The advent of anonymizing networks assured that users could access internet services with complete privacy avoiding any possible hindrance. This arrangement where series of routers form a network, hide the user's IP address from the server. However malfeasance of few malpractitioners has left this system with a loophole where users make use of this anonymity to deface popular websites. Administrators who cannot practically block a user using IP address are forced to shut all possible nodes that lead to exit. Thus deny access to both behaving and non-behaving users altogether. And so end up blocking users with no compromise to their anonymity. Hence propose a system which is undogmatic with different servers. Thus they aim at giving the administrator the right to block the malicious user without hindering the anonymity of the rest.


Diaphragmatic eventration is characterized by a permanent elevation of diaphragma, which can not complete its muscularization during gestation. Intraabdominal organs at the affected side compress lungs due to loose diaphragma and impair pulmonary functions, and problems related to the organs at the contralateral side may occur due to the mediastinal shift. Patients may present with diverse complaints, ranging from mild gastrointestinal symptoms such as nausea and vomiting to life-threatening respiratory distress. Although it can be asymptomatic, it may cause recurrent pneumonia impairing lung inflation. We herein report a case with congenital diaphragmatic eventration presenting with recurrent pneumonia.


In the 1990s forestland in the panda's habitat, Southwest China Mountains, underwent rapid degradation since the natural forest was converted into agricultural land. Remote sensing technology has not only provided a vivid representation of the forestland's surface but also become an efficient source of thematic maps such as the deforestation in this area. Landsat-5 TM data in 1994 and Landsat-7 TM data in 2002 are available for detecting the forestland degradation in the study area. The foggy, cloudy and snowy weather and mountainous landscape make it difficult to acquire remotely sensed data with high quality in the panda's habitat. Supervised classification is performed in the image process and a maximum-likelihood classification (MLC) is applied using the spectral signatures from the training sites. According to the topographical and meteorological conditions, different training sites are created such as forest-forest, river valley, forest, crop, town, water, snow, cloud, shadow and non-forest. As the result, forestland degradation map provides much information for forest degradation. Classification accuracy assessment is carried out by ERDAS software and the overall classification accuracy is up to 82.81%.


The last decade has witnessed an explosion in the production of digital data from all over the world. In comparison, the rate of meaningful information extraction has been rather slow. One of the key reasons is that digital data usually comes in multiple modalities or media forms (i.e. text, images, video), thus making it difficult for generic information extraction methods to be used across multiple media. Moreover, extraction of precise semantics from multimedia largely remains an open problem. A large amount of multi-dimensional and multi-spectral data is being acquired and used in specialized domains such as medical science, surveillance and astronomy. The presence of multiple dimensions and multi-spectral information poses yet another challenge for certain special kinds of image analysis applications. In spite of the challenges there is a growing demand for computer intervention in all these aspects. In this thesis, I present my research in multi-dimensional image modeling and multimedia information integration. I begin by characterizing image retrieval in the real world from a user and system perspective. Next, I will present a conceptually clean hidden Markov model based framework to model multi-dimensional image data. Extension of the Markovian property to a third dimension dramatically increases the computational challenge for estimation of model parameters. I have developed a locally optimal but scalable parameter estimation algorithm for two and three dimensional hidden Markov models (2-D and 3-D HMMs). I will next introduce the problem of story picturing and present an unsupervised approach for illustration of stories using an image database. In a special scenario, the process of image ranking bears an interesting analogy to obtaining the stationary distribution of a random walk performed in the image similarity space. This will be followed by discussion of a generic framework for next generation multi-modal image management engine with presentation of a prototype. I will conclude by describing the architecture and working of story picturing engine within the realm of the presented framework.


We want to congratulate the authors for their commentary on " clinical utility of sperm DNA fragmentation testing: practice recommendations based on clinical scenarios" ", by Agarwal et al. (1). The authors have given a constructive critique of our article praising its structure and writing style, though they expressed their reservation on the ability of clinical scenarios to mimic real life case presentations. After highlighting the challenges that are often faced in any medical practice when dealing with a diagnostic modality that has equivocal clinical applicability, Lynne and Brackett further pointed out some of the difficulties that are specific to sperm DNA fragmentation (SDF) testing. They expressed their concern regarding the recommendation of SDF testing for patients with lifestyle risk factors. Furthermore, they rightly questioned the clinical utility of SDF in patients with severe oligozoospermia.


We compare the predictions of a semi-analytic model for ultracompact dwarf galaxy (UCD) formation by tidal stripping to the observed properties of globular clusters (GCs) and UCDs in the Fornax and Virgo clusters. For Fornax we find the predicted number of stripped nuclei agrees very well with the excess number of GCs+UCDs above the GC luminosity function. GCs+UCDs with masses >10(7.3) M-circle dot are consistent with being entirely formed by tidal stripping. Stripped nuclei can also account for Virgo UCDs with masses >10(7.3) M-circle dot where numbers are complete by mass. For both Fornax and Virgo, the predicted velocity dispersions and radial distributions of stripped nuclei are consistent with that of UCDs within similar to 50-100 kpc but disagree at larger distances where dispersions are too high and radial distributions too extended. Stripped nuclei are predicted to have radially biased anisotropies at all radii, agreeing with Virgo UCDs at clustercentric distances larger than 50 kpc. However, ongoing disruption is not included in our model which would cause orbits to become tangentially biased at small radii. We find the predicted metallicities and central black hole masses of stripped nuclei agree well with the metallicities and implied black hole masses of UCDs for masses >106.5 M-circle dot. The predicted black hole masses also agree well with that of M60-UCD1, the first UCD with a confirmed central black hole. These results suggest that observed GC+UCD populations are a combination of genuine GCs and stripped nuclei, with the contribution of stripped nuclei increasing towards the high-mass end.


Abstract: Islamic Counseling and Mental Education. This paper analyzes the nature of Islamic counseling and its relation to mental education. It is undeniable that due to problems faced in this life man may be hindered from realizing his goals. In reality, however, not every individual is capable of solving his own problem but he needs assistance of others instead. In this context, this paper discusses an approach of what is the so called Islamic counseling. The writer tries to build a paradigm that, as a discipline of science as well as an approach, the writer argues that Islamic counseling is an endeavor to help solving the problem of individual based on the injunction of Islamic teaching. The writer argues that Islamic counseling provides support and assistance for individual to position himself as the servant of God, who is given capacity to solve his own problems independently and most importantly submit what would be the final outcomes to the Almighty God. Kata Kunci: konseling Islami, konselor, kesehatan mental


Machiavelli made his celebrated distinction between `the effective truth of things' and the `imaginary republics and monarchies that have never been seen or known to exist.' The scholarly study of international relations has generally sought to make research more manageable by cutting complex social realities into manageable structures and patternsrisking a world of imaginary republics. This approach has been imparted to policy, with limited success and sometimes disastrous results. The New Global Studies offers an opportunity to re-think our approach on global matters. Drawing on different sources, primarily the work of the Nobel economist Ronald Coase, evolutionary biology, and concepts of non-ergodicity, we suggest an alternative, `organic' approach that seeks to engage and learn from complexity rather than simplify it.


Risk capital is an important input for management functions. Capital structure decisions, capital budgeting, and ex post performance measurement require different measures of risk capital. While it has become common to estimate risk capital using VaR models, it is not clear that VaR‐based capital estimates are optimal for applications to management functions (e.g. risk management, capital budgeting, performance measurement, or regulation). This article considers three typical problems that require an estimate of credit risk capital: an optimal equity capital allocation; an optimal capital allocation for capital budgeting decisions; and an optimal capital allocation to remove moral hazard incentives from a compensation contract based on ex post performance. The optimal credit risk capital allocation is different for each problem and is never consistent with a credit VaR estimate of unexpected loss. The results demonstrate that the optimal risk capital allocation depends on the objective.


The electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR) spectra of the reduced selenium-substituted 2-[4Fe-4Se]+ ferredoxins from three bacteria of the Clostridium genus display low-field signals at g = 5.17, g = 10.11, and g = 12.76. The positions, shapes, and temperature dependencies of these signals have allowed their assignments to the three excited states of an S = 7/2 spin multiplet, the fundamental state of which is observed as unusual features in low-temperature (T less than or equal to 20 K) Mössbauer spectra. The S = 7/2 spin state is present in 2[4Fe-4Se]+ clostridial ferredoxins together with the classical S = 1/2 state and with a S = 3/2 state, the fundamental doublet of which is observed as a broad signal in the g = 3-4 region. The relative intensities of the EPR signals corresponding to these spin states depend on the species of Clostridium that the ferredoxin is extracted from. In contrast with clostridial ferredoxins, the reduced selenium-substituted ferredoxin from Bacillus stearothermophilus, which differs significantly from the clostridial proteins by its primary structure and by its containing only one tetranuclear cluster, displays only the S = 1/2 state. Thus, the high-multiplicity spin states arise from a specific interaction between the clostridial ferredoxin polypeptide chain and the reduced [4Fe-4Se]+ clusters.


Concepts of organizational commitment, organizational justice and organizational trust have been examined extensively in organizational behavior literature, however, relationships and effects of distributive justice, procedural justice and organizational trust on affective commitment have received scarce attention at Hospital in Turkey. In this paper, we evaluated the relationships and impacts of distributive justice, procedural justice and organizational trust on affective commitment. In this study, hypotheses were tested by multiple regression models with the data from health employees (medical doctors, nurses, medical secretaries, office staff and biomedical technicians) of Kocaeli University Research Hospital in Turkey. Results suggest that the employees' perceptions of affective commitment is positively affected by their perceptions of distributive justice, procedural justice and organizational trust. Hence, if managers understand this effect and their role in developing and fostering it, they will contribute to increase their organizational performance.


