Purpose: Polyenergetic Alternating Minimization (AM) is a statistical image reconstruction (SIR) algorithm that uses a precomputed estimated x‐ray spectrum to directly model beam hardening effects in the course of iteratively reconstructingCTimages. We hypothesize that SIR reconstructions, based upon a rigorous physical model of the CT signal formation process, are of better quality than filtered‐backprojection images using conventional preprocessing beam‐hardening corrections. This presentation focuses on the accuracy and magnitude of artifacts in polyenergetic Alternating Minimization (AM) images of homogeneous phantoms. Method and Materials: The x‐ray spectrum of a Brilliance CT scanner was estimated from transmission measurements through varying thicknesses of aluminum and polymethyl methacrylate (PMMA) filters. An exhaustive search was used to find the semi‐empirical Birch‐Marshall x‐ray spectrum that most closely reproduced the transmission measurements. The polyenergetic AM algorithm was used to reconstructimages of 4 homogeneous PMMA disks of varying diameters using the estimated spectrum and measured scatter corrections. A simple test of the algorithm is performed: reconstructing PMMA disks using a PMMA basis in the AM algorithm should reconstruct an image intensity of 1.0 for all disk diameters. Mean intensity and noise are evaluated for disk center and periphery. Results: Our estimated spectrum fits the PMMA transmission measurements to within 1.5%. The AM algorithm reconstructs uniform images of the PMMA disks with mean intensity within 0.8% of the expected relative PMMA density for all disk sizes and locations. Relative standard deviations of the reconstructed intensities about the mean vary between 1.9% and 0.6% (center and periphery) for the 30 cm disk and 0.15% and 0.14% for the 5 cm disk. Conclusion: The polyenergetic AM algorithm can reconstruct accurate images from experimentally acquired CT data. However, great care must be taken in the processing of the raw CT data and the x‐ray spectrum estimation.


In the past decade, genotyping has started to help the neurologic practitioner treat patients with three types of epilepsy causing mutations, namely (1) SCN1A, a sodium channel gene mutated in Dravet's sporadic severe myoclonic epilepsy of infancy (SMEI and SMEB); (2) laforin (dual specificity protein phosphatase) and malin (ubiquitin E3 ligase) in Lafora progressive myoclonic epilepsy (PME); and (3) cystatin B in Unverricht‐Lundborg type of PME. Laforin, malin, and cystatin B are non–ion channel gene mutations that cause PME. Genotyping ensures accurate diagnosis, helps treatment and genetic counseling, psychological and social help for patients and families, and directs families to organizations devoted to finding cures for specific epilepsy diseases. In SCN1A and cystatin B mutations, treatment with sodium channel blockers (phenytoin, carbamazepine, oxcarbazepine, lamotrigine) should be avoided. Because of early and correct diagnosis by genotyping of SCN1A mutations, the avoidance of sodium channel blockers, and aggressive treatment of prolonged convulsive status, there is hope that Dravet's syndrome may not be as severe as observed in all past reports. Genotyping also identifies nonsense mutations in Lafora PME. Nonsense mutations can be corrected by premature stop codon readthrough drugs such as gentamicin. The community practitioner together with epilepsy specialists in PME can work together and acquire gentamicin ( Barton‐Davis et al., 1999 ) for "compassionate use" in Lafora PME, a generalized lysosome multiorgan storage disorder that is invariably fatal. In Unverricht‐Lundborg PME, new cohorts with genotyped cystatin B mutations have led to the chronic use of antioxidant N‐acetylcysteine and combination valproate clobazam or clonazepam plus antimyoclonic drugs topiramate, zonisamide, piracetam, levetiracetam, or brivaracetam. These cohorts have minimal ataxia and no dementia, questioning whether the syndrome is truly progressive. In conclusion, not only is genotyping a prerequisite in the diagnosis of Dravet's syndrome and the progressive myoclonus epilepsies, but it also helps us choose the correct antiepileptic drugs to treat seizures in Dravet's syndrome and Unverricht‐Lundborg PME. Genotyping also portends a brighter future, helping us to reassess the true course, severity, and progressive nature of Dravet's syndrome and Unverricht‐Lundborg PME and helping us craft a future curative treatment for Dravet's syndrome and Lafora disease. Without the genotyping diagnosis of epilepsy causing mutations we are stuck with imprecise diagnosis and symptomatic treatment of seizures.


This article discusses approaches to conducting a comparative analysis of alternative solutions to the problem of forming a development strategy in government structures. The article defines the conditions for the examination of the results of strategic planning in the customs authorities of Russia. The structure of the Development Strategy of the Russian Customs Service until 2030 is analyzed.


The controlled lamination of thick sheets involves the use of algorithms for choosing the rolling parameters: the initial heating temperature, the lamination scheme (the distribution of the total thickness reduction on each rolling cage, the number of passes through each cage and the distribution of the thickness reduction on each passage, intermediate cooling cooling time and speed), and the temperature of the product obtained at the end of the rolling. The complexity of the phenomena, which occur during the hot plastic deformation process and which must be sufficiently well mastered in order to obtain reproducibly the technical specifications imposed on the products with different destinations, is the justification for this work. The data provided by Arcelor-Mittal Galati was used to obtain the mathematical model. Equations that correlate the main mechanical characteristics with the chemical composition of the steel and the parameters of the hot rolling pattern used are presented.


Background and purpose It is sometimes difficult to diagnose intracranial vertebral artery dissection in patients with headache as the only symptom. Knowledge of the characteristics of the headache would facilitate the diagnosis. In this study, we aimed to clarify the characteristics of intracranial vertebral artery dissection-related headache using our original self-administered questionnaire. Methods Via the questionnaire, we ascertained headache characteristics and investigated whether they differed between two types of unruptured intracranial vertebral artery dissection, headache type and ischemic type, based on analysis of the responses. Then, we tried to validate the consistency of commonly used criteria for intracranial artery dissection by comparing them with our results. Results Thirty-seven patients were analyzed. Our results identified the following seven headache characteristics in patients with intracranial vertebral artery dissection: (i) occurring in the occipitonuchal region (89%); (ii) unilateral (81%); (iii) pulsatile (70%); (iv) of acute onset (70%); (v) severe (73%); (vi) without nausea or vomiting (73%); and (vii) with concomitant clinical symptoms unrelated to ischemia (81%). Comparison of headache characteristics between the two types of intracranial vertebral artery dissection headache showed that the pain was significantly more severe in headache type than ischemic type intracranial vertebral artery dissection (p = 0.01). Concomitant clinical symptoms occurred significantly more often in ischemic type than headache type intracranial vertebral artery dissection (p = 0.03). Our results generally satisfied the established headache diagnostic criteria. Conclusion The pain characteristics of headache type and ischemic type intracranial vertebral artery dissection shown in our study may facilitate its diagnosis.


The present research aims to analyze to evaluate the efficiency of removal of the physicochemical and microbiological parameters of an affordable in-house anaerobic digester for water treatment. The biodigester is a system whose operation is given by means of anaerobic digestions and removal of the different parameters of the residual water. The digester was implemented and installed in a 600 L capacity tank with continuous flow. The research is quantitative with a pre experimental design, pre and post-test. Technique for data collection was based on experimental observation. Data was collected and analyzed over 90 days. Python was used as a tool for data processing and analysis. The average efficiency of the digester was over 97% for the primary treatment of domestic wastewater, which presents evidence of being a viable and sustainable alternative to minimize environmental impacts (water, air and soil) and contribute to the collective health of the population.


Research can be a complex and challenging endeavour but the outcomes will often change peoples' lives. Such a claim stands not only for clinical trials developing new medicines or therapeutic interventions, but also for qualitative studies that help us to understand how and why people experience health and illness as they do. The real challenge for researchers can be to ensure that the right questions are asked and that the most appropriate methodological approaches are adopted to answer these questions.


Shared memory provides an attractive and intuitive programming model for large-scale parallel computing, but requires a coherence mechanism to allow caching for performance while ensuring that processors do not use stale data in their computation. Implementation options range from distributed shared memory emulations on networks of workstations to tightly coupled fully cache-coherent distributed shared memory multiprocessors. Previous work indicates that performance varies dramatically from one end of this spectrum to the other. Hardware cache coherence is fast, but also costly and time-consuming to design and implement, while DSM systems provide acceptable performance on only a limit class of applications. We claim that an intermediate hardware option-memory-mapped network interfaces that support a global physical address space, without cache coherence-can provide most of the performance benefits of fully cache-coherent hardware, at a fraction of the cost. To support this claim we present a software coherence protocol that runs on this class of machines, and use simulation to conduct a performance study. We look at both programming and architectural issues in the context of software and hardware coherence protocols. Our results suggest that software coherence on NCC-NUMA machines in a more cost-effective approach to large-scale shared-memory multiprocessing than either pure distributed shared memory or hardware cache coherence.


The objective of this study was to demonstrate applicability of an innovative radioactive isotope method for imaging microbial activity in geological materials to a comprehensive study of metal corrosion. The method was tested on a sample of stainless steel coupons that had been buried as part of a corrosion study initiated by the National Institute of Standards and Testing or NIST (known as National Bureau of Standards prior to 1988) in 1970. The images showed evidence of microbial activity that could be mapped on a millimeter scale to coupon surfaces. A second more conventional isotope tracer method was also used to provide a quantitative measure of the same type of microbial activity in soil proximal to the buried coupons. Together the techniques offer a method for evaluating low metabolic levels of activity that have the potential for significant cumulative corrosion effects. The methods are powerful tools for evaluation of potential for microbial induced corrosion to buried steel components used on pipelines, in the power and communications infrastructure, and in nuclear waste repository containers.


