Reverse transcriptases (RTs) are typically assayed in vitro using optimized Mg2+ concentrations (∼5-10 mM) several-fold higher than physiological cellular free Mg2+ (∼0.5 mM). Analysis of fidelity using lacZα-based α-complementation assays showed that tested HIV RTs, including HIV-1 from subtype B (HXB2-derived), HIV-2, subtype A/E, and several drug-resistant HXB2 derivatives all showed significantly higher fidelity using physiological Mg2+. This also occurred with prototype foamy virus (PFV) RT. In contrast, Moloney murine leukemia virus (MuLV) and avian myeloblastosis virus (AMV) RTs demonstrated equivalent fidelity in both low and high Mg2+. In 0.5 mM Mg2+, all RTs demonstrated ≈ equal fidelity, except for PFV RT which showed higher fidelity. A Next Generation Sequencing (NGS) approach that used barcoding to accurately determine mutation rates and profiles was used to examine the types of mutations made by HIV-1 (subtype B, wild type) in low (0.5 mM) and high (6 mM) Mg2+ with DNA or RNA that coded for lacZα. Unlike the α-complementation assay, which is dependent on LacZα activity, the NGS assay scores mutations at all positions and of every type. Consistent with α-complementation assays, a ∼4-fold increase in mutations was observed in high Mg2+. These findings help explain why HIV RT displays lower fidelity in vitro (with high Mg2+ concentrations) than other RTs (e.g., MuLV and AMV), yet cellular fidelity for these viruses is comparable. Establishing in vitro conditions that accurately represent RT's activity in cells is pivotal to determining the contribution of RT and other factors to the mutation profile observed with HIV.


Edited by Michelle Cleary, PhD, RN College of Health and Medicine, University of Tasmania, Sydney, NSW, Australia Caregiving for a family member with a chronic and/or major illness is held as an ob...


The ongoing recession of Alpine glaciers since the end of the Little Ice Age (LIA) has exposed stores of glacial sediment to the activity of paraglacial processes. Slope wash, fluvial processes and mass movements (including debris flows, slides and falls) within the proglacial area (i.e. the area within the LIA terminal moraines) have received comparatively little attention in previous studies of the (pro)glacial sediment budget that have focused mainly on suspended and bedload sediment transport in proglacial streams. Additionally, there is a need for research concerning the relative importance of non-glacial and glacial contributions to the sediment budget and the downstream consequences of increased proglacial geomorphic activity. The PROSA joint project (High-resolution measurements of morphodynamics in rapidly changing PROglacial Systems of the Alps) is designed to tackle these problems through a quantification of the aforementioned hillslope and channel processes within the forefield of the Gepatsch Glacier (Central Alps, Austria) using highresolution LiDAR data. On the local scale, field measurements and digital elevation models from multi-epoch terrestrial LiDAR data will be combined to map and quantify sediment (re-)mobilisation, erosion and deposition. The catchment-scale sediment budget will be established by multi-epoch highresolution airborne LiDAR data, upscaling of local findings using geomorphological models including the appraisal of slope–channel coupling, and an assessment of fluvial sediment export beyond the outlet of the catchment (which consists of a reservoir). This paper summarises the processes effective in proglacial systems, works out research needs with respect to sediment budgets in changing proglacial areas, and outlines the research framework of the PROSA joint project. It complements two papers on preliminary results published in this volume.


Seasonal variation in the biomass of eelgrass (Zostera marina) and epiphytic algae in two eelgrass beds (Dongdae and Aenggang Bay) around Namhae Island was investigated throughout 2005. Shoot density and eelgrass biomass differed across months and locations. Peak shoot density occurred from April to August 2005, whereas eelgrass biomass was higher in July and August 2005. Shoot density as well as eelgrass biomass were higher in Dongdae Bay compared to Aenggang Bay. A total of 21 epiphytic algal species (4 Chlorophyta, 2 Phaeophyta, and 15 Rhodophyta) were collected, and dominant species included Polysiphonia japonica, Lomentaria hakodantensis, Symphyocladia latiuscula, Champia sp., and Heterosiphonia japonica. Seasonal variation in both the species composition and biomass of epiphytic algae was substantial: peak epiphytic algal biomass occurred in January and December 2005. We also observed high epiphytic algal biomass in the eelgrass bed of Dongdae Bay. Seasonal changes in the biomass of eelgrass and epiphytic algae were primarily influenced by water temperature, whereas those of the epiphytic algal community were also correlated with eelgrass (substrate) morphology and growth, the life cycle of epiphytic algae, and physical characteristics within eelgrass beds. The spatial variation of eelgrass density and biomass were also limited by sediment characteristics.


Introduction: The aim of this study was to investigate the accuracy of Cone-beam computed tomography(CBCT) in detecting the horizontal root fractures (HRFs) in teeth with and without gutta-percha. Materials & Methods: This in vitro study was performed on 100 mandibular and maxillary single-rooted teeth. In 55 samples, the canals were prepared. Then, the horizontal fracture was induced randomly in 56 (29 with gutta-percha, 27 without gutta-percha) samples. The samples were mounted on a wax rim, and the CBCT scan was provided. The scans were examined by two endodontists twice with two-week interval. Data were analyzed using IBM SPSS 20.0 software (IBM Corp., Armonk, IL, USA). Sensitivity, specificity, accuracy, positive predictive value (PPV), negative predictive value (NPV), likelihood ratio (LR +, LR -) with 95% confidence interval were calculated. Results: The sensitivity and specificity were 72% and 100% for the group with gutta-percha as well as 89% and 100% for the group without gutta-percha, respectively. The coefficient of agreement for each observer within two observations was 0.940±0.034 and 0.960±0.028 (P<0.001). The inter observer agreement was 0.092±0.039 (P<0.001). Conclusion: The CBCT scans have high accuracy in diagnosis of horizontal root fracture and gutta-percha although they reduce the diagnostic accuracy with no significant effect.


Natural bedrock rivers form diverse erosional morphologies. The results of recent investigations have suggested that the bedrock erosion rate depends on discharge, slope, width, bedrock roughness and sediment supply. However, little is known about how these parameters affect spatial patterns of bedrock channel morphology. In this study, we conducted numerical simulations to evaluate the influence of sediment supply on bedrock bed state. The numerical results suggest that the increase of sediment supply leads to the formation of a single inner channel in a bedrock river.


Flood is the most frequent hydro-meteorological disaster in Indonesia. Flood disasters in the Bandung basin result from increasing population density, especially in the Citarum riverbank area, accompanied by land use changes in upstream of the Citarum catchment area which has disrupted the river's function. One of the basic issues that need to be investigated is which areas of the Bandung basin are prone to flooding. This study offers an effective and efficient method of mapping flood-prone areas based on flood events that have occurred in the past through the use of historical remote sensing image data. In this research, Landsat-8 imagery was used to observe the inundated area in the Bandung basin in the past (2014–2018) using an improved algorithm, the modified normalized water index (MNDWI). The results of the study show that MNDWI is the appropriate parameter to be used to detect flooded areas in the Bandung basin area that have heterogeneous land surface conditions. The flood-prone area was determined based on flood events for 2014 to 2018, identified as inundated areas in the images. The estimation of the flood-prone area in the Bandung basin is 11,886.87 ha. Most of the flood-prone areas are in the subdistricts of Rancaekek, Bojongsoang, Solokan Jeruk, Ciparay, Cileunyi, Bale Endah and Cikancung. This area geographically or naturally is a water habitat area. Therefore, if the area will be used for residential, this will have consequences that flood will always be a threat to the area.


Caching strategies in Information-Centric Networks (ICNs) can be classified into the categories of individual caching, on-path caching, and collaborative caching. Each has several drawbacks, such as high content redundancy in individual caching, unutilized caching capacity in on-path caching, and high coordination cost in collaborative caching. Despite the relatively higher cost of coordination, collaborative caching offers several advantages over the other categories, namely low latency and better cache utilization. A collaborative caching mechanism with low coordination costs that still possesses the inherent advantages has not been proposed in the literature. In this paper, we aim to address this missing link by presenting MuNCC, a scalable collaborative caching scheme, which utilizes a node's neighborhood caching capacity and has negligible communication overhead. MuNCC uses attenuated Bloom filters, augmented by a two-level node cache structure and an efficient cache redundancy elimination technique. Exhaustive simulation-based comparison of MuNCC against the state-of-the-art shows that it reduces content retrieval latency by 30% to 40% while maintaining a high level of cache utilization and incurring low overheads.


A new kind of nonlinear energy sink (NES) is proposed to control the vibration of a flexible structure with simply supported boundaries in the present work. The new kind of absorber is assembled at the end of structures and absorbs energy through the rotation angle at the end of the structure. It is easy to design and attached to the support of flexible structures. The structure and the absorber are coupled just with a nonlinear restoring moment and the damper in the absorber acts on the structure indirectly. In this way, all the linear characters of the flexible structure will not be changed. The system is investigated by a special perturbation method and verified by simulation. Parameters of the absorber are fully discussed to optimize the efficiency of it. For the resonance, the maximum motion is restrained up to 90% by the optimized absorber. For the impulse, the vibration of the structure could attenuate rapidly. In addition to the high efficiency, energy transmits to the absorber uniaxially. For the high efficiency, convenience of installation and the immutability of linear characters, the new kind of rotating absorber provides a very good strategy for the vibration control.


