Purpose: e aim of this study was to develop an instrument to assess self-care agency in patients with primary osteoarthritis of the knee. Method: e participants consisted of 386 patients with osteoarthritis of the knee. Scale development involved several phases, including item development, reliability testing, criterion-related validity testing, and construct validity testing. Results: Con rmatory factor analysis was conducted in order to assess the extent to which the Self-Care Agency in Patients with Knee Osteoarthritis Scale (SCAKOS) structure t the present data. e t indices were approximately satisfactory (GFI=0.927, AGFI=0.907, CFI=0.919, RMSEA=0.045). e SCAKOS comprises ve factors with 20 items. All standardized coe cients in the model were moderate to high and all t-values were acceptable (p<0.01). e factors are as follows: "ability to acknowledge and understand the disease and its severity," "ability to adhere to a treatment strategy," "ability to modify daily life to reduce load on the knees," "ability to proactively adopt information and methods useful for preventing disease exacerbation," and "ability to seek e ective support and apply it to improving quality of life." Cronbach's alpha for the total SCAKOS score was 0.813. e SCAKOS score was correlated signi cantly with SCAQ score and self-care one's health score (p<0.01). Conclusion: We developed the SCAKOS to measure self-care agency in patients with primary osteoarthritis of the knee. ese ndings suggest that the scale is suitable for model building, and can also be e ectively used to assess self-care agency in patients with knee osteoarthritis, particularly those in Japan.


Taking the peasant behavior of financial cooperation as the angle of view,it is hoped to grasp the financial cooperation wills and preferences of peasants on the whole,especially for those in underdeveloped areas,so as to reform the rural financial system more effectively.According to the investigations and statistical analysis,we find the support by CRCC in underdeveloped areas is insufficient;the majority of peasants have a strong will for financial cooperation;compared with the CRCC,peasants are more willing to participate in the small-scale mutual financial organizations.


Daniel Waldenström's debate article in this issue of the SEHR raises several interesting questions for discussion. I will not comment on his criticisms of Swedish economic historians' publishing practice and their international participation; I will state only that I think economic and business historians in the Nordic countries should increase their international activities and their publications in international journals. In my opinion this concerns particularly scholars in my own country, Norway. Waldenström makes, however, several normative assertions about economic history that concern the discipline as a whole, including the guiding principles of the editorial policy of the SEHR. His normative claims about content and the methodological foundations of economic history deserve an answer.


Rank correlation measures are defined for directional data based on measures of distance. Angular–angular as well as angular–linear correlations are considered. Asymptotic distributions are obtained for statistics based on Spearman and Kendall measures under the null hypothesis of no association. The results are applied to two sets of data. The first consists of pairs of wind directions, whereas the second involves data on wind directions and ozone. Copyright © 1998 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.


A recently developed technique of using satellite UV radiance measurements to detect absorbing tropospheric aerosols is found to be effective over snow/ice surfaces. This method takes advantage of the wavelength dependent reduction in the backscattered radiance due to the presence of absorbing aerosols over snow/ice surfaces. An example of the aerosol distribution derived from Total Ozone Mapping Spectrometer (TOMS) data is shown for an August 1998 event in which smoke generated by Canadian forest fires drifts over and across Greenland. During this event, the TOMS observed 360 nm reflectivity over the snow/ice surface dropped drastically from 90‐100% down to 30‐40%. We investigated the history of smoke events over snow/ice and found that there is a large interannual variability in the amount of smoke aerosols observed over Greenland.


The essential oil of Huai chrysanthemum was extracted by the method of steam distillation and optimized by response surface. Based on single factors including water addition amount,distillation time and soak period,the response surface method was used to optimize the extraction process conditions of Huai chrysanthemum essential oil,and the optimal extraction process conditions were explored. The results showed that the influence factors on the yield were as follows:Distillation time>soak period>water addition amount. Under the condition of 693 mL water addition amount,8.45 h of distillation and 9.7 h of immersion,the extraction rate of Huai chrysanthemum essential oil was 0.507%,whose relative error was 0.59% between predicted optimum yields 0.51%. Moreover,it was obvious to observe the model were favorable fitted with the actual value due to its t-test result which was not significant(P>0.05). The optimized extraction conditions of essential oil from Huai chrysanthemum by single factors and response surface methodology would be reasonable and reliable with certain theoretical guiding significance for the extraction of Huai chrysanthemum essential oil.


Since the last many years customer satisfaction play a significant role to improve the hospitality industry. In this article we introduce a proposed technology based practical and theoretical framework for customer feedback management system to improve the hospitality services and to enhance the customer business era. Technology such as Artificial intelligence and machine learning has important role to develop scalable smart feedback system. AI solution support the responding process for online customer reviews and assist the using automatically collected data. Sometime this is difficult to interpret the collected data form the customer, so we apply machine learning to fetch the corresponding data. Our solution contributes the existing customer feedback application to provide the smart feedback system to improve smart and open platform the customer and hospitality industry.


The principle how CCD camera causes vertical blooming is investigated,and a technique based on vertical driving timing is presented.Based on the control principle of CCD vertical driving timing,a special driving timing with a vertical shift timing inserted between two frames,which can transfer the remaining charge,is used for clearing the vertical blooming of the high-intensity-pixel.The driving timing is tested on a CCD demo board of ICX205,and the testing results show that the vertical blooming is deleted.This method has been applied to intelligent traffic monitoring.


Buffered mycelial extracts were prepared from 20 isolates of Aspergillus flavus Link ex. Fries and four isolates of Aspergillus parasitions Speare, including aflatoxin-producing and non-producing strains within each species. The extracts were tested for activity of various enzymes after separation by polyacrylamide gel-slab electrophoresis. Aspergillus spp. were most readily distinguished by the bands of α-esterase (EC 18.104.22.168), β-esterase (EC 22.214.171.124), and peroxidase (EC 188.8.131.52). For each isolate, the relative mobilities were determined for the various multiple-molecular forms of all three enzymes. The isolates were then compared on the basis of these relative mobilities by using a simple index of similarity to construct a single-linkage dendrogram. No distinct differences in enzyme patterns were detected between aflatoxin-producing and non-producing isolates. However, patterns of similarity or groups were indicated in the dendrogram which suggested some degree of physiological relationship.


A new type of coupled silicon-lithium-niobate convolver is reported, in which a known accumulation layer of electrons was produced at the silicon surface. By applying a normal electric field, the electron density was varied, and the convolution signal was a strong function of this surface charge density.


The article features the main areas of focus within the Architectural Planning Department of Irkutsk National Research State Technical University related to designing of new museums for towns in Priangarie. Several student projects elaborated for Irkutsk, Malta, Khuzhir and Listvyanka are described. The article also presents the contents of architectural student competitions and scientific events on this topic. The relation between construction of museums and development of tourism in the towns is considered. The article comes to the conclusion that building of new museums in Irkutsk makes economic sense.


Dangyuja ( Citrus maxima (Burm.) Merr.) is a native fruit of great economic importance in Jeju island in Korea. To provide experimental evidence for the antioxidant and anti-inflammation properties on extraction ethanol concentration of Dangyuja, 2 cultivars, including 30-year-old and 120-year-old were evaluated. 30-year-old Dangyuja 50%, 70% ethanol extracts had the highest polyphenol and flavonoid content, and the strongest 2,2'-azino-bis (3-ethylbenzothiazoline-6-sulfonic acid) (ABTS) radical scavenging activity. To investigate the anti-inflammatory activity of Dangyuja ethanol extracts, we used BV-2 microglia cells and induced inflammation using lipopolysaccharide (LPS). Then, we measured levels of inflammatory mediators as nitric oxide (NO). Among the 6 extracts, 30-year-old Dangyuja 50% ethanol extracts show the highest anti-inflammatory activity. The results suggest that 30-year-old Dangyuja 50% ethanol extracts provides significant health benefits and may be used for developing new functional materials.


The influence of addition of(NH4)6Mo7O24 and CeCl3 on crevice corrosion behavior of 2024 aluminum alloy was investigated in this paper.The surface morphology of the alloy after immersion was observed by scanning electron microscopy(SEM),and the corrosion product was analysed by EDAX.The corrosion mechanism was discussed in terms of the measurement results of potentiodynamic polarization and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy(EIS).The results revealed that(NH4)6Mo7O24 could not inhibit the crevice corrosion of 2024 aluminum alloy in seawater.A protective film was formed outside the crevice in the presence of(NH4)6Mo7O24,but the corrosion rate of inside the crevice was accelerated.However,Ce3+ improved the crevice corrosion resistance,due to the effect of reduction characteristic of Ce3+ the concentration difference of oxygen inside and outside the crevice wao reduced.


A theoretical investigation has been made on the flutter characteristics of a ring and longeron-stiffened cylindrical shell whose outer surface is exposed to a supersonic flow parallel to its axis. It is shown that the flutter analysis of this configuration can be reduced to the analysis of an equivalent single panel using the circulant matrix idea. The reduction procedure, applicable to most cyclic configurations, allows for all types of interelement (panel) coupling and is subject to the sole restriction that the dynamic phenomenon be satisfactorily described by linear theory. An approximate flutter solution is obtained for this configuration in the limit when the number of panels become large, and the unsteady aerodynamic pressures may be computed from simple linear piston theory. This solution indicates that, at the critical flutter speed, all panels of the shell flutter in exactly the same mode shape, the same magnitude of occurrence of this mode shape, and with a phase shift equal to TT occurring between successive panels.


