Background— Whether individuals with peripheral artery disease (PAD) identified by screening ankle-brachial index benefit from preventive therapies to reduce cardiovascular risk is unknown. We aimed to determine the number of US adults with PAD who are not receiving preventive therapies and whether treatment is associated with reduced mortality in PAD subjects without known cardiovascular disease. Methods and Results— We analyzed data from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) 1999 to 2004 with mortality follow-up through December 31, 2006. We defined PAD as an ankle-brachial index ⩽0.90. Of 7458 eligible participants ≥40 years, weighted PAD prevalence was 5.9±0.3% (mean±SE), corresponding to ≈7.1 million US adults with PAD. Statin use was reported in only 30.5±2.5%, angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitor/angiotensin receptor blocker use in 24.9±1.9%, and aspirin use in 35.8±2.9%, corresponding to 5.0 million adults with PAD not taking statins, 5.4 million not taking angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitors/angiotensin receptor blockers, and 4.5 million not receiving aspirin. After adjustment for age, sex, and race/ethnicity, PAD was associated with all-cause mortality (hazard ratio, 2.4; 95% confidence interval, 1.9 to 2.9; P<0.0001). Even after exclusion of individuals with known cardiovascular disease, subjects with PAD had higher mortality rates (16.1±2.1%) than subjects without PAD or cardiovascular disease (4.1±0.3%), with an adjusted hazard ratio of 1.9 (95% confidence interval, 1.3 to 2.8; P=0.001). Among PAD subjects without cardiovascular disease, use of multiple preventive therapies was associated with 65% lower all-cause mortality (hazard ratio, 0.35; 95% confidence interval, 0.20 to 0.86; P=0.02). Conclusions— Millions of US adults with PAD are not receiving secondary prevention therapies. Treatment with multiple therapies is associated with reduced all-cause mortality.


Point Purpose: The aim of this study is the evaluation of the effect of Afghan Chehelghoza as a constituent of diet on behavioral parameters, especially learning and memory of male rats. Methods: Rats were divided into six groups: control group, diazepam group as the positive control, and 2, 6, 12 and 25% chehelghoza-treated groups, which received chehelghoza combined with their food for 28 days. After treatment, the rat's behavior was evaluated by Y-maze, elevated plus maze, Morris water maze and radial arm maze. In addition, their brain was extracted and weighed. The body weight of rats was also measured during the study. Results: The results showed that the time spent in target quadrant and brain weight were increased in 12 and 25% chehelghoza-treated groups significantly (P<0.05). Also, the difference between the percentage of spontaneous alternation and the number of crossing, percentage of time spent in and the number of entries into open arms of only 25% chehelghoza-treated and the control groups was significant. Besides, on day 28, the body weight of all chehelghoza-treated groups was diminished as compared with the control group. Conclusion: We can conclude that chehelghoza combination with food in high doses can improve the spatial working memory and reference memory, increase the brain weight, as well as reduction in anxiety behavior.


Background Low-level laser therapy (LLLT) has been proven to be effective in pain control and tissue repair after surgery. LLLT can be used as a physical modality for post-operative joint arthroplasty due to its safety for the patients with metallic implants with or without bone cement. However, there has never been any study using LLLT as a physical modality in patients after total knee arthroplasty (TKA) surgery. Objectives The aim of this study was to evaluate the therapeutic effects of LLLT on clinical outcomes after TKA. Methods Sixty-two patients were enrolled in this study. All the patients were diagnosed as primary knee osteoarthritis. They underwent primary unilateral minimally invasive surgery-total knee arthroplasty (MIS-TKA) performed by the same orthopedic surgeon who was specialized in minimally invasive arthroplasty surgery. They were randomized into two groups. Group I received 810 nm GaAlAs LLLT at a power output of 500 mW and a dosage of 80 J per session over the surgical site from post-operative day 2 for 3 days combined with standard rehabilitation program for post-operative TKA patients. Group II received placebo laser and the same program as in Group I. The following clinical parameters were recorded and analyzed (1) Visual analogue scale for pain (VAS) both at rest and at fully active knee flexion, (2) Active knee range of motion (ROM), and (3) Knee Society Score (KSS) which is composed of Knee Score plus Function Score. All of the clinical parameters were collected at pre-operative day and postoperative day 2, 3, 4 and at 2 weeks & 6 weeks postoperatively except for KSS. We assessed KSS at pre-operative day and 6 weeks after surgery. Results Fifty-four patients completed the study. Groups were comparable for age, body mass index (BMI), operation duration, intraoperative blood loss and length of stay. Resting VAS pain scores decreased significantly in the laser group, compared with the placebo group, from pre-operative day to post-operative day 4, and from post-operative day 4 to 2 weeks after surgery. VAS at full knee flexion decreased significantly in the laser group, between post-operative day 4 and 2-week postoperative scores. Active knee ROM in flexion differed between two groups on post-operative day 2. Active knee extension at sixth week in laser group was significantly superior to placebo group whereas pre-operative knee extension lag was more in laser group. Overall KSS in laser group were significantly better than placebo group at sixth-week follow-up while there was no difference between groups before surgery. Moreover, Knee Scores in laser group at 6 weeks after surgery improved significantly from baseline scores while there was no significant improvement in placebo group. No side effect was reported from laser therapy. Conclusions Post-operative low-level laser therapy improved early post-operative pain, post-operative ROM both in active knee flexion and extension. It showed beneficially therapeutic effects in terms of pain control and knee function after total knee arthroplasty, without side effects. References Enwemeka CS, Parker JC, Dowdy DS, Harkness EE, Sanford LE, Woodruff LD. The efficacy of low-power lasers in tissue repair and pain control: a meta-analysis study. Photomed Laser Surg 2004:22(4):323-9. Disclosure of Interest : None declared DOI 10.1136/annrheumdis-2014-eular.2642


This paper presents a new dynamic and fully generic implementation of a Successive Cancellation (SC) decoder (multi-precision support and intra-/inter-frame strategy support). This fully generic SC decoder is used to perform comparisons of the different configurations in terms of throughput, latency and energy consumption. A special emphasis is given on the energy consumption on low power embedded processors for software defined radio (SDR) systems. A N=4096 code length, rate 1/2 software SC decoder consumes only 14 nJ per bit on an ARM Cortex-A57 core, while achieving 65 Mbps. Some design guidelines are given in order to adapt the configuration to the application context.


Synthetic alphaT1 and betaT1, the N-terminal tryptic peptides of alpha-chain and beta-chain of hemoglobin, and MetalphaT1 and MetbetaT1, peptides in which N-terminal methionyl residues are peptide-bonded to alphaT1 and betaT1, were prepared by the solid-state method of Merrifield. These synthetic peptides were used to establish conditions for chromatographic purification and analysis. When tryptic digests of nascent globin chains from rabbit and sickle-cell anemia reticulocytes incubated with (35)S- and (3)H-labeled amino acids were analyzed, radioactivity not present in tryptic digests of labeled hemoglobin appeared at the elution positions of MetalphaT1 and MetbetaT1. The fraction of nascent chains with N-terminal methionine was higher in sickle-cell anemia reticulocytes than in rabbit reticulocytes. If rate of peptide-chain elongation in polysomes is uniform, nascent human chains must attain a greater length before removal of the initial methionyl residue. Length of nascent chain at time of removal was calculated from two independent sets of data, one obtained from [(35)S]methionine incorporation into MetalphaT1, MetbetaT1, alphaT5, and betaT5, and the other obtained from [(3)H]lysine and [(3)H]valine incorporation into MetbetaT1 and betaT1.


Parvovirus B19 (PVB19) infection is a rare cause of meningoencephalitis. A 53-year-old previously healthy woman presented with fever, headache, and multiple erythema on the both legs. Cerebrospinal fluid study revealed pleocytosis and elevated opening pressure and protein level. Brain MRI showed multiple, asymmetric, hyperintensity in the brain stem, basal ganglia, white matter, and gray matter. Anti-B19 IgM antibody and PCR for PVB19 were positive in serum. Clinician should consider PVB19 infection in any case of acute febrile illness with erythema and meningoencephalitis


PROBLEM IDENTIFICATION
Clinicians are unaware of most of their patients' symptoms. Symptoms may be poorly documented and their impact underestimated. Undertreatment of symptoms may lead to increased symptom distress and decreased quality of life. Improving the communication of symptoms to nurses is vital in symptom management and quality-of-life improvement. Electronic patient self-report of symptoms may be beneficial.

LITERATURE SEARCH
An integrative review of the literature was conducted to describe the use of electronic methods for symptom self-report by patients with cancer and to inform best practices.

DATA EVALUATION
The final sample for this integrative review consisted of 36 studies (32 quantitative and 4 qualitative).

SYNTHESIS
Data analysis was used to summarize the findings of the 36 studies. Patients with cancer found electronic self-report of symptoms to be feasible and the devices usable. Electronic symptom reporting may improve patient-clinician communication, leading to improved physical and psychosocial outcomes.

IMPLICATIONS FOR PRACTICE
In the studies that included an interactive communication component, oncology nurses were central in receiving, reviewing, and reporting changes to the provider. Patients expressed themselves more when consulting with nurses than with physicians.


INTRODUCTION
Clinical trials are a critical component of improving cancer prevention and treatment strategies. However, the perception that patients enrolled in trials consume more resources than those receiving the standard-of-care (SOC) has contributed to an increasingly research-averse environment. Current economic data pertaining to the per-patient costs of prostate cancer trials relative to SOC treatment are limited.

METHODS
A retrospective observational cohort study was conducted to compare costs incurred by 59 prostate cancer patients participating in a mix of industry and non-industry sponsored clinical trials with costs incurred by an equal number of eligible non-participants who received SOC over a year. Resource utilization was tracked and quantified to standardized price templates.

RESULTS
No difference in overall resource utilization was seen between trial and SOC patients (two-tailed t-test, n = 118, p = 0.99). Variability in the types of resources used by each group indicated that, while trial patients may take up significantly more clinic time (p = 0.001) and undergo more tests and procedures (p = 0.001), SOC patients are more likely to receive other costly interventions, such as radiation therapy (p < 0.001). Other variables (e.g., pathology, diagnostic imaging, prescribed therapies) were statistically indistinguishable between groups.