Symptomatic expression of emotional or interpersonal maladjustment especially in children is called a behavioral problem (Merriam Webster). Such problems include nail-biting, enuresis, negativism, or overt hostile or antisocial acts). These problems are studied to lesser extent & exist lower in report as compared to drugs & alcohol consumption but place an individual life into chaos. By applying positive attributes like resilience, self esteem & social support behavioral problems can be reduced. Present study was carried out with aims 1) To find out the relation between resilience, self esteem, social support & behavioral problems of adolescents 2) To explore the gender differences in resilience, social support & self-esteem of adolescents. 3) To examine the effect of age group on behavioral problems in adolescents. A sample of one hundred high school students (50 male + 50 female) of 1X and X grade in age range of 15-18 yrs were selected randomly for the study. Tools used were, Connor-Davidson Resilience Scale, Rosenberg's Scale, Interpersonal support evaluation list, ISEL & Behavioral Problem Checklist given by Achenbach in 2001. No significant gender differences were indicated as all the t ratios obtained fall below the critical value of 0.05 probability. Except for relationship between self-esteem & behavioral problems all results were found to be significant.Age differences on the measures of resilience, self-esteem, social support & behavioral problems were found to be insignificant


Given the exponential data growth and the recent focus on understanding high-dimensional "in-motion" data, fundamental machine learning tools, such as Principal Component Analysis (PCA), require computation-efficient streaming algorithms that operate near-real-time. Despite the different streaming PCA flavors, there is no algorithm that provably recovers the principal components in the same precision regime as the batch PCA algorithm does, while maintaining low-latency and high-throughput processing. This work, introduces a novel temporal accumulate / retract learning framework for streaming PCA. We consider the accumulate / retract framework implementation of several competitive PCA algorithms with proven theoretical advantages. We benchmark the improved PCA algorithms on real-world streams (i.e. bank transactions fraud detection) and prove their low-latency (millisecond level) and high-throughput (thousands events/second) processing guarantees.


Initially it was thought by me that the cause was incomplete reversal of the relaxant used, with gradual onset of carbon-dioxide retention due to insufficient respiratory exchange. This was strenuously denied by the aneesthetlsts, who, however, agreed to use a different technique. In addition, particular care was taken to raise the patient slowly, and in stages, from the Trendelenburg position to the horizontal during the suturing of the wound. In spite of these changes in technique, an occasional case of post-operative collapse still occurred, so I then decided to operate on all patients in the horizontal position.


doi: 10.7185/geochemlet.2136 Magmatic iron meteorite groups such as IIAB, IIIAB and IVA, represent the largest sampling of extraterrestrial core material from the earliest accreted distinct planetary bodies in the solar system. Chromium isotope compositions of chromite/daubréelite from seven samples, translated into 53Cr/52Cr model ages, provide robust time information on planetary core formation. These ages are within∼1.5Ma after formation of calcium-aluminium-rich inclusions (CAIs) and define the time of metal core formation in the respective parent bodies, assuming metal–silicate separation was an instantaneous event that induced strong chemical fractionation of Mn from the more siderophile Cr. The early core formation ages support accretion and differentiation of the magmatic iron meteorite parent bodies to have occurred prior to the chondrule formation interval. The calibration of Mn–Cr ages with established Hf–W ages of samples from the same magmatic iron meteorite groups constrains the initial ε53Cr of the solar system to −0.30 ± 0.05, and thus lower than previously estimated. Received 5 August 2021 | Accepted 17 November 2021 | Published 13 December 2021


We propose a microneedle coated with silver (Ag) to detect analytes at low concentrations positioned at a depth of more than 700 μm below the surface of a skin phantom with absorbers and scatterers for mimicking the intradermal surface‐enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) measurements. The Ag layer in the Ag‐coated microneedle‐based probe is found to be the key to the effective detection of analytes buried inside the aforesaid phantom. Glucose concentrations ranging from 5 to 150 mM inside phantoms can be estimated with a root mean square error (RMSE) of 3.3 mM. This work shows the potential of using microneedles for simple in vivo intradermal SERS measurements of analytes with clinical relevance. (© 2014 WILEY‐VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)


Objective to evaluate the nursing work load in a Burns Intensive Care Unit according to the Nursing Activities Score. Method an exploratory, descriptive cross-sectional study with a quantitative approach. The Nursing Activities Score was used for data collection between October 2011 and May 2012, totalling 1,221 measurements, obtained from 50 patients' hospital records. Data for qualitative variables was described in tables; for the quantitative variables, calculations using statistical measurements were used. Results the mean score for the Nursing Activities Score was 70.4% and the median was 70.3%, corresponding to the percentage of the time spent on direct care to the patient in 24 hours. Conclusion the Nursing Activities Score provided information which involves the process of caring for patients hospitalized in a Burns Intensive Care Unit, and indicated that there is a high work load for the nursing team of the sector studied.


Today, we are on the verge of wireless networking where everyone wants to be online without a bunch of cables. Colleges, B-Schools, corporate offices, and cafeterias provide Wi-Fi internet connectivity. The aim of this project is to make use of available resources to provide a free voice calls facility, without using a service provider. Pre-established Wireless Fidelity (i.e. Wi-Fi) service more often uses WLAN, which is offered as a voice transmission medium by Wi-Fi. Smartphones allowed by Wi-Fi can be connected to the router and can communicate with one another. This system will be the perfect alternative to the present intercom device. Keywords— VOIP, Wi-Fi, Voice Transmission, Internet Protocol, WLAN Systems


Current immune-modulating therapies for IgM paraproteinemic neuropathies (IgM-N) are often associated with severe complications and have not provided reliable evidences of long term efficacy. Neuropathy associated with antibodies to myelin-associated-glycoprotein (antiMAG) is a chronic-demyelinating sensorimotor neuropathy that counts for 50% of these diseases. Titre reduction of these antibodies has shown to be associated to an amelioration of the neuropathy. Therefore a selective drug address to reduce these antibodies is the target of current pharmacological researches. Rituximab is a mouse-human chimeric antibody directed against CD20 protein, eliminating the most of circulating Bcells. It has shown positive effects in the treatment of Bcell lymphoma, rheumatoid arthritis and preliminary studies suggested also a promising role in IgM-N. However, more recently several cases of clinical inefficacy or lack of effect on anti-MAG titre have been reported in patients treated with Rituximab, leading to unclear conclusions about the usefulness of this therapy. We reported the case of a 64-year-old-woman affected by Waldestrom macroglobulinemia and a neuropathy associated with anti-MAG IgM/k antibodies. The haematological disease was diagnosed by bone marrow biopsy, when the patient was 56-year-old. Neither multiorgan involvement, nor iperviscosity syndrome were associated and IgM-paraprotein level was stable for 8 years (from 4 to 5 gr/lt at periodical evaluations). At the age of 64, a severe tremor and unsteadiness of gait appeared. On neurological examination patient showed a mild increase of superficial, and a severe increase of propioceptive sensory threshold at lower limbs, apallestesia (loss of vibratory perception) from the knees, ataxic gait, positive Romberg sign, a 8 Hz-postural-kinetic tremor at all four limbs, areflexia, without any motor involvement. Neurophysiolgical studies included motor and sensory conduction velocities in two arm nerves and one leg nerve, F responses of the ulnar nerve and peroneal nerve, H reflex of the soleus muscle, and EMG of distal arm and leg muscles examinations disclosed a sensory-demyelinating polyneuropathy. Stimulated PBMCs were analyzed by flow-cytometry (Beckman-Coulter Inc.) to asses IL1β, IL2, IFNγ, TNFα, IL6, IL10, IL12 producing CD4+, CD8+ and CD14+ cell percentage (Caltag Lab). Quantitative immunoglobulins IgM in serum was determinated by rate nephelometry (Beckman Instruments) and anti MAG antibody titre was determined by electrophoresis(SEBIA ITALY) in serum. Serum anti-MAG IgM/k antibody titre and IgM level were 144.000 BTU and 5 gr/dL respectively; other antibodies to neuropathy-related-antigens as well as other toxic, metabolic, neoplastic, hereditary and infective causes of neuropathy were excluded. According to treatment recommendations in Waldestrom macroglobulinemia and previous reports, treatment with Rituximab was decide to be tempted. Rituximab was injected at a dosage of 375 mg/m once weekly for 4 weeks. As long as 3 months after theraphy, a severe worsening of all neurological signs and specifically of the tremor occured. Immunological-parameters assessed at pre-treatment (T0) and 3 months after therapy(T3) showed an increase of IgM levels and anti MAG titre, as reported in table 1 Rituximab treatment was stopped and after other six months, IgM levels went back to pre-treatment value (4,580 gr/lt) and anti-MAG antibodies decreased to 132.000 BTU, but the patient went on worsening. Flowcytometry was not re-assessed at that time. Rituximab is a monoclonal antibody that specifically binds CD20 antigen. Encouraging results about the usefulness of this drug in IgM-N come from open pilot Table 1A. The table shows (A) lymphocyte subsets (values are expressed as percentages % and as absolute cell number/ul ); (B) cytokines production by SEB + anti CD28 stimulated CD4, CD8, CD14 cells percentage; (C) IgM levels (gr/dl) measured by electrophoretic pattern and anti-MAG antibody titers measured by ELISA test. All immunological parameters have been analyzed before treatment (T0) and 3 months after therapy (T3). Statistically significant values are signed.


Histopathology is a widely used approach to evaluate effects of endocrine-active chemicals in the thyroid. However, effects at an ultrastructural level have hardly been examined in fish thyroids. In the present study, zebrafish was exposed to sublethal concentrations of propylthiouracil (PTU; 0–50 mg/L) and perchlorate (PER; 0–5,000 µg/L) for 5 weeks in a modified early life–stage test. None of the treatments caused significant mortality (no observed effect concentrations for survival ≥50 mg/L [PTU] and ≥5,000 µg/L [PER]). PTU induced dose-dependent alterations in the rough endoplasmic reticulum (rER) in all exposure groups, whereas only the 2 highest PER exposure groups (500 and 5,000 µg/L) resulted in alterations of the rER. Both substances caused an increase in the numbers of lysosomes and mitochondria, with mitochondria displaying distorted cristae. Increased mitochondrial diameters were only observed in the PTU treatment. PER-exposed samples displayed an increase in apical microvilli. The highest PTU concentration (50 mg/L) showed first signs of cellular degeneration. Ultrastructural changes in zebrafish thyrocytes thus appear specific for different chemicals, most likely depending on their specific modes of action. Additional knowledge of subcellular changes in thyrocytes can help to better understand and interpret existing histological data in the future.


Population and alignment relaxation for the Doppler broadening case in the infinite plane parallel geometry has been studied in the range of the optical thickness at the line center between ${10}^{\mathrm{\ensuremath{-}}3}$ and ${10}^{2}$. The obtained population and alignment relaxation rates are compared with analytical estimates. The validity of two approximations used in the estimates, i.e., the complete frequency redistribution of absorbed and successively emitted photons and the pure-parabolic distribution of excited atoms, is discussed. Also studied is the mixing of the population and the alignment, which is due to the spatial anisotropy of the geometry. This mixing leads to the self-alignment effect, which develops at a sufficiently late time after excitation. A separate simulation with the alignment effect omitted has revealed that, at a large optical thickness, the population relaxation rate agrees with the result with the alignment effect included. It is therefore concluded that the previous estimate on the influence of the self-alignment to the population relaxation rate is too large. The velocity distribution of the excited atoms in the direction perpendicular to the planes shows an effectively lower (higher) temperature at the center (boundary) than the base temperature (\ensuremath{\approxeq}5%) under the self-alignment condition.


