The commercial technology for the separation of off-gases from steam methane reforming is pressure swing adsorption (PSA). To improve the performance of the PSA units, materials with enhanced capacity toward contaminants are required. In this work, a commercial activated carbon (AC) was used for the preparation of a new material with enhanced capacity toward contaminants (CO2, CH4, CO, and N2). Different samples were prepared by physical activation with CO2 under different operating conditions. The conditions where the sample with the highest microporosity was obtained were reproduced to prepare a scale-up of 400 g. Carbon dioxide, hydrogen, methane, carbon monoxide, and nitrogen adsorption equilibrium and kinetics were studied on the modified AC and compared to the original AC results. An improvement of CO2 adsorption capacity of 17.5% was observed at 303 K and 7 bar. Carbon dioxide micropore diffusivity of same order of magnitude (Dc/rc2 = ∼4 × 10−2 s−1 at 303 K) was observed for both adsorbents. Finall...


This paper addresses the problem of stability analysis and control synthesis of switched systems in the discrete-time domain. The approach followed in this paper looks at the existence of a switched quadratic Lyapunov function to check asymptotic stability of the switched system under consideration. Two different linear matrix inequality-based conditions allow to check the existence of such a Lyapunov function. The first one is classical while the second is new and uses a slack variable, which makes it useful for design problems. These two conditions are proved to be equivalent for stability analysis. Investigating the static output feedback control problem, we show that the second condition is, in this case, less conservative. The reduction of the conservatism is illustrated by a numerical evaluation.


This study aimed to investigate the possible difference in anxiety-related traits between the generalized and nongeneralized subtypes of social anxiety disorder (SAD). Two hundred seventy-three SAD Korean outpatients completed the Anxiety Sensitivity Index (ASI), the Trait Form of the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI-T), Retrospective Self-Report of Inhibition (RSRI), and the Liebowitz Social Anxiety Scale (LSAS) as part of their assessments. The unadjusted total scores of the ASI, STAI-T, RSRI, and LSAS differed between the two subtypes, according to an independent t-test. However, this result was not significant (ASI: F = 2.363, p = 0.127; STAI-T: F = 0.004, p = 0.949; RSRI: F = 1.518, p = 0.220) after adjusting for LSAS total score. The comparison of anxiety-related traits did not show any difference between the subtypes after adjusting for illness severity. These results may suggest that the two SAD subtypes are on a continuum of the same illness, differentiated only by symptom severity.


Acinetobacter baumannii has emerged as a hospital‐acquired pathogen and has spread in the hospital settings, leading to enhanced nosocomial outbreaks associated with high death rates. Therefore, the aim of the current study is to determine the effective concentration of disinfectants like sodium hypochlorite, hydrogen peroxide, and chlorine dioxide, against multidrug‐resistant (MDR) strains of A. baumannii. In this study, we have investigated the effect of disinfectants on different MDR strains i.e. RS307, RS6694, RS7434, RS10953, RS122, and sensitive strain ATCC‐19606 of A. baumannii, via differential growth curves analysis, disc diffusion assay, estimation of reactive oxygen species (ROS), lipid peroxidation, and protein carbonylation. All the results collectively showed that 1% sodium hypochlorite (P value < 0.0027), 2.5% hydrogen peroxide (P value = 0.0032), and 10 mM (P value = 0.017) chlorine dioxide significantly inhibit the growth of MDR strains of A. baumannii. A significant increase in the ROS generations, altered lipid peroxidation, and a decrease in protein carbonylation was also observed after treatment with disinfectants, which confirmed its ROS‐dependent damage mechanism. These disinfectants also enhance the membrane leakage of reducing sugar, protein, and DNA. The current study highlights and recommends the use of 2.5% hydrogen peroxide to control the MDR strains of A. baumannii in the hospital setup. Therefore, the present results will help in selecting concentrations of different disinfectants for regular use in hospital setups to eradicate the multidrug‐resistant A. baumannii from the hospital setup.


Reliable data on HIV prevalence are essential for assessing the scope of and effectively managing the response to the epidemic. Antenatal clinic-based surveillance is commonly used to monitor trends in HIV in developing countries that have generalized epidemics. Recently HIV seroprevalence data have been also collected in national population-based surveys such as the Demographic and Health Surveys (DHS) and AIDS Indicators Surveys (AIS). Such surveys enable direct estimation of population HIV prevalence. A major challenge for population-based surveys is bias resulting from non-response both from refusal and absence. In this study we evaluate national HIV prevalence estimates from DHS and AIS surveys for bias resulting from non-response in the surveys. Data are from 17 recent national DHS and AIS surveys with HIV testing -Burkina Faso Cambodia Cameroon Cote dIvoire the Dominican Republic Ethiopia Ghana India Kenya Lesotho Malawi Mali Rwanda Tanzania Uganda Zambia and Zimbabwe -conducted during 2001 and 2006. Blood samples were collected and tested for HIV using standard laboratory and quality-control procedures. In the first three surveys in Mali Zambia and the Dominican Republic HIV status could not be linked to the characteristics and behaviors of the survey respondents. For each of the other 14 countries with HIV serostatus data linked to individual characteristics and behaviors we predict HIV prevalence among non-responding adults on the basis of multivariate statistical models of HIV for those who were interviewed and tested using a common set of predictor variables. Predictions are made separately for two groups of non-respondents: not interviewed/not tested and interviewed/not tested. Adjusted HIV prevalence is calculated as a weighted average of observed prevalence in the interviewed/tested group and predicted prevalence in the two non-tested groups. Predictions are made separately for adult males and females. In the 14 countries with linked data the HIV testing rate varied from a low of 63 percent among men in Malawi and Zimbabwe to a high of 97 percent among women in Rwanda. Non-response rate was higher among urban more educated and wealthier men and women but had no clear association with various risk and protective behavioral factors. Non-tested men had significantly higher predicted HIV prevalence than those tested in 8 of the 14 countries and non-tested women had significantly higher predicted prevalence than those tested in 7 of the 14 countries. Although non-tested men and women tend to have higher predicted HIV prevalence than those tested the overall effect of non-response bias on observed prevalence estimates was small and not significant in all countries. In the 14 countries HIV prevalence estimates adjusted for non-response bias were on average only 3 percent and 2 percent higher than the observed non-adjusted estimates for men and women respectively. The study finds that non-response for HIV testing tends to have small non-significant effects on national HIV seroprevalence estimates obtained from national household surveys. National population-based surveys are an important source of reliable data on HIV prevalence that can enhance surveillance-based estimates in generalized epidemics.


Five craniofacial variables (glabella–occipital length, basion–bregma height, maximum cranial breadth, nasion–prosthion height, and bizygomatic breadth) were used to examine secular change in morphology from the mid‐19th century to the 1970s. The 19th century data were obtained from the Terry and Hamann‐Todd anatomical collections, and the 20th century data were obtained from the forensic anthropology databank. Data were available for Blacks and Whites of both sexes. Secular change was evaluated by regressing cranial variables on year of birth. Two analyses were conducted, one using the original variables and one using size and shape. Size is defined as the geometric mean of the cranial variables, and shape is the ratio of each variable to size. The results show remarkable changes in the size and shape of the cranial vault. Vault height increases in all groups in both absolute and relative terms. The vault also becomes longer and narrower, but these changes are less pronounced. Face changes are less than the vault changes, but to the extent that they occur, the face becomes narrower and higher. Overall cranial vault size has increased, but shape changes are greater than size changes. The magnitude of secular change in vault height exceeds that for long bones over a comparable time period, but follows a similar course, which suggests that vault height and bone length respond to the same forces. Changes in vault dimensions must occur by early childhood because of the early development of the vault. Am. J. Hum. Biol. 12:327–338, 2000. © 2000 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.


A new technique to measure the unbalanced mass of a single plane rotor with a designed and fabricated balancing machine has been focused in this paper. Here, the unbalanced force of the rotor is transmitted to the vibrating deflector via a support and the amount of deflection is converted to corresponding change in electric voltage by using a proximity sensor. The shaft position is measured with the help of a light sensor. All the data these two transducers gather are presented to the computer simultaneously to plot two graphs showing the binary values of the corresponding sensors versus time. Comparing these graphs, the phase angle of the unbalanced force is determined. Further, the binary values of the proximity sensor is converted to corresponding displacement values. Using them for three known unbalanced masses, displacement versus unbalanced mass graph is plotted. The amount of unknown unbalanced mass for a measured displacement can be found from this graph.


This paper presents a penalty function approach to the solution of inequality constrained optimal control problems. The method begins with a point interior to the constraint set and approaches the optimum from within, by solving a sequence of problems with only terminal conditions as constraints. Thus, all intermediate solutions satisfy the inequality constraints. Conditions are given which guarantee that the un "constrained" problems have solutions interior to the constraint set and that in the limit these solutions converge to the constrained optimum. For linear systems with convex objective and concave inequalities, the unconstrained problems have the property that any local minimum is global. Further, under these conditions, upper and lower bounds in the optimum are easily available. Three test problems are solved and the results presented.


