Water hyacinth (Eichhornia crassipes) is a plant species commonly used for phytoremediation to reduce high chromium content in tannery liquid waste in Garut, West Java. Water hyacinth materials harvested from the phytoremediation can be used for the anaerobic digestion process to produce biogas and bio-slurry. This study aimed to determine the reduction of chromium content found in water hyacinths due to the anaerobic digestion process, and utilization of bio-slurry from the anaerobic digestion process as a biocomposite material. The anaerobic digestion process was carried out for 33 d using biodigesters and the composition of the biodigesters were varied into 100% dried water hyacinths and 80% water hyacinths with the addition of 20% cow dung. The bio-slurry from the anaerobic digestion process was then used for making biocomposites with 3 different compositions, i.e., 75 and 25%; 50 and 50%; and 25 and 75% of cement and bio-slurry, respectively. The average chromium content found in water hyacinths from the phytoremediation process without anaerobic digestion process was 41.964 mg/l. The results show a reduction in the amount of chromium after the anaerobic digestion process was found in each composition of bio-slurry, which were 15.979 mg/l (100% water hyacinth) and 14.861 mg/l (80% water hyacinth + 20% cow dung). Biodigester with a composition of 80% water hyacinth + 20% cow dung produced the highest average volume of biogas which was 0.424 l. The biocomposite of 75% cement and 25% bio-slurry had the highest compressive strength value of 30.598 MPa and water absorption capacity of 37.25%. It can be concluded that biocomposite with the composition of 75% cement and 25% water hyacinth bio-slurry is promising to be used as an alternative material for buildings.


The silica-rich upper Miocene Santa Cruz Mudstone is similar to the Miocene Monterey Formation. Previous studies have suggested the Santa Cruz Mudstone was not buried deeply nor had it undergone extensive diagenesis. Because opaline diagenesis is temperature dependent, the author examined the silica diagenesis of the Santa Cruz Mudstone using scanning electron microscopy and x-ray diffraction methods to study its burial history. In a series of samples from Santa Cruz to Davenport, California (over 16 km), opal-CT is the dominant silica phase present and clay minerals are notably absent. The d(101)-spacing values of opal-CT range from 4.11 A (Santa Cruz area) to 4.06 A (north of Santa Cruz), exhibiting the complete range of d(101)-spacing values found in opal-CT zones. Scanning electron micrographs of crystalline microtextures show rosettes of opal-CT (lepispheres) in cavities of samples with medium to high d(101)-spacing values. The morphology of lepisphere crystallites grades from bladed to spiny with decreasing d(101)-spacing values, reflecting an internal crystal ordering with increased diagenesis. Further diagenetic changes occurred in a sample with 4.06 A d(101)-spacing where incipient quartz crystals signal the initial conversion of opal-CT to microcrystalline quartz. Silica diagenesis demonstrates that burial temperatures surpassed the range of opal-A to opal-CT conversionmore » and approached conversion temperatures (55/sup 0/C to 110/sup 0/C) of opal-CT to microcrystalline quartz. The conversion occurred when the Santa Cruz Mudstone was buried over 1900 m (depth calculated from a geohistory diagram). This burial temperature brings the Santa Cruz Mudstone within the oil generation window, and could account for the presence of hydrocarbons in the unit.« less


A new feeding scheme for enhancing the radiation performance of a suspended plate antenna with a broad bandwidth is presented experimentally. By means of a probe-fed half-wavelength strip, the high cross-polarization levels of the suspended plate antenna are suppressed effectively, which result mainly from the undesired excitation of higher-order modes. Measurements on the antenna with the proposed feeding structure have demonstrated the good performances with a high ratio of co- to cross-polarization levels and stable radiation patterns across a 20% bandwidth for VSWR/spl les/2 : 1.


Nowadays, data pertaining to clients are generated at such a rapid rate it is completely beyond the processing ability of a human, which leads to a problem called information explosion. How to quickly and automatically provide personalized choices for someone from a large collection of resources has become a key factor in determining the success of many commercial activities. In this context, recommender systems have been developed as a type of software that aims to predict and suggest items which are relevant to a specific user by analyzing the user's previous interaction data with certain items. Recommender systems have a broad application in our daily life, such as product recommendation in Amazon, video and movie recommendation in Youtube, music recommendation in Spotify. A fundamental brick in building most recommender systems is the collaborative filtering-based model, which has been widely adopted due to its outstanding performance and flexible deployment. However, this model together and its variations suffer from the so-called data sparsity problem, which results when user sonly rate a limited number of items. With the development of the transfer learning technique in recent years, cross-domain recommendation has emerged as an effective way to address data sparsity in recommender systems. The principle of cross-domain recommendation is to exploit knowledge from auxiliary source domains to assist recommendation making in a sparse target domain. In the development of cross-domain recommender systems, the most important step is to build a bridge between the domains in order to transfer knowledge. This task becomes more challenging in disjoint domains where users and items in both domains are completely non-overlapping. In this respect, tags are studied and utilized to establish explicit correspondence between domains. However, how to effectively exploit tags to increase domain overlap and ultimate recommendation quality remains as an open challenge which needs to be addressed. This thesis aims to develop novel tag-based cross-domain recommendation models in disjoint domains. First, it review the existing state-of-the-art techniques related to this research. It then provides three solutions by exploiting domainspecific tags, tag-inferred structural knowledge and tag semantics, respectively. To evaluate the proposed models, this thesis conducts a series of experiments on public datasets and compare them with state-of-the-art baseline approaches. The experimental results show the superior performance achieved by our models in different recommendation tasks under sparse settings. The findings of this research not only contribute to the state-of-the-art on cross-domain recommender systems, but also provide practical guidance for handling unstructured tag data in recommendation tasks.


Natural disasters occur all over the world, and this event can be totally overwhelming for people's lives and the environments in which they live. Usually, malnutrition is one of the threat during the disaster because people are not being able to get the food. Food crises during disaster and food-related emergencies may cause food security or rather insecurity. Both are underlying causes of malnutrition and mortality and also a significant factor in the longer term livelihood security. This aim of a study is to assess the nutritional status of adult who affected by flood, to determine the food intakes and the availability of the food during flood as well as to determine the right of quantity food aids for affected adults during flood disaster. The study design used was retrospective cohort study and being conducted in Bera, Pahang. A total of 105 individuals are randomly collected from affected by the flood. For the underweight categories, male and female respondent shows 9.1% (n = 3) and 5.6% (n = 4), respectively. After the flood disaster, the median number of food intake for both gender were same with the number of food intake was 3 times per day and they do not have a problem with food insecurity. The suggested total energy for male is 2000 kcal while for female slightly lower, 1700 kcal. The rating for the government support of food aids, 79% (n = 79) of respondents are rate as adequate. As all the access to the town are down, food aids are required in order to make sure people of are affected in the flood can get adequate nutrition and thus indicate greater food security.


The study compared mineral, chemical and antioxidant qualities of Cleome gynandra, a wild leafy vegetable, with two widely consumed commercial vegetables, Brassica oleracea and Beta vulgaris. Mineral nutrients were quantified with inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS), phenolic compounds using ultra-high performance liquid chromatography coupled to a mass spectrometer (UHPLC-MS) and β-carotene and vitamin C using high performance liquid chromatography with a photodiode array detector (HPLC-PDA). The antioxidant potential was evaluated using 2,2–diphenyl−1–picryl hydrazyl (DPPH) and oxygen radical absorbance capacity (ORAC) assays. Cleome gynandra had highest concentrations of phosphorus, potassium, calcium, iron, zinc, ascorbic acid, total phenolics, and flavonoids; whereas sodium, magnesium, manganese, copper and β-carotene were higher for B. vulgaris. The significantly higher antioxidant activity (P ≤ 0.05) exhibited by C. gynandra in comparison to the two commercial vegetables may be due to its significantly high levels of vitamin C and phenolic acids. These findings on the mineral, chemical and antioxidant properties of C. gynandra provide compelling scientific evidence of its potential in adding diversity to the diet and contributing toward the daily nutritional requirements of millions of people for food and nutritional security.


A new direction-of-arrival estimation method based on six-port technology is presented. In order to obtain the beam direction, the proposed circuit uses a two-channel multi-band receiver and analogue signal processing of the six-port circuit output signals. A practical approach for estimating the beam direction has also been proposed. This approach, based on the detection of the minimum magnitude of the in-quadrature output signal, avoids the necessity of computing the angle-of-arrival value. A dual-band prototype circuit was designed and fabricated. Simulation results in the S and C frequency bands are presented and discussed. In order to validate this method, measurements were carried out in the C-band. These results show a maximal angle-of-arrival estimation error of about 3%. Therefore, low-cost direction-of-arrival measurements can be performed using this new method.


Abstract Purpose. To report early clinical experience in stereotactic body radiation therapy (SBRT) delivered using volumetric intensity modulated arc therapy with RapidArc (RA) in patients with primary or metastatic tumours at abdominal sites. Material and methods. Thirty-seven consecutive patients were treated using RA. Of these, 16 had primary or metastatic liver tumours, nine had pancreatic cancer and 12 a nodal metastasis in the retro-peritoneum. Dose prescription varied from 45 to 75 Gy to the Clinical Target Volume in 3 to 6 fractions. The median follow-up was 12 months (6–22). Early local control and toxicity were investigated and reported. Results. Planning objectives on target volumes and organs at risk were met in most cases. Delivery time ranged from 2.8 ± 0.3 to 9.2 ± 2.4 minutes and pre-treatment plan verification resulted in a Gamma Agreement Index from 95.3 ± 3.8 to 98.3 ± 1.7%. At the time of analysis, local control (freedom from progression) at six months, was assessable in 24 of 37 patients and was achieved in 19 patients with a crude rate of 79.2%. Seven patients experienced treatment-related toxicity. Three patients experienced a mild and transient G1 enteritis and two showed a transient G1 liver damage. Two had late toxicity: one developed chronic enteritis causing G1 diarrhoea and G1 abdominal pain and one suffered at three months a G3 gastric bleeding. No patients experienced G4 acute toxicity. Conclusions. SBRT for abdominal targets delivered by means of RA resulted to be feasible with good early clinical results in terms of local control rate and acute toxicity profile. RA allowed to achieve required target coverage as well as to keep within normal tissue dose/volume constraints.


