The control of arterial pressure during sleep was studied in 13 untreated, unsedated subjects aged 20 to 46, including 7 with hypertension. Arterial pressure was measured directly. A transient rise of arterial pressure up to 30 mm Hg was produced by the sudden intravenous injection of 0.25 to 2 μg of angiotensin. Linear plots were obtained in 10 of 13 subjects when the systolic pressures of successive pulses during the pressure rise were plotted against the pulse intervals which began the next beat. The relationship was disturbed by movement or arousal, and was better when pulse intervals falling in inspiration were discarded. The slope of the line (milliseconds of cardiac slowing per millimeter rise in systolic pressure) in the awake subject ranged from 2 to 15.5 msec/mm Hg, and from 4.5 to 28.9 during sleep. Reflex sensitivity was highest in dreaming sleep. In 7 of 10 subjects, baroreflex sensitivity increased significantly during sleep; in 6, the prevailing arterial pressure was inversely correlated with the baroreflex sensitivity. The pressure appeared to be the dependent variable. It is concluded that the baroreceptor reflex are can be rapidly reset, particularly during sleep. The lower arterial pressures during sleep may be actively maintained in some subjects by increased baroreflex sensitivity.


Most studies on the effect of movement direction utilized Fitts' law; however, the use of Fitts' law has a limitation of discriminating the extent to which properties of speed and accuracy contribute to the aiming movement time. Hence, this study aimed at utilizing the two ballistic movement models to separately assess speed and accuracy. Four participants performed ballistic movements with a standard computer mouse in eight radial directions. The measured movement time and two axes of end-point variability were analyzed using the two ballistic movement models. The results showed that two ballistic movement models accounted well for the measured data in various movement directions, and movement direction had certain effects on movement time, aiming-constant error, and aiming-variable error. Movements took the shortest times in the directions of 0° and 180°. Participants aimed targets with a counterclockwise angle when moving toward 90°, 135°, 180°, and 225°, and with a clockwise angle when moving toward 270°, 315°, 0°, and 45°. Aiming-variable errors were relatively smaller along cross axes, compared to those along diagonal axes. Ballistic movement models, compared to Fitts' law, provided individual performance information of "speed" and "accuracy", helping provide detail information for HCI designs.


With federal policies to curb carbon emissions stagnating in the U.S., California is taking action alone. Sub-national policies can lead to high rates of emissions leakage to other regions as state-level economies are closely connected, including integration of electricity markets. Using a calibrated general equilibrium model, we estimate that California's cap-and-trade program without restrictions on imported electricity increases out-of-state emissions by 45% of the domestic reduction. When imported electricity is included in the cap and "resource shuffling" is banned, as set out in California's legislation, emissions reductions in electricity exporting states partially offset leakage elsewhere and overall leakage is 9%.


This study is part of the work performed for the pilot plant of an innovative indirect fired gas turbine cycle for biomass incineration using the Pebble-Heater technology and a microturbine. A Pebble-Heater is a regenerative heat exchanger consisting of an annular bed with radial flow, which implements an unsteady counterflow heat exchanger. It captures the flue gas enthalpy during the atmospheric heating phase and heats compressed air for the turbine during the blowing phase. During the heating phase ash particles from the incinerator deposit on the bulk material and are segregated by periodic exchange and cleaning of the bed. Like this a high degree of de-dusting and cooling of the flue gas is achieved upstream of the emission control filters. In the blowing phase, however, a small amount of ash (< 3mg/mN 3 ) is re-suspended and condensables re-sublimate into the hot air stream, which feeds the turbine. In this paper we develop a simple procedure to estimate how the size distribution and concentration of the dust load decrease the lifetime of the radial turbine due to erosion. It is based on the consideration of single particles following the gas flow. To obtain a lifetime estimate the focus was set on the erosion of the radial turbine blade tips, which are identified as the most critical parts with respect to particle impacts. On the basis of the particle relative velocity and trajectory determined with the flow model the turbine lifetime was calculated with an erosion rate model. The paper discusses the influence of particle size and distribution on turbine lifetime. For the current turbine it was found that equivalent particle diameters above 3–4μm and dust loads greater than 1 mg/mN 3 reduce the nominal turbine lifetime drastically.Copyright © 2006 by ASME


For Convolutional Neural Network-based object detection, there is a typical dilemma: the spatial information is well kept in the shallow layers which unfortunately do not have enough semantic information, while the deep layers have a high semantic concept but lost a lot of spatial information, resulting in serious information imbalance. To acquire enough semantic information for shallow layers, Feature Pyramid Networks (FPN) is used to build a top- down propagated path. In this paper, except for top-down combining of information for shallow layers, we propose a novel network called Image Pyramid Guidance Network (IPG-Net) to make sure both the spatial information and semantic information are abundant for each layer. Our IPG-Net has two main parts: the image pyramid guidance transformation module and the image pyramid guidance fusion module. Our main idea is to introduce the image pyramid guidance into the backbone stream to solve the information imbalance problem, which alleviates the vanishment of the small object features. This IPG transformation module promises even in the deepest stage of the backbone, there is enough spatial information for bounding box regression and classification. Furthermore, we designed an effective fusion module to fuse the features from the image pyramid and features from the backbone stream. We have tried to apply this novel network to both one-stage and two-stage detection models, state of the art results are obtained on the most popular benchmark data sets, i.e. MS COCO and Pascal VOC.


A linearly slotted waveguide antenna (LSWA) is investigated. The slot is placed in one of the narrow faces of a rectangular waveguide, which operates at Ka-band (26.5{40 GHz), which is in a frequency range including upper microwaves and the lower edge of millimeter waves. Analytically, the magnetic current approach is applied. Some antenna parameters of this structure are experimentally measured and it is observed that the antenna radiates a single transversal-polarized beam that scans with frequency. The experimentally obtained patterns in 2 perpendicular planes are also correlated with analytical and numerical patterns that use the magnetic current model and HFSS, respectively. Approximate maximum directivity and side lobe level of the antenna are 20 dBi and {10 dB, respectively. In a frequency range of 23{35 GHz, eciency above 75% is obtained by this investigated antenna. Travelling wave parameters of the antenna are also calculated. The antenna is a fast-wave structure and exhibits frequency-scanning behavior with an average scanning rate of 2.14 /GHz. Some of the results of the investigated LSWA are also compared with the results of the sinusoidal slotted waveguide antenna (SSWA) investigated in a previous study by the author. The directivity and eciency of the linear slot is better than that of the sinusoidal slot, while the other characteristics are similar. Thus, the LSWA exhibits a better performance than the SSWA does if we consider the transversal E ϕ polarization (SSWA has another polarization as well, which is longitudinal Epolarization). It is also concluded that this frequency-scanning Ka-band LSWA can be used in telecommunications and radar applications.


BACKGROUND
Adenovirus-mediated angiogenic growth factor gene transfer provides a new therapeutic strategy for treatment of coronary heart disease. Preclinical studies showed that direct intramyocardial injection of recombinant adenovirus with hepatocyte growth factor gene (Ad-HGF) was able to promote neovascularization, improve heart function and abate the area of ischemic myocardia in animal models. However, the safety and therapeutic effect of Ad-HGF were not evaluated in clinical trials.

PATIENTS AND METHODS
A open-label, safety and tolerance trial of Ad-HGF in 18 patients suffering from coronary heart disease was performed. Three groups, each with 6 patients, received 5x10(8) (low dosage), 1.5 x 10(9) (medium dosage) and 5x10(9) (high dosage) pfu of Ad-HGF/person respectively, by direct multipoint injection into the myocardium while accepting coronary artery bypass surgery. The changes of vital symptoms, blood and urea routine analyses, as well as myocardial perfusion before and after treatment were analyzed.

RESULTS
There was no evidence of systemic or cardiac-related adverse events after intramyocardial administration of the Ad-HGF. Myocardial perfusion of the Ad-HGF-injected area was improved in 3 cases of the low-dose group, 5 cases of the medium-dose group, and all of the high-dose group.

CONCLUSION
These preliminary clinical data indicate that direct intramyocardial administration of Ad-HGF was well tolerated and could improve myocardial perfusion with a dose-effect relationship, encouraging larger and randomized efficacy trials.


Data words and data trees appear in verification and XML processing. The term ``data'' means that positions of the word, or tree, are decorated with elements of an infinite set of data values, such as natural numbers or ASCII strings. This talk is a survey of the various automaton models that have been developed for data words and data trees.


From recent experiments it is indicated that in frogs living at +25 degrees C the abnormal response to cyanide anoxia appears as soon as 4-5 hr after the first isoproterenol (IPR) injection, but the aneurysm does not appear until a few hours after the second injection of IPR. There is evidently a discrepancy between the biochemical and structural effects of IPR on the heart. The biochemical effects are probably transient as we have observed that a normal response to cyanide reappears a few weeks after the second IPR injection. It might thus be concluded that IPR causes derangement to the cells also in hearts without any visible lesions and demonstrated as a lowered resistance to histotixic anoxia. This effect precedes any structural damage if such should occur and is of a transient nature.


This report basically discusses the overall element of the project which is entitled,
Optimization of the Feldspar Usage in High Temperature Drilling Fluid. This research
will be a stepping stone for future research of the new potential drilling fluid additives
which is obtained from abundant local resources. The objectives of the project are to
discover the properties and characteristics of quartzo-feldspathic rock, to discover the
effect of feldspar addition on the drilling fluid properties and to determine the effect of
formulated drilling fluid in high temperature and high pressure well condition. In order
to correlate cost and effectiveness of the additive, the natural sources of additive
(feldspar) which found abundant in Malaysia is determined its potential. In drilling
process, drilling fluid could alter in situ formation. In the operation main problem with
drilling fluids and additives are concerned on the effect of the drilling fluid log
interpretation and on cuttings analysis. Minimizing the environmental impact of a
drilling operation as well as safety considerations both directly affect the choice of
drilling fluid additives and drilling fluid systems. The methodology of the project is
kept with relevancy of current technology. The rock properties identification are using
SEM and XRD. Meanwhile, the drilling fluid properties are identified using viscometer,
HPHT viscometer and HPHT filter press. The project met its objective, and as a result,
feldspar could be used as a loss circulation material additive as it shows a good result in
filtration test.