A dosimeter made with state of art polycrystalline Chemical Vapour Deposited (pCVD) diamond for applications in clinical radiotherapy has been manufactured, based on a large area (2.5 × 2.5 cm2) film equipped with a matrix of contacts. A dose profile under an Intensity Modulated Radiotherapy (IMRT) beam for prostate cancer has been monitored using a set of in-line pads along a section of the field map. Results compare well with data obtained with a commercial bidimensional silicon dosimeter, confirming that our pCVD diamond device is suitable for mapping the conformed dose in IMRT treatments.


Trigonothyrins A-C (1-3), which are highly functionalized daphnane diterpenoids, were isolated from the stems of Trigonostemon thyrsoideum. Compounds 1-3 represent the first examples of daphnanes with an oxygen-bridged four-membered-ring system, and a linkage mode of 12,13,14-orthoester. Compound 3 was observed to inhibit HIV-1 induced cytopathic effects. The EC(50) value was 2.19 microg/mL, and the therapeutic index (TI) was more than 90.


Meta-models or surrogate models are convenient tools for reliability assessment of problems with time-consuming numerical models. Recently, an adaptive method called AK-MCS has been widely used for reliability analysis by combining Mont-Carlo simulation method and Kriging surrogate model. The AK-MCS method usually uses constant regression as a Kriging trend. However, other regression trends may have better performance for some problems. So, a method is proposed by combining multiple Kriging meta-models with various trends. The proposed method is based on the maximum entropy of predictions to select training samples. Using multiple Kriging models can reduce the sensitivity to the regression trend. So, the propped method can have better performance for different problems. The proposed method is applied to some examples to show its efficiency.


Proceedings: AACR 104th Annual Meeting 2013; Apr 6-10, 2013; Washington, DC

Statins (3-hydroxy-3-methylglutaryl coenzyme A reductase (HMG-Co-A) inhibitors) are commonly used cholesterol lowering medications which have demonstrated effectiveness in the primary and secondary prevention of cardiovascular disease. Statins also have anti-angiogenic and anti-proliferative properties which have suggested a possible role for their use as anti-carcinogenic agents. A potential for liver cancer prevention is further indicated as statins, post-administration, are localized to the liver. Promising evidence that statins may decrease risk of primary liver cancer has been reported among high risk populations of hepatitis B virus (HBV) carriers in China. Evidence suggesting such an effect on liver cancer risk in low risk populations in western countries, however, has been inconclusive. In western countries, HBV is less likely to be a major risk factor for liver cancer than are hepatitis C virus (HCV), excessive alcohol consumption and diabetes. To study the relationship between statin use and risk of primary liver cancer in a low risk setting, we conducted a case-control study among members of the Henry Ford Health System health maintenance organization, between the years 1999 and 2010. Liver cancer cases were identified via an internal cancer registry, which is part of Detroit's SEER registry. Controls were persons with no diagnosis of primary liver cancer who were matched to cases on a 5:1 ratio based on sex, age, length of HMO enrollment, and date of liver cancer diagnosis of the case. Statin use was determined via electronic pharmacy records. Analyses included ever having filled a statin prescription, cumulative exposure to statins and time since last prescription. Analyses were adjusted for hypercholesterolemia, type II diabetes, hypertension, HBV, HCV, obesity, alcohol-related conditions and cirrhosis. A total of 75 cases of liver cancer and 373 controls were included in the analyses. The most common risk factor for liver cancer among cases was HCV infection (48%) followed by diabetes (38%) and alcohol-related conditions (25%). Only one case was HBV positive. Conditional logistic regression analysis found that any statin use was associated with a significantly reduced risk of liver cancer (OR=0.40; 95%CI=0.23-0.71). In addition, persons who developed liver cancer had a longer interval since last exposure to statins (617 vs. 542 days; p=0.04) and a shorter cumulative exposure (0.6 vs. 1.3 years, p=0.01) than did controls. These results suggest that statin use, even in populations where HBV is not a major risk factor, is significantly associated with reduced risk of primary liver cancer.

Citation Format: Katherine A. McGlynn, George W. Divine, Vikrant V. Sahasrabuddhe, Lawrence S. Engel, Ashley VanSlooten, Karen Wells, Marianne Ulcickas Yood, Sharon Hensley Alford. Statin use and risk of primary liver cancer. [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the 104th Annual Meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research; 2013 Apr 6-10; Washington, DC. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2013;73(8 Suppl):Abstract nr 4829. doi:10.1158/1538-7445.AM2013-4829


One of the problems in coconut crab cultivation is its slow growth. Artificial feed can be an alternative in the development of coconut crab cultivation (B. latro). The purpose of this research is to analyze the formula of artificial feed that gives the best stimulation on the growth of coconut crab. Three artificial feed with protein content A (20%), B (25%) and C (27%) and D (fresh coconut meat) as control. During the study, the test crabs were individually maintained in confinement containers that were specially designed to be as comfortable as in nature and not loose out. The results of the study, formulated feed can be eaten by crab test with the highest molting percentage in crab test treated with artificial feed of formula C 100%, followed by treatment A or B each 75% and D 25%. In conclusion that the feed made can be eaten and allegedly able to induce molting in coconut crabs.


The indexing structures for spatial data are used to organize the data related to spatial objects with respect to their position. These indexing structures are indispensable in various applications like geographic information systems, robotics, computer graphics, CAD/CAM and many more. The range queries related to multiple dimensions are the crucial facet of many spatial applications. In this paper, we are introducing an algorithm kdSLst Objects In Range Search to search for spatial objects within a given range. We will be implementing this algorithm for k-dSLst tree, a spatial indexing tree based on k-d tree and linked list to store spatial data with duplicate keys, which we introduced in our earlier work. The experimental results show that the algorithm kdSLstObjectsInRangeSearch outperforms algorithm bruteForceRangeSearch based on brute force method of searching


AIM:To study the phase cancer tissue intercellular adhesion molecule-1 (ICAM-1) expression of human cancer metastasis model in nude mice, and to analyze the relationship between ICAM-1 expression and the metastasis and recurrence of hepatocellular cancinoma (HCC).METHODS:HCC tissues from liver cancer metastasis model in nude mice (LCI-D20) was orthotopically implanted, and ICAM-1 expression in HCC tissues at different growing time were detected by immunodot blot.Tumor size, intrahepatic and extrahepatic metastasis foci were observed by naked eyes and under light microscope.RESULTS:ICAM-1 was positively correlated to the tumor growing time (r = 0.88, P < 0.01) and tumor size r =0.5, P < 0.05). It was higher in metastatic HCC than in nonmetastatic HCC (8.24 ± 0.95 vs 3.03 ± 0.51, P < 0.01). ICAM-1 content in cancer tissues increased suddenly after metastasis occurred and then maintained in a high level. ICAM-1 was also higher in multimetastasis group than in monometastasis group (10.05 ± 1.17 vs 5.48 ± 0.49, P <0.05 =.CONCLUSION:Tissue ICAM-1 could predict not only the metastasis of human liver cancer metastasis model in nude mice early and sensitively, but also the metastasis degree. So tissue ICAM-1 may be a potential index indicating the status of metastasis of HCC patients.


Background Globally, adults presenting with seizures account for 1% – 2% of visits to emergency departments (EDs), of which 25% are new-onset seizures. Neuroimaging is essential as part of the initial workup. Multiple studies have demonstrated abnormal CT brain (CTB) findings in these patients. Objectives To review the CTB findings in adults presenting with new-onset seizures in a resource restricted setting. Method A retrospective review of 531 CTBs was conducted at a tertiary hospital in Gauteng on adults presenting to the ED with new-onset seizures. Results The mean age of the patients was 45.6 ± 17.1 years, and the male to female ratio was 1.2:1. Generalised and focal seizure types were almost equally represented. Of the total 531 patients, 168 (31.6%) were HIV positive. The CTB findings were abnormal in 257 (48.4%) patients, albeit vascular pathology accounted for 21.9%. Infective pathology accounted for 14.1% with a statistically significant association with HIV (p = 0.003). Trauma related pathology was 2.4%, whilst neoplastic pathology was seen in 3.0%. Other causes included congenital pathology, calcifications, atrophy and gliosis. Clinical factors associated with abnormal CTB findings were age ≥ 40 years, HIV infection, hypertension, focal seizures, low Glasgow Coma Scale (GCS), raised cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) protein and presence of lymphocytes. Conclusion A high yield of abnormal CTB findings was noted in adult patients who presented with new-onset seizures, supporting the use of urgent CTB in patients with certain clinical risk factors. Patients without these risk factors can be scanned within 24–48 h in a resource restricted setting.


Nigeria's foreign policy since independence is that of commitment to peace, security, territorial integrity and economic prosperity. It is committed to economic integration and sub-regional peace through ECOWAS which forms a building block for the integration and unity of Africa in general. Analysis of Nigerian foreign policy shows that her leaders operate within four concentric cycle of national interest, the inner most circle represent Nigeria's own security, independence, and prosperity, and centered on its immediate neighbors: Benin, Cameroon, Chad and Niger. The second circle revolves around Nigeria's relations with its West African neighbors. The third circle focus on continental African issues of peace development and democratization. The fourth circle involves Nigeria's relation with organizations, institutions, and the states outside Africa. Therefore the main Objective of this research is to study the foreign policy under President Olusegun Obasanjo's civilian administration and how his preventive diplomacy made an impact to Nigeria's image abroad. Data was extracted from various literatures and reports from Nigerian Ministry of foreign of Affairs and employed content/descriptive analysis' Finally, the paper recommends that Nigerian government should address the thorny domestic issues with a view to create a friendly investment climate and boost public and international image.


