Background: Predictive guides of weaning from invasive ventilation are often erroneous. Among the numerous parameters used in practice, the rapid shallow breathing index is one of the most accurate. Aim: The diaphragm thickening (DT) measured by ultrasound was evaluated as a weaning predictor compared with the rapid shallow breathing index(RSBI). Patient and Methods: A prospective study included 78 patients with COPD exacerbations. All patients were ventilated in pressure support through endotracheal tube. During spontaneous breathing trial (SBT), the right diaphragm was visualized in the zone of apposition using a 7.5 MHz linear ultrasound probe. DT was calculated as percentage from the following formula: Thickness at end inspiration − Thickness at end expiration / Thickness at end expiration. It was recorded at total lung capacity (TLC) and residual volume (RV). The RSBI was calculated. Weaning failure was defined as the inability to maintain spontaneous breathing for at least 48 hours, without any form of ventilatory support. Results: A significant difference between DT at TLC and RV was observed both in patients who succeeded SBT and patients who failed. DT was significantly different between patients who failed and patients who succeeded SBT. A cutoff value of a DT >40% was associated with a successful SBT with a sensitivity of 88%, a specificity of 92%, a positive predictive value (PPV) of 95%, and a negative predictive value (NPV) of 82%. On the other hand , RSBI Conclusions: DT assessed by ultrasound is an excellent predictor of weaning outcome in mechanically ventilated COPD patients.


In this study the effect of diet dilution in 16-20 d of age and using a multi-enzyme (Endofeed-W) on performance, carcass characteristics and some blood parameters of broiler chickens (Cobb 500, commercial strain) was studied. This experiment was conducted as a factorial arrangement 2×3 in a completely randomized design with 3 replicates and 8 chicks in each replicate. Experimental diets contained 0, 20 and 40 percent rice hulls and 2 levels of enzyme (0, 500 mg/Kg). These diets contained 3000, 2400, 1800 Kcal/Kg metabolizable energy, and 21, 16.8 and 12.6 % crude protein, respectively. In other days of experiment, the chicks were fed in according to Cobb 500 rearing guideline. During feed restriction and whole period of rearing (1-44d), diet diluting up to 20% decreased feed conversion ratio (P<0.05). Adding enzyme to experimental diets decreased feed intake and feed conversion ratio in whole period of experiment (P<0.05). Chickens fed with treatment 2 (without rice hulls, 0.05% supplemental enzyme) had the lowest feed intake and feed conversion ratio in whole period of the experiment. Results showed that diet diluting up to 20 % during 16-20 d of age, with or without Endofeed-W supplemental enzyme had no adverse effect on broiler chickens performance.


Part-of-speech (POS) tagging and chunking have been used in tasks targeting learner English; however, to the best our knowledge, few studies have evaluated their performance and no studies have revealed the causes of POS-tagging/chunking errors in detail. Therefore, we investigate performance and analyze the causes of failure. We focus on spelling errors that occur frequently in learner English. We demonstrate that spelling errors reduced POS-tagging performance by 0.23% owing to spelling errors, and that a spell checker is not necessary for POS-tagging/chunking of learner English.


Serum testosterone (T) concentrations in 106 umbilical venous bloods and 104 neonatal venous bloods, which were obtained from preterm (32-36w) and term (36-41w) infants, were measured by RIA. Cord T levels of boys were higher in preterm infants than in term infants, and those of preterm infants were higher in boys than in girls. Neonatal T levels of girls decreased following delivery. But those of boys increased after 10 days of life. T levels were higher in boys than in girls at 11-30 days of life. Differences between preterm and term infants were not significant.


This paper reports a simple, rapid, reliable and environmentally friendly gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) method for analyzing polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) in edible oils and fats. The fat sample was first dissolved in acetonitrile while oils were loaded directly onto a solid phase extraction cartridge. PAHs were eluted with acetonitrile. Owing to the background interference, GC-MS was found to be applicable for 4 European Union (EU) priority PAHs (benzo[a]pyrene, benz[a]anthracene, benzo[b]fluoranthene and chrysene) in various types of edible oils and fats, but not for 15+1 EU-priority PAHs. An adequate linear relationship was obtained in the studied concentration range (0.1–60.0 μg kg−1) in samples; analytical limits of detection and quantification were 0.1 and 0.25 μg kg−1, respectively. Due to the lack of a certified reference material, spiked recovery and a FAPAS quality control material were employed to assess the accuracy. The mean spiked recoveries for 4 PAHs, studied at concentration levels of 0.25 (method limit of quantification (MLOQ)), 1.0 and 2.0 μg kg−1, ranged from 86 to 114%. Precision values, expressed as relative standard deviation, were below 10% at aforementioned spiking levels. Extraction and cleanup of a batch of 20 samples can be completed within an hour by one worker. The developed method was successfully applied for the PAH determination in real commercial samples, including lard, olive, corn, peanut, sunflower seed, rapeseed, sesame and vegetable oil.


In this chapter we will draw on work from our project, Opening doors to
mathematically-demanding programmes in Higher Education and in particular on
four of the project's recent papers (Black, Davis, Hernandez-Martinez, Pampaka,
Wake, & Williams, under review; Hernandez-Martinez, Black, Williams, Davis,
Pampaka, & Wake, 2008; Williams, 2007; Williams, Black, Hernandez-Martinez,
Davis, Hutcheson, Nicholson, & Wake, 2007) to demonstrate three distinct
methodological frameworks, based on 'discursive psychology', a narrative
approach to identity, and cultural-historical activity theory (CHAT) respectively.
The first two of these papers analysed interview data to gain insight into how
different students formulate different aspirations and identities in regard to
mathematics. The latter two increasingly draw on a broader set of case study data
that includes observations of classrooms and interviews of observed students and
their teachers, and indeed managers and principals in the colleges where the
learners were studying. (Continues...).


The aim of this study was to evaluate the performance of four ground filtering algorithms to generate digital terrain models (DTMs) from airborne light detection and ranging (LiDAR) data. The study area is a forest environment located in Washington state, USA with distinct classes of land use and land cover (e.g., shrubland, grassland, bare soil, and three forest types according to tree density and silvicultural interventions: closed-canopy forest, intermediate-canopy forest, and open-canopy forest). The following four ground filtering algorithms were assessed: Weighted Linear Least Squares (WLS), Multi-scale Curvature Classification (MCC), Progressive Morphological Filter (PMF), and Progressive Triangulated Irregular Network (PTIN). The four algorithms performed well across the land cover, with the PMF yielding the least number of points classified as ground. Statistical differences between the pairs of DTMs were small, except for the PMF due to the highest errors. Because the forestry sector requires constant updating of topographical maps, open-source ground filtering algorithms, such as WLS and MCC, performed very well on planted forest environments. However, the performance of such filters should also be evaluated over complex native forest environments.


Retroviruses have important roles to play in medicine, evolution, and biology. A key step towards understanding the effect of retroviruses on hosts is identifying them in the host genome. Detecting retroviruses using sequence alignment is difficult because are very diverse and have high mutation rates. We propose a fast, accurate algorithm for detecting retroviruses that uses supervised machine learning and three sets of features. One set of novel features identify the characteristic reading frame structure of retroviruses. The other two sets include features that have been used by other researchers for exon finding. Our algorithm distinguishes retroviral genomes from non-coding sequences and endogenous retroviruses from non-coding sequences and from genes with high accuracy. It also distinguishes endogenous retroviruses from intact retroviral genomes, lentiviruses from other retroviruses, all with high accuracy.


Monoalkylation of aniline can be readily achieved using trichloroacetimidate as an alkylating agent and a Bronsted acid, such as (±)-camphorsulfonic acid, as a catalyst. In this study, systematic theoretical calculations were performed to understand the reaction mechanism for the monoalkylation of 2,5-dichloroaniline with trichloroacetimidate catalyzed by (±)-camphorsulfonic acid; moreover, the judgement about whether the reaction takes place via an SN1 or SN2 mechanism was elaborated. The two possible proton-transfer reaction mechanisms proposed herein based on the experimental results were investigated; moreover, another two possible reaction mechanisms involving the activation of both 2,5-dichloroaniline and trichloroacetimidate by (±)-camphorsulfonic acid via dual hydrogen-bonding activation modes were evaluated. The calculated results suggest that the reaction between 2,5-dichloroaniline and trichloroacetimidate catalyzed by (±)-camphorsulfonic acid preferentially occurs through the SN1 mechanism based on the dual hydrogen-bonding activation modes.


AACR Annual Meeting-- Apr 12-16, 2008; San Diego, CA

4850

A great number of cancer studies have shown that most of the abnormalities leading to malignancies involve inactivation of tumor suppressor molecules associated with the retinoblastoma (RB) protein pathway. We therefore tried to detect cyclin-dependent kinase (CDK) inhibitor p15INK4b-inducing agents and found that gefitinib (ZD1839, Iressa) could up-regulate p15INK4b expression. Gefitinib has been shown to block epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) phosphorylation and its downstream pathways such as phosphatidylinositol 3'-kinase (PI3K)-Akt and mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK)/extracellular signal-regulated kinase (ERK) cascades. However, the mechanism responsible for the differential sensitivity of the signaling pathways to gefitinib remains unclear. We here show that gefitinib up-regulates p15INK4b by inhibition of the MAPK/ERK pathway, resulting in RB hypophosphorylation and G1 arrest in human immortalized keratinocyte HaCaT cells. Moreover, mouse embryo fibroblasts (MEFs) lacking p15INK4b were resistant to the growth inhibitory effects of gefitinib compared to wild-type MEFs. Additionally, the status of ERK phosphorylation was related to the anti-proliferative activity of gefitinib in human colon cancer HT-29 and Colo320DM cell lines. Our results suggest that induction of p15INK4b by inhibition of the MAPK/ERK pathway is associated with the anti-proliferative effects of gefitinib.


