgBW with ethyl acetate fraction chayote 200 mg/kgBW, PO, and Group 5 (P5) was the treatment group induced by aspirin 200 mg/kgBW with omeprazole 20 mg.

RESULTS: Analysis of the results of inflammatory infiltration in gastric histopathology in Groups P1, P2, P3, and P4 showed mild inflammatory infiltration compared to Groups P(5) and K(+). The description of the acinar glands on gastric histopathology showed that the P2 group gave a better picture of the acinar gland repair than the K(+), P2, P3, P4, and P5 groups.

CONCLUSION: This study showed that ethanol extracts of squash 200 mg/KgBW own effectiveness as an anti-inflammatory on the improvement of infiltration of inflammatory and picture histopathological gastric mice compared with the ethanol extract of squash 100 mg/kg, the fraction of ethyl acetate chayote 100 mg/KgBW and 200 mg/KgBW and omeprazole 20 mg.


Aim of the study: As high-intensity laser therapy (HILT) is capable of reaching and stimulating deeper and larger tissues than traditional physiotherapy modalities, we studied its influence on cervical myofascial pain. Subject and methods: 50 patients with chronic upper trapezius muscle myofascial trigger points (MTrPs) within the age range of 20 to 40 years old were assigned to group A that received traditional treatment only (transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation (TENS), ultrasound massage (US), stretch and exercise), while group B received HILT with traditional treatment. Outcome measures included pain severity via visual analogue scale (VAS), pressure pain threshold (PPT) by pressure algometer, neck functional activities by neck disability index (NDI) and cervical range of motion by CROM apparatus. Results: both groups showed significant improvement in the posttreatment outcome measures, but the HILT group (group B) showed a more significant improvement than the control group (group A) with a p-value >0.001. Conclusion: HILT is a supportive physical therapy modality that may provide preferable results for a cervical MTrP patient.


Intestinal epithelia provide the primary cellular interface between microbiota and host in the mammalian mucosal ecosystem. As such, epithelia actively participate as innate immune sensors of luminal bacteria that breach this barrier. Defects in epithelial autophagy have been identified in inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). Autophagy, a primordial degradation pathway, is implicated in diverse but interconnected immune responses such as mitochondrial signaling and elimination of invasive bacteria. Improved epithelial mitochondrial function proves protective in IBD, and a functional link between mitochondrial autophagy and bacterial autophagy has recently been established. However, crosstalk between these seemingly disparate processes is poorly characterized, and the regulatory pathways involved in epithelial cell‐intrinsic autophagy remain unknown. Recent work has defined a central role for the hypoxia‐inducible factor HIF in promoting epithelial bioenergetics and antimicrobial defense. Using a ChIP‐on‐chip approach, we identified autophagy as a novel pathway coordinately regulated by HIF, and highlighted a cohort of IBD‐implicated genes involved in the selective autophagy of mitochondria (mitophagy) and bacteria (xenophagy). Enteropathogen invasion was found to be an inherent driver of epithelial hypoxia and HIF‐depleted epithelia displayed dysregulated mitochondrial energetics and abrogated mitophagic and xenophagic responses. Conditional epithelial HIF‐deficient mice demonstrated increased bacterial dissemination and disease activity following acute invasive bacterial challenge. Moreover, augmentation of HIF‐regulated mitochondrial bioenergetics proved protective in mouse models of colitis. These findings place epithelial HIF as a central orchestrator of mitophagic and xenophagic responses during mucosal inflammation.


This paper describes a numerical calculation method of the aerodynamic characteristic of an aircraft with distributed electric propulsion system (DEPS) taking into account influence of a blown wing. In addition, the studies of DEPS impact on aerodynamic characteristics of the light aircraft are represented.


In article the formation and activity question подьячих in the Ufa district in first half XVIII century is analyzed, features of development of a domestic notariate in territory of the given district also reveal.


A three-dimensional model of Mars is used to test the hypothesis that certain linear features on Mars are remanent shorelines.


United States participation was under the technical and administrative supervision of the Defense Atomic Support Agency. NASA is currently developing and testing large liquid propellent space vehicle configurations under the Saturn program. The liquid oxygen, liquid hydrogen and RP-I (kerosene) used as fuel in the booster and upper stages, could, in the event of catastrophic failure, produce an explosion equivalent to many tons of TNT. Saturn vehicles are designed to withstand a specified blast overpressure while in launch configuration. Saturn V Design Ground Rules require the booster, in launch configuration, to be able to withstand a


The Constitution of the Russian Federation enshrines the rights of citizens to healthcare and medical care. In the paper, we study the prevalence of problems in the implementation of the rights of citizens insured in the system of compulsory medical insurance among patients of Orenburg branch of the S. Fyodorov Eye Microsurgery Federal State Institution by conducting a survey of patients in 2022. Assessing the results of the study, it should be noted that the issues of medical and legal literacy of the population are an urgent problem of modern society.


Objective To investigate the relationship between sex hormones(SH) and endothelial dysfunction and to explore the mechanism of internal environment disturbance of sex hormones on atherosclerosis and coronary heart disease in male patients with acute coronary syndrome(ACS).Methods Sixty-one male patients acute myocardial infarction(AMI) 30,unstable angina pectoris(UAP) 31 and 30 healthy volunteers were divided into three groups: AMI group,UAP group and control group.Radioactive-immune method or enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay(ELISA) method was used to measure estrogen(E_2),progesterone(P),testosterone(T),endothelin-1(ET-1) and von Willebrand factor(vWF).Results E_2 level of serum was significantly higher [AMI group((125.09)±(30.60)) ng/L and(UAP group(107.50)±(38.40)) ng/L vs((61.60)±(44.00)) ng/L,E_2/T:((24.86)±(12.59))(μg/L) and((18.23)±(9.77))(μg/L) vs((8.87)±(8.50))(μg/L),(P(0.01))],and T level of serum was significantly lower [(5.71)±(1.78) and(6.63)±(1.98) vs(9.11)±(2.26)(P(0.01))] in ACS patients than those in control group.The disturbance of SH was correlated with ET-1 and vWF level of plasma.Conclusion Higher serum E_2 level and lower serum T level may be responsible for ACS in great degree.There may be relationship between SH disturbance and endothelial dysfunction.


This article takes its point of departure in a survey published on Press Freedom Day 2013 about Norwegian attitudes to freedom of expression. The results of the survey revealed quite contradictory responses. On the one hand Norwegians were in favour of extensive freedom of expression, but on the other hand there also existed quite pronounced attitudes to limit freedom of expression for opinions and utterances that were regarded as offensive. Based on the survey the article discusses what constitutes offence in relation to utterances, acts, and attitudes. As the survey also was based on conceptions of what makes up a functioning public sphere and discourse in relation to market forces and the development of new communication technologies, the article refers to the Norwegian Constitution's clause on freedom expression and argues for the strong relationship between a pluralistic media system and free expression. In conclusion the article touches upon the relationship


Complete NMR analysis of oxytocin (OXT) in phosphate buffer was elucidated by one‐dimensional (1D)‐ and two‐dimensional (2D)‐NMR techniques, which involve the assignment of peptide amide NH protons and carbamoyl NH2 protons. The 1H15N correlation of seven amide NH protons and three carbamoyl NH2 protons were also shown by HSQC NMR of OXT without 15N enrichment. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.


This paper describes ObjectResponder --- a tool that allows designers to use Artificial Intelligence (AI) to rapidly prototype concepts for context-aware intelligent interaction in the wild. To our knowledge, there are currently no available tools for designing and prototyping with AI within the actual context of use. Our application uses Google Cloud Vision to allow designers assigning chat bot-like responses to objects recognized by the smart-phone camera. This enables designers to use object recognition labels as a means to diverge on possible interpretations of the context and start generating ideas that can then be immediately tested and iterated. Initial results suggest that looking at the world from the perspective of the AI may enable designers to balance human and nonhuman biases, enrich a designer's understanding of the context, and open up unexpected directions for idea generation.