Gastro-intestinal helminthias is a macroparasitic disease caused by parasitic worms known as helminths which infect the Gastro-Intestinal Tract (GIT) of humans and other animals. The disease can potentially cause health problems as a result of the damage arising from the pathogenicity of the infections especially in children. This study therefore assessed the gastro-intestinal helminthiasis among primary school children in Gokana and Khana Local Government Areas (LGAs) of Rivers State. A total of 633 stool samples were collected and examined in duplicate using the standard methods of saline/iodine and formol-ether concentrations. The overall prevalence of gastro-intestinal helminthiasis in the two LGAs was 21.0% of which 24.3% and 17.4% were recorded for Gokana and Khana respectively. There was significant difference in infection rate between the two LGAs, being higher in Gokana than in Khana at P=0.02394. Sex related prevalence showed higher rate in males (31.1%) than females (18.5%) in Gokana and 22.3% in males than in females 13.0% in Khana Parasites recovered included Ascaris lumbricoides which had the highest prevalence in both Gokana (32.1%) and Khana (45.5%) followed by hookworm 24.4%, 23.6%, Trichuris trichiura 16.7%, 18.2% and Strongyloides stercoralis 5.1%, 3.6% for Gokana and Khana respectively. Multiple infections were encountered in both Local Government Areas with Ascaris hookworm combinations being the highest and most common in both areas. This study concludes that the prevalence of gastro- intestinal helminthiasis among school children in Gokana and Khana Local Government Areas is relatively high, therefore, there is need to step up effort towards the control of these parasites through improve sanitation and health education.


[Objective] The aim of the research was to increase the level of free amino acids produced by solid-state fermentation of aspergillus strains.[Method] Taking 11 kinds of legume as solid-state fermentation media,their effects on free amino acids produced by Aspegillus oryzae,Aspegillus Niger and Mucor spp.were studied.And orthogonal test was designed to optimize the culture conditions of amino acids produced by A.oryzae.[Result] When soybean was taken as medium,amino acids produced by A.oryzae were most(64.65 mg/g),followed by Mucor.After 11 kinds of medium were inoculated by A.oryzae,the content of amino acids were obviously increased,especially soybean,horsebean and mung bean,with their relatively improving rate being 824.9 %,785.9 % and 761.3 % resp.Orthogonal test showed that the effect of culture time on the output of free amino acids was most,the next was charge capacity and inoculation amount.[Conclusion] The optimum production technics was as follows:Inoculation amount of 10 %,charge capacity of 40 g and culture time of 8 d.


Aerosol forcing uncertainty represents the largest climate forcing uncertainty overall. Its magnitude has remained virtually undiminished over the past 20 years despite considerable advances in understanding most of the key contributing elements. Recent work has produced modest increases only in the confidence of the uncertainty estimate itself. This review summarizes the contributions toward reducing the uncertainty in the aerosol forcing of climate made by satellite observations, measurements taken within the atmosphere, as well as modeling and data assimilation. We adopt a more measurement‐oriented perspective than most reviews of the subject in assessing the strengths and limitations of each; gaps and possible ways to fill them are considered. Currently planned programs supporting advanced, global‐scale satellite and surface‐based aerosol, cloud, and precursor gas observations, climate modeling, and intensive field campaigns aimed at characterizing the underlying physical and chemical processes involved, are all essential. But in addition, new efforts are needed: (a) to obtain systematic aircraft in situ measurements capturing the multi‐variate probability distribution functions of particle optical, microphysical, and chemical properties (and associated uncertainty estimates), as well as co‐variability with meteorology, for the major aerosol airmass types; (b) to conceive, develop, and implement a suborbital (aircraft plus surface‐based) program aimed at systematically quantifying the cloud‐scale microphysics, cloud optical properties, and cloud‐related vertical velocities associated with aerosol‐cloud interactions; and (c) to focus much more research on integrating the unique contributions of satellite observations, suborbital measurements, and modeling, to reduce the persistent uncertainty in aerosol climate forcing.


A simple, low-cost gantry crane robotic platform for use in computer vision research has been developed recently in the Department of Computer Science at the Australian National University in Canberra. The device operates as a mechanical arm, manipulating elements of scenes being scanned by a video camera. Input from the camera is then subjected to computer analysis.


: The data based on the comparative evaluation of changes in immunological processes due to the effect of decaris, autovaccine and standard staphylococcal allergens are presented. These data indicate that such changes resulting from the clinical effectiveness of different kinds of immunotherapy are accompanied by identical changes in the immune system of patients with infectious allergic bronchial asthma. At the same time the results of this study point out that the therapeutic effectiveness of autovaccine is higher than that of decaris.


Representation based classification (RC) methods such as sparse RC (SRC) have shown great potential in face recognition in recent years. Most previous RC methods are based on the conventional regression models, such as lasso regression, ridge regression or group lasso regression. These regression models essentially impose a predefined assumption on the distribution of the noise variable in the query sample, such as the Gaussian or Laplacian distribution. However, the complicated noises in practice may violate the assumptions and impede the performance of these RC methods. In this paper, we propose a modal regression based atomic representation and classification (MRARC) framework to alleviate such limitation. Unlike previous RC methods, the MRARC framework does not require the noise variable to follow any specific predefined distributions. This gives rise to the capability of MRARC in handling various complex noises in reality. Using MRARC as a general platform, we also develop four novel RC methods for unimodal and multimodal face recognition, respectively. In addition, we devise a general optimization algorithm for the unified MRARC framework based on the alternating direction method of multipliers (ADMM) and half-quadratic theory. The experiments on real-world data validate the efficacy of MRARC for robust face recognition.


There is currently much debate about cryopreservation of ovarian tissue or oocytes as a possible means of fertility preservation for women urgently needing potentially sterilizing medical treatment. Although both techniques are still experimental, some centres have started offering them also to healthy women who want to postpone childbearing until after they may have lost their natural reproductive capacity, or fear that they may not before that time find a partner with whom to raise a family. This article explores and discusses the ethical issues raised by this practice. We argue that there are no convincing a priori moral reasons why cryopreservation of ovarian tissue or oocytes should not also be available for healthy women. However, this is on the assumption of established techniques, also in terms of the efficient and safe use of any frozen reserve. The fact that there is still uncertainty about these aspects is rightly seen as a reason for only offering cryopreservation of ovarian tissue or oocytes in an experimental setting. But does that also mean that these techniques should presently only be available for a medical reason, i.e. for women facing iatrogenic fertility loss? We argue against this conclusion.


Serum serves as a source of rich nutrients during in vitro cell culture, facilitating cell adhesion, growth, and differentiation. When culturing stem cells for transplantation, however, it must be remembered that such culture medium may contain substances potentially harmful to the proposed recipient and may even induce cellular damage. The purpose of this study was to determine whether KnockOut Serum Replacement (KSR), a chemically defined medium supplement, enhanced in vitro differentiation of induced pluripotent stem cells into odontoblasts. Cranial neural crest cells, precursors of odontoblasts, were generated from mouse-induced pluripotent stem cells. They were then cultured in serum-free Dulbecco's modified Eagle's/F12 medium containing fibroblast growth factor 8 with or without KSR. The cells cultured with KSR showed strong proliferation, acquired a spindle-like morphology, and connected with the surrounding cells. KnockOut Serum Replacement also boosted expression of odontoblast markers as measured by qRT-PCR, and increased dentin sialoprotein as assessed by immunostaining. These results confirmed that mouse-induced pluripotent stem cells differentiated into odontoblasts under serum-free conditions, and that KSR enhanced the efficiency of this process.


The authors analyzed an experience with treatment of 176 patients. It was shown that increasing colonoscopy allowed clear differentiation of neoplasm in the colon, decision on the strategy of treatment. The effective method is endoscopic resection of intestine mucosa.


Purpose. Identifying the right people for the right jobs is crucial to maximizing employees' job performance. Although the literature has consistently found a positive relationship between person-job-fit (P-J fit) and job performance, little attention has been given to the underlying mechanisms of the relationship. The present study proposed a parallel mediation model to investigate the hypothetical mediating roles of job satisfaction and work engagement in the relationship between self-reported P-J fit and job performance. Methodology. A total of 361 employees from the service sectors across multiple organizations in Malaysia answered the P-J fit scale, Job Satisfaction Survey, Utrecht Work Engagement Scale, and Individual Work Performance Questionnaire. Findings. Pearson correlation analysis showed that all the four variables were positively related to each other. Mediation analysis using the PROCESS macro found that P-J fit is indirectly associated with job performance through work engagement but not job satisfaction. Further analysis, however, supported the mediating role of job satisfaction when work engagement was controlled. Implications for practice. The findings indicate that work engagement playsa stronger role than job satisfaction. Employees with a better fit for the job are more engaged in their jobs, and that the high levels of work engagement would in turn positively relate to job performance. Value of the results. Organizations may consider improving the levels of work engagement of employees or lowering the factors that reduce the levels of work engagement to improve the job performance of employees with high P-J fit.