Recently, membrane distillation (MD) has emerged as a versatile technology for treating saline water and industrial wastewater. However, the long-term use of MD wets the polymeric membrane and prevents the membrane from working as a semi-permeable barrier. Currently, the concept of antiwetting interfaces has been utilized for reducing the wetting issue of MD. This review paper discusses the fundamentals and roles of surface energy and hierarchical structures on both the hydrophobic characteristics and wetting tolerance of MD membranes. Designing stable antiwetting interfaces with their basic working principle is illustrated with high scientific discussions. The capability of antiwetting surfaces in terms of their self-cleaning properties has also been demonstrated. This comprehensive review paper can be utilized as the fundamental basis for developing antiwetting surfaces to minimize fouling, as well as the wetting issue in the MD process.


Background: The sexual and reproductive health of HIV positive people is fundamental to their well-being and that of their partners and children. So the simultaneous protection against both unwanted pregnancy and STIs or dual protection is an important care core to be taken into consideration.
Method: With the objective to assess dual-contraceptive method utilization and associated factors among HIV positive women attending ART clinic in Gebretsadik Shawo Hospital a cross-sectional study was carried out using both quantitative and qualitative approaches of data collection methods on a sample of 243 HIV positive mothers selected by simple random sampling technique from 718 HIV positive women using their ART registration numbers. Data was collected through face-to-face interview using pre-tested structured questionnaire and in-depth interview for the qualitative one. The quantitative data was analyzed using SPSS-16.0; multiple logistic regression analysis was done to see the association between the outcome and predictor variables with statistical significant level of p<0.05 and CI of 95%. For qualitative study 18 purposively selected community mother support HIV positive mothers were included and data was analyzed thematically.
Result: Out of 246, 243 of HIV positive women participated in the study making a response rate of 98.78%. The study finding showed that the prevalence of dual contraceptive use by HIV positive women attending ART clinic was 48(19.8%). A multivariate Logistic regression analysis showed that the dual contraceptive family planning method utilization was associated with age [(age > 30 years women were more likely to use dual contraceptives than those of age group 15-24 years [(AOR 2.445, 95% CI (1.131, 5.284)], marital status [widowed women were more likely to use dual contraceptive method than married ones (AOR 4.018, 95% CI(1.219, 13.21)], CD4 count [women with CD4 count greater than 350 cells/dl were more likely to use dual contraceptive methods than those with CD4 count <250 cells/ dl [(AOR 8.516, 95% CI (1.005, 72.168)], and free discussion with partners and deciding on contraceptive method were more likely to use dual contraceptive methods than those who don't have open discussion, [(AOR 17.45, 95% CI(8.198, 37.14)].
Conclusion: Dual contraception utilization by HIV positive women was very low and advanced age, CD4 count, discussion with partners, residence, counseling, were associated with dual contraceptive use by HIV positive women. Use of dual contraceptive methods utilization is a vital core in prevention of HIV infection in children and transmissions of new HIV strains among HIV positive population.


Computer simulations of thermal spray coating processes can accelerate the development of new products by minimizing the need for prototypes. An important aim of these simulations is the calculation of the coating distribution on the surface of a given workpiece with respect to a given movement path of the spray gun. In this paper, a novel approach for computing coating distribution on arbitrarily complex freeform surfaces is presented. In contrast to approaches that implement symmetric deposition models, the presented concept is based on a rotationally asymmetric model, making it particularly well suited for wire arc spraying as turbulences caused by electrodes in the gas flow often result in asymmetric coating distributions. In order to obtain the required knowledge base to derive the deposition model and verify the simulation, basic experiments were made. The simulation concept and experimental setup are presented in the paper along with the results.


DNA barcoding—sequencing a standard region of the mitochondrial cytochrome c oxidase 1 gene (COI)— promises a rapid, accurate means of identifying animals to a species level. This study establishes that sequence variability in the barcode region permits discrimination of 98% of 201 Wsh species from the Canadian PaciWc. The average sequence variation within species was 0.25%, while the average distance separating species within genera was 3.75%. The latter value was considerably lower than values reported in other studies, reXecting the dominance of the Canadian fauna by members of the young and highly diverse genus Sebastes. Although most sebastids possessed distinctive COI sequences, four species did not. As a partial oVset to these cases, the barcode records indicated the presence of a new, broadly distributed species of Paraliparis and the possibility that Paraliparis pectoralis is actually a species pair. The present study shows that most Wsh species in PaciWc Canadian waters correspond to a single, tightly cohesive array of barcode sequences that are distinct from those of any other species, but also highlights some taxonomic issues that need further investigation.


Graphene-based materials have shown great potential in various fields across physics, chemistry, biology, and electronics, due to their unique electronic properties, facile synthesis, and ease of functionalization. In this review, we summarize the significant advances in tailored graphene systems for the recently developed unconventional energy conversion and storage devices reported by our group and others, namely focused on their tunable and controllable preparation and remarkable applications in new types of supercapacitors, lithium ion batteries, photovoltaic cells, and other emerging generators. This featured article also highlights the working principles and outlines the problems hindering the practical applications of graphene-based materials in these energy-related devices. Future research trends towards new methodologies in the design and synthesis of graphene-based systems with unique properties for emerging energy storage and energy conversion devices are also proposed.


This study aimed to determine problems encountered by SchoolBased Feeding Program beneficiaries and their academic performance in selected public school of Subic. This study was limited only to the three hundred forty (340) SBFP recipients of grade 4-6 elementary students in the District of Subic who were randomly selected. The study used descriptive survey method design. The major findings include the following: There was significant difference between the academic performance of students before and after the implementation of the school-based feeding program. Social, Behavioral and Economic problems encountered had low negative relationship with academic performance of beneficiaries before and after the implementation. The null hypothesis was rejected; hence there is significant relationship between the problems encountered and the academic performance of SBFP. The following recommendations are Employed parents may not take their child's health nutritional status for granted by ensuring enough time to supervise their feeding habits of their child. School feeding coordinators may also look into the problems of the beneficiaries and not just providing them food during feeding time. School advisers and teachers may collaborate with parents/guardian of the SBFP beneficiaries in minimizing and eliminating the sources and cause of problems to attain higher level, if not the highest level of academic performance.


Sophisticated metallographic techniques helped reveal numerous new features developed at the inner interfaces of the hot-dip aluminized C45 carbon steel specimens. Multi-intermetallic phases composing of Fe_2Al_5, Fe_4Al_13, FeAl_3, and FeAl were identified whereby it was also found that the FeAl_3 phase did not inherent from Fe_2Al_5, rather it is the Fe_4Al_13 phase that exists at the outermost layer of Fe_2Al_5 toward the aluminum topcoat where the Fe_2Al_5 layer has the most prominent grain size. In addition, the Gibbs free energies are consistent and underline the preferential growth of the Fe_2Al_5 phase having ΔG ° = − 197.6 kJ/mol at 700°C. Graphical abstract


In the present paper we have solved the well known Axisymmetric Dirichlet problem for a half-space using the Hankel transform of I-function of one variable. Hankel transform is much effective tool for solving the boundary value problems involving cylindrical coordinates. Here we have considered the Axisymmetric Dirichlet problem for a half-space which is mathematically characterized by Boundary conditions are Our main result is believed to be general and unified in nature. A number of known and new results can be obtained by specializing the coefficients and parameters involved in the kernel.


A cross sectional survey was conducted using questionnaire as a tool from March to July, 2011 to determine the personal hygiene and safety status of some selected poultry workers in Ogun State, Nigeria. The questionnaire was also to determine the knowledge of poultry workers on various factors that can exposure them to zoonotic diseases. A total of 143 questionnaires were administered. Sizeable number of poultry workers (74.8%), were not provided with personal protective equipment (PPE) during work. Majority of the poultry workers have adequate personal hygiene while use of antiseptics as part of hand washing practices is relatively low. Forty-three percent of poultry workers have some knowledge of occupational exposure factors and 27.3% have some knowledge of non-occupational exposure factors to zoonotic diseases. It was concluded that, there is a need for provision of adequate personal protective equipment, adequate decontamination and hygienic facilities for poultry workers as well as awareness creation and education of poultry workers on various exposure factors of zoonotic diseases. Keywords : Personal hygiene, Knowledge of risk factors, Poultry workers, Zoonotic diseases


Supply Chain Risk Management (SCRM) is one of the 12 Comprehensive National Cybersecurity Inititiatives (CNCI), but the range of supply chain problems has not been defined rigorously, and effective defenses have not yet been developed. Risks range from the increased unreliability of counterfeits to data exfiltration and adversary control enabled by hardware Trojan horses embedded in chips. Risks are different for military vs. non-military Government vs. civilian organizations. We cite cases that underscore the reality of supply chain risk, and analyze the structure of supply chains that affect different part of the market for IT electronics, in order to provide a better understanding of attack methods. We discuss techniques for defending against the range of threats, and propose a practical solution based on a suite of simple, inexpensive test procedures that could be used to build an "80% solution" for detection of counterfeits and embedded malicious implants before they are deployed. Tests we have prototyped include power signatures and of IR thermographic signatures of boot events. Deployment of such a test suite would change the SCRM game by making it significantly more difficult for supply chain exploits to succeed.