Purpose : To determine the effect of chondrocyte degeneration on chondrocyte adhesion, cell proliferation, proteoglycan and collagen synthesis and the effect of chondroitinase ABC on them. Materials and Methods : Human cartilage explant and chondrocytes were harvested from patients who underwent knee replacement arthroplasties for osteoarthritis. The articular surface was cut into a disc. Cartilage discs were grouped by grade of degeneration; normal (G0), superficial fissure (G1), and deep fissure (G2). Human chondrocytes were transferred onto cartilage discs pretreated with Chondroitinase ABC. The number of the attached chondrocyte and the cell proliferation and the amount of secreted proteoglycan and collagen was measured. The morphology of transplanted chondrocyte and cartilage surface was assessed using scanning electron microscopy (SEM). Results : The number of chondrocytes attached to G1, G2 cartilage disc is greater than that of cells attached to G0 disc. The proliferation of chondrocyte attached to G1, G2 cartilage disc is greater than that of cells attached to G0 disc. Chondroitinase ABC treatment increases chondrocyte proliferation in G0 cartilage disc, but decreases chondrocyte proliferation in G1, G2 cartilage disc. The proliferation of transplanted chondrocyte is greater in G1, G2 group than G0 group. The amount of proteoglycan and collagen synthesized by transplanted chondrocyte is greater in G1, G2 group than G0 group. Chondroitinase ABC treatment decreases proteoglycan and collagen synthesis. At 21 days after transplantation, the degenerated surface of G1 or G2 cartilage disc was covered with the matrix synthesized by the transplanted chondrocyte. The degenerated surface of cartilage


The melt intercalation method was employed to prepare poly(butylene terephthalate) (PBT)/montmorillonite (MMT) nanocomposites, and the microstructures were characterized with X-ray diffraction and transmission electron microscopy. Then, the nonisothermal crystallization behavior of the nanocomposites was studied with differential scanning calorimetry (DSC). The DSC results showed that the exothermic peaks for the nanocomposites distinctly shifted to lower temperatures at various cooling rates in comparison with that for pure PBT, and with increasing MMT content, the peak crystallization temperature of the PBT/MMT hybrids declined gradually. The nonisothermal crystallization kinetics were analyzed by the Avrami, Jeziorny, Ozawa, and Mo methods on the basis of the DSC data. The results revealed that very small amounts of clay (1 wt %) could accelerate the crystallization process, whereas higher clay loadings reduced the rate of crystallization. In addition, the activation energy for the transport of the macromolecular segments to the growing surface was determined by the Kissinger method. The results clearly indicated that the hybrids with small amounts of clay presented lower activation energy than PBT, whereas those with higher clay loadings showed higher activation energy. The MMT content and the crystallization conditions as well as the nature of the matrix itself affected the crystallization behavior of the hybrids. © 2006 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci 99: 3257–3265, 2006


Mobile ticketing is regarded as one of the most promising applications within m-commerce. However, consumer acceptance will only be high, if mobile ticketing is perceived as beneficial. An analysis of the value drivers of mobile ticketing is thus essential. The goal of this study therefore, is to apply consumer behaviour theory to identify the factors that add to the perceived value of mobile ticketing. For this purpose a theoretical analysis is complemented by a conjoint analytical study, the results of which reveal that cost and time-related issues are decisive. To take account of preference heterogeneity, three consumer segments are identified.


This paper shows a historic review of commonly consulted medical data bases (pubmed, Embase and Cochrane) about the different theories that have been postulated to explain female urinary incontinence It includes from the most primitive theories postulated in the beginning of the twentieth century based on anatomic findings, to those proposed later, with the development of radiologic studies, based on the transmission of pressures, passing through


Purpose – To present a paper which examine the UK's approach to devolution in respect of the English regions.Design/methodology/approach – The paper seeks to understand the policy choices facing the UK Government in redesigning governance arrangements in the English regions. This is achieved by an analysis of the evolution of regional governance arrangements in the past decade drawing on secondary and semi‐structured interviews undertaken by the author.Findings – Regional governance arrangements evolved in an ad hoc manner due to the government's focus on the establishment of elected regional assemblies. In this policy vacuum existing regional institutions succeeded in establishing effective working relationships. However, with an increasing focus on cities as the engines of regional growth and the pressures to devolve responsibilities to local government the existing institutional policy framework has increasingly been challenges.Research limitations/implications – The paper critically examines different...


Rheumatoid Arthritis (RA) is a chronic, systematic, and progressive autoimmune disorder. More than two-thirds of all RA patients show symptomatic cervical spine lesions. RA in the cervical spine is categorized into three types: Atlantoaxial Subluxation (AAS), Vertical Subluxation (VS), and Sub axial Subluxation (SS). For the diagnosis of RA, plain radiographs are the basis of radiographic evaluation. Computed Tomography (CT) and Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) are important for the further examination. The significantly better results can be achieved with surgical treatment than with conservative treatment. However, the Indications for transoral decompression are limited. For most of the condition, the posterior atlantoaxial fixation can achieve a good result.


Abstract:. In the last decade, the electrical power consumption in Brazil was higher than the generation capacity, urging the country to increase the investment in the electrical area and to regulate the national policy for the sector. This situation motivated the use of alternative sources, such as biomass, in order to decentralize the electricity generation. The most important residual biomass used to generate electricity is the sugarcane bagasse. The present work discusses a real case of investment to restructure and expand an existing cogeneration plant in a distillery, considering the value of surplus bagasse and electricity in the market, during a ten-year period. After the re-form, the distillery became self-sufficient in energy, having also 21240 MWh of electricity for commercialization. However, economical analysis indicates that the best option have been not to change the previous plant, and sell bagasse at R$ 26.00/t.


A basic problem in digital image restoration is the smoothing or blurring of edges due to the averaging effects of most techniques. Filtering results in images that are less noisy but less sharp as well. In order to be able to effectively reduce noise while maintaining a degree of sharpness we define a cost function constrained to reflect a perception-related criterion. In this paper we examine the effects of a modification of the mean squared error (MSE) based on the subjective importance of edges. We have studied both the space-invariant and space-varying filters with standard edge detection operators. The static approach offers a simple and parallel implementation while the adaptive one gives better performance regarding sharpness and subjective quality. We present computer simulations on images of a standard data set with various noise densities and investigate the application of Ll-filters with the perception-constrained cost function. Also an analysis of the robustness of filters is included for cases when a test image is not available.


Abstract In recent years special attention has been paid to gluten-free foods, and among them buckwheat grains are becoming more popular. They are a rich source of many nutrients, including mineral compounds, and are eaten in many forms, eg. as a "kasha" which is obtained from roasted and dehulled grains. Food processing causes various changes in chemical composition of raw materials and their rate depends on the treatment parameters, therefore the aim of the study was to determine how the content and bioavailability of selected minerals is influenced by conduction the buckwheat groats production under different conditions. The experimental materials were buckwheat grains subjected in industrial conditions to a short hydrothermal treatment (ca. 100°C/15 min) conducted in cereal dryer (unroasted groats were obtained), and also roasted in pressure boilers (140°C/90 min, 0.4 MPa) to receive roasted grains. The content of selected minerals (Mg, Mn, Zn, Cu) was determined by flame atomic absorption spectrometry and their bioavailability was determined by enzymatic hydrolysis in vitro in a system, which simulated the conditions in the human gastrointestinal tract. It was shown that different conditions of applied hydrothermal treatment had a lesser influence on the total content of analyzed minerals (determined before the digestion process), but they significantly influenced their bioaccessibility. Short treatment carried out at a lower temperature had a beneficial effect on the availability of all determined elements, increasing it to the greatest extent for Mg and Mn. This process caused an increase in the content of Mg released after digestion from 859.4 μg/g (unheated grains) to 1233.8 μg/g (unroasted groats), and the Mn level increased respectively from 2.61 to 5.19 μg/g. The roasting process statistically significantly (p < 0.001) reduced the level of these elements (to 836.1 μg/g for Mg and 1.99 μg/g for Mn). The high parameters of seed treatment used during roasting also caused a decrease in the availability of other elements and their effect was most noticeable for Zn, whose level decreased from 31.99 μg/g (unheated grains) to 9.97 μg/g (roasted groats). Observed dependencies allow to state, that due to the bioaccessibility of minerals, it is more beneficial to treat buckwheat grains with a lower temperature in a short time, and therefore consumers who pay attention to the nutritional value of the food, should choose unroasted buckwheat groats.