Embedded system design Computers as Components: Principles of Embedded Computing System Design, Wayne Wolf (Morgan Kaufmann, San Francisco, Calif., 2001, 688 pp., ISBN 1-55860-541-X, $64.95) Wayne Wolf is a professor of electrical engineering at Princeton University, a former AT&T Bell Laboratories employee, and a Stanford University graduate. He is editor in chief of IEEE Transactions on VLSI Systems and a well known researcher in embedded systems and hardware-software codesign. He is eminently qualified to write this much needed book. Embedded systems are as old as microprocessors, which means they have been around for about 30 years—longer if you count dedicated, minicomputerbased turnkey applications, such as the clinical laboratory data acquisition and reporting systems I worked on in the 1960s. Creating such systems has remained challenging. Programming and debugging facilities tend to be limited by the underlying hardware's often primitive and nonstandard nature. In the late 1980s, for example, when object-oriented high-level languages and integrated development environments were already widely available, I worked on a new version of a medical instrument. It used an 8-bit Intel 8085 microprocessor (introduced 12 years earlier) programmed in assembly language to control a complex control panel and an automated data acquisition system. The underlying software was based on a minicomputer operating system I had worked on in the 1960s. The debugger let me examine the memory contents (in hexadecimal) and place a break point at a specified memory location. I had no simulator—the testbed was the instrument itself. Designing hardware and software to work together has lagged behind software development on standard software platforms. UML diagrams, CRC cards, concurrent engineering, and design reviews, for example, are in the main stream of software development, but embedded system development projects rarely use them. In her introduction, Lynn Conway, herself the coauthor of a landmark book, praises Wolf's book for providing a systematic approach to embedded system design, based on these systems development techniques and processes. Now, as the market for embedded systems expands exponentially, the time has come to civilize this frontier. Wayne Wolf's book shows the way to do that. It is essentially a course in computer science and software development, oriented totally to the problems of embedded systems designers. Wolf assumes that his readers are not computer scientists, so he covers many topics that other books take for granted. He complements this self-contained introduction to embedded computer science with several detailed design examples taken from real projects at places like Bell Labs. If you are planning to teach a course in embedded systems design or if you are a long time practitioner and want to bring your skills up to date, this is the book for you.


Hydraulically induced fractures provide a significant fraction of oil supply to the world from unconventional reservoirs due to their high permeability. However, these fractures might choke because of the deposition of organic and in-organic particles. Among organic particles, asphaltene deposition severely reduces reservoir permeability causing an exponential drop in production. The objective of this study is to derive a model that characterizes formation damage and hydraulic fractures choking in unconventional reservoirs due to asphaltene deposition on fracture face and pore surface. This study also analyzes different factors affecting permeability alteration by asphaltene deposition in fractured reservoirs.
 In this work, a 1D simulator is developed that predicts the performance of fractured reservoirs by solving the fluid flow governing equations for matrix and fractures. These flow equations were then incorporated with asphaltene deposition equations. The developed model considers constant temperature of the reservoir with negligible gravity and capillary forces. Sensitivity analysis was also performed to investigate the effect of three influential parameters on permeability alteration of fractured reservoirs by asphaltene deposition. These parameters include fracture-to-matrix permeability ratio, production time, and asphaltene concentration.
 The study showed that asphaltene deposition could partially or completely choke fractures. This finding is in match with observations in the literature for asphaltene deposition and the consequent fracture choking. The sensitivity analysis showed that long production time and high asphaltene concentration have adverse effect on fracture permeability while matrix permeability was not much affected. On the other hand, low fracture-to-matrix ratio has a negligible effect on permeability of the simulated reservoir model. This work provides an insight into the detrimental effect of asphaltene deposition and estimates fracture choking in hydraulically fractured unconventional reservoirs with problematic oils.


We propose a method for performing terahertz spectroscopy on nanometer (nm)-scale systems by using metal nanogap electrodes. Intersublevel transition spectra of single self-assembled InAs quantum dots (QDs) have been measured with high signal/noise ratios by using a single electron transistor geometry that consists of a QD and nanogap metal electrodes as a terahertz detector. Photocurrent distribution with respect to the Coulomb diamonds indicates that there are two mechanisms for the photocurrent generation. When the p shell was fully occupied, we observed rather simple photocurrent spectra induced by the p → d transitions. However, when the p shell was half-filled, the photocurrent spectra exhibited a markedly different behavior, which we attribute to the fluctuation in electron configuration when the empty p state is filled back from the electrodes.


Characteristics of polyphase induction motors are analyzed in this paper by the method of symmetrical components in a manner different from other recently published articles. The analysis is neither tedious nor highly involved and curves of motor characteristics obtained by tests under unbalanced conditions agree closely with curves obtained by calculation.


The insulin-like growth factors (IGFs; somatomedins) comprise a family of peptides that play important roles in mammalian growth and development. The principal members of this family are IGF1 and IGF2. IGF1 (somatomedin C), a 70 residue basic polypeptide, mediates many of the growth promoting actions of growth hormone (GH) and has metabolic and mitogenic effects.1 The major source of circulating IGF1 is the liver, but it is also produced in a wide variety of tissues and has endocrine and paracrine modes of action. The mature IGF1 peptide has A, B, C, and D domains with homology to insulin, and is highly conserved.2 It is produced as an inactive precursor, pre-pro-IGF1, with an additional carboxyterminal E region that plays an important role in the maturation of normal IGF1 peptide. This regulatory region is obtained by alternative splicing of the last two exons. IGF1 resides on the long arm of chromosome 12 (12q 22–24.1),3 and several molecular studies have demonstrated that the structure of this gene is very complex. The gene contains six exons, which extend over more than 85 kb on chromosomal DNA. For human IGF1, two potential primary translation products exist: IGF1A and IGF1B, with sizes of 153 and 195 amino acids respectively. The two precursors are synthesised from distinct messenger RNAs produced by alternative splicing of the primary transcript. IGF1A mRNA contains exons 1, 2, 3, 4, and 6 of the human IGF1 gene while IGF1B is encoded by exons 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5. It has been speculated that IGF1B plays the major role during intrauterine growth, while the same function during postnatal growth is taken over by IGF1A.4

Recent studies have focused attention on the genetic causes of growth alterations. Mutations involving the molecular structure of GH5 or the function of …


Background Inconsistent findings have been reported for associations between protein intakes and age at menarche. We aimed to investigate the longitudinal associations between intakes of protein and protein-containing food groups with the occurrence of menarche and early menarche in a cohort of Iranian girls.Methods Girls aged 6–14 years in the third or fourth examination cycles of the Tehran Lipid and Glucose Study were selected and were followed to the fifth examination cycle. Daily intakes of protein from different animal/plant sources and ten protein-containing food groups were assessed using a food frequency questionnaire collected at baseline. Attaining menarche and age at menarche were asked during each examination cycle. Cox proportional hazards regression was used to estimating hazard ratios (HRs) and 95% confidence interval (95%CI) for the occurrence of menarche per one standard deviation (SD) of dietary intakes. Logistic regression was also used to estimate the odds of reaching menarche ≤ 12 years.Results During the study, 147(61%) of girls reached menarche, the median age at menarche was 12 years. The HRs (95% CI) for the occurrence of menarche per one-SD of dietary intakes were 0.68(0.48, 0.98) for plant protein and 1.36(1.01, 1.84) for animal protein after adjusting for confounders. Substituting 10-g animal protein with plant protein was associated with a 16% (95%CI: 5–25%) lower risk of menarche. Dietary intakes of poultry (HR: 1.35; 95%CIs: 1.00-1.82) and low-fat dairy (HR: 1.20; 95%CIs: 0.99–1.46) were marginally associated with the increased risk of occurrence of menarche. However, the odds of early menarche was significant only for plant protein (odds ratio = 0.39; 95% CI: 0.16–0.96).Conclusions Our findings indicate that animal and plant protein intake was positively and negatively associated with the risk of menarche, respectively. Some protein-containing foods such as poultry and low-fat dairy were also related to menarche occurrence, but neither animal protein nor protein-containing food groups were associated with menarche occurrence ≤ 12 years.


In this paper a high-complexity finite element structure of the truck model is proposed in the control design of active suspension systems. A significant step of the method is the selection of a reducedorder model by using the relevant frequencies up to 30 Hz from the modal representation of the model. The model uncertainty can also be approximated with the difference between the high-order and the reduced-order models. Then the model is augmented with the specifications of the performance demands and the multiplicative uncertainty structure. The control design itself is based on the H∞/μ method, which guarantees that the controlled system achieves robust stability and meets performance demands.


This study aimed to investigate the social representations, the mute zone and women's practices on aging and rejuvenation. Participants were 40 women aged between 30 and 60 years. Half of them used non-invasive rejuvenating procedures, and the other half use invasive or minimally invasive rejuvenating procedures. Were presented to the participants stories about rejuvenating practices used by two women, one Woman adopts non-invasive rejuvenating procedures, and the Woman adopts 2 invasive procedures. The results showed that the participants represented the Woman 1 as someone who must work very hard, possibly as a teacher, while Women 2 has good financial conditions possibly working in the cosmetic area. Woman 1 is considered, especially by the group of women who adopt non-invasive rejuvenation practices as a happy and selfless, while Woman 2 is seen as unfortunate and selfish by the same group.


In the sublingual/submandibular gland complex (L/M complex hereafter), the submandibular gland process adjoins the sublingual gland. Therefore, it is speculated that the L/M complex in the fused state is due to excessive development of the submandibular gland process. However, we encountered a case of the L/M complex formed due to supernumerary glandular lobes (lobes A, B, and C) developing in the posterior 1/3 portion of the submandibular duct. Lobes A, B, and C showed the following macroscopic morphologies, constitutions, ducts, and histological morphologies. Lobe A was disc-shaped, and this lobe together with the major sublingual gland was wrapped with the minor sublingual gland. Lobe B was attached to lobe C, forming a cingulate lobe. Lobe B had an irregular shape and was attached to the superior area of lobe A, while lobe C was rod-shaped and attached to the posterior area of lobe B. The posterior area of lobe C was attached to the submandibular gland at the base of the submandibular duct. The excretory ducts of lobes A, B, and C joined, forming one duct, which joined the posterior 1/3 portion of the submandibular duct. The histological morphologies of lobes A, B, and C showed a predominance of serous cells over mucous cells, which was the same as the morphology of the submandibular gland. In this case, the L/M complex may have formed by the following mechanism. Supernumerary lobes A, B, and C of the submandibular gland formed in the posterior 1/3 portion of the submandibular duct, and lobe A together with the major sublingual gland was wrapped with the minor sublingual gland. Lobes B and C formed a cingulate lobe, and its posterior portion (posterior portion of lobe C) attached to the submandibular gland, resulting in a fused state.