This paper presents a reference model for the development of mechatronic products (MRM) emphasizing the model validation by making improvements in the new product development (NPD) of a manufacturing company. The model was applied and validated through an action research. The model content was summarized and its application and validation methodology was presented. The improvements increased the company's NPD capability even for those who work on the process but who were not involved in the process implementation. The latter reported a perceived improvement in time, cost, and quality of NPD. The most significant results occurred in document control and product configurations due to regulatory aspects of medical devices. Although there have been significant investments in the project management area, the time and cost control results were limited by aspects related to the integration between engineering and marketing personnel.


The invention relates to a traditional Chinese medicine preparation for treating tinnitus. The traditional Chinese medicine preparation is prepared from the following raw pharmaceutical materials in parts by weight: 13-17 parts of red peony root flower, 13-17 parts of radix trichosanthis, 13-17 parts of astragalus root, 13-17 parts of codonopsis pilosula, 8-12 parts of bupleurum root, 8-12 parts of rehmannia root, 8-12 parts of burdock fruit, 8-12 parts of forsythia fruit, 8-12 parts of Chuanxiong rhizome, 8-12 parts of gardenia, 8-12 parts of ledebouriella root, 8-12 parts of chrysanthemum flower, 8-12 parts of angelica root, 8-12 parts of atractylodes macrocephala, 8-12 parts of rhizoma cimicifugae, 8-12 parts of tetrapanax papyriferus, 5-7 parts of tangerine peel, 5-7 parts of grass-leaved sweetflag rhizome and 2-4 parts of licorice root. The traditional Chinese medicine preparation has the advantages of good treatment effect, high effect taking speed and no toxic and side effects.


This work presents formulation of linear regression model for the effect of shaft and bearing deviations on the clearance of the assembly of mating parts. The model validation confirmed the existence of statistical relationships between clearance and shaft and bearing deviations. Applying data collected from direct measurement of shafts and bearings produced in the workshop, R values of 99.7% was obtained for assembly of mating parts model ; thus, indicating that about 99.7% of the parts produced are interchangeable, thus reducing the probability of producing scraps to the barest minimum. The results obtained using critical parameters of assembly of mating parts and multiple linear regression models give good estimation and are validated with experimental values with an error much lesser than 4% error. The regression model also showed that given the shaft and bearing deviations, the expected clearance can be determined, thus, enabling the quality control personnel to significantly monitor and reduce variation in the assembly of mating parts.


In this study, the enzyme alkaline phosphatase was produced using wasted coffee grounds. The fungi specie used was Aspergillus sp. to promote liquid fermentation. The tests were taken diversifying several optimal conditions of pH, substrate, temperature, fermentation and time using the method of factorial planning. In the end, the statistical analysis showed great results, obtaining two groups of optimal conditions, when it comes to time and substrate available.


The essay chiefly made a comparison between China and Korea's preschool educational system and summarized Korea's experience to China's revelation and reference.The comparison was executed from the three aspects of the two nations' preschool educational institution's settings,curricula content and legal construction.


A 34-year-old woman native of Benin was hospitalized for exploration of a conjunctival icterus. She described asthenia, intermittent jaundice, and recurrent malaria infections. At the age of 29, a cholecystectomy was carried out for cholelithiasis. Automated blood count (ADVIA 2120, Siemens Healthcare Diagnostics, Tarrytown, NY) indicated Hb 8.7 g/dL, mean cell volume 62.7 fL, mean corpuscular hemoglobin (Hb) concentration 32.9 g/dL, red blood cell (RBC) distribution width 0.37, and reticulocytes 113 ¥ 10/L. The histogram of RBC volume distribution showed a very microcytic subpopulation coexisting with RBCs of a normal size. The peripheral blood film (see figure, left, May Grünwald Giemsa staining ¥1000) revealed a striking anisopoikilocytosis characterized by numerous elliptocytes, "bizarreshaped" RBCs, spherocytes, and many fragments. Haptoglobin was undectectable, lactate dehydrogenase 932 UI/L (normal range, <430), total bilirubin 38 mmol/L (normal range, <18). The direct antiglobulin test (DAT) was negative. Capillary electrophoresis of Hb (Capillarys Hb Sebia, Sebia Electrophoresis, Norcross, GA) was normal except for a discrete increase in the HbF level. Incubation of RBC suspensions at 46°C showed a marked fragmentation (normally occurring at 49°C; see figure, right; inset, control). The diagnosis of hereditary pyropoikilocytosis (HPP) was then confirmed using osmotic gradient ektacytometry, which showed a characteristic flattened trapezoidal curve with a decreased index of deformability. A sodium dodecyl sulfate–polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis of RBC membrane revealed a mild decrease in the a-spectrin level. Hereditary elliptocytosis (HE) is an inherited RBC membrane disorder due to the defect in cytoskeleton proteins (spectrin or protein 4.1) leading to the loss of deformability properties of the RBCs. HPP is considered as a severe form of HE characterized by RBC morphology reminiscent of that seen in patients after a thermal burn. This phenotype may result when one parent has HE and the other parent carries a gene that causes a spectrin deficiency. In contrast to the delayed diagnosis in our patient, detection usually occurs in childhood, with classic symptoms of an ongoing severe anemia such as frontal bossing and gallbladder disease. The symptomatology of most existing cases diminishes over time. As spherocytes and microspherocytes can frequently be observed on the blood film, this might lead some individuals to wonder about DAT-negative autoimmune hemolytic anemia.


The patient, a 14 year-old boy, had complained of nasal blockage on the right side due to cicatricial obstruction which was resulted from pneumonia at 1 year-old. He was successfully treated with operation and application of corticosteroid. Furthermore, similar 31 cases in Japan including this case were collected bibliographically and discussed about the etiology, treatment and so on.


In the world of education website is a forum for disseminating information. Service information on a website needs to be measured to determine the level of user satisfaction and obtain feedback. Bina Darma Career and Training Center (BDCTC)'s is a training institute and job placement center at Universitas Bina Darma. In this study, website BDCTC will be measured by using the Webqual method. Webqual is one method or technique of measuring the quality of a website based on user perception. Level of satisfaction with the use of quality measurement techniques through the website 3-dimensional (Usability, Information, and Service), on the dimensions of the Usability and Service does not have a significant effect on user satisfaction; while at the Information have any impact on satisfaction. Quantitative Descriptive analysis is used to examine the relationship of the Webqual dimensions to user satisfaction.


Purpose: The article addresses an attempt of Russian experience studying in the case of memorials erecting on Caucasus in the eve of 20th c. The particular focus of the paper is to study the ways of honouring the Imperial victory in the Caucasus War gained in August 1859 when the insurgents' leader Shamyl was captured on the Mount of Gunib by A. Baryatinsky's troops in the days of his counter-insurgency operation in Chechnya and Dagestan. Tools of assessment (Methods): This paper explores the Caucasus materials in the shade of West anthropological approach to History and Commemoration. The works of David Gobel and Daves Rossel, especially the book 'Commemoration in America' gave a good point to explore the same issues on the vague primary sources base collected in Russian central archives vaults. The author scrutinised the documents from three Central and one regional archives together with some notes of contemporaries of events and tourists' guide-books of the early 20th c. that provide a lot of support to the study. Discussion: One of the very base idea of the military authorities' activity in the far-away region was the empire positive image promoting among the locals. The other pole of the Imperial commemoration was to honour the participants of the Caucasus quelling – the servicemen of the regiments that took part in counter-insurgency. The latter issue was always in the top tier of any effort of the local authorities. The most celebrated market on the Caucasus victory was memorial complex 'Baryatinsky Arbour' built in the birch thatches of Gunib above the historical stone. The latter was celebrated as a rest place for Russian commander to wait for the captured Shamyl. Being intended to pay a tribute to the heroic event in the history of 'pacifying the Caucasus' the memorials were either in the mood 'to remind the locals who was the boss' – as Jeremy Paxman had put it. Thus, the whole purpose of promoting the idea of an empire via monuments erecting looked highly ambiguous for the natives who were in fact inclined to take a memorial as a recall to the negative highhanded experience the militaries once practiced in a region. Results: The research underlines the importance of the scrutinized studying of the regional issues in the memorial activities. Although the Empire promoted the victory monument erecting and celebrated its heroes via memorialisation, after the autocracy overthrowing all the facts and even prominent people, inconvenient for the natives' version of history tended to be erased out of the historical memory.


FROM the spring of 1721 to the early winter of 1722, Boston was ravaged by smallpox. During the course of the scourge, two influential segments of the community's leadership, the town ministry and the local physicians, waged a war in print ostensibly concerning the practice of inoculation, or preventive variolation, an experimental treatment designed to provide the inoculee immunity from later attacks of smallpox by "artificially" inducing a mild, curable case of the disease. Boston ministers, guided by Cotton Mather, for the most part stood in favor of extending the experiment in inoculation that had been inaugurated by a single physician, Zabdiel Boylston.' Most physicians, on the other hand, led by Dr. William Douglass, the only practitioner in town with a medical degree, opposed inoculation as an untested novelty, attacked the clergymen who fostered it, and called upon the town selectmen to halt the experiment.2 The public battle between these two prestigious adversaries lasted far longer than the epidemic itself, and the literature accompanying the controversy was both vast and venomous. Although, as numerous scholars have noted, a variety of contentions and antagonisms were at issue in the inoculation debate, the controversy has been viewed primarily as a confrontation between the major opponents, Cotton Mather and William Douglass. This perspective, focusing upon both the personalities and the professional biases of the primary


Primary melanoma of skin of the breast region accounted for less than 5 % of malignant melanoma of all sites [l]. Although the exact cause of melanoma is not known, many factors such as inherited tendency, sunlight overexposures, hormonal influences, trauma, etc. have been implicated [2]. Various benign and malignant lesions have been reported developing in tattoos [3,4]. searching the literature up to now, there are only five patients with melanoma occurring in tattoos. In 1938, Sharlit [5] described a melanoma that appeared at the site of an indelible pencil tattooing of the forehead in a 9-year-old boy. There was an interval of 4 yr from the minor trauma to the onset of the growth. In 1969, Kirsh [6] described a melanoma developed in a blue tattoo of the arm of a 52-year-old man, approximately 27 yr after the tattooing. He also mentioned seeing an illustration of a malignant melanoma in a tattoo in a book by Allen [7]. In 1974, Wolford et al. [8] described a 55-year-old man who noted a lesion in a mercurycadmium pigment tattoo of the arm, about 5 yr after the tattooing. The lesion eventually bled, ulcerated, and was excised 24 yr later. It was a superficial melanoma, with invasion to the upper third of the corium. In 1980 Bartal et al. [9] described a 52-year-old female who had postmastectomy radiotherapy for breast cancer. Two years later a Clark level II melanoma was excised on a tattoo at the lateral border of tangential chest-wall field. (They reported another patient, who developed two separate metastatic melanoma nodules at tattoo sites marking the border of radiation field for Hodgkin disease). In this report we wish to describe a primary melanoma arose in a blue tattoo of the anterior chest wall in a young man. This would be the sixth case who had melanoma developed in a tattoo, and the first case who had melanoma in a tattoo of the breast region [ 101.