The aim of this work is to study the influence of the marine environment on the anticorrosive behavior of epoxy-coated steel. The evaluation of the anticorrosive performance was carried out for 180 days of immersion in the 3.5% NaCl solution with the electrochemical impedance spectroscopy method. The degradation of the paint was evaluated by: RAMAN spectrometry and differential scanning calorimetry (DSC). The results of this work have shown that the incorporation of iron oxide into the epoxy deposit has improved the barrier effect with respect to the diffusion of water molecules. Keywords—Epoxy resin, Corrosion, Electrochemical impedance spectroscopy


According to Kaufman and Rousseeuw (1990), cluster analysis is "the classification of similar objects into groups, where the number of groups, as well as their forms are unknown". This same definition could be used for exploratory Latent Class (LC) analysis where a K-class latent variable is used to explain the associations among a set of observed variables. Each latent class, like each cluster, groups together similar cases.


The nonempirical SCF method with a STO-3G basis set is used to study the effects of the geometry (SiO and AlO bond lengths and SiOAl angles) and chemical (the Si:Al ratio) characteristics of zeolites on the vibrational frequencies of their OH groups modeled by the H3SiOHAlH3, H3SiOSi(OH)3, and H2AlOSi(OH)3 molecules. It is shown that the values of the vibrational frequencies are particularly affected by the structural characteristics (e.g., changes in the Si-O and Al-O bond lengths and the SiOAl angle of 0.04 x 10 m and 20, respectively, result in shifts of the stretching frequency nu/sub OH/ of up to 40 cm ), while the influence of the chemical composition of zeolites is negligibly small (e.g., a substitution of Al for Si in the third coordination sphere of OH leads to a change of about 1 cm ).


The traditional RSS-based fingerprint localization algorithm needs RSS values from all access points (AP) at each reference point (RP). In the large-scale indoor environment, the increasing of the number of APs will lead to establish a large-scale fingerprint database, which occupies a lot of storage space. In this paper, we propose a new reliable localization algorithm, which firstly utilizes quantized RSS to encode the monitoring region which has been divided into grids, so as to specify the grids that the interested target appears roughly. Then, we utilize Multi-Layer Perceptron (MLP) to train the grid regions in which the beacons deployment is non-isomorphic and obtain the accurate localization result. Due to the same deployment of isomorphic regions, it is imperative to train only one model to replace the others, which greatly reduces the computation of neural network. It can be concluded from the experimental results that compared with the traditional MLP-based fingerprint localization algorithm, the proposed algorithm reduces the size of fingerprint database over 80% with guarantee of localization accuracy. Moreover, our algorithm can obtain better localization accuracy compared with the other latest quantization based localization algorithm.


Replacement of the generator set (genset) gasoline fuel using LPG fuel causes several problems. One of the problems is that the engine rotation speed is not stable. The problem is caused by the influence of the ratio of air and fuel mixture to the internal combustion engine. By using the electronic control unit (ECU), the ratio of air and fuel mixture can be adjusted to the needs of the engine so that the engine speed is maintained. Controlling the actuator based on sensing parameter with using ECU on engine. This paper focuses on a simple design of ECU to adjust the ratio of air and fuel mixture and frequency output in the genset. Control of servo motor and injector using ECU based microcontroller Cortex-M3. Setting the duration of injection using second degree polynomial function obtained based on regression analysis on injection mapping. Control of frequency output using PI and PID controls can maintain response time according to the characteristics when using gasoline. In 3 scenarios of dynamic conditions, the application of PI and PID controls gives a good effect in maintaining the output frequency in the generator.


The photoreactions of recombinant phytochrome CphA from cyanobacterium Calothrix sp. PCC7601 reconstituted with phycocyanobilin were investigated using UV–Vis and Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) difference spectroscopy, stabilizing intermediates at low temperature. The yield of the forward reaction strongly depends on temperature, unlike the backward reaction. Because of the very fast thermal relaxation processes in the Pr to Pfr pathway, no pure difference spectra of the Pr photoconversion products could be directly measured. Thus, the contribution of the Pfr:Pr pathway was taken into account by applying an appropriate correction procedure both in the UV–Vis and FTIR experiments. Three intermediates have been trapped at −25, −45 and −120°C, which show the characteristic vibrational band pattern of the plant phytochrome phyA intermediates meta‐Rc, meta‐Ra and lumi‐R, respectively. In the backward reaction, two intermediates corresponding to meta‐F and lumi‐F were trapped at −70 and −140°C, respectively. FTIR spectra of all intermediates, as well as of the Pfr state, show remarkable similarities with the corresponding spectra of Cph1 phytochrome from cyanobacterium Synechocystis and the 59 kDa N‐terminal fragment of Cph1, and, albeit not so pronounced, also with plant phyA. The spectral similarities and differences between the various phytochromes are discussed in terms of structural changes of the chromophore and the chromophore–protein interactions.


A strained biological tissue, namely, arterial walls under the propagation of a pulse wave, has been studied. The artery is considered as a channel in an elastic medium, and blood as an ideal liquid. The problem is reduced to a system of equations including both the equations for elastic equilibrium, which describe the behavior of the arterial environment, and the hydrodynamic Euler equations, which describe the blood flow in the artery. The obtained solution of the system relates the shear modulus of the elastic medium with those parameters of a pulse wave that can be determined, by using the conventional ultrasound method, namely, the velocity of a blood flow and the deformation of an aortic wall. As an example, the shear modulus of the carotid artery wall is found.


In the proposed new Euratom Basic Safety Standards (EU-BSS), a reference level of 1 mSv/a is set for indoor external exposure to gamma rays emitted by building materials. An activity concentration index (ACI) is proposed as a conservative screening parameter for identifying building materials that may cause the reference level to be exceeded. An alternative in situ ACI determination method was developed and the validation of this method is discussed. This screening method was used to analyse numerous building materials available on the Belgian market. An attempt was made to identify building materials containing residues from naturally occurring radioactive material processing industries that pass through Belgium, by analysing results from a large scale radiological study of the container traffic in the port of Antwerp. In addition to the regulation provided on the gamma exposure from building materials, specific parts of the proposed new EU-BSS are dealing with radon issues separately. A reference level of 300 Bq/m3 for indoor radon concentration is proposed for the EU-BSS. Relationships between radon exposure and type of building material used, the airtightness of the building and the stage of construction work were determined.


An extensive study of the kinetics of the iodide titanium process, performed in a flow system by the thermal decomposition of titanium tetraiodide over a tungsten filament substrate, is presented in this paper. The influence of the substrate temperature, T F , and reactant pressure, P Til4 0 , on the process rate has been analyzed. It has been found that the overall process is rate limited by the transfer of gases in the neighborhood of the substrate. In addition, it has been determined that the rate of titanium transfer is modulated at the filament surface by a certain deposition efficiency that depends on reactant pressure and reaction temperature. The available thermodynamic data for the gaseous titanium iodides at high temperatures fail to explain such an efficiency factor, although the calculations described herein indicate that such data are probably incorrect. Eventually, the titanium growth rate results from the noninterfering contributions of titanium deposition and evaporation rates. The overall reaction rate for the process can be expressed as a function of the operational parameters by the following equation: r G (T F , P Til4 0 ) = 0.9∈ D (T F , P Til4 0 )P Til4 0 T F - r E (T F ) mg cm -2 min -1 ∈ D represents the determined deposition efficiency and r E the titanium evaporation rate in vacuum. Owing to the similarities between the iodide process for titanium and zirconium, the general characteristics for the titanium growth kinetics here described are expected to be also fulfilled for the zirconium case.