The effect ofcheliped autotomy on limb regeneration was studied in the East African fiddler crabs Uca lactea and U. chlorophthalmus. Autotomy of either a minor or major cheliped accelerated regeneration of ambulatory limbs in male Uca. The degree of acceleration of regeneration was generally comparable to that observed in eyestalkless male Uca. The autotomy of one minor cheliped in female Uca was without observable effect. Autotomy of two minor chelipeds in females gave acceleration of regeneration comparable to the autotomy of one cheliped in males. The effect of minor cheliped autotomy was comparable in both species studied. The autotomy of the minor cheliped was chosen as the focus of this study because of this appendage's importance to feeding behavior of the fiddler crab. This appendage is employed in deposit-feeding to pick up and bring surface soil towards the mouth for feeding. After extraction of the food-containing particles, the remaining soil particles are redeposited upon the ground as pseudofecal pellets which cover extensive areas of the mangrove after high spring tides. The female has two minor chelipeds in contrast to the male which has one minor cheliped and one major cheliped. The major cheliped is primarily employed by male fiddler crabs in nonfeeding activities. The removal of the cheliped in Uca has been found to have a greater effect upon proecdysial events than removal of walking legs (Fingerman and Fingerman, 1976; Hopkins, 1982). Regeneration of autotomized pereiopods has been studied in the genus Uca by several investigators, with most work having been performed in two species, U. pugnax and U. pugilator. There have been few studies with other species of Uca, although 62 species of Uca are recognized by Crane (1975). The influence of minor cheliped autotomy on limb regeneration was studied in male and female groups of the East African fiddler crabs U. lactea and U. chlorophthalmus. These two behaviorally and ecologically distinct species of Uca were utilized to make this study as comparative as possible. Normally U. chlorophthalmus remains very near its burrows, which are dug into the drier black mud in areas shaded by the mangrove trees Avicennia marinha and Ceriops tagal. In contrast, U. lactea is a very active fiddler crab found most frequently in the sunnier open areas of the mangrove, often at great distances from their burrows (Macnae and Kalk, 1969). Fiddler crabs of the species U. lactea and U. chlorophthalmus were collected from the Saco da Inhaca, a bay near the Inhaca Biological Station which is located on the Island of Inhaca in the bay of Maputo, Mozambique. Captured crabs were taken to the laboratories in the biology faculty of the Eduardo Mondlane University, Maputo, Mozambique. These crabs were maintained in a tank 0.75 x 2 m, filled to an average depth of 7.5 cm with sand. The tank was supplied with recirculated aerated sea water (salinity 3 l%o) at an average depth of 7 cm. The water temperature was maintained between 28-32?C with 125-watt sun lamps which were turned on at 0800 and off at 1800 local time. Total photoperiod depended upon normal daylight length, since the laboratory was equipped with large


Coastal areas of Jakarta are well known for their multiple uses (housings, industries, etc.). In this region, aquaculture ponds are also flourished and receiving not only coastal waters but also from river nearby that contain heavy metals. Lead (Pb) has been recognized as hazardous metal because it can cause health problem. The objectives of this study are to measure the lead (Pb) content in the ponds sediment and C. chanos, to determine bioconcentration factor of C. chanos and its relationship with water quality parameters. Samples of sediments and C. chanos were collected from four (M1-M4) aquaculture ponds located in Marunda, North Jakarta. Lead (Pb) content was analysed by using Atomic Absorption Spectrometry (AAS) Shimadzu 6300. The highest content of lead (Pb) in the sediment (with lowest Pb content in muscles of C. chanos) was found in M2, which is 16.33 µg/g. On the contrary, the lowest content of Pb in sediment (8.93 µg/g) was found in M1 (location with highest Pb concentration in muscles of C.chanos). Based on bioconcentration factor (BCF) calculation, M1 had the highest BCF, as much as 0.558. Pb content in gills of C.chanos always higher compared to muscles. Moreover, the lower dissolved oxygen (6.8 mg/l), pH (7.3), and salinity (16.5‰ ) were observed in M1. The lower dissolved oxygen in M1 confirmed oxygen consumption by fish. Also, the lower pH accelerated the dissolution/release of metals in sediments, hence it becomes available for fish (C.chanos). Higher salinities ponds have higher bioaccumulated lead (Pb), especially on gills.


Temptation resistance which is a kind of self-control and is known as a positive personality characteristic is vary from a person to others. The aim of this study was to investigate the effectiveness of teaching personality transcendence methods on temptation resistance. To conduct this experimental study, using random assignment, 44 Persian Gulf University students were divided into two groups. Participants at the experimental group received a 10-sesion personality transcendence training (one 90-minute session per week). After the intervention, all participants in both groups were administered the temptation resistance scenario. The results revealed increasing effect of teaching personality transcendence methods on temptation resistance. In this study, the effect of sublimation of character education practices to increase student resistance against temptation (eating sweets) from two independent samples t-test was used. And to evaluate the effect of sublimation of character education practices to increase student resistance against temptation (check out details and phone numbers of other students) were used Chi-square tests. The results showed a positive and significant difference between the control and experimental groups the temptation to eat sweets and other components the temptation to look at the address were observed.


We delineated the causal influence of vasopressin on behavior in an iterated Hawk-Dove game. While subjects treated with vasopressin tend to be more aggressive in response to group members who did not coordinate on equilibrium instantaneously, this effect vanishes as soon as the subjects reach an equilibrium. More than vasopressin, social preferences and trait anxiety of the subjects predict the observed behavior.


The aim of the research is to conduct a comprehensive study of the names of modern children's television programs in Russia based on the example of the broadcast network of the largest children's and youth TV channel – Carousel. The examined material is a corpus of 175 titles. The research methods used are: systematization, classification, statistical analysis, survey of the target audience and comparison, for which the names of Soviet television programs are involved. The article systemizes the names of children's programs and transmissions; discusses their structural features and the realization of functional and pragmatic aspects in the media nomination. The results of the study reveal, on the one hand, the connection of the gemeronym with the subject matter and problems of transmission, and on the other – its absence when using the language game in the title. The comparative analysis allows us to trace the dynamics of naming strategies. The survey results reveal age peculiarities of perception of gemeronym, concentrating out of and within the text associations, which is a kind of fixation of the existence of television in society.


Summary form only given. Predicting the switching behavior of free burning arc in high voltage devices poses an engineering challenge. It is very much related to understanding the physics of the arc near current zero. In this paper, we present an advanced simulation technology for the prediction of the switching behavior of the free burning SF6 arcs, for small rated interruption currents. The arc simulations solve a coupled Navier-Stokes and Maxwell equations based on real SF6 gas data. For calculating radiative energy balance, SF6 gas absorption data are used. For specific application of the presented simulation technology, we consider induced current switching by SF6 gas insulated earthing switches. The presented simulation technology consists of three main steps. First, transient arc simulations are performed with a constant DC current applied between the contacts, until it reaches a steady arc voltage and fully develops arc instabilities. The applied DC current takes the value of the rated AC current. The arc simulations are validated by experiments, by comparing measured and simulated arc voltages. Next, we run transient arc simulation with the rated AC current applied between the arcing contacts, up to current zero. As the current goes to zero, the arc cools off and the arc resistance increases. For small rated currents, we observe that the capacitive nature of the arc is observed to be dominant after current zero. That is, the arc loses conducting path at the point of already developed sausage instability, with high electric field stress applied for this insulating gap. Finally, we run the transient arc simulation after current zero, with the prescribed transient recovery voltage from the load circuit side applied between the arcing contacts. We show that the arc re-ignition after current zero is a result of hot dielectric failure, and this observation from the arc simulations has been validated by measured data from a number of type tests. The dielectric stress across the arcing zone is determined by the race of the increasing transient recovery voltage and the increasing capacitive gap due to the arc cooling. We show that the maximum value of the dielectric stress across the insulating gap is strongly correlated with how much the arc instability develops. The presented simulation method can be applied to predict the contact distances for the arc extinction.


Structural abnormalities of the female reproductive system are manifested in different chronological moments of life. 1,5 An imperforate hymen is the most common pathology of the Mullerian duct system 1,6 A tentative diagnosis is based on a physical examination and imaging studies. The treatment of choice is the hymen plasty (opening of the hymenal membrane.) 4,25,26 We report five cases who presented imperforate hymen. Successful plasty of the hymen was performed.


PracticePlanners(r) Series Preface. Acknowledgements. Introduction. I-Suicidal Populations. African American Male. Asian American Male. Bipolar. Borderline Personality Disorder. Caucasian Female-Adolescent. Caucasian Female-Adult. Caucasian Male-Adolescent. Caucasian Male-Adult. Chemically Dependent. Child. Chronic Medical Illness. College Student. Elderly. Gay/Lesbian/Bisexual. Hispanic Male. Homeless Male. Incarcerated Male. Law Enforcement Officer. Native American Male. Pathological Gambler. Physician. Psychiatric Inpatient. Schizophrenic. Suicidal/Homicidal Populations. Suicide Survivor. II-Assaultive/Homicidal Populations. Assaultive/Homicidal Male. Homicidal/Suicidal Male. Appendix A: Bibliotherapy Suggestions. Appendix B: Professional Bibliography. Appendix C: Index of DSM-IV-TR Codes Associated with Presenting Problems.


Measurement of internal flow-field characteristics in gas turbine engines can be quite valuable in assessing engine performance, particularly during development or component improvement testing. Recent diagnostics development efforts at the Arnold Engineering Development Center (AEDC) have included advancements in flow-field probe miniaturization and measurement techniques for embedded applications in gas turbine engine testing. Examples of these development efforts include 1) an embedded probe that can be configured either for imaging (visual, UV, and IR) or as an optical platform (laser transmit/receive), 2) a miniature swirl probe for localized flow angularity determination, and 3) a probe-based optical system that incorporates the laser diode absorption technique for enhanced chemical species and temperature measurements. These probe configurations and other efforts in miniature probe development, including embedded sensor progress and advances in optical techniques that may be applied to internal flow-field measurements in gas turbine engines, are discussed in this paper.


Social support is essential for maintaining physical and psychological health. Attachment security is important for seeking and using social support, and several studies provide evidence for attachment-based differences in perceptions of social support, with individuals with secure attachment describing greater social support. However, perceived social support may vary depending on culture and cultural values, and, thus, the link between attachment style and social support may be culturally moderated. Therefore, using a sample of 560 Latinx young adults, the current study examined whether the cultural value of familismo moderated the relation between attachment and social support. The results indicate that familismo moderated the relation such that the effect of attachment on social support appears to be larger among those with lower levels of familismo. Exploratory analyses revealed that this pattern also exists in a sample of non-Latinx young adults but only when examining paternal attachment. Further, exploratory analyses also uncovered relations between familismo and attachment with the mental health of Latinx young adults such that familismo moderated the relation between paternal attachment and depression. These findings highlight the role familismo and cultural values may play in the relation between attachment and social support or mental health outcomes.