CONCLUSION
This study revealed differences in the cost distribution of patients enrolled in clinical trials versus those receiving SOC, which could be used to improve resource allocation. The lack of evidence for a difference in overall cost provides an argument for payers to more fully support clinical research without fear of adverse financial consequences. Further analysis is required.


The Speaker's Conference on Parliamentary Representation reported in January 2010. The report calls for a host of measures to improve the representativeness of the House of Commons and to revitalise political parties, as well as to enhance citizenship education, develop youth and community citizenship engagement programmes, and more generally to revitalise British democracy. Early responses indicate that the government and political parties will take the report seriously. The report is thoughtful, thorough and extensive, a treasure trove for policy makers, advocates and researchers. If it has a weakness, it is that it shows a better understanding of parliamentary reform than of party reform.


We demonstrate an easy-to-manufacture 25-mm-long ultra-stable optical reference cavity for transportable photonic microwave generation systems. Employing a rigid holding geometry that is first-order insensitive to the squeezing force and a cavity geometry that improves the thermal noise limit at room temperature, we observe a laser phase noise that is nearly thermal noise limited for three frequency decades (1 Hz to 1 kHz offset) and supports 10 GHz generation with phase noise near -100  dBc/Hz at 1 Hz offset and <-173  dBc/Hz for all offsets >600  Hz. The fractional frequency stability reaches 2×10-15 at 0.1 s of averaging.


Vesicular stomatitis virus (VSV) elicited cytotoxic thymus-derived lymphocytes (CTLs) in mice of the BALB/c and three congenic strains (BALB.b, BALB.k, BALB.HTG). CTL lysis of VSV-infected fibroblasts from the four strains was restricted by the target cells' major histocompatibility complex (H-2). Target cells were also infected with two temperature-sensitive mutants of VSV, tsM and tsG in which, respectively, the viral matrix protein and glycoprotein are not expressed at 39 degrees (restrictive temperature) on the infected cell's surface membrane. At the restrictive temperature, cells infected with wild-type VSV or tsM were lysed by CTLs, but cells infected with tsG were not. The requirement for the glycoprotein on the target cell was also evident from the ability of antisera to the glycoprotein to block completely CTL lysis of VSV-infected cells.


In this paper, because a genetic algorithms-based fuzzy neural network control is incorporated into the sliding mode control (SMC) to adaptively regulate the adaptive law of SMC, a genetic algorithm fuzzy neural network sliding mode controller (GAFNSMC) for brushless doubly fed machine (BDFM) adjustable speed system is presented. The proposed controller for BDFM eliminates the average chattering encountered by most SMC schemes, and employs the robustness and excellent static and dynamic performances of SMC. Simulation results show that the proposed control strategy is of the feasibility, correctness and effectiveness.


Lath-shaped upper bainite structures play a very important role in many high-strength steels (HSSs) and ultra high-strength steels (UHSSs). Although bainite transformation is strongly affected by the initial structure, the effect of the second phase in a multi-phase structure is yet to be clearly understood. It is significant for the advancement of UHSS to study this effect. The aim of this study is to clarify the effect of martensite, which forms before bainite, in Fe-0.2C-8Ni alloy. The bainite transformation from an austenite and martensite dual-phase structure is faster than that from single-phase austenite and the nucleation of bainitic ferrite laths are accelerated around martensite. This effect of martensite on bainite kinetics is equivalent to that of polygonal ferrite when their volume fractions are almost the same. This suggests that the boundary between martensite and austenite is a prior nucleation site of bainitic ferrite. Martensite also affects the crystallographic features of bainite. The orientations of bainitic ferrite laths tend to belong to the same block with martensite adjacent. This tendency intensifies with an increase of the transformation temperature of bainite, resulting in the formation of huge blocks consisting of bainitic ferrite and martensite laths at high temperatures (693K and 723K). In contrast, at a low temperature (643K), bainitic ferrite laths belong to same packet as martensite and have several orientations. This change of crystallographic features with transformation temperature can explain with the driving force of the nucleation of bainitic ferrite.


The method of National Committee for Clinical Laboratory Standards (NCCLS) is widely used for the daily quality control of the antimicrobial susceptibility test. This method, however, cannot detect the accidental error, although it is useful to detect the systematic error in the examination. We developed a computer program using the correlation between the various antimicrobial susceptibility test results to detect an accidental error. The combinations of the MIC results determined for two antimicrobial agents which showed a high correlation coefficient (> or = 0.7), were selected from 98 bacterial species (2122 strains) isolated from January 2000 to December 2000 at Oita Medical University Hospital. Subsequently, a total of 127 combinations of antimicrobial agents for 13 species were selected on the basis of acceptable correlation ranges. Then, the method were verified with 666 strains (5753 combinations) isolated during the period of January to June, 2001. Twenty-six strains (47 combinations) were identified as an unexpected result, and the occurrence of error were confirmed in 3 strains (12 combinations). These results suggest that this method which evaluated the correlation between MICs against different antimicrobial agents is applicable for the quality control of antimicrobial susceptibility testings.


Pre-existing hypertrophy in the newborn heart can exacerbate these ischemic injuries, which may partly be due to a decreased energy supply to the heart resulting from low fatty acid β -oxidation rates. Objective: We determined whether stimulating fatty acid β -oxidation with GW7647, a peroxisome proliferator– activated receptor- α (PPAR α ) activator, would improve cardiac energy production and post–ischemic functional recovery in neonatal rabbit hearts subjected to volume overload-induced cardiac hypertrophy. Methods and Results: Volume-overload cardiac hypertrophy was produced in 7-day-old rabbits via an aorto-caval shunt, after which, the rabbits were treated with or without GW7647 (3 mg/kg per day) for 14 days. Biventricular working hearts were subjected to 35 minutes of aerobic perfusion, 25 minutes of global no-flow ischemia, and 30 minutes of aerobic reperfusion. GW7647 treatment did not prevent the development of cardiac hypertrophy, but did prevent the decline in left ventricular ejection fraction in vivo. GW7647 treatment increased cardiac fatty acid β -oxidation rates before and after ischemia, which resulted in a significant increase in overall ATP production and an improved in vitro post–ischemic functional recovery. A decrease in post–ischemic proton production and endoplasmic reticulum stress, as well as an activation of sarcoplasmic reticulum calcium ATPase isoform 2 and citrate synthase, was evident in GW7647-treated hearts. Conclusions: Stimulating fatty acid β -oxidation in neonatal hearts may present a novel cardioprotective intervention to limit post–ischemic contractile dysfunction. ( Circ Res . 2015;117:41-51. DOI: 10.1161/CIRCRESAHA.117.306585.) NAD + . Citrate synthase activity was measured using tissue homog- enates as described previously. 16 CPT-I activity was assessed on the mitochondrial fraction (an expanded Methods section is available in the Online Data Supplement) based on formation of radiolabeled pal-mitoylcarnitine as described previously. 21 Activities of complex I/II were spectrophotometrically quantified using mitochondrial fractions by recording time-dependent changes of absorption at 600 nm for complex I/II. The activity was expressed as μ mol/mg mitochondrial protein/min. 21 isoform citrate synthase.


Internal corrosion is one of the main threats to pipeline integrity. For in-line inspection (ILI) based integrity programs, in-the-ditch non-destructive examination (NDE) data quality is imperative for ILI validation. NDE feature misclassification and/or depth inaccuracy can lead to unnecessary integrity actions such as unnecessary excavations, more frequent ILI, or increased risk to system integrity. Therefore, it is critical to ensure the accuracy of NDE data.
 Ultrasonic Testing (UT) technology is the primary method to detect, characterize, and measure internal corrosion during in-ditch NDE. While studies have been conducted to understand various NDE technologies and capabilities associated with detecting, sizing, and classifying crack and external corrosion indications, less work has been published regarding field evaluation of internal corrosion indications.
 In this study, real cases of liquid pipelines will be used to demonstrate the challenges in detecting, characterizing and sizing internal corrosion using current UT technologies. The cases show that improper NDE technique selection triggered additional excavations or caused internal corrosion to be non-conservatively under-reported. This work also includes various UT technologies, such as encoded zero-degree UT scanning, manual zero-degree UT testing, encoded Phased Array Ultrasonic Testing (PAUT), and Time of Flight Diffraction (TOFD) for characterizing and sizing both natural and machined defects in pipe and plate samples. High-resolution laser scans using Creaform HandyScan technology are used to verify actual feature depth. Depth sizing accuracy of each technology is established using statistical analysis. In order to determine detection limits of the above technologies, tests are performed on pitting and inclusion of various sizes, ranging from 8 mm to 0.5 mm in diameter.
 This study will assist in establishing the limitations of current UT NDE technologies and recommendations to develop best practices for obtaining quality field NDE data from pipeline excavations for internal corrosion.


In the field of additive manufacturing (AM), mid-print failure is exceedingly common due to user error, bad design, or environmental factors that cannot be readily prepared for. This holds for most if not all types of AM, but perhaps none more so than the popular Filament Deposition Modeling (FDM) method machines. Absent total power failure, the bulk of the common modes of failure in FDM can be expressed as having an immediate impact on the mechanical system, whether that be a head collision due to warping, increased pressure on the stepper as it tries to push jammed filament, etc. The open loop nature of FDM machines does nothing to help the high rate of failure that FDM printers are known for compared to traditional methods of manufacturing. In this paper, a method for predicting failure due to mechanical malfunction of an FDM 3D printer is presented. The method proposed seeks to close the loop on FDM machines by characterizing the vibrations of the stepper motors which comprise an FDM machine. Using the acoustic emissions, a classifier is trained in order to assess the state of a print based off of supervised learning of known modes of failure. The resulting model is able to successfully predict jamming or air printing during a print with 90% training accuracy.