COVID-19 is well known as "Global Pandemic" and it is a dreadful disaster on the world. However, on the other hand, COVID-19 pandemic becomes study issues for many researchers and their juniors and followers. Moreover, some negative attitudes of some Myanmar people to Myanmar National Soldiers become positive attitudes of them. Myanmar has many conflicts between some people who stand with NLD (National League for Democracy) and some people who stand with Myanmar Military. On Social Media pages, Myanmar public have quarreled and they are still quarrelling even in public areas and moreover family members become conflicts due to their favorite organization and poor knowledge of politics. Myanmar Tradition was so gentle and polite and polite people of Myanmar never abused other people and they had extremely tolerance each other before social media did not share rumors of Myanmar Military and Government. This conflicts are severe more and more and it is becoming bad situation of unity of Myanmar. Unfortunately, COVID-19 pandemic appeared as global disasters and Myanmar Military was ready to support public by taking their responsibilities. Military Quarantine Centers for public are so systematical and patients and their families don't need to worry about their medical care services, medicines and their daily meals and moreover for their necessary daily items are ready placed there. COVID-19 is so cruel warfare for every country and on the other hand, this warfare could reform "Unity Damage" of Myanmar. 57% of negative attitudes of some Myanmar people have been decreased. This study aimed to reform "Noble Unity" of Myanmar and some conditions of COVID-19 were recorded to protect fake informations of COVID-19 periods by some social media pages. The researchers hope "Developed Myanmar" with "Noble Unity and Peace".


This paper presents a metamaterial-based planar GRIN lens antenna for wireless communications, modeled and designed using COMSOL Multiphysics. The antenna is designed to work at 140 GHz in the D-band, proposed for the next mobile generation (6G). Such devices could be produced by using the SiGe technology, that allows large scale production. The proposed device shows a 11 dB gain in the center band. This value is about five times higher than the same antenna without the lens.


In this paper, we investigate the projective synchronization problem of a new 6D hyper-chaotic system. Firstly, we find a non-singular transformation by which the 6D hyper-chaotic system can be divided into two subsystems, and prove the existence of such problem. Secondly, we propose two controllers, one is the dynamic feedback controller, the other is the linear feedback controller, and then realize the projective synchronization problem of this new 6D hyper-chaotic system. Finally, numerical simulations are done to verify the correctness and effectiveness of the proposed results.


First, a few basic results are presented that are relevant to some n-normed real linear valued difference sequence spaces. Then Kothe-Toeplitz duals of some such spaces are computed.


In the Application of the Interim Accord case on which the ICJ rendered its judgment in 2011, Judge Simma stated in his separate opinion that the exceptio non adimpleti contractus did not survive in international law. In the Diversion of Water from the Meuse case of 1937, however, Judge Hudson in his individual opinion emphasized that a tribunal bound by international law ought not to shrink from applying the exceptio as a general principle of law. While the exceptio could already be covered by countermeasures, temporary non-performance of an unrelated obligation could also be justified as a countermeasure. Where an alleged victim State steps outside the bounds of the synallagmatic treaty in question and takes measures of cross-retaliation in some other field, the situation may well be aggravated rather than settled. Analyzing the exceptio in the civil law as well as analogous principles in the common law, jurisprudence of international courts and tribunals, and the work of the ILC, it is argued that as long as the exceptio is available to the injured State, it has a right of place in international law as a bar to cross-retaliation.


This article discusses the theoretical basis and clinical application of pathogenic toxin in the treatment of chronic hepatitis B,in an attempt to exactly identify the toxin factor and seek effective therapy to enhance clinical efficacy.


Ionic current in proton-conducting polycrystalline ceramics is often hampered a great deal by the grain boundaries, limiting their prospective applications as solid electrolytes for next-generation solid oxide fuel cells. To elucidate the conduction mechanism at the grain boundaries, we use a linear diffusion model and impedance spectroscopy to report complete current–voltage (I–V) characteristics of the grain boundaries in 0.5 mol % Sr-doped LaNbO4. We provide the first experimental evidence of complete annihilation of the space charge-induced proton depletion at the grain boundaries upon applying moderate bias voltages. We also show that it is possible to distinguish between the grain boundary resistance caused by the space charge and other sources by analyzing the I–V characteristics. The analysis is equally valid for other solid ionic conductors such that it can serve as an important tool to guide further optimization of the conductivity of polycrystalline solid electrolytes.


The Planck length and Planck energy should be taken as invariant scales are in agreement with various theories of quantum gravity. In this scenario, the original general relativity can be changed to the so-called gravity's rainbow which produces significant modifications to the black holes' evolution. In this paper, using two kinds of rainbow functions, we investigate the thermodynamics and the phase transition of Schwarzschild black hole in the context of gravity's rainbow theory. Firstly, with the help of the Heisenberg uncertainty principle, we calculate the modified Hawking temperature. Then, based on this modification, we derive the local temperature, free energy and other thermodynamic quantities in an isothermal cavity. Finally, the critical behavior, the thermodynamic stability and phase transition of the rainbow Schwarzschild black hole are analyzed. It turns out that our results are different from the those of Hawking-Page phase transition. Meanwhile, it is found that there are many similarities and differences between rainbow functions I case and rainbow functions II.


Blueberry scorch virus (BlScV), a member of the Carlavirus genus in the Betaflexiviridae family, was first reported in the United States. Scorch caused by BlScV is a serious disease of blueberry and can lead to great loss of yield. At present, the disease has also been reported in Germany, Canada, Italy, and the Netherlands (Ciuffo et al. 2005; Kalinowska et al. 2013; Wegener and Punja 2004). However, the disease had never been reported on blueberry in China. Symptoms caused by BlScV range from asymptomatic to severe blighting of flowers and leaves depending on blueberry cultivars and virus strain. In 2015, 57 imported samples of highbush blueberry cultivars showing virus-like symptoms in an isolated blueberry orchard in Fujian Province (south China) were collected and tested for BlScV by DAS-ELISA using specific antiserum according to the manufacturer's protocol (Agdia, U.S.A.). Among the samples, one was positive for BlScV in DAS-ELISA. To confirm the presence of the virus, RT-PCR was performed using BlScV-specific primers. A set of BlScV-specific primers, forward primer (5′-CTCAAGCCGCAGCGTCACA-3′) and reverse primer (5′-CACCAGTGTACTCCGTTTCGAGA-3′), was designed to amplify a 667-bp fragment of the coat protein gene of BlScV. Total RNA was extracted from the extracts of ELISA-positive sample using an RNA extraction kit (Qiagen, Germany). The first-strand cDNA was synthesized using cDNA synthesis kit (Promega, U.S.A.) according to the manufacturer's instructions with the N6 random primer (Promega, U.S.A.). PCR was carried out using GoTaq Master Mix following the manufacturer's protocol (Promega, U.S.A.). The program used for PCR amplification was 94°C for 3 min, followed by 35 cycles at 94°C for 30 s, 53°C for 30 s, and 72°C for 1 min, followed by a final extension at 72°C for 10 min. The expected 667-bp fragment was purified, ligated to pGEM-T easy vector (Takara, Japan), and sequenced. The obtained sequence was deposited in GenBank (accession no. KX977562) and analyzed. Further sequence comparison revealed that the amplicon nucleotide sequence was 97.6% identical to the sequence of an isolate of BlScV from the United States (KP232989), which confirmed the presence of BlScV. To our knowledge, this is the first report of BlScV in blueberries in China. In recent years, a number of blueberry cultivars from abroad have been introduced to China, and thus BlScV-infected blueberry has the potential to be an important long-distance vector. Considering that BlScV could become an important threat to blueberry production, all the imported blueberry bushes in the orchard were destroyed to prevent the spread of the virus.