In a recent article in this Journal, Wallace Oates (1969) offered an empirical test of the Tiebout hypothesis. Oates measured the importance of local fiscal variables, such as property tax rates and public school expenditure, in determining residential choice by observing the effect of these variables on residential property values in a cross-section of communities in northeastern New Jersey. He of course corrected for other determinants of property values such as distance from New York City and average income of residents. Oates found property values to be positively correlated with public school expenditure and negatively correlated with the equalized local property tax rate. Also, he showed that, when reasonable values of the variables are chosen, an increase in the property tax rate and a concomitant increase in public school expenditure give rise to only a negligible net change in property values. These results, Oates claims, give strong support to the Tiebout hypothesis: consumers do recognize fiscal differences between communities with unusually attractive features. The Oates paper leaves the impression that consumer responsiveness to local fiscal variables must necessarily, in a system of independent communities, lead to a correlation between fiscal variables and property values similar to that which he has observed in New Jersey. But this is incorrect. The Oates test rests on the assumption that a tax or benefit haven (collectively referred to here as a "fiscal haven") 1 will earn a rent, as reflected by higher housing prices. In the long run, only goods produced


Maximal Independent Set selection is a fundamental problem in distributed computing. A novel probabilistic algorithm for this problem has recently been proposed by Afek et al, inspired by the study of the way that developing cells in the fly become specialised. The algorithm they propose is simple and robust, but not as efficient as previous approaches: the expected time complexity is O(log2 n). Here we first show that the approach of Afek et al cannot achieve better efficiency than this across all networks, no matter how the global probability values are chosen.
 However, we then propose a new algorithm that incorporates another important feature of the biological system: the probability value at each node is adapted using local feedback from neighbouring nodes. Our new algorithm retains all the advantages of simplicity and robustness, but also achieves the optimal efficiency of O(log n) expected time. The new algorithm also has only a constant message complexity per node.


ABSTRACT Any urban land-use system is a non-linear, complex and dynamic phenomenon. Dynamic change within a land-use system will be affected by social, cultural, economic, political and natural factors. In many developing countries, like Egypt, uncontrolled urban sprawl and land-use change (US-LUCs), has resulted in an unsustainable urbanization model. This paper employs an integrated model to monitor and analyse the cause of US-LUCs, within a metropolitan region, as a means of projecting future change that can act as a stimulus and catalyst for action. This integrated model is built by combining Markov Chain, Cellular Automata and Logistic Regression. It has been designed to address the weakness of these existing models working on their own, thereby improving the quality of spatio-temporal simulations and predictions of US-LUCs. This integrated model is applied to the monitoring, evaluation and prediction of US-LUCs in the Greater Cairo Metropolitan Region (GCMR) up to 2035.


We consider a mixed model with covariates considered as fixed effects and a random factor. In this paper, we consider methods for...


The broadband design of self-oscillating microstrip antennas by direct numerical optimization based on electromagnetic (EM) simulation coupled with harmonic-balance (HB) analysis is demonstrated for the first time. The design goals are formulated in terms of far-field performance such as radiation intensity and cross-polarization suppression. The optimization problem is transformed into a system-solving problem, and the solution is found by a Newton iteration globalized by a trust-region method. This results in an order-of-magnitude reduction In the number of expensive EM analyses that are required to achieve convergence.


Not many studies on the importance of IT for green growth have been conducted, and most previous studies focused on measuring the greenhouse gas emission of IT infra and the effect of IT services on greenhouse gases reduction. Thus the discussions on the technology strategies for Green IT analysis and Green IT classification are not satisfactory. To establish an analytical framework of Green IT application and corporate Green IT strategies, this study has established the concept of Green IT through the investigation of current trends in Green IT and previous studies on Green IT classification systems and then systemized the top factors and sub factors of the analysis system. To test the validity of questionnaires, an exploratory factor analysis was conducted, and then to investigate the cause-and-effect relationship for the top factors constructed by an exploratory factor analysis, a confirmatory factor analysis which is a structured equation model was conducted. By utilizing Green IT application cases for individual industries based on research models derived in these manners, the implications for the green IT strategy for individual industries were suggested. Furthermore, to evaluate the Green IT standards of businesses, standards evaluation indexes were suggested based upon an analytic framework, a research model, which is the objective and scope of this study.


Three hospitals were chosen for the present (Maternity hospital, Raperin hospital and Rhizgari hospital) survey within Erbil city, 36 water samples were collected at regular monthly interval periods beginning at January to December 2012. Microbial analysis was done by selective medium and biochemical tests and the isolated bacteria from those hospitals were Eshcerichia coli, Acinetobacter lowffii, Klebsiella pneumoniae, Moraxilla spp., Salmonella Typhi, Citrbtobacter freundii, Vibrio fluvials, Acinetobacter haemolyticus, Weeksella zoohelcum, Pasteurella multicida, and Pseudomonas aeroginosa. E. coli isolates were subjected to antimicrobial susceptibility testing. In vitro activities of 10 different antibiotics against E. coli isolates were showed a high resistance rate observed against ampicillin (80%) while the lowest resistance was to pipercillin/ tazobactam (22%). A high proportion of the E. coli isolates from the three hospitals revealed resistance to more than one antibiotic. لا ةكيريشلال ةايحلا تاداضمل ةمواقملا طمن نولوق نم ةلوزعملا ةي ةنيدم يف تايفشتسم ةدع ةمضف هايم ليبرا قا رعلا ، زيزع يروبج انر 1 ، يديبزلا ةوانش يزوف 1 ، يروخذملا رابج ثراح 1 لوسر ما رهب ، 2 اكنيسوم نوج و 2 1 ةايحلا مومع مسق , مومعلا ةيمك , دادغب ةعماج , دادغب , قا رعلا , 2 رش ةيودلاا ةعانصل اكيدماوا ةك , ليبرا قا رعلا , ةصلاخلا هذه يف ةسا ردلا تانيع تعمج هايملا ةمداعلا نم ثلاث يراكزر ىفشتسم يه ليبرا ةنيدم يف تايفشتسم ةدلاولا ىفشتسمو نيربا ر ىفشتسمو , ثيح عمج مت 36 ةنيع نوناك نم ءادتبا ايرهش ةمظتنم ةمصاف تا رتف يف يناثلا 2012 ىلإ لولاا نوناك 2012 . ليمحتلا ءا رجا مت يجولويريتكبلا ةيئاقتنلاا طاسولاا مادختساب ةيئايميكويابلا تا رابتخلااو تناكو ايريتكبلا يلاتلاك ةلوزعملا : Escherichia coli, Acinetobacter lowffii, Klebsiella pneumoniae, Moraxilla spp., Salmonella Typhi, Citrbtobacter freundii, Vibrio fluvials, Acinetobacter haemolyticus, Weeksella zoohelcum, Pasteurella multicida, and Pseudomonas aeroginosa . تلازعل ةيساسحلا رابتخا يرجا دقو E. coli لامعتساب ةرشع ىمعا تناكو ةيتايح تاداضم ةبسن ايريتكبمل ةمواقم ( (80% دض ampicillin يف , ح دض ةمواقم ىندأ ناك ني pipercillin/ tazobactam (22%) . نم ةيلاع ةبسن كانه تناكو تلازع E. coli اهلزع مت يتلا دحاو يتايح داضم نم رثكلأ ةمواقم ةثلاثلا تايفشتسملا نم . Aziz et.al. Iraqi Journal of Science, 2014, Vol 55, No.2A, pp:341-351 342 Introduction One of the main environmental problems putting by the hospital effluents is their discharge, in the same way as the urban classic effluents, towards the urban sewer network without preliminary treatment. Indeed, since the 1980s. Data about the occurrence of pharmaceuticals in natural surface waters and the effluent of sewage treatment plants have been reported [1-3]. Hospitals consume an important volume of water a day. Undeniably the consumption of domestic water is on average 100 liters/person/day, while the value generally admitted for hospitals varies from 400 to 1200 liters/day/bed [35]. The water consumed in different units such as inpatient wards, operating rooms, laboratories, laundries, kitchens, health services and administrative units decreases it's physical, chemical and biological quality and is converted to wastewater [6]. Considering the volume of wastewater generated by the hospitals and of the extreme diversity of physical, chemical and biological evolutions that these effluents can know it seems important to make their ecotoxicological and sanitary risk assessment [3]. The increasing incidence of resistance to a wide range of antibiotics by microorganisms, clinical infections, disease and death caused by resistant bacteria are increasingly common and is a major concern facing modern medicine. There is increasing concern about the growing resistance of pathogenic bacteria in the environment, and their ecotoxic effects. This includes both the ecology of resistance genes and that of the resistant bacteria themselves [7]. β-Lactam antibiotics are bacteriostatic, and act by inhibiting the synthesis of the peptidoglycan layer of bacterial cell walls. The peptidoglycan layer is important for cell wall structural integrity being the outermost and primary component of the wall. The final transpeptidation step in the synthesis of the peptidoglycan is facilitated by transpeptidases known as penicillin-binding proteins (PBPs). PBPs vary in their affinity for binding penicillin or other β-lactam antibiotics. The amount of PBPs varies among bacterial species [8]. The most common response of the cell to antibiotics is to cease growing (bacteriostasis), but for certain classes of compounds such as b-lactams, Bacteria often develop resistance to β-lactam antibiotics by synthesizing a β-lactamase, an enzyme that attacks the β-lactam ring, continued growth is permitted, with inhibition of the target in the organism leading indirectly to cell death. Such augmentation is typically absent in the environment. In this respect, there is little knowledge of environments such as waste water, sludge, surface water, and soil compared with the medical use and effectiveness of antibacterials. Concentrations are normally some orders of magnitude lower in the environment than for therapeutic use [9-11]. Beta-lactamases are enzymes produced by some bacteria and are responsible for their resistance to beta-lactam antibiotics like penicillins, cephamycins, and carbapenems (ertapenem) (Carbapenems are relatively resistant to beta-lactamase). The lactamase enzyme breaks the β-lactam ring open, deactivating the molecule's antibacterial properties [12]. The genes encoding these enzymes may be inherently present on the bacterial chromosome or may be acquired via plasmid transfer (plasmid mediated resistance), and β-lactamase gene expression may be induced by exposure to β-lactams [13]. Materials and Methods Sample collection 36 samples were performed from three sites, effluents of hospitals in Erbil city; Rhizgari (general hospital), Raperin pediatrics hospital and maternity hospital at monthly intervals during January 2012 to December 2012. Sampling usually started at 9 am and was completed at 12pm. Water samples were collected from surface water (30-40 cm depth) using autoclaved amber bottles pre-washed by water sample twice before filling. HPLC test HPLC system with detector was used to analyse cefotaxime and ceftazidime in comparison to tap water and purified water, the mobile phase was included solution which contained 40 mL of acetonitrile and 200 mL of pH 7 of HPLC buffer, and diluted with water to obtain 2000 mL of solution. The flow rate set at 2 mL / min with an injection volume of 20 μL. The detection of ceftazidime was conducted at wavelength of 254 nm and of 235 nm wavelength for cefotaxime [14]. Isolation E. coli from effluent Aziz et.al. Iraqi Journal of Science, 2014, Vol 55, No.2A, pp:341-351 343 Escherichia coli were isolated from the hospitals effluent samples by processed Eijkman test [15]. After collection of samples in autoclaved bottles, aliquot of 100 μl direct from the effluent sample was added to three test tubes one was contained 10 mL of buffer peptone, another test tube contained phenol red with 10% Dextrose (2-34 B) and Durham tube, the third one contained MacConkey broth with Durham tube. All tubes were incubated in water bath 46°C for 24hr. After that, Kovac`s Indole reagent was added to tubes with buffer peptone to indicate positive results. The change of phenol red with dextrose tubes and MacConkey broth tubes to yellowish color with gas production were indicated as positive results. E. coli ATCC 8739 was used as a positive control. The tubes with positive results were subclutured on MacConkey agar, Endo agar and Eosin Methelyne and incubated at 37°C for 24hr, then proceed to identification methods. Identification of bacteria In order to identify E. coli isolates and other bacterial species; samples with positive Eijkman test results and from filtration method, respectively, were subjected to Microgen test, Gram stainability, Biochemical tests and cultural characteristics. Antibiotic susceptibility test This test was done using standardized Kirby Bauer Disc Diffusion Test [16]. All E. coli isolates were tested against several commonly used antibiotics (Amoxicillin/Clavulanic acid 20/10 μg, Ampicillin10 μg , Aztreonam30 μg ,Cefepim30 μg, Cefotaxime30 μg, Ceftazidime30 μg, Imipenem10 μg, Meropenem10 μg, Piperacillin100μg, Piperacillin/Tazobactam(100/10) μg). Inhibition zones were measured and recorded during the period of between 16-24hr incubation with the use of Electronic Digital Caliper. These zones were compared with zone diameter interpretation standards approved by the Clinical and Laboratory Standards Institute [17]. E. coli ATCC 25922 was employed as quality control isolate. Results and Discussion HPLC test for Cefotaxime and Ceftazidime detection in hospital`s eflluents The qualitative determination of Cefotaxime and Ceftazidime in the effluents of the study hospitals showed that these two antibiotics were estimated in that effluents in comparison to tap water and purified water. The recoveries were 50.6%, 86.3% and 93.8% for Ceftazidime, figure-1, in Rhizgari, Raperin and Maternity hospitals, respectively. For Cefotaxime the recoveries were 18%, 30.34% and 57% in Rhizgari, Raperin and Maternity hospitals, respectively, figure-1.