The membership structure matters to ensure a durable negotiating forum in an international organization. However, in July 2017, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, on behalf of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), requested Indonesia to reactivate its membership, which the country had suspended—for the second time—in November 2016. The first suspension was in January 2009—annulled in January 2016. The Government of Indonesia (GoI) then welcomed the invitation. This study aims to analyze OPEC's membership scheme, which has given leeway to its members to send a request like the above. In-depth interviews were conducted with Indonesia's representatives in OPEC to capture the organization's internal condition. By analyzing the organization's membership dynamics, we can identify three reasons behind Indonesia's invitation to rejoin. The first is because OPEC's country members need Indonesia's presence in negotiations as they consider Indonesia neutral. Second, OPEC needs a country with a different attribute to strengthen the organization's image of diversity on the international stage. The third reason is the historical elements. OPEC strives to maintain historically good relations with the GoI as the country has contributed to the organization's development. For those reasons, an international organization might reinvite its former member to join the group.


Gear box is one of the most important transmission components in mechanical systems. Fault diagnosis and state monitoring techniques for gear box have been studied for years. But in practical, gear box usually works under varying work conditions which has not been considered in most studies. In this paper, a novel state monitoring method is proposed for monitor gear box work with varying conditions. The vibration signal is de-nosied by morphological filtering. Then gear-mesh frequency band is extracted by wavelet transform. Dimensionless time indexes are used as state monitoring features. A regularization method is proposed to calculate gear tooth health index. Simulate and experiment signal are presented to illustrate the effectiveness of the method. The result indicates that, morphological filtering is an efficient method to de-nosie the vibration signal; wavelet transform can extract the gear-mesh frequency band; gear tooth health index can monitor gear tooth state based on vibration signal.


This paper concerns a novel approach to the modeling and control design for transient stabilization of electric power systems using Flexible Alternating Current Transmission System (FACTS) devices. A nonlinear dynamic model of general interconnected electric power systems in the ordinary differential equation (ODE) form is proposed in terms of time-varying phasors of all dynamic components. This model captures previously unmodeled fast dynamics of inductors and capacitors of FACTS. Additionally, it allows us to observe the active power which is flowing through FACTS during transients. Using the derived model, an ectropy-based FACTS controller is proposed. The proposed controller regulates the active power through FACTS in order to shift the increment in energy created by disturbances. The energy increment is directed from generators into FACTS, preserving the synchronization between generators during disturbances. Simulation results obtained on the IEEE 14-bus system demonstrate the potential of this controller. The controller is shown to increase critical clearing time of the system in the case of a fault.


Supercooled liquids are proposed to be dynamically heterogeneous, with regions exhibiting relaxation time scales that vary in space and time. Measurement of the distribution of such time scales could be an important test of various proposed theories of vitrification. Single molecule fluorescence experiments attempt to uncover this distribution, typically by embedding single molecule probes into these systems and monitoring their individual rotational relaxations from a computed autocorrelation function (ACF). These ACFs may exhibit stretched exponential decays, with the value of the stretching exponent assumed to report the set of dynamical environments explored by the probe. Here, we use simulated trajectories of rotation to investigate how the time scale of dynamic exchange relative to underlying relaxation time scales in the system affects probe ability to report the distribution relaxation of time scales present. We find that dynamically heterogeneous regions must persist for approximately 50 times the median relaxation time scale for a single molecule to accurately report the full distribution of time scales it has experienced. In systems with faster dynamic exchange, single molecule ACFs average over successive environments, limiting the reported heterogeneity of the system. This leads to degeneracies in stretching exponent for systems with different underlying relaxation time distributions. We show that monitoring single molecule median stretching exponent as a function of trajectory length or simultaneously measuring median stretching exponent and measured relaxation time distribution at a given trajectory length can resolve these degeneracies, revealing the underlying set of relaxation times as well as median exchange time.


This paper presents a region-based approach towards semantic image retrieval. Combining segmentation and the popular Bag-of-Words model, a visual vocabulary of the most common "region types" is first constructed using the database images. The visual words are consistent image regions, extracted through a k-means clustering process. The regions are described with color and texture features, and a "model vector" is then formed to capture the association of a given image to the visual words. Opposite to other methods, we do not form the model vector based on all region types, but rather to a smaller subset. We show that the presented approach can be efficiently applied to image retrieval when the goal is to retrieve semantically similar rather than visually similar images. We show that our method outperforms the commonly used Bag-of-Words model based on local SIFT descriptors.


Patients present to the emergency department (ED) for a variety of reasons and some require diagnostic and therapeutic procedures for their conditions. In order for some of these procedures to be carried out successfully, the patient must be at a suppressed level of consciousness in order to tolerate the associated pain and anxiety. Medications administered to achieve these goals include analgesics and sedatives as they decrease the patient's discomfort and awareness while allowing the patient to maintain their airway. However, medication selection and dosing is critical and should be tailored to each patient and procedure. Pharmacists have an opportunity to reduce medication errors during procedural sedation and analgesia (PSAA) as the majority of medication errors leading to adverse events occur during the ordering and administration steps of the medication use process. Common errors include drug-dosing, potential drug interactions, and administration of the wrong pharmacologic agent. Pharmacists in the ED can provide drug information and assist with drug selection and dosing; medication preparation; and monitoring of the patient and of the time intervals since medication administration relative to the duration of the procedure. Having a pharmacist present provides an extra layer of protection and reduces the likelihood for potential medication errors.


Intrinsically photosensitive retinal ganglion cells (ipRGCs) are photoreceptors located in the ganglion cell layer. They project to brain regions involved in predominately non-image-forming functions including entrainment of circadian rhythms, control of the pupil light reflex, and modulation of mood and behavior. In addition to possessing intrinsic photosensitivity via the photopigment melanopsin, these cells receive inputs originating in rods and cones. While most research in the last two decades has focused on the downstream influence of ipRGC signaling, recent studies have shown that ipRGCs also act retrogradely within the retina itself as intraretinal signaling neurons. In this article, we review studies examining intraretinal and, in addition, intraocular signaling pathways of ipRGCs. Through these pathways, ipRGCs regulate inner and outer retinal circuitry through both chemical and electrical synapses, modulate the outputs of ganglion cells (both ipRGCs and non-ipRGCs), and influence arrangement of the correct retinal circuitry and vasculature during development. These data suggest that ipRGC function plays a significant role in the processing of image-forming vision at its earliest stage, positioning these photoreceptors to exert a vital role in perceptual vision. This research will have important implications for lighting design to optimize the best chromatic lighting environments for humans, both in adults and potentially even during fetal and postnatal development. Further studies into these unique ipRGC signaling pathways could also lead to a better understanding of the development of ocular dysfunctions such as myopia.


Increasing concerns about sustainable urban freight transport have appeared recently in developed countries. While some methods and indexes exist today to evaluate economic and development sustainability, this paper holds up the need to develop a standard tool to evaluate how an urban freight system is functioning. In this sense, this paper presents the concept, the methodology and the application of a model named Urban Freight Transport Index (UFTI). The general objective of this paper is to propose and apply a methodology for rating and assessing the overall performance of urban freight systems. As a result of the experimental application of UFTI, a mid-size Mexican city was rated on 115 points out of 807 ideal points. It was concluded that the essayed experimental index could be the basis for a more extended standard to be used by local or regional authorities to help the decision making process in urban freight systems.


Reactions of Paracoccus halodenitrificans nitric oxide reductase (NOR) containing four iron centers, a low spin hemec, a low spin heme b, a high spin heme b and a non-heme iron, have been studied to show the roles of each iron center. Soon after reacting the resting (oxidized) NOR with L-ascorbate, the low spin heme c and low spin heme b were reduced to a considerable extent but the high spin heme b was still in the oxidized form and was reduced slowly. When CO acted on the reduced NOR, the high spin heme b center changed to a low spin state. On the other hand, when NO acted on the resting NOR, no apparent spectral change was observed. However, when NO acted on the reduced NOR (a steady state condition, excess dithionite is present), both of the low spin centers changed to be partly in the oxidized form. A small but clear new EPR signal with g = 4.1 appeared together with some new signals at the g = 2 region soon after the action of NO on the reduced NOR. During incubation at room temperature the nitrosyl-heme signal typical of 5-coordination developed. These results suggested that both the high spin-heme b center and the non-heme iron are the reaction centers and their reductions are indispensable for the enzyme process in contrast to the reaction mechanism proposed for the P-450 type NOR(P-450nor).


Abstract The sudden outbreak and uncontrolled spread of the novel coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) has shocked the world to a degree never seen before. Due to the wide spread transmission of the virus, the number of infected cases worldwide has surpassed 16,421,958 and global death toll has spiked up to 6,52,308 from December 2019 to 27 July 2020. The virus has been labelled as a pandemic by the WHO. Virologists have found that this virus outbreak is similar to past outbreaks of viruses such as severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus (SARS-CoV) and Middle East Respiratory Syndrome that caused severe respiratory syndrome and transmitted rapidly in humans. These single stranded RNA viruses come under the genera of β-coronaviruses which ultimately infect lungs and respiratory tract. Even though the origin, source and intermediate hosts of this virus is unknown, transmittance from human-to-human through various paths has been identified globally. As of today, there are no approved drugs and vaccines. Several clinical trials are being conducted today to evaluate vaccines against the virus. The aim of our present review is to furnish brief details about the statistics, diagnosis, epidemiology, pathogenesis, prevention and treatment of COVID-19 to assist researchers and the society at large to come to grip with the deadly disease. Highlights Cumbersome outbreak of the novel Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) became a pandemic At June 19, 2020, as per WHO report 8,618,787 infected cases and 457,275 dead were recorded globally Major spread was found to be human to human transmissions People with positive COVID-19 were infected with severe respiratory syndrome More animal and clinical studies have to be done to overcome this pandemic


The omohyoid muscle is one of the infrahyoid muscles with superior and inferior bellies. Variations of this muscle are clinically important because of its relation to the internal jugular vein as well as its significance in radical neck dissection. A duplicated omohyoid was observed during routine cadaver dissection, which is attached along with the usual inferior belly of the omohyoid into the transverse scapular ligament. Knowledge of anomalies of this muscle is important to minimize the complications during the surgical procedures of cervical region.