Software development evolved in barely half a century from an exotic and rather esoteric pioneering endeavor into a cornerstone of modern society. Unprecedented methodological advances have been made over a such a short period of time that it doesn't come as a surprise that one talks about the "software revolution". In fact, the "software revolution" is a "software evolution" that took place in such a short period of time that it is perceived as a revolution. third evolution stage, mastering of software-intensive product complexity. A dramatic growth of size and technical complexity of software and associated managerial complexity caused desperate attempts for improvements of the software development process to get projects and product quality under control, often guided by improvement models like SEI's Capability Maturity Model CMM (Paulk et al., 1993). Many companies are still struggling with this stage, while the next evolutionary stage is emerging, right now: the stage of complex product development. Products become so complex, that the product development is distributed over multiple departments, or even over several companies, involving many specialisms. Of the many problems associated with complex product development, the verification and validation process is one of the toughest.


Submarines, which have been called an invisible force, are strategic underwater weapon systems that perform missions such as anti-surface warfare, anti-submarine warfare, and high payoff target strikes with the advantage of underwater covertness. A submarine should be able to withstand the hydrostatic pressure of the deep sea. In this respect, the submarine pressure hull, as the main structural system to resist the external pressure corresponding to the submerged depth, should ensure the survivability from hazards and threats such as leakage, fires, shock, explosion, etc. To do this, the initial scantling of the submarine pressure hull must be calculated appropriately in the concept design phase. The shape of the aft transition ring varies according to its connection with the submarine aft end conical structure, pressure hull cylindrical part, and non-pressure hull of the submarine; the design of the aft transition ring should not only take into account stress flow and connectivity but also the cost increase due to the increased man-hours of its complex geometry. Therefore, trade-off studies based on the four different shapes of the aft transition ring are carried out considering both the review of the structural strength through nonlinear finite element analysis (FEA) and economic feasibility by reviewing the estimations of the manufacturing working days and material costs. Finally, the most rational structural aft transition ring shape for a submarine amongst four reviewed types was proposed.


The late Victorian pantomime role of principal boy can be and sometimes was seen as existing outside established gender categories, even as actresses performed in exaggerated fashion some of the markers of both femininity and masculinity. Whether defeating villains, introducing a parade of national types, or leading the audience in song, the cross-dressed principal boy also served as a focal point for fantasies of Englishness. I focus on an 1899 Drury Lane pantomime production of "Jack and the Beanstalk," specifically the ways that contemporaneous anxieties about the Second Boer War resonate in the panto's trademark forms of spectacle and burlesque. Drawing on the panto script and accounts of the production, I argue that the principal boy's ambiguous relation to gender categories positioned her as an apt embodiment of the ambitions, desires, and anxieties of "empire" at the fin de siècle.


Aim: To investigate the correlation between clinical, high frequency ultrasound biomicroscopy (UBM) and, where possible, histological findings in cases of congenital corneal opacification presenting to the departments of ophthalmology, Great Ormond Street Hospital for Children, London, and the Hospital for Sick Children, Toronto, Canada. Method: 22 eyes of 13 children (age range 3–225 days) with congenitally opaque corneas were examined. UBM was performed using the ultrasound biomicroscope (Allergan-Humphrey). All eyes underwent penetrating keratoplasties (PKP) except five. The host corneas were all sent for histological examination. Results: The final diagnosis in our series was Peters' anomaly in nine cases (70%), corneal dystrophy in two cases (15%), and sclerocornea in two cases (15%). The UBM findings changed the clinical diagnosis in five cases (38%). In these five cases histology was available in four and confirmed the UBM diagnosis in each case. In no case of the 13 where histology was available did it contradict the UBM findings. In two cases a hypoechoic region in the anterior stroma was seen on UBM which correlated histologically with absent Bowman's layer and oedema. In two cases UBM revealed aniridia and in one, congenital aphakia, which was not apparent clinically. Conclusion: UBM examination is not only very useful in evaluating the clinical diagnosis in congenital corneal opacification, it also acts as a preoperative guide in cases undergoing PKP by detecting keratolenticular and iridocorneal adhesions and other ocular abnormalities such as aniridia and congenital aphakia. In all cases where PKP was performed the UBM diagnosis was confirmed histologically. The clinical diagnosis was incorrect in five cases. This has important implications in studies of phenotype/genotype correlation of congenital corneal opacification.


Abstract The goal of cancer chemotherapy is to induce homogeneous cell death within the population of targeted cancer cells. However, no two cells are exactly alike at the molecular level, and sensitivity to drug-induced cell death, therefore, varies within a population. Genetic alterations can contribute to this variability and lead to selection for drug resistant clones. However, there is a growing appreciation for the role of non-genetic variation in producing drug-tolerant cellular states that exhibit reduced sensitivity to cell death for extended periods of time, from hours to weeks. These cellular states may result from individual variation in epigenetics, gene expression, metabolism, and other processes that impact drug mechanism of action or the execution of cell death. Such population-level non-genetic heterogeneity may contribute to treatment failure and provide a cellular "substrate" for the emergence of genetic alterations that confer frank drug resistance.


A multiscale simulation model was developed to simulate shape evolution during copper electrodeposition in the presence of additives. The model dynamically coupled a kinetic Monte Carlo KMC model for surface chemistry and roughness evolution with a finite volume FV model for transport and chemical reactions in the electrolyte and a level-set code for tracking macroscopic movement of the metal/electrolyte interface. The KMC code was coarse-grained and used a multisite mesoparticle approach to account for the adsorption of large molecules. A multilevel grid approach was used to achieve numerical efficiency and accurate interface tracking. The model was demonstrated for an application involving in-fill of two-dimensional trenches by copper electrodeposition with additives bis3-sulfopropyldisulfide, polyethylene glycol, chloride, and l-2-hydroxyethyl-2imidazolidinethione. Demonstration calculations were carried out with use of initial estimates for the physicochemical parameters associated with a proposed reaction mechanism. The approach was found to be feasible for computing stable, dynamic behavior during macroscopic shape evolution over extended periods of time while simultaneously tracking microscopic roughness evolution associated with nearly molecular scale events at the surface. Numerical results include predictions of the surface concentration distributions as a function of time and distance for each reactant, product, and intermediate species associated with the proposed reaction mechanism.


Prosopis gum (PRG) is a hydrophilic polymer that is obtainable from Prosopis africana seed. This research work investigates the use of the gum for duodenum-targeted delivery of omeprazole. Various concentrations of PRG ranging from 5% to 30% were used to formulate omeprazole granules by wet granulation, and the flow properties of the granules were determined. This was followed by compaction of the granules into table ts. The release profiles of the tablets in a pH 1.2 dissolution medium as well as at pH 5.5 were obtained. The formulations were compared with tablets containing 15% hydroxypropyl methylcellulose. Hausner's ratio of the granules was found to range from 1.05 to 1.17, and Carr's index ranged from 5.0% to 14.0%. The crushing strength of the test tablets was found to range from 6.2 to 6.9 kgf. Formulations containing 5%, 10%, and 15% PRG showed extensive drug release at the gastric pH, thus allowing only a minimal amount of the drug to get to the targeted site (duodenum), while those containing 20% and 30% of the gum were able to deliver 76% and 82% of the drug, respectively, at the pH that is equivalent to the duodenal site. This work has shown that PRG (extracted from P. africana seeds) used at concentrations of 20–30% is suitable for the formulation of omeprazole tablets to provide a means of targeting the duodenum for the delivery of the drug.


Background: Retrograde peri-implantitis (RPI) is a pathological entity with an unclear etiology (e.g., overheating during implant insertion, residual infection of the tooth replaced by the implant or the endodontic lesion of neighboring teeth) and an extremely low prevalence and has been scarcely investigated. Therefore, the aim of this cross-sectional survey was to evaluate the knowledge and attitude of Italian implantologists regarding RPI. Methods: An anonymous questionnaire was sent via email to implantologists randomly selected, including a section about demographic information and questions related to RPI origin, radiographic representation, symptoms and treatment options. All questions were multiple answer and close-ended. Binomial logistic regression was performed to investigate the relationship between correct answers and the following independent variables: age, years of experience and number of dental implants placed per year. Results: In total, 475 implantologists completed the questionnaire, with a response rate of 46.3%. Based on the results of the study, incorrect answers were associated with less experienced participants (<80 implants/year) for all questions evaluated, with the exception of treatment strategies. Furthermore, 26.7% of the survey takers did not recognize radiographic representation of RPI and 35.5% picked "implant removal" when asked about treatment modality. Conclusions: The majority of participants were able to recognize symptoms and indicated the probable causes of RPI; however, around 30% of them showed very limited knowledge of available management strategies.


In this paper, dimensional optimization of a six-degrees-of-freedom (DOF) 3-CCC (C: cylindrical joint) type asymmetric parallel manipulator (APM) is performed by using particle swarm optimization (PSO). The 3-CCC APM constructed by defining three angle and three distance constraints between base and moving platforms is a member of 3D3A generalized Stewart–Gough platform (GSP) type parallel manipulators. The dimensional optimization purposes to find the optimum limb lengths, lengths of line segments on the base and moving platforms, attachment points of the line segments on the base platform, the orientation angles of the moving platform, and position of the end-effector in the reachable workspace in order to maximize the translational and orientational dexterous workspaces of the 3-CCC APM, separately. The dexterous workspaces are obtained by applying condition number and minimum singular values of the Jacobian matrix. The optimization results are compared with the traditional GSP manipulator for illustrating the kinematic performance of 3-CCC APM. Optimizations show that 3-CCC APM have superior dexterous workspace characteristics than the traditional GSP manipulator. Graphical Abstract


Regardless the fact that type 2 diabetes (DM2) is related to higher risk of cardiovascular diseases (CVD) development and complications, incl. heart failure (HF), usage of the most of glucose lowering drugs (GLD) does not only improve life prognosis, but might increase the risk of HF. Inhibitors of SGLT2 (gliflozines), a novel group of GLD with a unique non-insulin dependent mechanism of action, in a range of large randomized trials passed not only the obligatory test on cardiovascular safety, but have demonstrated ability to decrease the risk of combination endpoint development (cardiovascular mortality, non-fatal MI and strokes) and possibility for HF hospitalization. The conclusions of randomized trials are confirmed by real clinical practice of DM2 patients management, analyzed in large multicenter trials CVD-REAL, CVD-REAL-2. Inthese trials, first time prescribed SGLT2 inhibitors (in Europe, in most cases dapagliflozin) showed significant benefits for other classes of firstly prescribed GLD in a matter of hospitalization risks for HF or all-cause mortality. However, the total period of the gliflozines usage is not that long, so an answer to the question on stability of their effects in broader perspective is expected by the end of ongoing trials in patients with high cardiovascular risk and in HF patients, including those with no DM2.