Background: Heart attack and stroke are among the leading causes of death in industrial nations but the number of candidates needing a transplant exceeds the number of transplants performed. Due to this chronic shortage, blood pumps are needed to deliver appropriate hydraulic performance while maintaining physiological flow conditions. Because all known artificial materials are considered to be thrombogenic to some extent it is necessary to investigate the interaction of flow and material in complex geometries to optimize modern blood pumps and other artificial organs. As human blood is a precious fluid, designers of rotational blood pumps desire reliable predictive thrombosis models to optimize the physiological compatibility of their devices. In this thesis, the initial development stage of a model for platelet adhesion, activation and aggregation is described. Model equations and methods for their numerical solution are presented. The Taylor-Couette system, as a well investigated rotational device, is simulated as a test case to estimate model parameters and to explore the predictive accuracy of the model. Results: Adhesion rates for polystyrene surfaces were obtained by fitting numerical simulations to experimental results for laminar flow. These parameters were used to simulate the effects on the platelets in Taylor vortex flow based on a pre-computed velocity field. Conclusions: Without proper care, fitting can result in unphysiological model parameters. Numerical optimization methods can help finding better parameters, but cannot yet entirely replace parameter guessing. Platelet migration and other shear-dependent effects will have to be included in the model to reproduce the results in case of Taylor vortex flow.


Millions of people around the world live with breathlessness due to underlying cardiorespiratory conditions. Living with breathlessness can be very difficult both for patients and for those who care for them, as it raises physical, psychological, social, and existential issues for all concerned. It causes difficulties moving around and doing everyday things, leads to the sufferer becoming dependent on others, engenders feelings of depression or anxiety, leads to changes in relationships and roles, and creates fears about the future and dying. Clinicians can help people manage their breathlessness better. From our systematic review of qualitative literature on the experience of living with breathlessness, we developed the concept of Breathing Space.1 This incorporates an old English phrase used since the 1600s meaning 'a period of rest that allows you to get your energy back or try a different solution '2 and 'sufficient space in which to move and work'. 3 It also includes a specific definition of quality of life: 'The degree …


The development of assessment especially in speaking has begun since a long time ago. Up to now, this development of speaking assessment is still trying to find its authentic way for assessing the learners' progress. One example form of the assessment is the English competition "English News Report Contest ESA WEEK 2010". The competition assesses the participant's capabilities in developing some news points into well-constructed news and delivering it as if he or she is a real live-news reporter.
This study worked on the analysis of the points of assessment used in the competition. It tried to identify what points of assessment used to assess the participants' performances in the competition. Besides, it also tried to find out the strengths and the weaknesses of the points of assessment.
The points of assessment used in English News Report Contest ESA WEEK 2010 were analyzed and compared to the four approaches to rating-scale design reviewed from the work of Fulcher (2003). After one closest approach to the points of assessment was elicited, the points of assessment were again compared with the example scale of the approach to see their strengths and the weaknesses.
The result of the analysis showed that the points of assessment consisted of performance, elaboration, pronunciation, fluency, and accuracy. Next, the closest approach to the points of assessment was considered to be the data-based scale development. The strengths of the points of assessment were found on the use of the scale that focuses on the specific task – news reporting task; the larger features of assessment included in the scale; and its appearance. Meanwhile, the weaknesses of the points of assessment included the scores that cannot be generalized to be an assumption of participant's overall proficiency in speaking; and the inability of the scale to provide deeper information about the participant's abilities in doing the task given.


The specific heat capacity, thermal conductivity, and thermal diffusivity of a thermoplastic ceramic paste were investigated on a power-compensated, differential scanning calorimeter (DSC) using the heat capacity spectral analysis method developed by Merzlyakov and Schick for measuring these parameters on low thermal conductivity solids. The paste features an ultra-fine zinc oxide powder (a number-length mean diameter, D1,0 ,o f 85 nm) as the discrete phase, and a thermoplastic continuous phase comprising a blend of organic waxes with a melting range of ca. 301-701C. This paste is formulated with a solids loading of 50 vol% and is currently used in a novel continuous casting process to manufacture pharmaceutical products. The properties of the paste were investigated over a temperature range encompassing the melt and solid states, and for solid loadings from 0 to 70 vol%. The results compare favorably with those obtained using transient line source and transient plane methods. DSC is routinely used to study enthalpy changes and to es- timate apparent heat capacities: the latter may be deduced by analysis of transient responses to stepwise temperature chang- es. 11 Merzlyakov and Schick 1 reported a technique for simulta- neously measuring heat capacity and thermal conductivity using a frequency domain analysis of the temperature and heat flow responses returned by a power-compensated DSC. They dem- onstrated its efficacy using a series of polymer samples including polystyrene, polymethyl methacrylate, and epoxy resins 160 and 4173. Their technique requires small samples (typically 30 mg) and requires shorter acquisition times than standard methods based on transient plane or line sources. The thermal conduc- tivity of the ZnO paste studied here is an order of magnitude greater than that of most polymers, so the aims of this study were to establish the applicability of Merzlyakov and Schick's method to these ceramic materials, to examine the validity of measuring these thermal parameters in the melt state, and to compare the values with data obtained using commercially available line and plane source devices. A conventional scanning calorimetry analysis of the ceramic paste's individual and combined constituents was performed on a Perkin-Elmer Pyris 1 power-compensated DSC (PerkinElmer Life and Analytical Sciences Inc., Boston, MA), indicating the temperature domains and enthalpies associated with phase changes in the paste. Estimates of thermal conductivity, ther- mal diffusivity, and apparent specific heat capacity were ob- tained using two transient methods on this device: (i) A standard analysis of heat flow following a stepwise temperature change, calculated using the DSC manufacturer's StepScan 11,12 mode of operation. Direct integration of the resulting heat flow peak (stepwise integration method, SIM) gives an estimate of the ap- parent specific heat capacity. (ii) Using the method reported by Merzlyakov and Schick, 1 which yields both heat capacity and thermal conductivity data from which thermal diffusivity can be calculated. This method relies on heat capacity spectra (stepwise frequency method, SFM) to provide information on the time- dependent nature of the heat flux between the DSC furnace and the sample. These results are compared against data obtained with two commercial thermal characterization instruments, the KD2 Thermal Properties Analyzer (transient line source, TLS, Decagaon, Pullman, WA) and the Hot Disk Thermal Constants Analyzer (transient plane source, TPS, Thermal Instruments Limited, Aylesbury, U.K.), both of which yield thermal con- ductivity and diffusivity, and additionally for the Hot Disk, volumetric apparent heat capacity.