Background: The long noncoding RNA (lncRNA)-PRLB (progression-associated lncRNA in breast cancer) has been identified to enhance the drug resistance of breast cancer cells. In this study, the authors explored PRLB effect in the paclitaxel (Tax) resistance of ovarian cancer cells and revealed the role of RSF1 (remodeling and spacing factor 1)/nuclear factor kappaB (NF-κB) signaling in this process. Materials and Methods: The Tax resistance cell lines were established in CAOV3 and SKOV3 cells. The expressions of PRLB in Tax resistant tissues and cells of ovarian cancer were detected using the real time polymerase chain reaction assay. MTT [3-(4,5-dimethyl-2-thiazolyl)-2,5-diphenyl-2-H-tetrazolium bromide] and flow cytometry were used to detect cell survival and apoptosis. The RNA-binding protein immunoprecipitation (RIP) assay and/or the luciferase gene reporter assay were used to assess the cross talk among miR-150-5p and PRLB/RSF1. Results: PRLB expression was obviously enhanced in the Tax resistant ovarian cancer tissues and cells. Depletion of PRLB induced a significant decrease in the IC50 value of the CAOV3/Tax and SKOV3/Tax cells and increased cell apoptosis, as well as increased miR-150-5p expression through a direct binding. In addition, miR-150-5p upregulation decreased the luciferase activity of PRLB and RSF1, whereas this effect was abolished when the putative binding sites were mutated. And overexpression of RSF1 significantly rescued the effect of PRLB downregulation-caused decrease in the IC50 value and the increase in cell apoptosis and the decreased expressions of RSF1 and p-p65. Conclusion: This study reveals that knockdown of PRLB improves the sensitivity of ovarian cancer cells to Tax, at least in part, through inhibiting the activation of RSF1/NF-κB signaling through targeting miR-150-5p.


Coastal areas around the world have attracted settlements and human activities since the early stages of the history until nowadays. This has introduced continuous modifications to the natural characteristics of these coastal regions by means of coastal structures and engineering interventions. The design of such coastal structures has evolved significantly since the first quarter of the XXth Century, when more scientific design methods and formulae were developed. Nevertheless, further research is required given the stochastic nature of the environmental loads involved, the remaining uncertainties regarding the response of these structures to the applied loads and the growing impacts of climate change and sea level rise. Four knowledge gaps are identified regarding the "Damage assessment of coastal structures in climate change adaptation". Based on these, the objectives of this thesis are summarized as follows. First, climate change adaptation: demand for validated upgrading alternatives. Second, damage characterization concepts: demand for unified damage characterization concepts. Third, damage characterization parameters: demand for universal and more accurate damage characterization parameters. Fourth, damage characterization measuring techniques: demand for validating the suitability of innovative survey methods. These knowledge gaps are addressed using physical modelling results from two test campaigns (UPorto deep water and Deltares shallow water tests. In consequence, this study includes the validation of the damage criteria required for a precise assessment of a coastal structure (second knowledge gap), the validation of an universal damage parameter for rubble mound structures (third knowledge gap), the validation of the benefits of innovative measuring techniques when carrying out physical modelling tests (fourth knowledge gap) and the validation of upgrading alternatives for climate change scenarios (first knowledge gap). Thus, it can be stated that with these definitions, parameters and measuring techniques, a complete method for damage characterization of coastal structures is presented. It was also defined how this damage characterization method can be used to precisely and accurately describe the damage to conventional and non-conventional coastal structures. Furthermore, this method was also used to describe the effects of not only current environmental forces acting on the structures but also future and more energetic scenarios. For such future scenarios, adaptation alternatives for coastal structures were evaluated and berm configurations are recommended for their upgrading. Future research is needed in order to evaluate, adjust and generalize the conclusions made in this thesis, considering additional structure configurations and environmental loading conditions.


Patient death is a stressful experience for the patient, family, and the healthcare team. Nurses-often have only informal resources for coping with the sadness and grief they might experience. Realizing the need for nursing grief support, a group of staff nurses from the intensive care unit formed a grief support group. Using information from the literature and critical incident stress debriefing, the group developed support interventions to aid intensive care unit staff after patient death.


In this study, we examine culture-specific relationships between individual differences and distributive negotiations. We measured individual characteristics and their effects on distributive negotiations in both American'' and Chinese cultures, using a Western-based scale (the 'Big Five') and a Chinese-based scale (CPAI). We found that agreeableness and extraversion (from the 'Big Five') affected negotiations for Americans, but not for Chinese. We found that harmony, face and Ren Ojng (from the Chinese-based scales) affected negotiations for Chinese, but not for Americans. Specifically, we found that in the American culture, those higher in extraversion and agreeableness achieved lower economic gain, whereas in the Chinese context that those high in harmony, face, and Ren Qing were more likely to be influenced by opening offers and achieve lower economic gain in distributive negotiations. Our study highlights the need to examine negotiations using culturally sensitive constructs and measures.


Orlistat is an effective adjunctive treatment to lifestyle modifications in the treatment of obesity. While the majority of current evidence is on the effect of orlistat in obese patients without diabetes, some studies suggest that patients who are obese and have diabetes mellitus lose more weight and have greater improvements in diabetic outcomes when treated with orlistat plus a lifestyle intervention than when treated by lifestyle interventions alone. The aim of this study was to review the evidence of the effects of orlistat on glycaemic control in overweight and obese patients with type 2 diabetes. A systematic review of randomized controlled trials of orlistat in people with type 2 diabetes reporting diabetes outcomes in studies published between January 1990 and September 2013 was conducted. We searched for articles published in English in MEDLINE and EMBASE. Inclusion criteria included all randomized controlled trials of orlistat carried out on adult participants with a body mass index of 25 kg m−2 or over diagnosed with type 2 diabetes, which reported weight change and at least one diabetic outcome. A total of 765 articles were identified out of which 12 fulfilled the inclusion criteria. The overall mean weight reduction (3, 6 and 12 months) in the orlistat group was −4.25 kg (95% CI: −4.5 to −3.9 kg). The mean weight difference between treatment and control groups was −2.10 kg (95% CI: −2.3 to −1.8 kg, P < 0.001), the mean HbA1c difference was −6.12 mmol mol−1 (95% CI: −10.3 to −1.9 mmol mol−1, P < 0.004) and the mean fasting blood glucose difference was −1.16 mmol L−1 (95% CI: −1.4 to −0.8 mmol L−1, P < 0.001). Treatment with orlistat plus lifestyle intervention resulted in significantly greater weight loss and improved glycaemic control in overweight and obese patients with type 2 diabetes compared with lifestyle intervention alone.


Background: The pressure reactivity index (PRx) has emerged as a surrogate method for the continuous bedside estimation of cerebral autoregulation and a predictor of unfavorable outcome after traumatic brain injury (TBI). However, calculation of PRx require continuous high-resolution monitoring currently limited to specialized intensive care units. The aim of this study was to evaluate a new index, the ultra-low-frequency PRx (UL-PRx) sampled at ∼0.0033 Hz at ∼5 minutes periods, and to investigate its association with outcome. Methods: Demographic data, admission Glasgow coma scale, in-hospital mortality and Glasgow outcome scale extended at 12 months were extracted from electronic records. The filtering and preparation of time series of intracranial pressure (ICP), mean arterial pressure and cerebral perfusion pressure (CPP), and calculation of the indices (UL-PRx, Δ-optimal CPP), were performed in MATLAB using an in-house algorithm. Results: A total of 164 TBI patients were included in the study; in-hospital and 12-month mortality was 29.3% and 38.4%, respectively, and 64% of patients had poor neurological outcome at 12 months. On univariate analysis, ICP, CPP, UL-PRx, and ΔCPPopt were associated with 12-month mortality. After adjusting for age, Glasgow coma scale, ICP and CPP, mean UL-PRx and UL-PRx thresholds of 0 and +0.25 remained associated with 12-month mortality. Similar findings were obtained for in-hospital mortality. For mean UL-PRx, the area under the receiver operating characteristic curves for in-hospital and 12-month mortality were 0.78 (95% confidence interval [CI]: 0.69-0.87; P<0.001) and 0.70 (95% CI: 0.61-0.79; P<0.001), respectively, and 0.65 (95% CI: 0.57-0.74; P=0.001) for 12-month neurological outcome. Conclusions: Our findings indicate that ultra-low-frequency sampling might provide sufficient resolution to derive information about the state of cerebrovascular autoregulation and prediction of 12-month outcome in TBI patients.


Classical results on aperiodic tilings are rather complicated and not widely understood. Below an alternative approach to these results is offered in hope to provide additional intuition not apparent in classical works. 1 Palettes and Tilings Physical computing media are asymmetric. Their symmetry is broken by irregularities, physical boundaries, external connections, etc. Such peculiarities, however, are highly variable and extraneous to the fundamental nature of the media. Thus, they are pruned from theoretical models such as cellular automata, and reliance on them is frowned upon in programming practice. Yet, computation, like many other highly organized activities, is incompatible with perfect symmetry. Some standard mechanisms must assure breaking the symmetry inherent in idealized computing models. A famous example of such mechanisms is aperiodic tiling: hierarchical self-similar constructions, first used for computational purposes in a classical – although rather complicated – work [Berger 66]. They were further developed in [Robinson 71, Myers 74, Gurevich Koriakov 72]; [Allauzen Durand 96] give a helpful exposition. Definition 1 Let G be the grid of unit length edges between integer points on an infinite plane. A tiling T is its mapping into a finite set of colors. Its crosses and tiles are ordered color combinations of four edges sharing a corner or forming a square respectively. A Palette P of T is a set including all its tiles (+palette for crosses). We say P with a mapping f of its colors into a smaller color alphabet enforces a set S of tilings if replacing colors according to f turns each P -tiling into a tiling in S. Turning each edge orthogonally around its center turns G into its dual graph and palettes into +palettes and vice versa. Thus, one can use either type as convenient. Supported by NSF grant CCR-0311411. Computer Science department, 111 Cummington St., Boston, MA 02215; (email: Lnd at bu.edu)


Laparoscopic colorectal surgery is believed to be technically and oncologically feasible. Robotic surgery is an attractive mode in performing minimally-invasive surgery once it has several advantages if compared to standard laparoscopic surgery. The aim of this paper is to report the first known case of colorectal resection surgery using the robotic assisted surgical device in Brazil. A 35-year-old woman with deep infiltrating endometriosis with rectal involvement was referred for colorectal resection using da Vinci surgical system. The authors also reviewed the most current series and discussed not only the safety and feasibility but also the real benefits of robotic colorectal surgery.