An optical carrier generation approach is presented for cellular millimeter-wave radio systems. The well-known methods distribute the millimeter wave signal via fibers. They have drawbacks because they need very high-speed photonic compo nents that are expensive. This problem is overcome by the new approach utilizing an optically transmitted low-frequency reference signal to generate the millimeter wave carrier. The new approach applies inexpensive photonic components and is less sensitive to the fiber dispersion.


Methods for classifying objects based on spatially sampled electromagnetic induction data taken in the time or frequency domain are developed and analyzed. To deal with nuisance parameters associated with the position of the object relative to the sensor as well as the object orientation, a computationally tractable physical model explicit in these unknowns is developed. The model is also parameterized by a collection of decay constants (or equivalently Laplace‐plane poles) whose values in theory are independent of object position and orientation. These poles are used as features for classification. The overall algorithm consists of two stages. First, we estimate the values of the unknown parameters and then we do classification. Classification is done by comparing either the raw data or some low‐dimensional collection of features extracted from the data to entries in a library. The library can be constructed using either simulated or calibration data. A maximum likelihood method is developed and analyzed for the problem of joint pole, location, and orientation parameter determination. Here we examine and compare two classification schemes. The first classification method is based on data residuals generated from estimated signal parameters. This scheme performs well in low SNR cases. The second is based on estimated pole values themselves, which performs well in high SNR cases. We validate our methods on both simulated and field data taken from frequency and time domain sensors.


The electronic band structures, density of states (DOS) and optical properties of BiOCl Crystal are investigated using the density functional theory under the local density approximation (LDA). The obtained electronic band structure show that BiOCl crystal has an indirect forbidden band gap of 2.45 eV. The structural optimization for BiOCl has been performed using the LDA. The result of the structure optimization of BiOCl have been compared with the experimental results and have been found to be in good agreement with these results. The linear photon-energy dependent dielectric functions and some optical properties such as the energy-loss function, the effective number of valence electrons and the effective optical dielectric constant are calculated. Keywords: BiOCl, Ab-inito, band structure, optical properties.


Objective: To estimate the intensity of nutritional stress among the diabetic patients. Background: Non-Communicable diseases (NCDs) are the leading cause of morbidity and mortality in Pakistan. The WHO report evaluated diabetes at the fourth position among the four types of NCD's, this accounts for 1.5 million deaths annually. Nutritional stress depends on what we give to our body, whether it is toxin loaded, chemically constituted platefuls of food and expect it to cope without a grumble. As, diabetes is metabolic syndrome so there is an altered carbohydrate and fat metabolism in these patients that will lead to the development of nutritional stress in these patients. Methodology: A cross sectional survey based study was conducted at a local hospital including diabetic patients on anti-diabetic medicines. Demographic data, medical history and drug use duration and dosage were investigated as well as intensity of nutritional stress was calculated by Sadaf stress scale (SSS). The patients with severe and psychological and mental illness or any other chronic illness or patients who were failed to provide reliable information were excluded from study. Result: The total of 42 patients have participated in the study out of that 50% have reported mild nutritional stress and 36% have reported moderate nutritional stress. The most common reported symptom of nutritional stress includes sleep problem, abdominal bloating, incomplete emptying and sugars and carb craving. Conclusion: The patients have reported the nutritional stress due to the altered carbohydrate and fat metabolism and the use of anti-diabetic medicine further increases the intensity of nutritional stress. The symptoms that are reported in diabetic patients are not associated with diabetes instead occur as a result of anti-diabetic medication use. Such as, sleep problem usually associated with increased stress, increased blood pressure, impaired control of blood glucose, and increased inflammation.


We consider a macroscopic multi-population traffic flow model on networks accounting for the presence of drivers (or autonomous vehicles) using navigation devices to minimize their instantaneous travel cost to destination. The strategic choices of each population differ in the degree of information about the system: while part of the agents knows only the structure of the network and minimizes the traveled distance, others are informed of the current traffic distribution, and can minimize their travel time avoiding the most congested areas. In particular, the different route choices are computed solving eikonal equations on the road network and they are implemented at road junctions. The impact on traffic flow efficiency is illustrated by numerical experiments. We show that, even if the use of routing devices contributes to alleviate congestion on the whole network, it also results in increased traffic on secondary roads. Moreover, the generalized use of real-time information can even deteriorate the efficiency of the network.


INTRODUCTION
The misleading aspects of appendicitis are multiple. We report an observation, original not only from a clinical and bacteriological point of view but also because of the presence of a portal vein thrombosis.

OBSERVATION
A 48 year-old man was hospitalized for prolonged fever. Examination revealed a thrombosis of the portal vein. Several hemocultures were positive for Prevotella melaninogenica. There was no abnormality in blood crasis and/or thrombophilia. Since the digestive and endoscopic control was negative, as well as the scanographic and sonographic exploration of the appendix area, exploratory laparotomy was performed and revealed an abscess on the appendix, which was responsible for the clinical, biological and radiological images. Appendectomy led to complete, immediate and permanent regression of the fever.

COMMENTS
The discovery of a Prevotella-type germ disputes the pathogenicity of such an anaerobic germ, at distance from a site where it is normally saprophyte.


Purpose

The purpose of the paper is to examine the corporate social responsibility (CSR) – earnings response coefficient (ERC) relation in the code-law tradition and the early stage of CSR practice to fill the research gap in the literature on CSR–ERC relation.

Design/methodology/approach

The authors use an association framework for the study. They use the firms listed on Korea Stock Exchange because Korea is classified as a code-law country and most of firms in Korea are in the early stages of CSR development, and Korean samples are considered credible and stable because of the effective financial reforms initiated by Korean government in the late 1990s. The authors collected data from the two data sources: KisValue and Korea Corporate Governance Service.

Findings

The authors find the following. First, CSR is negatively associated with ERC, which indicates that the ability of earnings to capture CSR implication is lower under the circumstances of the code-law and the early stage of CSR development. Second, political sensitivity (business group effect) is positively (negatively) associated with CSR–ERC relation, which means that the politically noticeable CSR concerns strengthen the CSR–ERC relation, and the inclusion of a firm in a business group weakens the CSR–ERC relation.

Research limitations/implications

The paper derives theoretical implications on the quality of earnings reflecting CSR activities, provides practical implications to the investors who target international capital markets and is expected to help broaden the understanding of CSR–ERC relations in international capital markets.

Practical implications

The paper provides practical implications to the investors who target international capital markets. Regarding the interpretation of accounting earnings that contain information on CSR activities, the legal origin and the CSR development stages are considered as key factors. Specifically, in the code-law and the early CSR environment, the potential benefits of CSR activities tend to be evaluated optimistically and reflected aggressively in reported earnings. Thus, if investors are in a similar international investment environment, they may need to recalibrate estimates in their decision model with additional CSR information from non-financial sources (e.g. sustainability reports).

Originality/value

The paper is based on the international institutional theory and the discussion of CSR development stages. The international institutional theory states that the legal origin is one of the factors that can help explain the differential aggressiveness of reported earnings by country. In addition, the discussion of CSR stages argues that the CSR practices can be differentially implemented by CSR stages. The authors try to fill the gap in the existing literature by conducting an empirical study based on data from Korea Stock Exchange.


Annual rural incomes in Southern Africa show large rainfall-induced fluctuations. Variable rainfall has serious implications for agro-pastoral activities (crop cultivation and livestock keeping), whereas wildlife and tourism are less affected. The aim of this paper is to investigate the role of wildlife income in reducing rainfall-induced fluctuations in households' annual incomes. We analyse costs and benefits from agro-pastoral systems in southeastern Zimbabwe by means of a two-tier longitudinal survey and wildlife benefits through analysis of wildlife revenues. We use the portfolio theory framework to investigate whether wildlife conservation has the potential for farmers to reduce risk associated with agricultural production. Results show that even though wildlife income is small, it tends to be less volatile than income from the agro-pastoral system. Furthermore, the addition of wildlife as an asset to the rural farmers' portfolio of assets showed that wildlife can be used as a hedge asset to offset risk from agricultural production without compromising on return. The potential of diversification using wildlife is, however, limited since agriculture and wildlife assets are positively correlated. We conclude that revenues from wildlife have some potential to reduce annual household income fluctuations, but only to a limited extent. We argue that if wildlife is organised on a more commercial basis, a more substantial role can be played by wildlife income in reducing variations in rural households' incomes.


An improved diaphragm design for use with a gasket in a pressure vessel manway opening to prevent leakage of a pressurized fluid was developed by B&W Canada. The design was developed for high pressure typical of conditions in the primary side of a PWR steam generators. The sealing is achieved by a spiral-wound graphite filled gasket which is confined in a separate diaphragm groove. The diaphragm has an internal radial groove which uses strong spring back and the pressure of the fluid to increase and maintain the gasket seating load. As a result, this design provides a self-energizing joint which can accommodate changes in gasket contact pressure due to cover rotation, stud elongation and change in fluid pressure and temperature. Finite Element (FE) Analysis indicates that a more uniform distribution of gasket contact pressure along the radial gasket width is obtained and thus the sealing performance of the gasket is improved.Copyright © 2006 by ASME


AIM
To investigate whether hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection activates DNA damage response and DNA repair cofactors inhibit HBV infection and replication.