Understanding human movements is critical for different scientific domains. In order to deploy efficient networking solutions, a clear view of human mobility patterns is required. The same applies for urban planning, where the global mobility flows can determine the optimal deployment of infrastructure. Human mobility also plays a major role when analyzing the ways diseases can spread in a population. Significant research efforts have been conducted in this direction, aiming at understanding how people move as a first step, and proposing models of such mobility as a second step. Recently, as people are more and more connected, network traces have received particular attention as a source of information about human mobility at large scales. However, previous studies have focused on developed countries, and whether the observed patterns and models are applicable to developing countries remains an open question, due to differences in the lifestyle, country's infrastructure and modes of transportation. Indeed, a clear understanding of human movements would be crucial for the progress of such countries, especially in highly populated urban regions where new transportation infrastructures are being deployed. In this work, we explore Call Detail Records (CDR) of Orange customers in Abidjan, the economic capital of Ivory Coast. The dataset, made available within the context of the D4D Challenge, provides the position of each caller – approximated as the base station's location – at every time he/she initiates a call or sends an SMS. We start by analyzing the temporal, spatial and geographical characteristics of the calls, which allows us to capture differences between distinct times of the day and different days of the week over multiple geographical regions of the city. We propose a method to distinguish between typical and outlying behaviors in the CDR dataset, enabling the detection of special events such as the New Year's Eve and football games played during the Africa Cup of Nations. Our approach also allows us to infer which moments can be aggregated in order to characterize macroscopic mobility flows that provide a view of the globaland local mobility flows in Abidjan, as well as of their daily evolution.


Background and purpose The extra-skeletal functions of vitamin D - including its role in inflammatory modulation - are now well recognized but have not yet been investigated in an athletic population. Thus, the purpose of this study was to investigate the relationship between vitamin D status and pro- and anti-inflammatory cytokines (as markers of inflammation and immune system function) in endurance athletes. Patients and methods We analyzed fasting blood samples from 19 healthy, endurance-trained male and female runners (following a standardized diet and exercise regimen) for vitamin D status (serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D [25(OH)D)] and specific plasma cytokine concentrations (tumor necrosis factor alpha [TNF-α], interferon-gamma [IFN-γ], interleukin [IL]-4, and IL-10). Serum/plasma concentrations were log-transformed and simple regression analysis was used to determine significant associations between 25(OH)D and cytokine concentrations. Results Forty-two percent of participants had insufficient vitamin D status [25(OH)D< 32 ng/mL], whereas 11% were deficient [25(OH)D < 20 ng/mL]. TNF-α and IL-4 were variable, ranging from 2.9 to 36.4 pg/mL and 0 to 252.1 pg/mL, respectively. Concentrations of IFN-γ and IL-10 were minimal, with means of 6.7 ± 7.0 pg/mL and 4.8 ± 5.1 pg/mL, respectively. Regression analysis revealed a significant inverse association between 25(OH)D and TNF-α concentrations (R2 = 56.5, P < 0.001) but not between 25(OH)D and the remaining cytokines, IFN-γ, IL-4, and IL-10 (P = 0.477, 0.694, and 0.673, respectively). Conclusion These results call further attention to the epidemic of vitamin D insufficiency, even in outdoor athletes, and support a possible link between decreased vitamin D status and one particular marker of inflammation. Future investigations are necessary to determine whether increased inflammation in athletes with reduced vitamin D status could increase risk for inflammation-related injury.


Most of the hematological malignancies where allogeneic stem cell transplantation (SCT) is a therapeutic option occur in elderly patients. Additionally, in this age group, the probability of finding a matched sibling donor decreases due to mortality and co-morbidities of patient's siblings which may exclude them from donation. In such case, SCT from an unrelated donor (UD) can offer a therapeutic solution for elderly patients in need although such a procedure is considered more hazardous than SCT from a matched sibling (mostly due to procedure and GVHD related morbidity and mortality). We present our data on transplantation, in 68 elderly (age>/= 55 years) patients that underwent SCT from a matched sibling (n=51) or UD (n=17) mostly using fludarabine-based regimen (table 1).

Median recipient age was 58.3y in the sibling group and 60.8y in the UD group (NS) (range 55–69.5y and 55–75y, respectively). With a median follow-up of 40 months of the survivors after sibling SCT, the 1-year OS was 32%. Similarly, in the UD group the 1-year OS was 35% (survivors' median follow-up 48.5m) (NS). Transplant related mortality occurred in 22/49 (45%) and 9/17 (53%) of the patients transplanted from sibling or UD respectively (NS). Occurrence of acute GVHD was noted in 26/43 and 7/11 (figure 1) evaluable patients transplanted from matched sibling or UD respectively (NS). Diagnosis of chronic GVHD was made in 50% (14/28) and 63% (5/8) of the patients in the sibling and UD group correspondingly. GVHD related mortality occurred in 11 and 2 patients, respectively.

We conclude that using fludarabine based regimen, allogeneic SCT from an UD is equally effective as in patients undergoing SCT from matched family member. Age per-se should not be currently used as an exclusion criterion for either initiation of donor search or SCT from UD.

View this table:

Table 1-
Patients' characteristics

![Figure][1]

Figure

 [1]: pending:yes


STUDY DESIGN
A retrospective cohort study performed in a nationwide insurance claims database.

OBJECTIVE
This study aimed to examine duration and magnitude of postoperative opioid prescriptions following common spinal procedures.

SUMMARY OF BACKGROUND DATA
Postoperative opioid prescription practices vary widely among providers and procedures and standards of care are not well-established. Previous work does not adequately quantify both duration and magnitude of opioid prescription.

METHODS
Forty seven thousand eight hundred twenty three patients with record of any of four common spinal procedures in a nationwide insurance claims database were stratified by preoperative opioid use into three categories: "opioid naive," "sporadic user," or "chronic user," defined as 0, 1, or 2+ prescriptions filled in the 6 months preceding surgery. Those with record of subsequent surgery or readmission were excluded. Duration of opioid use was defined as the time between the index surgery and the last record of filling an opioid prescription. Magnitude of opioid use was defined as milligram morphine equivalents (MME) filled by 30 days post-op, converted to 5 mg oxycodone pills for interpretation.

RESULTS
Opioid naive patients were less likely than chronic opioid users to fill any opioid prescription after surgery (63-68% naive vs. 91-95% chronic, P < 0.001), and when they did, their prescriptions were smaller in magnitude (76-91 pills naive vs. 127-152 pills chronic). One year after surgery, 15% to 18% of opioid naive and 50% to 64% of chronic opioid users continued filling prescriptions.

CONCLUSION
Opioid naive patients use less postoperative opioids, and for a shorter period of time, than chronic users. This study serves as a normative benchmark for examining postoperative opioid use, which can assist providers in identifying patients with opioid dependence. Importantly, this work calls out the high risk of opioid exposure, as 15% to 18% of opioid naive patients continued filling opioid prescriptions 1 year after surgery.

LEVEL OF EVIDENCE
3.


The informal economy now constitutes an important component in the economic activities and process of development in Kenya. Although its relative importance was minimized in the past, the informal economy continues to thrive in Kenya and the rest of Africa. In this work, the informal economy (Jua Kali sector) is defined as consisting of those economic activities, units, enterprises and workers (both professionals and non-professionals) who engage in commercial activities outside of the realm of the formally established mechanisms for the conduct of such activities and are therefore not regulated or protected by the State. It includes all forms of unregistered or unincorporated small-scale productive, vending, financial and service activities, and is also comprised of all forms of employment without secure contracts, worker benefits or social protection both inside and outside informal enterprises. The article discusses and analyses the nature, impact, benefits and drawbacks of informal economic activity i...


Advances in clinical chemistry, molecular biology and information technology have brought about major changes in the field of endocrinology. The future practice of endocrinology will be influenced by secular health trends, consumer expectations and the globalisation of health. Pharmacotherapy will remain the backbone of endocrine therapy led by developments in drug delivery technology, pharmacogenomics, combinatorial chemistry and paracrinology. The endocrine-related consequences of obesity and ageing will be major health problems, demand for anti-obesity and anti-ageing treatments will escalate. There will be increased blurring between endocrine disease and non-disease. The future clinical endocrinologist must continue to practice evidence-based medicine to improve the treatment of genuine endocrinopathies.