Recently there has been interest in the construction of small parity-check sets for iterative decoding of the Hamming code with the property that each uncorrectable (or stopping) set of size three is the support of a codeword and hence uncorrectable anyway. Here we reformulate and generalize the problem and improve on this construction. We show that a parity-check collection that corrects all correctable erasure patterns of size m for the Hamming code with codimension r provides, in fact, for all codes of codimension r a corresponding "generic" parity-check collection with this property. This leads in a natural way to a necessary and sufficient condition for such generic parity-check collections. We use this condition to construct a generic parity-check collection for codes of codimension r correcting all correctable erasure patterns of size at most m, for all r and mlesr, thus generalizing the known construction for m=3. Then we discuss optimality of our construction and show that it can be improved for mges3 and r large enough. Finally, we discuss some directions for further research


Background: Patients with vascular diseases commonly have coronary artery disease and associated cardiac problems. Therefore, their underlying heart diseases may be induced or exacerbated after vascular surgery. The effectiveness of SPECT imaging, which is a relatively simple and non-invasive imaging modality, for assessing these underlying heart diseases is still controversial. This study was performed to evaluate the clinical effect of tests and treatment based on SPECT imaging prior to vascular surgery on the development of post-operation cardiac complications. Material and Method: Sixty three patients who were treated at Inje University Pusan Paik Hospital between April 2004 and September 2007 and who underwent adenosine infusion technetium-99m (Tc-99m) tetrofosmin SPECT imaging prior to vascular surgery were selected for this study and we retrospectively reviewed their records. Result: The sensitivity and specificity of detecting a perfusion defect on SPECT to predict the development of cardiac complications was relatively low at 41.2% and 52.2%, respectively. However when coronary angiographies were done on the patients with abnormal SPECT and this was followed by aggressive treatment such as coronary artery intervention and coronary artery bypass grafting based on the angiography results, there was a tendency for lower cardiac complication rates. Conclusion: SPECT imaging shows low effectiveness as a screening test for predicting cardiac complications after vascular surgery.


Previously, a mucosal model of immunization against human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) was established by using influenza virus as a vector for the neutralizing gp41 epitope ELDKWA. Whether replication of this chimeric influenza virus in the upper respiratory tract of mice is sufficient for inducing mucosal immune responses in the genital tract was investigated. An immunization strategy was established that permits the virus to replicate in the murine upper respiratory tracts but not in the lungs. Intranasal application of the chimeric virus induced HIV-1-specific antibodies in sera and genital tract. In addition, chimeric virus-specific antibody-secreting cells were detected in lymphocyte populations obtained from lungs, spleens, and urogenital tracts. These results indicate that replication of the chimeric influenza/ELDKWA virus in the upper respiratory tract is sufficient to induce systemic immune responses as well as local immune responses in the genital tract.


Although it is well established that changes in endothelial intracellular [Ca2+] regulate endothelium-dependent vasodilatory pathways, the molecular identities of the ion channels responsible for Ca2+ influx in these cells are not clearly defined. The sole member of the ankyrin (A) transient receptor potential (TRP) subfamily, TRPA1, is a Ca2+-permeable nonselective cation channel activated by electrophilic compounds such as acrolein (tear gas), allicin (garlic), and allyl isothiocyanate (AITC) (mustard oil). The present study examines the hypothesis that Ca2+ influx via TRPA1 causes endothelium-dependent vasodilation. The effects of TRPA1 activity on vascular tone were examined using isolated, pressurized cerebral arteries. AITC induced concentration-dependent dilation of pressurized vessels with myogenic tone that was accompanied by a corresponding decrease in smooth muscle intracellular [Ca2+]. AITC-induced dilation was attenuated by disruption of the endothelium and when the TRPA1 channel blocker HC-030031 was present in the arterial lumen. TRPA1 channels were found to be present in native endothelial cells, localized to endothelial cell membrane projections proximal to vascular smooth muscle cells. AITC-induced dilation was insensitive to nitric oxide synthase or cyclooxygenase inhibition but was blocked by luminal administration of the small and intermediate conductance Ca2+-activated K+ channel blockers apamin and TRAM34. BaCl2, a blocker of inwardly rectifying K+ channels, also inhibited AITC-induced dilation. AITC-induced smooth muscle cell hyperpolarization was blocked by apamin and TRAM34. We conclude that Ca2+ influx via endothelial TRPA1 channels elicits vasodilation of cerebral arteries by a mechanism involving endothelial cell Ca2+-activated K+ channels and inwardly rectifying K+ channels in arterial myocytes.


This study focused on evaluating the implementation of Dirichlet Smoothing on Naïve Bayes in predicting students' graduation at Madura University. Evaluation on the performance of students conducted in the second and fourth year so that the academics can know and take action in the form of warning or warning to students to improve learning outcomes so as to pass on time. The measurement indicators used are GPA, credits that have not been taken and the length of study. Evaluations performed in the second year using established standard values, while classification with the Naïve Bayes algorithm, are used in the evaluation of the speedy year. To improve the accuracy of classification results in Naïve Bayes, Dirichlet Smoothing is used. By comparing the results of Naïve Bayes classification performance with Dirichlet Smoothing and without Smoothing, it was found that the results of classification calculation for 5 times in 725 training data and 200 testing data taken at random, then obtained the difference of accuracy value reached 5.48%, the precision value of 7.1% and the recall value is 4%. In other words, the addition of smoothing methods can improve the performance of Naive Bayes.


Osteogenesis Imperfecta is a inherited disease of connective tissue. Its hallmark feature is bone fragility with a tendency to fracture from minimal trauma or from the work of bearing weight against gravity. The disorder may occur in one out of 20,000 to one out of 60,000 live births, affecting both male and female of all races. We present a 38 year lady who gave birth to baby with osteogenesis imperfecta in Sir Salimullah Medical College & Mitford Hospital, Dhaka. Both lower limbs appeared shortened with thick musculo-cutaneous folds. Both the femoral shafts were shortened, deformed and fragmented. Both the humeral and fibular shafts were deformed and the presentation was breech. Her sclerae was blue. X-ray showed multiple fractures in humerus, femur and ribs and also right sided pulmonary hypoplasia.


Background: Neonatal myocardial infarction is rare and is associated with a high mortality of 40% to 50%. We report our experience with neonatal myocardial infarction, including presentation, management, outcomes, and our current patient management algorithm. Methods: We reviewed all infants admitted with a diagnosis of coronary artery thrombosis, coronary ischemia, or myocardial infarction between January 2015 and May 2021. Results: We identified 21 patients (median age, 1 [interquartile range (IQR), 0.25–9.00] day; weight, 3.2 [IQR, 2.9–3.7] kg). Presentation included respiratory distress (16), shock (3), and murmur (2). Regional wall motion abnormalities by echocardiogram were a key criterion for diagnosis and were present in all 21 with varying degrees of depressed left ventricular function (severe [8], moderate [6], mild [2], and low normal [5]). Ejection fraction ranged from 20% to 54% (median, 43% [IQR, 34%–51%]). Mitral regurgitation was present in 19 (90%), left atrial dilation in 15 (71%), and pulmonary hypertension in 18 (86%). ECG was abnormal in 19 (90%). Median troponin I was 0.18 (IQR, 0.12–0.56) ng/mL. Median BNP (B-type natriuretic peptide) was 2100 (IQR, 924–2325) pg/mL. Seventeen had documented coronary thrombosis by cardiac catheterization. Seventeen (81%) were treated with intracoronary tPA (tissue-type plasminogen activator) followed by systemic heparin, AT (antithrombin), and intravenous nitroglycerin, and 4 (19%) were treated with systemic heparin, AT, and intravenous nitroglycerin alone. Nineteen of 21 recovered. One died (also had infradiaphragmatic total anomalous pulmonary venous return). One patient required a ventricular assist device and later underwent heart transplant; this patient was diagnosed late at 5 weeks of age and did not respond to tPA. Nineteen of 21 (90%) regained normal left ventricular function (ejection fraction, 60%–74%; mean, 65% [IQR, 61%–67%]) at latest follow-up (median, 6.8 [IQR, 3.58–14.72] months). Two of 21 (10%) had residual trivial mitral regurgitation. After analysis of these results, we present our current algorithm, which developed and matured over time, to manage neonatal myocardial infarction. Conclusions: We experienced a lower mortality rate for infants with neonatal infarction than that reported in the literature. We propose a post hoc algorithm that may lead to improvement in patient outcomes following coronary artery thrombus.


An autocrine multitherapy resistance factor (MTRF) produced by a radioresistant subclone of S91 mouse melanoma (S91/I3) causes an increase in radioresistance of a radiosensitive subclone (S91/amel). MTRF has no effect on the survival of S91/I3, which is already relatively resistant to ^-irradiation. In this study, we examined the effect of MTRF in the form of S91/ 13 conditioned medium or as S91/I3 heavily-irradiated cells (13- HRCells) on cellular responses of S91/amel cells after exposure to yrays. Target S91/amel cells retained more than half of their ability to respond to rescue by MTRF on day 4 after exposure to 3 Gy. Continuous presence of MTRF during colony formation was necessary for maximum plating efficiency. Although the extent of double strand DNA breakage and repair was the same in S91/amel and S91/I3, split-dose recovery experiments with MTRF revealed previously undetected repair of sublethal damage in S91/amel cells. MTRF did not alter the extent of potentially lethal damage repair (PLDR) in S91/I3 or S91/amel. S91/amel cells were more responsive to MTRF if they had been harvested from confluent dishes, while S91/I3 cells produced a more effective factor if they had been harvested in exponential phase. These findings demonstrate that MTRF has unique properties. It does not appear to be involved in genome repair since it does not alter the extent of PLDR and it is effective when added to cells after complete split-dose recovery has occurred.


Ankle-Foot Orthoses (AFOs) are orthotic devices supporting movements of ankles for disabled people for example hemiplegia, peroneal nerve palsy, etc. In our research, we have developed the intelligently controllable AFO (I-AFO) which can control its ankle torque by using compact Magneto-rheological fluid (MRF) brakes. In this paper, we describe the gait-control tests with I-AFO for a patient of the Guillain-Barre syndrome. The subject has difficulty in his voluntary movement of the peripheral part of the inferior limb, and there are physical limitations on his ankle. By applying the I-AFO, his gait control was improved by the prevention of drop-foot in the swing-phase and the forward promotion in the stance-phase.