In this paper we describe an automatic prosody labeling framework that exploits both language and speech information intended for the purpose of incorporating prosody within a speech-to-speech translation framework. We propose a maximum entropy syntactic- prosodic model that achieves an accuracy of 85.22% and 91.54% for pitch accent and boundary tone labeling on the Boston University Radio News corpus. We model the acoustic-prosodic stream with two different models, one a maximum entropy model and the other a traditional HMM. We finally couple the syntactic-prosodic and acoustic-prosodic components to achieve a pitch accent and boundary tone classification accuracy of 86.01% and 93.09% respectively.


Isoprenoids are a hugely diverse family of compounds derived from the C5 precursors isopentenyl diphosphate (IPP) and dimethylallyl diphosphate (DMAPP).Although all free-living organisms synthesize isoprenoids,they are particularly abundant and diverse in plants,with tens of thousands structures known to date.The highest variety of plant isoprenoids are specialized (secondary) metabolites that participate in the interaction of plants with their environment.These include pigments,volatiles,and defense compounds,some of which have applications in industry and agriculture.For example,isoprenoid drugs are used against cancer (taxol) or malaria (artemisin).But plants also synthesize isoprenoids with essential (primary) functions in respiration (ubiquinone),photosynthesis (carotenoids,chlorophylls,tocopherols,phylIoquinones,plastoquinone),membrane architecture (sterols),and growth regulation (brassinosteroids,cytokinins,gibberellins,abscisic acid,strigolactones).Despite their economic importance and biological relevance,our knowledge of the core pathways for the production of the universal isoprenoid precursors IPP and DMAPP in plant cells remained incomplete until the mid-1990s.Impressive progress in the last decade has resulted in the complete elucidation of several isoprenoid pathways,the identification of regulatory mechanisms,the discovery of new functions and properties of specific isoprenoids,and the successful manipulation of isoprenoid biosynthesis in a number of metabolic engineering approaches.In this update article,we will discuss some of the most recent advances in the plant isoprenoid field,focusing on the pathways supplying the C5 precursors in plant cells and the novel insights into regulatory matters.


Brief survey of the coinage of Segovia, belonging to the transitional issues group of the Peninsula. Its currency has been used to attribute a special status to this city at an early stage. Icono- graphic description of the issue. Clarification of the chronology: more than belonging to the reign of Augustus is the end of the republic.


The research was conducted in the District Charming Pekanbaru City. This study, entitledPerspectives Dramaturgy in Case Pimps Among College Students Panam Pekanbaru Cityarea. The purpose of this study was to determine the background of the social life of a studentwho works as a pimp for chickens campus in the District Handsome. Topics focus of thisresearch is the process of pimping for chickens student campus in dramaturgical perspectivein District Charming. The research subjects studied were pimps students in the district asmany as three people Handsome research subjects. The author uses descriptive qualitativemethod and the data were analyzed qualitatively using Snowball Sampling taking technique.Data instrument is observation, interview, and documentation. Research conducted onstudents who work as a pimp for chickens campus in the District Handsome get finding thebackground of the social life of students is coming from families who have economicproblems is low, every pimp backgrounds unstable economic before becoming pimps, andevery pimp has been used to living with promiscuity that do not have restrictions norm.Pimps working interaction process includes the characteristics and performance of everydaypimping on campus and the neighborhood.In both these environments are very smart pimpsadapt without arousing suspicion by those around him. Pimps working process including howto serve consumers and the system works. In serving consumers pimping is not arbitraryreceiving customers, pimps will seek approval from his campus chicken first, then approvedchicken campus then the consumer will be presented regarding the payment and prostitutionservices provided.


Accounting for nearly 8% of global annual carbon dioxide (CO 2 ) emissions, the cement industry is considered difficult to decarbonize. While a sizeable number of abatement levers for Portland cement production are technologically ready for deployment, many are still viewed as prohibitively expensive. Here we develop a generic abatement cost framework for identifying cost-efficient pathways toward substantial emission reductions. We calibrate our model with new industry data in the context of European cement plants that must obtain emission permits under the European Emission Trading System. We find that a price of


A background to exhibitions getting started delivering your stand dressing to kill stand-management - staff training more about management whether publicity? more on publicity putting on your own show picking up the pieces.


Current situation of crime is so grim, that the traditional investigation mode could not satisfy the need of crime control. Legalization of secret investigation has become imperative. Legislative basis for secret investigation lies in its basic value in lawsuit function and defense function. By using foreign investigation mode for reference and taking Chinese legislation as basis, this article gives a legislative solution to investigative measures, criminal range, target, deadline, approval procedure, result resolution, among others, in Chinese secret investigative system.


Packaging forms a large share of the total manufacturing costs of optoelectronic modules. This especially concerns manufacturing techniques, where active optical power monitoring is required during the assembly of components. Passive alignment offers advantages for high volume manufacturing. However, high-performance modules require high-precision alignment structures. We studied methods for manufacturing horizontal alignment structures using low temperature co-fired ceramic (LTCC) technology. In this paper, we present the manufacture of the LTCC test parts and the experimental results of the pigtailing of an edge-emitting diode laser with a 62.5/125 /spl mu/m multimode fiber. Standard LTCC manufacturing equipment was used to process the precision substrates. Optical tolerance analyses based on coupling efficiency simulations and measurements were performed. The results of these analyses are compared to the measured dimensions of the LTCC structures.


Objective: To investigate the effects of riceflower-perfume energyliquor(RPEL) on the hepatocyte apoptosis and Bcl-2/Bax of rats.Methods: Wistar rats were randomly divided into five groups of high-dose RPEL,medium-dose RPEL,high-dose riceflower-perfume common liquor(RPCL),medium-dose RPCL and control group(n=8 per group).The rats were orally administrated of high-dose RPEL(3.44ml/kg),medium-dose RPEL(1.72ml/kg),high-dose DCL(3.44ml/kg),medium-dose RPCL(1.72ml/kg) at 9 am for 45d,and the control group were orally administrated of distilled water(1.72ml/kg),respectively.Livers were removed after final feeding.Sample parts were drawn at 0.5cm from the edge of liver,fixed with 10% formalin,conventional dehydrated and sliced with paraffin embedment.Hepatocyte apoptosis and Bax/Bcl-2 expression were measured by immunohistochemistry.Results: Indices of hepatocyte apoptosis in high-dose DCL and medium-dose RPEL groups were significantly decreased when compared with the RPCL groups(P0.05).Expression of Bcl-2 in RPEL groups was increased in comparison with the RPCL groups(P0.05).Meanwhile,the ratio of Bax/Bcl-2 decreased.Conclusion: RPEL can effectively alleviate the hepatocyte apoptosis,which may act through Bax and Bcl-2 and thereby alleviate the damage of hepatic tissue.


The leading jet transport coefficients $\hat{q}$ or $\hat{e}_{2}$ encode transverse or longitudinal momentum broadening of a hard parton traversing a hot medium. Understanding their temperature dependence is key to appreciating the observed suppression of high-transverse momentum probes at RHIC or LHC collision energies. We present a first continuum extrapolated result of $\hat{q}$ computed on pure SU(3) lattices with non-trivial temperature dependence different from the weak-coupling expectation. We discuss our formalism and its challenges and status in view of obtaining $\hat{e}_{2}$ or of unquenching the calculation. We consider a hard quark subject to a single scattering on the plasma. The transport coefficients are factorized in terms of matrix elements given as integrals of non-local gauge-covariant gluon field-strength field-strength correlators. After the analytic continuation to the deep-Euclidean region, the hard scale permits to recast these as a series of local, gauge-invariant operators. The renormalized leading-twist term in this expansion is closely related to static quantities, and is computed on pure SU(3) lattices ($N_{\tau}=4,~6,~8,$ and $10$) for a wide range of temperatures, ranging from 200MeV


The use of N,S chelating ligands such as thiosemicarbazides and dithiocarbazates provides an excellent environment to complex transition metals in a variety of oxidation states. Ligands of this sort initially prompted research in the medical field for their anti-cancer activity. However, it was later realised their ability to complex metals for use in other applications was far more extensive.Complexes of Cu(III) and Ni(III) are rare (compared to Cu(II) and Ni(II)) and are not often isolated as stable entities, but have been proposed as transient intermediates in some reactions. The general requirements for stabilising high oxidation states stem from the nature of the donor atoms, the degree of electron delocalisation, the size of the chelate rings, the use of electron donating groups and the formal charge on the ligand to balance the high charge of the metal ion.Combining the b-diketone acetylacetone with 2 equivalents of the relevant thiosemicarbazide or dithiocarbazate produces a tetradentate N2S2 ligand that is suitable for stabilising high oxidation states according to the above specifications. These two families, acetylacetone bis(thiosemicarbazone) and acetylacetone bis(dithiocarbazate) Schiff bases, were investigated here in complex with Cu and Ni.The Ni(II) coordination chemistry with the acetylacetone bis(thiosemicarbazone) ligands was studied and two linkage isomers were observed to form; a symmetric and an asymmetric species, in the absence of oxygen. Exposure to air led to the symmetric Ni(II) isomer undergoing ligand oxidation with a ketone group installed on the acetylacetone backbone. The explanation for this phenomenon was linked with the redox-activity of the ligand.The Cu(II) coordination chemistry found only symmetric coordination of the acetylacetone bis(thiosemicarbazone) ligands and again ligand oxidation to the ketone derivative was seen. In this case a Cu(II) intermediate (most likely bearing a ligand centred radical) was identified using a combination of spectroelectrochemistry, voltammetry and time-resolved UV-Vis spectroscopy.The findings were extended to investigating the copper and nickel complexes of the analogous benzoylacetone bis(thiosemicarbazones) to explore the mix of electron donating and electron withdrawing features on the acetylacetone moiety, along with the presence of a bulky substituent to see if this directed the coordination or reactivity of the complex.Finally, investigating acetylacetone bis(dithiocarbazate) Schiff base complexes of nickel and copper revealed a major effect upon exchanging the non-coordinating terminal nitrogen of a thiosemicarbazone with a sulfur of a dithiocarbazate. In this case, both Cu(III) and Ni(III) complexes were isolated and structurally characterised. This produced surprisingly significant differences that may be the key to understanding why high oxidation states are more often seen with ligands of acetylacetone bis(dithiocarbazate) Schiff bases than acetylacetone bis(thiosemicarbazones).