METHODS
Human hepatocyte cell line HL7702 was studied. Immunoblotting was performed to test the expression of ataxia telangiectasia-mutated (ATM)-Rad3-related protein (ATR), p21 and the level of phosphorylation of Chk1, p53, H2AX, ATM in HBV-infected or non-infected-cells. Special short RNAi oligos was transfected to induce transient ATR knockdown in HL7702. ATR-ATM chemical inhibitors caffeine (CF) and theophylline (TP), or Chk1 inhibitor 7-hydroxystaurosporine (UCN01) was studied to determine whether they suppress cellular DNA damage response and MG132 inhibits proteasome.

RESULTS
The ATR checkpoint pathway, responding to single-strand breaks in DNA, was activated in response to HBV infection. ATR knockdown cells decreased the HBV DNA yields, implying that HBV infection and replication could activate and exploit the activated DNA damage response. CF/TP or UCN01 reduced the HBV DNA yield by 70% and 80%, respectively. HBV abrogated the ATR-dependent DNA damage signaling pathway by degrading p21, and introduction of the p21 protein before HBV infection reduced the HBV DNA yield. Consistent with this result, p21 accumulation after MG132 treatment also sharply decreased the HBV DNA yield.

CONCLUSION
HBV infection can be treated with therapeutic approaches targeting host cell proteins by inhibiting a cellular gene required for HBV replication or by restoring a response abrogated by HBV, thus providing a potential approach to the prevention and treatment of HBV infection.


We report a case of a 24-year old male presented with cough and breathlessness with diabetes mellitus and diagnosed as a case of bloom syndrome. He was a product of consanguineous marriage, having short stature, dolicocephaly, polydactyly, prominent nose with telangiectasia face. The respiratory system examination revealed bilateral coarse crepitations and wheezes and the chest X-ray revealed emphysema with right middle zone inhomogenous opacity. Also, CT thorax examination revealed bilateral cystic bronchiectasis with bronchiolitis obliterans. Bloom's syndrome was diagnosed on the basis of clinical features.


ABSTRACT Although the public service logic (PSL) has been an important equipoise to the predominant goods-manufacturing logic, there is potential to broaden its scope. An explicit integration of social context may contribute to an enhanced conceptual understanding of the PSL, at the same time addressing a major challenge in healthcare: disparities among population groups. A 'representative co-production' approach is suggested. In such an approach, group representatives' knowledge and skills are used in evaluating, designing, and delivering services with the purpose of supporting other group members' value co-creation. A case is provided, demonstrating representative co-production in access to preventive health services.


Fungi are very promising biological objects for the green synthesis of nanoparticles. Biogenic synthesis of nanoparticles using different mycological cultures and substances obtained from them is a promising, easy and environmentally friendly method. By varying the synthesis conditions, the same culture can be used to produce nanoparticles with different sizes, shapes, stability in colloids and, therefore, different biological activity. Fungi are capable of producing a wide range of biologically active compounds and have a powerful enzymatic system that allows them to form nanoparticles of various chemical elements. This review attempts to summarize and provide a comparative analysis of the currently accumulated data, including, among others, our research group's works, on the variety of the characteristics of the nanoparticles produced by various fungal species, their mycelium, fruiting bodies, extracts and purified fungal metabolites.


EVALUATION of the reproductive system in a mare should assess whether she has the potential to become pregnant and carry a foal successfully through to term. While unforeseen problems can always occur, there are a group of procedures, collectively known as a 'pre-breeding check', that can help to decide whether or not a mare is suitable for breeding. The suitability for breeding does not refer to the quality of the mare or her temperament; rather it is an assessment of the genital health of that particular animal. This article describes a clinical protocol for the investigation of the reproductive system of a mare prior to breeding that can readily be performed by a veterinary surgeon under normal conditions. The results of such an examination should be recorded in a systematic and accurate manner.


Introduction: Fine needle aspiration biopsy (FNAB) is a routinely used investigation in the evaluation of lymph node pathologies. However, there exists a lack of uniformity in cytopathology reporting owing to the nonavailability of standard guidelines. Recently, a novel system for reporting lymph node cytopathology has been proposed. The present study aimed to analyze the utility of the proposed system in cytopathology reporting in our institution. Materials: FNABs of lymph nodes performed over a period of 5 years were categorized as per the proposed Sydney system. The diagnoses on cytopathology were correlated with histopathologic diagnoses to assess the diagnostic accuracy. The rate of malignancy (ROM) for each category was calculated. Results: A total of 747 lymph node FNABs were included in the study. Histopathology was available in 262 cases. ROM in categories I–V was 26.3%, 7.2%, 76.9%, 82.3%, and 100.0%, respectively. The sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value, and negative predictive value of FNAB when considering category L3 to represent benign cytopathology were 84.2%, 97.5%, 97.1%, and 86.2%, respectively. The sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value, and negative predictive value of FNAB when considering category L3 to represent malignant cytopathology were 92.56%, 95.08%, 94.9%, and 92.8%, respectively. Conclusion: The study substantiates the usefulness of the proposed Sydney system in lymph node cytopathology in enhancing better communication between clinicians and cytopathologists. The use of ancillary techniques like immunocytochemistry and flow cytometry will aid in arriving at a more precise diagnosis.


Atmospheric pressure plasma liquid deposition- APPLD, combines atmospheric pressure plasma with injection of atomised liquid from the delivery nozzle directly into the plasma. As such, the liquid within each droplet is protected from the plasma, and is carried intact to the surface, where it spreads and polymerises to form a conformal, high-value functional coating, which retains the properties of the original precursor molecule.

 The relationship between the chemistry of surfaces modified or deposited using this technique and the plasma deposition parameters has been investigated using a complementary suite of surface analytical techniques: contact angle analysis, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy and atomic force microscopy.

 It has been shown that atmospheric pressure plasma (APP) can lead to the same level of oxidation as corona discharge. The APP has been shown to be less damaging to the substrate, and leads to a reduction in the formation of low molecular weight oxidised materials, despite the use of higher energy densities.

 A new methodology for curve-fitting of the XPS Si 2p and C 1s core levels of siloxane materials has been developed using siloxane standards. This method has been expanded to be used on siloxane coatings thinner than the depth of analysis of XPS. This enabled the chemistry of the coatings to be determined without the influence of the substrate.

 The chemistry of siloxane coatings deposited on poly(ethylene terephthalate) film have been related to the plasma parameters utilised during deposition. Up to 95% polymeric siloxane [(CH3)3SiO1/2 and (CH3)2SiO2/2] have been retained for deposition of poly(dimethylsiloxane) precursor. The use of a poly(hydrogenmethylsiloxane) precursor led to a more oxidised coating, with up to 25% siloxane in (CH3)SiO3/2 environment. The trends in deposition rate for PDMS and PHMS were also found to be different.

 Siloxane coatings durable to immersion in boiling water for 30 minutes have been achieved by plasma treatment of the substrate prior to deposition, and by plasma treatment of the coating following deposition. It is believed that improved grafting and enhanced crosslinking, respectively are the mechanisms behind this performance improvement.


The witches' broom disease caused by the fungus Crinipellis perniciosa is the main phytossanitary constraint for cacao production in Brazil. The integrated management of the disease involves resistance as one of the components. The breeding program conducted by the Brazilian Institution, CEPLAC is directed toward the pyramidation of resistance genes from different sources to achieve a more durable resistance. This study aimed to identify sources of resistance in progenies of cacao accessions collected in the basins of ten Amazonian rivers and compared to progenies from the Peruvian clones 'Scavina 6' and 'Sacavina 12'. Progenies from 40 Amazonian accessions and 'Scavina' were evaluated in the field for six years for witches' broom resistance through multivariate and repeated measurement analyses evaluating the effect of progeny, area, block, year, and their interactions. There were differences in the mean number of vegetative brooms on some Amazonian progenies and 'Scavina' descendants. There was an increase in the number of vegetative brooms in the last year for 'Scavina' progenies, but that was not observed for the Amazonian progenies 64, 66, 156, 194, 195, 269 and 274. There were different gene/alleles for resistance in the Amazonian progenies in comparison to the traditional 'Scavina' accessions. These new sources of resistance will be important for pyramiding resistance genes and consequently increasing the stability and durability of the resistance to witches' broom.


In this study, we grew Cu co-doped single crystals of a topological superconductor candidate SrxBi2Se3, and studied their structural and transport properties. We reveal that the addition of even as small an amount of Cu co-dopant as 0.6 atomic %, completely suppresses superconductivity in SrxBi2Se3. Critical temperature (∼2.7 K) is rather robust with respect to co-doping. We show that Cu systematically increases the electron density and lattice parameters a and c. Our results demonstrate that superconductivity in SrxBi2Se3-based materials is induced by significantly lower Sr doping level x<0.02 than commonly accepted x∼0.06, and it strongly depends on the specific arrangement of Sr atoms in the host matrix. The critical temperature in superconductive Sr-doped Bi2Se3 is shown to be insensitive to carrier density.


When subjected to long period ground motions, high-rise buildings would sustain large cumulative inelastic deformations. Beam-to-column connections with RC floor slab are tested to examine the existing performance and effect of seismic retrofit of existing high-rise buildings. Four field welded beam-to-column connections are prepared in reference to the details of high-rise buildings built in 1960s-1970s. Three types of retrofit are adopted for the beam ends, namely welding along the shear plate, attachment of wing plate haunches, and attachment of a vertical haunch. For the unretrofitted connection, presence of a floor slab is attributed to the fracture in the bottom flange. The three retrofitted connections showed three different failure modes. A plastic theory is applied to interpret the resisting mechanisms, indicating reasonable correlation with the corresponding test results.


Does a better monitoring of officials' actions (transparency) lower the incidence of corruption? Using a common agency game with imperfect information, we show that the answer depends on the measure of corruption that one uses. More transparency lowers the prevalence of corruption but raises the average bribe as it motivates the corruptor to bid more aggressively for the agent's favor. We show that transparency affects the prevalence of corruption at the margin through a competitive effect and an efficiency effect.