Indonesia is one country that is rich will flora and fauna which are biological resources. Plant secondary metabolites is a resource that is used for drugs. Besides can be extracted directly from the plant, also can be synthesized to obtain chemical compounds or their derivatives, through the development of cell culture. The impact of the use of synthetic pesticides / chemicals have an impact that is not good for health and cause disruption of the ecological balance. This paper aims to determine the potential utilization of secondary metabolites in plant soursop (Annona murricata) and sugar apple (Annona squamosa) as botanical pesticides to control pests and plant diseases. Plants soursop (Annona muricata) and sugar apple (Annona squamosa) has potential as a pesticide plant in controlling pests and diseases in plants. Results of phytochemical screening on extracts of leaves of the soursop (Annona muricata) found secondary metabolites: alkaloids, flavonoids, terpenoids, coumarin and lactones, anthraquinone, tannins, glycosides, phenols, phytosterols, and saponins, while the detection of the presence of a group of chemical compounds in seed extracts Soursop ( Annona muricata) and sugar apple (Annona squamosa), found secondary metabolites: alkaloids, flavonoids, polyphenols, terpenoids, coumarin, steroids, lactones, anthraquinone, tannins, glycosides, and saponins cyanadin. Natural pesticides are reducing pests, but is not directly Plant Pest Organisms (PPO) pests quickly. Natural pesticide application with the correct dose, can reduce pests, reduce costs and be environmentally friendly.


The first purpose of this study is to explore the effects of work and family (work to family and family to work) conflict on employee's satisfaction of current employment type and his or her intent for changing employment type. The second purpose is to examine the moderating effect of employee's personality traits on the above relationships. Three hundred and twenty nine business employees provided data for the research in a questionnaire survey. The results from regression analyses showed that work-family conflict was negatively related to satisfaction of current employment type. Work-family conflict was positively related to intent for changing employment type. The work-family conflict was positively related to willingness for choosing atypical type of employment. The personality traits, openness to experience, conscientiousness, and neuroticism had a moderating effect on the relationship between work-family conflict and satisfaction of current employment type. The extraversion and neuroticism had a moderating effect on the relationship between work-family conflict and intent for changing employment type. The extraversion and neuroticism also had a moderating effect the relationship between family-work conflict and intent for changing employment type. The openness to experience had a moderating effect on the relationship between wok-family conflict and intent for changing employment type. The neuroticism had a moderating effect on the relationship between wok-family conflict and willingness for choosing typical type of employment.


9 TIIVISTELMA 12 LIST OF ORIGINAL COMMUNICATIONS 15 ABBREVIATIONS 16 INTRODUCTION 18 REVIEW OF THE LITERATURE 20 1. Rheumatoid arthritis 20 1.1 Definition of rheumatoid arthritis 20 1.2 Aetiology of rheumatoid arthritis 22 1.3 Pathogenesis of rheumatoid arthritis 23 1.3.1 Autoantibodies in rheumatoid arthritis 24 1.3.2 Proinflammatory cytokines in rheumatoid arthritis 25 1.4 Epidemiology of rheumatoid arthritis 26 1.5 Natural course of rheumatoid arthritis 26 2. Outcome measures in rheumatoid arthritis 28 2.1 Clinical outcomes 28 2.1.1 The core set 28 184.108.40.206 Joint assessment 28 22.214.171.124 Visual Analogue Scales 28 126.96.36.199 Acute phase reactants 30 2.1.2 Disease activity score (DAS) 30 2.1.3 Remission 31 2.1.4 Minimal disease activity 33 2.1.5 Functional ability 33 2.1.6 Response measures 35 2.2 Radiographic progression 36 2.2.1 Small joints of hands and feet 36 2.2.2 Large joints and total joint replacements 37 2.3 Working ability 37 2.3.1 European studies 38 2.3.2 North-American studies 39 2.3.3 Comparisons between different countries 39 2.3.4 Work disability in RA compared to general population 40


Various algorithms have been proposed in last decade, for temporal segmentation of digital videos. Comparison of the work of different research groups working in this area can be seen from TRECVID 2005. It is clear from comparison that no method is suitable for all types of video to detect all types of gradual transitions. Further many methods are either computation intensive or too much false detection reduces their efficiency. In this work, a method based on region matching using area correlation is proposed. This method can be used in prior to any other method to reduce the false detections. In this method, different frames of video are divided into different regions based on their statistical similarity. For each region in two consecutive frames, area correlation function is calculated. This area correlation energy function is used to detect the similarity among the regions. Weighted sum of correlation function in all the mismatched regions and location of these are used to classify the edit shots of a video into different types such as hard cuts, fades, wipes etc,. This method is tested on different videos and reasonable performance is achieved. It can also be used as pre-classifier in prior to other methods to reduce their false detections.


We document the four-year long experience aimed at improving student readiness to engage in research. A key ingredient has been the development of a multidisciplinary modeling course that integrates four teaching and learning strategies. Preceded by two sets of scaffolded projects, the course culminates with an inquiry-based learning (IBL) assignment on a topic that is relevant and supported by mentoring. Benefits include the development of modeling skills marketable to external entities, presentations at the University colloquia and symposia, peer-reviewed conference or journal papers, and application software releases. This paper describes the course structure, its evolution over time to meet various challenges, and provides examples of student work.Copyright © 2015 by ASME


The prerequisites for the use of atmospheric plasma spraying processes with multiple reflow and hardening of coatings are considered as a method of obtaining a highly entropic structure in them as applied to wear-resistant coatings.


Wild relatives of cultural plants of the Bashkortostan Republic species of wild-growing flora which are presented in culture or consist close relationship with cultural species total 310 species relating to 94 genus and 26 families. 26 species of wild relatives of cultural plants which need preservation are revealed. Their taxonomical structure, geographical and ecologo-coenotic features are studied. The recommendations for preservation of unique and rare species of wild relatives of cultural plants are made.


The purpose of the research was to determine influence of water volume and chicken manure on the growth and crop production of sweet corn and see the best treatment. Research was carried out in gauze house, experimental garden Faculty Agriculture University of Riau. The research carried out by using a completely randomized design (CRD) consisting of two factors and three replications is the first faktor is the volume of water: water volume 1400 ml, 1050 ml of water, volume and water volume  of 700 ml. the secand faktor of chicken manure that is: with second commission of chicken manure 75 g/polybag, chicken manure 150 g/polybag, chicken manure and 225 g/polybag. Parameter is the height of the plants, the emergence of the male flowers, the riset of female flowers, hervisting, weight percob, cob length, cob diameter, cob weight without cornhusk. Treatment volume of 1400 ml of  water and 225 g of chicken manure/polybag give the best effecton weight cob without cornhusk is 439,8 9/polybag. Keywords : Giving water volume, chicken manure fertilizer, sweet corn


The Los Angeles Aqueduct: A Reexamination of California's First Critical Water Transfer By Charles Robie Within this essay, I examine the implications of California's first great water transfer, between Inyo County's Owens Valley and Los Angeles's Department of Water and Power. As I reexamine the story of what would become the Los Angeles Aqueduct, I touch on the controversies surrounding the Owens Valley land grabs by Los Angeles, as well as reexamine the implications of the Second Los Angeles Aqueduct. Finally, I conclude with what can be applied to our current water resource problems by analyzing and understanding the earliest water transfer in California's history.


As a result of the cataclysms caused by the First World War, the Civil War, the revolution, and the intervention, shipbuilding enterprises lost qualified engineering staff. The state staff training system required the reorganization. Historically, Leningrad was the leading research center of the country, where the country's leading educational institutions were located. Therefore, the city became the place for organization of training system for military shipbuilding. Firstly, the Naval Academy established the Military Industrial Department, and then civilian universities and the Naval Engineering School started training staff for the shipbuilding industry.