Users can be frustrated by touch screen applications that inaccurately record their touches. Enlarging touch sensitive regions can improve touch accuracy, but few specific quantitative guidelines are available. This paper reports on a controlled experiment that investigated the effect of target location and horizontal viewing location on user accuracy. Measurements showed that persons tended to touch below the target, with touch distance increasing as the target location moved down the screen. In addition, they tended to touch toward the sides of the screen. Using collected data for each of nine screen sectors, graphs were prepared that show the relationship between touch target size and expected accuracy. For example, a 36 mm2 target in the top left sector would be expected to accurately record 99% of its touches. The empirically-derived, quantitative guidelines will help designers create screens that decrease user errors and frustration.


OBJECTIVES
Oral lichen planus is a chronic, T-cell-mediated, inflammatory disease that affects the oral cavity. The oral lichen planus pathogenesis is still unclear, however, the main evidence is that the mechanisms of activation of different T lymphocyte pathway induce apoptosis with an increase in Th1 and Th17 subtypes cells, triggered by the release of cytokines. This study analysed saliva proteomics to identify protein markers that might be involved in the pathogenesis and development of the disease.

MATERIAL AND METHODS
Proteins differentially expressed by oral lichen planus and healthy controls were screened using mass spectrometry; the proteins found in oral lichen planus were subjected to bioinformatics analysis, including gene ontology and string networks analysis. The multiplex analysis validation allowed the correlation between the proteins identified and the involved cytokines in Th17 response.

RESULTS
One hundred and eight proteins were identified in oral lichen planus, of which 17 proteins showed a high interaction between them and indicated an association with the disease. Expression of these proteins was correlated with the triggering of cytokines, more specifically the Th17 cells.

CONCLUSION
Proteins, such as S100A8, S100A9, haptoglobin, can trigger cytokines and might be associated with a pathological function and antioxidant activities in oral lichen planus.


Prevailing road surface conditions, the grip between tyres and the road surface, strongly correlate with traffic accident rate. Surface friction is reduced especially during snowfall or icing. Friction observations derived from Vaisala's optical DSC111 sensors, operated during two winter seasons (2007/2008, 2008/2009) at several Finnish roadside stations have been used. The devices measure the depth of water, snow and ice on the road surface and also produce an estimate of prevailing friction. The observations have been used to develop statistical equations to model road surface friction. The model has been evaluated against an independent dataset from winter 2009/2010. The goal thereafter was to integrate the scheme into the road weather service of the Finnish Meteorological Institute by combining background information from a road weather model with the derived statistical equations.


Steroid hormone receptors provide the means by which estrogen and progesterone influence their target tissues. Receptor assays have proved clinically useful in the management of breast cancer, and current research indicates they may be valuable in managing some gynecologic neoplasms. This is a review of the current and potential importance of receptors in gynecologic oncology.


Elachistocleis muiraquitan was recently described from fifteen specimens found at two sites in Acre state, northwestern Brazil. Prior to the description of E. muiraquitan , individuals fitting the description of this species found in southeastern Peru and northwestern Bolivia were identified as Elachistocleis bicolor , a species associated with markedly different habitat and environmental conditions. Here, we re-identified these specimens and also propose the first map of E. muiraquitan 's potential distribution, based on known localities along with climatic and environmental parameters.


Chromatographic separation of a methanolic extract of Clerodendrum myricoides led to the isolation of myricoidine (1) whose structure was elucidated using IR, NMR and melting point. The crude fractions as well as 1 were subjected to larvicidal tests using the second instar larvae of Anopheles gambiae (malaria vector) at concentrations of 100, 75, 50, and 25 ppm. The crude extract and the compound were found to be active with LC50 values of 14 and 9 ppm, respectively.


The collection of more than eighty questionnaires and autobiographical stories of vocation compiled by candidates to enter the Society of Jesus during the period of first probation, covering the years 1636-1643, conserved in the Archivum Romanum Societatis Iesu, offers us the opportunity to learn new types of «Egodocuments». Very young novices, youths and adults are subjected to an examination to find if they are qualified to become Jesuits. The source is important because they are texts written largely by teenagers and young people, whose voice is rarely heard directly in documents before the end of the eighteenth century, and because the interior and exterior discernment of a vocation in the early modern period is an aspect of religious experience very little studied so far. The essay is an initial approach to such documentary material. A presentation of the source, its characteristics and difficulties of interpretation, is followed by an analysis of the responses and autobiographical narratives by novices about their origins, their lives before entering the novitiate, family relationships, their social lives, their feelings of childhood and death, and their projection towards religious experience in the Society of Jesus.


Teachers' professional learning has a critical influence on students' learning outcomes and much attention has been paid to understanding how effective ongoing professional learning for teachers can be achieved in schools. This paper reports on research exploring how processes of action research can be combined with support for teachers becoming active participants in wider communities of professional practice. The research approach draws on previous studies highlighting action research as an effective strategy for promoting teachers' ongoing professional learning. However, the researchers consider that such benefits may be further enhanced by encouraging teachers to systematically document, publish and present their action research initiatives so they can be shared in a wider community of professional practice. In this study the researchers supported small teams of teachers from 21 Victorian schools in their development of school-based action research projects. The projects were aligned with regional improvement priorities and broadly covered the areas of improving assessment, developing students' thinking skills and the use of information and communication technology. The teams of teachers collaborated with the researchers, regional curriculum leaders and other teachers in their region to develop and refine their initial action research questions and strategies. The teams then met locally and as a regional group several times throughout one year to present their progressive findings as they carried out their action research projects, and to reflect on what they were learning as a larger community of professionals. Teachers were encouraged to document their action research projects throughout the year which were then compiled into a book to be shared with other teachers in the region. All of the teams presented their findings to other colleagues at a final regional symposium. At the conclusion of the year the teachers were invited to participate in a survey investigating the potential for this approach to improve their experiences of ongoing professional learning. Teachers were also interviewed to explore changes in the ways they were framing the concept of their own professional learning.


Cognitive function in tasks involving interhemispheric processing of verbal and spatial information was studied in 31 college students in a 22 factorial design with chronic smoking status [smoker (10+cigarettes per day) versus non-smoker (no history of smoking)] and gender as the main between-subject factors. The subjects participated in two sessions on two consecutive days. The same task was repeated within the same session with a 15 min interval: smokers were tested before and after smoking whereas non-smokers rested during the interval. Dependent behavioral variables included those of performance (speed and accuracy) and confidence (low rate of non-responding). The verbal task yielded an expected female advantage, and smoking had the gender-specific effect of increasing both speed and accuracy more clearly in males. In addition, smoking decreased the rate of non-responding (increase confidence) in women, thereby affecting preferred strategies for problem solving by shifting the female pattern towards the male pattern. The spatial task, which probably involved a more perceptual, rather than cognitive, level of functioning, produced no clear effects of smoking and gender, and yielded some laterality effects. The acute within-subject smoking manipulation wherein, among smokers, the first test was preceded by 10 + h of deprivation, whereas the second repeated task was preceded by the smoking of a cigarette (i.e. deprivation followed by partial release) did not affect the behavioral measures. In conclusion, smoking had a gender-specific effect on cognitive function: it improved the performance of males in a verbal task and increased the subjective confidence of females thereby affecting the preferred cognitive strategies for problem solving.


Liquid biopsy, including both circulating tumor cells and circulating tumor DNA, is gaining momentum as a diagnostic modality adopted in the clinical management of breast cancer. Prospective studies testing several technologies demonstrated clinical validity and, in some cases, achieved the United States Food and Drug Administration approval. The initial testing and clinical application of liquid biopsy focused primarily on the diagnosis, while molecular characterization and monitoring of metastatic disease, with larger data from prospective studies, came in the last two decades. Although its role in metastatic setting is thus widely recognized, the current evidence does not provide support for the routine clinical use of liquid biopsy methods for the earlier stage of this disease. Considering the relevance of early detection, characterization, and management of breast cancer in the early-stage, this clinical setting is the most suitable to increase the chances for effective treatment selection and improved prognosis, and a better understanding of the main application of liquid biopsy tools in the earlier stage of breast cancer is therefore crucial. The aim of this review is to provide an overview of the clinical evidence and subsequent potential applications of liquid biopsy in early breast cancer, identifying the main existing caveats and the possible future scenarios. Page 2 of 16 D'Amico et al. J Cancer Metastasis Treat 2021;7:3 I http://dx.doi.org/10.20517/2394-4722.2020.93


Recently, increasing attention has focused on screening asymptomatic men for prostate cancer. Factors driving this initiative include the low percentage of localized cancers diagnosed by conventional methods, the inability to cure advanced disease, and the development of serum prostate-specific antigen (PSA) assay, which improves early detection. Unlike screening for breast cancer, however, no controlled studies have demonstrated that screening for prostate cancer reduces mortality or increases life expectancy. Until the National Institutes of Health—sponsored randomized screening trial is completed, some guidance is needed in making decisions regarding routine testing. See also p 773. The article by Krahn et al1in this issue ofThe JOURNALis the first study published using a Markov model to predict the outcomes from screening using PSA. Performing a one-time screen using digital rectal examination and PSA is predicted to increase life expectancy by 0.6 and 1.7 days for 50-and 70-year-old men, respectively. However,


According to the International Technology Roadmap for Semiconductors (ITRS), for more than four decades, the semiconductor industry has distinguished itself by the rapid pace of improvements in its products. However, the cost of the increased functionality of components, circuits, and systems, is the requirement of more verification and test of the electronic products. In current projects, verification engineers outnumber designers, with the ratio reaching two or three to one for the most complex designs. Additionally, the present globalization trends and needs are driving the universities worldwide, to find new avenues in the programs that they are offering, to be attractive to their prospective students. Addressing the above mentioned matters, an industry oriented graduate course "Testing of Digital Systems" was created and offered for the first time in the academic year 2009–2010 at Rose Hulman Institute of Technology, Terre Haute, Indiana. The paper presents the rationale, integration of the new course in the ECE curricula, description of the course and laboratory activities developed around an industrial grade Automatic Test Equipment, preliminary assessment plans and conclusions.