"What characterizes an acceptable theory of self-realization?" The thrust of the present dissertation is towards seeking an answer to this central problem, which stems from the fundamental human experience that life involves change, and that in a modern society such change is often expected to be towards a realization of potentials and the good life for the individual. The dissertation has a three-fold purpose. The first is to clarify the content of five modern theories of self-realization from three academic fields. The theories are those of the psychologist Abraham H. Maslow, the philosophers Charles Taylor and Alan Gewirth, and the theologians Reinhold Niebuhr and Bernard Lonergan. These are methodologically studied by the help of seven analytical questions. The second purpose is to perform a lengthwise comparatative analysis of the five theories, the results of which lead to the third; namely to critically discuss several elements of the reality of human life which have proven to be missing or supressed in much of the material.The theoretical framework for the dissertation runs along two axes: one concerns what is developed as a distinction between internalism and relationalism, and the other is to cast a critical light on the lack of attention paid by the the theories of self-realization to experiences which run counter to optimistic ideas of individual development, such as death, loss and dependence. The dissertation concludes with an outline for a constructive position based on the necessity of a theory's closeness to experience, and on the need for reconcilitation of what may seem to be unabridgeble in human life. A theory of self-realization must do more than formulate positive conditions for change. It must also take into consideration conditions that are not directly related to, and sometimes even run contrary to, realization of the self.


Various power generation technologies, such as wind turbines and solar power plants, have been increasingly installed in renewable energy projects as a result of rising demand and ongoing efforts by global researchers to mitigate environmental effects. The sole source of energy for such generation is nature. The incorporation of the green unit into the power grid also results in volatility. The stabilization of frequencies is critical and depends on the balance of supply and demand. An efficient monitoring scheme called Load Frequency Monitoring (LFM) is introduced to reduce the frequency deviation from its natural state. Specific energy storage systems may be considered to improve the efficiency of the control system. The storage system contributes to the load rate, peak rushing, black start support, etc., in addition to high energy and rapid responsive features. A detailed study of different power storage systems, their current business scenario, and the application of LFM facilities, as well as their analysis and disturbance, is presented in this paper. According to the literature analysis, the current approaches can be divided into two categories: grid and load scale structures. This article also distinguishes between the organized aggregate system and the uncoordinated system control scheme, both of which have advantages and disadvantages in terms of technology.


Digitalization is one of the important symbols in the information society. The construction of digital libraries in universities is a product of the information society as well as the inevitable trend of the development of university libraries. After analyzing the developing status of digital libraries at home and abroad, the paper clarifies the significance of constructing digital libraries in universities, points out the problems existing in the development of digital libraries in universities and puts forward several countermeasures to strengthen the construction of digital libraries in universities in China.


s of Graduate Theses in Education, Teachcrs College, University of Cincinnati, r94o-z943, Vol. IV. Compiled and edited by Carter V. Good and Gordon Hendrick'Samuel L. Greitzer, Elementary Topography and Map Reading. New York: McGraw-Hill Book Co., Inc., 1944. Pp. viii+158. $r.6o. son. Cincinnati, Ohio: Teachers College, University of Cincinnati, I944. Pp. xviii+ 236. BARNETT, DAVID. Living with Music. New York: George W. Stewart, Inc., I944. Pp. 62. $1.50. BEERY, JOHN R. Current Conceptions of Democracy. Teachers College Contributions to Education, No. 888. New York: Teachers College, Columbia University, 1944. PP. vi+1Io. $I.85.


This paper presents the design parameters for a triple junction InGaP/GaAs/Ge space solar cell with a simulated maximum efficiency of 36.28% using Silvaco ATLAS Virtual Wafer Fabrication tool. Design parameters include the layer material, doping concentration, and thicknesses. An initial dual junction InGaP/GaAs model of a known Japanese solar cell was constructed in Silvaco ATLAS to an accuracy of less than 2% with known experimental Voc and Jsc performance results, validating the use of computer modeling to accurately predict solar cell performance. Once confidence of the model's meshing, material property statements, model statements, light file, and numerical methods were established, only the layer doping concentration levels and thicknesses were modified in order to improve the cell's power out efficiency. Simulations of the dual junction cell began by first changing only the doping concentrations and thicknesses to the values obtained from previous work using a genetic algorithm which showed a 0.6% increase in efficiency. Further improvements to the genetic algorithm design parameters showed an overall increase of 0.83% efficiency. Next, a triple junction InGaP/GaAs/Ge cell was modeled by adding a Ge layer to the validated dual junction InGaP/GaAs model. (The triple junction model could not be validated due to lack of published experimental data.) Applying the same process showed increased power output for the triple junction cell. The additional improvement to the genetic algorithm design parameters was principally based on the knowledge that the top InGaP layer is the current limiting layer. Hence, the top layer thickness was maximized until middle and bottom layer shadowing effects began to decrease power output. Over 250 simulations were performed and recorded. Maximum doping concentrations used real world limitations of 5e19 cm−3 for InGaP and GaAs and 3e18 cm−3 for Ge for all simulations. This process produced the design parameters for a 36.28% efficient triple junction solar cell. A provisional patent has been filed for this design.


Abstract 125Te nuclear spin relaxation (NSR) and electrical conductivity measurements were performed on ultrapure single-crystalline paratellurite (α -TeO2) between about 50 K and the melting point (1007 K) at various oxygen partial pressures (1 bar -10-4 bar). At elevated temperatures the NSR rate 1 / T1 and conductivity σ are caused by the diffusive motion of point defects. From the observed p02-dependence of 1/T1 and σ a defect model is developed which is shown to be consistent with the experimental data. The model involves ionic oxygen interstitials (O″i), doubly charged oxygen vacancies (Vö) and charge-compensating electron holes (h•). The observed pressure dependence suggests that the NSR rate is induced by the motion of Vö while the conductivity is due to the mobility of h• . Evaluation of the data leads to 3.3 eV for the incorporation enthalpy of oxygen on interstitial sites and to 4.5 eV for the formation enthalpy of oxygen Frenkel pairs (O″i - Vö). Further, the chemical diffusion coefficient Dc is found to be caused by the ambipolar diffusion of O″i and h• .At 950 K we obtained from both the NSR and conductivity experiments Dc = (1 ± 0.3) • 10-5 cm2/s.


HIFI is one of the Esprit III information-processing system and software projects. The goal of HIFI is to create a set of tools that can be used to cheaply and quickly build a hypertext-like interface on top of an external database-information system. The interface provides interactive navigational access to information both within a database of one kind and across databases of different kinds, including multimedia. HIFI's model for the navigational interface, mapping strategy to map the interface model to database structures, and architecture for the execution tools are discussed.<<ETX>>


The Cadzow rank-reduction method can be effectively utilized in simultaneously denoising and reconstructing 5D seismic data that depends on four spatial dimensions. The classic version of Cadzow rank-reduction method arranges the 4D spatial data into a level-four block Hankel/Toeplitz matrix and then applies truncated singular value decomposition (TSVD) for rank-reduction. When the observed data is extremely noisy, which is often the feature of real seismic data, traditional TSVD cannot be adequate for attenuating the noise and reconstructing the signals. The reconstructed data tends to contain a significant amount of residual noise using the traditional TSVD method, which can be explained by the fact that the reconstructed data space is a mixture of both signal subspace and noise subspace. In order to better decompose the block Hankel matrix into signal and noise components, we introduced a damping operator into the traditional TSVD formula, which we call the damped rank-reduction method. The damped rank-reduction method can obtain a perfect reconstruction performance even when the observed data has extremely low signal-to-noise ratio (SNR). The feasibility of the improved 5D seismic data reconstruction method was validated via both 5D synthetic and field data examples. We presented comprehensive analysis of the data examples and obtained valuable experience and guidelines in better utilizing the proposed method in practice. Since the proposed method is convenient to implement and can achieve immediate improvement, we suggest its wide application in the industry.


Objective: The goal of this study was to compare the microRNA (miRNA) profile of Parkinson's disease (PD) frontal cortex with normal control brain, allowing for the identification of PD specific signatures as well as study the disease-related phenotypes of onset age and dementia. Methods: Small RNA sequence analysis was performed from prefrontal cortex for 29 PD samples and 33 control samples. After sample QC, normalization and batch correction, linear regression was employed to identify miRNAs altered in PD, and a PD classifier was developed using weighted voting class prediction. The relationship of miRNA levels to onset age and PD with dementia (PDD) was also characterized in case-only analyses. Results: One twenty five miRNAs were differentially expressed in PD at a genome-wide level of significance (FDR q < 0.05). A set of 29 miRNAs classified PD from non-diseased brain (93.9% specificity, 96.6% sensitivity). The majority of differentially expressed miRNAs (105/125) showed an ordinal relationship from control, to PD without dementia (PDN), to PDD. Among PD brains, 36 miRNAs classified PDD from PDN (sensitivity = 81.2%, specificity = 88.9%). Among differentially expressed miRNAs, miR-10b-5p had a positive association with onset age (q = 4.7e-2). Conclusions: Based on cortical miRNA levels, PD brains were accurately classified from non-diseased brains. Additionally, the PDD miRNA profile exhibited a more severe pattern of alteration among those differentially expressed in PD. To evaluate the clinical utility of miRNAs as potential clinical biomarkers, further characterization and testing of brain-related miRNA alterations in peripheral biofluids is warranted.