A simple indicator for an anomaly in a network is a rapid increase in the total number of distinct network connections. While it is fairly easy to maintain an accurate estimate of the current total number of distinct connections using streaming algorithms that exhibit both a low space and computational complexity, identifying the network entities that are involved in the largest number of distinct connections efficiently is considerably harder.
 In this paper, we study the problem of finding all entities whose number of distinct (outgoing or incoming) network connections is at least a specific fraction of the total number of distinct connections. These entities are referred to as heavy distinct hitters. Since this problem is hard in general, we focus on randomized approximation techniques and propose a sampling-based and a sketch-based streaming algorithm. Both algorithms output a list of the potential heavy distinct hitters including the estimated counts of the corresponding number of distinct connections. We prove that, depending on the required level of accuracy of the output list, the space complexities of the presented algorithms are asymptotically optimal up to small logarithmic factors. Additionally, the algorithms are evaluated and compared using real network data in order to determine their usefulness in practice.


PNPN latchup was studied both analytically and experimentally in several bipolar LSI technologies including integrated injection logic (I to the second power L), integrated Schottky logic (ISL), Schottky Transistor logic (STL) and emitter coupled logic (ECL). The latchup analysis procedure was expanded and applied to LSI microcircuits representing each of the technologies. This procedure consists of a) the identification of parasitic PNPN paths, b) the electrical characterization of the paths, c) detailed circuit analysis, and d) determination of worst case bias conditions for radiation testing. The identification was performed from chip photomicrographs and composite mask drawings. The characterization was performed experimentally by measuring parasitic transistor gains and SCR parameters on decoupled paths and analytically by using a semiconductor device physics code (PN code) in conjunction with doping profiles. The detailed circuit analysis was performed either by hand or with the circuit analysis code SPICE. Radiation testing was performed at the White Sands Missile Range LINAC facility. The results of the study were, a) latchup cannot occur in non-isolated I to the second power L, b) latchup cannot occur in the internal logic of ISL or STL without causing a problem with electrical performance, c) no latchable paths were found bymore » analysis in the 93471 ECL 4kK RAM, the I/0 buffers on a ISL/STL gate array or the I to the second power L peripherals of the 9408 I to the 3rd power L microprogram sequencer.« less


To estimate abnormalities in humoral or cellular immunity that relate to the etiologies of Graves' disease (GD) and Hashimoto's thyroiditis (HT), peripheral mononuclear cell subpopulations were enumerated by an immunofluorescence technique using monoclonal antibodies. Also antithyrotropin receptor antibodies (thyrotropin-binding inhibitor immunoglobulin, TBII) were measured by the radioreceptor assay according to Smith's method; and antithyroglobulin antibodies (TGHA) and antithyroid microsomal antibodies (MCHA), by the tanned red cell hemagglutination technique. The data obtained were analyzed for the count of peripheral total white cells, lymphocytes and granulocytes, and to the level of serum free thyroxine (T4), free T4 index (FT4I) and free triiodothyronine index (FT3I). Peripheral white cells tended to be decreased in some cases of GD and HT. The absolute count of lymphocytes was slightly increased in GD but did not change in HT. On granulocytes (neutrophils mainly), the absolute count was considerably decreased in hyperthyroid GD. In this disease, FT3I showed significantly positive correlations to the percentage and absolute count of peripheral lymphocytes, whereas FT4I revealed significantly negative correlations to the percentage and count of granulocytes. These facts indicate that lymphocytosis and granulocytopenia in GD might be ascribed partially to the direct effects of thyroid hormones. The percentage of peripheral OKT3-positive cells (common T lymphocytes) was significantly decreased in untreated cases of GD, showing negative correlations to FT4, FT4I and FT3I. The absolute count of OKT4-positive cells (inducer/helper T lymphocytes) was increased in untreated cases of GD and hyperthyroid and euthyroid cases receiving antithyroid drugs (ATD) for GD. But peripheral OKT8-positive cells (suppressor/killer T lymphocytes) was significantly decreased in HT. The percentage of peripheral OKT8-positive cells in GD was also decreased in untreated and remitted cases, but slightly more increased in ATD-medicated cases than in nonmedicated cases. The ratios of OKT4-positive cells to OKT8-positive cells (OKT4+/OKT8+ ratios) were significantly increased in untreated, ATD-medicated euthyroid and remitted cases of GD, and in HT. It seems that ATD may exert direct effects on OKT8-positive cells.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 400 WORDS)


We have studied the morphology-density relation and morphology-cluster-centric-radius relation using a volume-limited sample (0.05 < z < 0.1, Mr* < -20.5) of the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS) data. Major improvements compared with previous work are: (i) automated galaxy morphology classification capable of separating galaxies into four types; (ii) three-dimensional local galaxy density estimation; and (iii) the extension of the morphology-density relation into the field region. We found that the morphology-density and morphology-cluster-centric-radius relation in the SDSS data for both of our automated morphological classifiers, Cin and Tauto, as fractions of early-type galaxies increase and late-type galaxies decrease toward increasing local galaxy density. In addition, we found that there are two characteristic changes in both the morphology-density and the morphology-radius relations, suggesting that two different mechanisms are responsible for the relations. In the sparsest regions (below 1 Mpc - 2 or outside of 1 virial radius), both relations become less noticeable, suggesting that the physical mechanisms responsible for galaxy morphological change require a denser environment. In the intermediate-density regions (density between 1 and 6 Mpc - 2 or virial radius between 0.3 and 1), intermediate-type fractions increase toward denser regions, whereas late-disc fractions decrease. Considering that the median size of intermediate-type galaxies is smaller than that of late-disc galaxies, we propose that the mechanism is likely to stop star formation in late-disc galaxies, eventually turning them into intermediate-type galaxies after their outer discs and spiral arms become invisible as stars die. For example, ram-pressure stripping is one of the candidate mechanisms. In the densest regions (above 6 Mpc - 2 or inside 0.3 virial radii), intermediate-type fractions decrease radically and early-type fractions increase in turn. This is a contrasting result to that in intermediate regions and it suggests that yet another mechanism is more responsible for the morphological change in these regions. We also compared the morphology-density relation from the SDSS (0.01 < z < 0.054) with that of the MORPHS data (z ∼ 0.5). Two relations lie on top of each other, suggesting that the morphology-density relation was already established at z ∼ 0.5 as in the present Universe. A slight sign of an excess elliptical/S0 fraction in the SDSS data in dense regions might suggest the additional formation of elliptical/S0 galaxies in the cluster core regions between z = 0.5 and 0.05.


The Cordillera of Canada and Alaska is a type example of an accretionary orogen, but the origin of some terranes remains contentious (e.g., Stikinia of British Columbia and Yukon, Canada). Presented herein are igneous and detrital zircon U/Pb-Hf and trace-element data, as well as the first radiolarian ages from the Asitka Group, the basement to eastern Stikinia. The data are used to evaluate the role of juvenile and ancient crust in the evolution of Stikinia and the tectonic environment of magmatism. Two rhyolites are dated by U-Pb zircon at 288.64 ± 0.21 Ma and 293.89 ± 0.31 Ma, with εHf(t) = +10. Red chert contains radiolarians that are correlated with P. scalprata m. rhombothoracata + Ruzhencevispongus uralicus assemblages (Artinskian–Kungurian). Detrital zircon U/Pb-Hf from a rare Asitka Group sandstone have a mode at ca. 320 Ma and εHf(t) +10 to +16; the detrital zircon suite includes five Paleoproterozoic zircons (~5% of the population). Detrital zircons from a stratigraphically overlying Hazelton Group (Telkwa Formation) volcanic sandstone indicate deposition at ca. 196 Ma with zircon εHf(t) that are on a crustal evolution line anchored from the Asitka Group.
 Zircon trace-element data indicate that the Carboniferous detrital zircons formed in an ocean arc environment. The Proterozoic detrital zircons were derived from a peripheral landmass, but there is no zircon εHf(t) evidence that such a landmass played any role in the magmatic evolution of eastern Stikinia. The data support that eastern Stikinia formed on Paleozoic ocean floor during the Carboniferous to early Permian. Consistent with previous fossil modeling, zircon statistical comparisons demonstrate that Stikinia and Wrangellia were related terranes during the Carboniferous to Permian, and they evolved separately from Yukon-Tanana terrane and cratonic North America.


This paper presents an approach in extracting multi-temporal land-cover information (years 1976-2001) from cloud-contaminated remotely-sensed images acquired by the Landsat Multi-Spectral Scanner (MSS) and Enhanced Thematic Mapper plus (ETM+) sensors in order to detect and analyze deforestation and other types of land-cover change (LCC) in two forest resource-rich provinces of Agusan del Norte (ADN) and Agusan del Sur (ADS) in Mindanao, Philippines. The cloud contamination problem was addressed by developing a cloudand-shadow masking algorithm comprising of image segmentation and Maximum Likelihood classification to remove clouds and shadows. Forest-cover change from 1976-2001 were then detected using a Support Vector Machine classifier, and a post-classification change detection algorithm in portions of the land-cover maps un-contaminated by clouds and shadows. Geographic Information System (GIS) and logistic regression analyses were employed to characterize deforestation in ADN and ADS and to determine the significance and magnitude of the relationship between the detected deforestation and bio-physical and socio-economic factors. Major results showed that deforestation and other types of LCC can be detected, characterized and analyzed from cloud-contaminated Landsat images using the integrated image cloud masking, SVM classification, GIS and logistic regression approach. This study is a significant contribution to LCC research by providing a series of techniques to understand deforestation based on cloud-contaminated Landsat images.


A system designed to evaluate ventilatory responses to hypercapnia and hypoxia is described. Parameters measured include minute ventilation (VE), breathing rate (f), tidal volume (VT), inspiratory time (TI), fractional inspiratory time (TI/TTOT), mean inspiratory flow (VT/TI), mouth occlusion pressure (P100), and either end tidal partial pressure of carbon dioxide (PETCO2). or end tidal partial pressure of oxygen (PETO2). The system allows rapid reproducible measurement of total ventilatory output, neuromuscular force generated, drive and timing parameters of respiratory control for use in the clinical assessment of patients with pulmonary, neurologic or non-thoracic disease. The system's architecture was based primarily on currently available microcomputer components designed for the IEEE 696 bus.