A detailed comparative qualitative analysis and numerical simulation of evolution of the cosmological models based on the doublet of classical and phantom scalar fields with self-action. The 2-dimensional and 3-dimensional projections of the phase portraits of the corresponding dynamic system are built. Just as in the case of single scalar fields, the phase space of such systems, becomes multiply connected, the ranges of negative total effective energy unavailable for motion, getting appear there. The distinctive feature of the asymmetrical scalar doublet is the time dependency of the prohibited ranges' projections on the phase subspaces of each field as a result of which the existence of the limit cycles with null effective energy depends on the parameters of the field model and initial conditions. The numerical models where the dynamic system has limit cycles on hypersurfaces of null energy, are built. It is shown, that even quite weak phantom field in such model undertakes functions of management of the dynamic system and can significantly change the course of the cosmological evolution.


A cost-effective water management strategy for the thermal development should ensure the availability of right quality and quantity of water during the lifetime of the field. This paper presents an actual case for field water management, which includes availability, use, re-use and safe disposal of both source and effluent water.
 Thermal projects are notorious for their large volume of produced water through the life of the field. While treatment of produced water is a major issue; in a country like Kuwait where water is scarce, part of the produced water need to be recycled and re-used for steam generation. The methods and procedure followed are based on the practices used in the current Large Scale Thermal Pilots (LSTPs). The process involves field observations and performance, facility set-up and limitations, technical analysis and mitigation plan; so as to reach to an efficient water management plan and deliver better quality water.
 Heavy oil field development in Northern Kuwait is currently one of the few thermal "mega-projects" in the world. The development started initially with Cyclic Steam Stimulation (CSS), followed by Steam Flood (SF). These projects need dedicated used water disposal wells. Water disposal wells, initially completed, showed poor injectivity even after CTU acid stimulation with 15% HCl. Based on lab test results and analysis, injectivity was restored with suitable anti-scalant injection and precipitate removal.
 Another aspect of these wells was the injection casing shoe-setting depth. A multi-disciplinary team reviewed and established the optimum placement interval for shoe that meets the regulatory and design criteria. The new shoe setting-depth eliminated repeated well interventions during the life of these wells. The learnings were disseminated to various other projects within the company. Quality of source water was also a focus area for the team. Water quality of the source water at various depths were analyzed and tested. Based on the results, optimum well depth and location was ascertained which resulted in improved water quality and quantity.
 A novel approach, with key focus on competitive scoping and sustainable development and the combined effort from various stakeholders through an integrated approach have enabled significant savings to reduce the cost of this project. The learnings gathered, and the uniqueness of the project will add significant value to similar projects elsewhere in the world.


With the technology leaping towards a new phase the next big that is happening is IOT and managing the huge amount of data that is being produced. To apprehend the real Internet of Things in which the entirely is interconnected, direct interactions between sensors and actuators, also known as bindings, are essential. As more and more devices are getting connected to the internet there is a lot of data that is being generated. We need to maintain the quality of data and it should be manageable for future use. Consequently, in evaluation to subsisting studies on smart cities we give a information driven edge depicting the central information administration methodologies employed to check consistency, interoperability, granularity and re-convenience of the information created by strategies for the fundamental Internet of Things( IoT) for smart cities. We try to find the proper communication between the devices and finally try to implement the details for a system. In this paper we are trying to do survey on how the large amount of data is being stored and various strategies for handling the data by using some architectures for the smart traffic system. We are trying to use the SWIFT architecture for analyzing the traffic in smart cities.


Abstract Previous research has shown a clear link between childhood disability and child poverty. This is related to the fact that parents of disabled children (1) need to provide more care, which impedes their employment participation; and (2) more often belong to disadvantaged social categories. However, the adverse relationship between childhood disability and child poverty can be cushioned by cash support systems. Hitherto, the literature lacks insight into how the receipt of different cash support systems is related to parental employment and social background, and what joint role these three factors play in understanding the poverty risk of these children. To fill this gap, a case study on Belgium is performed using unique and large-scale register data. The results show that disabled children have a lower income poverty risk than non-disabled children, even when parental employment and social background are taken into account. This can be explained by the targeted cash support disabled children receive. However, previous research showed that a substantial group of disabled children does not receive the benefit. Hence, more could be achieved if the non-take-up would be addressed, in particular among the most vulnerable children.


This essay is about social movements that struggle against 'conjugal violence' and 'intrafamily violence', and places in debate the strategy of the so-called 'conquest of judicial gains'. It first approaches the notion of 'violence', questioning its theoretical relevance and its analytical limits. It then discusses the centrality and or exclusivity of the measures in the realm of the courts, particularly the Women's Division and its limits and dilemmas in terms of struggles for social recognition. It then presents a sketch of the theory about struggles for social recognition based on the work of Axel Honneth, highlighting the moral base of demands for justice and the complexity of their translation in terms of rights. In conclusion, the study points to a critical reading of judicialization of social relations, insisting on the tridimensional character of the struggles for recognition and the plurality of the political agenda in the field of 'conjugal violence' and 'intrafamily violence'.


ABSTRACT Background: Visual inspection acetic acid (VIA) can help detect cervical cancer at an early stage. However, under-utilization of the screening (e.g. rural residence, poor knowledge, low education, acceptability by the healthcare providers, etc.) persists as a major challenge. This study aimed to determine factors affecting the use of VIA test. Subjects and Method: A cross sectional study was carried out at 25 community health centers (puskesmas) in Magelang, Central Java, from September to October 2019. A sample of 200 women aged 30-50 years old was selected for this study randomly. The dependent variable was VIA test. The independent variables were knowledge, observational learning, reinforcement, cues to action, informational access, attitude, self-efficacy, outcome expectation, and family support. The data were collected by questionnaire and analyzed by a multiple logistic regression. Jenis penelitian ini adalah analitik observasional dengan pendekatan cross sectional. Results: VIA use increased with good knowledge (b= 3.97; 95% CI= 0.84 to 7.10; p= 0.013), high observational learning (b= 2.20; 95% CI= -0.09 to 4.49; p= 0.060), srong reinforcement behavior (b= 3.90; 95% CI= 1.02 to 6.77; p= 0.008), strong cues to action (b= 4.87; 95% CI= 1.07 to 8.67; p= 0.012), good information access (b= 3.32; 95% CI= 0.94 to 5.69; p= 0.006), strong family support (b= 3.81; 95% CI= 0.62 to 6.99; p= 0.019), positive attitude (b= 2.91; 95% CI= 0.20 to 5.62; p= 0.035), strong self efficacy (b= 2.71; 95% CI= 0.44 to 4.99; p= 0.019), and high outcome expectation (b= 3.22; 95% CI= 0.72 to 5.73; p= 0.012). Conclusion: VIA use increases with good knowledge, high observational learning, srong reinforcement behavior, strong cues to action, good information access, strong family support, positive attitude, strong self efficacy, and high outcome expectation. Keywords: cervical cancer, visual inspection acetic acid, social cognitive theory Correspondence: Herlina Ika Martaningrum. Masters Program in Public Health, Universitas Sebelas Maret. Jl. Ir. Sutami 36A, Surakarta, Central Java, Indonesia. Email: email@example.com. Mobile: 085643528156 DOI: https://doi.org/10.26911/the7thicph.03.90


The mechanism of paracellular expansion by absorption enhancers, e.g., EDTA, sodium caprate (C10), and decanoylcarnitine (DC), was studied, the focus being on the process of actin microfilament contraction in the tight junction. The effects of various inhibitors such as KN-62 (a specific inhibitor of Ca2+/calmodulin dependent protein kinase), H7 (a protein kinase C (PKC) inhibitor), and W7 (a calmodulin antagonist) were examined on the paracellular expansion by the enhancers in Caco-2 cells. From the experimental results, the following mechanisms were suggested. EDTA activates PKC by depletion of extracellular calcium via chelation resulting in expansion of the paracellular route. C10 increases the intracellular calcium level by an interaction with the cell membrane independent of cell polarity resulting in contraction with actin microfilament. DC interacts specifically with the apical membrane to increase the intracellular calcium level, but the mechanistic details subsequent to the increase of calcium are not clear.