The aim of the article is to present the arguments of the work of Marianna Mazzucato, The Entrepreneurial State, in the context of the neoschumpeterian economics. The author demonstrates the key role of state institutions in creating breakthrough technologies and undermines the conviction of innovativeness as an exclusive attribute of private enterprises.


647 Background: Trifluridine/tipiracil (FTD/TPI) plus bevacizumab (Bmab) combination therapy has shown a promising activity with manageable safety profile in patients (pts) with heavily pretreated metastatic colorectal cancer (mCRC). The aim of this multicenter, phase Ib/II study was to assess the activity and safety of biweekly FTD/TPI with Bmab combination for pts with mCRC who were refractory or intolerant to standard therapies. Methods: Inclusion criteria were ≥ 20 years; histologically confirmed unresectable mCRC; refractory or intolerant to fluoropyrimidine, irinotecan, oxaliplatin, anti-VEGF therapy, and anti-EGFR therapy (for tumors with wild-type RAS); ECOG PS 0 or 1; evaluable lesion according to the RECIST version 1.1. Phase Ib part is designed to determine the recommended phase II dose (RP2D), and pts received the RP2D in phase Ib part were included in efficacy and safety populations. The primary endpoint in phase II part was an investigator assessed progression-free survival rate at 16 weeks (16w-PFS) with a hypothesis of 15% considered unacceptable and 38.7% deemed promising. Given a one-sided α of 0.025 and statistical power of 90%, a minimum of 40 pts were required for phase II part. Results: From October 2017 to January 2018, totally 46 pts were enrolled (6 pts in phase Ib and 40 pts in phase II). The RP2D was determined to be 5 mg/kg for Bmab and 30 mg/m2 for FTD/TPI in phase Ib. Of the 44 eligible pts (median age, 69; male, 55%; PS 0, 57%; right-sided primary, 29.5%), 16w-PFS rate was 40.9 % (95% CI: 26.3 to 56.8 %) and the null hypothesis of 16w-PFS rate ≤ 15% was rejected (p < 0.0001). Response rate and disease control rate were 0 % (95 %CI: 0 to 6.6 %) and 59.1 % (95%CI: 43.3 to 73.7 %), respectively. With a median follow up of 5.86 months (range, 1.53-9.79), median PFS was 4.25 months (95% CI: 2.54 to 5.57). Grade 3 or higher adverse events were hypertension (40.9%), neutropenia (11.4 %), leucopenia (11.4 %), anemia (9.1 %), anorexia (9.1 %), nausea (6.8 %), hyperbilirubinemia (6.8 %) and proteinuria (6.8 %). Conclusions: Bi-weekly FTD/TPI plus Bmab showed promising anti-tumor effect with acceptable toxicities. Clinical trial information: UMIN000029198.


Abdominal pain of functional origin is very common in childhood, and environmental factors are thought to be of aetiologic importance. The anthroposophic lifestyle has dietary and lifestyle characteristics that may influence child health, and this study aimed to assess the effect of such lifestyles on abdominal pain of functional origin.


Examining the relation between agit-prop and performance, Robertson outlines a history of agit-prop and workers' theatre in Europe and Canada; contemporary examples of agit-prop performance are provided. Includes performance descriptions and statements by eight artists. Biographical notes. Circa 75 bibl. ref.


A distorted layered perovskite compound BaTb2Mn2O7 was synthesized by the solid state reaction in pure argon. There is a structural phase transition in the BaTb2Mn2O7 compound. The phase transition was characterized by the DSC and high temperature Xray diffraction. The heat capacity of BaTb2Mn2O7 was calculated. The thermal anomaly corresponding to the phase transition was observed at about 740K. The lattice parameters were calculated by the CELL program for BaTb2Mn2O7, It has Tb-type orthorhombic symmetry with a = 0.3908 nm, b = 0.3866 nm, c = 2.0163 nm, and space group Immm at room temperature. With the increase of temperature, the lattice parameters gradually increase until 673K. From 723K to 973K, the compound translates to tetragonal with a = 0.39078 nm, c = 2.0277 nm and S.G. I4/mmm. This result is fairly in accordance with that of heat capacity.


Blastomycosis dermatitidis is a mycotic infection that most often presents as lung disease but affects multiple organ systems. In North America, the disease is endemic along the Mississippi and Ohio River valleys north to the Great Lakes and southern Canada. Blastomycosis should be considered in the differential diagnosis when a patient lives in or has stayed in an endemic area, is treated for pneumonia but does not respond to treatment, and when there are extrapulmonary lesions of the skin, bone, genitourinary tract, or nervous system. Cultures may not be positive for weeks, but microscopy of sputum, bronchoalveolar lavage, exudates, and biopsies can provide a prompt diagnosis.North American blastomycosis is a misnomer because the disease occurs in Europe, Africa, and India. A similar disease in Central and South America has been called South American blastomycosis, but this is a misnomer also because that disease is due to a different organism, Paracoccidioides brasiliensis.1-4


The role played by NADH and/or NADPH in generation of superoxyde union in normal granulocytes remains a controversy. We studied pyridinodependent 02-production and NADH/NADPH consumption in subcellular fractions from resting and phagocytizing human polymorphs. 02-production was 1.5 to 2 fold higher in fractions from phagocytizing cells with both cofactors. It was 10 fold higher with NADH than with NADPH. NADH was also more consumed by the cytem. Effects of several agents such as Cu++, Mn++, superoxyde dismutase, manitol, histidine and diéthyldithiocarbamate will be discussed. We studied more accurately the significance of ADH requirement for 02-generation. In entire polymorphs, rotenone and antimycine A had a strong inhibitory effect on the superoxyde formation in resting as well as in phagocytizing cells. In subcellular fractions, antimycin partially inhibited the NADH dependent 02-production while rotenone had no effect.These data suggest : 1) that the pyridinodependent 02-forming system could involve multiple metabolic pathways, 2) that the ADH dependent 02-production can be partly attributed to an electron-transport system such as described by Boveris and anedas.


In the 1890s the authorities in St Petersburg attributed enormous value to the introduction (nasazhdenie) of private land property in the eastern peripheral regions. It was considered an urgent task and a fundamental aspect in the overall scheme of building an empire. The article examines the preparatory materials of the 1901 law on land privatization in Siberia – in itself a failure with little practical significance – in the context of other forms of landholding and the peasant resettlement policy, within the social and spatial hierarchy of the imperial periphery. The journals of the Siberian Railroad Committee and other unpublished materials are used to highlight conceptions of individual ownership, the motivations and ideologies of the officials who endeavoured to draft the law. The debate as to who had the right to own land, and why, constantly intersected and mirrored the visions of the desired future of the eastern territories. Private property was treated as an addition to the existing social landscape and as an instrument of transformation. The search for a 'suitable' or 'enlightened' landowner represented an adaptation of the traditional social hierarchy to new conditions and new colonial duties to a large extent.


A brief overview of recent trends in Surface Plasmon Resonance (SPR) technology especially for gas sensing is presented. Some novel sensors (metallic grating, MIM, optical fiber) are discussed along with the development of plasmonic nanostructure based on zinc oxide (ZnO) for enhancing sensing application.


$^{1}$ R. P. Mariella, JR., and R. F. Curl, JR., J. Chem. Phys. 52, 757 (1970). This work was performed under the auspices of the U. S. Energy Research \& Development Administration.""