SUMMARY Eggs from chickens experimentally infected with Mycoplasma gallisepticum were heated for 11-15 hr in an incubator containing approximately 2,000 medium-sized eggs and were removed for normal incubation once they reached internal temperatures of 110117 F. After 14 days of normal incubation, all heated and control infected eggs were cultured for M. gallisepticum. Normal control eggs were employed with each heating run to determine hatchability. It was concluded that M. gallisepticum could be inactivated when infected hatching eggs reached an internal temperature of 114 F within 12-14 hr if the eggs were started at room temperature (78 F) and the incubator heater was on constantly with no thermostat control. Hatchability was usually reduced approximately 8-12%o. Results were similar with M. synoviae except that a slightly higher temperature was necessary. It is suggested that just reaching an internal egg temperature of 114.5 F during a 12-to-14-hour preincubation heating period without thermostat control should inactivate M. gallisepticum and M. synoviae in infected chicken hatching eggs.


d- and dl-alpha-tocopheryl succinate inhibited growth and caused morphological changes in mouse melanoma (B-16), mouse neuroblastoma (NBP2), and rat glioma (C-6) cells in culture. To study whether the effects of alpha-tocopheryl (vitamin E) succinate on tumor cells are mediated by antioxidant mechanisms, the effects of lipid-soluble antioxidants, butylated hydroxyanisole (BHA) and butylated hydroxytoluene (BHT) were compared with those of vitamin E succinate. Results showed that these antioxidants produced alterations on the growth and morphology of neuroblastoma, melanoma, and glioma cells which are similar to those produced by vitamin E succinate; however, the extent of the effect depended upon the type of antioxidant and the form of tumor cells. These data suggest that the effects of vitamin E succinate on tumor cells may be mediated, in part, by antioxidant mechanisms.


Transfer pricing means the price that arises because of the existence of transfer goods, services, and other intangible assets between the companies that have a special relationship or related parties. If the purpose of transferring prices is to meet production needs between companies within the same group, then transfer pricing is carried out neutrally. However, if the goal is to avoid taxes, then the practice is called abuse of transfer pricing. This practice is legal based on regulations but must be following the arm's length principle. This study intends to discover how the simultaneous and partial influence of tax minimization, firm size, exchange rate, and multinationalism on the indication to perform transfer pricing. In this research quantitative methods are used with purposive sampling as a sampling technique. Manufacturing companies listed on the Indonesia Stock Exchange for the year 2016 until 2020 are the population of the study. Based on the sample criteria, the sample companies studied amounted to 14 companies with a period of 5 years. Logistic regression analysis is the analytical technique used in the study through the assistance IBM SPSS Statistics 25 application. According to the results, variables of tax minimization, firm size, exchange rate, and multinationalism simultaneously have a significant influence on the indication to perform transfer pricing. Based on the partial test, multinationalism has a significant positive influence on the indication to perform transfer pricing whereas tax minimization, firm size, and exchange rate do not influence the indication to perform transfer pricing.


Bacterial infection has been a considerable obstacle for diabetic wound healing. A multifunctional nanoplatform used as nanozyme for bacterial infected diabetic wound is extremely attractive. Therefore, gold nanoclusters modified zirconium-based porphyrin metal-organic frameworks (Au NCs@PCN) were constructed by an in situ growth method. Through SEM, TEM, and EDS mapping, the surface of ellipsoid-shaped particles around 190 nm was observed to be evenly interspersed with 5-8 nm gold nanoclusters. Notably, Au NCs@PCN exhibits excellent performance in exciting ROS generation and photothermal effects. Under near-infrared (NIR) laser irradiation, Au NCs@PCN can be heated to 56.2 °C and produce ROS, showing an effective killing effect on bacteria. Antibacterial studies showed that Au NCs@PCN inhibited MRSA and Ampr E. coli by destroying membrane structure and inducing protein leakage up to 95.3% and 90.6%, respectively. Animal experiments showed that Au NCs@PCN treated diabetic rats had reduced wound coverage to 2.7% within 21 days. The immunoblot analysis showed that proangiogenic and proepithelial cell proliferation factors were expressed significantly up-regulated. These results prove that Au NCs@PCN with photocatalytic and nanozyme activity has a broad application prospect for promoting diabetic infected wound healing.


Memoirs and other books with a health, bereavement, or particular disease focus to support book clubs and to provide a patient point-of-view for students in the healthcare disciplines.


Soil and water conservation (SWC) technologies contribute to sustainable agriculture and rural poverty reduction. Yet, the relationship between farm household income and SWC investment is not well-understood in Rwanda. This study aims to assess the effects of investing in SWC on household income and improve the knowledge of how various classes of smallholders can benefit from such an investment at a farm level. The study used survey data from 422 farming households in northern Rwanda's Burera, Gakenke and Musanze districts. Descriptive analysis was employed to determine levels of use of SWC and SF measures. Quantile estimation classified three classes of farming households: the poor, middle-income earners and the rich. Instrumental variable quantile regression was adopted to assess heterogeneous effects of financing SWC investment. The results revealed that the extent of using SWC and SF measures is generally low. Agriculture income and off-farm (casual) wages had the largest income shares among the poor and middle-income earners. Financing investment in SWC increases income significantly for middle-income earners, i.e. five times more than the poor, but it was ineffective for the wealthy. Socio-economic factors and commercial crops had a significant effect on income across the classes. Institutional factors demonstrated no significant impact on the poor and middle-income earners. The findings suggest that incorporating pro-poor interventions in SWC investment would increase the productivity and commercialisation of cash and staple crops. These results inform a need to promote linkages between SWC investment and income diversification strategies to increase asset-building for the poor and close income gaps among the three farming classes. This finding suggests the need to introduce saving and lending innovations in SWC that link farm activities to nonfarm opportunities.


In order to machine the complex free surface, in this paper, NC interpolation of any complex surface is realized used the recursive reconstruction algorithm. The interpolating errors of this algorithm are controllable, and its applicability is relatively wide. Then, these NC codes of the complex human's free surface are obtained with data exchange of the manufacturing module in the software UG, and machining simulation is obtained used NC codes. Finally, these NC codes are entered into the NC micro-machine tool, which is controlled by the PMAC and developed by ourselves, and the experimental research of the human's free surface has been finished on this machine tool. The experimental results show that the NC interpolation accuracy of this recursive reconstruction algorithm is very high, and the machining simulation and machining experiments of the complex human's surface are completely consistent. The study result shows that the complex surface molding is smooth and continuous, and the machined surface is satisfactory.


In the current industrial revolution, additive manufacturing (AM) embodies a promising technology that can enhance the effectiveness, adaptability, and competitiveness of supply chains (SCs). Moreover, it facilitates the development of distributed SCs, thereby enhancing product availability, inventory levels, and lead time. However, the wide adoption of AM in industrial SCs creates various challenges, leading to new difficulties for SC design. In this context, this article proposes a new design approach to AM SCs using optimization methods. More specifically, the proposed approach, comprising the $p$-median and mixed-integer linear programming models, considers the decision of deploying productive resources (3-D printers) in specific locations of generic spare part SCs. The approach was evaluated in a real-world use case of an elevator maintenance service provider. The obtained results demonstrated the promising capabilities of the proposed design approach in managing the challenges arising from the forthcoming widespread use of 3-D printers in manufacturing SCs.


Family physicians' scope of practice is declining despite being well prepared to provide a range of clinical services. To evaluate whether this is a new phenomenon, we compared the proportions of regional family medicine residency graduates who report practicing and those who report feeling more than adequately prepared to practice various procedures and clinical services from 2 points in time–a survey in 2000 of graduates from 1996-1999 (n = 293) and a survey in 2012 or 2014 of graduates from 2010-2013 (n = 408). The recent graduates felt better prepared, but reported a narrower scope of practice than those who graduated more than a decade earlier. These findings suggest that family medicine residency training has improved over time but the declining scope of practice is a concerning trend.


Design reuse is an important factor in consumer electronics, where removing the burden of designing basic functions for each product can realise critical savings in time to market and delivered cost. But designers of medical devices must be more circumspect and selective to gain tangible advantages from design reuse.


The prion protein contains two N-linked glycosylation sites and a glycosylphosphatidylinositol (GPI) anchor. The large size of the N-linked sugars, together with their dynamic properties, enables them to shield two orthogonal faces of the protein almost completely. Thus, the sugars can protect large regions of the protein surface from proteases and from nonspecific protein-protein interactions. Immunoprecipitation of prion protein with calnexin suggests that in the ER the oligosaccharides may provide a route for protein folding via the calnexin pathway. Major questions relate to the relevance of the glycoform distribution (as defined by glycan site occupancy) to strain type and disease transmission. Glycan analysis has shown that prion protein contains at least 52 different sugars, that these consist of a subset of brain sugars, and that there is site specific glycan processing. PrP(Sc) from the brains of Syrian hamsters contains the same set of glycans as PrP(C), but a higher proportion of tri- and tetra-antennary sugars. This may be attributed to a decrease in the activity of GnTIII. The GPI anchor, which is modified with sialic acid, may allow the prion protein to be mobile in the lipid bilayer. Potentially, this provides a possible means for translocating the prions from one cell to another.


Questions of approximation of periodic functions in Lp-spaces for 0<p<1 by certain families of linear polynomial operators are studied. Some applications are given for the method developed.Bibliography: 6 titles.


Relevance. The most common and most mastered method of growing onions, used in the middle zone of the Russian Federation, as well as in the northern part of European countries, is the cultivation of turnip onions from onion. It is believed that this method provides 75% of the production of the entire onion harvest. Due to the sharp increase in the prices of energy carriers, fertilizers, pesticides and agricultural machinery, the production of sharp varieties of onions, grown in the crop, has become unprofitable, and marketable products have lost competitiveness due to high costs. Significant changes in the reduction of labor costs can be achieved by improving the technology and technical means for the production of onions, creating conditions for their work. The effectiveness of designs for sowing seeds of onions, onion sets and planting onions-uterus is determined by the uniform distribution of the bulbs by area of nutrition, depth and their embedding.Results. The material presented in the work is devoted to the analysis of designs and some results of studies of a complex of machines for the production of onions developed in the Penza GAU.