The clinical results of definitive chemoradiotherapy for oropharyngeal carcinoma were retrospectively analyzed. Thirty-one patients with oropharyngeal carcinoma who received definitive radiation therapy between January 1986 and June 1998 were analyzed. The median age was 61 years. All patients had squamous cell carcinoma. According to the Union International Contre le Cancer 1997 classification system, stage I, II, III, IVA, and IVB were 1, 0, 9, 14, and 7, respectively. Regarding the primary site, 23 tumors were in the lateral wall, whereas 2 were in the superior wall, and 3 each were in the anterior and posterior walls. The median total dose was 66 Gy, with a range of 60 Gy to 74.4 Gy. The overall treatment time ranged from 39 days to 113 days, with a median of 50 days. Seven patients underwent hemilateral radical neck dissection. Fourteen patients received concurrent chemotherapy using weekly cisplatin (50 mg/d) at least three times. The 5-year overall and cause-specific survival (CSS) rates were 55% and 62%, respectively. All local recurrences occurred within 2 years. The CSS rate in patients with lateral or superior wall origin was significantly superior to that of patients with anterior or posterior wall origin (p < 0.05). The 3-year CSS rate was 83% for patients treated with concurrent chemoradiotherapy using weekly cisplatin at least 3 times, whereas that was 53% for the remaining patients (p < 0.05). No serious adverse effects were observed. It is concluded that definitive concurrent chemoradiotherapy using weekly cisplatin for oropharyngeal carcinoma appear promising.


I argue that pregnant women have a duty to refrain from behaviours (e.g. taking illicit drugs) or to allow certain acts to be done to them (e.g. caesarean section) for the sake of their foetus if the foetus has a reasonable chance of living and being in a harmed state if the woman does not refrain from those behaviours or allow those things to be done to her. There is a proviso: that her refraining from acting or allowing acts to be performed upon her does not significantly harm her. This duty does not presuppose that the foetus is a person. It is grounded on principles of respect for the interests of sentient beings and prevention of harm to future individuals. I give an argument for a general duty of easy rescue.


Purpose - This paper explores the perceptions held by native grocery shop-owners of their foreign counterparts to ascertain if there are lessons to be shared especially regarding operational/survival strategies. Research design, data and methodology - A questionnaire was used to collect data from 121 subjects who were purposively selected. The data was processed and analysed with the aid of Statistical Package for the Social Sciences(SPSS) software. Results - The study found that native South Africans hold the perception that immigrants have operational advantage over them. The study also found that with bulk buying, immigrants' stores stock a larger variety of groceries while their items are sold cheaper. It is also arguable from the standpoint of the findings that immigrant grocery store owners avoid expensive lifestyles which often is common among natives who own informal grocery shops. Conclusions - It is the position of this paper that adopting the strategies utilized by immigrant entrepreneurs, informal grocery shops owned by native South Africans are likely to see an improvement in their township-based grocery stores. A major merit of this study beyond its novelty is its potential to advance learnership and collaboration between immigrant entrepreneurs and their native counterparts.


This paper considers the robust design of a linear transceiver with imperfect channel state information (CSI) at the transmitter of a MIMO link. The framework embraces the design problem when CSI at the transmitter consists of the channel mean and covariance matrix or, equivalently, the channel estimate and the estimation error covariance matrix. The design of the linear MIMO transceiver is based on a general cost function covering several well known performance criteria. In particular, two families are considered in detail: Schur-convex and Schur-concave functions. Approximations are used in the low SNR and high SNR regimes separately to obtain simple optimization problems that can be readily solved. Numerical examples show gains compared to other suboptimal methods


In this paper, we present a novel linear algorithm to estimate the 6 DoF relative pose from consecutive frames of stereo rolling shutter (RS) cameras. Our method is derived based on the assumption that stereo cameras undergo motion with constant velocity around the center of the baseline, which needs 9 pairs of correspondences on both left and right consecutive frames. The stereo RS images enable the recovery of depth maps from the semi-global matching (SGM) algorithm. With the estimated camera motion and depth map, we can correct the RS images to get the undistorted images without any scene structure assumption. Experiments on both simulated points and synthetic RS images demonstrate the effectiveness of our algorithm in relative pose estimation.


OBJECTIVES
To evaluate effects of postmenopausal hormone replacement therapy (HRT) on von Willebrand factor, factor (F)VIII, factor (F)VII, fibrinogen, antithrombin (AT) III, prothrombin fragments 1 and 2, protein C, total and free protein S, plasminogen activator inhibitor-1 (PAI-1), tissue plasminogen activator (tPA) and resistance to activated protein C.

DESIGN
Part 1: double blind randomized trial for 3 months. Part 2: open study for 9 months.

SETTING
Department of Endocrinology, University Hospital, Malmö, Sweden.

SUBJECTS
Fifty-one postmenopausal women with a history of amenorrhoea of at least 6 months and body mass index > or = 24 kg m-2 participated in part 1 and 46 participated in part 2.

INTERVENTION
Randomization for placebo (n=24) or HRT (n=27). HRT was given as 2 mg oestradiol valerate for the first 3 months, with the addition of 10 mg medroxyprogesterone for 10 days every third month thereafter.

MEASUREMENTS
At baseline and after 3 and 12 months.

RESULTS
During 0-3 months in the HRT group, FVII increased (P < 0.01), whereas fibrinogen, AT III and total protein S all decreased (P < 0.001 for all). Changes in variables were expressed as Delta-values. After 3 months Delta-values differed between groups for fibrinogen (P < 0.05), AT III (P < 0.001), total protein S (P < 0.001), and PAI-1 (P < 0.001). During 0-12 months, fibrinogen, total protein S, tPA (P < 0.01 for all) and AT III (P < 0.05) decreased. In the control group, all variables were unchanged during the study, except for increases (P < 0.05) in total protein S after 3 and 12 months, and a decrease (P < 0.01) in FVIII after 12 months. After 12 months Delta-values differed for fibrinogen (P < 0.05), AT III (P < 0.05) and total protein S (P < 0.001).

CONCLUSIONS
Unopposed oestrogen substitution was associated with both potentially beneficial effects, such as decreases in fibrinogen, and potentially thrombogenic effects such as decreasing AT III and protein S and increasing FVII. During prolonged follow-up and addition of progesterone, differences between groups concerning FVII were attenuated. These data suggest that effects of HRT upon coagulation are most pronounced early after institution of unopposed treatment.


Classical trajectory Monte Carlo calculations have been performed for charge exchange from orientated elliptical Rydberg states into singly charged ions. The results show a strong dependence on the eccentricity of the elliptical state, and are in agreement with the experimental data of Ehrenreich et al. (1995). Strong propensity for charge exchange has been found for spatial as well as velocity matching of the ion with the captured electron.


The dynamic magnetic flux behavior in YBa2Cu3Ox crystals made by the melt process was observed by using the Faraday effect of an iron garnet film with stripe magnetic domains. It was found that the overall flux gradient was in good agreement with that predicted by the critical state model. However, some samples contained a region where flux could not easily penetrate, indicating a large flux pinning force.


The proliferation of smart devices and computer networks has led to a huge rise in internet traffic and network attacks that necessitate efficient network traffic monitoring. There have been many attempts to address these issues; however, agile detecting solutions are needed. This research work deals with the problem of malware infections or detection is one of the most challenging tasks in modern computer security. In recent years, anomaly detection has been the first detection approach followed by results from other classifiers. Anomaly detection methods are typically designed to new model normal user behaviors and then seek for deviations from this model. However, anomaly detection techniques may suffer from a variety of problems, including missing validations for verification and a large number of false positives. This work proposes and describes a new profile-based method for identifying anomalous changes in network user behaviors. Profiles describe user behaviors from different perspectives using different flags. Each profile is composed of information about what the user has done over a period of time. The symptoms extracted in the profile cover a wide range of user actions and try to analyze different actions. Compared to other symptom anomaly detectors, the profiles offer a higher level of user experience. It is assumed that it is possible to look for anomalies using high-level symptoms while producing less false positives while effectively finding real attacks. Also, the problem of obtaining truly tagged data for training anomaly detection algorithms has been addressed in this work. It has been designed and created datasets that contain real normal user actions while the user is infected with real malware. These datasets were used to train and evaluate anomaly detection algorithms. Among the investigated algorithms for example, local outlier factor (LOF) and one class support vector machine (SVM). The results show that the proposed anomaly-based and profile-based algorithm causes very few false positives and relatively high true positive detection. The two main contributions of this work are a new approaches based on network anomaly detection and datasets containing a combination of genuine malware and actual user traffic. Finally, the future directions will focus on applying the proposed approaches for protecting the internet of things (IOT) devices.