Humantenmine (HMT), the most toxic compound isolated from Gelsemium elegans Benth, is a well-known active herbal compound. A rapid and sensitive ultra-performance liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (UPLC-MS/MS) method was developed and validated to estimate the absolute oral bioavailability of HMT in rats. Quantification was performed by multiple reaction monitoring using electrospray ionization operated in positive ion mode with transitions of m/z 327.14 → m/z 296.19 for HMT and m/z 323.20 → m/z 236.23 for gelsemine (internal standard, IS). The linear range of the calibration curve was 1-256 nmol/L, with a lower limit of quantification at 1 nmol/L. The accuracy of HMT ranged from 89.39 to 107.5%, and the precision was within 12.24% (RSD). Excellent recovery and negligible matrix effect were observed. HMT remained stable during storage, preparation and analytical procedures. The pharmacokinetics of HMT in rats showed that HMT reached the concentration peak at 12.50 ± 2.74 min with a peak concentration of 28.49 ± 6.65 nmol/L, and the corresponding area under the concentration-time curve (AUC0-t ) was 1142.42 ± 202.92 nmol/L min after 200 μg/kg HMT was orally administered to rats. The AUC0-t of HMT given at 20 μg/kg by tail vein administration was 1518.46 ± 192.24 nmol/L min. The calculated absolute bioavailability of HMT was 7.66%.


This report consider a system describing three competing species with populations x, y and z. Sufficient conditions for every positive equilibrium to be asymptotically stable have been found. First it is shown that conditions on the pairwise competitive interaction between the populations are needed. Actually, these conditions are equivalent to asymptotic stability for any two-dimensional competing system of the three species. It is also shown that these alone are not enough, and that a condition on the competitive interaction between all three populations is also needed. If all conditions are fulfilled, each population will survive on a long-term basis and there will be a stable coexistence.


In vitro embryo germínation of Mama-Cadela. In vitro embryo of mama-cadela was cultivated on different media and different concentration. The embryo germination was evaluated at 10lh and 20th days, the plantlet size, bud number, root number at 30 and 60 days on water; MS; MS/2; MS/4; WPM and WPM/2. There are no difference between MSI2, MS/4, WPM and WPMI2 in embryo germination, however on MS and water had less germination. For plantlet size and bud number the best treatment occurred on MS/2 and MS/4, and rooting occurred on WPM/2.


Summary form only given. Although more and more engineering resources are being focused on verification, most of the effort is expended on re-simulating what has already been simulated. And once the effort is through, only 20% of the state space has been verified, at best. Verification today is a frustrating, open-loop process that often doesn't end even after the integrated circuit ships. In response, the whole verification methodology infrastructure is undergoing major changes - from adoption of assertion-based verification, coverage-driven verification, to new approaches in test bench generation/optimization, integrated hardware acceleration and more. In this session, Robert Hum will explore these and other new solutions and innovations in functional verification technology,and discuss the impact of these changes on the EDA industry.


Abstrak This training was done in the field of the education and science development. In this field, literature has a role in language in order to be fundamental in supporting the students?oOe¼Oao skill in analysing language in the scope of literature. Students need to have a skill in how they analysis the leterature that usually they find it in their daily life. This training had several steps; first, the introduction of literature. Secondly, introduction of mehod of reserach. Third, the application of literature in the real articles. And last, evaluation and improvement. So that, there should be a medium in accomodating the research of literature which are conducted by students of Indonesian Department. The evaluation of this traning was giving the material and practical analysis through the intensive guidance by lecturers as well as encouraging them to accomplish their final project (thesis). Key words; traning, language, literature


Atopic dermatitis (AD) is a common, chronic inflammatory skin disease with a complex etiology including genetic and environmental risk factors.1 Obesity has been associated with increased AD risk and severity,2 but a causal relationship has not been established. In the Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology, Budu-Aggrey et al.3 assessed the causality between elevated body mass index (BMI) and AD using a Mendelian randomization (MR)approach1 .


Ruthenium-catalyzed Heck olefination and Suzuki cross coupling reactions have been developed. When starting with a ruthenium complex [RuCl(2)(p-cymene)](2) as a homogeneous catalyst precursor, induction periods were observed and ruthenium colloids of zero oxidation state were generated under catalytic conditions. Isolated ruthenium colloids carried out the olefination, implying that active catalytic species are ruthenium nanoclusters. To support this hypothesis, ruthenium nanoparticles stabilized with dodecylamine were independently prepared via a hydride reduction procedure, and their catalytic activity was subsequently examined. Olefination of iodobenzene with ethyl acrylate was efficiently catalyzed by the ruthenium nanoparticles under the same conditions, which could be also reused for the next runs. In poisoning experiments, the conversion of the olefination was completely inhibited in the presence of mercury, thus supporting our assumption on the nature of catalytic species. No residual ruthenium was detected from the filtrate at the end of the reaction. On the basis of the postulation, a heterogeneous catalyst system of ruthenium supported on alumina was consequently developed for the Heck olefination and Suzuki cross coupling reactions for the first time. It turned out that substrate scope and selectivity were significantly improved with the external ligand-free catalyst even under milder reaction conditions when compared to results with the homogeneous precatalyst. It was also observed that the immobilized ruthenium catalyst was recovered and reused up to several runs with consistent efficiency. Especially in the Suzuki couplings, the reactions could be efficiently carried out with as low as 1 mol % of the supported catalyst over a wide range of substrates and were scaled up to a few grams without any practical problems, giving coupled products with high purity by a simple workup procedure.


The present work is an attempt to develop a commercially viable and a robust character recognizer for Telugu texts. We aim at designing a recognizer which exploits the inherent characteristics of the Telugu Script. Our proposed method uses wavelet multiresolution analysis for the purpose extracting features and associative memory model to accomplish the recognition tasks. Our system learns the style and font from the document itself and then it recognizes the remaining characters in the document. The major contribution of the present study can be outlined as follows. It is a robust OCR system for Telugu printed text. It avoids feature extraction process and it exploits the inherent characteristics of the Telugu character by a clever selection of Wavelet Basis function which extracts the invariant features of the characters. It has a Hopfield-based Dynamic Neural Network for the purpose of learning and recognition. This is important because it overcomes the inherent difficulties of memory limitation and spurious states in the Hopfield Network. The DNN has been demonstrated to be efficient for associative memory recall. However, though it is normally not suitable for image processing application, the multi-resolution analysis reduces the sizes of the images to make the DNN applicable to the present domain. Our experimental results show extremely promising results.


Over the last decade great attention has been paid to increasing stress levels amongst teachers resulting from changes to the educational system. This article examines this stress, including the conflict which sometimes arises between teachers' core values and the demands of the modern profession, and the loss to the profession from teachers changing schools or leaving teaching entirely. That stress is not an inevitable result of reorganization is shown by a comparison between a school with low level of stress and a school with high level of stress. The article concludes with an alternative model, based on a vision of stress as a social construction, and not as a pathological condition.


Advanced Driver Assistance Systems (ADAS) require an understanding of complex traffic situations. Such complexity can be handled by decomposing traffic situations into analyzeable subsets called Situation Aspects (SA). Since lots of situation analyzing problems result in classification tasks, the Scenario Based Random Forest (SBRF) algorithm is introduced into the field of ADAS situation analysis research. This classification method is designed to handle feature sets that develop over time and classification results that can be judged only by using complete scenarios instead of single time snap-shots. Furthermore, it has the advantage of using the out of bag (oob) estimation technique in order to perform feature selection. The problem of detecting a convoy merging traffic situation in real traffic scenarios serves as example to show the process of situation aspect modelling, feature selection and classification using the above mentioned methodology. It is demonstrated how the challenge of labelling changing SA can be solved using an undefined transition class and how this effects classification results. Because unbalanced data sets often occur in ADAS situation analysis, results on over- and downsampling strategies are described as well.


Recent reviews suggest that the addition of programs aimed at preventing and controlling sexually transmitted diseases (STDs), specifically human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), to existing family planning programs does not necessarily dilute overall program effectiveness. In Colombia, Mexico, and Jamaica, where condom distribution and/or information to prevent HIV transmission was integrated into the activities of family planning field workers, no negative effect on the image of condoms as a pregnancy prevention method was observed and there was a great demand on the part of family planning clients for information about acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS). In Brazil, family planning staff are receiving training in HIV risk assessment and the counseling of women in partner negotiation skills. However, steps must be taken to reach men since it is their high-risk behavior that puts most women at risk of HIV. Both separate STD clinics for men and condom social marketing projects have yielded promising results. Obstacles to the addition of STD services to family planning programs include the need to treat male partners as well as female clients, a shortage of diagnostic tools and antibiotics for treatment, and the fact that the majority of women with STDs are asymptomatic. Indicative of the increased attention being given this approach, however, is the recent release of guidelines by the US Agency for International Development Office of Population on how family planning programs should approach integration. Suggested activities include condom promotion, behavior change, counseling, information, contraceptive development, and selected efforts at STD treatment.


The vitamin D endocrine system, besides playing pivotal roles in calcium homeostasis & bone mineral metabolism, is now recognized to subserve a wide range of fundamental biological functions in cell differentiation, inhibition of cell growth as well as immuno modulation. Vitamin D is a prohormone which is converted into its active hormonal form 1, 25 (OH)D2 D, 1, 25 (OH)D2 D activates its cellular receptor (VDR) which activate target genes to engender its biological actions. This review provides a summary of recent understanding of the complex actions of the vitamin D hormone 1, 25 (OH)2 D which is a final product of 1alpha hydroxylation in the proximal tubular cells of kidneys. Emerging evidence also indicates both 1, 25 (OH)2 D3 independent as well as depended action of vitamin D receptor (VDR). Thus, the vitamin D system action may involve more than one single receptor and legand. The presence of 1alpha hydroxylase in many target cells other than proximal renal tubular cells indicates autocrine and paracrine functions for 1, 25 (OH)2 D3 in the control of cell proliferation and differentiation. Vitamin D and related molecules belong to a elaborate endocrine system that acts on target genomic receptors in several organ systems to control cell proliferation and differentiation.