In this study, we investigated the applicability of the photostimulated luminescence(PSL), thermoluminescence( TL) and electron spin resonance(ESR) methods for various foods which are not allowed to be irradiated in Korea. All 15 foods including sesame, almond, peanut, cocoa powder etc. were analyzed. Samples were irradiated at 1~10 kGy using a 60Co gamma-ray irradiator. In PSL study, the photon counts of all the unirradiated samples showed negative(lower than 700). The photon counts irradiated(1 kGy) dried shrimp, roasted peanut and seasoned peanut showed positive(higher than 5,000) and the other samples were negative or intermediate(> 700 and < 5,000). In TL analysis, results showed that it is possible to apply TL method to all foods containing minerals. In ESR measurements, the ESR signal(single-line) intensity of irradiated foods was higher than non-irradiated foods. In particular, the specific ESR signals of irradiation-induced crystalline sugar, cellulose and bone radical were detected in dried plum, raisin, dried cherry, mango(dried, frozen), rambutan, cocoa(powder), cinnamon, parsley, carrot, broccoli, dried arrow squid, dried pollack and dried shrimp. According to the results, PSL, TL and ESR methods were successfully applied to detect the irradiated foods because TL method is not able to detect the irradiated foods rarely composed of minerals. ESR is also a difficult method to detect the changes of ESR signal patterns of food. It is concluded that TL analysis or ESR assay is suitable for detection of irradiated samples and a combined method is recommendable for enhancing the reliability of detection results.


Mathematical analytics Important, analytical skills When students are able to understand analysis in physics learning, students will be able to answer questions with questions that are different from the examples given by the teacher. The aim of studying the increased thinking of participants in cognitive taxonomy analysis in Newton's law materials was approved using problem solving learning models. Hypothesis testing is done by comparing the average value of the ability of the initial test (pre-test) and the average ability of the final test (post-test) of students. The process of testing the hypothesis will test the normality and homogeneity test as a requirement to use parametric statistics, namely by using the t-test. Based on the results of the study obtained a value of tcount (8.25) and ttable value at dk = 42 with a 95% confidence level obtained at 2.02. This shows that tcount> t table. So can it be concluded that the expansion of students' thinking analysis ideas on cognitive taxonomy in the legal material used uses problem solving learning models.


The foraminiferal and radiolarian biostratigraphy of selected sections of the Zabijak Formation, the youngest sediments of the Tatra massif (Central Western Carpathians), have been studied. Benthic foraminifers, mainly agglutinated species, occur abundantly and continuously throughout the studied succession, while planktic foraminifers are generally sparse. Five planktic and two benthic foraminiferal zones have been recognized. The marly part of the Zabijak Formation comprises the Pseudothalmanninella ticinensis (Upper Albian) through the Rotalipora cushmani (Upper Cenomanian) planktic foraminiferal zones, and the Haplophragmoides nonioninoides and Bulbobaculites problematicus benthic foraminiferal zones. The radiolarians were recognized exclusively in the Lower Cenomanian part of the formation.


An ideal system of colorimetry should provide measures agreeing to what we see in three respects: color specification, difference and appearance. A successful method to quantify these measures depends upon the reliability of psychophysical experimental data. These data sets have been accumulated and were used to derive the LLAB model. The model includes two parts: a chromatic adaptation transform and a uniform color space. Tristimulus values under a particular set of illuminant/observer conditions are transformed to those of D65/2 degree(s) conditions via a chromatic adaptation transform. A modified version of CIELAB is then used to calculate six perceived attributes: lightness (LL), redness-greenness (AL), yellowness-blueness (BL), colorfulness (CL), hue angle (hL) and hue composition (HL). The model gives similar degree of prediction in comparison with the other state of the art models using the accumulated data sets. The LLAB model demonstrates that it is possible to achieve a system, which provides precise measures to quantify color match, difference and appearance.


The robust detection of signals in additive dependent noise is considered. The solution to the finite-sample problem is obtained when the Bayes risk is used as the performance measure. For the multivariate densities involved we assume that they belong to an e-contamination model. The robust detection structure is shown to be optimum for the least-favorable density and is a censored version of the nominal likelihood ratio.


Although titanium is considered to be a ubiquitous element since it has the tenth highest Clarke number of all elements, it is classified as a rare metal because the current refinement process is more environmentally damaging than the processes used to refine iron and aluminum. Furthermore, the beta stabilizing elements of titanium alloys (e.g., V, Mo, Nb, and Ta) are very expensive due to their low crustal abundances. Manganese is also considered to be a ubiquitous element, since it has the 12th highest Clarke number of all elements. Therefore, manganese is a promising alloying element for titanium, especially as a beta-stabilizer. In order to develop beta titanium alloys as ubiquitous metallic materials, it is very important to investigate the properties of Ti-Mn alloys. In this study, the phase constitution of and the effect of heat treatment on Ti-3.3 to 8.7 mass% Mn alloys were investigated by electrical resistivity and Vickers hardness (HV) measurements and by X-ray diffraction (XRD) analysis and optical microscopy. In 3.3, 5.1, and 6.0 mass% Mn alloys quenched from 1173 K, ' martensite and  phase were identified by XRD, whereas in the 8.7 mass% alloy, only the  phase was detected. The resistivities at both temperatures increased with increasing Mn content up to 6.0 mass% Mn and the positive temperature dependence of resistivity became negative at 6.0 mass% Mn. LN increased gradually with increasing Mn content up to 8.7 mass% Mn, whereasRT decreased considerably at a Mn content of 8.7 mass% Mn. HV increased with increasing Mn content up to 5.1 mass%, after which it began to decrease. In Ti-3.3 mass%Mn and 5.1 mass%Mn alloys, the resistivity and the resistivity ratio decreased with increasing temperature of isochronal heat treatment because of decomposition of ' martensite. In 6.0Mn and 8.7Mn alloys, the resistivity and the resistivity ratio decreased, while Vickers hardness increased with increasing temperature of isochronal heat treatment because of isothermal  precipitation. Furthermore, the temperature for the onset of precipitation increased with higher Mn content.


There are few more controversial questions in international law than the proper limits of the right of self-defence. The rules are being challenged in the light of what are seen as new threats from terrorism and from the possession of weapons of mass destruction. The UN High-level Panel, in its report to the Secretary-General of 2004, concluded that in all cases relating to decisions to use military force 'we believe that the Charter of the United Nations, properly understood and applied, is equal to the task'.4 The Principles that follow are intended to provide a clear statement of the rules of international law 'properly understood' governing the use of force by states in self-defence.


The main objective of this paper is to utilize a multi-criteria analysis (MCA) to evaluate Waste-to-Energy (WTE) technologies and identify constraints when examining the placement of a WTE facility. From this, the focus is best summarized by determining the optimal WTE technology in developed countries and how the process would change if implemented in developing nations. In this study, incineration, gasification, and pyrolysis technologies were reviewed and evaluated. The MCA evaluated the different WTE technologies based on a variety of criteria considering environmental, financial, social, technical, and waste quality and quantity. Different weighted factors were used for the two MCAs and different alternative weighted factor scenarios were produced to perform a sensitivity analysis on the results. Overall, pyrolysis was found to be the preferred option for the developed and the developing nation in all scenarios. For developed countries, the highest difference in the overall index score (7 %) was found in incineration between the baseline and scenario 4. In developing countries, the highest differences in the overall index scores were found in scenario 3 for incineration (9 %) and pyrolysis (10 %). Although pyrolysis had the highest overall capital cost due to it being the newest technology, the environmental, social, associated risk, and waste benefits were seen to be more significant on the findings.


(Novokuznetsk State Institute for Medical Continuing Education)A functionality and an aesthetics of denture with a bearing on implants are guaranteed with including in a prosthetic construction tooth near by a defect. Joining up tooth with implants by a much-section prosthetic construction against the background of a generalized periodontitis stabilize a dentition and prevent an aggravation of infl ammatory and destructive processes in parodontal tissues. An appearance of stress zones on a bone-implant border is reduced, when implantation materials with close to vital bone deformative behaviors are used. A resistive capacity to transversal masticatory applications is creased by a displacement in implants on vestibular or oral direction is patients with anomalous bite.


Dr. Esposito is University Professor of Religion & International Affairs and director of the Prince Alwaleed Bin Talal Center for Muslim-Christian Understanding at Georgetown University. Ms. Mogahed is a Gallup strategic analyst and executive director of Gallup Muslim Studies. Their forthcoming book, "Who Speaks for Islam? Listening to the Voices of a Billion Muslims," is scheduled for publication in 2007.


A method of estimating the critical rate of temperature increase of thermal explosion for the first order autocatalytic decomposition reaction system using non-isothermal DSC is presented. Information is obtained on the increasing rate of temperature in nitrocellulose containing 13.54% of nitrogen when the first order autocatalytic decomposition converts into thermal explosion.


In this paper, we address the problem of state encoding of finite-state machines (FSMs) targeting threshold and majority logic based implementations, which have applications in nanotechnologies. Previous work on state encoding is based on Boolean logic. These methods try to optimize either the literal count or sum-of-product (SOP) terms count, which are more relevant for CMOS technology based circuits. As progress is made in the material and physical understanding of nanoscale devices, functionally-correct nanoscale circuits based on threshold and majority gates are being successfully demonstrated. However, there exists no methodology or design automation tool for state encoding targeting threshold and majority gate based implementations. We propose such a methodology based on an evolutionary algorithm. Experimental results indicate that large reductions in gate count, area and interconnect count are possible, compared to some traditional state encoding methods.