: Between September 1983 and August 1986, there were 10,665 deliveries and 103 maternal deaths at the University of Port Harcourt Teaching Hospital. 12 of these deaths were from abortions and 4 from ectopic pregnancies giving an overall maternal mortality rate of 9.7/1000 deliveries. 24 of the mothers that died were booked (mortality rate 3.5/1000) and 63 were unbooked (mortality rate 17.8/10000. The principal clinical causes of death were the same in both booked and unbooked patients and included ruptured uterus booked 42%, unbooked 21%), bacterial infection booked 33%, unbooked 35%), and eclampsia (booked 13%, unbooked 14%). For the booked patients, other causes of maternal death include postpartum hemorrhage (17%), medical complications (8%), and anesthetic death (4%). Additional causes of death for the unbooked patients are postpartum hemorrhage (8%), antepartum hemorrhage (3%), severe anemia (6%), medical complications (13%), surgical complications (2%), and uncertain causes (3%). It was also observed that those who died undelivered mainly had ruptured uterus; 7 booked patients who died after spontaneous vertex deliveries died of postpartum hemorrhage, eclampsia, bacterial infection, and acute renal failure; and 13 patients were puerperal admissions. 17% of the deaths in the unbooked patients were from teenage pregnancies while none were from the booked patients. The age group 20-29 contributed 54% of deaths in the booked and 39% of deaths in the unbooked. Fetal outcome was very poor as 17% of the booked patients and 66% of the unbooked patients arrived at the hospital when their babies had already died in utero. Avoidable factors include the failure to have antenatal care which could prevent deaths from anemia, antepartum hemorrhage, and medical complications but not prevent deaths from rupture uterus; difficulties with means of transportation from patients' home to the hospital; harmful cultural practices; and operation difficulties within the hospital. The dominant adverse factors were illiteracy in the unbooked women (84%) and the effects of serious defects in the existing health services in the booked women such as problems with blood transfusions, availability of medical staff, and shortages of intravenous fluids, blood, and essential drugs and equipment. Formal education, antenatal care, and improved health services still remain the key to a large-scale reduction in maternal mortality.


This paper reflects on and seeks to reconcile and to consolidate two bodies of literature. The first deals with course design in higher education, particularly with efforts to create significant learning experiences. The second body of literature, which is considerably less well-known, considers the implied student – the intended or preconceived student for whom these learning experiences are created. Significant learning experiences are created by instructors for students, not for themselves. Thus, a critical condition for success in course design is to examine and interrogate the implied student that instructors had in mind and to reconcile those preconceived notions with the actual students who populate the learning space.,The paper is a critical reflection on the literature and the author's experience in designing college level business and economics courses and in attempting to create significant learning experiences in those courses. The study reflects on practice, reviews the relevant literature, and is speculative in nature. It is not empirically based and may well have limited generalizability. However, it is hoped that this paper will promote further exploration of the implied student construct and will lead to further research into the misalignment of expectations and outcomes between implied students and actual students.,The paper contends that there is inevitably a gap – for both the instructor and the learner – between the expectations and outcomes that are anticipated for implied students and realized by actual students. It suggests that recognition of this gap is a critical element in designing significant learning experiences for actual learners. The paper further suggests that success in creating these experiences is improved through reconsidering the implied student stereotype, engaging with actual students and instructor-led communication of the implicit goals and outcomes of the course.,Students are best served if they engage in learning spaces thoughtfully centered on significant learning experiences. However, learning environments are often constructed around envisaged students who are defined by the learning expectations, pedagogic philosophies and ideological biases of the instructor. This paper provides value by encouraging instructors to explore their preconceptions of the implied student and creating and facilitating learning environments that recognize, appreciate and respond to the actual students who will populate them. Further, the paper highlights "the implied student," which has gained considerable traction in Nordic countries but only limited attention in the USA and UK.


This study examined relationships among physical activity, body composition, and stress- and immunity-related variables in fifth grade children (10-11 yr) in Southern Ontario. The 29 boys and 32 girls, who participated in the study, performed a 20-m shuttle run for prediction of aerobic fitness. Bioelectrical impedance was used to assess relative body fat. Standardized questionnaires were used to determine physical activity-related variables and frequency of upper respiratory tract infection (URTI). Resting saliva samples were collected and tested for resting cortisol and resting secretory immunoglobulin A (SIgA). Subjects wore a pedometer for 48 h to estimate their average total distance traveled per day. SIgA was significantly correlated with reported URTIs but was not related to salivary cortisol, physical activity, fitness level, or relative body fat. Children who spent more time in sport activities and had higher aerobic fitness reported fewer "sick" days. Children with body fat higher than 25% reported significantly (P < 0.05) more sick days than the rest of the cohort. There were no gender differences in SIgA, URTI frequency, and cortisol levels. The test-retest reproducibility for salivary cortisol was 0.66 (P < 0.01), whereas long-term SIgA reproducibility was nonsignificant for repeated measurements taken after 6 wk. Resting secretory immunity was not strongly related to fitness and physical activity, but there was evidence that reduced physical activity and excess body fat can result in higher URTI incidence.


DNA methylation plays an important role in the development of various cancers mainly through the regulation on gene expression. Hence, the study on the relation between DNA methylation and gene expression is of particular interest to understand cancers. Recently, an increasing number of datasets are available from multiple cancers, which makes it possible to study both the similarity and difference of genomic alterations across multiple tumor types. However, most of the existing pan-cancer analysis methods perform simple aggregations, which may overlook the heterogeneity of the interactions. In this paper, we propose a novel method to jointly detect complex associations between DNA methylation and gene expression levels from multiple cancers. The main idea is to apply joint sparse canonical correlation analysis to detect a small set of methylated sites, which are associated with another set of genes either shared across cancers or specific to a particular group (group-specific) of cancers. These methylated sites and genes form a complex module with strong multivariate correlations. We further introduce a joint sparse precision matrix estimation method to identify driver methylation–gene pairs in the module. These pairs are characterized by significant partial correlations, which may imply high functional impacts and contribute to complementary information to the main step. We apply our method to The Cancer Genome Atlas datasets with 1166 samples from four cancers. The results reveal significant shared and group-specific interactions between DNA methylation and gene expression levels. To promote reproducible research, the MATLAB code is available at  https://sites.google.com/site/jianfang86/jointTCGA.


This is the Proceedings of the Eighteenth Conference on Uncertainty in Artificial Intelligence, which was held in Alberta, Canada, August 1-4 2002


The concept of "creativity" was recorded under various names such as: inspiration, talent, giftedness, genius, imagination or fantasy. Creativity is not about being receptive to novelty, but first, creating the new. In physical activities creativity is present when we decide and act in fraction of a second to solve a moment in game, or to combine some technical elements in an innovative way. The creative imagination has an important part in sports with an artistic component: first we prepare our exercises structures mentally, the execution models, possible chaining and sequence of elements are all in our mind and all are contributing to complement and enrich existing motor and expressive skills. Physical activities have resources of creativity improving in an enjoyable, healthy and stimulating context. Creativity is the recombination of concepts that existed or still exist in the human mind, hidden in the subconscious and which could be activated as needed. Creativity seems to be more developed in people who regularly participate in physical activities. It is widely known that innovation cannot exist without creativity. Creativity and intelligence are very rare qualities, sought in all areas of activity, being very well reworded. Therefore we believe this topic is very present in the research field, that it opens new research perspectives and the statement that physical activities stimulate creativity and represent a manner of lifelong training-learning. Because is never too early to implement a healthy life style and a creative educational environment we recommend the initiation of physical education classes even since preschool.


In rabbits, the right hind limb was immobilized by means of plaster cast for 1, 2, 4 or 6 weeks and the activities of some metabolic enzymes: GOT, GPT, LDH, aldolase and acid phosphatase (in part of lysosomal origin), were examined in the slow m. soleus, and in the fast m. gastrocnemius. The former muscle is known to have mainly an oxidative, while the latter mainly a glycolytic type of metabolism. The activities of enzymes highly involved in the metabolism of the muscle diminished for a certain time during atrophy, then a relative rise occurred. Acid phosphatase activity likewise decreased after an initial relative increase. Reduction of enzymatic activities is explained by the activation of proteolytic enzymes, on the basis of measurements performed in these experiments and of results published by others. The decrease of enzymatic activity was more marked in the muscle which in normal state exhibits higher activity than in the other type of muscle studied. Thus, in the gastrocnemius a high rate of degradation of glycolytic enzymes was observed, while in the soleus degradation of oxidative enzymes prevailed. This phenomenon leads to the dedifferentiation of the muscle cell during immobilization.


Background Intravenous (IV), intramuscular (IM), and subcutaneous (SC) are the three most frequently used injection routes in medication administration. Comparative studies of SC versus IV, IM versus IV, or IM versus SC have been sporadically conducted, and some new findings are completely different from the dosage recommendation as described in prescribing information. However, clinicians may still be ignorant of such new evidence-based findings when choosing treatment methods. Methods A literature search was performed using PubMed, MEDLINE, and Web of Sciences™ Core Collection to analyze the advantages and disadvantages of SC, IV, and IM administration in head-to-head comparative studies. Results "SC better than IV" involves trastuzumab, rituximab, antitumor necrosis factor medications, bortezomib, amifostine, recombinant human granulocyte-macrophage colony-stimulating factor, granulocyte colony-stimulating factor, recombinant interleukin-2, immunoglobulin, epoetin alfa, heparin, and opioids. "IV better than SC" involves ketamine, vitamin K1, and abatacept. With respect to insulin and ketamine, whether IV has advantages over SC is determined by specific clinical circumstances. "IM better than IV" involves epinephrine, hepatitis B immu-noglobulin, pegaspargase, and some antibiotics. "IV better than IM" involves ketamine, morphine, and antivenom. "IM better than SC" involves epinephrine. "SC better than IM" involves interferon-beta-1a, methotrexate, human chorionic gonadotropin, hepatitis B immunoglobulin, hydrocortisone, and morphine. Safety, efficacy, patient preference, and pharmacoeconomics are four principles governing the choice of injection route. Safety and efficacy must be the preferred principles to be considered (eg, epinephrine should be given intramuscularly during an episode of systemic anaphylaxis). If the safety and efficacy of two injection routes are equivalent, clinicians should consider more about patient preference and pharmacoeconomics because patient preference will ensure optimal treatment adherence and ultimately improve patient experience or satisfaction, while pharmacoeconomic concern will help alleviate nurse shortages and reduce overall health care costs. Besides the principles, the following detailed factors might affect the decision: patient characteristics-related factors (body mass index, age, sex, medical status [eg, renal impairment, comorbidities], personal attitudes toward safety and convenience, past experience, perception of current disease status, health literacy, and socioeconomic status), medication administration-related factors (anatomical site of injection, dose, frequency, formulation characteristics, administration time, indication, flexibility in the route of administration), and health care staff/institution-related factors (knowledge, human resources). Conclusion This updated review of findings of comparative studies of different injection routes will enrich the knowledge of safe, efficacious, economic, and patient preference-oriented medication administration as well as catching research opportunities in clinical nursing practice.