The incidence of low birth weight (LBW) in the Boyolali region of Indonesia in 2013 was 15.3 per 1000 live births, while the exclusive breastfeeding coverage was only 51.3%. To resolve these problems, capacity building among midwives, through a combination of lactation management and kangaroo mother care (KMC) training, was required. The purpose of this study was to describe village midwives' experiences one month after attending the above training. This study used a quasi-experimental design with a rapid assessment procedure (RAP). Data collection was done through in-depth interviews. The informants of this study were four village midwives and pregnant and lactating women (one each). The results showed that, after one month of training, the informants had some competence in both lactation management and KMC skills. However, some informants reported some difficulties in counseling regarding breastfeeding problems. This was primarily caused by the fact that the participants did not have in-depth knowledge related to breastfeeding counseling. Breastfeeding counseling materials were not included in the above training curriculum; therefore, it is suggested that these be included in future lactation management and KMC training programs.


Aim:
Any treatment is designed and performed to increase the quality of life of the patient. The success of any treatment depends on how far the patient is relieved from the disease. This will
Ultimately lead to the improvement in the health and well being of the patient. The formulation,the execution and the completion of a treatment plan requires the complete determination from the patient as well as the practitioner and this is dependent upon various factors. This study aims comprehensively analyse the assessment of the patient till the completion of treatment plan in a dental institution.
Materials And Methods:
A retrospective cross sectional study was done by assessing 86000 patient records who visited as an outpatient in a  dental institution in south India from june 2019 to march 2020. Data of 100 random patients were obtained by random sampling to prevent bias. Fields such as  unique patient ID, treatment completed, treatment under progress and total treatment planned, type of case:emergency/normal, Type of Treatment plan:Interim/Cumulative were recorded in Microsoft Excel Software and then exported to  IBM SPSS Statistics Software for further analysis where frequency ,chi-Square & descriptive statistics were done.
Results:
Average percentage of treatment completed 60.05%(SD 66.67), Number Of emergency cases :33 , Number Of Normal cases:67, average percentage of treatment pending39.95%(SD=33.33),Total number of treatment planned ranged from 1-31, 100 % of the treatment was completed majorly in cases with less than 5 treatment procedures(20%). At least one planned treatment was  completed for most of the patients.(88%)
Conclusion:
The process of diagnosis,planning and execution of a treatment plan for each patient is unique and significant usually in emergency cases and cases with aesthetic requirements, the patients are determined for relieving the pain & resolving their aesthetic needs and are not willing to complete the treatment plan.Hence proper knowledge, awareness and practice is required for both the patient as well as the practitioners.


To the Editor .—In their article "Management of Facial Spasm With Clostridium botulinum Toxin, Type A (Oculinum)," 1 the authors report the use of botulinum toxin in 105 patients with "no lasting complications or systemic effects." They conclude that botulinum A toxin appears to be a safe, effective, and predictable drug for controlling involuntary facial muscle spasm, and that it can easily be administered in the physician's office. They further state that the treatment is not associated with severe or lasting complications. Unfortunately, the authors do not mention several articles that have used electromyographic techniques to demonstrate that botulinum toxin does spread after injection and does produce long-lasting, if not permanent, effects in remote muscles. 2-4 In another study, 9 of 10 patients had dysphagia following botulinum toxin injections in the neck muscles for spasmodic torticollis. 5 The dysphagia was transient but severe in 2 patients with accompanying vocal cord


Small interfering RNA (siRNA) have been proved to be an effective tool for treating diseases caused by gene expression abnormalities. However, clinical relevance of siRNA technology is compromised by multiple obstacles, such as lack of cellular specificity, low efficiency of cellular uptake and/or poor cytoplasmic release. We have previously demonstrated that natural capability of certain immune cells to recognize non-methylated CpG motifs in DNA oligonucleotides can be harnessed for cell-specific siRNA delivery. The siRNA molecules conjugated to CpG oligonucleotides (CpG-siRNA) are efficiently internalized and bind to the intracellular Toll-like receptor 9 (TLR9) in human and mouse dendritic cells as well as in certain TLR9-positive tumor cells. We designed a CpG-siRNA targeting Stat3 (signal transducer and activator of transcription-3), a transcription factor, which is constitutively activated in majority of mouse and human cancers. Oncogenic Stat3 signaling regulates cancer cell proliferation, survival and promotes tumor immunoresistance. We have previously shown that CpG-Stat3 siRNA can eliminate Stat3 signaling in tumor-infiltrating myeloid cells, resulting in potent antitumor immunity. In the current study, we investigated the intracellular mechanism of action of CpG-siRNA conjugates. We have demonstrated that internalized CpG-siRNAs are recruited into endosomes by dynamin-dependent mechanism and bind to endosomal TLR9 receptor. Further events include uncoupling of siRNA from the CpG moiety by Dicer endonuclease, and rapid translocation of siRNA to endoplasmic reticulum for recruitment into functional RISC (RNA interference silencing complex). We confirmed the target gene silencing both in vitro and in vivo, and proved that it occurs through RNA interference mechanism. Our current results indicate that downstream effectors of TLR9 pathway may be involved in RISC assembly and/or activation. Overall, the CpG-siRNA strategy provides a novel opportunity for overcoming cancer immunoresistance with translational potential for therapy of various malignancies.


Recent next-generation sequencing studies of clear cell renal cell carcinoma (ccRCC) have identified point mutations in chromatin-modifying genes, among them PBRM1 which is now the second most frequently mutated gene in RCCs (in up to 41% ccRCCs cases) and belongs to the m1 TCGA (The Cancer Genome Atlas) subset. The occasional presence of PBRM1 mutations in the absence of VHL mutations indicates, that PBRM1 might be another driver tumor suppressor gene in ccRCCs. We were interested in examining PBRM1 expression at mRNA and protein levels and correlated these findings to histopathological features of RCC patients. Relative gene expression (RGE) data were obtained by Q-PCR from matched tumor and adjacent normal fresh frozen ccRCC tissues from 57 patients who underwent radical nephrectomy at our clinic. Papillary (pRCC) as well as chromophobic cases (chRCC) were added to analyze the expression of splice variants of PBRM1. Comparative Western blot analyses as well as semi-quantitative immuno-histochemical staining (IHC) for PBRM1 and VHL were performed on all ccRCC cases. In 78.9% of cases (45/57) PBRM1 mRNA was downregulated at least 1.5-fold, 7% (4/57) showed PBRM1 upregulation, and 14% (8/57) displayed no obvious expression changes between tumor and corresponding tumor tissue. Interestingly, 21 of 45 ccRCCs tumor tissues expressed splice variant 4 more abundantly when compared to normal tissue, whereas the normal tissue preferentially expressed splice variant 1 that includes an additional exon. Remarkably, this differential expression picture is completely reversed in pRCC and chRCC cases. The majority of 57 ccRCCs displayed weak nuclear PBRM1 staining (52.6%), whereas 31.6% showed moderate and 15.8% strong staining. However, we were not able to demonstrate a significant correlation of IHC expression levels, neither to tumor staging nor to Fuhrman grading. The observed high frequency of decreased expression of the chromatin-remodeling gene PBRM1 on mRNA (78.9%) and protein levels (52.6%), respectively, as wells as a high mutation rate (about 15% in our data set) indicate a substantial role of PBRM1 in the tumorigenesis of ccRCCs. Preferences in the expression of different PBRM1 splice variants warrant further investigation with regard to renal cell carcinoma development. Citation Format: Hans Krause, Anica Hogner, Burkhard Jandrig, Ergin Kilic, Carsten Kempkensteffen. Expression changes of the chromatin modifier PBRM1 in human renal cell carcinomas in relation to histopathological features. [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the 107th Annual Meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research; 2016 Apr 16-20; New Orleans, LA. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2016;76(14 Suppl):Abstract nr 3181.


If one understands the physical manifestation of minor depressions or multiple functional disorders in the elderly as being indirectly expressed dissatisfaction because of unfulfilled aims in life, a practical recovery process is necessary in order to confront the underlying psychic process. The aging person has to come to terms with his eventual demise. If he faces this, he will have a chance at renewed energy to accomplish incomplete aims. Many people need help in order to continue the recovery process. Even if speech or reflexive possibilities are inhibited, it is possible accomplish therapy by the medium of sound, which is a preverbal language. Music therapy is able to work at a psychotherapeutic level in persons seemingly unable to be influenced by conventional psychotherapeutic-methods. Two case studies with different techniques (singing of well known songs and free improvisation) illustrate this theses.


ABSTRACT Purpose: To assess the vision-related (VR) and health-related (HR) quality-of-life (QoL) of patients with uveitis. Methods: In total, 60 patients with uveitis, 81 patients with diabetic retinopathy (DR), and 70 healthy subjects completed the National Eye Institute Visual Functioning Questionnaire and the Medical Outcome Study 36-Item Short Form. Results: Patients with uveitis reported lower HR- and VR-QoL than healthy subjects (p<0.05) and lower VR-QoL (p<0.001) than patients with DR. For patients with uveitis, multiple linear regression analyses indicated that lower HR-QoL scores were predicted by younger age (p<0.01), while lower VR-QoL scores were predicted by poorer visual acuity (p<0.001), ocular comorbidities (p<0.05), and female sex (p<0.05). Conclusions: Patients with uveitis have significantly poorer VR- and HR-QoL than healthy control subjects. Uveitis has a more debilitating impact on VR-QoL than DR.