OBJECTIVE: To determine the risk factors, characteristics and presentation of Giant Retinal Tear. DESIGN: Descriptive case-series study. SETTING: Al-Ibrahim Eye Hospital, Isra Postgraduate Institute of Ophthalmology, Karachi; from January 2001 to July 2007. METHODS: All patients diagnosed as having Giant Retinal Tear (GRT) in the Surgical Retina Clinic, were included in the study. The details of patients' demographics, ocular history, risk factors, refractive status, ocular examination, systemic examination, treatment offered and final outcome were recorded in a specially designed proforma. RESULTS: A total number of 42 eyes of 38 patients with GRT was included in the study. The causative factors in our study were vitreo-retinal degeneration, blunt ocular trauma and complicated cataract surgery. Myopia was the most common ocular risk factor. Most of the patients presented to our hospital after 4 weeks of onset of symptoms with total retinal detachment, advanced proliferative vitroretinopathy and poor visual acuity. Pars Plana Vitrectomy with Silicone oil tamponade, with or without Scleral Buckling was performed in 35 eyes. CONCLUSION: The major risk factors for GRT are peripheral retinal degenerations, high myopia, ocular trauma, GRT in the fellow eye, family history of retinal detachment, complicated cataract surgery and connective tissue disorders. Various socio-economic issues and inadequate patient counseling are responsible for late presentation of patients that leads to extensive PVR.


Author(s): Lu, Weiyi | Abstract: Nanoporous materials are involved in many industrial processes such as catalysis, filtration, chromatography, etc. Recently, they are applied to absorb or capture the energy associated with blast, collision, and impact attacks. In such applications, the nanoporous materials are immersed in liquids or gels. The inner surfaces of nanopores are usually modified to increase the degree of hydrophobicity. When an external pressure is applied on the system, the liquid phase can be compressed into the nanoporous space. The liquid infiltration behavior in the nanopores becomes significantly different from that of untreated material. The effective interfacial tension and viscosity of the confined liquid are investigated. While the simple superposition principle can be employed for the analysis of interfacial tension, in a nanopore the effective liquid viscosity is no longer a material constant. It is highly dependent on the pore size and the loading rate, much smaller than its bulk counterpart. In addition, the influence of electrolyte concentration as well as its dependence on temperature are analyzed in detail. As the electrolyte concentration varies, the effective interfacial tension changes rapidly. The testing data show that, the pressure-induced infiltration behavior is not only determined by the cations, but also highly dependent on the anion species. The transport behaviors of solvated ions in nanopores can be field responsive, providing a novel method to develop interactive protection systems. As an external electric field is applied, the observed change in effective solid-liquid interfacial tension is contradictory to the prediction of classic electrochemistry theory. To simplify the materials handling, a polypropylene-matrix composite material is produced. When the temperature is relatively low, the matrix dominates the system behavior. When the temperature is relatively high, with a sufficiently large external pressure the polymer phase can be intruded into the nanopores, providing an energy absorption mechanism


Background: Multiple myeloma (MM) is a bone marrow malignant plasma cell disease characterized by focal bone lesions, soft tissue lesions and diffuses bone marrow infiltration. The purpose of this study is to observe and analyze the value of serum lncRNACRNDE - H and GAS5 in predicting the prognosis of MM.
Methods: 80 cases of MM patients admitted from our hospital from December 2009 to December 2010 were selected for this study. All MM patients enrolled were treated with 4 courses of PAD program induction therapy. The follow-up was conducted for 4 years by telephone follow-up and follow-up visit patients, and the overall survival (OS) and progression free survival (PFS) of the patients were observed and compared.
Results: The difference between OS and PFS in the two subgroups was statistically significant (χ2=7.876-7.009, P<0.05). For patients with GAS5 low-expression and GAS5 high-expression, the OS estimated values were 34.030 months and 23.546 months respectively, 95 CI of (28.717-39.343) months and (19.270-27.823) month, PFS estimated values of 26.794 months and 19.753 montsh, 95% CI of (22.255-31.333) months and (15.897-23.609) months.
Conclusion: High expression of serum lncRNACRNDE- h is associated with poor prognosis in patients with MM. The level of serum lncRNACRNDE- h can be used as an auxiliary marker to predict the prognosis of patients with MM.


Historical benchmarking to determine the rehabilitation pathways of Neurotrauma clinic attendees in a PCT where there is no community head injury service. Although national guidelines recommend neurological rehabilitation after head injury, acquiring funding for new services still demands evidence of effectiveness. Therefore, before developing a new service we performed an historical benchmarking exercise to understand current service provision. Over 2 years, 86 adults (70% of admissions with intracranial injury and 5% of all admissions with head injury from our PCT) had been admitted to regional neurosurgical beds and 30 of these then referred to the neuro-trauma clinic. Using the clinic data base, 46 PCT residents injured between 1.1.07 and 12.31.08 were identified. 35 % of those seen had not been inpatients but were referred with problems up to 3 years after injury. After notes review and a semi-structured interview their rehabilitation pathway was documented using previously published rehabilitation codes. Only 4 of the 30 admitted had a documented rehabilitation plan on discharge. Patients had accessed up to 6 services each. Five had been assessed in considerable detail meeting up to six psychologists within 2 years. Intensive daily neuropsychological rehabilitation had been received by 3 of 14 referred from clinic, starting between 18 and 30 months after injury. Conclusion Excellent specialised services exist but access was very limited and often significantly delayed. Solutions will be discussed.


Partial evaluation techniques have been known to yield order of magnitude speedups of real-world applications. Despite this tremendous potential, partial evaluators are rarely put to practical use. This is primarily because it is not easy for users to extend partial evaluators to work on their speci c applications. This thesis describes Blitzkrieg, a user-extensible online partial evaluator designed to make partial evaluation more accessible to a wider class of users and applications. Blitzkrieg uses an object system to simplify the implementation of the partial evaluation system and to allow users to easily express their own domain-speci c optimizations. The viability of Blitzkrieg is shown by applying it to the Stormer integrator on a 6-body problem (achieving a factor of 610 speedup) and the Runge-Kutta integrator on the same problem (a factor of 365.5 speedup). In addition, the exibility of the approach is demonstrated by applying Blitzkrieg to handle port input programs, achieving a factor of 1.35 speedup on a representative program. Finally, Blitzkrieg's ability to do user-expressed domain speci c optimizations is demonstrated on a graphics application, achieving a factor of 4.04 speedup. Thesis Supervisor: Harold Abelson Title: Class Of 1922 Professor and Macvicar Teaching Fellow Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science Practical Partial Evaluation


A cream-white-pigmented, oxidase-negative bacterium (strain 2015-2462-01T), isolated from a drinking water system, was investigated in detail to determine its taxonomic position. Cells of the isolate were rod-shaped and stained Gram-negative. A comparison of the 16S rRNA gene sequence of strain 2015-2462-01T with sequences of the type strains of closely related species of the genus Serratia revealed highest similarity to Serratia fonticola (98.4 %), Serratia proteamaculans (97.8 %), Serratia liquefaciens and Serratia grimesii (both 97.7 %). 16S rRNA gene sequence similarities to all other Serratia species were below 97.4 %. Multilocus sequence analysis (MLSA) on the basis of concatenated partial gyrB, rpoB, infB and atpD gene sequences showed a clear distinction of strain 2015-2462-01T from the type strains of the closest related Serratia species. The fatty acid profile of the strain consisted of C16 : 1 ω7c, C16 : 0; C14 : 0 and C14 : 0 3-OH/iso-C16 : 1 I as major components. DNA-DNA hybridizations between 2015-2462-01T and S. fonticola ATCC 29844T resulted in a relatedness value of 27 % (reciprocal 20 %). This DNA-DNA hybridization result in combination with the MLSA results and the differential biochemical properties indicated that strain 2015-2462-01T represents a novel species of the genus Serratia, for which the name Serratia aquatilis sp. nov. is proposed. The type strain is 2015-2462-01T ( = LMG 29119T = CCM 8626T).


Detention basins are major drainage works used for downstream flood attenuation. However, it has been noticed that the models used to determine their placements and dimensions require the analysis of a large number of factors and scenarios, which, when not correctly oriented, means that the optimal solution might not be found. A recently proposed analytical approach to the modeling of detention basins associated both in series and parallel, allows the determination of their optimal configuration through an algebraic method. Such approach is based on the linear system theory and the instantaneous unit hydrograph. The flood peak to attenuate was calculated by two of the most widely used models: Storm Water Management Model (SWMM) and Analysis of Complex Watersheds (ABC6). A case study was carried out in the Taboão detention basin, located in the channel Córrego Taboão, which is part of the Alto Tietê watershed. Such detention basin is located in the metropolitan region of São Paulo. Using this analytical approach, it was possible to analyze a wide variety of scenarios and to determine the optimal solution in a more continuous way when compared to the other models mentioned. This study demonstrated that this approach is promising for the design and analysis of complex watersheds, due to its ability to represent it with less data and in a more direct and elegant manner.


The effects of annealing and gamma irradiation on the magnetic properties of amorphous Co66Fe4B15Si15 alloys have been investigated by means of the changes of the permeability spectra. In general, there are no differences in the magnitude and shape of the real part of the permeability curves between as-quenched amorphous and gamma-irradiated samples. However, a drastic increase, caused by gamma irradiation, is observed in the magnitude of the imaginary part of the permeability. This can be attributed to another relaxation process by superposition due to the gamma-irradiation effect. The same trend was also found in the sample annealed at 380°C in vacuum and in open air under a field of 3 Oe, which has a maximum value of the permeability due to the presence of ultrasoft magnetic materials.