Introduction Anemia is one of the most commonly observed hematological abnormalities and an independent poor prognostic marker of HIV disease. The rate of progression and mortality in this subgroup of patients is high compared to non-anemic patients. WHO estimates that over 2 billion people are anemic worldwide and young children bear the world's highest prevalence rate of anemia. In Ethiopia, there is limited information about the determinant factors associated with anemia among HIV positive children. Objective The main purpose of this study was to assess the determinants of anemia among children on highly active anti-retroviral therapy attending hospitals of North Wollo Zone, Amhara Region, Ethiopia. Methods A case-control study was conducted on 350 HIV infected children on HAART attending Hospitals of North Wollo Zone, from February 1 to March 30, 2019. The study participants were selected with consecutive sampling technique. An adapted, interviewer-administered, and pre-tested questionnaire and chart review were employed to collect the data. Besides, blood and stool sample was investigated to determine hematologic indices and malaria and to investigate intestinal parasites respectively. Data were analyzed by using the SPSS version 24 statistical software and bivariate and multivariate logistic regression was used to identify predictors. Results A total of 350 HIV positive children (117 cases and 234 controls) were included in this study with an overall response rate of 100%.On multivariate analysis, variables which have spastically significance association with anemia were; had Amebiasis (AOR = 7.29, 1.22 - 43.56), had history of opportunistic infections (AOR = 9.63, 1.94 - 47.85), had malaria infection (malaria pf) (AOR = 4.37, 1.16 - 16.42),eating non-diversified (AOR = 10.39, 2.25 - 48.0), WGT –Age Z score value between -2_-3 (AOR = 9.80, 2.46 - 39.14),level of adherence (AOR = 2.31, 1.92, 7.77) and being from rural area(AOR = 8.8, 2.07 - 37.79). Conclusion In this study having parasitic infections, history of opportunistic infections, being malnourished, poor adherence to ART, caregivers living in the rural area and eating non-diversified foods were significantly associated with anemia among HIV positive children on HAART.


Interleukin 10 (IL10) is a powerful Th-2 cell cytokine produced by lymphoid cells that exerts its functions by inhibiting macrophage/monocyte and T-cell lymphocyte replication and secretion of inflammatory cytokines (IL1, TNFA, TGFB, IL6, IL8 and IL12). Genetic association analysis of a well-characterized HBV cohort revealed that one of IL10 haplotypes, IL10-ht2, was strongly associated with hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) occurrence in gene dose-dependent manner. The frequency of susceptible IL10-ht2 was much higher in HCC patients and significantly increased in order of susceptibility to HBV progression from chronic hepatitis to liver cirrhosis and HCC among hepatitis B patients. In addition, survival analysis clearly showed that the onset age of HCC was also accelerated among chronic hepatitis B patients who were carrying IL10-ht2. Increased IL10 production mediated by IL10-ht2 suggests that up-regulated IL10 accelerates progression of chronic HBV infection, especially to HCC development.


Grid impedance is one of the most important parameters for the satisfactory operation of variable frequency drive (VFD) and their interaction with other utilities connected to the same grid. In this research investigation a new approach to analytical evaluation and verification of grid impedance, and short circuit current is discussed. VFD under identical operating and loading conditions is connected to different grid capacities and configurations, being considered in this investigation. Grid impedance variation in terms of measured or estimated values, due to different grid connectivity affects the commutation of uncontrolled front-end rectifiers. This impacts the nonlinearity of input current wave shape, causing a significant change in current harmonics (THDi) and ripple current of DC link. This paper comprehensively investigates the reduction of DC capacitor lifetime and losses of DC inductor, and diode with various grid capacity and configurations under standard load conditions. High-frequency harmonics impact (2-9 kHz) on DC inductor losses is also analyzed. A VFD of 250 kW is considered for entire practical measurement including distortion effects and MATLAB simulation. This research may give a good insight into the sizing of VFD front-end devices. The reliability impact of VFD is also one of the important outcomes of this research.


The aim of this article is to discuss how a combined comparative and transnational approach can widen our understanding of historical change. By using examples from the first wave of the women's movement in Sweden and Canada we argue that exploring national differences, investigating differences in class and political culture and finally even tracing the transfer of resources and ideas could open up for new perspectives in gender history. Comparisons of women's organizing in different countries, but within the same international organizations, could help us to discern common structures that otherwise tend to be regarded as unique in one national context. In addition, such an approach can help to highlight specific national opportunities, cultures or strategies influencing the outcome of women's organizing.


Hydrogels composites composed of chitosan and activated carbon were prepared for medical applications using the vapor-induced phase separation process. Since the gelation process involves mass exchanges between the polymer solution and the air, the kinetics of mass transfer were investigated through experimental and modeling approaches. Among the formulation and process parameters, gravimetric measurements exhibited that mass transfers were mostly controlled by the initial ammonia partial pressure. A nonisotherm mass-transfer model was developed to predict the nonsolvent and solvent exchange rates, therefore, the water and ammonia concentration profiles within the sample during the process. The numerical results were successively validated with gravimetrical kinetic curves obtained in a chamber where the process parameters were controlled. The model aimed also at predicting the pH moving front along the film thickness. The gelation time could also be predicted for different operating conditions (formulation and process parameters). © 2009 American Institute of Chemical Engineers AIChE J, 2009


The DAMPE $e^+ e^-$ excess at around 1.4 TeV could be explained in the type-II seesaw model with a scalar dark mater $D$ which is stabilized by a discrete $Z_2$ symmetry. The simplest scenario is the annihilation $DD \to H^{++} H^{--}$ followed by the subsequent decay $H^{\pm\pm} \to e^\pm e^\pm$, with both the DM and triplet scalars roughly 3 TeV with a small mass splitting. In addition to the Drell-Yan process at future 100 TeV hadron colliders, the doubly-charged components could also be produced at lepton colliders like ILC and CLIC in the off-shell mode, and mediate lepton flavor violating processes $e^+ e^- \to \ell_i^\pm \ell_j^\mp$ (with $i \neq j$). A wide range of parameter space of the type-II seesaw could be probed, which are well below the current stringent lepton flavor constraints.


The main aim of this work is to price defaultable bonds. In order to achieve this goal we link first hitting densities of Brownian motion with functionals of controlled diffusions. From a practical point of view examples of diffusions with this property are: Brownian motion with linear drfit, the 3D Bessel process, the 3D Bessel bridge, and the Brownian bridge, just to mention a few. In turn, these processes are used in finance and economics since they may fall within the category of controlled processes, and/or mean reverting processes.


Parasitic infection is the most prevalent among rural communities in warm and humid regions and where water, hygiene and sanitation facilities are inadequate. The infection also occurs in urban areas where the water supplies are not enough to drink and use, and in the absence of environmental sanitation,and etc. The result has significant value in the prevention of intestinal parasitic infections with the finding of risk factors in the school compound,and environment as well as households.It gives a clue to design strategies of water, sanitation and hygiene practices at the school and community level.The article also shares in how to implement the deworming with available findings at school.


Muscle damage imposes stress on mitochondria resulting in mitochondrial fusion, fission, and mitophagy. Testosterone is a regulator of these processes. However, no study has examined the effect of sex‐specific resistance exercise (RE)‐induced hormonal response on mitochondrial dynamics and mitophagy after muscle damage in untrained men and women. Untrained men and women performed two sessions of 80 unilateral maximal eccentric knee extensions (ECC) followed by upper‐body RE (ECC+RE) aimed to induce hormonal changes and maintain a similar lower body demands between conditions or 20 min seated rest (ECC+REST). Vastus lateralis samples were analyzed for gene and protein expression of OPA1, MFN1, DRP1, PINK1, and Parkin at baseline (BL), 12 and 24 h. Testosterone area under the curve was greater for ECC+RE than ECC+REST in men and was greater in men than women for both conditions. A significant time × sex × condition effect was found for Parkin protein expression. At 12 and 24 h, Parkin was lower for ECC + REST than ECC + RE for men; whereas, Parkin was increased at 24 h for women regardless of condition. A significant time effect was found for OPA1 protein expression increasing at 12 and 24 h. A significant time × sex × condition effects were found for MFN1, DRP1, and PINK1 gene expression with increases at 12 h in men for ECC + RE. A significant time × sex effect was found for OPA1 gene expression with a decrease at 12 h in men, and 12 h expression in men was lower than women. RE‐induced hormonal changes promoted expression of fission, fusion, and mitophagy markers in men. With muscle damage, regardless of condition, expression of inner mitochondrial membrane fusion markers are promoted in both sexes; whereas, those for mitophagy were promoted in women but reduced in men.


Summary

Ecosystem heterogeneity and lack of data on areas and deforestation rates have constrained the modelling of deforestation in tropical open woodlands. Smaller and more continuous changes in ecosystem quality attributes (e.g. canopy cover, tree density and biomass density) are best described as degradation, not deforestation. Suggestions are made for constructing degradation models by relaxing some assumptions of deforestation models to cope with the multiple uses of multiple vegetation layers by multiple users. Employing biomass as a dependent variable would account for biomass reductions caused by changes in woodland area, tree density and the biomass of retained trees and shrubs, and overcome the problem of how to aggregate changes in woodland area and tree density. Disaggregating models by woodland type is also recommended.


Retail holds a very important role in the national and international economy, representing an intermediate link in the producer-consumer relationship. The emergence of hypermarkets in Romania has led to the enthusiasm of the customers, who are attracted by the availability of a wide range of products in a single shop, in an environment full of colors, bright, with a pleasant atmosphere, with promotions and tasting of products with sweepstakes and free services. So hypermarkets have become popular among the Romanian citizens, while competition has intensified as the years have elapsed.