ABSTRACT The hawksbill sea turtle (Eretmochelys imbricata) is a critically endangered species encountered by recreational divers in marine protected areas (MPAs) circumtropically. Few studies, however, have examined the impacts of recreational diving on hawksbill behaviours. In 2014, we collected turtle sightings surveys and dive logs from 14 dive operations, and conducted in-water observations of 61 juvenile hawksbill turtles in Roatán, Honduras, to determine if differences in dive site use and diver behaviours affected sea turtle behaviours in the Roatán Marine Park. Sightings distributions did not vary with diving pressure during an 82-day study period. We found the amount of time turtles spent eating, investigating and breathing decreased when approached by divers. Our results suggest diver interactions may negatively impact sea turtle behaviours, however it is unknown if recreational diving has a cumulative effect on turtles over time. We recommend that MPA managers should implement monitoring programmes that assess the impacts of tourism on natural resources. We have established monitoring of hawksbills as representatives of the marine habitat in an MPA, which has the potential to be heavily impacted by dive tourism, and provide recommendations for continued monitoring of the resource.


The water-soluble catalyst precursor [[(2,4,6-(3,5-(CF3)2C6H3)3-C6H2)-N═C(H)-(3-(9-anthryl)-2-O-C6H3)-κ(2)-N,O]Ni(CH3)(TPPTS)] (TPPTS = tri(sodiumphenylsulfonate)phosphine) polymerizes ethylene to aqueous dispersions of highly ordered nanoscale crystals (crystallinity χ(DSC) ≥ 90%) of strictly linear polyethylene (<0.7 methyl-branches/1000 carbon atoms, Mn = 4.2 × 10(5) g mol(-1)). SAXS in combination with cryo-TEM confirms this unusually high degree of order (χ(SAXS) = 82%) and shows the nanoparticles to possess a very thin amorphous layer on the crystalline lamella, just sufficient to accommodate a loop, but likely no entanglements. This ideal chain-folded structure is corroborated by annealing studies on the aqueous-dispersed nanoparticles, which show that the chain can move through the crystal as evidenced by lamella thickening without disturbing the crystalline order as concluded from an unaltered low thickness of the amorphous layers. These ideal chain-folded polyethylene nanocrystals arise from the crystallization in the confined environment of a nanoparticle and a deposition of the growing polymer chain on the crystal growth front as the chain is formed by the catalyst.


Backdoor attacks (BAs) are an emerging form of adversarial attack typically against deep neural network image classifiers. The attacker aims to have the classifier learn to classify to a target class when test images from one or more source classes contain a backdoor pattern, while maintaining high accuracy on all clean test images. Reverse-Engineering-based Defenses (REDs) against BAs do not require access to the training set but only to an independent clean dataset. Unfortunately, most existing REDs rely on an unrealistic assumption that all classes except the target class are source classes of the attack. REDs that do not rely on this assumption often require a large set of clean images and heavy computation. In this paper, we propose a Lagrangian-based RED (L-RED) that does not require knowledge of the number of source classes (or whether an attack is present). Our defense requires very few clean images to effectively detect BAs and is computationally efficient. Notably, we detect 56 out of 60 BAs using only two clean images per class in our experiments on CIFAR-10.


Modern lightning protection systems for wind turbine blades with conducting structural elements, e.g., carbon fiber reinforced polymer (CFRP) spar caps, contain equipotential bonding joints to prevent sparking during strikes. Significant current levels are experienced through the joints and the characterization of the electrical contact at the bonding regions is essential for reliable protection. Therefore, this article aims to characterize the contact resistivity of several equipotential bonding joints. The proposed methodology first measures the total resistance of the samples, and then the bulk resistance of the conductive elements is computed using the finite-element method. The latter is required to predict the spreading effects in CFRP components due to the strong anisotropic nature of such materials. After that, the contact resistance is calculated by subtracting the predicted bulk resistances from the measured total resistances. The developed procedure was applied to three typical equipotential bonding materials: expanded copper foil (ECF), biaxial (BIAX) CFRP, and unidirectional (UD) CFRP. Both ECF and BIAX CFRP showed superior contact quality than the UD CFRP, with one to two orders of magnitude smaller contact resistivity.


We continued to improve our previous research. It is improvement of the system which automatically detects fire and performs initial fire fighting. This system is attached to the digestive device of existing products. In this system, the nozzle is automatically directed to the fire position and automatically extinguished if it is judged to be a fire. Infrared cameras are used to judge fire, fire is determined by image processing. After extinguishing the fire, the fire information is transmitted to the smartphone via the user. In this paper, we improved this system. As a result, by installing a fire extinguisher on the ceiling, it was possible to detect a wider range of fires and extinguish the fire.


Abstract Objective: Characterize the prevalence and dimensions of student food insecurity and the associations with academic performance. Participants: An online survey was distributed (November 2017) to 13,897 undergraduates at a midsized, New Jersey Public University; 2,055 (15%) responded. Methods: Demographic, behavioral, and food security data from University IT services, and the survey were combined in a single dataset. The USDA food security index was adapted to assess food insecurity. Results: Forty-eight percent of students were food insecure. Odds were higher for: women, African Americans, Hispanics, students with partial or no meal plan, commuters, and students receiving financial assistance. Food insecurity increased the odds of being among the lower 10% GPA and reduced the odds of being among the upper 10% GPA. Conclusions: Food insecurity among university students is high and is associated with academic performance. Understanding the mechanisms underlying this relationship is essential to design programs to address this problem.


The preclinical analysis of the effectiveness of AZT and new compounds (sulphatized derivate of chitosan (Sch) and adamantileted Sch, contents 10 and 18% of adamantine) prepared on the basis of chitosan (Ch), carried out with the use of the experimental clinical test system (the in vitro model of peripheral blood mononuclears of a concrete patient) developed in laboratory, is presented. Both combinations in concentration 0.01 mkg/ml are decreased HIV antigens till 6.4 and 8.6% accordingly, while whilst initial Sch hare caused less effect in 4-5 fold.


Hyperuricemia is the main cause of gout, an inflammation induced by uric acid deposition in joints. Drugs available present side effects, so there is a need for new treatment alternatives. Lychnophora species are used in folk medicine to treat inflammation, rheumatism and muscle pain. Goyazensolide (10 mg/kg), eremantholide C (25 mg/kg) and lychnopholide (25 mg/kg), sesquiterpene lactones isolated from Lychnophora species were previously studied and showed anti-hyperuricemic effects in mice. However, the mechanisms of this effect were not elucidated. The methodology of this study consisted in treatment of hyperuricemic-induced rats, and comparison between control groups, clinically used anti-hyperuricemic drugs and sesquiterpene lactones. Urine and blood were collected for uric acid quantification. Xanthine oxidase inhibition was measured in liver homogenates. Results showed that all evaluated sesquiterpene lactones presented anti-hyperuricemic activity at the doses of 5 and 10 mg/kg and can act through one or both mechanisms, depending on the dose administrated. Goyazensolide and lychnopholide at dose of 5 mg/kg showed important uricosuric effect. Goyazensolide and lychnopholide at dose of 10 mg/kg, and eremantholide C (5 and 10 mg/kg) presented notable inhibition of hepatic xanthine oxidase activity and uricosuric effect. Thus, these sesquiterpene lactones are promising hypouricemic agent to treat hyperuricemia and gout. © 2019 Sociedade Brasileira de Farmacognosia. Published by Elsevier Editora Ltda. This is an open he CC access article under t


In radio communications, a bandpass-to-lowpass transformation is needed to demodulate the received signal down to baseband. One crucial question in this context is how to effec- tively attenuate the image band signal. For this purpose, inphase/ quadrature (I/Q) signal processing is widely utilized in today's radio receivers. In this paper, a novel structure for obtaining an image-free baseband observation of the received bandpass signal is presented. The starting point is to approximate the needed 90 phase difference between the I and Q branch signals using a simple time delay of one quarter of the carrier cycle. For narrow- band signals, this approach can be used directly to attenuate the inherent "self-image". By using an interference canceller—type of compensation technique, this concept is here generalized to cover also wideband multichannel signals. Furthermore, a closed-form expression to explicitly characterize the obtainable image attenuation is derived. Efficient implementation structures for digital radios utilizing periodically nonuniform subsampling are presented, and the validity of the proposed approach is further illustrated through simulation and design examples.


Purpose

This study aims to investigate the factors that drive the tourist customer experience around theming. Theming is considered vital to creating a memorable customer impression.

Design/methodology/approach

The cruise industry was chosen as the empirical setting. A total of 328 cruise travelers returned valid questionnaires during a cruise in March 2010. The questionnaire was developed based on a conceptual model of components (name, employee interaction, lighting, design and music) hypothesized to contribute to a themed cruise environment.

Findings

Name, employee interaction and lighting were found to be the most important drivers for the customer experience. Theming was less reliant on design and music.

Research limitations/implications

This research was limited to one narrow context. Further research on other ships, itineraries and cruise lines should clarify whether factors affecting theme perception are the same across the cruise industry.

Practical implications

Cruise industry decision makers should consider the naming of spaces, lighting and employee interaction when designing themed experiences.

Originality/value

Theming has received little attention in the research literature. This study is a unique contribution to our understanding of this particular field.


This research aims to examine parents' experience in distance education during the epidemic process. The research is designed as a case study from qualitative research patterns. A semi-structured interview technique as a data collection tool has been used for the study. The data obtained have been analyzed by descriptive and content analysis methods. Typical case sampling method has been used in the study. The study group consist of 48 parents of three different primary schools. According to the results of the research, parents carried out educational activities such as preparing, supporting students, monitoring and conducting activities during the epidemic process. Parents have carried out the educational activities in the epidemic process by providing and participating in the environment for students and contributing to them. Parents evaluate educational activities in the epidemic process in three different ways, which are satisfactory, inadequate and limited. Parents have encountered problems with infrastructure, participation, planning and EIN platform in distance education activities during the epidemic process. It is seen that the proposals for distance education activities in the epidemic process are related to the infrastructure of the EIN platform, preparation for the process, planning the process, the implementation of the content and activities used in education.