Aims. Distances are key to determining the physical properties of sources. In the Galaxy, large (> 10 000) homogeneous samples of sources for which distance are available, covering the whole Galactic distance range, are still missing. Here we present a catalog of velocity and distance for a large sample (> 100 000) of Hi-GAL compact sources.
Methods. We developed a fully automatic Python package to extract the velocity and determine the distance. To assign a velocity to a Hi-GAL compact source, the code uses all the available spectroscopic data complemented by a morphological analysis. Once the velocity is determined, if no stellar or maser parallax distance is known, the kinematic distance is calculated and the distance ambiguity (for sources located inside the Solar circle) is solved with the H I self-absorption method or from distance–extinction data.
Results. Among the 150 223 compact sources of the Hi-GAL catalog, we obtained a distance for 124 069 sources for the 5σ catalog (and 128 351 sources for the 3σ catalog), where σ represents the noise level of each molecular spectrum used for the line detections made at 5σ and 3σ to produce the respective catalogs.


For the past year, stents have become very important in medical and engineering field. Hundreds of stents have been designed to solve the problem of lesion and anatomy. Design of new stent is needed so uniform drug distribution to the vessel wall and lumen gain at the time of stent implantation would be maximized, also distribution of the stent to the lesion would be ensure its reliability. This article explained about various design of stent that have different geometries and shape and withal to study the effect of different design of stent on clinical outcomes. Different structures of intravascular stents have diverse in stent restenosis that was used to prop open artery diseases routes. Majority of economically accessible stents are planned conventionally to fit all patients. Considering the assortment of injury types, it is visualized that better results will be accomplished if a stent is hand crafted so that it has variable outspread firmness longitudinally to hold the changing weight of plaque and sound course in the meantime while keeping up an adequate lumen distance across. The essential point of this review is to describe previous stent designs for an arrangement of plaque types and research of the lumen after stent implantation. Limits consistence by stent geometry of topology enhancement because of plaque materials and different stenosis levels.  Index Term— stent, lesion and anatomy, stent implantation,


A mosquito once landed in a nudist colony. "How very excellent," he was heard to remark, "But just where do I begin?" This is the dilemma faced by any critic dealing with tne Pentateuch. If he examines the whole, then he is open to the charge that he has carried his conclusions about one book over into his consideration of the others. On the other hand, when he treats one book by itself, he is always in danger of a certain off-balance. This thesis falls into the letter class of investigation; it is therefore admitted that there are a certain number of loose ends, although every attempt will be made to see Numbers in the context of the Pentateuch as a whole. Nonetheless it is apparent that it is legitimate to consider a book of the Pentateuch by itself. For example, Genesis , although written as part of a series in its present form, can be dealt with as a book having meaning in itself. The theory that the present division of the Pentateuch into five books is a result of a mechanical process after the work was completed is not axiomatic. To the contrary it will be argued that the Book of Numbers is a book in the same sense that Genesis is a book, namely a part of a series, but with a specific theme and purpose of its own.


The use of customer service ideas in government continues to be widespread, although the concept and its implications for public sector service production and delivery remain poorly developed. This paper presents a series of paradoxes related to customer service and its use in government. The central and most troubling paradox is that customer service techniques and tools applied to government may lead to increased political inequality even as some aspects of service are improved. The argument is structured by examination of the following: the predominant structural features of service management in theprivate sector, the assumption that customer satisfaction is a central objective of service firms, the understanding of customer service that informs current federal reform efforts, and the operational and political challenges of customer service as a public management objective.


This paper completely describes about the automatic attendance marking system and parent alerting system for high safety for the hostel students were present more than 500 in one institution. In this model each and every student has to store their finger print data base with their parents or guardians mobile number. We have proposed a system that takes attendance of student and maintaining its records in an academic institute automatically. Were the students has to place their finger print on two biometric system which is placed in the hostel office room and in the main gate of watchman room. When the both finger print matches with the help of WIFI interfaces which compared with previously stored data base of the student and the result produces true, then the students allowed to exit from hostel. At the same time SMS alert of the students exit time and the date will be send to the parents through GSM module to their mobile and a copy of total number of students exited from the hostel is stored in the PC. The LCD display is connected with the module to count the number of students exited from gate.


Hemodialysis is the commonest kidney replacement therapy (KRT) globally and rapidly growing in developing countries, while in developed countries it is reaching a plateau. The penetration of hemodialysis (HD) varies widely among countries and is largely influenced by socioeconomics, healthcare financing, particularly by government, local infrastructure, healthcare workforce, health system characteristics, and affordability of the population. Biomedical equipment, consumables, disposables, and labor are major cost drivers of KRT. Implementing strategies to balance cost and quality of care is an arduous task for health care planning, delivery, and patient care in low- and middle-income countries. In this context, the cost of dialyzers which form a significant component of the recurring cost of HD can be reduced by reuse after appropriate reprocessing. But this practice is largely abandoned in developed countries because of concerns of safety. However, the evidence against the reuse of modern dialyzers is not robust and certainly not based on well-designed randomized trials. The industrialization of dialysis delivery, the interests of equipment manufacturers and the nature of dialysis delivery have propelled single use of dialyzers. In this context, developing countries needing to expand HD services access at low cost are caught at crossroads. Process improvements are needed to standardize reprocessing that prioritizes safety while maintaining effectiveness. Recent advances in mobile and internet technologies could make this an achievable reality. We propose such an approach that would ensure treatment effectiveness, patient and healthcare provider safety, efficient resource utilization, and cost control.


Background: Overactive bladder (OAB) is a chronic condition which may be associated with a significant negative impact on quality of life. Antimuscarinic drugs are currently the mainstay of medical therapy, but persistence and adherence are generally poor. Treatment switching may be considered in order to maximise benefits from pharmacological therapy, but there are relatively few data on OAB therapy switching to second and third-lines of medication. There are also few formal analyses on the impact of age, gender and choice of initial OAB drug on discontinuation rates. Objectives: To investigate discontinuation rates with antimuscarinics in patients newly starting OAB therapy, with regard to patterns of switching to alternative medication, and the potential impact of age, gender and choice of initial drug. Methods: Data on prescription drug use in Canada were retrieved from the IMS Brogan public and private prescription claims databases. Medication usage was tracked for four years following an index claim. The primary endpoint was the number of days from index claim to discontinuation of medication. Secondary endpoints were the number of days on first-line therapy before switching. Descriptive results were evaluated using univariate (Kaplan-Meier) and multivariate (Cox proportional hazards) models. Results: Data were available for 31,754 patients. Approximately 91% discontinued OAB medication within the four-year follow-up period. The discontinuation rate was similar between men and women. The risk of discontinuation in patients ≥75 years was only slightly higher than that in patients aged 40−64 years (hazard ratio of 1.08) and was lower than in those aged 65−74 years. Retention when oxybutynin was the initial drug was lower than with most of the other antimuscarinics. Only 12.5% of patients changed OAB medication during the 4-year period. Women were more likely than men to switch from first-line or second-line treatment. Conclusions: Discontinuation of initial antimuscarinic therapy was high. Compared with oxybutynin, several alternative antimuscarinics offered lower risks of discontinuation. The majority of patients had no trial of second-line treatment.


The study aimed to analyze the influence of competency towards the official employee performance, to analyze the work motivation towards the official employee performance, and to analyze the influence of both competency and work motivation towards the official employee performance at the Board of employment, education, and training in Bireuen Regency. Respondents of study were all 54 official employees. They were asked to complete the questionaires scring their competency, work motivation, and performance. The scores were then analyzed statistically to assess the correlation of competency, work motivation, and both towards performance. The method used in this study was multiple linear regression method by computing the multiple correlation analysis (R) and determination analysis (R2), besides t test and f test with SPSS assistance. Regarding results, the multiple linear regression analysis showed better results with constant (-103,321), and regression coefficient 0,158 and 2,031 for competency and work motivation respectively. The linear relationships between either competency or work motivation and performance were positive, which had results of either variable might arise concurrently with the results of performance. Another result of multiple regression analysis was 0,666 stating strong influence of independent variables towards the dependent variable. Whereas, the result of determination analysis was 0,443 in which 44,3% independent variables have influenced the dependent variable. With regard to t tests, the regression coefficients showed computed t > t table that were 2,483 > 2,008 and 4,705 > 2,008 for competency and work motivation respectively meaning that both Ho�s were rejected. Subsequently, either competency or work motivation partially influenced performance. Moreover, computed f > f table was 20,315 > 3,179, meaning that Ho was rejected. The result showed significant influence of both competency and work motivation towards performance. The conclusion of study was both competency and work motivation had the positive and significant influence towards performance with rejected Ho of hypothesis. The study has supported theoritically and statistically that both competency and work motivation of respondents might then influence better their performance. The suggestion of study was both competency and work motivation of official employees should be paid attention and be applied well among official employees at any boards/departments in Bireuen Regency. The next researchers might continue further such studies at other departments in Bireuen with additional performance-influencing factors.


Reconstruction of large, full-thickness upper eyelid defects is a challenge to the ophthalmic plastic surgeon. Ideally, the defect should be reconstructed with tissues similar or identical to those that have been lost. We present a procedure similar to the Hughes tarsoconjunctival flap technique for lower eyelid reconstruction. However, our technique was used for upper eyelid reconstruction. A remnant of tarsus at least 3 mm wide must be available to be advanced inferiorly in the upper eyelid. We have performed this procedure on 13 patients over ten years (1977 to 1987) with good to excellent results.