This study investigates the potential for remote sensing of lake water bathymetry and geochemi- cal by 1) examining the empirical based technique for retrieving depth information from passive optical image worldview-2 satellite data, 2) performing atmospheric correction, 3) assessing the accuracy of spectrally based depth retrieval under field condition via field measurement, 4) pro- ducing bathometry and geochemistry mapping by examining spectral variations for identifying pairs of wavelengths that produce strong linear correlation coefficient between the band ratio. The results indicate that optical remote sensing of bathymetry and geochemical investigation is not only feasible but more accurate under conditions of typical lake water, supporting field survey. The Pearson correlation matrix (R) between the examined water samples/depth and the TOA re- flectance values of the worldview-2 (WV-2) satellite data have been investigated and found good correlation. The models developed using the combination of different band pairs also show high accuracy. Cartographical maps were generated depending on the linear correlation coefficient between the measured parameters and the TOA reflectance values of the worldview-2 data. The investigation shows that dissolved oxygen (DO) of the lake water is slight lower than the permis- sible limit of Saudi standards for lake water. The shallow water has high DO concentration, whereas the deeper shows significantly lower down. Electrical conductivity measurements serve as a useful indicator of the degree of mineralization in the water sample. All the samples which have EC exceed limit. The spatial distribution of EC and TDS inferred that the EC and TDS concen- tration is the highest at the eastern part of the lake whereas concentration drops down towards the southern side. This study confirms that remote sensing incorporated with GIS and GPS could * Corresponding author.


Past detailed studies of solute transport through reverse-osmosis membranes have been conducted only with simple salts. The present work with phenol was undertaken largely because of the practical observation that the transport of low molecular weight organics is much more rapid than that of the salts. Studies of phenol sorption from dilute aqueous solution indicate that the diffusion coefficient for phenol in water-saturated 39.8 wt.-% acetyl cellulose acetate is 9.6 × 10-10 cm.2/sec., and the equilibrium distribution coefficient between the acetate phase and water is 42. Thus, the diffusion coefficient is quite close to that measured for sodium chloride, and the higher permeability of the membranes to phenol can be attributed entirely to their greater sorption of this solute. In direct osmosis experiments performed with significant water flow a measurable interaction or positive coupling between water and phenol flows has been observed. Further evidence of flow coupling is derived from reverse osmosis experiments in which significant negative solute rejection is observed; i.e., the permeate is enriched in phenol by as much as 20%. It is shown that a solution-diffusion transport model is not adequate to rationalize the results, and a more complex transport model is apparently required.


With the construction of the Global Energy Internet, the current social resources, ecological environment, and climate conditions have been alleviated to a certain extent. The realization and improvement of HVDC transmission technology is an inevitable choice for the development of the Global Energy Internet. This article will review the status quo and existing technical problems of UHV DC transmission systems, and point out the difficulties and research directions of the current Voltage source converter (VSC) and Line commutated converter (LCC) technologies, which are expected to provide future development for hybrid DC transmission systems.


The proposed work presents a novel method that comprises process of restoring the foggy images and idea about its hardware implementation. Foggy conditions are one of major major source of accidents for vehicles. Use of proposed a novel "mean channel guided algorithm for defogging is presented whose function is more accurate and robust as compared with the earlier existing methodologies present in literature. Further an idea of complete hardware version of the proposed method is also presented that will work with the help of a low cost, low power and a portable processing core raspberry pi along with a display screen. Results of mean channel guided prior are compared with DCP, MCP, SIFRGMF.


(E)-1-(4-fluorophenyl)-3-substitutedphenylprop-2-en-1-one (3-7) were ultrasonically prepared by the reaction of 4-fluoroacetophenone with different aromatic aldehydes in the presence of alkali . Reaction of the prepared chalcones (3-7) with 3,4,5-trimethoxybenzohydrazide (8) afforded the corresponding substituted pyrazoline (9-13). All the prepared compounds have been characterized by FT-IR and 1 H-NMR spectra. Docking studies were carried out against DNA Gyrase receptor. Docking scores were compared with the scores of standard drugs ciprofloxacin Majority of the synthesized compounds showed good fitting with the active site of all the docked targets. The synthesized compounds were screened for their antibacterial against five bacterial strains by disc diffusion method.


The purpose of the study was to investigate the effects of a walk or jog recovery on two-minute run performances and the concentrations of blood lactate. Eight highly trained nale subjects were selected from the Eastern Illinois University Track Team. The test procedure consisted of two, maximal two-minute runs on the track for distance, separated by a 30-minute recovery. The recovery consisted of a walk at 20-minutes per mile pace or a jog at 7� to 8 minutes per mile pace. Venous blood samples were drawn three minutes after the first run, two minutes prior to the second run, and three minutes after the second run. The same procedure was followed on the two test days, but the recovery method was alternated for each subject. The collected blood samples w�re later analyzed by the enzymatic process for lactate cc.;mcentration. The t-test was implemented to test significant differ ences between lactate levels and also between the distances run. Pearson Product-Moment Correlation Coefficients were used to test the relationship between lactate levels and performance values. Lactic acid concentrations and perform ances of middle-distance and distance g�ups were compared. The findings indicated that the difference in the blood lactate levels and the two-minute run performances were not statistically significant witp either the walk or jog recovery. However, the enhanced performances and reduced lactate levels following the jog recovery are noteworthy to the competitor or coach. No significant differences were determined between the middle-distance and distance groups engaged in this study.


Objective To evaluate the application of glomerular filtration rate estimation equations in living related kidney donors.Methods A total of 44 living related donors were studied.GFR (sGFR)measured by 99mTc-DTPA was used as the reference standard.The predictive capabilities of Cockcroft-Gauh equation(C-G)for creatinine clearance corrected for body surface area(CG-GrCl),CG-GrCl corrected for GFR(CG-GFR),modified C-G,MDRD(simplified MDRD equation)and modified MDRD were evaluated with sGFR in living related kidney donors.Results The sGFR was(123±24)ml/min.The eGFR of(X2-GrCl,CG-GFR,modified C-G,MDRD and modified MDRD was(123±27),(104±22),(156±28),(122±19)and(138±25)ml/min respectively.The eGFR of GC-GrCl and MDRD were not significantly different from the sGFR,and the eGFR of modified C-G and modified MDRD were correlated well with the sGFR MDRD was the least biased and most accurate,while the more precise formulae were modified C-G and modified MDRD.Conclusion Compared with the reference standard.all equations were more or less biased.The modified equations offered no advantage.Compared with other equations.MDRD was least biased and most accurate for predicting GFR in living related kidney donor.and could be the recommended GFR estimating modeIin this population.

Key words:
Living donors; Glomerular filtration rate; Kidney transplantation


The present invention provides various embodiments for preparing an ultraviolet radiation curable (UV curable) silicone composition, method, and UV prepared from such a curable silicone composition. Embodiment the present invention provides a method for using such dust may be prepared UV cured silicone coating composition in various embodiments, and the use of such UV curable silicone compositions, dust-proof method of preparing such coating Floor. The UV curable silicone coating composition can be used LED package, envelope, lamps, lighting equipment, optical products, such as silicone-based products, which is not only significantly reduce and / or eliminate dust adhesion, further improvement the optical characteristics of the organic silicon products.


The results of treatment of 1104 patients with severe head injury who were treated in the departments of anesthesiology and intensive care of Ternopil Medical University Hospital,Ivano-Frankivsk and Khmelnitsky regional hospitals in 2014-2015 p.  The patients with severe traumatic brain injury living in Khmelnytsky, Ternopil and Ivano-Frankivsk regions, with the total number of people living in these areas 3757704 entity were treated in these three hospitals. Themortality  ratecaused by this disease in the studied hospitals was in 2014-2015- 48.7%. Among the patients of departments of anesthesiology and intensive care of these hospitals the patients with  severe head injuries were in 28.44% of cases. Acute respiratory distress syndrome, like complication of sepsis developed in 44.9% of patients,  ventilator-associated pneumonia - in 67.83%,  acute renal failure –in 34.39% of patients.  Artificial lung ventilation with duration longer than 30 days was used in 21.34% of the patients, with duration from 20 to 30 days - in 40.76%. In 385 microbiological isolates it was found in 25.2% Acinetobacterbaumannii, in 19.0%-  Pseudomonas aeruginosa, in 19,4% - Klebsiellapneumoniae.  70.8% of patients had gram-negative sepsis. In 75.86% Gram negative flora were resistant to meropenem. Over the past 2 years, it was found the increasing of sensitivity of micro flora to chloramphenicol, streptomycin, gentamicin.


The invention discloses a semiconductor substrate for a solar cell and a method for manufacturing the same. The semiconductor substrate of the invention comprises a substrate and a surface passivationlayer. The substrate has an upper surface. The surface passivation layer is formed on the upper surface of the substrate by an atom layer depositing process and/or a plasma-aided atom depositing process.