1569 The purpose of this study is to elucidate possible mechanism(s) of PDEF protein loss during breast cancer progression. Cancer death is due in large part to metastases. One of the more interesting challenges is to understand the cellular changes that occur during progression towards more invasive cancer. PDEF is an Ets transcription factor with expression restricted to tissues with high epithelial content, including breast, prostate and colon. At the mRNA level PDEF overexpression has been proposed as a diagnostic marker of invasive cancer. However, PDEF protein is often reduced in invasive tissue and lost in invasive cancer cells. Indeed, re-expression of PDEF protein in invasive cells lines inhibits cell growth, migration and invasion. To date, the processes involved in the loss of PDEF protein during cancer progression have not been elucidated. The emerging field of microRNAs (miRNAs) has led to the functional discovery of their role in many types of cancer. However, the identification and validation of specific targets has been limited. miRNAs function post-transcriptionally by promoting either mRNA degradation or inhibiting mRNA translation. To explore the potential role for miRNAs in the post-transcriptional regulation of PDEF, a bioinformatics approach identified multiple miRNA recognition sequences within the 3' untranslated region (UTR) of PDEF. Two miRNAs, miRNA 204 (miR204) and 510 (miR510) were found to be elevated in breast cancer cell lines having high RNA and low PDEF protein levels. Two cell lines were selected as models to test the functional role of these miRNAs in regulation of PDEF protein expression: CAMA-1 (high mRNA, low protein) and MCF7 (high mRNA, high protein). Inhibition of miR204 or miR510 by antisense oligoribonucleotides in CAMA-1 results in an increase in PDEF protein levels without significant affects on PDEF mRNA. Reciprocal overexpression of either miR204 or miR510 in MCF7 cells results in a loss of PDEF protein, without significantly affecting the levels of PDEF mRNA. The functional consequences of miRNA-mediated loss of PDEF include an altered cellular morphology, increased cellular migration and invasion and a more transformed phenotype. Furthermore, we demonstrate that these cellular changes occur through the altered regulation of known PDEF transcriptional targets. In addition, we show for the first time that expression of miR-204 and miR-510 are elevated in human breast tumor samples compared to matched non-tumor samples. Collectively, this study provides for the first time a mechanism for the loss of PDEF protein expression and a unique oncogenic role for these miRNAs during metastatic breast cancer progression.


This paper reports the findings from a series of scoping interviews designed to evaluate, ground and refine the initial understandings, assumptions and concepts of a research team in a larger project about the role of social and tangible technologies in maintaining good habits into old age. Participants' understandings of some basic terms used in the research are presented along with a discussion of their current use of new and established information and communications technologies and the existing barriers to ongoing uptake of emerging technologies. The findings suggest that we question common assumptions about both ageing and technology usage by ageing people, demonstrating the contribution such early scoping interviews can make within design research projects.


High mobility polycrystalline Si thin-film transistors (poly-Si TFTs) are firstly fabricated on flexible stainless-steel substrates 100 /spl mu/m thick through low-temperature processes where both active Si and gate SiO/sub 2/ films are deposited by glow-discharge sputtering and the Si films are crystallized by KrF excimer laser irradiation. The gate SiO/sub 2/ films are sputter-deposited in oxygen atmosphere from the SiO/sub 2/ target. Resulting poly-Si TFTs show excellent characteristics of mobility of 106 cm/sup 2//V/spl middot/s and drain current on-off ratio of as high as 1/spl times/10/sup 6/. Thus, the poly-Si TFTs are very promising for realizing novel flat panel displays of lightweight and rugged LCDs and LEDs.


We aimed to investigate differences between the influence of observing one's own actions and those of others in patients with stroke with hemiplegia. Thirty-four patients with stroke who had experienced a right or left hemispheric lesion (RHL: n = 17; LHL: n = 17) participated in this study. Participants viewed video clips (0.5× speed) of their own stepping movements (SO) as well as those of others (OO). After viewing the video clips, participants were asked to evaluate the vividness of the mental image of the observed stepping movement using a five-point scale, in accordance with that utilized in the Kinesthetic and Visual Imagery Questionnaire (KVIQ). We also examined changes in imagery and execution times following action observation. When all patients were considered, there were no significant differences between SO and OO conditions. However, in the RHL subgroup, KVIQ kinesthetic subscore and changes in imagery and execution times were greater in the OO condition than in the SO condition. In the LHL subgroup, changes in imagery times were greater in the SO condition than in the OO condition. These findings indicated that viewing the movements of others led to more vivid imagery and alteration in performance in patients with right-sided stroke, when compared to viewing one's own movements. Therefore, the present study suggests that clinicians should consider the side of the damaged hemisphere when implementing action observation therapy for patients with stroke.


The Highway Capacity Manual (HCM) uses Percent Time Spent Following (PTSF) as key service measure for assessing the level of service of two-lane highways. However, the indicator is difficult to measure directly in the field. For this reason, its estimation to date has been based on analytical procedures using equations derived from simulations and field observations at representative location based on surrogate measure; as the percent of vehicles traveling with headway less than 3 seconds (3 s). Findings from empirical studies confirmed that the HCM analytical procedures used in estimating PTSF yield results that are inconsistent with the 3 s surrogate measure and mostly overestimate the indicator. This paper presents a review on the estimation of PTSF on two-lane highways and suggests probable approach to substantiate the application of the current practice. Further, the authors of this paper argued that the use of 3 s as surrogate for estimating PTSF based on field observation at a specific point may not represent the actual time spent following over a long segment of two-lane highway since PTSF is space related measure. Hence, the authors suggest the use of test vehicle approach over the highway segment to be evaluated to identify the variables that are required for the development of a representative PTSF measurement model. It is expected that this review and suggestion offered will contribute in advancing performance analysis of two-lane highways.


This paper deals with the classification of four varieties of bulk rice grain using wavelet decomposition techniques. Features for classification were extracted from a 2 level wavelet decomposed image. Three simple statistical features namely; mean, variance and range were extracted from each of the components (approximation, horizontal, vertical and diagonal) of the wavelet decomposed image. The classification was carried out based on these three features using a linear discriminant classifier. The classification accuracies based on wavelet features for different image planes were compared. It is found that the classification accuracies based on blue channel provides better average classification accuracies of 98.5% as compared to other image planes. It is also found that linear discriminant classifier is able to yield better results as compare to Naïve Bayes classifier and K-Nearest Neighbour classifier for bulk rice classification.


Background: Kisspeptins are recognized to be regulators within the hypothalamus-pituitary-gonadal axis and stimulators of GnRH and gonadotrophin secretion in mammals. In mice and sheep it is shown that mRNA expression of the Kiss1 gene and Kiss1R gene, as well as plasma LH concentrations varies between cycle phases. Little is known about sensitivity to kisspeptin between different cycle phases in the dog. Therefore the aim of the study is to find out whether there is a difference in sensitivity to kisspeptin throughout the different stages of the canine estrous cycle and anestrus. Methods: Beagle bitches were treated intravenously with cKP10 (0,5 μg/kg) during anestrus, follicular phase and luteal phase (PIP and PDP). Plasma LH concentrations are measured. Results: In each experimental phase, plasma LH concentrations increased significantly after cKP10 administration. LH response peaks were higher during anestrus and PDP compared to follicular phase and PIP. Conclusion: LH responses show that sensitivity to kisspeptin differs during the estrous cycle and anestrus of the Beagle bitch. LH response is high during anestrus and PDP compared to follicular phase and PIP. More research should be done to confirm our findings and the meaning of high plasma LH response during PDP should be further investigated.


Tired driving is one of the veritable elucidations behind road disasters and passing. Accordingly, prominent confirmation of driver's weakness and its sign is a working examination area. Most of the customary methodologies are eithervehicle based, or poisonous or physiological based. Hardly any techniques are interfering and incorporate the driver, some require extraordinary sensors and data overseeing. As requirements be, in this examination, an irrelevant exertion, constant driver's drowsiness insistence structure is made with exquisite accuracy. In the made structure, a webcam records the video and driver's face is found in each edge using picture overseeing strategies. Facial achievements on the clear face are pointed and thus the eye viewpoint degree, mouth opening degree and nose length degree are chosen and depending on their characteristics, lethargy is seen subject to made adaptable thresholding. PC based learning incorporates have been done inlike way in a pulled back manner. An affectability of 95.58% and expresses of 100% has been created in Support Vector Machine based delineation. As future upgrade Pedestrian unmistakable proof is a main and epic errand in any cleverness video recognition system, as it gives the focal information to semantic vitality about the video accounts. It has an unquestionable augmentation to vehicle applications due to the potential for improving security structures. Keywords: Drowsiness Detection, Eyes Detection, Face Detection, ECG, EOG, EMG, SVM.


Abstract Many metal carbonyl complexes have been synthesized and analyzed as CO-releasing agents. As in many bioactivity assays, differences between in-vitro and in-vivo studies in Myoglobin Assay have been observed. Adjustment of in-vitro conditions to in-vivo conditions is one way to overcoming this problem. Changing the conditions of each in-vivo assay is not possible considering the available grant, material, and labor facilities. In-silico methods are suitable as they provide better in-vitro conditions before experimental procedures. A method which is easy to employ on a basic computer could be more suitable to observe the assay convergence. In this study, global reactivity descriptors were used as an approach to investigate pH differences in myoglobin assay. Global reactivity descriptors of the molecules were compared with myoglobin assay results at different pH values and molecular docking results performed with optimized molecules in different solvents. The following complexes were studied: [Mn(CO)3(bpy)(L)]PF6 (bpy: 2,2-bipyridyl, L: benzylbenzimidazole, 4-chlorobenzylbenzimidazole).