Coronary heart disease (CHD) is the single largest killer of American females. Prevalent risk factors that give rise to increasing coronary risk for women include markers of inflammation, such as C-reactive protein (CRP), lipid abnormalities, such as lipoprotein(a), and insulin resistance. Also, rates of CHD are relatively low among premenopausal women but increase sharply with age and the onset of menopause. The primary purpose of this study was to examine the associations between CRP and physical activity on the risk factor profile of postmenopausal women without known heart disease who were either taking or not taking hormone therapy. The secondary purpose of this investigation was to examine the relation of other cardiovascular risk factors on subclinical measures of coronary heart disease CHD. A cohort of 201 postmenopausal, 52-62 year old women who are enrolled in the Women On the Move through Activity and Nutrition (WOMAN) Study was examined at the baseline evaluation. Spearman correlations revealed a significant inverse relationship between CRP and mean pedometer steps (rho= -0.2441, p=0.0348). Significant positive correlations were identified between CRP and body mass index (rho= 0.3081, p<0.0001), waist circumference (rho= 0.25711, p<0.0002), and triglycerides (rho= 0.1925, p=0.0063). Women taking hormone replacement therapy had significantly higher levels of CRP (p=0.0216) than those women not on hormone therapy. There was no significant relationship found between CRP and intima medial thickness, nor with coronary artery calcium score. The women identified with metabolic syndrome by ATPIII guidelines had significantly lower HDL-cholesterol levels (p<0.0001) and higher total cholesterol (p=0.0072), triglycerides (p<0.0001), glucose (p<0.0001), and insulin (p=0.0183) levels. These women also had significantly higher body mass index (p=0.0210), systolic blood pressure (p<0.0001), carotid intimal medial thickness (p=0.0378) and coronary calcium score (p=0.0125).


Energy demand of the future generations i.e. for millions of people daily needs is fuel shortage. As increasing population in country contributes renewable energy resources in the form of organic solid waste gradually. Proposed simple biogas plants are the best way to solve the raising problem. It is time to develop a methodology regard this task in an organized manner which supplies energy and fertilizer for farming. By using anaerobic digestion process we estimated the biogas generation through solid waste. Both biogas production and power generation plays a key role in this project. Here from the biomass we obtained biogas which generates voltage up to 9 volts by maintaining pressure up to 1kg/cm2. The aim of our project is to develop proper methodology for biogas plant at institute level.


In this paper, simulation and sensitivity studies for propane oxidative dehydrogenation to which were propylene in a circulating fluidized bed is undertaken using a previously developed model. Various experimental kinetics, obtained by several investigators for the reaction using different catalysts, are employed in this study. A comparison is made for the per- formance of certain catalysts when used in a circulating fluidized bed reactor. The effects of changing reaction temperature, solid circulation rate, feed composition, pressure, and gas superficial velocity on reactant conversion and product selectivi- ty and yields are studied. It was found that the catalyst prepared by Ramos et al. is superior to the others with respect to yield.


It has been ascertained, that the stress influence on the contents of specific receptors for estradiol in rats` myocardium becomes evident to its maximum extent on the third day, reliably decreasing this index. The external γ-irradiation statistically increases the number of receptors for estradiol in the myocardium on the tenth day. The complex effect of the immobilizing stress and ionising radiation reliably decline cytoplasmic fraction of myocardial receptors for estradiol to 75 % on the 30th day. The application of bimithyl allows compensation of the effects, induced by the acute immobilizing stress and ionizing radiation.


Low frequency noise measurements were carried out in MESFET's, GaAs resistors, diffused silicon resistors, etc. The noise spectra are of l/fv type one. The noise spectra are considered to be superpositions of Lorentzian spectra. temperature dependence of the noise in the GaAs and silicon resistors, while the Lorentzian spectrum could not be found in the polysilicon resistors. We have also discussed l/fv noise spectra in the boundaries of the solid. The Lorentzian, l/f and l/f3" spectra are obtained. Our model is based on the spontaneous temperature fluctuation in the boundaries between the contacting spots. The activation energies are determined from the 2 . EXPERIMENTS.


AIMS
The aim of this study was to evaluate and compare lesion dimensions and thermodynamics of the new-generation multi-electrode Symplicity Spyral and the new-generation multi-electrode EnligHTN renal artery denervation systems, using a thermochromic liquid crystal phantom model.

METHODS AND RESULTS
A previously described renal artery phantom model was used as a platform for radiofrequency ablation. A total of 32 radiofrequency ablations were performed using the multi-electrode Symplicity Spyral (n=16) and the new-generation EnligHTN systems (n=16). Both systems were used as clinically recommended by their respective manufacturer. Lesion borders were defined by the 51°C isotherm. Lesion size (depth and width) was measured and compared between the two systems. Mean lesion depth was 2.15±0.02 mm for the Symplicity Spyral and 2.32±0.02 mm for the new-generation EnligHTN (p-value <0.001). Mean lesion width was 3.64±0.08 mm and 3.59±0.05 mm (p-value=0.61) for the Symplicity Spyral and the new-generation EnligHTN, respectively.

CONCLUSIONS
The new-generation EnligHTN system produced lesions of greater depth compared to the Symplicity Spyral under the same experimental conditions. Lesion width was similar between both systems. Achieving greater lesion depth by use of the new-generation EnligHTN may result in better efficacy of renal artery denervation.


Background: Complaints of fatigue are common almost all chronic illnesses, especially prevalent in pain disorders such as fibromyalgia syndrome, rheumatoid arthritis, and osteoarthritis. Objective: This study was conducted for the purpose of determining fatigue in individuals with arthritis. Method: Data had obtained from 250 arthritis patients at Physiotherapy and Immunology policlinics and clinics of Ataturk University Hospital in Turkey between May and July 2005. As the data gathering tools, a questionnaire form and Visual Analogue Scale for Fatigue (VAS-F) were used. Results: Internal consistency for VAS-F was good for arthritis individuals. Cronbach's alpha of fatigue subscale was 0.87 and energy subscale was 0.84. Statistically significant differences were found between fatigue and energy subscales and socio-demographic variables. These differences were identified between the VAS-F point averages and female, older, widowed, literate, more income, carrying on with special exercise programs. Conclusion: Fatigue levels of individuals with arthritis was found to be high. This study had determined socio-demographic variables associated with the fatigue.


In this paper, we present Web-Protege—a web-based lightweight ontology editor. Web-Protege is open source, uses the Google Web Toolkit (GWT) for the user interface, and Protege for supporting ontology services. We used components of Collaborative Protege to augment the ontology-editing environment with facilities for discussions and annotations. In this paper, we describe both the server and the client components of the system. We built the user interface using the portal metaphor, which allows easy customization of the user interface for individual users. The plug-in architecture allows easy extension of the user interface with custom components. The server component is implemented in Java and provides methods for accessing the ontology content and manages the changes the users make in different clients. A demo version is available at http://bmir-protege-dev1.stanford.edu/webprotege/.


In 2001, the "Directory of Academic Programs in Sport Management" was Fitness Information Technology's first survey of sport management programs around the world. Now, FIT has teamed with the North American Society for Sport Management (NASSM) to put out, for the first time, a single directory that focuses solely on undergraduate programs. Led by new editor Greg Comfort, the resources of FIT and the NASSM combine to produce The "Directory of Undergraduate Programs in Sport Management", allowing each program to be fully researched and representing a greater number of programs than the original book. The "Directory of Undergraduate Programs in Sport Management" contains extensive information on more than 150 sport management undergraduate programs throughout both the United States and the world. The directory will help prospective undergraduate students find the appropriate school and field of study, sport management faculty advise prospective students in the field, and sport industry professionals recruit students for internships and employment. The directory identifies many important features of each graduate program. Inside you will find valuable information: How to Contact Each Program; Faculty and Their Areas of Interest; Admissions Requirements; Financial Aid and Internship Opportunities; Educational Resources in Sport Management. An ideal resource for students, faculty, and practitioners involved in the field of sport management.


The discovery of two grains of the Buddha's "authentic" bodily relics— a white grain purportedly from the Buddha's bone and a red grain from his blood—in the upper relic crypt of Chaoyang North Pagoda 朝陽北塔 (1043–44) brought immediate fame to this architectural monument from the Liao dynasty (907–1125) (Fig. 1). This discovery, which occurred during the monument's restoration in 1988,1 made Chaoyang, a small city in Liaoning


Retinal detachment with macular hole was treated by different methods. Intravitreal SF6 injection was helpful to seal the macular hole and reattach the retina. In cases of retinal detachment with macular hole and peripheral retinal tear, the retinal reattachment could be achieved by scleral buckling procedure. When vitreous traction adjacent to the macular hole or proliferative vitreoretinopathy was present, vitrectomy combined with internal temponade by SF6 gas injection was indicated. Failure of the operation was caused by inadequate removal of the vitreous traction and post-operative vitreoretinopathy. In a successful operation, visual acuity of 6/60 or better was found in eight of thirty-one patients. (25.8%)


The authors report a global potential energy surface for the ground electronic state of HO(2)(X (2)A(")), which improves upon the XXZLG potential [Xu and et al., J. Chem. Phys. 122, 244305 (2005)] with additional high-level ab initio points for the long-range interaction potential in the O+OH channel. Exact J=0 quantum mechanical reaction probabilities were calculated on the new potential and the rate constant for the title reaction was obtained using a J-shifting method. The calculated rate constant is in good agreement with available experimental values and our results predict a significantly lower rate at temperature range below 30 K, offering a possible explanation for the "interstellar oxygen problem."


The idea for this type of study had been long in the making. The second author of this book interviewed California and Illinois gang members in prison (Decker, Bynum, and Weisel 1998). In 2001, he produced a training manual on gangs on the street and in prison for the American Correctional Association and, together with Mark Fleisher, guest edited a special issue of Corrections Management Quarterly on gangs and security threat groups. Fleisher and Decker identified a range of issues related to gangs in prison, while also recognizing the challenges of reintegrating gang members in the community (Fleisher and Decker 2001a, 2001b).


The Academy of ICT Essentials for Government Leaders module series has been developed by the Asian and Pacific Training Centre for Information and Communication Technology for Development (APCICT). This module introduces disaster risk management (DRM) and provides an overview of how information and communication technologies (ICTs) can be used for DRM. A large number of examples and case studies on the applications of ICTs in DRM have been included in the module. The main objective of the module is to introduce the basic concepts of DRM and the applications of ICTs in disaster mitigation and prevention, preparedness, response, and recovery. The target audiences of this module are policymakers and civil servants at the national and local government levels who are responsible for or engaged in DRM activities.