1EXTENDED ABSTRACT Many models of snowmelt runoff require snow depletion curves for the purpose of simulation or forecasting. These curves describe the seasonal decline of snow-covered fraction (S) as a function of time (t) or cumulative melt energy (M). Under simplifying assumptions, the end-of-winter spatial distribution of snow water equivalent (SWE) can be estimated from the S(M) depletion curve. The use of S(t) and/or S(M) curves in forecasting assumes some uniformity of basin response from year to year. The objective of this study is to assess basin response uniformity for the Upper Rio Grande Watershed (Del Norte) by analyzing a time series of snow depletion curves. Curves are constructed for the Upper Rio Grande Basin for several years. S(t) are determined using the National Operational Hydrological Remote Sensing Center (NOHRSC) snow/no-snow products, and M(t) curves are derived by means of a simplified energy balance. The end-of-winter SWE distribution is assumed to follow a Beta distribution and its parameters are estimated using numerical methods. The end-of-winter SWE distributions are compared and analyzed. S(t) is defined as the fraction of the plan-view area that remains snow-covered as the snowpack melts from a basin or a defined region of that basin. M(t) is defined as the cumulative melt energy received by a specific zone or region since the end-of-winter, expressed as the equivalent depth of snow, usually in terms of centimeters of water. S(M) is described as a modified depletion curve that defines the relationship between fractional snow-covered area and cumulative melt energy. Martinec (1972) noted the relationship between the spatial frequency distribution of snow water depth and the temporal pattern of snow-cover decline. Liston (1999) presented a theoretical formalization of the relationship between S - M - t, and showed that, under certain simplifying assumptions, knowledge of any two of these variables could lead to the derivation of the third, unknown variable. Formalizing these ideas will make it possible to obtain additional information on the desired quantity (snow water volume), which is not easily observed, from a more easily observed quantity, snow cover. Using S(M) in forecasting and other model applications is ultimately aimed at developing techniques to apply to data-poor regions, and to demonstrate the value of the theory for short term and extended hydrologic forecasting. A consequence of using S(M) curves in forecasting is that an assumption is made regarding some uniformity in snowmelt basin response from year to year. The watershed utilized for this research was the Upper Rio Grande watershed at Del Norte. This watershed is centered at approximately 107 0 E, 37 0 7' N, and has an area of approximately 3,450 square kilometers. The range in elevation is from 2432 m to 4215 m. The terrain is fairly rugged, with an average slope of approximately 15%. Annual precipitation ranges from 25 cm in the


The quantization of second order nonlinear dynamical systems is well known to be a complicated Sturm-Liouville problem. This work is devoted to the numerical and exact quantization of a quadratic Lienard type oscillator equation which admits a trigonometric function solution. The bound state solutions of the resulting Schrodinger equation expressed in terms of elementary functions and the possibility to recover the energy spectrum of the quantum harmonic oscillator are exactly and numerically discussed following the specific values of system parameters, using the Nikiforov-Uvarov method and nonlocal transformations.


Language contact refers to the phenomenon that different languages and dialects infiltrate and influence each other over short or long-term numerous interactions in a special environment.Compared with the Jin Dialects,the language of dialect regions in western Inner Mongolia has common features as well as assimilating varied ethnic languages of surrounding areas,such as Mongolian,Manchu,and so on.The article attempts to give a general view of the previous research results from the perspective of language contact,points out the deficiencies,and proposes a new research direction.


Glucose,fructose,sucrose,maltose,and maltotriose are the main fermentable carbohydrate in wort.In this study,wort glycometabolism by 31 Saccharomyces cerevisiae strains including fruit strains and industrial strains was observed and their effects on beer fermentation degree were investigated.The results were as follows: 1.Fast metabolism of glucose,fructose and sucrose could be achieved by all tested strains,however,the metabolism of maltotriose could be achieved by none of them,and there was significant difference in maltose assimilation and in maltose fermentation for different S.cerevisiae strains,coefficients of variation were as 39.4 % and 33.9 % respectively;2.There was strong correlations between maltose-assimilating and maltose-fermenting capability of S.cerevisiae strains and real degree of fermentation(RDF) of beer,the correlation coefficients were 0.84 and 0.80 respectively;3.The maltose-assimilating and maltose-fermenting capability of fruit S.cerevisiae strains was evidently weaker than that of industrial S.cerevisiae strains,besides,RDF was also lower for fruit S.cerevisiae strains(P0.01).The study suggested that maltose metabolism identification was an effective approach for rapid selection of proper industrial S.cerevisiae strains with high beer fermentation degree.


A new theory for polymer gels is developed on the basis of the single-chain mean-field (SCMF) theory. This theory takes the mesh chain or the star polymer as the characteristic unit of polymer gels, and it allows the study of chain conformation properties for gels in their different states. The preparation condition effect is conveniently described by the current theory, and the gels with complex chain structures can also be studied since the SCMF theory take realistic chain conformations into consideration. In this work, the theory is compared with the widely used Flory-type gel theory and with experimental observations. It is shown that the star polymer is a more natural basic unit of the gel structure. The current theory is found to provide a better description of the gels than the Flory-type theory as well as better agreement with gel swelling experimental data for poly(ethylene oxide) gels.


Background Diabetes has placed heavy social and economic burdens on society and families worldwide. Insufficient knowledge and training of frontline medical staff, such as nurses, interns, and residents, may lead to an increase in acute and chronic complications among patients with diabetes. However, interns have insufficient knowledge about diabetes management. The factors that affect interns' current level of diabetes-related knowledge are still unclear. Therefore, understanding the behavioral intentions of interns is essential to supporting the development and promotion of the use of virtual simulation teaching applications. Objective This study aimed to identify the determinants of nursing interns' intentions to use simulation-based education applications. Methods From December 1, 2020, to February 28, 2021, the web-based survey tool Sojump (Changsha Xingxin Information Technology Co) was used to survey nursing interns in hospitals across China. Two survey links were sent to 37 partner schools in 23 major cities in China, and they were disseminated through participants' WeChat networks. Multiple regression analysis was used to determine the association between demographic information and basic disease information and the use of the application for treating adult patients. Results Overall, 883 nursing interns from 23 provinces in China responded to the survey. Among them, the virtual simulation utilization rate was 35.6% (314/883) and the awareness rate was 10.2% (90/883). In addition, among the interns, only 10.2% (90/883) correctly understood the concept of virtual simulation, and most of them (793/883, 89.8%) believed that scenario-simulation training or the use of models for teaching are all the same. Multiple regression analysis showed that the educational level, independent learning ability, and professional identity of the interns were related to use of the application (P<.05). Skills and knowledge that the interns most wanted to acquire included the treatment of hypoglycemia (626/883, 70.9%), functional test simulation (610/883, 69.1%), and blood glucose monitoring technology (485/883, 54.9%). A total of 60.5% (534/883) of the interns wanted to acquire clinical thinking skills, while 16.0% (141/883) wanted to acquire operational skills. Nursing trainees believed that the greatest obstacles to virtual simulation included limited time (280/883, 31.7%), the degree of simulation (129/883, 14.6%), the demand for satisfaction (108/883, 12.2%), and test scores (66/883, 7.5%). Conclusions The understanding and usage rate of diabetes virtual simulation teaching applications by Chinese nursing interns is very low. However, they have high requirements regarding this teaching method. Conducting high-quality randomized controlled trials and designing applications that are suitable for the needs of different nurse trainees will increase students' interest in learning and help improve diabetes knowledge among nursing interns.


Echocardiographic measurements of left ventricular dimensions and performance correlate well with similar data from other sources. However, little attention has been paid to the beat‐to‐beat variations in these parameters in individual subjects. Considerable variability in measurements of left ventricular end diastolic diameter (EDD), R‐R interval, mean circumferential fiber shortening velocity (Vcf), and ejection fraction (EF) has been demonstrated in subjects in both sinus rhythm and atrial fibrillation. The coefficients of variation have varied from 2.5 to 9 percent, 2.1 to 11.2 percent, 4.4 to 11.0 percent, and 3.4 to 7.8 percent, respectively, in different individuals in sinus rhythm and from 2.0 to 7.9 percent, 2.1 to 20.7 percent, 4.9 to 30.0 percent, and 1.9 to 90.0 percent, respectively, in different patients in atrial fibrillation. Recent ultrasound studies of the interrelationships among preload, afterload, cycle length, and indices of left ventricular performance have yielded variable results. In this study the relationships between both EDD and R‐R interval and echocardiographic measurements of left ventricular function were analyzed in individual subjects in both sinus rhythm and atrial fibrillation. Changes in EDD and, to a lesser extent, cycle length were shown to be accompanied by predictable changes in indices of left ventricular function. EDD correlated better than did R‐R interval with Vcf and EF in 8 of 10 and 10 of 10 normal subjects, respectively, and in 9 of 11 and 7 of 11 patients in atrial fibrillation, respectively. The data suggest that preload has a more important effect than cycle length on left ventricular performance.


The validity is in this volume grounded in a shared perception of research on human action, its conditions and consequences, as a human science rather than "social" or "behavioral" science. Validity is here more than the validity of representations, as research is not a mirror held to nature. The function of research is rather to clear the ground for change. All of the authors have done research connected to endeavours by human subjects to change their situation. Linden and Sages have been involved in work life research, Beach and Szybek in curriculum research in school and higher education and Polkinghorne in research on psychotherapy and counselling.


The author critically examines an article by John Bongaarts in which Bongaarts proposed "a modification in the measurement of unmet need [for contraception] that [Westoff] and others have developed. My aim here is not to review his criticisms in detail nor to discuss their technical aspects but rather to summarize the differences in the major concepts and arguments and to highlight their policy and programmatic implications." A reply by Bongaarts is included (pp. 126-7). (EXCERPT)


A review of Lauri Suurpaa, Death in Winterreise. Musico-poetic Associations in Schubert's Song Cycle (Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 2014). ISBN 978-0-253-01100-8.


Oral pathogenic gram-positive bacteria, Streptococcus pyogenes (Strept.pyogenes) are caused severe human diseases with complications, including rheumatic fever, sepsis, severe soft-tissue invasion, and toxic-shock-like syndrome (TSLS). Whereas, Streptococcus mutants(Strept. mutans),described a key causative agent of caries and infective endocarditis. Therefore, the aim of this study was to evaluate the inhibitory effect of Curcumin on Strept. mutans and Strept.pyogenes growth in comparison with the antibiotic Ciprofloxacin using well diffusion method. Minimum Inhibitory Concentration (MICs) showed that curcumin-mediated growth inhibition of Strept. mutans and, Strept. pyogenes. Results showed that curcumin significantly inhibitedthe activity of Strept. mutans and Strept. pyogenes growth with inhibition zones, 9.7mm and 10.2 mm, respectively while the inhibition zone of Ciprofloxacin 15.52mm to 13.4mm against Strept. mutans, Strept. pyogenes respectively.The antimicrobial activity of curcumin on Strept. mutans and Strept. pyogenes growth suggests that the curcumin may be useful for controlling dental biofilms, subsequently dental caries formation.This study provides significant insights into the therapeutic effect of curcumin against pathogenic gram positive bacteria, suggesting its potential as an alternative therapy, and opens the way for further studies on identification of novel antimicrobial targets of curcumin.