A House on the Lake Robert Campbell Good Morning. I will not be showing any images. Those who wish to leave may do so now. What I am going to do is read you two poems, both of which I wrote some time ago. I want also to remind us of Donlyn's two keynote quotations: Places are spaces that you can hold in the mind, care about, and make a part of your life. Places instill the choreographies of society. Above: The house on the lake. Photo by author. Each of us has once inhabited, I believe, usually in childhood, a place to which we return continually in memory and imagination. We replay scenes from our time there. The place is, for ourselves and no one else, the navel of the universe, the center against which all later places are, to some degree, peripheral. The most important place in the world is one I think of almost every day. I spent all my summers, when I was growing up, at a house on the Canadian shore of Lake Erie, a short distance from my native city of Buffalo. It was a house owned by my grandparents. I'm going to read you first a poem that I wrote about that house and place. The poem was published in the Atlantic some years ago. But first I have to describe the scene. Imagine a bay on Lake Erie, a bay lined with sandy beach. (Holds out arms in shape of a bay.) The bay is maybe two miles across. We can barely see the other side of the lake, because Lake Erie is almost as big as an ocean, but sometimes we can see freighters creeping along the horizon. At the far tip of the bay, on the left, is an amusement park called Crystal Beach. An excursion boat arrives there every two hours from Buffalo across the lake, puffing black smoke. The park with its roller-coaster towers, and the periodic boat with its smoke, are two things that are deeply recorded in my mythical consciousness. The right-hand side of the bay is enclosed by Point Abino (rhymes with cabin-oh). A single lonely tree Campbell / A House on the Lake


Radiative shocks (also called supercritical shocks) are high Mach number shock waves that photoionize the medium ahead of the shock front and give rise to a radiative precursor. They are generated in the laboratory using high-energy or high-power lasers and are frequently present in a wide range of astronomical objects. Their modelization in one dimension has been the subject of numerous studies, but generalization to three dimensions is not straightforward. We calculate analytically the absorption of radiation in a gray uniform cylinder and show how it decreases with χR, the product of the opacity χ and of the cylinder radius R. Simple formulas, whose validity range increases when χR diminishes, are derived for the radiation field on the axis of symmetry. Numerical calculations in three dimensions of the radiative energy density, flux, and pressure created by a stationary shock wave show how the radiation decreases with R. Finally, the bidimensional structures of both the precursor and the radiation fiel...


An unusual method is described in which a stack of alternating plain and painted cards forms gratings for Moire applications. It is quite simple and versatile so that almost anyone may adopt it with ease and a minimum of expertise.


In hierarchical sensor networks using relay nodes, sensor nodes are arranged in clusters and higher powered relay nodes can be used as cluster heads. The lifetime of such a network is determined primarily by the lifetime of the relay nodes. In this paper, we propose two new integer linear programs (ILPs) formulations for optimal data gathering, which maximize the lifetime of the upper tier relay node network. Unlike most previous approaches considered in the literature, our formulations can generate optimal solutions under the non-flow-splitting model. Experimental results demonstrate that our approach can significantly extend network lifetime, compared to traditional routing schemes, for the non-flow-splitting model. The lifetime can be further enhanced by periodic updates of the routing strategy based on the residual energy at each relay node. The proposed rescheduling scheme can be used to handle single or multiple relay node failures. We have also presented a very simple and straightforward algorithm for the placement of relay nodes. The placement algorithm guarantees that all the sensor nodes can communicate with at least one relay node and that the relay node network is at least 2-connected. This means that failure of a single relay node will not disconnect the network, and data may be routed around the failed node. The worst case performance of the placement algorithm is bounded by a constant with respect to any optimum placement algorithm. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.


Introduction: This study aims to identify structural and cultural factors for collaboration across multi-professional departments in primary care with regard to the implementation of telecare technology, here digital safety alarms in a Norwegian municipality. Collaboration on services to elderly users living at home will often cross organizational and professional boundaries. This is also the case when it comes to digital alarms where the purchaser office, the home care services and the emergency ward were involved. Theory/method: The analysis is based upon an organizational perspective on the process. Furthermore, in the analysis we apply an analytical scheme to identify different forms of co-ordination which can be placed on a scale of intensity from simple to complex forms and finally, theories on profession. Seven managers from different departments were interviewed individually twice. 17 front line staff members were interviews in groups twice. All interviews were recorded and transcribed. The content analysis centres on participants' descriptions of information, competence and collaboration and proceeded according to the principles of systematic text condensation. Results: Findings suggest that interagency meetings every week or every second week between the purchaser office and the home care services enables collaboration. There are few examples of enablers other than the use of inter-office memoranda that are mostly related to questions on specific users. We find, however, that in general, information flow and information sharing are challenges and barriers to collaboration. This applies to both the implementation of the digital alarms and relating change processes. Employees have, to some extent, an unclear understanding of the division of responsibilities and tasks between the involved departments and their employees. Furthermore, there are few meeting points between the acute ward who respond to set off alarms – and talk to the user and the home care service who attend to the user. Discussion: Exchange of information is the most basic form of collaboration but it is still difficult to achieve across departments. There is a clear demand and will to obtain more knowledge about others' tasks and area of responsibility. However, the staff swiftly protect their professional boarders and thus demonstrate a strong idea of territory. Conclusion: The introduction of telecare technology does not make collaboration less demanding for improving services. Our analysis suggests that collaboration among multi-professional departments in community service for elderly people is vital in order to exploit the potential service improvement that the technology might offer. Lessons learned: from this study is that, given the organizational perspective, the implementation of telecare technology makes visible the – often already existing – organizational challenges with regard to interdepartmental and interprofessional collaboration. There are certain limitations to the generalizability of this study given it is designed as a single case study. There is a need for further research on organizational change and adaption when telecare support is used within the primary care services, e.g. how the use of technology challenges the way of work.


This paper proposes an estimation method of product usability using a musculoskeletal model. The aim of this study is to estimate product usability based on tendon forces during an object manipulation. First, we explain the estimation method of product usability. The product usability is estimated quantitatively from the tendon forces. The mulculoskeletal model of the index finger and the thumb is constructed to calculate the tendon forces. We call this model the tendon skeletal model. The tendon forces are calculated based on grasping information using a tendon skeletal model. Next, the cylinder pinching simulation using the proposed method is shown. The simulation result is compared with the human experimental result to evaluate the effectiveness of the proposed method. The sensory evaluation of the subjective grasp effort was conducted with five subjects. The calculated score of the simulation reflects the questionnaire survey result by the subjects. As an application, we show the evaluation results of the cell-phone button pushing. The calculated score by the simulation is also compared with the human questionnaire score. These results indicate that the proposed method can be used for the quantitative evaluation of the product usability.


There are currently some troublesome issues about the overlaps and gaps between crimes against humanity and genocide as defined and enforced by international, hybrid and national courts. Up front, of course, we must always keep in mind that the origin of international humanitarian law crimes is different from national crimes. International crimes derive mainly from international customary law and sometimes treaties. Not all treaties, however, qualify as expressions of customary law—especially if they have not been adopted or adhered to by a majority of civilized nations and not all customary law is incorporated in treaties. So, for instance, like Topsy in Uncle Tom's Cabin, international crimes against humanity have 'Just growed." Genocide, however, encapsuled in the Genocide Convention of 1948, and excruciatingly slowly ratified over the next 50 years, has remained textually static though interpretatively somewhat fluid. Unlike national criminal codes, international crimes do not lend themselves so easily to periodic reexamination and codification under the goal of establishing an integrated body of law. The several international and hybrid courts established over the past two decades have been the primary interpreters and enforcers of international criminal law, and I would add the prosecutors in those courts (perhaps to an even greater extent than the judges) have been the primary actors in that process. The drafters of the Rome Statute and its Elements of Crime produced a written document in 2000 which incorporates the best of the ad hoc courts' interpretations of these two international crimes (but only up to that point in time) and there is a useful document attempting to set out principles of international customary law issued by the ICRC in 2005. Customary law, however, keeps evolving largely through the


It discloses a continuous process for producing a silver powder containing silver particles here. Each powder includes a process condition, the silver particles with a specific morphology as determined by the use of one or more particle modifying agent in the process. Reactor for implementing the method are also disclosed. Silver powder produced is particularly useful in the electronic art applications.