A study was made of electrooptic control of a single-mode laser (the Q factor was switched on slowly and this was combined with a positive feedback between the Q factor of the resonator and the radiation generated in it). The longitudinal modes were selected by a resonant reflector whereas the transverse modes were selected using the spatial distribution of the transmission of a light switch which was established by the excitation of piezooptic vibrations in a crystal.


Great literature not only captures a picture of society but also presents an acute commentary on the permanent problems of mankind. The greatest of these works offer both critiques and positive suggestions for the politics of their time. Shakespeare's writings exemplify this tradition; they aim to educate the English in order to free them from politically harmful views. My paper discusses both this educational intention as well as the political lessons it brings forth, with a focus on The Taming of the Shrew. I argue that the play attempts to recapture Aristotelian views concerning the proper political and social regime by restoring equality to marriages through views propounded in The Politics. The characters' development, along with the unique frame of the Induction, is a means of teaching future audiences lessons what over-zealous Christians have lost sight of: the importance of the right type of family for a just political society.


Guess of Discrete Cosine Transform (DCT) is valuable for diminishing its computational intricacy without critical effect on its coding execution. This paper presents a summed up recursive calculation to get symmetrical approximation of DCTs at the expense of augmentations for input preprocessing. The recursive scanty framework decay is performed and it utilizes the balances of DCT premise vectors for inferring the estimated calculation. It is exceptionally versatile for Simulation based equipments just as programming execution of DCT of higher lengths and it can utilize the current estimate of 8-direct DCT towards getting rough DCT of any force of length two. A completely adaptable reconfigurable equal engineering for the calculation of inexact DCT is planned dependent on the proposed calculation. The proposed reenactment dependent on design is found to offer numerous benefits as far as equipment intricacy, and versatility. The equipment apparatus utilized are double center processor and FPGA Spartan 3 EDK pack and the tool compartment is MATLAB 7.8.


A multi-time-hopping (MTH) binary pulse position modulation (PPM) ultra-wideband (UWB) system with Rake receivers is considered. Based on the system capacity, an admission scheme at the connection level is formulated to relate the number of multipath fingers to the number of different classes of users that can be supported and to the blocking probability of each class in the system. With this analytical framework, the minimum number of multipath fingers that are needed in the physical layer while maintaining prescribed outage probability requirements in the link layer and prescribed blocking probability requirements at the connection level in the network layer for each traffic class can be determined. The outage probability in terms of bit error rate specification, with Gaussian monocycles supporting variable bit rate (VBR) multiclass services, is presented. The analytical framework is formulated for the general case in which different traffic classes have different varying bit rates. Closed- form expressions for the signal at the correlator's output during a frame interval and the power of the interference resulting from one of the active time hopping sequences from the interfering users on one pulse are explicitly derived. The indoor channel model used is based on IEEE 802.15.3a.


This presentation address multiple, cooperative, autonomous unmanned vehicle (UV) systems, in which a complementary mixture of relatively low-performance UVs are designed to outperform a smaller number of much more capable (and hence expensive) UVs. Considerable complexity emerges through the interaction of autonomous systems, and the nature of key design issues regarding situational awareness and image fusion are discussed, together with research tools being developed to assist the design of UV systems. (2 pages)


Transjugular intrahepatic portosystemic shunt (TIPS) implantation is a standard treatment option for patients with liver cirrhosis and the complications of portal hypertension [1]. The safety and efficacy of the procedure have been studied extensively [2]. Biliary complications are rare and comprise biliary fistula and bilioma [3,4]. A 50-year-old woman with alcoholic liver cirrhosis was admitted with progressive jaundice. She had received a TIPS (Viatorr, 8cm; Gore, Newark, Delaware, USA) 18 months earlier for refractory ascites but rectangular stent entry in the portal vein had caused poor TIPS flow. Therefore, 8 months after the primary procedure, an overlapping stent (20mm extension) had been placed because of recurrent ascites. Thereafter, the hepatic venous pressure gradient decreased from 24mmHg to 7mmHg. On admission, her liver function tests results were all elevated: total bilirubin 483.7μmol/L, alkaline phosphatase 3.85μkat/L, gamma glutamyl transferase 2.40μkat/L, aspartate aminotransferase 1.82μkat/L, and alanine aminotransferase 2.83μkat/L. An ultrasound scan showed dilated bile ducts in the right hepatic lobe distal to the portal TIPS entry point (●" Fig.1). The patient underwent endoscopic retrograde cholangiography, which revealed a severe obstruction to a branch of the right hepatic bile duct without intraductal blockage (●" Fig.2). A computed tomography (CT) scan confirmed bile duct compression by the TIPS extension (●" Fig.3). The patient was evaluated for liver transplantation. However, because of a relapse of her alcohol abuse, she was regarded as not suitable for transplantation. Although cholestasis persisted in the affected liver segments, biliary drainage was not performed to avoid the potential development of a portobiliary fistula in the compressed bile duct. Biliary stent implantation requires regular follow-up care, which could not be ensured in this noncompliant patient. This case highlights the risk of mechanical cholestasis as a potential complication of TIPS.As such, jaundice following TIPS imFig.1 Abdominal ultrasound (transcostal view) in a 50-year-old woman with alcoholic liver cirrhosis showing dilated bile ducts (white arrows) in the right hepatic lobe. The site of the biliary obstruction is situated next to the end of the portal transjugular intrahepatic portosystemic shunt (grey arrow).


Abstract : Massive multiplayer online gaming, first popularized in the entertainment world, is now finding growing interest in education and training environments. The military and business have noted the potential for simulation and gaming technology to develop higher order thinking skills; in particular, they see potential in such areas as problem solving, metacognition, and decision making. However, much of the research in this area lags behind the technological advances, focusing on user demographics, attention spans, and perceptual skills, instead of addressing the impact these games might have on player's analysis, decision making, and reflection skills. In part, the current body of research represents the interests of the gaming industry, which is more focused on exploiting any new technology to satisfy the attitudes, preferences, and expectations of its users, rather than the interests of education and training. It also reflects the fact that this is an emerging area that suffers from limited research and strategic planning. The report reviews the relevant research literature and proposes 15 primary experiments.


Dexamethasone is the primary treatment for tumor-associated edema. Prolonged use can have significant side effects and may negatively impact survival in GBM. Factors associated with steroid dependence and steroid associated side effects (SASEs) are not well established.

 We performed a retrospective study of patients with newly diagnosed, IDH-wildtype GBM at our center. Demographics, clinical and tumor characteristics, dexamethasone usage, and SASEs (infections, myopathy, hypertension, fractures, mood symptoms, weight gain, and hyperglycemia) were extracted through chart review. We compared survival outcomes (OS) between patients with and without steroid dependence. Risk factors for steroid dependence were identified through logistic regression analysis.

 39/92 (35.9%) patients developed steroid dependence. Of these, 26/39 (66.7%) were on steroids at the start of initial treatment. Patients who developed steroid dependence were older, more likely to have STR/biopsy, bilateral disease, KPS < 90, baseline neurological deficits, and to be obese (BMI ≥ 30). 94.9% of patients with steroid dependence experienced ≥ 1 SASE (vs. 34%) and 46.2% experienced ≥ 3 SASEs (vs. 3.8%). Mood symptoms (69.2% vs. 26.4%), hyperglycemia (53.8% vs. 7.5%) and infections (51.3% vs. 7.5%) were the most common SASEs. Median OS was inferior in steroid-dependent patients (18 vs 25 mo). Baseline obesity was identified as a risk factor for developing steroid dependence (OR 5.9).

 SASEs are common in patients on prolonged steroids. Obesity may increase the risk of developing steroid dependence. Identifying patients at highest risk for steroid dependence may help guide future interventions to mitigate the negative effects of prolonged dexamethasone use.


The photolysis of CH2O has been studied in the absence and presence of NO from room temperature to 300°C. In the photolysis of CH2O alone, the CO and H2 formation rates increase greatly with temperature. When NO is added, these rates vary and reach constant values with an increase in the amount of NO. These limiting rates are independent of the temperature to within the experimental error, in contrast to the rates observed for CH2O alone. It is suggested that the limiting rate of CO formation corresponds to the sum of the rates of the two primary processes, the molecular and radical reactions, and that that of H2 formation corresponds to the rate of the molecular process. For photolysis totally inhibited by NO, the rates of formation of CO, H2, N2, and N2O were examined and a reaction mechanism is proposed which is consistent with that for the photosensitized reaction between hydrogen and nitric oxide previously studied in this laboratory.


Abstract Although Lernaea cyprinacaea is often an epizootic in lakes, ponds, and hatcheries, its occurrence and intensity of infection in a central Tennessee stream system were quite low. Ten of the 13 species of fish collected in the Blackburn Fork watershed (Tennessee) were infected and intensity of infection was highest during the warmest of the seasons. There was also a tendency for the rate of infection to be higher in fish from smaller streams. Adult female L. cyprinacaea showed a definite affinity for attachment to the host fish body near the base of a fin.