The NASA Upper Atmosphere Research Program organized a Stratospheric Ozone Intercomparison Campaign (STOIC) held in July–August 1989 at the Table Mountain Facility (TMF) of the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL). The primary instruments participating in this campaign were several that had been developed by NASA for the Network for the Detection of Stratospheric Change: the JPL ozone lidar at TMF, the Goddard Space Flight Center trailer-mounted ozone lidar which was moved to TMF for this comparison, and the Millitech/LaRC microwave radiometer. To assess the performance of these new instruments, a validation/intercomparison campaign was undertaken using established techniques: balloon ozonesondes launched by personnel from the Wallops Flight Facility and from NOAA Geophysical Monitoring for Climate Change (GMCC) (now Climate Monitoring and Diagnostics Laboratory), a NOAA GMCC Dobson spectrophotometer, and a Brewer spectrometer from the Atmospheric Environment Service of Canada, both being used for column as well as Umkehr profile retrievals. All of these instruments were located at TMF and measurements were made as close together in time as possible to minimize atmospheric variability as a factor in the comparisons. Daytime rocket measurements of ozone were made by Wallops Flight Facility personnel using ROCOZ-A instruments launched from San Nicholas Island. The entire campaign was conducted as a blind intercomparison, with the investigators not seeing each others data until all data had been submitted to a referee and archived at the end of the 2-week period (July 20 to August 2, 1989). Satellite data were also obtained from the Stratospheric Aerosol and Gas Experiment (SAGE II) aboard the Earth Radiation Budget Satellite and the total ozone mapping spectrometer (TOMS) aboard Nimbus 7. An examination of the data has found excellent agreement among the techniques, especially in the 20- to 40-km range. As expected, there was little atmospheric variability during the intercomparison, allowing for detailed statistical comparisons at a high level of precision. This overview paper will summarize the campaign and provide a "road map" to subsequent papers in this issue by the individual instrument teams which will present more detailed analysis of the data and conclusions.


Nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide (NAD) is a cofactor of many enzymatic reactions as well as being a substrate for a number of NAD-consuming enzymes (e.g., PARPS, sirtuins, etc). NAD can be synthesized de novo starting from tryptophan, nicotinamide, nicotinic acid, or nicotinamide riboside from the diet. On the other hand, the nicotinamide that is liberated by NAD-consuming enzymes can be salvaged to re-form NAD. In this former instance, nicotinamide phosphoribosyltransferase (NAMPT) is the bottleneck enzyme. In the many cells in which the salvage pathway is predominant, NAMPT, therefore, represents an important controller of intracellular NAD concentrations, and as a consequence of energy metabolism. It is, therefore, not surprising that NAMPT is over expressed by tumoral cells, which take advantage from this to sustain growth rate and tumor progression. This has led to the initiation of numerous medicinal chemistry programs to develop NAMPT inhibitors in the context of oncology. More recently, however, it has been shown that NAMPT inhibitors do not solely target the tumor but also have an effect on the immune system. To add complexity, this enzyme can also be secreted by cells, and in the extracellular space it acts as a cytokine mainly through the activation of Toll like Receptor 4 (TLR4), although it has not been clarified yet if this is the only receptor responsible for its actions. While specific small molecules have been developed only against the intracellular form of NAMPT, growing evidences sustain the possibility to target the extracellular form. In this contribution, the most recent evidences on the medicinal chemistry of NAMPT will be reviewed, together with the key elements that sustain the hypothesis of NAMPT targeting and the drawbacks so far encountered.


This study describes the daily lighting cycle and the annual thunderstorm distribution as observed by the Precipitation Radar (PR), the Visible and Infrared Scanner (VIRS) and the Lightning Imaging Sensor (LIS) on board the Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission (TRMM) satellite over South America. Based on a TRMM measurements from 1998 through 2011, a database of individual thunderstorms have been created in the area of 10N-40S and 90-30W. To cluster individual thunderstorms, VIRS 10.8 μm channel is used to delineate the clouds and LIS is employed to check if it has lightning (thunderstorm) or not. Clustering the observed thunderstorms on 10 × 10 degree grid boxes it was possible to observe a season variation between south and north hemisphere.


Background: An investigation was conducted to determine the fate of the iridoid derivative deacetylasperulosidic acid (DAA) after oral application to mice. Methods: DAA was extracted from Morinda citrifolia leaf and purified by preparative HPLC. The identity was verified by MS and NMR spectroscopy. A sample of DAA was radioactively labelled with tritium and applied to mice by gavage. The pharmacokinetic of the radioactivity was investigated in blood, organs, urine and feces. Metabolites were isolated in blood and urine by HPLC and identified by LC-MS.  In vitro incubation of DAA with mouse duodenum and liver homogenate and human fecal bacteria was performed and possible metabolites were separated with HPLC. Results: DAA was rapidly absorbed and excreted mainly via the kidneys with a half-life of 30 minutes. Radioactivity was present in all organs with highest concentrations in kidney and liver.  Almost 100% of the radioactivity isolated from urine and organs could be identified as unchanged DAA. Additionally, no metabolism could be observed after in vitro incubation of DAA with mouse small intestine or liver homogenate, however, a total breakdown of the molecule was observed after incubation of DAA with human intestinal bacteria. Conclusions: The absorption and excretion of glycosides such as DAA in mammals without hydrolysis is possibly a defense mechanism of animals against the toxicity of these compounds.  Key words: Deacetylasperulosidic acid, DAA, tritium label, pharmacokinetic,iridoid, metabolism


UNLABELLED
BASICS: Evaluate the nutritional status of HIV positive patients who are admitted to hospital for some acute process, and their evaluation, without nutritional support, during the admission.

METHODS
Prospective study in HIV positive patients. Nutritional evaluation (on admission and on release); (1) anthropometric (weight, size, triceps, fold, circumference of the arm, and muscular circumference of the arm, and (2) biochemical (albumin, cholesterol, triglycerides, lymphocytes, pre-albumin, and transferrin). Statistical study: comparison of the paired means and chi squared test.

RESULTS
60 patients. Mean age 32 +/- 4.8 years, 76% men and 23% women. Staging: AIDS 84.8%, non-AIDS 15.2%. Main reason for admission: Infection (80%). Mean stay: 14 days +/- 9.5. Initial nutritional evaluation: normal: 1.7%, protein malnutrition: 5.3%, caloric malnutrition: 38.5%, mixed malnutrition: 54.3%, 85% of the patients refer weight loss. 21 patients (35%) were followed up. There were no significant differences in the anthropometric nor in the biochemical parameters, except in the levels of pre-albumin and transferrin, which improved (p < 0.001). Nutritional evaluation on release: normal: 9.5%, caloric malnutrition: 66.5%, mixed malnutrition: 23.7%. There were no cases of protein malnutrition.

CONCLUSIONS
The vast majority of the HIV+ patients who are admitted, are malnourished, and after curing the acute process, 90.5% of them remain malnourished. The anthropometric measurements, albumin, cholesterol, and triglycerides do not vary during the hospital admission, despite the treatment and the clinical improvement. The increase of proteins with a short half life is due to controlling the infection, which is why these are not good parameters for the nutritional evaluation in these patients.


Quantum state-to-state dynamics of a prototypical four-atom reaction, namely, Cl + H2O → HCl + OH, is investigated for the first time in full dimensionality using a transition-state wave packet method. The state-to-state reactivity and its dependence on the reactant internal excitations are analyzed and found to share many similarities both energetically and dynamically with the H + H2O → H2 + OH reaction. The strong enhancement of reactivity by the H2O stretching vibrational excitations in both reactions is attributed to the favorable energy flow into the reaction coordinate near the transition state. On the other hand, the insensitivity of the product state distributions with regard to reactant internal excitation stems apparently from the transition-state control of product energy disposal.


Objective: The neutrophil to lymphocyte ratio (NLR) has been reported to be a predictor of outcome in critical illness. Objective of this study was to investigate the changes of the NLR in patients with severe traumatic brain injury (TBI) and analyze the relationship between the NLR and TBI outcome. Setting: China. Participants: A total of 855 patients with severe TBI from January 2007 to April 2012. Design: Retrospective. Main Measurement: Data on the NLR and other indicators were collected. After follow-up until death or 1 year, the relationship between the NLR and TBI outcome was analyzed retrospectively. Results: The final analysis included 688 patients. There were 508 (73.8%) who had an unfavorable outcome by 1 year after head trauma. The value of the NLR on admission was significantly higher in the unfavorable outcome group than in the favorable outcome group (P < .001). Multivariate logistic analysis showed that higher NLR was associated with an unfavorable outcome (odds ratio, 1.100; P < .001). Receiver operating characteristic curve analysis showed that the NLR had a sensitivity of 60.2% and a specificity of 71.1% for predicting unfavorable outcome at 1 year on the basis of the best threshold. Conclusion: The NLR might be useful as a novel predictor for 1-year outcome and mortality in severe TBI.


Immune-mediated scouring in sheep is a mucosal hypersensitivity response incited by infective larvae of gastrointestinal nematodes in the southern half of Australia and in New Zealand, regions characterised by a Mediterranean, winter-rainfall climate. To gain insights into the underlying mechanism(s), this study investigated the relationship between nematode infection of sheep in pens, faecal dry matter and release of inflammatory mediators in the intestinal tract. Six worm-free, immune rams received a dose of 3000 Trichostrongylus third stage larvae (L3) and 3000 Ostertagia L3 per week for 6 weeks, after which they were euthanased. Three rams acted as uninfected controls. Faecal dry matter was significantly lower in the infected group from the first week of infection until the end of the trial. Concentrations of cysteinyl leukotrienes and prostaglandin E2 were higher in mucus from both the abomasum and the small intestine of infected rams compared with controls. Within the infected group, concentrations of both mediators were higher in mucus from the small intestine than from the abomasum. There were greater numbers of eosinophilic granulocytes and mucosal mast cells in abomasal and small-intestinal tissue sections from infected rams compared with the controls. The results are consistent with the hypothesis that nematode infection causes an inflammatory response in the gastrointestinal mucosa, characterised by increased fluid secretion.