Background: Liver impairment, ranging from steatosis to cirrhosis, is frequent in cystic fibrosis (CF) patients and is becoming increasingly significant due to their improved life expectancy. One aspect of hepatic alterations is caused by increased fecal loss of the essential nutrient choline, following enterohepatic bile phosphatidylcholine (PC) cycle impairment. Hepatic PC synthesis, both de novo and via phosphatidylethanolamine-N-methyl-transferase (PEMT), is essential for very low-density lipoprotein (VLDL) secretion. VLDL-PC in particular contributes to the organism's supply with polyunsaturated fatty acids (LC-PUFA), namely arachidonic (C20:4) and docosahexaenoic acid (C22:6). Consequently, choline deprivation and altered hepatic PC metabolism may affect plasma PC homeostasis and extrahepatic organ function. Objectives: To investigate relationships between altered plasma choline and PC homeostasis and markers of lung function and inflammation in CF. To assess alterations in hepatic choline and PC metabolism of CF patients. Design: Quantification of plasma/serum choline and PC species in adult CF patients compared to controls. Correlation of PC with forced expiratory vital capacity (FEV1) and interleukin 6 (IL-6) concentrations. Analysis of choline and PC metabolism in CF compared to controls, using deuterated choline ([D9-methyl]-choline) labeling in vivo. Results: Mean choline and PC concentrations in CF patients were lower than in controls. Choline and PC concentrations as well as fractions of C22:6-PC and C20:4-PC correlated directly with FEV1, but inversely with IL-6. Plasma concentrations of deuterated PC were decreased for both pathways, whereas only in PC synthesized via PEMT precursor enrichment was decreased. Conclusion: In CF patients, hepatic and plasma homeostasis of choline and PC correlate with lung function and inflammation. Impaired hepatic PC metabolism, exemplarily shown in three CF patients, provides an explanation for such correlations. Larger studies are required to understand the link between hepatic PC metabolism and overall clinical performance of CF patients, and the perspective of choline substitution of these patients.


Control of crop pests by their natural enemies provides a valuable but poorly quantified ecosystem service. Many studies have addressed the multiple scale drivers of pest control but results from such studies appear variable, if not equivocal. The variability of landscape responses can result from its modulation factors by local practices, among which pesticide use intensity which affects pests and natural enemies and could be a major driver of natural pest control. In this study, we examine the relative contribution of pesticide use and landscape on biological control along a double gradient of pesticide use and landscape simplification. Eighty commercial fields were monitored during three years in four contrasted regions in France. Biocontrol in each field was estimated using three different types of sentinel preys (Ephestia kuehniellaeggs, Acyrthosiphon pisumaphids and Viola arvensis seeds). For each one, the interaction effects of landscape variables with the intensity of pesticide use on predation patterns were analyzed. The predation of weed seeds was negatively influenced by both pesticide use and landscape simplification, without interaction between the two scales. The predation of Ephestia was negatively influenced by landscape simplification only in case of low pesticide use intensity whereas the effect was positive in case of high pesticide use intensity. There was a significant interaction between pesticide use and the length of interfaces between crops and woods on the predation aphids. These landscape variables had a positive effects on the predation of aphids in case of low or medium pesticide use intensity but a negative effect in case of high pesticide use intensity. These results could indicate that in fields with low local pesticide use, landscape complexity enhance biological control whereas in intensive fields, the presence of semi-natural habitat could be unsuitable for natural enemies adapted to intensive situations.


Abstract Probiotics can functionally improve fish wellbeing and are suggested as antioxidative agents to protect fish from xenobiotics toxicity. Herein, dietary Lactobacillus casei (IBRC-M 10,711) was included in the diets of goldfish (Carassius auratus) to protect against malathion toxicity. Fish (12.47 ± 0.06 g) were randomly allocated to six groups (triplicates), as follows: T1) control; T2) fish exposed to 50% of malathion 96 h LC50; T3) L. casei at 106 CFU/g diet; T4) L. casei at 107 CFU/g diet; T5) fish exposed to 50% of malathion 96 h LC50 + L. casei at 106 CFU/g diet; T6) fish exposed to 50% of malathion 96 h LC50 + L. casei at 107 CFU/g diet. After 60 days, goldfish fed T4 had the highest final body weight (FBW), weight gain (WG), and specific growth rate (SGR), and the lowest feed conversion ratio (FCR) among the groups (P < 0.05). However, the T2 group showed lower FBW, WG, and SGR and higher FCR than fish in T1 (P < 0.05). Fish in the T4 group had the highest blood total proteins, albumin, and globulin, while fish in T2 had the lowest levels (P < 0.05). Fish in the group T2 had the highest triglycerides, cholesterol, cortisol, lactate dehydrogenase (LDH), alanine aminotransferase (ALT), aspartate aminotransferase (AST), and alkaline phosphatase (ALP) levels in the blood, while fish fed T4 had the lowest values (P < 0.05). The superoxide dismutase (SOD) and catalase (CAT) showed the highest activities in T3 and T4 groups, and the lowest SOD was seen in the T2 group, whereas the lowest CAT was seen in the T2, T5, and T6 groups (P < 0.05). Fish in the T5 and T6 groups had higher glutathione peroxidase (GSH-Px) activities than fish in T1 and T2 groups but T3 and T4 groups showed the highest values (P < 0.05). T2 group had the highest malondialdehyde (MDA) level, while T3 and T4 groups had the lowest MDA level (P < 0.05). Blood immunoglobulin (Ig) and lysozyme activity were significantly higher in T3 and T4 groups and lower in the T2 group than in the control (P < 0.05). The alternative complement pathway (ACH50) was significantly higher in T2, T3, T4, T5, and T6 groups than in the T1 group (P < 0.05). Skin mucus Ig was significantly higher in T3 and T4 groups and lower in the T2 group than in the control (P < 0.05). The highest lysozyme activity, protease, and ACH50 in the skin mucus samples were in the T4 group, while the lowest values were in the T2 group (P < 0.05). In conclusion, dietary L. casei protects goldfish from malathion-induced growth retardation, oxidative stress, and immunosuppression.


Aim The aim was to document a clinical situation which was managed at minimal biological cost and with straightforward implementation. Summary Challenges of space management may arise in prosthetic dentistry as a minimum height is needed for the supporting tissues and the restorative material. While increasing the vertical occlusal dimension allows an increase in the height of the prostheses, the option may be complex and has disadvantages, including the need to modify the entire occlusion. Crown lengthening is an alternative therapeutic option, but it results in a decrease in periodontal support. Nevertheless, it allows less extensive prostheses to be provided without impacting the rest of the arch. Managing complex clinical situations with moderate biological cost and straightforward implementation is possible, as illustrated in this clinical report. Key learning points 1. Crown lengthening is a solution to increasing the tooth surfaces necessary at prosthetic rehabilitation. 2. Increasing occlusal vertical dimension (OVD) is a solution to providing the occlusal space necessary for the restorative material without reducing the supporting tissues. 3. Crown lengthening reduces periodontal support but can be considered when the root length of the affected teeth is sufficient. 4. Increasing the OVD requires modification of the entire occlusion. 5. Crown lengthening offers the advantage of not modifying OVD or intercuspal position (ICP).


The present study aims to identify the processes underlying athletes' psychological disengagement during a competitive event. It was expected that goal attainment would predict psychological disengagement through the mediation of physical self-worth. It was further hypothesized that athletic identity and passion for the activity would be predictors of psychological disengagement. Athletes completed measures of athletic identity, passion, and physical self-worth before a competition; and perceived goal attainment, physical self-worth, and psychological disengagement after a competition. Physical self-worth mediated the relationship between perceived goal attainment and discounting. Obsessive passion and athletic identity were negatively related to devaluing over and above goal attainment and physical self-worth. The study highlights individual and contextual correlates of psychological disengagement in the sport setting.


The effect of the exposure of male BALB/c mice to sensory stimuli from male Brown Norway rats was assessed using plasma corticosterone (CORT) concentrations and glucocorticoid receptor (GR) binding in the cortex, and a number of behavioural measures (sucrose preference, food intake and elevated plus-maze tests). Following 8 weeks of exposure, stressed mice showed a 97% increase in plasma CORT concentrations but GR binding, sucrose preference, food intake, and the elevated plus maze (EPM) measurements were unaltered. In conclusion, this study suggests that chronic exposure of mice to sensory stimuli from rats increases stress hormones and may provide a natural predator model of stress. The effects of acute and chronic restraint stress with the administration of paroxetine (10 mg/kg p. o.), a selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor (SSRI), on the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenocortical (HPA) axis were studied in adult male Wistar rats. Three weeks of restraint stress induced a 700% increase in plasma CORT and a 100% increase in adrenocorticotrophin (ACTH) concentration, whilst decreasing GR binding in the cortex by 34% and hippocampus by 30%, and a 24% decrease in food intake. Administration of paroxetine induced a 166% increase in plasma CORT concentration, whilst decreasing GR mRNA levels by 45% in the cortex and food intake by 25%. Paroxetine administration decreased the stress-induced plasma CORT by 80% but enhanced ACTH concentration by 78%, partially reversing the stress-induced downregulation of GR in the cortex by 34%, increasing GR mRNA in the cortex by 58%, reducing BDNF mRNA in the cortex by 30%, and reversed the stress-induced decrease in food intake by 22%. Taken together, these results suggest that restraint stress provoked a stress response, which remained elevated after three weeks, and feedback inhibition on the HPA axis following stress was facilitated by treatment with paroxetine.