In the late 20th and 21st centuries, implementation of artistic research into the educational system has become increasingly intensive, both in the field of art as well as in the fields where arts collaborate with sciences. The subject of the paper is artistic research in the musical arts; how valuable is a piece of music created as a result of research from an artistic and scientific standpoint? The purpose of our study is to identify common and distinctive features of two different types of creative processes. To determine this, we use empirical and comparative research methods. To solve a scientific problem, we set a task - to compare the process of creating a piece with the process of artistic research, which results into a musical work. As artists describe their own creative process best of all, the paper is based on creative experience of Eka Chabashvili – the author of the current paper - as a composer. Two of her works are selected to describe the course and sequence of events that occurred in consciousness during their creation. The artistic process is divided into three main stages: 1) Source of inspiration and formation of the idea; 2) Transformation of the idea into musical notion and projection; 3) Materialization of the musical idea – its realization. Both compositions represent the combination of different components of artistic and technical ideas. Intuitive and rational tasks interchange with each other. The paper aims to determine the intuitive and rational ways of constructing musical concept.


In recent years there has been increasing interest in measuring subjective well-being in economics; most of the literature on immigrants has however continued to focus on `objective' measures of integration such as employment and education outcomes. This paper aims to complement these studies by analysing the life satisfaction of immigrants once settled in the host country, examining which elements of integration matter for life satisfaction. We find that in terms of simple averages immigrants appear to be less satisfied than natives. However, contrary to the results of some recent papers, this difference can be explained by factors related to economic integration, such as the details of their employment conditions, rather than cultural factors such as feelings of not belonging, which often loom large in the public mind. Also segregation does not affect their life satisfaction per se. While having host country citizenship appears to have a large, significant positive effect in a simple pooled ordinary least squares specification, exploiting a natural experiment of changes in the citizenship law in the host country we find that this is driven by a selection effect rather than an increase in life satisfaction due to obtaining citizenship.


Rather than achieving bis-deprotonation of the phosphine, reaction of Cp2Mn (Cp = cyclopentadienyl) with t-BuPH2 at room temperature yields monodeprotonation of half of the available phosphine in the product (t-BuPH2)(η5-Cp)Mn{μ-(t-BuPH)}2Mn(Cp)(t-BuPH2) (1). This complex comprises a Mn(II) phosphide and is a dimer in the solid state, containing a Mn2P2 diamond core. Consistent with the observation of a relatively short intermetal distance of 2.8717(4) A in 1, DFT analysis of the full structure points to a singlet ground state stabilized by a direct Mn–Mn single bond. This is in line with the diamagnetic character of 1 and an 18-electron count at Mn.


This study provides a detailed comparison of 22 digital, blood pressure monitors intended for home use. Blood pressure and pulse-rate readings from each electronic monitor were compared with concurrent measures obtained using the mercury column and auscultation. Correlation coefficients and linear regressions were performed to evaluate accuracy. Separate analyses of variance were used to determine significant calibration errors for each model. The results showed considerable disparity among available home monitors under controlled testing conditions. Variables associated with accuracy and home use by the layperson are discussed.


In the present study, we conducted microarray gene expression profiling to explore the direction of differentiation of human amnion epithelial cells (hAECs) treated with rosmarinic acid (RA). hAECs have several clinical advantages over other types of stem cells, including availability, low immunogenicity, low rejection rate, non-tumorigenicity, and less ethical constraint. On the other hand, RA is a phenolic compound having several health benefits, including neuroprotective and antidepressant-like activities. In this study, hAECs were isolated from discarded term placenta and were treated with 20 μM RA for 7 days. Microarray gene expression profiling was conducted for three biological replicates of RA-treated and untreated control cells on day 0 and day 7. Gene set enrichment analysis, and gene annotation and pathway analysis were conducted using online data mining tools GSEA and DAVID. Gene expression profiling showed that RA treatment biased hAECs toward ectodermal lineage progression, regulated transcription factors involved in neuronal differentiation, regulated neural specific epigenetic modifiers and several extracellular signaling pathways of neural induction, and significantly inhibited Notch signaling pathway. Gene expression profiling of RA-treated hAECs reveals for the first time a potential role of RA in neural induction and neuronal differentiation of hAECs. Having a naturally occurring compound as differentiation inducer as well as a readily available source of stem cells would have great advantages for the cell-based therapies. Findings from our genome-wide analysis could provide a foundation for further in-depth investigation.


Heart transplantation is an effective means of treating irreversible heart failure in selected patients. Preventing organ rejection requires immunosuppressor treatment with corticosteroids, azathioprine and/or cyclosporine. Bone and joint complications are frequent and increase overall morbidity directly related to anti-rejection therapy. Corticosteroids favour osteopenia which can be detected by measurement of bone density. The risks include spontaneous wedge fractures of the spine and aseptic necrosis. The frequency of complications has been reduced with the use of cyclosporine allowing a reduction in corticosteroids. Raised serum urate levels and increased risk of gout can be induced by cyclosporine. The gout in these patients has a particular course since it appears rapidly after only a few months of hyperuricaemia. Several joints may be involved with production of tophi. Treatment is particularly difficult. Its frequency increases after heart transplantation compared with other organs which can be explained by the more prevalent prescription of diuretics which further aggravate urate secretion. These complications cause further discomfort in transplant recipients.


We compared nectar secretion rates and be e guilds of yellow star-thistle, Centaurea solstitialis, on Santa Cruz Island (USA) and the Northeast Aege an Island of Lesvos (Greece). This plant species is non-native and highly invasive in the western USA but native to Eurasia (including Lesvos). "Nectar flow" was assessed by measuring ne ctar volumes in florets of flower heads covered with mesh bags (preventing visitation by be es); "nectar standing crop" data were taken from open (unbagged) flower heads to which all bees coul d gain access. We censused bees at C. solstitialis during comparable periods on both islands and dete rmined the bee guild composition of the plant on Lesvos. Significant differences in nec tar levels occurred between bagged and unbagged florets at each locale, especially during the perio d that pollinators were most common. Nectar flow and nectar standing crop volumes were lower on Lesv os than on Santa Cruz Island. The bee guild diversity at Lesvos was higher relative to Santa Cr uz Island. Surprisingly, however, honey bees were not recorded during our monitoring periods on Lesvo s.


The application of the single Langmuir probe techniques to the measurement of electron number densities and temperatures in helium flowing afterglow plasmas is described. Data are presented relating to electron loss by both ambipolar diffusion and recombination, which illustrates the value and quality of the diagnostic technique. Results are also presented which illustrate how metastable atom densities can be readily determined by exploiting the Penning effect, and also probe determinations of electron temperature which demonstrate the role of metastable atoms in elevating the plasma electron temperature. In conclusion, the potential value of the probe-flowing afterglow combination is discussed with reference to the determination of positive and negative ion densities and ionic mass, of ion-molecule reaction rates and electron temperature relaxation rates.


This article discusses how Sarah Lamond, a Japanese language teacher in Sydney, Australia has juggled three of her identities: second language (L2) learner, L2 user, and L2 teacher. Data come from four interviews used to create an edited life history. These data are used to draw attention to the relationship between L2 learner and language user. The concept of "identity slippage" is briefly discussed and is introduced as a way of explaining this relationship. Although these three identities are foregrounded, it was found that Sarah's other identities of wife and mother also played a significant part in her becoming a Japanese language learner. Furthermore, Sarah's story also raises the native versus nonnative language teacher issue and in turn explores notions of authentic and impostor.


Introduction. A number of problems accompany the development of new extinction methods applicable on the premises of buildings and structures and the use of advanced fire extinguishing agents. Subject-specific studies are needed to solve these problems. They include the identification of general principles of fire extinguishing efficiency and further development of the optimal mode of application of firefighting agents. The purpose of this work is the theoretical assessment of fire extinction mechanisms involving the water mist applied to combustible liquids. The objectives to be accomplished include the equations based on the mass/energy conservation laws and derived for flame zones with account taken of the water mist applied; the assessment of the water flow rate for different combustion mechanisms; comparison of assessment results with experimental data obtained in the process of extinguishing model fire seats that have burning combustible fluids.Methods of analysis. The calculations involve the equations based on the mass/energy conservation laws and derived for flame zones above the surface of combustibles.Research results. The author analyzes two fire extinguishing mechanisms that contribute to the suppression of burning in the flame zone: 1) the attainment of the value of mass concentration of water vapour that reaches the lower concentration limit of combustion of the combustible mixed gas (oxygen reduction); 2) cooling combustible mixed gas in the flame zone by evaporating water until the flash point temperature of combustible vapour is reached.Conclusions: Equations based on mass/energy conservation laws were derived for flame zones, formed in the course of combustion of flammable liquids, with account taken of a jet of water mist. Water flow rates needed for the implementation of various extinguishing mechanisms were analyzed using the proposed equations. Theoretical results were compared with the experimental data obtained in the process of using water mist to extinguish model fire seats that contain combustible fluids.


Strategic interaction among firms may hinder the reduction of excess capacity in a declining industry. Policy interventions that attempt to reduce excess capacity may increase efficiency by accelerating the capital adjustment but may decrease efficiency by increasing the market power of firms and/or by distorting firms' divestment decisions. We study capacity coordination policies-forcing firms to reduce their capacity simultaneously-applied to the Japanese cement industry. Estimation results suggest that these interventions (i) did not increase market power because reduction in capacity resulted in higher utilization of the remaining plants, and (ii) did not distort firms' scrappage decisions.