Wikipedia defines a podcast as 'a type of digital media consisting of an episodic series of files (either audio or video) subscribed to and downloaded through web syndication' [1]. Put more simply, a podcast is usually a spoken word programme downloaded freely from the internet and which can be listened to at the convenience of the listener on a personal media playing device such as a smart phone or MP3 player. The word 'podcast' is a neologism derived from 'broadcast' and 'pod', as in iPod. The real beauty of the podcast is that you can automatically receive podcasts of your choice each week. This might be a medical or science podcast or your favourite broadcaster who you miss because you are at work or can't hear the whole show. This is called subscribing, but it is usually free and means that the podcast is delivered to your computer and phone. You can then listen to it at a time that suits you, for instance when driving to work or when taking the dog for a walk. Podcasting dates back to about 2004 when it was first mentioned by Ben Hammersley in The Guardian along with other proposed names for the new medium. In 2005, Apple released iTunes 4.9 with native support for podcasts. While this made receiving podcasts more convenient, it effectively ended advancement of the podcast medium by independent developers. However, no one person owns the technology; it is free to listen and create content, which departs from the traditional model of 'gate-kept' media and production tools. The content can be accessed using any computer that can play media files and not just portable music players. Listeners should be aware that podcast content may be subject to only limited censorship or external review and their reliability is dependent on those who have compiled them. So let's say you wanted to listen to the British Medical Journal (BMJ) podcast which comes out every week. The podcast is completely free, you don't have to register anywhere, even on the BMJ website, it is usually 20 min long and contains two or three features highlighting specific articles or topics from the BMJ. There are three principal ways of listening to the podcast. You could go onto the BMJ website and listen to it directly. Secondly, you could download the podcast to your computer and then listen to it immediately or later or transfer it to a music or media player such as an MP3 player and listen to it at your leisure. Or you could go to iTunes, search


. Mahathir takes up another touchy issue, the question of Malay backwardness in education. He does make a very good case for help to the Malays in this field by relating poverty to poor education: &dquo;Backwardness in a modem society spells poverty. Poverty leads to poor education. Poor education perpetuates more poverty. Somewhere the cycle has to be broken, and a rich country like Malaysia would stand accused of moral irresponsibility if she did not subsidize the education of the poor&dquo; (p. 74). He also regards lack of urbanization among the Malays as responsible for racial inequalities. He puts great emphasis on the need to urbanize the Malays and to let them acquire new skills, including trading and shopkeepipg. As regards national unity, the author considers language as the key to it (p. 100), obviously referring to the importance of Malay as the national language of Malaysia. His most important formulation seems to be his claim that &dquo;the Malays are truly the definitive people of the Malay Peninsula, the real and original rulers and owners of Malaya. No other race has any grounds to dispute this&dquo; (p. 127). Earlier, he refers to an important aspect of the claim about the Malays being the &dquo;rightful owners&dquo; of Malaya, that &dquo;if citizenship is conferred on races other than the Malays, it is because the Malays consent to this&dquo; (p. 126). He also claims that the Malays have &dquo;the right to design the form of national education&dquo; (p. 146). Mahathir's book has laid bare the underlying causes of tension between the Malays and other races. One does not have to agree with all his assumptions to realize that a lot has to be done to remove Malay backwardness in education and economy and that a conscious effort needs to be made by non-Malay political leaders to remove the fears of the Malays about being outnumbered and reduced to political insignificance. The future politics of Malaya will require much accommodation and adjustment by various racial groups before true harmony is achieved.


Automated Guided Vehicle (AGV) have gradually played a key role in many industrial systems such as factories and logistics. The key factor for AGV to be adopted is cost effective and accurate location sensing capabilities. In this paper, QR codes are used as artificial landmarks for AGVs to perform location sensing. This work differs from conventional floor-grid-based QR codes for AGVs as location tags, this work proposes to use the distance and angle between a camera attached on an AGV and the QR codes that are strategically placed around a facility to compute the exact location of the AGV. Experiment is conducted to test on the accuracy of the computed distance and angle. The proposed localization approach allows self-localization on multi-AGV systems and by using QR codes, the ambiguity of finding unique landmarks in a facility can be eliminated.


ABSTRACT Abnormal chromosomes in climbing perch (Anabas testudineus) from a reservoir near an electronic waste (e-waste) open dumping area compared with reference area were investigated. The Cd, Pb, Cr, Cu, Mn, Ni and Zn concentrations in water and sediment did not exceed the standard limit of Thailand. The Cd, Pb and Cr concentrations in A. testudineus from the e-waste area exceeded the food standard. The heavy metal concentrations in the A. testudineus samples from the e-waste and the reference areas were significantly different (p < 0.05), except for Mn. There were five types of abnormal chromosomes: centromere gap, deletion, fragmentation, single chromatid gap and single chromatid decomposition. The percentages of abnormal chromosomes in the A. testudineus cells from the e-waste and the reference areas were significantly different (p < 0.05). The results indicated that Cd, Pb and Cr concentrations from the e-waste area could induce the occurrence of abnormal chromosomes in A. testudineus.


Summary

The yellow snapper (Lutjanus argentiventris) in the SW Gulf of California is being heavily fished and little information exists on status of this exploited population. From August 2001 to May 2003, 440 specimens in the size range of 10.8–59 cm were collected from four fishing areas: Huizache-Caimanero, Mazatlan, Marmol and Santa Maria la Reforma in the SW Gulf of California. Specimens were collected from fishermen and obtained by sampling with gill nets, hook and line and spear gun fishing. Gonadal stages, spawning season and length-at-first maturity were estimated for female yellow snapper through histological analyses and relative gonadosomatic (GSI) and hepatosomatic (HSI) indexes. Six gonadal stages were identified and gonadal development was asynchronous. Gonads in advanced stage VI of vitellogenesis occurred during summer and winter together with the highest values of the GSI and HSI, indicating that spawning occurred during these seasons. Mean maturity length was determined to be 32.6 cm total length. The yellow snapper population was being adversely affected considering that the species was exploited throughout the year, including the reproductive seasons, and that organisms as small as 10 cm were found in fishermen's catches and at fish markets. Minimum capture sizes of 33 cm and a closed season during the reproductive periods of summer and winter are suggested as measures to reduce the adverse affects of this exploitation.


BACKGROUND: Research on the catalytic conversion of lignin into value‐added chemicals has grown rapidly on account of the importance of lignin in the biorefinery. There is thus a need to investigate novel technologies to depolymerize lignin in the absence of hydrogen gas and noble metal catalysts. This study developed a cheap and recyclable catalyst via a facile process involving impregnation and calcination for the conversion of lignin to value‐added phenolic monomers. RESULTS: Acid sites, basic sites and magnetic components were successfully incorporated into attapulgite. The resulting catalyst displayed high catalytic activity for lignin conversion to phenolic monomers, which resulted in 10.9% total monomers yield at 250 °C for 3 h with a catalyst loading of 50% and a solvent–solid ratio of 20:1 in 50% C₂H₅OH. The total monomers yield decreased observably after eight successive reaction runs. After being calcined at 600 °C for 3 h, the recovered catalyst provided a total monomers yield of 6.74% in the ninth reaction run. CONCLUSION: A novel catalyst was successfully prepared by incorporation of acid sites, basic sites and magnetic properties using natural attapulgite clay as a precursor via a simple and inexpensive process. The resulting catalyst could depolymerize lignin efficaciously. The reusability of the catalyst was barely satisfactory, however, the activity could be partly recovered by simple calcination. © 2018 Society of Chemical Industry


Human nutritional requirements are summarized, including recommended daily intake and maximum safe chronic intake of nutrients. The biomedical literature on various types of chemically defined diets (CDD's), which are liquid, formulated diets for enteral and total parenteral nutrition, is reviewed. The chemical forms of the nutrients in CDD's are detailed, and the compositions and sources of representative commercial CDD's are tabulated. Reported effects of CDD's in medical patients, healthy volunteers, and laboratory animals are discussed. The effects include gastrointestinal side effects, metabolic imbalances, nutrient deficiencies and excesses, and psychological problems. Dietary factors contributing to the side effects are examined. Certain human nutrient requirements have been specified more precisely as a result of long-term use of CDD's, and related studies are included. CDD's are the most restricted yet nutritionally complete diets available.


Background : Thyroid disease is the commonest surgical endocrine disease, and carcinoma of thyroid is the most common endocrine malignancy, it occurs more often in people who live in areas with iodine deficiency like our country. There is a great controversy about the incidence of thyroid cancer. Objectives: To document the incidence of thyroid cancer. Methode: Over a 7 year period, from Sept 1997 to Aug 2004, a prospective study of 142 patients with thyroid disease underwent thyroid surgery in Hammad Shihab military hospital and Al-Kindy teaching hospital was carried out. Results: The overall incidence of thyroid carcinoma was 8.45 %, and the incidence of malignancy in clinically solitary thyroid nodule ( S.T.N.) was 12.5 %, while in cold nodule 14.95 %. Papillary carcinoma was the commonest type of carcinoma of thyroid, which represents 75 %. Incidence of cancer was higer in female than male, with male to female ratio( M : F ) 1 : 1.4. The most commonly affected age group was between 3 rd and 4 th decades of life. Conclusion: This study shows high incidence of malignancy in S.T.N., therefore patients with S.T.N. must be of great concern to the doctors.


The study of numerical methods for initial value problems by considering their approximation properties from a dynamical systems viewpoint is now a well-established field; a substantial body of knowledge, developed over the past two decades, can be found in the literature. Nonetheless many open questions remain concerning the meaning of long-time simulations performed by approximating dynamical systems. In recent years various attempts to analyse the statistical content of these long-time simulations have emerged, and the purpose of this article is to review some of that work. The subject area is far from complete; nonetheless a certain unity can be seen in what has been achieved to date and it is therefore of value to give an overview of the field. Some mathematical background concerning the propagation of probability measures by discrete and continuous time dynamical systems or Markov chains will be given. In particular the Frobenius-Perron and Fokker-Planck operators will be described. Using the notion of ergodicity two different approaches, direct and indirect, will be outlined. The majority of the review is concerned with indirect methods, where the initial value problem is simulated from a single initial condition and the statistical content of this trajectory studied. Three classes of problems will be studied: deterministic problems in fixed finite dimension, stochastic problems in fixed finite dimension, and deterministic problems with random data in dimension n → ∞; in the latter case ideas from statistical mechanics can be exploited to analyse or interpret numerical schemes.