Abstract Introduction Benign Paroxysmal Positional Vertigo is the most common cause of dizziness in elderly people. Recent studies have shown that the elderly present higher Benign Paroxysmal Positional Vertigo recurrence and that vertiginous symptomatology remission varies according to comorbidities and the therapeutic techniques applied. Objective To assess the short-term effectiveness of Vestibular Rehabilitation in addition to Canalith Repositioning Maneuver on positive to negative Dix-Hallpike test, on recurrence and number of maneuvers to achieve a negative test in elderly patients with chronic Benign Paroxysmal Positional Vertigo. Methods In this randomized controlled trial, 7 older adults (median age: 69 years, range 65–78) underwent Canalith Repositioning Maneuver and Vestibular Rehabilitation for thirteen weeks. Seven older adults (median age: 73 years, range 65–76) in the control group received only Canalith Repositioning Maneuver. The participants were assessed at baseline (T0), one (T1), five (T5), nine (T9), and thirteen weeks (T13). We assessed the differences between the groups by Mann-Whitney and Fisher exact tests, and used the Friedman and Wilcoxon tests to determine the intragroup differences. Results No significant differences were found between groups for the positive to negative Dix-Hallpike test, recurrence, and number of maneuvers to achieve a negative test. The number of maneuvers to achieve negative Dix-Hallpike test was lower in intragroup comparisons in the experimental group. Conclusion The findings suggest that additional Vestibular Rehabilitation did not influence the positive to negative Dix-Hallpike test, recurrence, or number of maneuvers to achieve a negative test in elderly patients with chronic Benign Paroxysmal Positional Vertigo.


Background: The incidence of malignancy of prostate gland has displayed a rapid rise over recent times. Transrectal ultrasound (TRUS) has brought revolution to radiologist's human prostate imaging methods. Information regarding elasticity of suspicious or abnormal lesions provided by strain elastography can enhance the detection rate of prostate malignancies as well as serve as a reliable visual guide for biopsy from these sites. In this prospective study, we aim to appraise the use of TRUS for diagnosing prostatic lesions, both benign and malignant, and compare it to the utility of strain elastography to precisely locate and guide biopsies of lesions while referring to the pathological diagnosis as the reference standard, wherever possible/needed. Materials and Methods: This was a prospective, cross-sectional study involving 82 male patients who were clinically suspected to have prostate malignancy. The patients were referred to the Department of Radiodiagnosis, AVBRH, where they underwent transrectal ultrasonography and elastography with Hitachi Aloka ultrasound (USG) Machine Arietta S70 with biplane high-frequency transrectal probe (6–10 MHz) with elastography. Results: TRUS had high sensitivity (92.45%) and specificity (78.38%) for cancer detection. Strain elastography had a sensitivity of 96.23%, specificity of 81.08%, positive predictive value (PPV) of 70.83%, and negative predictive value (NPV) of 97.83%. Based on our findings, real-time elastography had more sensitivity and higher NPV than TRUS for the identification of prostatic cancer. Hence, it can be concluded that elastography is an effective assessment tool for ruling out the possibility of malignant tumors, helping to reduce redundant biopsies. Conclusions: Transrectal ultrasonography (TRUS) is an effective tool for the assessment of prostatic lesions. TRUS has high specificity, sensitivity, NPV, and PPV when assessing lesions for prostatic cancer. Elastography has high sensitivity, high specificity, high PPV, and reliable NPV when detecting for prostatic cancer. The combination of TRUS and elastography can help more efficiently assess lesions and guide biopsies to increase the identification rate of prostatic cancer.


The present paper deals with the subject of failure of deep-sea pipelines that have thickness metal-loss areas caused by corrosion and are subjected to high external hydrostatic pressure. An extensive research program was launched to observe failure modes, to examine existing and to develop prediction collapse equations, and to determine their accuracy. The program uses finite element modeling and external hydrostatic collapse tests of full-scale specimens. This paper presents and discusses the results of the first 20 collapse tests, which were performed in a new 103 MPa (15 ksi) hyperbaric chamber (760 mm internal diameter and 7200 mm length). The test results obtained with full scale specimens (324 mm external diameter and 23 mm thickness) made of low carbon steel API 5L X60 with external machined metal loss defects are used to verify the level of accuracy and conservatism of four analytical simple equations used to predict collapse of pipes with corrosion subjected to high external pressure.


Abstract
In grades K-3, the primary focus of instruction is learning to read. In grades 4 and beyond, however, the focus shifts to reading to learn. Whereas teachers may use a variety of instructional approaches, research has clearly documented that learning from text is the primary instructional model found in most classrooms. This means that efforts to close the achievement gap must focus on ensuring that all students can access text-based learning materials, engage with the content in meaningful ways, and ultimately demonstrate success in the form of measurable gains in learning outcomes. Whereas the philosophy of UDL is relatively easy to understand, it has proven problematic to design, implement, evaluate, and scale. The purpose of this chapter is to describe a universal design engineering approach known as Design for More Types that can be applied to the design of text-based learning materials, this chapter will describe the conceptual and practical issues involved in the development of text-based learning materials for diverse learners. We begin by providing some foundational concepts for this multidisciplinary work. Next, we provide a series of case studies to illustrate how universal usability can be applied to various instructional designs. Finally, we describe how the Design for More Types framework can be used in both research and practice.


Access for disabled people in the outdoor environment is an important and accurate issue for landscape architects. The demands on public places are increasing and the aim is that everyone should be able to use the environment and be a part of the society. To enable this, landscape architects must put and extra effort to their design. This report shows examples from Uppsala Travel Centre where different ways of travelling meets in one place and many people pass on a daily basis. The area is newly built and should thereby represent modern solutions that enable access for disabled people. The purpose of this study has been to describe which solutions that has been used and discuss whether they meet the functional and aesthetic requirements from a landscape architect point of view. A limited area within the Uppsala Travel Centre has been studied where many different examples was found. The study also includes a research about the current Swedish law to get knowledge about the use of and demand on access solutions. Information about Uppsala Travel Centre and the different examples of access solutions has been gathered by a walk around the area together with one of the responsible architects. This method has enabled understanding for both the physical solutions as well as the thought behind them. To find out how well the solutions are working for the intended user information has been gathered from the local disability organization in Uppsala. It has been both through a discussion with representatives from the disability organization and via a document from a review of the Uppsala Travel Centre that was done during the summer 2010. In the result the solutions are grouped, described and has been analysed from a functional and aesthetic point of view. The study shows that there are many different kind of solutions to enable access that combines both functional and aesthetic values. In some cases the function is week in fortune of aesthetic values but there are also good examples in which function and aesthetic is combined, which add an additional value to the site.


In this paper, the regression equation between chlorophyll-a (Chla) and some environmental factors was calculate by multiple stepwise regression, based on the monthly monitoring data in the Qiandao Lake from Jan. 1999 to Dec. 2000, and modified Carlson trophic state index for all the sampling sites was also analyzed. The results indicated that the spatial and temporal distribution of chlorophyll a in the sampling sites were varied strongly, the concentration of chlorophyll a in the Xin'an river changed from 50 mg.m-3 to 30 mg.m-3, but that in the lake was under 5 mg.m-3. The modified Carlson trophic state index (TSIM) for the sampling sites in southeast of the lake was under 37 (belonging to olligotrophic), and the others were under 53 (belonging to mesotrophic). In different sampling sites, the significant environmental affecting factors for chlorophyll a were different. However, the relationships between chlorophyll a and water temperature and total phosphorus were positive, and that between chlorophyll a and diaphaneity was negative.


Predicting whether a lung nodule will grow, remain stable or regress over time, especially early in its follow-up, would help doctors prescribe personalized treatments and better surgical planning. However, the multifactorial nature of lung tumour progression hampers the identification of growth patterns. In this work, we propose a deep hierarchical generative and probabilistic network that, given an initial image of the nodule, predicts whether it will grow, quantifies its future size and provides its expected semantic appearance at a future time. Unlike previous solutions, our approach also estimates the uncertainty in the predictions from the intrinsic noise in medical images and the inter-observer variability in the annotations. The evaluation of this method on an independent test set reported a future tumour growth size mean absolute error of 1.74 mm, a nodule segmentation Dice's coefficient of 78% and a tumour growth accuracy of 84% on predictions made up to 24 months ahead. Due to the lack of similar methods for providing future lung tumour growth predictions, along with their associated uncertainty, we adapted equivalent deterministic and alternative generative networks (i.e., probabilistic U-Net, Bayesian test dropout and Pix2Pix). Our method outperformed all these methods, corroborating the adequacy of our approach.


The paper examines the relative performance of Stochastic Volatility (SV) and GARCH(1,1) models fitted to ten years of daily data for FTSE. As a benchmark, we use the realized volatility (RV) of FTSE sampled at 5-minute intervals, taken from the Oxford Man Realised Library. Both models demonstrate comparable performance and are correlated to a similar extent with the RV estimates, when measured by OLS. However, a crude variant of Corsi's (2009) HAR model, applied to squared demeaned daily returns on FTSE, appears to predict the daily RV of FTSE better than either of the two models. Quantile regressions suggest that all three methods capture tail behaviour similarly and adequately. This leads to the question of whether we need either of the two standard volatility models, if the simple expedient of using lagged squared demeaned daily returns provides a better RV predictor, at least in the context of the sample.


The Tian Shan range occupies the southwestern edge of the Central
Asian Orogenic Belt. Our aim is to reconstruct the pre-Tertiary history
of relief building in the Chinese Tian Shan. We use the sedimentary facies,
sediment provenances and paleocurrent directions of the 6 exposed
Mesozoic sections in the northern and southern piedmonts as well as in
intra-mountain basins. The correlation of these 6 sections allows us to
propose some palaeogeographic maps for the middle Jurassic, the upper
Jurassic - lower Cretaceous transition, the upper Cretaceous and the late
Cretaceous - Paleogene transition.
The dismantling of reliefs associated to the late-paleozoic tectonic phase
is largely completed by upper Triassic. The Jurassic is characterised by
a low tectonic activity and results in a general planation phase of the
Tian Shan area. The upper Jurassic - lower Cretaceous transition is characterized
by a huge conglomeratic event at the scale of all the northern
foothills, associated with some eolian deposits implying a arid climate
during this period. We propose that the alluvial fans are resulting from
the erosion of relatively small and local reliefs, caused by normal faults
activity, in contradiction with the existing hypothesis supporting compressional
tectonic and reactivation of the range during the Upper Jurassic
(Hendrix et al., 1992). However it fits to the interpretation of
low thermochronology data. During the Upper Cretaceous, the widespread
occurrence of alluvial fans indicates the ongoing erosion of a local
positive topography in the Tian Shan area. A significant late Lower
- early Upper Cretaceous unconformity is observable in the S-Junggar,
N-Tarim and Turfan Basins. It is confirmed by low temperature thermochronology
data that show a « major » late Lower Cretaceous unroofing
event near Kuqa on the southern foothills (Dumitru et al., 2001) and
some late Lower to early Upper Cretaceous exhumation ages within the
range (Jolivet et al., 2010). This marks the onset of a new exhumation
phase that goes on during the Upper Cretaceous and seems to stop after
a peak of activity in the late Upper Cretaceous. Following the Upper
Cretaceous inversion episode, a tectonic quiet period characterises the
late Upper Cretaceous - Early Paleogene and enables the formation of a
widespread calcrete in both piemont of the range.