TOUŠOVÁ RENÁTA, DUCHÁČEK JAROMÍR, STANĚK STANISLAV, PTÁČEK MARTIN, STÁDNÍK LUDĚK, GAŠPARÍK MATÚŠ, RYBA ONDŘEJ. 2017. Influence of Legs and Udder Evaluation on Longevity and Selected Milk Production Parameters in Czech Fleckvieh and Montbeliarde Cattle. Acta Universitatis Agriculturae et Silviculturae Mendelianae Brunensis, 65(4): 1303–1308. The aim of this study was to evaluate the influence of udder and legs formation on longevity traits (average lactation at culling, lifelong production) and milk production (maximum amount of milk per lactation, fat content in % and kg, protein content in % and kg) in Czech Fleckvieh, Montbeliarde and their crossbreds. Total 2725 culled Czech Fleckvieh, Montbeliarde cows, and their crossbreeds from two farms were put into dataset. Statistical analysis was performed by SAS 9.3 program. The model equation contained effect of breed, housing, legs formation, and udder formation. The groups for legs (<74.61 points, 74.61 – 81.90 points, >81.90 points) and udder (<76.94 points, 76.94 – 81.75 points, >81.75 points) formation were created according arithmetic means and standard deviation. The best results for longevity were in legs formation parameters achieved in group <74.61 points. On the other hand, the best results for milk yield parameters were in legs formation achieved in group >81.90 points. In evaluation udder formation groups were the best and significant (P < 0.05 – 0.01) results for longevity and milk production achieved in group >81.75 points. Only parameters fat and protein percentages were better in group <76.94 points according udder formation. Generally, we can conclude that udder formation was more important than legs formation. From the results we can also conclude that cows with correct exterior do achieve higher longevity and milk production. This confirmed the importance of choosing cows for breeding purposes not only with high potential for milk production, but also for correct exterior parameters and formation.


This paper will give a survey of the Tocharian medical vocabulary as known from fragments of manuscripts preserved in Buddhist monasteries along the Northern route of the Silk Road. The origin of the medical vocabulary reflects the influx of loanwords and cultural influences from neighbouring languages as well as the written lingua franca of the region, Sanskrit. However, different parts of the vocabulary reflect different types of vocabulary, e.g., indigenous words, calques, loan translations or borrowings. Tocharian medical texts represent, in almost all instances, translations from Sanskrit. This has of course influenced the vocabulary, even though traces of an indigenous tradition can be found in the vocabulary.


The methods of synthesis, application, and mechanisms of the biological action of α- and β-amino acids containing an acetylene residue in the molecule that gives rise to the specific ability of these compounds to deactivate irreversibly certain enzymes are reviewed. The bibliography includes 96 references.


Abstract : A national strategy has been developed to combat the increasing illegal drug threat to the United States. The use of the military services by the Department of Defense to assist Federal, State, and local law enforcement agencies will offset advantages the illegal drug community has in trafficking and distribution of drugs into this country. The Secretary of Defense has directed the National Guard under Section 1105, Public Law 100-456, to provide support to law enforcement agencies in drug interdiction and eradication. The Chief, National Guard Bureau, has the responsibility to ensure that guidance from Congress is accomplished. The role of the military in support of Federal law enforcement agencies provides trained manpower and equipment necessary to fight the 'war on drugs.' The purpose for the employment of the Army National Guard is to contribute the manpower, training, and logistical support for drug interdiction and eradication requirements. These are accomplished at the ports of entry, border crossings, customs warehouses, and on lands growing illegal plants. Examination of the military's capability, based on previous employments of the force in this role, will show a marked improvement in the reduction and threat of illegal drug use. (edc)


Background The efficacy of bisphosphonates for osteoporotic fracture has been consistently reported in recent randomized controlled trials (RCTs) enrolling hundreds of patients. The objective of this study was to update knowledge on the efficacy of available bisphosphonates in the prevention of vertebral and non-vertebral fractures. Methods An approach "using systematic reviews" on PubMed and Cochrane Library was taken. Twenty-four RCTs investigating the effects of bisphosphonates for the prevention of osteoporotic fracture were included in final analysis. A pairwise meta-analysis was conducted with a random effects model. Subgroup analysis was performed according to the type of bisphosphonate. Results The use of bisphosphonate decrease the risk of overall osteoporotic fracture (odds ratio [OR] 0.62; P<0.001), vertebral fracture (OR 0.55; P<0.001) and non-vertebral fracture (OR 0.73; P<0.001). Subgroup analysis indicated that zoledronic acid showed the lowest risk reduction (OR 0.61; P<0.001) for overall osteoporotic fractures but no significance was observed for etidronate (OR 0.34; P=0.127). Conclusions This update meta-analysis re-confirmed that bisphosphonate use can effectively reduce the risk of osteoporotic fracture. However, there is a lack of evidence regarding etidronate for the prevention of osteoporotic fracture.


Since 1990, there has been an increasing development of qualitative methods for analysing data in social and human sciences. Among them, thematic analysis remains a cornerstone of qualitative analysis methods, widespread used. However, they have been criticised for the lack of "scientificity" and a "subjectivity bias" in the process of categories elaboration. In the recent years, software program "Iramuteq" proposing to perform lexicometric analysis and to increase the validity and rigour of qualitative analysis was developed. Iramuteq restricts the impact of researcher's subjectivity, in cutting out the thematic analysis meaning units by obtaining units of analysis based on formal criteria. In a research focused on the workload and stress experienced by paramedics in Switzerland, we used these two analysis methods in combination (thematic analysis followed by lexicometric analysis assisted by Iramuteq software). This computer-assisted analysis produced results that were compatible with our thematic analysis and provided further information. The combined use of these two methods adds a greater value to the development of knowledge about people experiencing health / illness. However, it requires the need of reflexive adjustments by the researcher at each stage of the research.


This research is motivated by the importance of knowledge about alternative pest control that is safe but still supports the achievement of maximum oil palm production so that the balance of the oil palm plantation ecosystem can occur. The purpose of this study is to determine the technical cultivation and benefits of the Turnera subulata flower as a host plant for predators and parasitoids that function as biological agents for caterpillars and can be a reference for controlling caterpillar pests that are safe and still support the achievement of maximum oil palm production. The method used in this research is field observation and documentation from the company. The scope of this research covers the technical aspects of the biological control of caterpillars. This research data uses primary data and secondary data obtained from field observations and literature studies in the form of company reports in the form of percentages. The realization of Turnera subulata planting reached 21,659 m on CR road and 19,914 m on MR road. The planned planting of Turnera subulata is 57,200 m on the CR road and 45,823 m on the MR road. For the realization of the planting of Turnera subulata itself using seeds that are ready for planting. To obtain the seedling, the company conducts its nurseries. The seedling technique was done using the stem cutting technique. The stems for the cutting technique were taken from the Turnera subulata plant stems that have grown large. The type of stem taken is the old Turnera subulata plant stem. For seed care, the seeds are always watered every morning and evening like other flower plants. For the natural enemy insects, been proven that there are 6 natural enemy insects associated with Turnera subulata plants, 3 predators, and 3 parasitoids, each with a large enough number of insects. The types are Eocanthecona furcellata, Cosmolestes sp., Sycannus dichotomus, Spinaria spinator, Fornicia sp., and Chaetexorista javana. The development and the implementation of a control system are by optimizing the conservation and utilization of these biological control agents is a wise step to obtain an effective, efficient and environmentally friendly technique for controlling caterpillars. The presence of Turnera subulata plants can be used to suppress the development of pests in oil palm plantations by increasing the potential for natural enemies, both predators, and parasitoids. The diversity of wild plants with flowers can increase the variety of insects so that the balance of the ecosystem occurs.


Over the past decade, deep learning-based computer vision methods have been shown to surpass previous state-of-the-art computer vision techniques in various fields, and have made great progress in various computer vision problems, including object detection, object segmentation, face recognition, etc. Nowadays, major IT companies are adding new deep-learning-based computer technologies to edge devices such as smartphones. However, since the computational cost of deep learning-based models is still high for edge devices, research is being actively carried out to compress deep learning-based models while not sacrificing high performance. Recently, many lightweight architectures have been proposed for deep learning-based models which are based on low-rank approximation. In this paper, we propose an alternating tensor compose-decompose (ATCD) method for the training of low-rank convolutional neural networks. The proposed training method can better train a compressed low-rank deep learning model than the conventional fixed-structure based training method, so that a compressed deep learning model with higher performance can be obtained in the end of the training. As a representative and exemplary model to which the proposed training method can be applied, we propose a rank-1 convolutional neural network (CNN) which has a structure alternatively containing 3-D rank-1 filters and 1-D filters in the training stage and a 1-D structure in the testing stage. After being trained, the 3-D rank-1 filters can be permanently decomposed into 1-D filters to achieve a fast inference in the test time. The reason that the 1-D filters are not being trained directly in 1-D form in the training stage is that the training of the 3-D rank-1 filters is easier due to the better gradient flow, which makes the training possible even in the case when the fixed structured network with fixed consecutive 1-D filters cannot be trained at all. We also show that the same training method can be applied to the well-known MobileNet architecture so that better parameters can be obtained than with the conventional fixed-structure training method. Furthermore, we show that the 1-D filters in a ResNet like structure can also be trained with the proposed method, which shows the fact that the proposed method can be applied to various structures of networks.


Vascular permeability factor, or vascular endothelial growth factor (VPF/VEGF) is an important factor in the regulation of vascular growth and vascular permeability. VPF is a secreted, dimeric protein and has 8 cysteine residues conserved with platelet-derived growth factor (PDGF). To study the role of some of these cysteine residues in maintaining the structure and function of VPF, we replaced the codons for the second, third, fourth, and fifth cysteine by serine codons, and expressed the mutant proteins in a mammalian expression system. Cysteine residues 2 and 4 in VPF were found to be directly involved in anti-parallel interchain disulfide bonds, as in PDGF. VPF mutants lacking one of these cysteins were severely impaired in their S-linked dimerization, while upon coexpression of both mutants the ability to form dimers was restored. The VPF mutants lacking cysteine residue 2 or 4 also competed poorly for receptor binding of labeled VPF and had low biological activity, but these defects were also complemented by coexpressing the two mutants, indicating that for efficient receptor binding and activation VPF needs to be a covalent dimer, unlike PDGF-BB. Furthermore, cysteine residue 5 was found to be essential for VPF dimerization and activity, while the mutant lacking cysteine residue 3 was only mildly affected in its ability to dimerize and had partial biological activity.


alpha-Difluoromethylornithine (DFMO), an enzyme-activated irreversible inhibitor of ornithine decarboxylase (ODC), was used to select two very highly drug-resistant cell lines, designated K562-DFMOr and V79-DFMOr. Both DFMO-resistant cell lines exhibited elevated ODC expression due to gene amplification. Moreover, the K562-DFMOr cells, but not the V79-DFMOr cells, had an elevated level of ribonucleotide reductase subunit R2 (R2) mRNA and an increased R2 gene copy number. By analysis of their electron paramagnetic resonance spectra, an increased level of the R2 protein was observed in the K562-DFMOr cells as compared to the wild type K562 cells. This is the first description of a DFMO-induced mutant cell line exhibiting coamplification of the genes for ODC and R2, and overexpression of their products. There was no coamplification of the N-myc protooncogene, which is located close to the ODC and R2 genes on human chromosome 2. The alterations exhibited by the K562-DFMOr cell line were shown to be stable for many passages and to convey resistance not only to DFMO but also to hydroxyurea, an inhibitor of ribonucleotide reductase and thus DNA replication. In the absence of the selective pressure exerted by DFMO, the V79-DFMOr cell line produced revertants by loss of ODC gene amplification within three passages. Coamplification of linked genes may turn out to be an important mechanism in the development of cross-resistance and should be considered when designing therapeutic strategies.