Throughout, the ideas are illustrated by simple numerical experiments. The emphasis is on understanding underlying concepts at a high level and mathematical detail will not be given a high priority in this review.


It PRESENTS A NEW DERIVATIVE pyrrolidinamine SHOWING INHIBITORY ACTIVITY AGAINST prolyl ANDOPEPTIDASA and use as an inhibitor against this enzyme. THE PIRROLIDINOAMIDA of the invention has the following general formula (I), wherein R1 is benzyloxycarbonyl or a group of formula (II), wherein m is an integer from 1 to 5 and R2 is a hydroxy, alkoxy or a group of Formula (III), where R3 and R4 are, each independently, a hydrogen atom, ONE halogen, lower alkyl or lower alkoxy. They ARE PRESENTED pharmaceutical compositions comprising such derivatives WITH PROCESSES FOR THE PRODUCTION OF DERIVATIVES WITH THOSE processes for the production of such derivatives. ALSO INDICATED THE USE OF DERIVATIVES FOR PRODUCING DRUGS therapeutic value.


Seven durum wheat varieties were sown at 3 dates in 3 years. The different sowing dates were treated as different growth environment. Variance analysis was performed using variance thousand kernel weight and yield. Genotype x location interaction was found to be significant for all traits studied, while components method and genotype x environment interactions and heritability was estimated for hectolitre weight, genotype x year interaction was significant for grain yield and thousand kernel weight and insignificant for hectoliter weight. Heritability was found to be low for grain yield, moderate for hectoliter weight and high for 1000 kernel weight. Adaptation and stability of genotypes were studied using regression analysis of data in different growing environments. In terms of hectoliter, all genotypes which gave a 'b' value close to '1' were found to be moderate


We report the discovery of two transiting planets orbiting K2-290 (EPIC 249624646), a bright (V = 11.11) late F-type star residing in a triple-star system. It was observed during Campaign 15 of the K2 mission, and in order to confirm and characterize the system, follow-up spectroscopy and AO imaging were carried out using the FIES, HARPS, HARPS-N, and IRCS instruments. From AO imaging and Gaia data we identify two M-dwarf companions at a separation of 113 ± 2 and 2467+−177155 au. From radial velocities, K2 photometry, and stellar characterization of the host star, we find the inner planet to be a mini-Neptune with a radius of 3.06 ± 0.16 R and an orbital period of P = 9.2 d. The radius of the mini-Neptune suggests that the planet is located above the radius valley, and with an incident flux of F ∼ 400 F, it lies safely outside the super-Earth desert. The outer warm Jupiter has a mass of 0.774 ± 0.047 MJ and a radius of 1.006 ± 0.050 RJ, and orbits the host star every 48.4 d on an orbit with an eccentricity e < 0.241. Its mild eccentricity and mini-Neptune sibling suggest that the warm Jupiter originates from in situ formation or disc migration.


The bound states of fermions in cores of quantized vortices in superconductors and Fermi superfluids and their influence on the vortex dynamics are discussed. The role of the spectral flow of the fermions through the gap nodes is emphasized.


As a kind of spiritual product formed in the process of rhetorical construction of visual thinking, the premise of generation of visual metaphor is not only the inherent similarity or creating similarity of the various relationships between human and nature, i.e. formal attributes of visible things, but also "the invisible form that can make things visible in the depths of the world" (Foucault). Visual perception firstly transforms the information in the perceptual system into the "perceptual image" of vision. After imagination plays the function of similarity fusion, the comprehensive cognitive perception highlights and enhances the similarity between the information, and a visual metaphor is thus created. Because it only stays in the subject's brain at the level of visual thinking, without connection with certain time and space conditions, specific social and cultural factors, and image symbols, strictly speaking, it is only a possible process of the formation of visual metaphor. In the process of transformation from similarity fusion to similarity highlighting, if certain visual image is constructed with the language symbol, the "verbal image" of a literary text, or the graphical or visualized language — poetic metaphor can be generated; if the visual image is constructed with image symbol, the image rhetoric that is purely composed of visual elements — visual metaphor can be generated. Keywords—visual metaphor; visual thinking; rhetorical construction; generation mechanism


Experimental studies were conducted to evaluate LEBU (large eddy break up) and riblet drag reduction devices. Measurements of velocity profiles downstream of the LEBU device were made by using a fibre optic laser doppler velocimeter in a circulating water channel. The total drag of ship models fitted with LEBU devices and of a flat plate fitted with riblets were determined in a towing tank. Results showed a reduction in drag of about 4 to 5% caused by the riblets but there was no reduction in drag where the LEBU device was used.


Universal design is a paradigm of universal design that respects diversity and human dignity. It was widely diffused globally. It has started with universal design movement since 1989 In the United States and settled systematically in 1993. On this foundation, it was transferred to Europe, and Japan, in Korea. In South Korea, it has been held universal design world competitions, which was held in Seoul. The purpose of this study is to try to understand the current position of the UD study of Korea in the world. This research has been conducted through academic DB using international academic paper and analysed according to the UD design specification of content analysis. In this study, it is possible to understand the current state of research outside of the universal design. And we can explore the direction of research of the UD of our country in the future.


High power, pulsed microwaves are beamed forward of a model in a Mach 6 flow using an on-board, Ku-band horn. A thin "precursor" plasma is generated just ahead of the bow shock in the low density free stream. Temporal and spatial analysis of the microwave E-field and plasma conductivity in the supersonic flow field indicate that the plasma reflects a large proportion of the microwave power in an individual pulse as soon as the plasma frequency exceeds the wave frequency. Possible methods for more efficient deposition of power in the free stream are discussed which could lead to increased interaction with the shock.


As a pathway to the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions, this chapter discusses the design of electric and hybrid-electric vehicles and the use of alternative energy sources for ground transportation. For each type of advanced vehicle there are multiple design options and driveline configurations and components that can be utilized. In addition, in the case of hybrid vehicles using either engines or fuel cells, there are no different control strategies that can be employed that have significant effects on efficiency, economics, and emissions. The emphasis here will be on the vehicle design and performance, but some considerations will be give to fuel options and requirements as they relate to storage of the fuel on board the vehicle, especially for hydrogen for fuel cells, and the effect of the fuel/energy source on greenhouse gas emissions. Computer simulation results will be give for all the alternative vehicle designs, and available test data will be presented for comparison with the simulation results, and finally, component and vehicle costs will be discussed.


Regional changes in residential and daytime population density for the San Diego area of California are presented for 1986 and projected for 2010. The focus is on the impact of commuting on densities in suburban communities and metropolitan areas.


BACKGROUND
This study aimed to analyse a case series of microinvasive (tumour thickness <4 mm) stage I oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC), with an emphasis on the clinical features of the tumours.

METHODS
In total, 32 microinvasive and 67 non-microinvasive stage I lesions, which had been surgically treated, were retrospectively studied and compared. The data analysed included gender, age, risk habits, clinical appearance, lesion site, symptoms, nodal involvement and outcome.

RESULTS
The clinical features of microinvasive lesions meant that, more often than not, they resembled premalignant lesions (P = 0.008), and diagnosis was mainly based on accurate clinical examination rather than the presence of symptoms (P = 0.029). During a median follow-up of 4.5 years, one nodal involvement and one cancer-related death were observed in patients with microinvasive lesions. A significantly higher (P = 0.044) level of nodal involvement was observed in the non-microinvasive lesion group.

CONCLUSIONS
  Stage I OSCC has a favourable prognosis overall, but nodal recurrence is more common in non-microinvasive cancers. As microinvasive lesions tend to present clinically as premalignant lesions, accurate clinical examination is essential if misdiagnosis of early lesions is to be avoided.


The local adsorption structure of the coadsorption phase of K and CO on Co(0001) has been determined at 160 K using dynamical low-energy electron diffraction. The K atoms in the $(2\ifmmode\times\else\texttimes\fi{}2)$ overlayer adopt the on-top sites as in the $(2\ifmmode\times\else\texttimes\fi{}2)$-K structure, but the bond length to the nearest Co atom increases by 0.2 \AA{} to $3.14\ifmmode\pm\else\textpm\fi{}0.05 \mathrm{\AA{}}.$ The CO molecules are shifted from the on-top sites of the $(\sqrt{3}\ifmmode\times\else\texttimes\fi{}\sqrt{3})R30\ifmmode^\circ\else\textdegree\fi{}$-CO structure to the fcc and hcp three-fold hollow sites. The axis of the CO molecule is perpendicular to the surface. The adsorption induce buckling in the top Co layer, pushing the Co atom beneath the K by $0.27\ifmmode\pm\else\textpm\fi{}0.03 \mathrm{\AA{}}\mathrm{}$ towards the bulk. The optimum length for the C-O bond is $1.22\ifmmode\pm\else\textpm\fi{}0.1 \mathrm{\AA{}}\mathrm{}$ and that for the C-Co bond $2.0\ifmmode\pm\else\textpm\fi{}0.1 \mathrm{\AA{}}.$ The obtained structure is compared to other known CO+K coadsorption structures on transition metals, as well as to the $(\sqrt{3}\ifmmode\times\else\texttimes\fi{}\sqrt{3})R30\ifmmode^\circ\else\textdegree\fi{}$-CO and $(2\ifmmode\times\else\texttimes\fi{}2)$-K structures on Co(0001).


Informality is an issue avidly treated during the last decades in Colombia. It is often assumed that there is an inverse relationship between education, measured in years, and informality. However, there are nuances in this relationship given that, depending on the investment approach in tertiary education, this may or may not be seen as a capacity-building mechanism that catalyzes structural change leading to a reduction of the informal sector. Based on this relationship, this paper analyses Colombian higher education public policy based on its potential to combat informality and generate structural change.


Home eNodeB (HeNB) is a low-power access point using the local broadband connections or a separate RF backhaul to access the mobile operator's network for the user equipment(UE), which can provide better indoor coverage and satisfy the upcoming demand of high data rate for users. Considering the potential frequent mobility between HeNB-HeNB and HeNBeNB, HeNB mobility enhancement is proposed as one of the most important work items in 3GPP LTE-Advanced. In this paper, four X2 interface based HeNB mobility enhanced architectures are explicitly discussed in terms of signalling overhead evaluation. The numerical results show that the direct-X2 based option 2 in HeNB-HeNB scenario and the X2-GW based option 3 in eNB-HeNB scenario have the best trade-off in signalling overhead and complexity respectively.