We attempt to shed some light on the optimal design of Commission rules and practices for addressing interference disputes. Since spectrum licenses produce no benefits without large and mostly sunk investments in communications networks, our focus is on investment incentives. We argue that the Federal Communications Commission's optimal interference policy would necessarily deal with different license holders differently when their sunk network investments vary. We focus on sunk investments because if interference-causing repurposings are permitted and the significant sunk assets to provide services using spectrum are given short shrift, then the rational response of private parties is to curb investment. A reduction in investment will reduce the value of wireless services and, in turn, the value of the spectrum. Accordingly, our model of interference dictates that license holders who have made little or no sunk investment in capital to generate benefits from their license would receive little relief under an optimal rule. On the other hand, those licensees with substantial sunk network investments would receive far more expansive treatment by the regulator. Put bluntly, regulatory policy towards interference concerns should favor those licensees with more "skin in the game," with attention focused on actual capital investments in networks and not spectrum licenses alone. To provide context, we use the continuing saga of LightSquared Networks — a spectrum speculator now branded as Ligado — as a case study, though the analysis is in no way limited to the specifics of this ongoing proceeding.


If asked whether you had consumed illicit drugs recently, would you admit it? If yes, could you precisely recall types of drug, times and amounts used? If you were the person commissioned with the task of quantifying drug use, what approach would you use given the social stigma attached with such behavior? We measure drug residues in sewage, which represents urine of entire populations, to provide an objective estimate of total drug use in a region. In transdisciplinary projects, sewage-based results provide valuable information at unrivaled spatiotemporal resolution complementing traditional data.


Abstract Multivariate pattern analysis can address many of the challenges for cognitive neuroscience highlighted in After Phrenology (Anderson 2014) by illuminating the information content of brain regions and by providing insight into whether functional overlap reflects the recruitment of common or distinct computational mechanisms. Further, failing to consider submaximal but reliable population responses can lead to an overly modular account of brain function.


Two methods for determining the supereulerian index of a graph G are given. A sharp upper bound and a sharp lower bound on the supereulerian index by studying the branch-bonds of G are got.


To investigate the proportion of viral respiratory tract infections among acute undifferentiated fevers (AUFs) at primary health facilities in southern Vietnam during 2001-2005, patients with AUF not caused by malaria were enrolled at twelve primary health facilities and a clinic for malaria control program. Serum was collected on first presentation (t0) and after 3 weeks (t3) for serology. After exclusion of acute dengue infection, acute and convalescent serum samples from 606 patients were using enzyme-linked immunoassays to detect IgA, as well as IgM and IgG antibodies against common respiratory viruses. Paired sera showed the following infections: human parainfluenza virus (HPIV, 4.7%), influenza B virus (FLUBV, 2.2%), influenza A virus (FLUAV, 1.9%) and human respiratory syncytial virus (HRSV, 0.6%). There was no association between type of infection and age, sex or seasonality; some inter-annual differences were observed for influenza. Antibody prevalence, indicative of previous infections, was relatively low: HPV, 56.8%, FLUBV, 12.1%; FLUAV, 5.9% and HRSV, 6.8%.


This report is the first outcome from the PhD project "Towards an Integrated Environmental Information System". It covers the findings from a pilot field study of environmental information management at flooring manufacturer Forbo.

Relevant, reliable, accessible and understandable environmental information is a cornerstone for any attempt on environmental management of production units and products, and also for making solid purchasing decisions. However, there are several known problems to environmental information management in companies. Ambiguous information, high time consumption, high costs, low organisational memory, limited availability and a poor product information flow are some of the problems that can be found.

The purpose of this study is to get an understanding of the preconditions for the efficient generation and use of relevant environmental information at the study object, both at site/company/group level and product level. Another aim is to refine the research questions and research methodology to prepare for further field studies.
Two Forbo units were chosen as study objects partly because they were known to manage both site related and product related environmental information. The study was carried out mainly through semi-structured interviews and by collecting and analysing documented environmental information.

The quality of product related environmental information at Forbo is lower than the professional site related environmental information. The product information lacks in objectivity, precision and actuality. Possible explanations are a weak market demand for products with lower environmental impact, weak third-party intervention on the product level and an organisation design that seems to create a barrier for the flow of product related information.

The detailed and extensive format of the product declaration seems to be a barrier for understanding and using environmental product information.


using the Poiseuille equation. The turbulent-flow P loss in intravenous cannulae (due to F2) is found to be the sum of entrance length flow disturbancc. kinetic energy loss at the outflow and internal shape change losses.' In addition, we identified turbulent-flow P loss intrinsic to the intravenous tubing, which is proportional to tubing length and independent of entrance and exit flow phenomena.' Laminar and turbulent flow pressure losses due to the attached intravenous tubing must be considered in any evaluation of cannula performance. We would like to emphasise the importance of the British standard for intravenous cannulae which includes a technique to determine, and therefore compare, flow rates. Appropriatc infusion systems can then be designed or selected to meet specific clinical nccds. We support the adoption of standards for intravenous infusion systems which utilise more than one pressure-flow determination. A single rate mcasurement at approximately 10 kPa can result in a considcrable overestimation of flow in the range needed for volume resuscitation during surgery or after trauma.J


Historically, the Internet has been woefully under-measured and under-instrumented. The problem is only getting worse with the network's ever-increasing size. We discuss the goals and requirements for building a "measurement infrastructure" for the Internet, in which a collection of measurement "platforms" cooperatively measure the properties of Internet paths and clouds by exchanging test traffic among themselves. The key emphasis of the architecture, which forms the underpinnings of the National Internet Measurement Infrastructure (NIMI) project, is on tackling problems related to scale. Consequently, the architecture emphasizes decentralized control of measurements; strong authentication and security; mechanisms for both maintaining tight administrative control over who can perform what measurements using which platforms, and delegation of some forms of measurement as a site's measurement policy permits; and simple configuration and maintenance of platforms.


Crowdsourcing makes it possible to create translations at much lower cost than hiring professional translators. However, it is still expensive to obtain the millions of translations that are needed to train statistical machine translation systems. We propose two mechanisms to reduce the cost of crowdsourcing while maintaining high translation quality. First, we develop a method to reduce redundant translations. We train a linear model to evaluate the translation quality on a sentenceby-sentence basis, and fit a threshold between acceptable and unacceptable translations. Unlike past work, which always paid for a fixed number of translations for each source sentence and then chose the best from them, we can stop earlier and pay less when we receive a translation that is good enough. Second, we introduce a method to reduce the pool of translators by quickly identifying bad translators after they have translated only a few sentences. This also allows us to rank translators, so that we re-hire only good translators to reduce cost.


We propose an objective formulation of the impulse analysis problem from a signal analysis viewpoint. The winding response is quintessentially that of a deterministic network to a finite energy signal, with breakdown and partial discharge being inherently nonlinear events. A significant improvement to the acquisition of waveforms is demonstrated by a virtual instrument approach. It retains the advantages of the time- and frequency-domain methods. The drawbacks of the transfer function method are highlighted and a new piecewise linear approach is proposed for analysis. Experiments on a discrete lumped parameter model of the winding are used to validate the PXI based instrument.


In this article, we examined the repertoire of existences, processes and practises as well as mechanisms of open market place trading that is a definitive character of trading and associated dealings in many Sub-Saharan Africa countries which is as a result of the nature and structure of social and economic organizations cum cultural relational infrastructures of these Sub-Saharan societies. One stop shops and shopping malls that commonly punctuate American and European societies are rare necessitating special, unique and innovative ways of transporting goods and services across locations. It is within this socio-cultural, relational and economic infrastructural milieu that head porterage (Alabaru) subsists. Unfortunately, not many works exist in the areas of Anthropology and Cultural Studies on head porterage (Alabaru) which has assumed important character in the existences of most Sub-Saharan African markets with implications for global markets and world distribution/supply chains. This article therefore deployed robust Anthropological and qualitative methodology to examine the critical contours of the problematic. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.3126/hjsa.v6i0.10716 Himalayan Journal of Sociology and Anthropology Vol.6 2014: 166-186


This paper finds strong evidence of a positive relationship between currency risk premia and real exchange rate swings, significant at the 1% if not 0.1% level, for three USD exchange rate samples. The risk premia are measured using survey data on traders' exchange rate forecasts. This circumvents the need for an auxiliary hypothesis of rationality and enables more direct focus on risk behavior. The analysis is conducted using the I(2) cointegrated VAR which allows for time-varying trends in the variables. Evidence of persistent changes is found for interest rates, prices, and nominal and real exchange rates. Interest rate shocks appear to drive the system, while expectations are correcting only in the longer-run.