Hoarse voice, or dysphonia, is a common presenting complaint in primary care and an important source of patient morbidity. The underlying pathology can vary from benign to immediately life-threatening and structured clinical assessment is essential in differentiating causes and determining management. In this article, we discuss the clinical approach, aetiology and management of the wide range of conditions that lead to dysphonia and provide guidance on referral to specialist care.


We present variation of the magnetic properties of Fe77.8Nb0.2B14P6C2 amorphous alloys vitrified at different temperatures by changing the atomic structures dependent on the critical cooling rate. The thermophysical properties of the amorphous state achieved after quenching the melt with cold nitrogen atomization gas are compared with those obtained using hot nitrogen gas with a temperature corresponding to the supercooled liquid of the alloy above the glass transition (Tg) but below crystallization temperature (Tx). The differently vitrified Fe77.8Nb0.2B14P6C2 glasses represent different states of high pressure gas atomized amorphous powder at different temperatures obtained by adjusting the gas temperature during the atomization process. The magnetic properties of these different amorphous powders are also investigated. The saturation magnetic flux density of slowly cooled Glass2 is 1.38 T with 450 A/m coercivity corresponding to "semi-soft" magnetic materials. The fast cooled Glass1 powder shows typical soft magnetic properties with lower coercivity (174 A/m), even though the saturation magnetization flux densities are similar in both identical compositions of amorphous powder due to its entropy difference related to the formation of clusters. We can control the magnetic property of amorphous materials from soft to half-soft by adjusting freezing temperature and ordering of atoms.


Recognition and assessment of sinkholes as geosites: lessons from the Island of Gozo (Malta) There is a wide literature on sinkhole or doline classification, formation and evolution. However, despite the fact that they are often characterised by spectacular morphological features, sinkholes are not normally described as geological resources which might be valuable for the society and worth of being promoted for their geomorphological importance. A series of sinkholes have been investigated in the Island of Gozo (Malta), some of which of notable size and high aesthetic interest. These sinkholes have been assessed applying a methodology which has been specifically set up with the aim of verifying whether any of them could be considered as geosites according to their scientific, additional (ecological, aesthetic, cultural) and use values. The paper shows the geosite assessment procedure and discusses its outputs, according to which 6 out of the 17 investigated sinkholes can be considered as geosites of geomorphological interest (geomorphosites). Finally, issues related to their enhancement and fruition are taken into account in the frame of potential geotourism strategies.


Abstract A paleoecological record from Lake Palotoa (1370 m elevation) in the Andean foothills of Peru spans the last 3800 years. Lake Palotoa lies near the modern cloud base in a location sensitive to changes in atmospheric moisture. In many areas, these forests have been destroyed, but Lake Palotoa shows no sign of human occupation today or in the past. The modern forest surrounding the lake is dominated by the Andean palm, Dictyocaryum lamarckianum, which is also the most abundant taxon in the fossil pollen record. Fossil pollen data show the vegetation assemblages have not experienced strong compositional changes in the late Holocene. Global-scale climatic events such as the Medieval Climate Anomaly (MCA) and the Little Ice Age (LIA) are identified within the record, though the vegetation responses are subtle. Hedyosmum and Sloanea pollen percentages increase near the onset of the MCA and may reflect decreased seasonality. The LIA coincides with increased Hedyosmum pollen percentages, and increases in Clethra and Begonia, two elements that tend to occupy forests now found at higher elevations. Our findings demonstrate the stability of montane forest systems to natural Holocene climate change.


Roma are Europe's largest and poorest minority group, as well as one of its fastest growing populations, with approximately 70 percent Roma living in Central and Eastern Europe. A large share of new labor market entrants are Roma nearly one-fifth in Bulgaria and Romania. Most Roma do not depend on social assistance but rather want to work and cannot find jobs. The lack of secondary education among the vast majority of Roma is a major impediment to their labor market participation.


Abstract The constancy of phenotypic variation and covariation is an assumption that underlies most recent investigations of past selective regimes and attempts to predict future responses to selection. Few studies have tested this assumption of constancy despite good reasons to expect that the pattern of phenotypic variation and covariation may vary in space and time. We compared phenotypic variance-covariance matrices (P) estimated for populations of six species of distantly related coral reef fishes sampled at two locations on Australia's Great Barrier Reef separated by more than 1000 km. The intraspecific similarity between these matrices was estimated using two methods: matrix correlation and common principal component analysis. Although there was no evidence of equality between pairs of P, both statistical approaches indicated a high degree of similarity in morphology between the two populations for each species. In general, the hierarchical decomposition of the variance-covariance structure of these populations indicated that all principal components of phenotypic variance-covariance were shared but that they differed in the degree of variation associated with each of these components. The consistency of this pattern is remarkable given the diversity of morphologies and life histories encompassed by these species. Although some phenotypic instability was indicated, these results were consistent with a generally conserved pattern of multivariate selection between populations.


Using machine learning (ML) method to predict permeability of porous media has shown great potential in recent years. A current problem is the lack of effective models to account for highly porous media with dilated pores. This study includes (1) generation of media (porosity = 0.8) via a Boolean process, (2) the pore size distribution (PSD) control by using different groups of homogeneous packed spherical particles (3) PSD data obtainment using the spherical contact distribution model (4) computation of the permeability via LBM simulations, (4) training of artificial neuron network (ANN) and (5) analysis of the model. It is found that the PSD could outperform the previous geometry descriptors as an input of ML framework to deal with highly porous structures with different fractions of dilated pores, however there is still room for precision enhancement.


Singapore's scheme of arrangement was very similar to that found in most Commonwealth countries. Over the last two decades the scheme has become a popular de facto debtor in possession regime in Singapore used to restructure the debts, both financial and trading, of insolvent companies. The courts have taken a leading role in this development. This success story has an unexpected twist recently. As part of its strategy to develop Singapore into an international centre for debt restructuring, the Government accepted the recommendations of a law review committee to bring in significant elements of the US Chapter 11: an automatic, wide-ranging moratorium, cross-class cram down, super priority lien and pre-packaged schemes. It will be argued that due to the significant differences between the insolvency laws of Singapore and US and the different conceptual framework of the scheme and Chapter 11, there will be a period of uncertainty or even instability while the courts work out ways to harmonise the two different bodies of law. This bold experiment has relevance beyond Singapore. It has close parallels in UK's imminent reforms and, to a lesser extent, the European draft directive on restructuring.


Salient object detection can identify the most distinctive objects in a scene. In this study, a novel graph-based approach is proposed to detect a salient object via reliable boundary seeds and saliency refinement. A natural image is firstly mapped to a graph with superpixels as nodes. Saliency information is then diffused over the graph using seeds. For the reason that the boundary nodes may contain salient nodes, it is not appropriate to use all boundary nodes as the background seeds. Therefore, a boundary saliency measurement is proposed to obtain more accurate background seeds. After that, the information of background seeds is diffused by a two-stage scheme. A background-based map and a foreground-based map are generated based on the two-stage scheme. Furthermore, in order to enhance the detection accuracy, a refinement model is presented to fuse the information of background-based and foreground-based maps. Experiments on seven public datasets show the proposed algorithm out-performs the state-of-the-art salient object detection algorithms.


Objective This study aimed to assess the risk factors for erectile dysfunction (ED) and the sociodemographic characteristics of patients with ED in Shebin El Kom District who attended the Andrology Clinic in Menoufiya University Hospital. Background ED is a common disorder that affects the quality of life (QoL) of millions of people worldwide. Numerous factors can disrupt erectile function – for example, age, smoking, cardiovascular disease, and diabetes mellitus (DM). Patients and methods This was a cross-sectional study that was conducted on 169 patients with ED from Shebin El Kom District who attended the Andrology Clinic in Menoufiya University Hospital during the period 1 December 2015 to 31 May 2016. Information on sociodemographic data, risk factors for ED, and effect of ED on QoL was collected using self-administered questionnaires: a sociodemographic questionnaire, the International Index of Erectile Dysfunction (IIEF) questionnaire, a risk factors questionnaire, and the shorter version of the World Health Organization Quality of Life questionnaire. Results The main sociodemographic characteristics affecting ED were age of the patient (P = 0.001) and age of the patient's wife (P = 0.0001). The main risk factors for ED were lifestyle risk factors such as smoking (P = 0.000) and obesity (P = 0.005), medical conditions such as DM (P = 0.0001), hypertension (P = 0.0002), heart disease (P = 0.019), dyslipidemia (P = 0.013), lower urinary tract symptoms (P = 0.005), and hypogonadism (P = 0.004), intake of drugs (β-blockers (P = 0.000), insulin (P = 0.016), psychiatric drugs (P = 0.006), and silymarin (P = 0.001)), and penile and pelvis injury (P = 0.032). Pychogenic factor was present in most cases of ED. In patients with ED other domains of IIEF, including orgasmic function, sexual desire, intercourse satisfaction, and overall satisfaction (89.7%) were reduced. Also ED negatively affected all domains of QoL. Conclusion According to our results, the main risk factors are aging, cardiovascular disease, DM, dyslipidemia, lifestyle issues (such as smoking and obesity), penile or pelvic injury, and side effects from medication. ED has a significant negative impact on other domains of IIEF and on the QoL.


Assessing use is of vital importance for organizations selling and using ICT-based (information and communication technology) services. The purpose of this paper is to present a conceptual model to assess individuals use of new ICT-based services. The model consists of three phases; pre-use, test and use. The concepts of utility and quality are discussed in relation to the three phases. Customers assessment of an ICT-based service has implications for organizations when developing new services. A greater knowledge in this field could have implications for managers understanding of the buyer-seller relationship in a context highly influenced by information technology