This paper presents the modeling of a PV-wind hybrid system in Matlab/Simulink. The model is useful for simulation of a hybrid PV-wind system connected to a grid. Blocks like wind model, PV model, energy conversion and load are implemented and the results of simulation are also presented. The behavior of hybrid system employing renewable and variable in time energy sources while providing a continuous supply. Application represents a useful tool in research activity and also in teaching.


The proposed Multimedia Pronunciation Learning Management System (MPLMS) in this study is a technology with profound potential for inducing improvement in pron unciation learning. The MPLMS optimizes the digitised phonetic sy mbols with the integration of text, sound and mouth movement vi deo. The components are designed and developed in an online ma agement system which turns the web to a dynamic user-centric col lection of consistent and timely information for quality sustainabl e learning. The aim of this study is to design and develop the MPL S which serves as an innovative tool to improve English pronunc iation. This paper discusses the iterative methodology and the three-p hase Alessi and Trollip model in the development of MPLMS. To ali gn with the flexibility of the development of educational softwar e, the iterative approach comprises plan, design, develop, evaluate and implement is followed. To ensure the instructional appropriateness of MPLMS, the instructional system design (ISD) model of Alessi and Trol lip serves as a platform to guide the important instructional fa ctors and process. It is expected that the results of future empirical re search will support the efficacy of MPLMS and its place as the premier pr onunciation learning system. Keywords—Design, development, multimedia, pronunciation, learning management system


This study aims at the systematical improvement and comparative analysis of analytical crack models for the rotating blade. Part I of this study focuses on analytical modeling, model modification, and model validation of transverse crack for the rotating blade. The most widely applied analytical crack models for the rotating blade are reviewed and compared, and then their limitations are discussed. It is indicated that the conventional analytical crack models suffer from low physical interpretability and vibration prediction accuracy. By considering these limitations of conventional analytical crack models, model modification is performed to enhance the physical meaning and improve the accuracy. First, the stress-based breathing crack model is modified by direct calculation of the breathing function based on the theory of linear elastic fracture mechanics and resetting the correction factor of centrifugal stiffening stiffness. Second, the vibration-based breathing crack models, including bilinear breathing crack model and cosine breathing crack model, are modified by introducing the coupling effect between bending stress and centrifugal stress based on the stress state at the blade crack section. The additional bending moment induced by the blade part outside the crack section is considered in all analytical models. The modified crack models' validity is verified by comparing vibration responses obtained by the modified crack models, the finite element contact crack model, and the conventional crack models. The comparative results suggest that the modified models promote the physical interpretability and improve the vibration prediction accuracy of analytical crack models.


Dark Handed Gibbon (Hylobates agilis) is one of the wildlife that distribution of seeds by eating fruits. This species categorized as endangered by IUCN (2008) because of habitat destruction in Berbak National Park. This study aims to determine the species composition and structure of tree stand in Hylobates agilis' habitat in Sungai Rambut Ressort and Sungai Cemara Ressort. The collected data for this study is the tree species, diameter at the breast high (dbh), lateral branches height, total height, crown width, temperature and humidity. Species composition in the study site consists of 56 species and 26 families. The structure of tree stand in Sungai Rambut Ressort showed abnormal condition, while Sungai Cemara Ressort showed a normal habitat with inverted J-shape graph.
Keyword: Hylobates agilis, agile gibbon, species composition, tree stand structure, Berbak National Park


A method and device for obtaining embryo brain slices are described. Results of cultivation of slices of rhombencephalon and mesencephalon are presented obtained in accord with a proposed technique of the "swimming float" (Olenev, 1979). With this cultivation, original topographical relations between brain nuclei and fibrillar tracts remain unchanged that enables us to compare these cultures with histological sections of brain to identify strictly the structures being cultivated. Cultured neurons of nuclei of XII and VIII pairs of cranial nerves have been first described in addition to various divisions of the reticular formation commissura cochlearis dorsalis. Compared to cells examined in the in vivo conditions, neurons of the nucleus cochlearis laminaris, grown in tissue culture conditions, do not make plate-forming structures; dendrites of the neurons of III layer of tectum opticum do not develop. This may be explained by the absence in vitro of any stimulating influence from the acustic ganglion fibres and ganglion cells of the retina on these morphogenetic processes.


Lead Zirconate Titanate (PZT) is a high energy density active material with good piezoelectric coefficient and electromechanical coupling constant making it highly suitable for microsystems applications. In this paper, we present a rapid anisotropic high aspect ratio etching process for defining micron size features in PZT. We used an inductively coupled plasma reactive ion etching (ICP-RIE) system employing sulfur hexafluoride (SF6) and argon (Ar) based chemistry. A seed layer of Au/Cr was lithographically patterned onto fine lap finished PZT-4 substrates followed by electrodeposition of a thick 2-5 μm nickel on the seed layer, which acts as a hard mask during the etching process. The demonstrated technique was used to etch bulk PZT ceramic substrates, thereby opening possibilities for integration of bulk PZT substrates and structures into microsystems. A maximum etch rate of 19 μm/hr on PZT-4 and 25 μm/hr for PZT-5A compositions was obtained using 2000 W of ICP power, 475 W of substrate power, 5 sccm of SF6, and 50 sccm of Ar on PZT substrate. We have also demonstrated a high aspect ratio etch (>5:1) on a 3 μm feature size. Detailed analysis of the effects of ICP power, substrate power, and the etch gas composition on the etch rate of PZT are also presented in this article.


Chitooligosaccharides (COS) and N-acetyl glucosamine (GlcNAc) are currently of enormous relevance to pharmaceutical, nutraceutical, cosmetics, food, and agriculture industries due to their wide range of biological activities, which include antimicrobial, antitumor, antioxidant, anticoagulant, wound healing, immunoregulatory, and hypocholesterolemic effects. A range of methods have been developed for the synthesis of COS with a specific degree of polymerization along with high production titres. In this respect, chemical, enzymatic, and microbial means, along with modern genetic manipulation techniques, have been extensively explored; however no method has been able to competently produce defined COS and GlcNAc in a mono-system approach. Henceforth, the chitin research has turned toward increased exploration of chemoenzymatic processes for COS and GlcNAc generation. Recent developments in the area of green chemicals, mainly ionic liquids, proved vital for the specified COS and GlcNAc synthesis with better yield and purity. Moreover, engineering of COS and GlcNAc to generate novel derivatives viz. carboxylated, sulfated, phenolic acid conjugated, amino derived COS, etc., further improved their biological activities. Consequently, chemoenzymatic synthesis and engineering of COS and GlcNAc emerged as a useful approach to lead the biologically-active compound-based biomedical research to an advanced prospect in the forthcoming era.


This article explains why the Chosŏn government and the military in particular expanded state control over forests in the seventeenth century and analyzes the implications of forest administration in a preindustrial polity. From 1592 to 1598, the Chosŏn dynasty suffered invasions from Japan that displaced much of the Korean population and devastated the economy and environment. The crucial role of the navy during the war, along with a dire postwar situation, heightened government anxieties about deforestation and timber scarcity. Thus, in the seventeenth century, the Chosŏn government expanded administration over forests, particularly pine forests, across the coasts and islands of southwestern Korea. The key vehicle for the expansion was the military. Due to wartime and postwar exigencies, the military became the late Chosŏn state's primary organ for management of wood resources for state purposes. Furthermore, the growth of pine-centric state forests and shifts in military priorities would significantly reshape Korean ecologies.


Nanoparticles of palladium were supported on SiO2 by chemical vapor deposition technique. The obtained Pd nanocatalyst was characterized by various techniques. This catalyst was found to be very efficient for the selective cross-coupling of hydroxyl-substituted aryl iodides and bromide with arylboronic acids in water at room temperature to produce the corresponding hydroxyl-substituted biaryls. Coupling of phenylboronic acid with aryl iodides and bromides carrying substituents other than hydroxy group was also performed efficiently in refluxing ethanol. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.


The 2 millipedes which most commonly become nuisances around structures in Florida are the greenhouse millipede, Oxidus gracilis Koch, and the tropical millipede, Orthomorpha coarctata (Saussure). Several others are bothersome more sporadically. The greenhouse millipede is more widespread, but is generally less of a problem because it appears to breed only in wild and overgrown areas where there is much decaying leaf litter from which it occasionally disperses to nearby structures. The tropical millipede apparently breeds in the thick lawngrass thatches common in south Florida. The biology of the tropical millipede was found to be much like that of the better known greenhouse millipede. Egg to adult time for Orthomorpha coarctata was 119 to 187 days, with apparently 2 generations a year. Development continued slowly through the winter, but mating and egg laying appeared to begin in March. These millipedes were active through the night, but peak activity was reached in mid-morning and with the least activity during afternoon and early evening hours. Oxidus gracilis fed on decaying organic matter, and could not be forced to eat grass or bean plants. In cross-mating tests, gracilis males attempted to mate with coarctata females, but no eggs were produced from these pairings. In laboratory-scale control tests, the carbamates methomyl, carbaryl, and propoxur provided complete and quick kill of greenhouse millipedes.