1 The electrophysiological properties of rat dorsal motor nucleus of the vagus (DMV) neurones (n= 162) were examined using whole cell patch clamp recordings from brainstem slices. Recordings were made from DMV neurones whose projections to the gastrointestinal tract had been identified by previously applying fluorescent retrograde tracers to the gastric fundus, corpus or antrum/pylorus, or to the duodenum or caecum. 2 The neuronal groups were markedly heterogeneous with respect to several electrophysiological properties. For example, neurones which projected to the fundus had a higher input resistance (400 ± 25 MΩ), a smaller and shorter after‐hyperpolarization (16.7 ± 0.49 mV and 63.5 ± 3.9 ms) and a higher frequency of action potential firing (19.3 ± 1.4 action potentials s−1) following injection of depolarizing current (270 pA) when compared with caecum‐projecting neurones (302 ± 22 MΩ; 23.5 ± 0.87 mV and 81.1 ± 5.3 ms; 9.7 ± 1.1 action potentials s−1; P < 0.05 for each parameter). Differences between neuronal groups were also apparent with respect to the distribution of several voltage‐dependent potassium currents. Inward rectification was present only in caecum‐projecting neurones, for example. 3 Neurones (n= 82) were filled with the intracellular stain Neurobiotin allowing post‐fixation morphological reconstruction. Neurones projecting to the caecum had the largest cell volume (5238 ± 535 μm3), soma area (489 ± 46 μm2) and soma diameter (24.6 ± 1.24 μm) as well as the largest number of dendritic branch segments (23 ± 2). 4 In summary, these results suggest that DMV neurones are heterogeneous with respect to some electrophysiological as well as some morphological properties and can be divided into subgroups according to their gastrointestinal projections.


OBJECTIVE
This study aimed to determine the effects of preoperative speech reception on postoperative speech recognition with a cochlear implant and to develop a statistical index allowing prediction of postoperative speech recognition before implantation.

STUDY DESIGN
The study design was a retrospective case review with statistical modeling.

SETTING
The study was conducted at a tertiary referral center with an associated Veteran's Administration hospital.

PATIENTS
Postlingually deafened adults with and without residual speech reception participated.

INTERVENTION
Cochlear implantation with Cochlear Corporation CI-22 and CI-24 devices was performed.

MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES
Monosyllabic word recognition was measured.

RESULTS
Duration of deafness and preoperative sentence recognition are both significant predictors of word recognition with a cochlear implant and can account for 80% of the variance in word recognition.

CONCLUSIONS
Cochlear implant outcomes are variable but predictable within specific ranges.


The partial knowledge of the area of thermo-technical properties of wooden lightweight external walls is presented in this article. The distribution of temperatures inside the structure during a typical winter week is described as observed on samples of walls built in a chamber pavilion type. What is compared is the thermal performance variant of sandwich construction walls obtained on the basis of calculations, measurements and simulations.


Generally cattle produce 95% of the total milk from the market, over 33% of meat production, 90% of all raw hides and 75% of the livestock manure. Romania can ensure forage for seven millions cattle. At present, there are 2.162.013 cattle, of which 1.231.857 dairy cows. Based on this situation requires a review of breeding strategies and the distribution of species and breeds in different geographical areas. The preservation of natural resources as a support for biological, social and economic life is the key for sustainable development of society. In last years it has imported and other breeds of cattle. Montbeliarde breed has adapted very well to the climatic conditions and plant resources in our country. In France, the country of origin, it is considered a milk breed with the average milk yield about 7500 kg / normal lactation (305 days),3.8 to 3.9% fat and 3.45% protein. The total number of Montbeliarde dairy cows is at present in Romania over 2000, of which 676 animals in official control of production. The current study was conducted in three farms in the south of Romania. In these farms animals have been brought from France, heifers in pregnancy months IV-VII. After the end of the first lactation, production data were recorded and statistically analyzed. The statistical analysis was performed on a number of 379 primiparous cows. It was noted that the main parameters of production showed variations between farms. Thus, the duration of lactation had values between 314-330 days, with implications on the quantity of milk and the reproduction activity. Regarding the average quantity of milk per cow values were recorded between 5646 and 6320 kg milk and fat percentage of 4.14, respectively 3.80%. The production values are influenced by many factors (conditions of feeding, milking, sheltering) and they influence the total quantity of milk for processing, and quality.


Who needs Modern Greek? Like many European-based fields of study (French, German, and Italian, for instance), Modern Greek Studies faces a crisis of relevance in American universities. I look at this crisis by examining three issues: the relationship between Modern Greek programs and the classical tradition, the place of these programs in diaspora communities, and finally the position of Greek culture in the reorganization of knowledge along the lines of multiculturalism and postcolonialism. I conclude that the answer to this crisis cannot be found only in student enrollments, which are dwindling in many places, but also in a clearly-defined research profile which connects scholarship on Greece to current epistemological developments.


Real-time communication networks are designed mainly to support multimedia applications, especially the interactive ones, which require a guarantee of Quality of Service (QoS). Moreover, multicasting is needed as there are usually more than two peers who communicate together using multimedia applications. As for the routing, the network has to find an optimum (least cost) multicast route, that has enough resources to provide or guarantee the required QoS. This problem is called QoS constrained multicast routing and was proved to be an NP-complete problem. In contrast to the existing heuristic approaches, in this paper we propose a modified version of a Hopfield neural network model to solve QoS (delay) constrained multicast routing. By the massive parallel computation of neural networks, it can find a near optimal multicast route very fast, when implemented in hardware. Simulation results show that the proposed model has performance near to the optimal solution and comparable to existing heuristics.


It was established that water deprivation led to dissimilar disturbances of phospholipid composition in rat blood serum and tissues. Content of individual phospholipids altered depending on their susceptibility to peroxidation. The role of the alterations observed in membrane destabilization, inactivation of membrane-bound enzymes, intensification of lipid peroxidation and other disorders are discussed.


This article explores K. E. Løgstrup's1 ontological ethics, understood as an ethics rooted in interdependence. Interdependence, the fact that human beings always hold power over each other, has two very different aspects, which I will call negative and positive, each of them in turn leading to different aspects of ontological ethics. By negative and positive I mean the two opposing possibilities of all human interaction that we can either destroy the other person's life (to a greater or smaller degree) or cause the other person's life to flourish. We can either be a blessing in the other person's life or a destroyer, as Løgstrup sometimes puts it. The focus of this article is to explore the positive aspect of interdependence. This is done for two connected reasons. Firstly, the positive aspect of Løgstrup's analysis of interdependence seems to be largely overlooked because the work done on interdependence has tended to focus on the negative aspect, i.e. the threatening side of interdependence, which leads to his work on the ethical demand. Secondly, the positive aspect of interdependence actually provides the origin and foundation of Løgstrup's so-called sovereign expressions of life. The overall aim is to provide a coherent exposition of Løgstrup's ethics. However, the result is not a normative ethics upon which we may act, but rather a descriptive diagnosis of interdependence as the basic ontological condition of human social life, where the sovereign expressions of life may enable us to act.


Sustained fast neurotransmission requires the rapid replenishment of release-ready synaptic vesicles (SVs) at presynaptic active zones. Although the machineries for exocytic fusion and for subsequent endocytic membrane retrieval have been well characterized, little is known about the mechanisms underlying the rapid recruitment of SVs to release sites. Here we show that the Down syndrome-associated endocytic scaffold protein intersectin 1 is a crucial factor for the recruitment of release-ready SVs. Genetic deletion of intersectin 1 expression or acute interference with intersectin function inhibited the replenishment of release-ready vesicles, resulting in short-term depression, without significantly affecting the rate of endocytic membrane retrieval. Acute perturbation experiments suggest that intersectin-mediated vesicle replenishment involves the association of intersectin with the fissioning enzyme dynamin and with the actin regulatory GTPase CDC42. Our data indicate a role for the endocytic scaffold intersectin in fast neurotransmitter release, which may be of prime importance for information processing in the brain.


The study investigated in-service biology teachers' perceptions of the instructional use of smartphones equipped with Biology Mobile Learning Applications (BMLAs) in the learning of biology concepts in Nigerian senior secondary schools and the pedagogical rating of two commercially available mobile learning applications recommended for learning biology. The study utilized a descriptive survey design. Data collected were analyzed using descriptive and inferential statistics. Findings gathered revealed that the in-service biology teachers had good perceptions of the instructional use of BMLAs and that these perceptions influence their pedagogical rating and selection of mobile applications. The study also revealed that demographic variables such as gender and years of professional teaching experience do not have any significant effect on biology teachers' perceptions of the instructional use of mobile applications and in the pedagogical rating of the BMLAs respectively. The implications of these findings for a mobile-enabled biology curriculum development were discussed extensively.


Ureteric fibroepithelial polyp is a rare disease; it is of mesodermal origin and exhibits benign characteristics. Hydronephrosis occurs in rare cases, and it is generally accepted that it may result in an obstruction without causing alterations of renal function. In many cases it is difficult to differentiate from transitional cell carcinomas. Nowadays, endoscopic evaluation is the means of treatment and management. In our case study we report a patient with a long fibroepithelial polyp of the distal ureter prolapsing into the bladder in a periodic pattern. Cystoscopy revealed that movement of the polyp was moving forward and backward in the right ureteric orifice. Cold-cut biopsy established the diagnosis. The patient underwent ureteroscopic excision and remains asymptomatic a year later.


Damage or loss of brain cells and impaired neurochemistry, neurogenesis, and synaptic and nonsynaptic plasticity of the brain lead to dementia in neurodegenerative diseases, such as Alzheimer's disease (AD). Injury to synapses and neurons and accumulation of extracellular amyloid plaques and intracellular neurofibrillary tangles are considered the main morphological and neuropathological features of AD. Age, genetic and epigenetic factors, environmental stressors, and lifestyle contribute to the risk of AD onset and progression. These risk factors are associated with structural and functional changes in the brain, leading to cognitive decline. Biomarkers of AD reflect or cause specific changes in brain function, especially changes in pathways associated with neurotransmission, neuroinflammation, bioenergetics, apoptosis, and oxidative and nitrosative stress. Even in the initial stages, AD is associated with Aβ neurotoxicity, mitochondrial dysfunction, and tau neurotoxicity. The integrative amyloid-tau-mitochondrial hypothesis assumes that the primary cause of AD is the neurotoxicity of Aβ oligomers and tau oligomers, mitochondrial dysfunction, and their mutual synergy. For the development of new efficient AD drugs, targeting the elimination of neurotoxicity, mutual potentiation of effects, and unwanted protein interactions of risk factors and biomarkers (mainly Aβ oligomers, tau oligomers, and mitochondrial dysfunction) in the early stage of the disease seems promising.