Background: Feasible and useful methods are needed to screen for taste preferences and dietary behaviors in obesity treatment settings. Aim: We examined the reliability and validity of a brief liki...


The article studies the achievements of Adkham Tenishev (born 24.04.1921, died 1.07.2004), a world-renowned scientist and one of the most prominent figures in Turkic linguistics, in the field of the history of the Turkic and Tatar literary languages. The scientist's works and linguistic philosophy are analyzed through his contribution to the modern linguistic theory and the development of Tatar linguistics. The article presents a general overview of A. Tenishev's research, related to ancient Turkic written monuments, modern languages of the peoples of Central Asia, historical-comparative grammar, and the history of Turkic languages. Of great importance is the contribution made by the six-volume collective work, a comparative study of the history of the Turkic languages, which is significant for the research into the rich heritage of the Turkic peoples, for it describes the historical development and the changes that occurred in different Turkic languages. Based on the achievements of world science, the article presents A. Tenishev's general theoretical views on the history of the Turkic literary language and thoroughly analyzes the features and conditions that influenced the formation of the literary language. It was found that the works of the scholar opened up great scientific and methodological opportunities for writing the history of the modern Tatar literary language, which makes it possible to find answers to many questions.


A display lifting device comprises an underframe (1), a panel (2), and a support piece (3). A fixing guide rail (10) is disposed on an underframe fixedly disposed on a wall surface or on another bracket. A movable guide rail (20) capable of sliding along the fixing guide rail is disposed on a panel fixedly connected to the display. One end of the support piece is connected to the underframe and the other end is connected to the panel to support the panel. According to the display lifting device, a user only needs to push the display upward or downward when needing to adjust the height of the display, thereby achieving the objective of adjusting the height of the display.


Malnutrition in pregnant women has an impact on the health of the next generation. Therefore, nutrition counseling first 1000 days of life needs to be given. Good nutrition during the period of 1000 days starting from early pregnancy until the child's second birthday. This study aims to determine the effect of counseling with "Kalpin" or Smart Calendar on knowledge and attitude of pregnant women about the first 1000 days of life. This type of research is a comparative analytic design with pre-test and post-test control group. Nutrition counseling activities carried out by the lecture method using a smart calendar. Measurement of knowledge and attitude of pregnant women perfomed twice: before and after the extension granted. Analysis of the data used were bivariate analysis test Independent T-Test and Mann Whitney. The result shows influence of counseling about first 1000 days of life with Kalpin to knowledge (p = 0,000) and attitude of pregnant woman (p = 0,000) about first 1000 days of life. For health service can be a new input in efforts to improve the quality of service with realization the Program Healthy Indonesia that include first 1000 days of life.


Neural tracking of continuous, spoken speech is increasingly used to examine how the brain encodes speech and is considered a potential clinical biomarker, for example, for age-related hearing loss. A biomarker must be reliable (intra-class correlation [ICC] >0.7), but the reliability of neural-speech tracking is unclear. In the current study, younger and older adults (different genders) listened to stories in two separate sessions while electroencephalography (EEG) was recorded in order to investigate the reliability and generalizability of neural speech tracking. Neural speech tracking was larger for older compared to younger adults for stories under clear and background noise conditions, consistent with a loss of inhibition in the aged auditory system. For both age groups, reliability for neural speech tracking was lower than the reliability of neural responses to noise bursts (ICC >0.8), which we used as a benchmark for maximum reliability. The reliability of neural speech tracking was moderate (ICC ∼0.5-0.75) but tended to be lower for younger adults when speech was presented in noise. Neural speech tracking also generalized moderately across different stories (ICC ∼0.5-0.6), which appeared greatest for audiobook-like stories spoken by the same person. This indicates that a variety of stories could possibly be used for clinical assessments. Overall, the current data provide results critical for the development of a biomarker of speech processing, but also suggest that further work is needed to increase the reliability of the neural-tracking response to meet clinical standards. Significance statement Neural speech tracking approaches are increasingly used in research and considered a biomarker for impaired speech processing. A biomarker needs to be reliable, but the reliability of neural speech tracking is unclear. The current study shows in younger and older adults that the neural-tracking response is moderately reliable (ICC ∼0.5-0.75), although more variable in younger adults, and that the tracking response also moderately generalize across different stories (ICC ∼0.5-0.6), especially for audiobook-like stories spoken by the same person. The current data provide results critical for the development of a biomarker of speech processing, but also suggest that further work is needed to increase the reliability of the neural-tracking response to meet clinical standards.


bariatric surgery. Case Report: A 56 y/o female who underwent RYGB surgery for treatment of morbid obesity 2 years previously, presented with a two-day history of acute, left -sided abdominal pain and maroon-colored hematochezia. Physical exam was signifi cant for left upper quadrant tenderness. Laboratory studies revealed mild leukocytosis, hyperaminotransferasemia and hyperlipasemia. Abdominal CT revealed a small amount of ascites, mildly dilated small bowel and colon to the distal transverse region and infl ammatory change within the mesentery. Ischemic colitis was suspected and colonoscopy was normal to the cecum with ileal intubation. Abdominal pain and bleeding resolved, but given the clinical scenario, short-segment small bowel ischemia was then suspected. A SBFT suggested jejunal and ileal thickening. At this time she was relatively asymptomatic and was discharged with a view toward ensuring a repeat CT scan in 10 days. Th e repeat CT scan revealed a smaller amount of ascites and mesenteric "swirling" around the mesenteric vascular pedicle (See Figure 1). Th e patient endorsed recurrence of postprandial abdominal cramping and 10 lb weight loss. She was rapidly referred for surgical consultation and laparoscopy revealed a long segment of chronically ischemic, but viable small bowel, which was herniated internally into the mesenteric defect through which the antecolic RYGB had been performed. Th e herniated segment of small bowel was entrapped by an adhesive band, and there was partial volvulus. Th e adhesive band was lysed, the volvulus was detorsed and hernia was reduced and the small bowel was placed into a normal anatomical position. No bowel resection was required. Th e patient recovered uneventfully. Conclusion: Small intestinal ischemia may occur aft er RYGB surgery. A combination of anatomical pathologic processes were identifi ed in this patient, who did well aft er expedient surgical management.


The invention discloses a desulfurization ash building block, which is mixed and prepared by the following materials in percentage by weight: 30-65% of desulfurization ash, 0-22% of iron tailings sand, 12-32% of aggregate chips, 12-18% of cement. The desulfurization ash building block can be made to be a standard building block or a colorful floor tile. 70-80% of desulfurization ash and 20-30% of cement are made to be desulfurization ash ceramsite and then are made to be a desulfurization ash hollow building block. The desulfurization ash building block can be made to be a series of wall building materials of different specifications through extrusion and vibration compaction, thus changing the waste material into things of value, being remarkable in environment-friendly and energy-saving effects, heat preservation effects, fireproof effects and soundproof effects, anti-abrasive and corrosion resistant, free of later maintenance, and low in producing and using cost.


My graduation theses is focused on the summary of facts and data in the
life-story of Prague chamber ballet and also its predecessor
Ballet Prague. This phenomenal ballet company plays an important role in
the history of the Czech dance art, despite of the fact that the conditions
for its existence have always been on the very edge of sustainability. It
is hard to believe that in spite of the essential lack of financial
security the company could manage to stay high on the top of our art scene with honour and its own high standard character for 33 years and was able to represent czech culture abroad. It obviously is the merit of Pavel Smok, the artistic director and chief choreographer of this "nomadic"
chamber ballet company. One part of my theses contains also a
questionnaire that tries to answer what is the opinion on the current status of PKB. Unfortunately, it looks like there are not many people left with a belief in its future. But my belief is that this company will get over its crisis years.


Have done the isolation of flavonoid compounds from the leaves of Pirdot (Saurauia vulcani Korth.). Extraction was done by maceration with methanol. Then the methanol extract was added with ethyl acetate solvent for the separation of tannin. The filtrate of ethyl acetate was filtered. The ethyl acetate extract was concentrated byrotary evaporator, then hydrolyzed with HCl 6% and then extracted with chloroform. Chloroform extract was chromatographied with eluent n-hexane : ethyl acetate. The compound obtained was purified by preparative thin layer chromatography, the result is brownish yellow color pasta as much as 3,6 mg and Rf = 0,46. The compound was analyzed by using Spectroscopy Ultraviolet Visible (UV-Vis), Fourier Transform Infra Red Spectroscopy (FT-IR) and Proton Nuclear Magnetic Resonancy Spectroscopy (H-NMR). Based on the analysis of spectroscopic data, allegedly isolated compound was isoflavone.


Summary Isolated, hepatic cell plasma membranes bound on average 160 ± 2 μg of sulfobromophthalein (BSP) per mg of protein. Taurocholate, bilirubin and fluore-scein, which do not compete for hepatic uptake with BSP when simultaneously injected in vivo, exhibited little or no interference with BSP binding by hepatic cell plasma membranes in vitro. Other organic anions, such as indocyanine green, flavaspidic acid glucaminate, and iodipamide methylgluca-mine, which compete with BSP for hepatic uptake in vivo, significantly reduced BSP binding by isolated membranes in vitro.


This paper deals with the analysis, modeling, and control system for PMSG based wind turbine connected to the grid. The system consists of a wind turbine, a three-phase IGBT based rectifier a three-phase four wire IGBT based inverter, a three-phase grid source which supplies the energy to nonlinear unbalanced load in case of an unavailability of wind energy. A control technique proposed for maximum power point tracking is presented. The use of indirect current control for three-phase inverter allows dc bus voltage regulation. To achieve balanced sinusoidal grid currents and unity power factor, the four-leg current controlled voltage source inverter is actively controlled under varying wind speed and pitch angle. Simulation studies using Matlab/Simpowersystem have shown promising results.