A nonparametric background prediction algorithm using fuzzy c-means (FCM) clustering is proposed to enhance the detection of dim small infrared targets in image data. The target of interest is assumed to have a very small spatial spread, and is obscured by heavy background clutter. The input image data is firstly segmented using FCM clustering, and then the nonparametric regressive method is applied to predict background in each cluster respectively. Subsequently the background is subtracted from the input data, leaving components of the target signal in the residual noise. Experiment results show better detecting performance for the output data by the algorithm of this paper than by other traditional methods


This study examines how options trading plays a unique role in curbing firms' earnings management. We find that options trading volume deters managers' earnings manipulations, and the effect can be explained by unique characteristics of the options markets. Our results remain unchanged when using both an instrumental variable approach and difference-in-differences analyses to mitigate endogeneity concerns, and after controlling for investors' short-selling activities. This study adds to the literature by documenting a real impact of options trading on financial reporting. Our results suggest that the options markets promote price efficiency not only by incorporating private information from informed traders, but also by incentivizing managers to disseminate less manipulated information.
 Data Availability: The data that support the findings of this study are available from the corresponding author upon request.
 JEL Classifications: E44; G3; M41.


We report a child with mental retardation, brain anomalies and congenital heart defect. His karyotype, after G-banding and FISH with a whole chromosome probe for chromosome 11 and a locus-specific probe for the MLL gene, was 46,XY,dup(11)(q23q23).ish dup(11)(q23q23)(wcp11+, MLL++) de novo; i.e., he had a pure partial 11q23 duplication. Clinical and cytogenetic findings of the present case were compared with the 7 previously reported cases with pure partial trisomy 11q; in 6/8 cases the region 11q23 was involved. We conclude that the scarce number of cases and their heterogeneity do not allow to establish a reliable genotype-phenotype correlation.


We report on the microwave operation of 1 /spl mu/m gate AlGaN/GaN doped channel heterostructure field effect transistors (DC-HFET's) with the cutoff frequency f/sub T/ of 18.3 GHz. These devices exhibit the cutoff frequency-gate length product in excess of 18 GHz/spl middot//spl mu/m, comparable to that of the state-of-the-art GaAs MESFET's. We explain these improvements in the device performance by the increased sheet carrier density in the device channel and by a reduction in the parasitic series resistances, caused by doping the device channel.


Background: Barriers to timely initiation of treatment in newly diagnosed cancer patients may add to cancer health disparities of low income, uninsured and minority populations. Objectives: To conduct a clinical trial to evaluate the impact of patient navigation on the time from cancer diagnosis to initiation of the first treatment in a medically underserved patient population. Methods: Nine sites participated in the National Cancer Institute Patient Navigation Research Program (PNRP) study. 2,107 cancer patients enrolled in the study, 1,033 in the navigated and 1,074 in the control groups. Analysis was on the individual patient level, due to site population heterogeneity. Results: Demographics included 39% Black, 32% White, and 27% Hispanic; 85% female, 15% male. Insurance status included 17% uninsured, 45% public, and 38% private. The navigated and control groups were well balanced for major covariates. Mean and median times from diagnosis to first treatment were not impacted by patient navigation. Treatment patterns did differ in that more mastectomies were performed in the control vs. navigated breast cancer patients (32 vs. 21%), while more cone biopsies (23 vs. 15%) and fewer LEEP procedures (49 vs. 65%) were performed in the control vs. navigated cervix cancer patients. Implications: Patient navigation did not impact the time from cancer diagnosis to start of first treatment in a medically underserved population, while it may have impacted certain patterns of care. Next Steps: We plan further analyses by site and cancer type, assess covariate effects, perform a sensitivity analysis, and assess patient-navigator interactions. Citation Information: Cancer Epidemiol Biomarkers Prev 2011;20(10 Suppl):PL06-03.


The degree to which non-human animals can engage in numerical computations has been an area of considerable interest in the study of animal cognition. The present review summarizes previous literature examining numeracy in animals with a notable emphasis on the specific types of numerical computations animals are likely to engage in. Specifically, the present review summarizes literature examining both the Object File System and the Approximate Number System in a variety of non-human species. Conclusions of the existence of animal arithmetic proficiency in comparative psychology are critically analyzed.


: Background: Blunt aortic trauma (BAT) includes various morphological changes that occur during deceleration, acceleration and/or body compression in traffic accidents. The various forms of BAT, from limited laceration of the intima to complete transection of the aorta, depends on the force acting on the vessel wall and the tolerance of the aorta to injury. The force depends on the change in velocity, the dynamics of the accident and of the seating position in the car. Tolerance to aortic injury depends on the anatomy, histological structure and pathomorphological alterations due to aging or disease of the aortic wall.An overview of the literature and medical documentation reveals that different terms are used to describe certain forms of BAT, which can lead to misinterpretation of findings or diagnoses. We therefore, propose a classification that would enable uniform systematic screening of all forms of BAT. We have classified BAT into three morphologycal types: TYPE I (intramural), TYPE II (transmural) and TYPE III (multiple) aortic ruptures with appropriate subtypes. Methods: All car accident casualties examined at the Institute of Forensic Medicine from 2001 to 2009 were included in this retrospective study. Autopsy reports were used to determine the occurrence of each morphological type of BAT in deceased drivers, front seat passengers and other passengers in cars and to define the morphology of BAT in relation to the accident dynamics and the age of the fatalities. Results: A total of 391 fatalities in car accidents were included in the study. TYPE I, TYPE II and TYPE III BAT were observed in 10,9%, 55,6% and 33,5%, respectively. The incidence of BAT in drivers, front seat and other passengers was 36,7%, 43,1% and 28,6%, respectively. In frontal collisions, the incidence of BAT was 32,7%, in lateral collisions 54,2%, and in other traffic accidents 29,3%. The average age of fatalities with BAT was 42,8 years and of those without BAT 39,1 years. Conclusion: Identification and early recognition of the risk factors of BAT following a traffic accident is crucial for successful treatment of patients with BAT. Front seat passengers over 50 years of age who have been injured in a lateral collision are the most at risk of BAT.


Address-event representation (AER) is an event-driven, neuromorphic inter-chip encoding and communication protocol originally proposed to communicate location and timing information of sparse neural events between neuromorphic chips. The protocol is widely used in bio-inspired, event-based vision sensors to communicate visual events. The same approach has been explored for scientific imaging applications, but the performance of existing encoding schemes degrades in the presence of large sensor arrays and a wide range of event rates. In this paper, we introduce a new AER encoding scheme based on hierarchical token-rings (HTR), which blends event-based and scanning approaches. We show that HTR offers significant improvement in latency, throughput, and power compared to existing tree-based approaches in the context of scientific imaging applications.


A measuring system for the simultaneous determination of amplitude and phase distributions of EM fields is described. The system employs the vibrating-dipole technique, which is based on the principle of modulated scattering. The phase-modulated wave scattered by the vibrating dipole contains information about the amplitude and phase of the EM field at the midpoint of the dipole's vibration. The system has been made automatic by the inclusion of a servo loop. The measured free-space distributions compare well with those calculated from theory.


Every day, people are promoted into the ranks of management . . . even if they never intended to become managers. They agree to their new responsibilities either to stay employed or to make more money. It is a universal phenomenon. But for these ''accidental managers,'' it makes more sense to manage well than to manage badly, and this book tells them how. Using examples and real-life case studies, The Accidental Manager gives readers the tools they need to make the most of their situation, showing them how to: Develop their people by having them work on their own and with others Actively listen in order to build trust and increase communication Give positive and constructive feedback to keep employees on track Motivate by providing the best possible environment for each team member The book reveals the ten worst types of managers (and how to avoid being one of them), and features a special Management Assessment tool. The Accidental Manager gives managers the skills they need to shine in their new--accidental--positions.


Female rats consistently preferred the odour of male rat preputial gland compared with that of foot pads, submaxillary-sublingual glands, coagulating glands, liver, fat or muscle. Both saline homogenates and ether extracts were effective. Female rats did not respond to the odour of female preputial extract and they preferred the odour of normal male preputial extract to that from castrated rats. The pheromone was not associated with the fatty acids of the preputial extract. The fractionation of the volatile components of preputial extracts by gas chromatography revealed that most of the biological activity resided in a specific fraction.


Biliary colic is a pain in the right upper quadrant or epigastrium thought to be caused by functional gallbladder spasm from a temporary obstructing stone in the gallbladder neck, cystic duct or common bile duct. A 56-year-old man presented with frequent episodes of typical biliary colic. At initial laparoscopy, the gallbladder was absent from its anatomic location. Further inspection revealed a left-sided gallbladder (LSGB), suspended from liver segment 3. Preoperative ultrasound, the most common imaging modality for symptomatic gallstones, has a low positive predictive value for detecting LSGB (2.7%). Laparoscopic cholecystectomy (LC) was delayed to attain additional imaging. A magnetic resonance cholangiopancreatography demonstrated the gallbladder left of the falciform ligament with the cystic duct entering the common hepatic duct from the left. The patient underwent an elective LC 8 weeks later. The critical view of safety is paramount to safe surgical dissection and could be safely achieved for LSGB.