Seventeen patients, ranging in age from 40 to 86 years, developed pupillary block detected one week to three years after intraocular lens implantation. Sixteen of the implants were anterior chamber intraocular lenses and one was a posterior chamber intraocular lens. Despite iris bombé that closed the anterior chamber angle, many cases were asymptomatic and were discovered fortuitously during routine postoperative examinations. Laser iridotomy or iridectomy eliminated the pupillary block in all 17 cases, but permanent synechial closure of a portion of the anterior chamber angle persisted in most cases and sometimes required medication or further surgery. One eye eventually lost all light perception.


The telomerisation of 1,3-butadiene with a Pd/TPPTS catalytic system in water or an organic solvent was used for the synthesis of C8 ethers from isosorbide, an agro-based diol. The use of water/oil biphasic reaction conditions allowed the selective synthesis of monoethers with improved rates upon using inorganic bases as promotors. As isosorbide is a non-symmetric diol, the two hydroxyl groups display different reactivities. 2-O-substituted-monoethers were preferentially obtained if water was used as the solvent, whereas in DMSO 5-O-substituted monoethers were the major products. Complete conversions of isosorbide with up to 94% monoether selectivities were obtained. The optimized reaction conditions were successfully applied to isomannide and isoidide for the selective synthesis of the derived ethers. An improved reactivity of the endo-hydroxy groups of isosorbide and isomannide versus the exo-hydroxy groups of isosorbide and isoidide was observed if the reaction was performed in DMSO instead of water.


Voltage unbalance and short circuits in distribution networks adversely affect the performance of grid-tied voltage source inverters (VSIs). Consequently, the dc-link voltage ripple may significantly increase leading to operation of VSI in an unsatisfactory manner. Conventionally in order to maintain the negative sequence current under unbalanced conditions, low-pass/trap filter in the current control loop are required which significantly reduce the controller bandwidth. In order to minimize the dc-link voltage ripple without impairing the controller bandwidth, this paper investigates the design and performance of Proportional–Integral–Resonant (PIR) controller in improving the performance of the VSI under unbalanced condition. The proposed design methodology is validated through simulations and experimental results.


An upgrade, based on Multigap Resistive Plate Chamber (MRPC) technology, of the endcap Time-Of-Flight (ETOF) detector of the Beijing Spectrometer III (BESIII) has been proposed for the replacement of the current scintillator + PMT based ETOF, with the aim of improving the time resolution down to 80 ps sigma. This improvement will enhance the particle identification capability to meet the higher precision requirements of physics. The ETOF system including MRPC modules, Front End Electronics (FEE), CLOCK module, fast control boards and Time to Digital modules (TDIG), has been designed, constructed and parts of the ETOF system have seperately tested. Aiming at examining the quality of entire ETOF system and training the operation of all participated instruments, a cosmic ray test system was built and tested in the laboratory for about three months to guarantee the performance. In this paper the results of the test are presented indicating that the entire ETOF system works well and satisfies the requirements of the upgrade.


Bang-Bang clock and data recovery (BBCDR) circuits are hard nonlinear systems due to the nonlinearity introduced by the binary phase detector (BPD). The specification of the CDR frequency response is determined by jitter tolerance and jitter transfer. In this paper, jitter transfer and jitter tolerance of the second-order BBCDR are characterized by formulating the time domain waveforms. As a result, a new equation is presented to obtain corner frequency. Also, the jitter tolerance is expressed in closed form as a function of loop parameters. The proposed method is general enough to be used for designing BBCDR. The analysis is verified using behavioral simulations in MATLAB. Simulation results demonstrate the validity of the result obtained by analytical equations.


Objective: This cross-sectional study was planned to evaluate the self-efficacy and symptom control of cancer patients and to determine the factors affecting them. Methods: The sample of the study consisted of 329 cancer patients who were treated in the Medical Oncology Clinic of a university hospital between April and June 2019 and accepted to participate in the study. Data were collected using the Patient Characteristics Information Form, Cancer Behavioral Inventory-Short Version (CBI-SV), and Edmonton Symptom Assessment Scale (ESAS). Percentage, mean, Mann Whitney U test, Kruskal Wallis analysis of variance were used in the analysis of the data. Results: The mean CBI-SV score of the patients was 79.10±17.55. It was determined that the highest mean score of ESAS of the patients was in the symptom of fatigue (3.53±2.81). Some symptoms were statistically lower in patients with good income, working, and non-smokers. Also it was determined that the self-efficacy levels of the patients with good income and quitting smoking were higher (p<0.05). At the same time, as the patients' self-efficacy scores increased, the severity of the symptoms they experienced decreased statistically (p<0.05). Conclusion: It was found that the patients' self-efficacy score was above the moderate level, the most intense symptom experienced by the patients was fatigue, and the severity of the symptoms decreased as the patients' self-efficacy level increased. In line with these results; the symptoms, self-efficacy perceptions and affecting factors of cancer patients should be evaluated by nurses at regular intervals, and care and consultancy services should be provided.


The effects of E. coli endotoxin (ET) on human erythrocyte cytosolic free calcium concentration ([Ca2+]i) and membrane calcium pump (Ca(2+)-Mg(2+)-ATPase) activity were observed in vitro. The changes of erythrocyte [Ca2+]i, Ca(2+)-Mg(2+)-ATPase activity, calmodulin activity, the deformability of erythrocytes, membrane protein electrophoresis, and the fluidities of membrane lipids were investigated in the ET-induced disseminated intravascular coagulation (DIC) model to study the significance of erythrocyte factors in the occurrence of microangiopathic hemolytic anemia. The [Ca2+]i of human erythrocytes was 86 +/- 9.2 nmol/L in normal cells, and it was increased to 124 +/- 22 nmol/L, 174 +/- 41 nmol/L and 220 +/- 92.1 nmol/L, respectively, when the erythrocytes were incubated with 0.5 mg/ml, 1 mg/ml and 2 mg/ml ET, respectively. At the same time, the Ca(2+)-Mg(2+)-ATPase activities decreased from 1031 +/- 131 nmol/mg.h in normal to 870 +/- 182 nmol/mg.h, 684 +/- 124 nmol/mg.h and 718 +/- 144.4 nmol/mg.h in groups receiving 0.5 mg/ml, 1 mg/ml and 2 mg/ml ET, respectively (P < 0.01). The [Ca2+]i of rabbit erythrocytes was elevated from 76.6 +/- 14.9 nmol/L in normal to 224 +/- 74 nmol/L (P < 0.01), and the Ca(2+)-Mg(2+)-ATPase activity was inhibited from 220 +/- 26.8 nmol/mg.h in normal to 146.1 +/- 30.6 nmol/mg.h during ET-induced DIC in vivo. In addition, erythrocyte deformability decreased and the membrane protein electrophoresis showed changes in the 4.5 KD band area. However, there was no significant difference in the calmodulin activity and fluidities of membrane lipids of erythrocytes in DIC rabbits. These results suggest a possible alternative mechanism for the formation of microangiopathic hemolytic anemia in ET-induced DIC rabbits.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)


Location dependency and its associated exposed receiver problem create the most severe unfairness scenario in CSMA/CA protocol. To address this issue, we develop an analytical model to study 1) the likelihood of the exposed receiver problem and how this likelihood varies with the carrier sensing and the transmission ranges; 2) the probabilities of successful RTS receptions and of successful RTS/CTS handshakes of the disadvantaged link under the typical exposed receiver scenario. Based on the analytical insights, we propose a receiver assistance feature as addition to the CSMA/CA protocol so that the receiver of a disadvantaged link can help the sender to contend for channel access. In terms of compatibility with the existing 802.11 protocol, the proposed feature requires only one bit of modification in the packet header. Simulation results show that the proposed feature not only significantly improves the fairness of the CSMA/CA protocol, but also increases the overall throughput, all accomplished without creating other side effects, such as aggravation of the hidden terminal problem.


The pure rotational spectrum of sulfuryl chloride fluoride, SO2ClF, has been investigated in the frequency range 5.6–24.0 GHz using a pulsed molecular beam microwave Fourier-transform spectrometer. Between 48 and 170 lines of 8 to 26 rotational transitions have been observed for the six isotopomers SO2ClF, SO237ClF, 34SO2ClF, 34SO237ClF, SO 18OClF and SO 18O 37ClF (unlabelled atoms indicate 16O, 19F, 32S, and 35Cl) in natural isotopic abundance. The rotational and quartic centrifugal distortion constants have been determined. r0, rΔP and rs-type structural parameters have been evaluated. A harmonic force field has been calculated to derive ground-state average and estimated equilibrium geometries. The description of the normal modes in terms of internal coordinates is discussed. Chlorine and fluorine hyperfine structures have been resolved, allowing quadrupole coupling (including χbc for the isotopomers containing 18O) and spin–rotation constants to be determined. Variations in the chlorine quadrupole coupling constants with different isotopomers have allowed the Cl quadrupole tensor to be diagonalized and indicate that its z-axis coincides with the SCl bond.