Objective Turner syndrome (TS) is characterized with reduced adult height and gonadal dysgenesis and associated with a number of complications including thyroid disease.The purpose of this study was to investigate the prevalence of thyroid diseases and the association between thyroid autoantibodies (TAA) and thyroid dysfunction,age,and karyotype.Methods Fifty-five girls with TS were diagnosed by chromosome analyses and were divided into 2 groups according to whether there was TAA-positive or not:TAA-positive group and TAA-negative group.Thyroid autoantibodies (antithyroglobulin antibody,thyroperoxidase antibody),thyroid function (free T3,free T4,and TSH) were determined with immunochemiluminescent.Ultrasound was applied in TAA-positive group.Results Thyroid functions in 34 TAA-negative girls were normal.Of the 21 TAA-positive girls (21/55,38.2%),7 girls suffered from hypothyroidism and 3 girls had hyperthyroidism.All of 21 TAA-positive girls were diagnosed as cases of Hashimoto's thyroiditis.As compared with the girls in TAA-negative group,the age of girls in TAA-positive group was significantly higher [(12.16 ± 2.55 vs 9.95 ± 4.50) years,P<0.05].6 cases under 5 years old were TAA-negative.31.3 % (5/16) of patients aged 5-10 years old,48.1% (13/27) aged 10-15 years old and 50.0% (3/6) above the age of 15 were TAA-positive.There were no significant differences in the numbers of TAApositive cases among different karyotypes (P > 0.05).Thyroid ultrasound in girls with positive-TAA showed the abnormal echogenicity in bilateral lobus lateralis of thyroid.Conclusion Patients with TS are prone to suffer from Hashimoto's thyroiditis leading to thyroid dysfunction,when they are older than 5 years.Thyroid function should be evaluated yearly in girls with TS after 5 years old.There is no specific association between the incidence of autoimmune thyroid disease and certain karyotypes.

Key words:
Turner syndrome ;  Hashimoto's thyroiditis ;  Karyotype


The Highway 104 Western Alignment in the Province of Nova Scotia (Canada) is designed to be a 45-km toll road with a wide median, five interchanges, and one mainline toll barrier. It is part of the Trans Canada Highway and replaces an existing two lane portion of Highway 104. To complete the project, the Province took a public-private partnership approach. Parameters included building the alignment without additional debt to the Province, for less cost, and in a faster timeframe than conventional highway construction would stipulate. A key element in producing sufficiently robust traffic and revenue forecasts was to set tolls that were palatable and reasonable for the area. In addition, the Province has committed to maintain a 30 kmph speed differential between the existing 104 and the Western Alignment as well as enforcing weight restriction on trucks on the bypassed section of Highway 104. Scheduled completion is November 1997.


In this study, the antibacterial behavior of differing sized graphene quantum dots (GQDs) was studied. The gram negative bacteria, Escherichia coli (E. coli), were used as the bacteria mode. Different sized GQDs with tunable fluorescent colors were acquired by a gel-filtration method. The size, surface chemistry, and photoluminescence properties of GQDs were characterized, respectively. The viability of GQDs treated bacteria was determined by the standard plate counting method. Moreover, the reactive oxidative species (ROS) level was detected by the 3-(4,5-Dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2,5-Diphenyltetrazolium Bromide (MTT) method. The integrality of the bacteria membrane was observed under the scanning electron microscopy (SEM). The experimental results indicated that GQDs demonstrated size-dependent and surface chemistry-dependent antibacterial behaviors. This research provided insightful guidelines in the selection of suitable GQDs for their potential bioapplications.Copyright © 2013 by ASME


This paper reviews and meanwhile introduces several new switching piecewise-linear controllers, which can generate multi-scroll chaotic attractors from some simple two-dimensional (2D) or three-dimensional (3D) linear autonomous systems. The mechanism for generating multi-scroll chaotic attractors via switching control is discussed.


Eric Chatelain reports on drug development efforts to combat neglected tropical diseases such as sleeping sickness clinical phases, to implementation and access. It has built the largest R&D portfolio for kinetoplastid diseases, and has delivered six treatments, including two for malaria, with its many partners. To perform clinical trials in disease-endemic countries, disease-specific clinical research platforms comprising the various stakeholders in the region and internationally (eg, clinicians, regulators, national control programmes and non-governmental organisations) were set up and local capacity reinforced through improving infrastructure and training. These platforms play a key role in defining patients' needs and the target product profiles for new drugs, as well as overcoming the challenges of conducting clinical trials in remote areas at international GCP (Good Clinical Practice) standards.


The preparation and use of moulds and casts from cavities and organs has already been applied in several medical disciplines. It is a current method in stomatology in order to obtain an exact reproduction of the oral cavity for preparing dental prostheses. Plastic casts obtained from the filling of vessels, ducts, and cavities are of great interest for the anatomical knowledge of organs (Van der Schueren, 1959). A clinical application of a similar method, using silicone foam, has been published for the diagnosis of lesions of the sigmoid colon (Cook and Margulis, 1962; 1963). An analogous method for examining the anal canal and its function has been elaborated here.


Based on the questionnaire and deep interview,this article analyzes the situation of the Lianyungang cadre's ability to innovate,the motivation and capability of the cadre's innovation,the driving force and the obstructive force influencing the cadre's innovation.According to the choices of the path to enhance the capability of the cadre's innovation,the research suggests that the study is the fundamental way and a good institutional environment is the basic guarantee to enhance the capability of cadre's innovation and promote the action of the cadre's innovation.


In this work, Zr–B–N coatings were obtained by the method of high-power impulse magnetron sputtering (HIPIMS) in Ar, Ar + 15%N 2 , and N 2 gaseous media using a ZrB 2 SHS target. Sputtering was carried out at the following parameters: medium power of 1 kW, peak power of 70 kW, peak current of 130 A, frequency of 100 Hz, pulse duration of 200 μs. The working pressure in the vacuum chamber was 0.1–0.2 Pa, the distance between the substrate and the target was 80 mm, and the coating deposition time was 40 minutes. Glass, silicon, and high-speed steel were used as substrates. For comparison with the HIPIMS method, the coatings were also applied by direct current magnetron sputtering (DCMS) at an average power of 1 kW. The composition and structure of the coatings were studied by scanning electron microscopy (SEM), glow discharge optical emission spectroscopy (GDOES), Raman spectroscopy, Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), and X-ray diffraction (XRD) analysis. The mechanical, tribological and optical properties of Zr–B–N coatings, as well as resistance to impact dynamic loading, were studied. All coatings were characterized by a dense structure and the absence of columnar grains. With the help of spectroscopic structural studies of coatings, it was revealed that during deposition in a reaction medium, the BN phase is formed, which has a significant effect on the microstructure and characteristics of the coatings. An increase in the nitrogen concentration in the gas mixture during the deposition of Zr–B–N coatings led to an increase in the optical transmittance of the coatings up to 97 %, resistance to cyclic impact dynamic loads by 40 %, and a decrease starting value of friction coefficient by 60 %. The non-reactive coating had a maximum hardness of 19 GPa and an elastic modulus of 221 GPa.


Time to build is a very important factor in a real estate development venture. Delay in completion of a project not only affects the financing costs and the rental revenue but also it may, on a more strategic note, determine the success or failure of a project. A time to build option model consisting of a stochastic rate of completion and a stochastic net project payoff is applied to the sequential construction process of a large scale construction project. The results of the sensitivity analysis show that the optimal payoff value, that triggers the exercise of the option to invest at a maximum rate, increases positively with the increases in cash flow volatility, input cost uncertainty, excess asset return per unit risk and maximum rate of investment. However, it has a negative relationship with the rental yield. In a case study involving a commercial project, the premium for hedging the payoff risks by pre-leasing a project was estimated at 11.29%, whereas the additional cost incurred for shielding a project against input cost risks in a design and build contract was estimated at 7.80%, where each is given as a percentage of the total construction costs.


his research presents a dynamic simulation of permanent magnet synchronous motor (PMSM), which is designed to achieve the maximum Efficiency of the system. To this end, the motor efficiency is improved by using a Genetic optimization algorithm in order to maintain the maximum motor power Factor. First the maximum function of the formulation efficiency is optimized using the motor characteristic equation, and then a genetic algorithm is used to optimize the maximum power Factor. The simulations are conducted using genetic optimization and are compared before optimization. The results confirm the stability of the proposed method.


This paper gives an overview of the Caderige project. This project involves teams from different areas (biology, machine learning, natural language processing) in order to develop highlevel analysis tools for extracting structured information from biological bibliographical databases, especially Medline. The paper gives an overview of the approach and compares it to the state of the art.


A monitor for rapidly measuring the gross gamma-ray flux immediately above spent fuel assemblies in underwater storage racks has been developed. It consists of a plastic scintillator, photomultiplier, collimator, and a small battery-powered electronics package. The crosstalk from an isolated fuel assembly to an adjacent void is only about 2%. The mean difference between the measured gamma-ray flux and the flux estimated from the declared burnup and cooling time with a simple formula is 22%.


Influenza causes substantial morbidity in people with diabetes; annual vaccination is recommended. We conducted a retrospective study of influenza-related outcomes (IRO) among fully insured type 2 diabetics from a large U.S. payer over a 1 year period covering the 2016-17 influenza season. We used bivariate analysis (54,656 diabetics, mean age 54.8 years, s.d. = 10.2) to compare IRO's inferred from claims data against IRO's for 113,016 age and gender matched nondiabetics. Diabetics had more influenza events (per ICD-9 and ICD-10 codes, 1.96% vs. 1.37%, p Disclosure S.I. Samson: Employee; Self; Sanofi Pasteur. W. Lee: None. T. Quisel: None. L. Foschini: None. J. Liska: Employee; Self; Sanofi. H.G. Mills: Employee; Self; Sanofi. R.C. Hollingsworth: Employee; Self; Sanofi Pasteur. M.E. Greenberg: Stock/Shareholder; Self; Merck & Co., Inc.. Employee; Self; Sanofi. Stock/Shareholder; Self; Sanofi, GlaxoSmithKline plc., Pfizer Inc. A.C. Beal: Employee; Self; Sanofi. Board Member; Self; AcademyHealth.


The Long Term Procedural Language Committee of the International Purdue Workshop for the Standardization of Industrial Computer Systems has studied, over a number of years, the design of a programming language suitable for use in industrial real‐time systems. Various parts of a language suitable for this kind of application have been designed during this period. This paper presents the results of part of this work. In particular it describes the tasking facilities that are seen to be necessary in the industrial real‐time environment. The paper concludes with a comparison of the proposed features with those in Ada.