Drawing on a two-year project, Creating Facebook , this article explores how the actions and agency of Facebook users contribute to the distortion of information and polarisation of socio-political opinion. Facebook's influence as a channel for the circulation of news has come under intense scrutiny recently, especially with regard to the dissemination of false stories. While this criticism has focused on the 'filter bubbles' created by the site's personalisation algorithms, our research indicates that users' own actions also play a key role in how the site operates as a forum for debate. Our findings show that the strategies people use to navigate the complex social space contribute to the polarising of debate, as they seek to avoid conflict with the diverse members of their network.


The genetic diversity of six Iraqi bread wheat cultivars: (Dijlah, Furat, Ibaa-99, Inia-66, Uruq and Tamooz 2) were studied with three treatments of salt stress (0,5 and 10ds/m). The RAPD technique was used to estimate the genetic diversity. Salt stress pattern was used. RAPD data by using cluster analysis revealed that Dijlah and Furat cultivars are closed to each other and behave as one group, and Inia-66 and Uruq cultivars are closer to each other because they are sharing the same origin. Ibaa-99 cultivar was nearer to the second group (Inia-66 and Uruq). Under salt stress condition, differential response in term of leaves proline content was observed, and it is ranged between (15.16 to 6.55 M mole/g). The results showed that there is a genetic diversity among mentioned cultivars with relation to the proline accumulation by salt stress condition.


Using Machine Learning to solve requirements engineering problems can be a tricky task. Even though certain algorithms have exceptional performance, their recall is usually below 100%. One key aspect in the implementation of machine learning tools is the balance between recall and precision. Tools that do not find all correct answers may be considered useless. However, some tasks are very complicated and even requirements engineers struggle to solve them perfectly. If a tool achieves performance comparable to a trained engineer while reducing her workload considerably, it is considered to be useful. One such task is the classification of specification content elements into requirements and non-requirements. In this paper, we analyze this specific requirements classification problem and assess the importance of recall by performing an empirical study. We compared two groups of students who performed this task with and without tool support, respectively. We use the results to compute an estimate of f for the Ff score, allowing us to choose the optimal balance between precision and recall. Furthermore, we use the results to assess the practical time savings realized by the approach. By using the tool, users may not be able to find all defects in a document, however, they will be able to find close to all of them in a fraction of the time necessary. This demonstrates the practical usefulness of our approach and machine learning tools in general.


We present a method for creating consistent 3D models from 2D vector drawings to add effects such as shading, shadowing, or texture mapping of characters on cel animations. We here say 3D models are consistent if they have one-to-one vertex correspondence and their 2D projections coincide with input drawings. To create such models, we first make consistent 2D triangles from the drawings and then apply an inflation method on them. Unlike the previous method by Petrovic et. al. [2000], due to the consistency of the models, we can use this method for animatable-character modeling systems from sketches or for making inbetween frames that interpolate the key-frame drawings by using morphing techniques.


This essay introduces the sociopolitical notion of the Global South as a bridge between globalization and the global mental health (GMH) movement that offers an emergent apparatus or conceptual tool for social psychiatry. A brief history of the Global South reveals that it is wider and deeper than economic and geopolitical notions such as the Third World, the developing world, and the nonaligned movement across a broad swathe of history and culture. I then turn to globalization and its critics, examining critiques of economics, human rights, and problems associated with humanitarian services. A feature of GMH, "the health gap," is contrasted with "the epistemic gap," a divide between the epistemologies of the North and emergent Southern epistemologies. Three key features of the Global South – conviviality, porosity, and syncretism – are discussed with examples from my practice of social psychiatry with consultations in child psychiatry and family therapy in Haiti and Brazil. Finally, the Global South is affirmed as a conceptual and clinical apparatus for social psychiatry.


In the last decade the number of international child refugees significantly increased and in 2015 about half of the refugees were children. According to the available literature the impact of forced migration on human capital in host countries has still to be explored. This paper estimates both the short and the long term human capital consequences of hosting refugees fleeing from the genocides of Rwanda and Burundi in the Kagera region of Tanzania between 1991 and 2010. The study uses longitudinal data from the Kagera Health and Development Survey and the identification strategy relies on the fact that forced migration causes an exogenous shift in human capital supply. Preliminary results suggest that the impact of hosting refugees on children living in Kagera decreases child labor in the short run (between 1991 and 1994). The results are heterogeneous across genders and class ages. The study aims at understanding the mechanisms behind the variation in human capital due to the forced migration shock exploring different channels.


The purpose of this study was to develop a conceptual structure of chronic care competency for Thai primary care providers. The methodology used was a two-step approach. The first step was the concept analysis of chronic care competency based on Walker and Avant's method to perform the pre-specified domains of chronic care competency.  The second step was interviews with Thai primary care providers to refine the pre-specified structure of chronic care competency in order to fit with the Thai primary care context. The results of the study were found to be organized into four domains consisting of specific components: behavioral risk management (components: behavioral risk assessment; behavioral consultation; behavioral follow up); symptom management (components: symptom assessment; symptom relief; symptom monitoring; referral management); basic medical care (components: first aid; treatment prescription); and health coaching (components: self care facilitation; effective communication; building a self-help network). The conceptual structure can be used to develop a chronic care competency scale, in future research, as well as primary care curricula to improve the chronic care competency of Thai primary care providers.


At the present time, cancer is one of the most lethal diseases worldwide. There are various factors involved in the development of cancer, including genetic factors, lifestyle, nutrition, and so on. Recent studies have shown that epigenetic factors have a critical role in the initiation and development of tumors. The histone post-translational modifications (PTMs) such as acetylation, methylation, phosphorylation, and other PTMs are important mechanisms that regulate the status of chromatin structure and this regulation leads to the control of gene expression. The histone acetylation is conducted by histone acetyltransferase enzymes (HATs), which are involved in transferring an acetyl group to conserved lysine amino acids of histones and consequently increase gene expression. On the basis of similarity in catalytic domains of HATs, these enzymes are divided into different groups such as families of GNAT, MYST, P300/CBP, SRC/P160, and so on. These enzymes have effective roles in apoptosis, signaling pathways, metastasis, cell cycle, DNA repair and other related mechanisms deregulated in cancer. Abnormal activation of HATs leads to uncontrolled amplification of cells and incidence of malignancy signs. This indicates that HAT might be an important target for effective cancer treatments, and hence there would be a need for further studies and designing of therapeutic drugs on this basis. In this study, we have reviewed the important roles of HATs in different human malignancies.


This study addresses the gap that exists between literacy educators' knowledge of content disciplines and the literacy strategies often suggested for use in content classrooms. The authors worked with disciplinary experts in mathematics and geography to understand the differences that exist in their conceptions of the disciplines and what it means to be literate in them. Study results were categorized into themes, which include "major understandings of the field," "literacy in the discipline," and "practice of the discipline." Further subcategories include texts used in the discipline; the types of strategies used to become literate in the discipline, and the types of questions addressed within the discipline. Implications for teachers and teacher candidates are also addressed.


Background Cerebral arteriovenous malformation (AVM) involves the vasculogenesis of cerebral blood vessels and can cause severe intracranial hemorrhage. Stromal cell-derived factor-1 (SDF-1) and its receptor, CXCR4, are believed to exert multiple physiological functions including angiogenesis. Thus, we investigated the role of SDF-1/CXCR4 in the vasculogenesis of cerebral AVM. Methods Brain AVM lesions from surgical resections were analyzed for the expression of SDF-1, CXCR4, VEGF-A, and HIF-1 by using immunohistochemical staining. Flow cytometry was used to quantify the level of circulating endothelial progenitor cells (EPCs). Further, in an animal study, chronic cerebral hypoperfusion model rats were analyzed for the expression of SDF-1 and HIF-1. CXCR4 antagonist, AMD3100, was also used to detect its effects on cerebral vasculogenesis and SDF-1 expression. Results Large amounts of CXCR4-positive CD45+ cells were found in brain AVM lesion blood vessel walls, which also have higher SDF-1 expression. Cerebral AVM patients also had higher level of EPCs and SDF-1. In chronic cerebral hypoperfusion rats, SDF-1, HIF-1, and CD45 expressions were elevated. The application of AMD3100 effectively suppressed angiogenesis and infiltration of CXCR4-positive CD45+ cells in hypoperfusion rats compared to controls. Conclusion The SDF-1/CXCR4 axis plays an important role in the vasculogenesis and migration of inflammatory cells in cerebral AVM lesions, possibly via the recruitment of bone marrow EPCs.


We demonstrate a compact and efficient diode-end-pumped TEM>(00) laser with output power of 30 W for 48 W of incident pump power by use of two coated Nd:YVO> (4) crystals to form a thermally stabilized flat-flat cavity. In Q -switched operation 25 W of average power at a pulse-repetition rate of 100 kHz and ~0.9-mJ pulse energy at a pulse-repetition rate of 10 kHz were produced.


A previously described (R. A. de Maagd, C. A. Wijffelman, E. Pees, and B. J. J. Lugtenberg, J. Bacteriol. 170:4424-4427, 1988) Sym plasmid-dependent, naringenin-inducible 50-kilodalton protein of Rhizobium leguminosarum biovar viciae is further characterized in this paper. The protein was overproduced by constructing a strain containing multiple copies of the R. meliloti nodD gene, which facilitated its purification. An antiserum was used to screen Tn5 insertion mutants located in the pRL1JI region found to be responsible for the production of the 50-kilodalton protein. These inserts define a new nod locus left of the nod genes identified previously. Mutations in this region affect the nodulation ability in a way which is dependent on the bacterial background as well as on the host plant. The mutants nodulate normally in a strain RBL1532 (R. leguminosarum biovar viciae strain 248, cured of its Sym plasmid) background on all three tested host plant species. In contrast, in a strain RBL5045 (R. leguminosarum biovar trifolii strain RCR5, cured of its Sym plasmid) background, nodulation on Vicia sativa is severely impaired, whereas nodulation on Vicia hirsuta and Trifolium subterraneum is apparently unaltered.