The debate about whether mental health law should be abolished or reformed emerged during the negotiations of the Convention on the Right of Persons with Disabilities ('CRPD') and has raged fiercely for over a decade. It has resulted in an impasse between abolitionists, States Parties, and other reformers and a literature which has devolved into 'camps'. Mental Health Law: Abolish or Reform? aims to cut through the confusion using the tools of human rights treaty interpretation backed by a deep jurisprudential analysis of core CRPD concepts—dignity (including autonomy), equality, and participation—to gain a clearer understanding of the meaning of the CRPD and what it requires States Parties to do. In doing so, it sets out the development of both mental health law and the abolitionist movement including its goals and how and why it has emerged now. By digging deeper into the conceptual basis of the CRPD and developing the 'interpretive compass', the book aims to flesh out a broader vision of disability rights and move the debate forward by evaluating the three main current abolition and reform options: Abolition with Support, Mental Capacity with Support, and Support Except Where There is Harm. Drawing on jurisprudential and multi-disciplinary research from philosophy, medicine, sociology, disability studies, and history, it argues that mental health law should not be abolished, but should instead be significantly reformed to minimize coercion and maximize the support and choices given to persons with mental impairments to realize of all of their CRPD rights.


Dietary nitrate supplementation has shown promising ergogenic effects on endurance exercise. However, at present there is no systematic analysis evaluating the effects of acute or chronic nitrate supplementation on performance measures during high-intensity interval training (HIIT) and sprint interval training (SIT). The main aim of this systematic review and meta-analysis was to evaluate the evidence for supplementation of dietary beetroot—a common source of nitrate—to improve peak and mean power output during HIIT and SIT. A systematic literature search was carried out following PRISMA guidelines and the PICOS framework within the following databases: PubMed, ProQuest, ScienceDirect, and SPORTDiscus. Search terms used were: ((nitrate OR nitrite OR beetroot) AND (HIIT or high intensity or sprint interval or SIT) AND (performance)). A total of 17 studies were included and reviewed independently. Seven studies applied an acute supplementation strategy and ten studies applied chronic supplementation. The standardised mean difference for mean power output showed an overall trivial, non-significant effect in favour of placebo (Hedges' g = −0.05, 95% CI −0.32 to 0.21, Z = 0.39, p = 0.69). The standardised mean difference for peak power output showed a trivial, non-significant effect in favour of the beetroot juice intervention (Hedges' g = 0.08, 95% CI −0.14 to 0.30, Z = 0.72, p = 0.47). The present meta-analysis showed trivial statistical heterogeneity in power output, but the variation in the exercise protocols, nitrate dosage, type of beetroot products, supplementation strategy, and duration among studies restricted a firm conclusion of the effect of beetroot supplementation on HIIT performance. Our findings suggest that beetroot supplementation offers no significant improvement to peak or mean power output during HIIT or SIT. Future research could further examine the ergogenic potential by optimising the beetroot supplementation strategy in terms of dosage, timing, and type of beetroot product. The potential combined effect of other ingredients in the beetroot products should not be undermined. Finally, a chronic supplementation protocol with a higher beetroot dosage (>12.9 mmol/day for 6 days) is recommended for future HIIT and SIT study.


Given an aerial imagery showing an interesting object one often asks for the exact location of the object in the world. There are several approaches to answer the question but one of the easiest and computational cheapest approach is to use geospatial metadata like from a global navigation satellite system (GNSS) and inertial navigation system (INS) together with a digital elevation model (DEM) of the observed area to estimate the target location. The quality of the result depends greatly on the precision of the metadata and the accuracy of the synchronization of the metadata to the single imagery frame. This paper discusses how to quantitatively describe the accuracy of the metadata of an aerial motion imagery system. The aim is to have this information available for information fusion that improve the object location as presumed by the metadata with information from image recognition algorithms.


The COVID-19 pandemic created a disruption of the educational system. The transition to e-learning in a state of emergency involved breaching barriers and challenges for both faculty and students. In the current study, we examine the opinion of students on the advantages of e-learning, in a systemic, multi-institutional perspective. Based on 1,859 respondents from several academic institutions, we employed a mixed methods research, combining quantitative and qualitative techniques. The findings show that variables related to time saving significantly affect the preference for e-teaching. In contrast, money-saving variables were not found to be significant. Reduction in travel time was found to be the most important dimension involved in the preference for e-teaching, followed by the convenience of studying from home and lesson recordings. These measures emphasize the advantages of digitization in the modern era and the option of perceiving learning as a consumer product that does not require physical presence. Globalization has facilitated e-commerce with no geographical barriers, from the convenience of one's home or organization, together with a significant reduction in time required. However academic institutions are lagging in this regard. The COVID-19 era has raised the need for the academic establishment to adapt to the new reality and the advantages of technological modernization in the 21st century.


The Amele language of Papua New Guinea is one of many Trans-New Guinea languages spoken in Papua New Guinea. Amele has a negator 'qee' ('q' represents a voiced dorso-labiovelar plosive), which follows the element negated. Yet, while having verb conjugations for persons and numbers, Amele has no negative conjugation in the present tense. Typologically, some other languages, for example, Finnish, also exhibit negative conjugations of verbs, but these behaviors of the negations differ in interesting ways. This contrastive study investigates the negation of grammars in Amele (Papua New Guinea) and Finnish (Finland, Uralic), by comparing negative particles and negative verb conjugations in both of these languages, while clarifying their morphological behaviors. As such, the study describes Amele's and Finnish's positive-negative and present/past distinctions through their verbal morphologies and through their functional markedness in past tenses, ultimately observing these functional points in the languages.


In this paper, an integrated validation method and process are developed for multivariate dynamic systems. The principal component analysis approach is used to address multivariate correlation and dimensionality reduction, the dynamic time warping and correlation coefficient are used for error assessment, and the subject matter experts (SMEs)' opinions and principal component analysis coefficients are incorporated to provide the overall rating of the dynamic system. The proposed method and process are successfully demonstrated through a vehicle dynamic system problem.


Abstract Targeting at methodological limitations in the decision-making of enterprise cloud computing adoption, this paper analyzes the main influence factors affecting enterprise cloud computing, builds up their hierarchical structures, and works out 8 key influence factors affecting cloud computing models, based on the structural model theory in system engineering. A quantitative method is provided for the selection of optimal or recommended enterprise cloud computing models, in terms of the relationship valuations among key influence factors, cloud computing models, and the factor weights for a specific enterprise.


The products of RNA and synthetic polynucleotides degradation by intracellular RNAses Pc1 and Pc2 of the fungus Penicillium claviforme were studied. It was shown that the enzymes possess the endonuclease activity and are not specific for the bases vicinal to the cleaved PDE bonds (EC 188.8.131.52). The increase of binding of the dinucleoside monophosphates by Pc1 and Pc2 dependent on the nucleoside at the 3'-end of the PDE bond is: A greater than C greater than G greater than U. This order is opposite for the rates of these substrates cleavage by the RNAses. A homologous specificity of the intracellular RNAse Pc1 and the extracellular RNAse II of Pen. claviforme has been revealed.


Names of Indian towns, rivers, provinces and seas have first and foremost a musical meaning. All references to physical, human or political geography in India Song are incorrect. Marguerite Duras, India Song This paper aims to examine the multiplicity of articulations existing between the imaginary, the production, and the consumption of touristic places in a post-colonial context. Using the approach of cultural geography, I want to study the role of the French colonial period (1887–1954) in the construction of Việt Nam as a touristic destination. Within that specific context, interconnection of times and spaces contributes to building a new type of otherness. Indeed, touristic spots serve a past that is over, but revived by tourists as a source of exoticism. The French colonial imaginary influences touristic places in four different ways, ranging from the choice of Việt Nam as a destination to the touristic spots themselves. Firstly, it specifies this destination, as if Việt Nam, in its status of former French colony, kept a specific link with France and Europe. Secondly, it creates specific touristic places, like Sa Đéc, the town of Marguerite Duras' childhood. Thirdly, it complexifies the reading grid of pre-existing touristic places, like in the former colonial centre of main towns. Finally, it influences the ordering of domestic places, like some high-standard hotels, giving them the atmosphere of the 'Colonial Chic'. In all cases, the colonial imaginary serves as scenery for stories built by tourists in order to give a meaning to their travels. These travels are both through time and space, and it is precisely in that flashback that the pleasure lies.


Abstract : We study the effect of correlations between impurity potentials in different layers on the Coulomb drag in a double-layer semiconductor electron system. It is found that for strongly correlated potentials the drag in the diffusive regime is considerably enhanced as compared to conventional predictions. The appropriate experimental conditions are discussed, and the new experiments are suggested.


OBJECTIVE
We compared long-term clinical outcomes of upper urinary tract transitional cell carcinoma (TCC) patients treated by retroperitoneoscopic nephroureterectomy (RNU) or open radical nephroureterectomy (ONU).

METHODS
Upper urinary tract TCC patients were treated with RNU (n = 86) or ONU (n = 72) and followed-up for more than three years. Demographic and clinical data, including preoperative indexes, intraoperative indexes and long-term clinical outcomes, were retrospectively compared to determine long-term efficacy of the two procedures.

RESULTS
The RNU and ONU groups were statistically similar in age, gender, previous bladder cancer history, tumour location, pathologic tumour stage, pathologic node metastasis or tumour pathologic grade. The original surgery time required for both RNU and ONU was statistically similar, but RNU was associated with a significantly smaller volume of intraoperative estimated blood loss and shorter length of postoperative hospital stay. Follow-up (average: 42.4 months, range: 3-57) revealed that the RNU 3-year recurrence-free survival rate was 62.8% and the 3-year cancer specific survival rate was 80.7%. In the ONU group, the 3-year recurrence-free survival and the three-year cancer-specific survival rates were 59.2% and 80.3%, respectively. Neither of the survival rates were statistically different between the two groups. T stage, grade, lymph node metastasis and bladder tumour history were risk factors for tumour recurrence; the operation mode and the bladder cuff incision mode had no correlation with the recurrence-free survival.

CONCLUSION
The open surgery strategy and the retroperitoneoscopic nephroureterectomy strategy are equally effective for treating upper urinary tract TCC. However, the RNU procedure is less invasive, and requires a shorter duration of postoperative hospitalized care; thus, RNU is recommended as the preferred strategy.