Abstract. Basal thermal conditions play an important role in ice sheet dynamics, and they are sensitive to geothermal heat flux (GHF). Here we estimate the basal thermal conditions, including basal temperature, basal melt rate, and friction heat underneath the Lambert-Amery glacier system in east Antarctica, using a combination of a forward model and an inversion from a 3D ice flow model. We assess the sensitivity and uncertainty of basal thermal conditions using six different GHFs. We evaluate the modelled results using all available observed subglacial lakes. There are very large differences in modelled spatial pattern of temperate basal conditions using the different GHFs. The two most-recent GHF fields inverted from aerial geomagnetic observations have higher values of GHF in the region, produce a larger warm-based area, and match the observed subglacial lakes better than the other GHFs. The fast flowing glacier region has a lower modelled basal friction coefficient, faster basal velocity, with higher basal frictional heating in the range of 50–2000 mW m−2 than the base under slower flowing glaciated areas. The modelled basal melt rate reaches ten to hundreds of mm per year locally in Lambert, Lepekhin and Kronshtadtskiy glaciers feeding the Amery ice shelf, and ranges from 0–5 mm yr−1 on the temperate base of the vast inland region.


A novel scheme for generating multiwavelength short pulses using fiber Bragg gratings (FBGs) was demonstrated. In this scheme the external cavity length for all wavelengths selected by the gratings is intrinsically identical and the FBGs can be cascaded into the external cavity. Simultaneous generation of 1-GHz dual-wavelength short pulses with a wavelength separation of 1.6 or 18 nm was demonstrated. A sidemode suppression ratio (SMSR) better than 30 or 25 dB was achieved at both wavelengths in the former and latter cases respectively. Three-wavelength 1-GHz ps pulses with a SMSR better than 25 dB at all three wavelengths were also successfully generated.


We have used a miniaturized Wollaston wire resistive thermometer as a probe to record infrared absorption spectra of polymeric samples by detecting photothermally induced temperature fluctuations at the sample surface. This method opens the way to absorption Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy/microscopy with a spatial resolution that is no longer diffraction limited, but is determined instead by the size of the contact between probe and sample. At present, this is on the order of a few hundred nanometers. The thermal probe, of a type used in scanning thermal microscopy and microthermal analysis, allows us to detect the photothermal response of a specimen exposed to the beam of a Fourier transform infrared spectrometer and heated thereby. The signal from this probe measures the resulting temperature fluctuations, and thus provides an interferogram which replaces the interferogram normally obtained by means of direct detection of the IR transmitted by a sample.


Is there sawdust in your hair? Do you have a splinter or two in your hands? If so, for many of us, this is a good indication that breeding season is just around the corner. Wintertime is usually one of the best times for outdoor parrot breeders to inspect their flights, perches and nest boxes. The  and maintenance will be required to avoid potential hazards in the cages and nest boxes of your facility. The list of things that may need attention can be lengthy, and can include items such as perches that may need re-securing, wind or other seasonal protection that may need to be put up or taken down, and nest boxes that need to be thoroughly examined, cleaned, repaired and/or replaced, if we are to expect progeny in the upcoming season. For myself, I use numerous different sizes and shapes of nesting boxes. I make most of them from plywood. As the keeper of many genera of parrots and other birds, the annual nest box maintenance inspection is crucial. Nests left un-inspected may be unsafe and cause breeding failures in the upcoming season. Consider the following points during your inspection: 1. Is the nestbox securely fastened? 2. Is the wood showing any sign of weather rot? 3. Does the nestbox need to be sanitized? (The answer to this is always yes when dealing with Cockatiels and Quaker Parakeets!) 4. Is the internal ladder still in place and secure? 5. Have the birds chewed and caused extensive damage to the nest box, resulting in such haz ards as exposed screws or sta pies? Or, are there now large  holes in the bottom of the box allowing the nesting material to fall out? (Note that not all of the destructive chewing is done by the birds. Believe it or not, squirrels or other rodents can chew in from the outside, allowing the birds to escape their flights) 6. Is the inspection door still secure with working hinges and latches? Finding that the hinge has rusted fast when you go to inspect for eggs is not the best time. 7. What is the condition of the nesting material, and does it need to be replaced? 8. Is the inside of the nestbox dry or showing signs of saturation from rain? 9. Have any pest species set up house keeping in your nest box (spiders, snakes, mice, wasps, termites, ants, etc.)? 10. Did the birds use the nestbox the prior season? If the answer is no, there may be a need to replace this box for any number of reasons I choose wintertime to inspect my nest boxes because in my area of the country, that is the time when most nesting sites are vacant. Also, in the wintertime, the nursery requires a lot less of my time and I can plan for more hours working outside or in the woodshop. I always try to have a few different nest box variations on hand in the event that one needs to be replaced suddenly. By routinely setting this time aside each year, I assure myself that the work will be done and the birds will have new, or at least safe and secure, nesting sites for the upcoming season. In some cases, it may be important to match up the type of nestbox with the species of bird to which it is offered. For instance, a nest box designed for the Silvery Cheeked Hornbills will be different than one designed for, say, macaws, cockatoos, or amazons. Sometimes it is necessary to be creative, and to use your imagination to create a box that simulates natural nest cavities in one way or another. I have found this true with the Black Palm Cockatoos. Some species that are prolific and less difficult to breed, such as the cockatiels, Pyrrhura conures, and Roseringed parakeets, may adapt to standard nest box designs. There are nest boxes available that are made of materials other than wood. Some are made of Plexiglas, plastic, or metal, but the same issues will still need to be considered. Too often we use these nest boxes because we feel they will result in less maintenance time, and that they are more durable, and therefore a time saver. Unfortunately, this is not always the case. Maintaining these beliefs may facilitate undue neglect. As our other responsibilities con- sume the majority of our time and we have this false sense of security, the nest box may be overlooked. Hopefully some of the accompanying images will inspire those who haven't checked inside of their nest boxes in a while. Some of them may actually explain why the birds don't use them. Send in your nest box questions to be answered in the Question & Answer Forum of upcoming issues of the Watchbird. Happy Breeding! •


This study aims to: (1) describe the structure of hoax on Facebook social media, (2) describe the contents of hoax messages on Facebook; and (3) describe the characteristics of using hoax in Facebook social media. This type of research is a qualitative descriptive study. This research was carried out on Facebook. Data collection was carried out during August 2019 - January 2020. The research design used was descriptive qualitative. The focus of this research is hoax information and hoax information disseminating accounts. Research data sources, namely hoax information disseminating facebook account. Data collection techniques are done by reading Facebook account posts, identifying hoax information, making screenshots or screenshoots, copying hoax-identified messages, verifying, determining hoax-categorized information, and analyzing based on data analysis guidelines. The research instrument consisted of the main instrument namely the researcher and the observation guide table. The results of the study reveal the structure, content of hoax messages, and the linguistic characteristics of hoax texts. The structure of the hoax text found consists of 10 patterns, namely (1) Recognition of issues, Reaffirmation, Series of arguments, and Statement of solicitation, (2) Statement of solicitation, Recognition of issues, Sequence of arguments, and Reaffirmation, (3) Recognition of issues, Sequence arguments and solicitation statements, (4) recognition of issues, series of arguments, and reaffirmation, (5) recognition of issues, invitation statements, and series of arguments, (6) recognition of issues and series of arguments, (7) recognition of issues, and solicitation of invitations , (8) solicitation statement and series of arguments, (9) introduction of the issue, and (10) solicitation statement. The contents of the message found consisted of 5 types, namely (1) scary hoax messages, (2) emotional hoax messages, (3) hoax messages full of promises, (4) encouraging messages, and (5) humorous messages. The linguistic characteristics found consist of 3 namely (1) the use of technical words, (2) the use of argumentative conjunctions, including (a) the use of the conjunction "if", (b) the use of the conjunction "cause", ( c) the use of the conjunctions "because", (4) the use of the conjunctions "so", (5) the use of the conjunctions "their consequences". (3) use of command sentences, including (a) viral (b) distribute.


River water cleaning from microorganisms using electrohydraulic discharges and ozonation was investigated. The processed water was highly polluted with the total number of microorganisms (70 400 cfu/mL) and total Escherichia coli bacteria (280 cfu/mL). The processing was conducted in a tube reactor with a hollow needle-rod electrode configuration. A 400-mL sample of river water was treated at different flow rates. Ozonation was performed in a washing bottle with an ozone concentration of 20 g/m3. The corona discharge treatment showed a steady decrease of bacteria and microorganisms but did not kill them completely. Spark discharge killed the bacteria and microorganisms completely; however, its energy efficiency was much lower than that of ozonation. The ozone treatment decreased the concentration of microorganisms and coli bacteria down to 785 and 10 cfu/mL, respectively, in 45 s which resulted in higher energy efficiency than processing using corona and spark discharges. The NPOC analysis of the treated samples showed its concentration of 5 ± 0, 4 ppm in all samples.


In this paper we consider a method for extraction of sets of semantically similar language expressions representing different partici-pants of the text story ― thematic chains. The method is based on the structural organization of news clusters and exploits comparison of various contexts of words. The word contexts are used as a basis for extracting multiword expressions and constructing thematic chains. The main difference of thematic chains in comparison with lexical chains is the basic principle of their construction: thematic chains are intended to model different participants (concrete or abstract) of the situation described in the analyzed texts, what means that elements of the same thematic chain cannot often co-occur in the same sentences of the texts under consideration. We evaluate our method on the multi-document summarization task


The cloning of genes based on protein function has become a powerful tool for protein discovery and should play an important role in proteomics in general. We have recently reported a technique for the functional identification of protein targets by combining traditional affinity chromatography with cDNA phage display. This procedure, referred to as display cloning, directly couples biologically active natural products to the gene of their protein cellular target. We now report the cloning of a human gene, the domain of F1 ATP synthase, using a synthetic scaffold molecule which serves as a prototype for a diverse chemical library. The ability to select genes from cDNA libraries using probes from combinatorial libraries would greatly increase the number of small molecule/protein interactions that can be identified. This method might prove valuable in furthering our understanding of biology and its application toward drug development.