This manual presents 16 chapters packed with ideas, checklists, guides, maintenance procedures, and concepts that will enable you to improve your operation and get the maximum for every dollar spent. Provided are proven ideas and techniques that can double, triple, or quadruple profits -- resulted from implementing a moderate, cost-effective equipment maintenance program. Practical answers offer the best thinking of 21 experts in the field, people who have been faced with the same problems you confront and found workable, manageable solutions. Collectively, the cost-saving, equipment-saving, manpower-saving examples have boosted the bottom line of actual companies by hundreds of millions of dollars.


This research work employed the use of cointegration analysis in the study of export and economic growth in Nigeria. It was embarked on, in order to determine whether there is bi-directional relationship between exports and economic growth in Nigeria. More so, it tries to evaluate significant impact of exports on the economic growth in Nigeria. On the application of advanced econometric techniques like Augumented Dickey Fuller and Phillips Perron Unit Root Test, Johansen Cointegration Test and Error Correction Mechanism, the following information surfaced: - There existed a long-run relationship with economic growth and export in Nigeria. None of the variables were stationary at zero level. This means they all have unit roots. Having integrated the short run dynamics and long run equilibrium, Imports (IMP) and Exchange Rate were positively correlated with GDP while Exports (EXC) was negatively related with GDP. The short-run dynamics adjusts to the long-run equilibrium at the rate of 0.866% per annum. In the bid to achieve economic growth, it was recommended that there should be diversification of export commodities, infrastructure development, and maintenance of stable exchange rate and operationalization of Export Processing Zones.


Summary Titaniferous clinohumite occurs as a major constituent in the centres of late magmatic veins in the Tertiary ultramafic, strongly alkaline Gardiner Plateau Complex in East Greenland (69° N. and 32° W.). The complex is briefly described and an electron microprobe analysis of titaniferous clinohumite is presented. This gives the following: 38·44% SiO2, 2·99% TiO2, 4·87% FeO, 51·89% MgO, 1·3% F, H2Ocalc 1·50%, and total 100·44%. Optical data, density, and unit cell dimensions are also presented. Of magmatic occurrences, titaniferous clinohumite has otherwise only been reported in certain kimberlites and carbonatites.


Background Cytokine interleukin-9 (IL9) plays an essential role in the pathogenesis of inflammatory bowel disease. However, the molecular mechanism underlying the IL9 pathway remains unknown. Here, we initiate a series of studies to characterise the essential components of this pathway. Methods The expression of IL9 in colon biopsies from Crohn's disease (CD) and controls were examined by Western blot and immunohistochemistry. The trinitrobenzene sulfonic acid (TNBS)-induced colitis model was used to verify the therapeutic efficiency of anti-IL9 mAb. Bioinformatics analysis was performed to predict putative candidate microRNAs that mediate the crosstalk between the IL9 proinflammatory signal and the downstream target gene in intestinal barrier function. Caco-2, NCM460 and SW480 cells were used to assess the specific pathway in vitro. Results We demonstrated the proinflammatory role of IL9 in colonic mucosa of patients with Crohn's disease (CD). Animals treated with anti-IL9 exhibited significant recovery of many cardinal signs of colitis. The junction complex protein Claudin 8 (CLDN8) was identified as a critical downstream component of the IL9 inflammatory cascade. Anti-IL9 treatment alleviated TNBS-induced colitis by restoring CLDN8 levels in colonic mucosa (figure 1). Notably, we characterised microRNA miR21 as a critical player that mediates the crosstalk between the proinflammatory IL9 and the downstream CLDN8 in both in vitro and in vivo models.Abstract IDDF2018-ABS-0193 Figure 1 Conclusions Our results, for the first time, uncover a critical role of miR21 and CLDN8 in the complex network that IL9 regulates the intestinal epithelium barrier in the pathogenesis of CD. Interventional blockade of the IL9-miR21-CLDN8 pathway could be a novel therapeutic approach for the management of CD.


In this thesis, we address problems encountered in complex network analysis using graph theoretic methods. The thesis specifically centers on the challenge of how to characterize the structural properties and time evolution of graphs. We commence by providing a brief roadmap for our research in Chapter 1, followed by a review of the relevant research literature in Chapter 2. The remainder of the thesis is structured as follows.

In Chapter 3, we focus on the graph entropic characterizations and explore whether the von Neumann entropy recently defined only on undirected graphs, can be extended to the domain of directed graphs. The substantial contribution involves a simplified form of the entropy which can be expressed in terms of simple graph statistics, such as graph size and vertex in-degree and out-degree. Chapter 4 further investigates the uses and applications of the von Neumann entropy in order to solve a number of network analysis and machine learning problems. The contribution in this chapter includes an entropic edge assortativity measure and an entropic graph embedding method, which are developed for both undirected and directed graphs.

The next part of the thesis analyzes the time-evolving complex networks using physical and information theoretic approaches. In particular, Chapter 5 provides a thermodynamic framework for handling dynamic graphs using ideas from algebraic graph theory and statistical mechanics. This allows us to derive expressions for a number of thermodynamic functions, including energy, entropy and temperature, which are shown to be efficient in identifying abrupt structural changes and phase transitions in real-world dynamical systems. Chapter 6 develops a novel method for constructing a generative model to analyze the structure of labeled data, which provides a number of novel directions to the study of graph time-series. Finally, in Chapter 7, we provide concluding remarks and discuss the limitations of our methodologies, and point out possible future research directions.


A 61-year-old man with a history of rectal bleeding and hemorrhoids underwent colonoscopy and a 15 mm large flat lesion with scattered reddish spots was detected in the anal canal at the dentate line (Fig. 1A). Narrow-band imaging showed dilated, tortuous, and irregular microvessels with intraepithelial papillary capillary loop patterns (Fig. 1B), similar to squamous cell carcinoma of the esophagus [1,2]. The lesion was treated by underwater endoscopic mucosal resection without submucosal injection. The polyp was completely immersed in water, the lumen was deflated (Fig. 1C), and a polypectomy snare (13 mm, CaptivatorTM, Boston Scientific) was used to resect it in two pieces with a piecemeal technique. The lesion was completely removed without any bleeding or signs of perforation (Fig. 1D). The patient went home the same day and experienced no complication. Pathology showed a poorly differentiated squamous cell carcinoma (Fig. 2) with positive staining for P16, a marker of human papilloma virus infection, and Ki-67, but the level of invasion was uncertain and the patient was referred for chemoradiotherapy. Squamous cell carcinoma of the anal canal is a rare cancer in the gastrointestinal system [3] and can easily be overlooked during colonoscopy. This unusual case shows that digital chromoendoscopy using narrow-band imaging can be useful to help identify anal squamous cell carcinoma.


After 1945, Western medicine was influenced mostly by investigations from Britain and the USA. This paper deals with the presentation of German medicine in the German weekly "Der Spiegel" between 1947 and 1955, when German society changed from a post-war community focussed on survival to a modern western society. The paper will particularly focus on medicine as a service, dealing not with diagnostic and therapeutic innovations, but with troublesome every-day problems of body and soul at the border of health and disease. The paper argues that "service medicine" was an important tool for German medicine to achieve social acceptance and to integrate itself into the new German democratic society with its private market economy.


The paper traces the treatment of fiscal policy in mainstream Keynesian models, from IS-LM over simple dynamic New Keynesian models to the most sophisticated New Keynesian dynamic stochastic general equilibrium (DSGE) models and compares it with stylized empirical facts on the impact of fiscal policy. It is found that the traditional simple Keynesian models such as IS-LM and Mundell–Fleming actually come to very similar conclusions on the effectiveness of fiscal policy as the most complex DSGE models, and are very much in line with stylized empirical facts found in most recent studies. In contrast, the dynamic models used during most of the 1990s and 2000s perform very poorly. It is hence questioned whether the change in modeling approaches over the past 60 years really constitutes progress in economic insight given the growing complexity of modern models.


This work report results concerning the effect that the substitution of the methylammonium cation by the formamidinium cation causes on the properties of FAx(MA1-x)PbI3films synthesized by spin coating in one step. For that, it was conducted a study to establish the influence of the composition of the FAx(MA1-x)PbI3films on their optical, structural and morphological properties, determined through spectral transmittance, atomic force microscopy and X-ray diffraction measurements. Correlating parameters of synthesis with results of the study of properties performed, we were able to get conditions to grow FAx(MA1-x)PbI3films with improved optical gap, microstructure and morphology, what allows to think that this compound is suitable to be used as the active layer in hybrid solar cells.


We use continuous measurement theory to describe the evolution of two Bose condensates in an interference experiment. It is shown how in a single run the system evolves into a state with a (cid:12)xed relative phase, without violating particle number conservation.