It is widely accepted that using petroleum-based fuels and chemicals is unsustainable, both in terms of their limited supply and hazardous greenhouse gas emissions. One alternative is to replace petroleum-derived liquid fuels such as gasoline with biofuels. Biofuels are energy-dense compounds such as medium-chain alcohols or fatty acids produced by microbes from plant-based feedstocks. Replacing fossil fuels with biofuels will have multiple beneficial impacts on the environment and economy, including carbon sequestration, greenhouse gas reduction, and generation of a renewable industry.Here, we engineer the model yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae to enhance its potential for biofuel production. Yeast are promising host organisms for many reasons. A sophisticated genetic toolkit is available, which allows for simple manipulation of metabolic pathways and strain characteristics. Industrial fermentations are well- established: S. cerevisiae are currently used to produce a variety of compounds, including bioethanol, amino acids, and therapeutics. In order for yeasts to become commercially viable production organisms for a range of biofuels, some challenges, need to be overcome, from limited production to product toxicity. Here, we used protein engineering methods to address some of these challenges and improve S. cerevisiae as a production organism.It is important to consider transport at the commodity scales relevant to fuel production. Biofuel efflux is particularly important because it drives production forward, reduces cellular toxicity, and is necessary for continuous process schemes. We therefore set out to understand how medium chain fatty acids exit the cell. We characterized the transporter Tpo1 for activity on the fatty acids octanoic and decanoic acid, and identified two fatty acid substrate binding residues. Moreover, we showed that the native promoter gives the optimal expression level for fatty acid efflux. We also found that localization to the plasma membrane is sufficient for fatty acid tolerance and vacuolar localization is not necessary. We anticipate that this transporter will make an excellent target for increasing efflux of desired non-native substrates such as butanol.We also investigated the use of transporters to improve cytoplasmic acetyl- Coenzyme A A(AcCoA) levels. As many heterologous bioproducts are constructed from AcCoA by cytosolic enzymes, increasing cytoplasmic AcCoA concentrations should improve product titers. Our long-term goal is to use the AcCoA transporters AT-1 and YBR220C to transport AcCoA directly from the mitochondria into the cytoplasm. To this end, we found that the AT-1 transporter is active in yeast and draws AcCoA into the endoplasmic reticulum. We have designed a suite of mitochondrial targeting tags to direct the transporters to the mitochondria, and are currently testing their effectiveness. We anticipate that the mitochondrially-located transporters will raise cytoplasmic AcCoA levels, and concomitantly improve product titers.Finally, to address potential issues from product toxicity, we explored the cellular effects of medium-chain alcohols on S. cerevisiae, and used protein engineering to reduce a toxicity response. Specifically, we found that medium chain alcohols, including n-pentanol, n-hexanol, and n-heptanol, inhibit translation initiation. Two mutations in translation initiation factors, Gcd1 D85E and Sui2 D77Y, both reduce inhibition of translation initiation, producing a stable, dominant medium chain alcohol tolerance phenotype. Interestingly, a range of mutations at positions 85 in Gcd1 and 77 in Sui2 improve medium chain alcohol tolerance. These findings will be important for generating efficient medium-chain alcohol production strains.Through these projects, we have advanced the potential of S. cerevisiae for commodity-scale biofuel production.


Cross-linkable organic NLO chromophore called DRS was chemically incorporated into silica matrices using the sol–gel process. A number of electrically poled DRS/silica matrix systems were studied to elucidate the relaxation of the oriented organic chromophore by following the decay of UV absorption as a function of time and temperatures. The value of the second harmonic coefficient d33 was 47 pm/V for the DRS/silica matrix films (0.4 μm thickness). From the dramatic decrease in the UV absorption after poling at 80°C, it is speculated that the DRS may act as a liquid crystalline mesogenic group and is effectively oriented in poling at the phase (nematic) transition temperature (80°C). This argument was substantiated by investigating the phase behavior of DRS itself using both DSC and a polarized optical microscope. The DRS/silica system contained the ideal matrices to retain the oriented chromophore because of optical clarity, thermal stability and effective poling at the nematic liquid crystalline phase.


The paper is concerned with the contact between the elastic bodies subjected to a constant normal load and a varying tangential loading in two directions of the contact plane. For uni-axial in-plane loading, the Cattaneo-Mindlin superposition principle can be applied even if the normal load is not constant but varies as well. However, this is generally not the case if the contact is periodically loaded in two perpendicular in-plane directions. The applicability of the Cattaneo-Mindlin superposition principle guarantees the applicability of the method of dimensionality reduction (MDR) which in the case of a uni-axial in-plane loading has the same accuracy as the Cattaneo-Mindlin theory. In the present paper we investigate whether it is possible to generalize the procedure used in the MDR for bi-axial in-plane loading. By comparison of the MDR-results with a complete three-dimensional numeric solution, we arrive at the conclusion that the exact mapping is not possible. However, the inaccuracy of the MDR solution is on the same order of magnitude as the inaccuracy of the Cattaneo-Mindlin theory itself. This means that the MDR can be also used as a good approximation for bi-axial in-plane loading.


To analyze the application value of artificial intelligence model based on Visual Geometry Group- (VGG-) 16 combined with quantitative electroencephalography (QEEG) in cerebral small vessel disease (CSVD) with cognitive impairment, 72 patients with CSVD complicated by cognitive impairment were selected as the research subjects. As per Diagnostic and Statistical Manual (5th Edition), they were divided into the vascular dementia (VD) group of 34 cases and vascular cognitive impairment with no dementia (VCIND) group of 38 cases. The two groups were analyzed for the clinical information, neuropsychological test results, and monitoring results of QEEG based on intelligent algorithms for more than 2 hours. The accuracy rate of VGG was 84.27% and Kappa value was 0.7, while that of modified VGG (nVGG) was 88.76% and Kappa value was 0.78. The improved VGG algorithm obviously had higher accuracy. The test results found that the QEEG identified 8 normal, 19 mild, 10 moderate, and 0 severe cases in the VCIND group, while in the VD group, the corresponding numbers were 4, 13, 11, and 7; in the VCIND group, 7 cases had the normal QEEG, 11 cases had background changes, 9 cases had abnormal waves, and 11 cases had in both background changes and abnormal waves, and in the VD group, the corresponding numbers were 5, 2, 5, and 22, respectively; in the VCIND group, QEEG of 18 patients had no abnormal waves, QEEG of 11 patients had a few abnormal waves, and QEEG of 9 patients had many abnormal waves, and QEEG of 0 people had a large number of abnormal waves, and in the VD group, the corresponding numbers were 7, 6, 12, and 9. The above data were statistically different between the two groups (P < 0.05). Hence, QEEG based on intelligent algorithms can make a good assessment of CSVD with cognitive impairment, which had good clinical application value.


Deep level defects in electron-irradiated 4H SiC epitaxial layers grown by chemical vapor deposition were studied using deep level transient spectroscopy. The measurements performed on electron-irradiated p+n junctions in the temperature range 100–750 K revealed several electron traps and one hole trap with thermal ionization energies ranging from 0.35 to 1.65 eV. Most of these defects were already observed at a dose of irradiation as low as ≈5×1013 cm-2. Dose dependence and annealing behavior of the defects were investigated. For two of these electron traps, the electron capture cross section was measured. From the temperature dependence studies, the capture cross section of these two defects are shown to be temperature independent. © 1997 American Institute of Physics.


In Russia, there is a high level of alcohol consumption among women in doses that represent a high risk of developing alcoholic diseases, manifested, in particular, by damage to skeletal muscles.The purpose of the study. Analysis of clinical, biochemical, neurophysiological, as well as morphometric and immunohistochemical features of alcoholic skeletal muscle damage in women with chronic alcohol intoxication.Material and methods. A clinical and laboratory examination of 30 women aged 20 to 60 years with chronic alcohol intoxication was performed, which included the determination of creatine phosphokinase (CPK) and insulin-like growth factor I (IGF-I) in blood plasma, stimulation and needle electromyography (EMG), as well as morphological and immunohistochemical examination of biopsies of the quadriceps femoris.Results. Myopathic syndrome in the form of proximal para-or tetraparesis was observed in 73.3% of the examined women in combination with a decrease in IGF-1 at normal values of CPK in blood plasma. The EMG results indicated the absence of changes in the parameters of the potentials of motor units, characteristic of primary muscular lesions, and of conduction disturbances along the femoral nerve. Morphometric and immunohistochemical studies of skeletal muscle biopsies showed a decrease in the cross-sectional area of muscle fibers of types I and II without signs of muscle tissue necrosis.Conclusion. Chronic alcoholic myopathy is a common manifestation of alcoholic disease in women with long-term alcohol intoxication. The severity of the atrophic process in the skeletal muscle is comparable to the degree of proximal paresis. Violations of systemic protein synthesis and acceleration of apoptosis are considered as pathogenetic mechanisms of the atrophic process in the muscles in chronic alcoholic myopathy in women.


SCATTERING BY IRREGULAR PARTICLES IN ANOMALOUS DIFFRACTION AND DISCRETE DIPOLE APPROXIMATIONS The effects of irregular particles on scattering of radiation are considered using theoretical methods. Major motivation for studying scattering by irregular particles is presented on the basis of results from a simple climate model. These results indicate that uncertainties in our knowledge of the asymmetry parameter and extinction factors significantly affect the response of this model to an imposed climate change. The discrete dipole approximation (DDA) is considerably extended in this study. It is shown that this is a robust mElthod as it includes boundary conditions in its formulation, is numerically stable, and is computationally fast. The method is validated against exact results. DDA is then applied to study scattering by particle shapes typical of ice crystal clouds. Parameterization of scattering properties of irregular particles is considered on the basis of the anomalous di1fraction theory. The new approach to the ADT is introduced based on a ray tracing and compared to DDA for selected geometries. We deVelop the ADT for particles distributed in size. A key result is that the similarity scaling predicted by the ADT for spheres is also shown to apply for nonspherical particles. The results represent a complete parameterization of the three main optical properties: the volume extinction {3ext, the single scattering albedo w, and the particle asymmetry parameter g, as a function of refractive index, characteristic radius of the distribution and the distribution width. Piotr J. Flatau Department of Atmospheric Science Colorado State University Fort Collins, Colorado 80523 Fall 1992