The interest in malachite as a symbol had been gradually formed throughout the   XIX century. The beginning of the next century attracted North America to the stone. In the mid-XX century, the designers turned to malachite as the basis for making recognizable prints that benefited from the gorgeous material with less expensive means. At the beginning of the XXI century, the fashion for malachite print has been restored, gradually comprising an increasing number of fashion designers. The interest in the color and pattern of the stone can become one of the starting points for the promotion of the Urals.
Keywords: malachite, fashion, Tony Duquette, Fornasetti, Dolce & Gabbana, Christian Louboutin, Monique Lhuillier


The primary purpose of the medical record is to support clinical care of patients by keeping an accurate record of their condition and of treatment given or planned; its second role is as a source of information for management; but its uses do not end there. Both the medical record itself, and information derived from it at one or more removes, are important tools in medical research, audit and evaluation of services. This paper describes the use of routine NHS activity data in general, and the medical record in particular, in epidemiology. As the author works at the Institute of Child Health, most of the examples cited involve children.


Interconnection of Distributed Generation (DG) using renewable resources to the distribution networks in on the rise. Distribution grids having DG interconnections at higher penetration levels are challenged for more accurate monitoring and controls. In this paper a novel approach and a theoretical formulation of state estimation is proposed for distribution grids with Renewable Energy Sources (RES). The recommended formulation pertains to an optimization algorithm with variable weighting factor for a more precise estimation of the system states. The formulation can serve as as a general framework for a self-adapting dynamic estimator for improved states forecasting and thus preventive control of the distribution grid. Precisely estimated system states can also serve beneficial in; optimal scheduling, security assessment, and real time transactions.


Inhibition of DNA replication by different DNA damaging agents has been investigated in HeLaMR cells and a methylation damage-tolerant variant HeLa5A1. In synchronous HeLaMR and HeLa5A1 cells exposed to N-ethyl-N-nitrosourea or ionizing radiation in mid-G1 phase, DNA synthesis was inhibited in the following S phase. N-methyl-N-nitrosourea-induced replication inhibition in HeLaMR cells was delayed until the second S phase after treatment. In contrast, N-methyl-N-nitrosourea treatment of HeLa5A1 cells affected neither the timing nor the extent of the first or second S phases. Both radiation and chemical treatment inhibited replication of an episomal plasmid and of genomic DNA in unison. Inhibition was observed at levels of DNA damage that did not directly damage the plasmid molecules. Thus, DNA replication inhibition occurs immediately after ionizing radiation or ethylation damage, but methylation damage requires processing through one cell cycle to generate an inhibitory signal. The inhibitory signal appears to act in trans on undamaged DNA. Although methylation-tolerant cells are responsive to inhibition after gamma-irradiation, methylation damage does not produce inhibitory signals to which they respond.


A new kind of macrophotoinitiator (MPI) was synthesized through the copolymerization of acrylic monomers and the polymerizable photoinitiator monomer 2959-AA. Monomer 2959-AA was obtained by an esterification reaction between acrylic acid (AA) and the water-soluble photoinitiator Irgacure 2959 [2-hydroxy-4-(2-hydroxyethoxy)-2-methylpropiophenone]. By adjusting the monomer proportions in the MPIs, two series of MPIs with different 2959-AA contents and different glass transition temperatures were obtained. The molecular structure of 2959-AA was characterized by Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy, nuclear magnetic spectrometry, and mass spectrometry. Polymerization of 1, 6-hexanediol diacrylate was initiated using Irgacure 2959 and 2959-AA, and two series of MPIs to be polymerized were studied with a photo-DSC test. Results showed that 2959-AA had higher chemical reactivity than Irgacure 2959 because of the higher solubility of the former. It was evident from the experiments that 2959-AA content in the MPI progressively increased the polymerization rate and monomer conversion when the glass transition temperatures of MPIs were similar. At the same 2959-AA content, the polymerization rate slightly slowed down with increased glass transition temperature. However, the radical lifetime and polymerization time were prolonged. © 2014 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Appl. Polym. Sci. 2014, 131, 40352.


Ultrathin two-dimensional metal-organic frameworks (2D MOFs) have the potential to improve the oxidation of benzyl alcohol (BA) with a large surface area and open catalytic active sites. To achieve high-efficiency electrocatalysts for the oxidation of benzyl alcohol, a moderate solvothermal method was evolved to synthesize a series of 2D MOFs on nickel foam (Ni-MOF/NF, NiCo-61-MOF/NF, NiCo-21-MOF/NF). As the electrocatalyst used for the oxidation of benzyl alcohol, NiCo-61-MOF/NF presented a lower overpotential and superior chemical durability than other electrocatalysts; it only required a potential of ∼1.52 V (vs RHE) to reach 338.16 mA cm-2, with an oxidation efficiency of more than 86%. Besides, after continuous electrocatalysis for 20 000 s at 1.42 V (vs RHE), the current density of NiCo-61-MOF/NF nanosheets was still 38.67 mA cm-2 with 77.34% retention. This demonstrated that NiCo-61-MOF/NF nanosheet electrocatalysts had great potential for benzyl alcohol oxidation. From both the experimental and theoretical studies, it was discovered that NiCo-61-MOF/NF nanosheets have the highest electrocatalytic activity due to their distinctive ultrathin 2D structure, optimized electron structure, and more accessible active sites. This finding would pave a brand-new thought for the design of electrocatalysts with electrocatalytic activity for benzyl alcohol oxidation (EBO).


It has been established that the necessary conditions for rapid formation of experience in chimpanzees are creation of the interspecific functional system experimenter-chimpanzee in which the mechanisms of imitation and refreshment and creation of situational conditional reflex may be equally used. The neurophysiological basis of the latter is the stage activity when each stage is the signal for the following and refreshment for the previous one. In the presence of these factors the possibility of formation of aim generalized reflex appears, that is the basis for creation of optimum conditions for perception and learning the given information.


UiT The Arctic University of Norway has a decade-long tradition of channelling research through formally accredited research groups. These research groups have dynamic structures and networks, unlimited duration, a defined leader, and gather academics of all levels to pursue research on a common topic of interest. The formalisation of research groups at the institution followed strategies aimed at supporting the creation of more robust and resilient research communities and boost cutting-edge research produced at the university.
Ten years after initiating the formalisation process, UiT has around 196 research groups distributed fairly evenly across faculties by their size. HELSE and HSL are the largest faculties and also the ones with the largest number of research groups. As of June 2020, 57% of these research groups were led by men. This shows that gender balance has been achieved in research group leadership at the university level in terms of numerical parity. While the formalisation of the research groups may have contributed to achieving this balance, data collected for this study represents an inaugural attempt to map gender-disaggregated research group leadership at UiT.
This report shows that the gender distribution in research group leadership across faculties and departments or centres follows the remaining disparities existing in top academic positions (professor and docent) as they were observed in former studies conducted by the Prestige Project. This result is consistent since 93% of all research groups at UiT are led either by associate professors or professors. BFE, HELSE, and HSL are the most gender-balanced faculties, while IVT and NT are the least balanced. At IVT and NT faculties, 80% of the research groups are led by men. At the faculties that follow a level system for research groups (HSL and JUR), women currently lead more top-level groups than men.
Despite the achievement of gender balance in research group leadership functions at UiT, a survey conducted by the Prestige Project that complements the dataset showed that gender shapes relevant differences regarding the basic structure of research groups and their leadership roles. Highlights of these differences can be systematised as follows:
(1) The average size of research groups at UiT is 12.6 members. Men tend to lead smaller groups with a higher proportion of members holding 50% or more research contracts. (2) Most of the research groups at UiT follows a "stjerneklubb" structure, in which leaders are one of the several key researchers within the group. Three times more men than women reported leading a group with a "rakett" structure, in which the leader is the group's key researcher. (3) Concerning the reported activity level following each groups evaluated potential from the leader's perspective, men reported a higher maximal achievement of the group's potential. At the same time, women indicated greater room for improvement. (4) Finally, regarding leadership and leadership roles, men have been more often appointed as leaders by the head of departments or centres, while women have more often been chosen by the group members. Furthermore, while both men and women in leadership roles engage equally in managerial tasks in their functions as research group leaders, men reported performing more of the tasks associated with a leadership role. Twice as many men reported that they set the group's research agenda and control the workflow of delegated tasks.
We do not claim that these differences are necessarily negative since they can also be seen as a sign that gender balance increases the diversity of approaches in leadership at the university, which is a desirable aim in fostering excellence. The meaning of these differences has to be investigated further in future research.