The invention relates to a semantic repository (40) web services (11-14), including a single metamodel semantic description of services (11-14) .It also provides a method for creating (S300 - 400) this semantic repository (40), and a semantic discovery process of a web based service of a semantic query (S500 - S600) .L'invention also relates to a computer program product and a computer system including code means adapted to implement the steps of the method according to the invention.


The magnetic properties of charged vector boson gas are studied in the very weak, and very strong (near critical value) external magnetic field limits. When the density of the vector boson gas is low, or when the external field is strong, no true Bose–Einstein condensation occurs, though significant amount of bosons will accumulate in the ground state. The gas is ferromagnetic in nature at low temperature. However, Bose–Einstein condensation of vector bosons (scalar bosons as well) is likely to occur in the presence of a uniform weak magnetic field when the gas density is sufficiently high. A transitional density depending on the magnetic field seems to exist below which the vector boson gas changes its property with respect to the Bose–Einstein condensation in a uniform magnetic field.


1348 Table 1shows that the proportions of patients hospitalized and requiring investigations were higher for the very urgent category but similar for those triaged as urgent and standardMTS triage category Total Proportion of patients Hospitalization Investigations performed September 2019 April 2020 September 2019 April 2020 September 2019 April 2020 Immediate 0% 0% 0% 0% 0% 0% Very urgent 11% 16% 63% 62% 73% 46% Urgent 43% 28% 29% 23% 32% 41% Standard 43% 51% 25% 15% 29% 23% Not recorded 0% 5% 0% 0% 0% 0% ConclusionsTrends across the triage categories demonstrate that the more urgent the triage category assigned, the more likely investigations and admission to hospital are. This is demonstrated in both months audited pre COVID-19 and during the pandemic. There is less of a hospitalization difference in those triaged urgent and standard. In these categories we see more variation in diagnosis and disposition, reflecting a more heterogenous group of well babies mixed in with babies requiring further investigations, treatment and admission. It is this group that pose the diagnostic challenge and raise concerns about the suitability of the triage system in identifying clinical priority. Further work needs to focus on examining the suitability of this triage model in the neonatal group to understand if there are more robust diagnostic clinical indicators of illness that can be determined at triage.


The electron-catalysed nonradiative fusion of the proton and
neutron, elsupg-l/supg + p + n --g d + e - , is discussed within the framework
of the primordial nucleosynthesis of light nuclei. Comparing the
reaction rate of this three-particle process and that of its radiative
counterpart reaction p + n --g d + g , we show that the triple-collision
plays a less significant role in the formation of deuterons at the
plasma temperatures investigated.


Excited states of C_2H_2 under external electric field were investigated employing density functional theory(DFT) method and single substitute configuration interaction (CIS) approach with basis sets 6-311++G~(* *). It is shown that the magnitude and direction of the external electric field have important effects on the excited states of C_2H_2 molecule. The electric field along the C_2H_2 axis influences the dipole moment much stronger than that of the electric field vertical to molecule.


I described an incoherence in one form of the higher order thought (HOT) theory that derives from its holding both that an appropriate higher order thought is sufficient for a conscious state and that being the object of an appropriate higher order thought is necessary for a conscious state. A (1) lone and (2) unconscious (i.e. not the object of another HOT) and (3) ''empty'' (i.e. reference-failing) higher order thought at t determines a conscious state at t, but – contrary to the necessary condition – there is no thought at t about that conscious state – unless the lone thought is about itself. But such self-reference would collapse the HOT theory into the rival same-order


Summary The interviews were not planned primarily to provide comprehensive information on all the aspects of oral assessment at GCSE but more specifically to complement the results of the experimental study. Some Examination Groups are more frequently mentioned, partly because they were the groups with which these teachers happened to be familiar. In another part of the country, other Groups would have been more frequently used (NISEC, WJEC, LEAG or NEA). The interviews concentrated on the conversation test and the oral assessment criteria for this test. However, teachers also expressed opinions about other aspects of the oral examination. The main points to emerge are listed below. 1. Oral assessment in Modern Languages as a component of national examinations is perceived by the teachers interviewed as fraught with difficulties. Many of these, such as the organisation of the examination during school hours and on school premises, are of a practical nature. There are also criticisms of some tasks, althoug...


repair. The preoperative and operative factors9-1' include "patient procrastination" and "inadequate operation" as reasons for recurrence.'2 Postoperatively early mobilisation has been blamed for recurrence on the grounds of its conflict with the Hunterian principle that rest is the most useful aid a surgeon can bring to disordered tissues.'3 Increasingly it has become apparent, however, that rest does not protect against recurrence but serves only to expose patients to the dangers of immobilisation. Lichtenstein and Shore14 recently challenged many of the myths surrounding hernia repair and reported only a 090/() recurrence rate despite encouraging immediate postoperative resumption of normal activity. An earlier study on the dynamics of wound healing had provided them with the rationale for permitting unrestricted postoperative activity. Using nonabsorbable sutures they showed that wounds achieved 700' of intact tissue strength immediately and were as strong at the completion of operation as after two months' healing.'5 The use of a nonabsorbable suture is essential to maintain tissue strength during healing. Palumbo and Sharpe'6 have also shown that early ambulation does not provoke recurrence: they reported both lower morbidity and a lower recurrence rate in patients mobilised on the first day, compared with those kept in bed for ten days. The excellent results achieved at the Shouldice clinic3 provide further proof: there patients are encouraged to return to normal activity immediately, and many return to work during the next week. Stevedores and lumberjacks are advised to wait four weeks.'7 Attempting to answer the patient's question "How long should I stay off work ?" Ross'8 has argued that patient activity is restricted for far too long in British practice and that four weeks' absence should be the maximum. No correlation exists between time off work and recurrence rate,'8 and heavy work does not jeopardise the results of herniorrhaphy.9 There is no evidence to justify the belief that patients should refrain from work for six months after herniorrhaphy.' "Traditions die hard and some medical ones seem to take an unconscionable time to do so."''7 The average hospital stay of 10-5 days after herniorrhaphy'9 is therefore neither necessary nor justifiable, and the knowledge that postoperative activity does not jeopardise herniorrhaphy should encourage early discharge. Farquharson20 pioneered outpatient herniorrhaphy with no deterioration in results, and the advantages of outpatient2'-24 and short stay herniorrhaphy3 19 25 have been repeatedly reaffirmed. The effective management of patients with hernias can be combined with more efficient use of hospital facilities with a reduction in the overall cost to the community. Hospital savings do not become community costs.13


Objective: To explore the clinicopathologic feature and metastasis mechanism of clear-cell RCC metastasis to adrenocortical adenoma. Methods: The clinical, histopathological and immunohistochemical features of one cases of clear-cell RCC metastasis to adrenocortical adenoma were analyzed and the literatures were reviewed. Results: A male patient, 63 years old, right hypochondrium discomfort for half a month. Pathological examination showed that right clear-cell RCC, solitary renal cyst, right adrenocortical adenoma, clear-cell RCC metastasis to adrenocortical adenoma, 3 mm in diameter. Conclusion: It is a rare phenomenon that clear-cell RCC metastasis to adrenocortical adenoma.


The GCSE music examination is the principal form of accredited study for students aged 15+. (More students take the examination than previously took GCE O-level and CSE examinations combined.) For this reason the examination is generally thought of as a success. An analysis is made of uptake rates during the period 1994-8 and comparisons are made with uptake rates in other optional subjects. Based on this evidence, a suggestion is made that GCSE music is not as successful or attractive to students as is commonly thought. An assumption is made that there are factors that make this situation surprising and worth further research. Some possible reasons for the current situation are explored.


Satellite remote sensing of Gross Primary Production (GPP) will greatly enhance our understanding of the terrestrial carbon cycle, as it allows globally continuous estimates of plant CO 2 uptake at regular intervals from space [1]. Remotely sensed GPP can be defined as the product of the incident photosynthetically active radiation (the radiation between 400 and 700 nm wavelength, PAR), the fraction of PAR absorbed by the green canopy elements (f PAR) and the light-use efficiency İ (gCMJ-1) with which the absorbed PAR is used to produce biomass [2, 3]. Recent decades have seen considerable progress determining PAR and f PAR from satellite observations [4, 5], remote sensing of İ, however, remains challenging. A possible means to determine İ remotely is the photochemical reflectance index (PRI), a narrow waveband index that measures the photosynthetic activity of leaves using a xanthophyll absorption band at 531 nm. A large number of studies have demonstrated a relationship between İ and PRI over a wide range of species plant functional types[6, 7], the same and other work, however, has also shown that PRI is affected by numerous other factors such as the sun-view geometry, leaf angle distribution, leaf area, canopy structure and pigment pool size, making an upscaling to landscape and global levels difficult [8, 9]. A promising approach to resolve these dependencies is to characterize the anisotropy of the surface reflectance via continuous, multi-angular spectral observations. Using a tower-based, automated, multi-angular spectroradiometer instrument (AMSPEC, Fig. 1), we demonstrated in previous work that stand-level PRI reflectance observed in a Douglas-fir forest can be defined as a function of the sun-observer geometry, the sky condition at the time of measurement and the physiological status of the vegetation canopy observed (i.e. İ) [8, 10]. This physiological component of the reflectance signal can be extracted by stratifying spectra into homogeneous subsets of observations with respect to both sky Fig 1: The AMSPEC radiometer system measures canopy reflectance at vertical zenith angles between 32° and 78°, completing a full rotation in 15 min.


This article, published in 1999 when I was a senior in college, was my first publication in an academic, peer-reviewed journal. It was my earliest engagement with an issue I still grapple with today, namely, the dark side of Internet idealism.Grand claims about the immediacy, authenticity, accessibility, and humanity of cyberspace are severely undermined by the parallels between cyberspace and the Arendtian "classless society." Cyberspace enthusiasts exhibit an alarmingly empty and ahistorical idealism. Behind the heady affirmation of all things virtual is a pseudo-social, pseudo-humanitarian dualism that is paving a path towards totalitarianism.