Myanmar script uses no space between words and syllable segmentation represents a significant process in many NLP tasks such as word segmentation, sorting, line breaking and so on. In this study, a rulebased approach of syllable segmentation algorithm for Myanmar text is proposed. Segmentation rules were created based on the syllable structure of Myanmar script and a syllable segmentation algorithm was designed based on the created rules. A segmentation program was developed to evaluate the algorithm. A training corpus containing 32,283 Myanmar syllables was tested in the program and the experimental results show an accuracy rate of 99.96% for segmentation.


Objective: To detect the concentration of IL-6 and VCAM-1 in children with acute viral myocarditis,and explore the part effect of IL-6 and VCAM-1 on acute viral myocarditis. Methods: Experimental study 30 cases of children have been clinical diagnosed with viral myocarditis at the acute stage were chosen as the experimental group,with 30 cases of healthy children as the controlled group. By means of double-antibody sandwich ELISA methed,the concentration of IL-6 and VCAM-1 were measured in both the experimental group and controlled group. Results: The valus of IL-6 at the experimental group( 107. 42±11. 42) ng / L were remarkable increased,compared with the controlled group( 57. 49±9. 45) ng/L. The differences were statistically significant( t=18. 389. P =0. 0000. 01). The valus of VCAM-1 at the experimental group( 1385-467 ±27. 664) μg / L were remarkable increased, compared with the controlled group( 787. 16±86. 79) μg / L; The differences were statistically significant ( t'=35. 980,P=0. 0000. 01); The concentration of IL-6 being positively related to VCAM-1 at the experimental group. Conclusion: The pathogenesis of viral myocarditis involves IL-6 as well as VCAM-1 participation. Cell-mediated immunity and cytokines play an important role in the development of viral myocarditis.


In recent times, the rate of urbanization is proliferating; thus, there is a need to find a sustainable way for an urban development plan. There is rapid growth in the concept of smart cities all around the globe. A smart city is always incomplete without a smart waste monitoring structure that can manage the waste collection of the entire city. This paper proposes a smart bin monitoring and alerting system, which keeps track of the hazardous gases produced by dumped waste by integrating a network of gas sensors. The system monitors the gas level and alerts the garbage collector to remove the waste by providing him with the bin location using the route map when the gas level exceeds the threshold limit. The proposed system was designed using Hyper Text Markup Language (HTML), Blynk APP, Cascading Style sheets (CSS), jquery and Google Application Program Interface (API) for the continuous monitoring of the proposed smart bin.


The effects of pH, ionic strength, stain concentration, magnesium concentration, and various fixative agents on DNA staining with the fluorescent antibiotics olivomycin, chromomycin A3, and mithramycin were examined with DNA in solution and in mammalian cells. Ethanol-fixed Chinese hamster cell populations (line CHO) stained with mithramycin and analyzed by flow cytometry provided DNA distribution patterns with a high degree of resolution. Glutaraldehyde-fixed cells exhibited about one-half the fluorescence intensity of ethanol-fixed cells; however, the percentages of cells in G1, S, and G2 + M were comparable. DNA distributions obtained for formalin-fixed cells were unacceptable for computer analysis. Cell staining over a pH range of 5-9 in solutions containing 0.15-1 M NaCl and 15-200 mM MgCl2 provided optimal results based on the DNA profiles obtained by flow cytometry. The intensity of cells stained in 1 M NaCl was one and one-half times greater than cells stained in the absence of NaCl; however, spec...


Simple Summary Tumor BRCA testing is crucial in the clinical management of women affected by epithelial ovarian cancer (EOC). In the present study, we aimed to report the results of five years of experience in tumor BRCA testing performed in a single-institution diagnostic setting. We profiled 762 consecutive EOC patients with a failure rate of less than 1% and less than two weeks of turnaround time, which is consistent with the clinical needs. We identified 23.4% of cases with pathogenic/likely pathogenic mutations, including 76% of patients affected by germline and 24% by somatic alterations. Here, we proposed a comprehensive and multidisciplinary clinical workflow that could be successfully followed for the identification of somatic as well as germline alterations, maximizing the benefit of BRCA testing both from a therapeutic and risk assessment perspective. Abstract The establishment of PARP inhibitors in the treatment of epithelial ovarian carcinoma (EOC) has prompt BRCA assessment at the time of diagnosis. We described our five years of experience of tumor BRCA testing, as part of a multidisciplinary workflow for the management of EOC patients. We used a BRCA next-generation sequencing (NGS) test for profiling formalin-fixed, paraffin-embedded (FFPE) EOCs of 762 consecutive patients, with a success rate of 99.7% and a median turnaround time of 12 days. We found 178 (23.4%) cases with pathogenic/likely pathogenic (P/LP) mutations, 74 (9.7%) cases with variants of uncertain significance and 508 (66.8%) wild type tumors. Among 174 patients without P/LP mutations and investigated with multiple-ligation probe-amplification analysis on peripheral blood, two (1.1%) were positive for large rearrangements. Patients with P/LP alterations and/or with positive family history were referred to genetic counselling. Comparing tumor and blood NGS test results of 256 patients, we obtained a tumor test negative predictive value of 100% and we defined 76% of P/LP alterations as germline and 24% as somatic variants. The proposed workflow may successfully identify EOC patients with BRCA1/2 alteration, guiding both therapeutic and risk assessment clinical decisions.


Subepithelial vesiculobullous conditions are chronic autoimmune disorders that arise from reactions directed against components of the hemidesmosomes or basement membrane zones (BMZ) of stratified squamous epithelium to which the term immune-mediated subepithelial blistering diseases (IMSEBD) has been given.Subepithelial vesiculobullous disorders present as blisters and erosions, and diagnosis are confirmed by biopsy examination with immunostaining.The sub epithelial disorders include Mucous membrane pemphigoid,Angina bullosa haemorrhagica,Linear IgA disease,Bullous pemphigoid,Erythema multiforme.These disorders post a challenge to the oral physician due to clinical and histological severity in a variety of disorders.Early diagnosis and appropriate treatment for oral lesions can possibly prevent further cutaneous involvement as in 70% of cases oral lesions precede to that of cutaneous lesions.Accurate and definitive diagnosis is done by immunofluorescence, direct and indirect.This article comprises of case series of immune mediated subepithelial blistering disorders.


The invention relates to a control device (2 " ') of an AC-DC current converter associated with a polyphase synchronous rotary electrical machine. The AC-DC current converter comprises, for each phase, a branch of two power switches in series, known as high and low (25). the control device (2 " ') comprises means for generating a signal (? (t)) representing the angular position of the rotor. The control device comprises one or more numerical tables (20H, 208) addressed by the rotor angular position signal and delivering at their outputs the binary control signals (200H - 202H, 200B - 202B) ((t)?), controlling each of a branch of power switches (25).


In this paper, we propose an iterative algorithm to perform model selection. This algorithm is a sequential technique that utilizes ideas from filtering theory. We found that the value of initial parameters in our method plays a key role in selecting models. We study the effect of those parameters, and propose guidelines on how to choose them. Finally, we explore and discuss extensions of the algorithm.


This paper is proposing a comprehensive framework in order to Evaluation and prioritizing strategies and ranking execution methods in organizations. Our peripheral environment is changing rapidly in all areas and globalization of organizations made them complex because they attempt to get more market share, along the other effective factors. Therefore, importance of using threats and opportunities has been cleared and has required organizations to codify plans and executive methods to face with developments correctly. Contrary to expectations, some executive methods are not properly fulfilling the organization's strategic priorities. So in this paper, we codify strategic plans for opportunities and threats for a company by SWOT tool. After screening strategies by fuzzy screening method, we prioritize executive methods of the company by QFD matrix to accomplish its strategic plans. With this method, executive methods and operational plans can cover as well as its strategic priorities.