Background: We investigated the complications of spasm provocation tests, including acetylcholine (ACh) tests, ergonovine (ER) tests and adding ACh after ER tests, retrospectively. Methods: We performed 1546 ACh tests and 1114 ER tests during 23 years, including 240 adding ACh after ER tests. ACh (RCA: 20/50/(80) g, LCA: 20/50/100/(200) g) was injected incrementally over 20 seconds, whereas ER (RCA: 40 g, LCA: 64 g) was administered over 2-4 minutes. In addition, we administered adding intracoronary injection of ACh (RCA: 50/80 g, LCA: 100/200 g) after ER tests. Serious major complications were defined as ventricular fibrillation, sustained ventricular tachycardia, shock, severe hypotension (< 60 mmHg), cardiac arrest and cardiac tamponade. Results: Serious major and major complications were higher in ACh tests than ER tests (1.8% vs. 0.4%, p<0.01), whereas serious major complications were not different between ACh and ER tests (0.9% vs. 0.4%, ns). No serious major or major complications were observed in adding ACh after ER tests. Paroxysmal atrial fibrillation was not different between ACh tests and adding ACh after ER tests (16.7% vs. 12.5%, ns). Necessity of nitrates to relive provoked spasms prior to carrying other site tests were significantly higher in ER tests (6.8%) than ACh tests (2.0%) and adding ACh after ER test (2.5%). No death or irreversible complications were recognized in all three spasm provocation tests. Conclusions: Serious major complications were not different between the two agents, whereas serious major and major complications were significantly higher in ACh tests than ER tests. Although pharmacological spasm provocation tests including adding ACh after ER tests were reliable and relatively safer methods, we should perform these tests positively in the cardiac catheterization laboratory.


Immune complex glomerulonephritis (GN) often deteriorates during infection with viruses and bacteria that, in contrast to mammals, have DNA that contains many unmethylated CpG motifs. Balb/c mice with horse apoferritin-induced GN (HAF-GN) were treated with either saline, CpG-oligodeoxynucleotides (ODN), or control GpC-ODN. Only CpG-ODN exacerbated HAF-GN with an increase of glomerular macrophages, which was associated with massive albuminuria and increased renal MCP-1/CCL2, RANTES/CCL5, CCR1, CCR2, and CCR5 mRNA expression. CpG-ODN induced a Th1 response as indicated by serum anti-HAF IgG(2a) titers, mesangial IgG(2a) deposits, and splenocyte IFN-gamma secretion. Messenger RNA for the CpG-DNA receptor Toll-like reeptor 9 (TLR9) was present in kidneys with HAF-GN but not in normal kidneys. The source of TLR9 mRNA in HAF-GN could be infiltrating macrophages or intrinsic renal cells, e.g., mesangial cells; but, in vitro, only murine J774 macrophages expressed TLR9. In J774 cells, CpG-ODN induced the chemokines MCP-1/CCL2 and RANTES/CCL5 and the chemokine receptors CCR1 and CCR5. It is concluded that CpG-DNA can aggravate preexisting GN via a shift toward a Th1 response but also by a novel pathway involving TLR9-mediated chemokine and chemokine receptor expression by macrophages, which may contribute to the enhanced glomerular macrophage recruitment and activation. This mechanism may be relevant during infection-triggered exacerbation of human immune-complex GN and other immune-mediated diseases in general.


The design of an ion beam chopper is discussed for the accurate determination of beam current during ion implantation into insulating materials. The effective suppression of secondary electrons is investigated using a composite chopper blade constructed from two dissimilar metals. The chopper design is presented which includes a combination of both electrostatic and magnetic suppression and results in complete suppression of the secondary electrons. A technique is described for the calibration of the chopper.


The purpose of this study was to examine the necessity levels of children's school readiness skills held by Jordanian kindergarten teachers. The sample consisted of 347 teachers drawn from the public and private kindergarten education sectors. The school readiness data collection instrument included seven readiness domains with a total of 39 skills. Teachers evaluated the necessity level of each readiness skill for children to succeed in kindergarten. The results of this study indicated that teachers expected children to have average levels of readiness skills upon entering kindergarten. Among the domains, teachers expected the physical skills domain as the most necessary for kindergarten success, while the reading skills domain was perceived as the least necessary. Analysis also revealed significant differences between public and private kindergarten teachers in their level of expectations for school readiness skills.


The envelope glycoprotein G of the Indiana serotype of vesicular stomatitis virus was modified not only by palmitylation, but also by myristylation, both occurring at the carboxy-terminal segment. When infected Chinese hamster ovary cells were grown in medium containing [3H]-myristate, the G protein and Ga2, the membrane-anchoring fragment containing about 71 amino acids, were labeled. This was shown by immunoprecipitation of cell lysates or extracellular fractions of infected cultures. Thin-layer chromatography of the fatty acid fraction released from G by hydrochloride hydrolysis showed that myristate, per se, was bound to G. The sensitivity of the fatty acid linkage to KOH/methanol indicated that [3H]-myristate was linked to the protein via ester or thioester bond(s). In contrast, the G protein of New Jersey serotype was not myristylated.


Introduction: The safety and efficacy of blinatumomab, a CD19/CD3 bispecific T-cell engager (BiTE®) molecule, was evaluated in an expansion cohort of the phase 1b/2 study (NCT02412306) in Japanese adult (n = 14) and pediatric (n = 17) patients with relapsed/refractory Philadelphia-negative B-cell precursor (BCP) acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL). Materials and methods: Globally recommended blinatumomab doses were administered to adult (9–28 μg/day) and pediatric (5–15 μg/m2/day) patients. Primary endpoint was the incidence of treatment-emergent adverse events (TEAEs) and treatment-related AEs. Results: All adult and pediatric patients experienced ≥1 TEAE. Grade ≥3 TEAEs were observed in 11 (79%) adult and 15 (88%) pediatric patients. Blinatumomab was discontinued in 1 (6%) pediatric patient due to treatment-related grade 4 cytokine release syndrome. Fatal AEs such as disease progression and multiple-organ dysfunction syndrome, which were not treatment-related, were reported in 2 (12%) pediatric patients. Eleven (79%) adults achieved complete remission (CR)/CR with partial hematological recovery (CRh) within the first two blinatumomab cycles. Nine of 10 adult patients with CR/CRh and evaluable minimal residual disease (MRD) achieved MRD response. CR/CRh was achieved by 5 (29%) pediatric patients, of which two had MRD response. Conclusion: In conclusion, blinatumomab was safe and efficacious in Japanese patients with relapsed/refractory BCP ALL.


[1] For the past 300 years, southeastern Alaska has undergone rapid ice-melting and land uplift attributable to global warming. Corresponding crustal deformation (3 cm/yr) caused by the Little Ice Age retreat is detectable with modern geodetic techniques such as GPS and tidal gauge measurements. Geodetic deformation provides useful information for assessing ice-melting rates, global warming effects, and subcrustal viscosity. Nevertheless, integrated geodetic observations, including gravity measurements, are important. To detect crustal deformation caused by glacial isostatic adjustment and to elucidate the viscosity structure in southeastern Alaska, Japanese and U.S. researchers began a joint 3-year project in 2006 using GPS, Earth tide, and absolute gravity measurements. A new absolute gravity network was established, comprising five sites around Glacier Bay, near Juneau, Alaska. This paper reports the network's gravity measurements during 2006–2008. The bad ocean model in this area hindered ocean loading correction: Large tidal residuals remain in the observations. Accurate tidal correction necessitated on-site tidal observation. Results show high observation precision for all five stations: <1 μGal. The gravity rate of change was found to be −3.5 to −5.6 μGal/yr in the gravity network. Furthermore, gravity results obtained during the 3 years indicate a similar gravity change rate. These gravity data are anticipated for application in geophysical studies of southeastern Alaska. Using gravity and vertical displacement data, we constructed a quantity to remove viscoelastic effects. The observations are thus useful to constrain present-day ice thickness changes. A gravity bias of about −13.2 ± 0.1 mGal exists between the Potsdam and current FG5 gravity data.


The hypothesis that ovarian sex hormone deficiency affects cardiac myofilament activation was tested. Chemically skinned ventricular trabeculae and single soleus muscle fibers were prepared from 10- and 14-wk ovariectomized and control rats. Tension-pCa (-log [Ca2+]) relations of left ventricular trabeculae and soleus fibers were compared to test whether thin filament proteins are potential sites of modulated activation. Trabeculae from ovariectomized rats exhibited a significant increase in Ca2+ sensitivity with no change in maximal tension-generating ability. In contrast, soleus fibers demonstrated no shift in Ca2+ sensitivity but generated significantly less maximal tension. No changes in thin filament protein isoform expression or loss of thin filament proteins were apparent in the trabeculae or soleus fibers from ovariectomized rats. Although not directly tested, our results are consistent with a possible modulation of regulatory proteins (e.g., cardiac troponin I) to account for the observed change in myofilament responsiveness of hearts from ovariectomized rats. Other possible mechanisms for the altered myocardial Ca2+ sensitivity after ovariectomy are discussed.


The patent for coining copper money granted by King George I to the English manufacturer William Wood aroused nationwide protest in Ireland. It led to the publication of Jonathan Swift's «Drapier's Letters», in which the Dean of St. Patrick's Cathedral, Dublin, attacked both the patent and England's Irish policy. But this is not the whole story. This annotated edition contains more than 100 pamphlets, declarations, poems, and songs that were published during the dispute. Most of the reproduced texts are extremely rare and have hitherto lain dormant in various libraries. They illustrate that the protest was in fact carried on by the Irish population at large, who regarded the coinage scheme as a severe intrusion into the nation's circulating cash which threatened to ruin the country's economy.


Multiple-quantum two-dimensional Fourier transform optical (2D FTOPT) spectroscopy was developed and conducted on GaAs quantum wells. Spatiotemporal femtosecond pulse shaping was used to control the optical phases and time delays of ultrashort pulses in multiple non-collinear beams so that fully coherent four-wave and higher-order mixing measurements could be conducted without delay stages, multiple interferometers, or any active phase control. Coherences of biexcitons, unbound but correlated exciton pairs, and excitons undergoing rephasing were observed directly.