Do paediatricians think of childhood hemiplegia simply as a mild physical disability? Rightly or wrongly, parents often get that impression. This is unfortunate as children and families are easier to help when they know that their difficulties are not being underestimated. The disability does not seem mild to hemiplegic children who are always last on sports day, or self conscious about their body, or unable to carry out all manner of mundane two handed activities. Furthermore, hemiplegia is often more than a physical problem, being accompanied by a variety of 'invisible' psychological disabilities. Particularly in the school years, many parents and children are more concerned about the educational, behavioural, emotional, and social accompaniments of hemiplegia than about the physical disability itself. Some of these psychological accompaniments are understandable responses to disability; others are direct consequences of the brain damage itself; and many reflect the complex interplay of these reactive and organic pathways.

Though approximately two thirds of children with hemiplegia are of normal intelligence, the mean IQ of the group is shifted downwards, most markedly for those with the greatest neurological involvement.1 2 Hemiplegias acquired between 1 and 60 months of age may be particularly liable to reduce overall intelligence, perhaps because this is a peak period for synaptic creation and remodelling.2

Many IQ tests distinguish between verbal IQ, based on tests of verbal …


Entrepreneurs in many small firms could not be experts in only one specific functional area but are required to operate across the range of management competencies; the applicability of competence-based MTD (management training and development) to the broader roles of entrepreneurs in small businesses is likely to be greater than to the roles of many entrepreneurs in large organizations. Competence based analyses of managerial work is causally related to effective and/or superior job performance. Different strategies, techniques, styles of leadership have been evolved to manage people effectively. However, success can be achieved through the use of particular style. Entrepreneurial Managerial behaviour of all employees' categories in an organisation is an essential component of success in the present day competitive environment. Leaders of the organisation have to understand the logic behind this ideology and accordingly nurture Entrepreneurial Managerial behaviour among their employees. This research finds out that there is a perfect positive relationship between Transformational leadership and Entrepreneurial Managerial Behaviour.


A great number of teachers find teaching fulfilling and are dedicated to it, but others feel emotionally exhausted, indicating that the interaction with pupils can be emotionally demanding. Emotional labor was shown to play an important role for the health of teachers. In a full two-wave longitudinal study over the period of 1 year, the effect of emotional labor on emotional exhaustion and dedication of 102 teachers was investigated. Teachers who were able to influence their emotions to feel the emotion appropriate in a situation (so called deep acting) felt significantly less emotionally exhausted after 1 year. From this result, deep acting can, thus, be characterized as health-beneficial. Once teachers felt emotionally exhausted, they used more surface acting. More dedicated teachers, on the contrary, did neither engage more in deep acting nor in surface acting at Time 2. This indicates that those teachers who are dedicated to teaching seem less likely to act. To prevent emotional exhaustion of teachers, the development of interventions to promote health-beneficial emotional labor is necessary. This can be achieved by fostering deep acting, which reduces emotional exhaustion over longer periods of time.


The French Association of Accounting is twenty years old. The aim of the present article, which introduces the special issue dedicated to this anniversary, is to remind of its genesis, its goals, the major features of its (still) young history and finally, to attempt to draw up a balance of its activity all along those two decades.


An eviction is a most extreme form of interference with the right to respect for the home. European case law pushes towards more protection of (vulnerable) residents in housing law relationships, and limits property rights and the freedom of contract of property owners. This has resulted in intense debates about the horizontal effects of human rights law and the impact of human rights in landlord-tenant relationships. This article deepens our understanding of the meaning and the influence of human-rights based proportionality enquiries in eviction cases in the rental sector. It assesses how the right to advance a proportionality defence is implemented and whether any indications exists that human-rights based proportionality enquiries improve the legal position of tenants. Doctrinal research and comparative legal analysis show that this is not the case in a large share of the contracting states due to the unwillingness of national judges and lawmakers. Besides that, a quantitative case law analysis shows that there are no indications for a true paradigmatic shift. Although tenants do put forward proportionality defences, no significant differences are found between cases in which the tenant raise a proportionality defence and cases in which they do not advance such a defence. Yet, the European law's push for more protection of vulnerable people might in the end lead to some systemic as well as practical changes. Proportionality enquiries may influence property owners' litigation strategies, and as a result, have an impact in the stages before and after the court procedure too.


Electrical activity was recorded intracellularly from the uterine longitudinal muscle of estrogen-treated rat. Membrane potential was -59 mV. Action potential consisted of initial spike and the following plateau potential on which repetitive spike discharge rode. Tetracaine (0.1, 0.2 mM) reduced the maximum rates of rise and fall of initial spike and increased the duration of plateau potential. Sustained depolarization at -33 mV was produced by the application of 0.8 mM tetracaine. The membrane depolarization was accompanied with the increase in membrane resistance. Reduction of initial spike by tetracaine in the maximum rates of rise and fall was prevented by increasing the external Ca concentration and accelerated by decreasing it. In low K (1.2 mM) or isoprenaline (10(-8) M)-containing solution, tetracaine-induced prolongation of plateau potential was inhibited. Plateau potential was reduced in amplitude and was prolonged only slightly by tetracaine in low Na solution (sucrose substitution). Both the initial spike and plateau potentials were blocked completely by 0.2 mM tetracaine in the presence of Mn (0.5 mM) or verapamil (0.5 microM). It is speculated that tetracaine suppresses the K conductances responsible for resting membrane potential and the repolarizations of spike and plateau potentials. Ca influx during the generation of action potential is also supposed to be inhibited by tetracaine.


Fatty liver is common in men and post-menopausal women, suggesting that estrogen may be involved in liver lipid metabolism. The aim of this study is to be clear the role of estrogen and estrogen receptor alpha (ERα) in fat accumulation during liver regeneration using the 70% partial hepatectomy (PHX) model in male, female, ovariectomized (OVX) and E2-treated OVX (OVX-E2) rats. Liver tissues were sampled at 0–48 hr after PHX and fat accumulation, fatty acid translocase (FAT/CD36), sterol regulatory element-binding protein (SREBP1c), peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor α (PPARα), proliferative cell nuclear antigen (PCNA) and ERα were examined by Oil Red O, qRT-PCR and immunohistochemistry, respectively. Hepatic fat accumulation was abundant in female and OVX-E2 compared to male and OVX rats. FAT/CD36 expression was observed in female, OVX and OVX-E2 at 0–12 hr after PHX, but not in male rats. At 0 hr, SREBP1c and PPARα were elevated in female and male rats, respectively, but were decreased after PHX in all rats. The PCNA labeling index reached a maximum at 36 hr and 48 hr in OVX-E2 and OVX rats, respectively. ERα expression in OVX-E2 was higher than OVX at 0–36 hr after PHX. In conclusion, these results indicated that estrogen and ERα might play an important role in fat accumulation related to FAT/CD36 during early phase of rat liver regeneration.


The diagnostic definition of Asperger syndrome (AS) is surrounded by debate and controversy, because it does not address many of the broader characteristics of individuals with AS. For example, neither the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, 4th edition, nor the International Classification of Diseases , 10th revision, includes adaptive behavior deficits as part of the diagnosis of AS, yet many studies have reported adaptive behavior problems in people with AS. This study reviews eight empirical investigations of the adaptive behavior of individuals with AS in an effort to assess current research findings.


Background : The aim of donor selection should protect donors from any potential harm which may occur as a direct result of the donation process; secondly, shall protect recipients of blood transfusions from adverse effects, such as transmission of infectious diseases or other medical conditions and unwanted effects caused by any medications taken by the donor. Any reason for deferral, whether temporary or permanent, have been explained to the donor and recorded as per National Guideline and Blood Safety Law. Literature search showed there is dearth information on replacement blood donors in Bangladesh. So this study has been done to evaluate replacement family blood donors, exploring their demographic status, occupation, blood groups and why they were rejected during donor selection. Methods : This study was done to assess the demographic profile and blood group among family blood donors during donor selection. Age, weight, occupation, blood group and blood pressure have been explored among randomly selected two hundred ninety one blood donors attending Transfusion Medicine Department of BIRDEM as per Guideline. Results : Among them 261 (89.69%) were male and 30 (10.31%) were female with M±SD age 29±6 and 29±7 (yrs), respectively. Blood group of replacement family donors were, 'A' positive (39.7%), 'B' positive 90(32%), 'O' positive 18 (6%), 'AB' positive 39 (13%) majority (57.04%) were unmarried , 52.58% were doing business, while students were 29.90% and job holders were only 17.53%. Among nine deferred donors females were mainly rejected (89.28%) and the contributing factor was low blood pressure according to guideline. Finally 96.91% successful family blood donors donated blood for the patient party. Conclusion : Our study showed proper selection and following of blood donation guideline help to determine the eligibility to donate blood. Moreover, this pilot study may contribute in evaluation of Bangladeshi family blood donors those had positive blood group and negative serological markers as per WHO (World Health Organization) guideline for Bangladesh. Birdem Med J 2016; 6(2): 112-117


We study the convergence of Expected Sarsa(λ) with function approximation. We show that with off-line es- timate (multi-step bootstrapping) to ExpectedSarsa(λ) is unstable for off-policy learning. Furthermore, based on convex-concave saddle-point framework, we propose a con- vergent Gradient Expected Sarsa(λ) (GES(λ)) algorithm. The theoretical analysis shows that the proposed GES(λ) converges to the optimal solution at a linear convergence rate under true gradient setting. Furthermore, we develop a Lyapunov function technique to investigate how the step- size influences finite-time performance of GES(λ). Addition- ally, such a technique of Lyapunov function can be poten- tially generalized to other gradient temporal difference algo- rithms. Finally, our experiments verify the effectiveness of our GES(λ). For the details of proof, please refer to https: //arxiv.org/pdf/2012.07199.pdf.