This article applies fuzzy set theory to measure three dimensions of poverty in Mexico: monetary poverty, non-monetary poverty of private goods and non-monetary poverty of public goods. By using those three dimensions, it is possible to build a joint membership to classify poverty in manifest, latent and non-poverty, which are computed for the three types of official poverty used in Mexico, for urban and rural areas and for the total of households and individuals in Mexico from 1994 to 2006. Moreover, confidence intervals are calculated for each estimation, which are used to establish if there are statistically significant changes along time. Results show that, although poverty in Mexico has diminished between 1994 and 2006, its evolution has been different according to the area and the type of poverty analyzed.


Lung squamous cell carcinoma (LUSC) is a primary subtype of lung cancer with limited therapeutic options and poor prognosis, and tumour‐infiltrating myeloid cells (TIMs) are key regulators of LUSC. However, the correlation between the abundance of TIM subtypes and clinical outcomes of LUSC remains unexplored. This study aimed to develop and validate a prognostic model for low‐ and high‐risk patients with LUSC based on myeloid cell microenvironments. TIM markers in the tumoural (T) and stromal (S) regions were quantified using immunohistochemistry for 502 LUSC patients. L1‐penalized Cox regression was used to develop a myeloid survival score (MSS) model based on the training cohort, followed by validation in distinct cohorts from multiple centres. RNA sequencing and immunostaining were used to examine the mechanisms of myeloid cells in LUSC progression and predict potential drug targets and therapeutic agents. Of the 12 myeloid markers, CD163T, CD163S, and S100A12T were highly associated with overall survival (OS) in LUSC patients. The MSS of the three myeloid signatures accurately categorized LUSC patients into risk categories, with an observable difference in OS between the training and validation cohorts. Tumours with high MSS were associated with enhanced antioxidative ability and hedgehog signalling and a shift to a more pro‐tumorigenic microenvironment, accompanied by a reduced tumour cell immunogenicity and increased CD8+ T cell exhaustion patterns. Additionally, in high‐risk patients, potential drug targets and compounds regulating hedgehog signalling were identified. Our study provides the first prognostic myeloid signature for LUSC, which may help advance precision medicine. © 2022 The Authors. The Journal of Pathology published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd on behalf of The Pathological Society of Great Britain and Ireland.


Effective WebPAC (OPAC accessible on the World Wide Web) implementation and administration requires a good strategy. The purpose of this research was to determine the extent to which WebPAC management in the University of Zagreb faculty libraries is supported by a defined strategy that makes a part of the general library planning, development and activities. The hypothesis was that the libraries do not have a well-developed strategy for implementing or administering the WebPAC. The conclusion is that the University of Zagreb faculty libraries insufficiently deal with WebPAC management.


The lifetime of the 3s3p 1P term in Mg-like S V has been determined by beam-foil spectroscopy in combination with detailed analyses of cascading processes by means of the ANDC technique. One of the most important cascade transitions was found to be seriously blended by a strong S VII transition. An earlier proposed method for applying the ANDC formalism to correct for blending has been tested for the first time and found to work very well. The resulting 3s3p 1P lifetime of 0.19 ± 0.01 ns, corresponding to an absorption oscillator strength of 1.46 ± 0.08, is in good agreement with recent theoretical values. Some previously noted discrepancies between beam-foil measurements and theoretical calculations for Mg-like ions can now be explained as being due to insufficient cascade corrections in previous experimental work.


Background Muscular fatigue and injury are frequently observed in critically ill COVID-19 patients. The aim of this study was to determine whether different muscle adipose tissue depots are associated with mortality and muscle damage in patients affected by COVID-19 admitted to the ICU. Methods CT images were obtained in 153 ICU patients with COVID-19 (121 males and 32 females). Height, weight, body mass index (BMI), C-reactive protein, Creatine PhosphoKinase (CPK), muscle density, and intermuscular adipose tissue (IMAT) were measured. Results Participants in the highest tertile of IMAT/muscle had the shorter 28-day survival from ICU admission as compared to subjects in the first tertile. Estimates derived from the Cox proportional hazard models, after adjustment for age, sex, and BMI, confirmed the results of the survival analysis (HR 3.94, 95% CI: 1.03–15.09). Participants in the lowest tertile of muscle density had the shorter survival at 28 days from ICU admission as compared to subjects in the highest tertile (HR 3.27, 95% CI: 1.18–4.61), but the relationship was no longer significant when age was included in the model. Subjects in the second muscle density tertile did not show an increased risk. Participants in the highest tertile of IMAT/muscle and those in the lowest tertile of muscle density showed both significantly higher CPK adjusted for weight values as evaluated during the first 8 days of hospitalization. Conclusion Our data seem to suggest that higher levels of IMAT/muscle and low muscle density are both associated with higher risk of ICU mortality and muscle injury as evaluated with CPK level.


Integrating migration velocity analysis and full waveform inversion can help reduce the high non‐linearity of the classic full waveform inversion objective function. The combination of inverting for the long and short wavelength components of the velocity model using a dual objective function that is sensitive to both components is still very expensive and have produced mixed results. We develop an approach that includes both components integrated to complement each other. We specifically utilize the image to generate reflections in our synthetic data only when the velocity model is not capable of producing such reflections. As a result, we get the migration velocity analysis working when we need it, and we mitigate its influence when the velocity model produces accurate reflections (possibly first for the low frequencies). This is achieved using a novel objective function that includes both objectives. Applications to a layered model and the Marmousi model demonstrate the main features of the approach.


In this research in progress we present the initial stage of a large ethnographic study at a healthcare network in the US. Our goal is to understand how healthcare organizations in the US use algorithms to improve efficiency (cost saving) and effectiveness (quality) of healthcare. Our preliminary findings illustrate that at the national level, algorithms might be detrimental to healthcare quality because they do not consider (and differentiate) contextual issues such as social and cultural (local) settings. At the practice (hospital/physician) level, they help managing the tradeoff between following national "best practices" and accommodating needs of special patients or particular situations, because hospital-based algorithms can be over-ridden by clinicians. We conclude that, while more data needs to be collected, a responsible use of algorithms requires their constant supervision and their application with respect to specific social and cultural settings.


Abstract Chronic liver diseases progressively lead to cirrhosis, liver failure, and other complications. Fourier Transform Infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy and microspectroscopy imaging are rapidly advancing techniques with multiple benefits for early diagnosis, grading, and monitoring of a broad spectrum of liver diseases. FTIR provides a biochemical overview of a sample, which can be used to determine the need for further in-depth investigations. Numerous studies have showed that infrared imaging offers a great promise for understanding of disease pathogenesis compared to that of common histopathological investigations. Moreover, high-throughput infrared characterization of biofluids has attracted increased interests for a wide array of pathologic diagnosis. The use of infrared spectroscopy and microspectroscopy for diagnosis, grading, and monitoring of liver diseases requires an understanding of infrared microspectroscopy, sample preparation, data collection, analysis, and interpretation. This review provides a comprehensive and up-to-date review of FTIR spectroscopy and microspectroscopy characterization of biofluids and tissues related to hepatic diseases. Each section of this review highlights practical problems and solutions for conducting FTIR spectroscopy and microspectroscopy studies.


Abstract The measured reflectivity of a distributed target is given by the integration of reflectivity over the radar antenna radiation pattern. Assuming a Gaussian form for the main antenna lobe and fairly simple exponential and Gaussian distributions of true reflectivity, the measured reflectivity is computed as a function of sharpness of reflectivity relative to antenna beam size. The resolving power of the radar antenna for measurement of a single reflectivity feature to a specified accuracy, or for discrimination between two identical features, is also a function of relative sharpness of the target reflectivity field. Relative sharpness is defined by the product of reflectivity gradient, range, and half-power beam radius (exponential case) or of derivative of reflectivity gradient, range squared, and half-power beam radius squared (Gaussian case). Relative sharpness is also a determining factor of the size of the area in which side-lobe errors may be considered negligible. A method is developed for r...


Since the glass temperature Tg is a corresponding temperature for amorphous materials, if measured properly, precise values are needed. When determinations are made by cooling from equilibrium, material characterizing values are obtained. Most reported values are obtained in heating experiments which yield specimen-specific values, which approximate fictive temperatures Tf. Examples of consequent discrepancies of relaxation times at Tg are given. Results obtained in cooling show that it is likely that the mobility at Tg of local molecular motions is the same for all of the amorphous materials examined. In addition, it is shown that relatively precise values of Tg can be obtained from the recoverable compliance.


This research analyzed the productivity and profitability of the shipping services operations on a bulk carrier ship, owned by one shipping company in Surabaya called PPS. PPS confronts a problem that the ship was unable to load at full capacity due to a limitation on the port's draft, this happened on PPS's main route Adang Bay - Cilacap. Productivity analysis of the ship using the APC method showed the ship increased on 2 productivity indexes such as labor at 113% and other inputs at 106%. Based on profitability indexes the ship increased on 5 profitability such as labor 115%, capital 123%, energy 102%, other inputs 103%, and total 101%. During the measurement period, there were productivity fluctuations on the ship, caused by inefficiencies such as overtime and increased input. In these situations, strategies for the ship developed. The suitable strategy development on Grand Strategy Matrix for the ship was SO Strategies. The suitable strategy development on IE Matrix was Hold and Maintain. Finally, the value of this research provides whole analysis results in productivity measurement result of the shipping service, improvement to increase productivity, and strategies for the shipping service .


abstract:John McGahern gained sudden popularity when his second novel, The Dark, was banned in Ireland shortly after its publication in 1965. This ban was no surprise, considering McGahern's explicit and outrageous depiction of the Irish Puritan establishment, in which the Catholic Church played a prominent and influential front-row part and its power at the time was not only apparent but also overwhelming in what has been acknowledged as a "theocracy." This article takes a look at the most relevant religion related scenes, and summarizes McGahern's outrageous statement into one general metaphor: RELIGION IS A BEAST OF PREY, with a number of religion- and death-related subsidiary metaphors. These metaphors are formulated in the light of Steen's Three-dimensional Taxonomy of Metaphors (2011), due to the strong social issues underlying them. The language employed by the author, which makes these metaphors emerge in the reader's mind, is analysed by drawing upon Cognitive Grammar (Langacker 2) and applying the notions of construal, specificity, prominence, and ambience.