This paper addresses factors affecting climate change perceptions and attitudes among Cooperative Extension professionals in the Southeastern United States. Extension serves as a critical link between climate researchers and stakeholders who have the capacity to directly affect climate change impacts through on-the-ground action. We used the Six Americas scale, developed by the Yale Project on Climate Change Communication and George Mason Center for Climate Change Communication, as the basis for a webbased survey of 2,758 Extension professionals in eight Southeastern states between August 2011 and March 2012. Given their role as science communicators, one might expect Extension professionals to be as concerned as climate scientists about potential climate changes. We found, however, that Extension professionals are similar to the general public and represent the full range of Six Americas categories. Factors correlated with Six Americas results included: gender, political leaning, education, state Extension program, Extension program area, role within Extension, and coastal/inland location. Our results suggest the importance of engaging Extension staff in a long-term professional development strategy that involves improved training and climate education, preparing Extension professionals to effectively communicate climate change information to farmers and forest landowners whose actions impact climate outcomes.


The association between brain injury after cardiac arrest and poor survival outcomes has led to longstanding pessimism. However, the publicly witnessed cardiac arrest, resuscitation, and acute management of Mr. Damar Hamlin and his favorable neurologic recovery provides some optimism. Mr. Hamlin's case highlights the neurologic advances of the last 2 decades and presents the opportunity to improve outcomes for all cardiac arrest patients in key areas: (1) effectively implementing the American Heart Association "Chain of Survival" to prevent initial brain injury and promote neuroprotection; (2) revisiting the process of neurologic prognostication and re‐defining the brain recovery during the early periods, and (3) incorporating neurorehabilitation into existing cardiac rehabilitation models to support holistic recovery. ANN NEUROL 2023;93:871–876


OBJECTIVE
To describe according to gender the trend in mortality attributed to myocardial infarction (MI) in the population of Salvador, Bahia between 1981 and 1996.

METHODS
This study was on mortality due to MI estimates by period and gender of the city of Salvador, Bahia. Data from 1981 to 1996 were stratified by quadrienia, and the percentage reduction in death rate due to MI relative to the preceding period (PRR) was determined. Comparisons between genders were expressed by the male/female death ratio (DR) based on the gender-related PPR.

RESULTS
An overall increase of approximately 8% was observed in the death rate attributed to MI for the period 1985-1988 (89.2/10 5 individuals / year) versus the period 1981-1984 (82.1/10(5)/ year). In the subsequent periods, overall reductions of 10% and 20.3% were observed for the periods 1989-1992 and 1993-1996, respectively. For men, the PPRs were 11.1 in the period 1989-1992 and 22.7% in the period 1993-1996. The PPRs in women were lower: 8.6% and 17.4% between 1989 and 1992, and 1993 and 1996, respectively. Death rate reduction was greater for men than women, then the male/female DR decreased from 1.66 in 1981-1984 to 1.35 in 1993-1996.

CONCLUSION
The results indicate a trend towards a reduction in the death rate attributed to myocardial infarction in the city of Salvador from the second half of the 1980s onwards, striking in men.


Surface mesh generation through Delaunay refinement is considered as a relevant alternative to the common marching cubes algorithm. One distinctive feature lies into the fact that it interleaves shape probing (through intersection with Voronoi edges) with refinement. The current implementations require seeding the refinement procedure for each connected component so as to guarantee that all components are properly discovered by the mesh refinement procedure. This task is often left to the user. Although this is an easy task for input polyhedral surfaces, it is not when the input surface is defined as an isovalue of an implicit function. In this report we propose an automatic seeding procedure which interleaves refinement, seeding and initialization steps with the qualities of the refinement and the guarantees of careful seeding.


This paper provides empirical evidence that audit committee independence is associated with economic factors. I find that audit committee independence increases with board size and board independence and decreases with the firm's growth opportunities and for firms that report consecutive losses. In contrast, no relation is found between audit committee independence and creditors' demand for accounting information. Although the analyses are based on data from 1991 to 1993, these results have implications for NYSE and NASDAQ listing requirements for audit committees adopted in December 1999. Specifically, the new requirements give firms the option of including non‐outside directors on their audit committees if it is in the best interests of the firm to do so.


Abstract Currently, there is a global trend in increased longevity in Kenya and beyond compared to any other period in history. This has culminated in continued social life including sexual activity with ageing. However, there is little information in the scientific literature concerning HIV and other sexually transmitted infections (STIs) that is specific to those aged 50 years and above. People in this age-group are often excluded from studies as researchers and policy makers focus on young people. Consequently, assumptions are made on the epidemiology as well as sexual behavior of those aged 50 years and above. The exclusion of older people from national programs is on the assumption that older people are sexually inactive, resulting in their omission from major STI policy initiatives despite the physiological changes that occur with age. Thus, policy makers and stakeholders need to address socio-demographic factors that are associated with the prevalence of HIV and STIs in the elderly and to promote further research on this subject in this segment of the population for evidence-based decision making for improved health in the population.


Background: The diagnosis of acute appendicitis is difficult and probably the most commonly encountered diagnostic problem in clinical surgery. The aim of the present work was to study the value of pre-operative leucocyte count in patients operated on for a clinical suspicion of acute appendicitis.
 Material & Methods: This retrospective study conducted from January to October 2008 in DHQ and Allied Hospital Faisalabad. Five hundred consecutive patients operated in accident and emergency department of DHQ and Allied Hospital Faisalabad with the clinical suspicion of uncomplicated acute appendicitis were included in the study. Leucocyte count was checked before operation and acute appendicitis was confirmed by histological examination.
 Results: The increase in leucocyte count was an early marker of acute appendiceal inflammation. In this study, leucocyte count was raised in 79.6% of patients with acute appendicitis. Only 2.4% patients have raised leucocyte count with normal appendix. In 7.6% patients, leucocyte count was normal but appendix was inflamed and in 10.4% patients, both leucocyte count and appendix were normal.
 Conclusion: Leucocyte count is an important diagnostic criterion for the diagnosis of acute appendicitis. If it is normal, patient should be further investigated by ultrasonography or diagnostic laparoscopy.


The parsing problem is ubiquitous in Computer Science. Perhaps that is part of the reason it has been used so frequently to illustrate the power of continuations and monads. It is often the case, though, that the parser examples of continuation passing style and monads are top-down parsers. I intend to show that the continuation passing style of programming naturally leads to bottom-up or recursive ascent parsers. The programming language Scheme will be used to code example parsers.


For a long time, the various populations called, depending on their history and their travels, Bohemians, Egyptians, Tziganes, Romanis, Roma, Sinti, etc., crisscrossed numerous continents without worrying about the common origin of their language. The emergence of nation-states and, as an indirect consequence, the exclusion of these populations led a small number of intellectuals, anxious to claim a political role, to adopt a particular stance. Without a territory, a particular religion, or cultural or ethnic homogeneity, the new minority established itself in international space by "inventing" a common language. This article traces the historical process of linguistic essentialization through a study of the circulation of discourses around Romani cib in order to analyze the current political and economic uses that result from this process.


Between October 1979 and January 1993, 85 Chinese neonates in Hong Kong underwent surgical repair for coarctation of the aorta. Their mean(s.e.) age and body weight at operation was 15.6(8.5) days and 3.06(0.56) kg, respectively. Simple coarctation was present in 17 babies, while 36 had additional ventricular septal defect and 31 had associated major complex intracardiac lesions. Subclavian ftap aortoplasty was performed in 56 babies. resection with end-to-end anastomosis in 18 and aortoplasty with the use of a GORETEX patch in 11. The overall early mortality rate was 16.5%. To Identify risk factors for early operative mortality, various clinical variables, surgical options, associated heart lesions and dimensions of the aortic arch at different sites for each patient were reviewed. Univariate analysis identified statistically significant differences between the survivors and non-survivors for the following factors: preoperative body-weight, arterial pH and base excess. serum urea and creatinine levels, Stepwise logistic regression further distinguished serum creatinine levels and the period of operation as two significant risk factors. Contrary to previous reports. the dimensions of the aortic arch and type of surgery did not affect early operative mortality. Among the 71 hospital survivors followed for 38.2(38) months. residual or recurrent coarctation of the aorta was detected in 12(17%). The different surgical operations were not related to the incidence of late complication. The size of the distal transverse arch. however, was different (P= 0.05) in those who did and did not develop aortic sequela. Successful balloon angioplasty was subsequently performed in 11 patients. In an era of echocardiography with prenatal diagnosis and therapeutic catheterization, early recognition of the diseasewith prompt prostaglandin infusion should prevent collapse of the baby, thus avoiding renal Impairment and severe metabolic acidosis. Balloon angioplasty would offer a simple effective treatment for patients who developed aortic re-coarctation.


OBJECTIVES
Cardiovascular (CV) events are highly prevalent in systemic necrotising vasculitides (SNV). Visceral/subcutaneous adipose tissue (VAT/SAT) ratio has been shown to be associated with CV events in various diseases. We aimed to assess the relevance of abdominal adipose tissue measurement to predict major CV events (MCVEs) in SNV.

METHODS
Patients with SNV were successively included in a longitudinal study assessing MCVEs and other sequelae. Dual x-ray absorptiometry was performed to evaluate abdominal adipose tissue. Patients were prospectively followed for MCVEs, defined as myocardial infarction, unstable angina, stroke, arterial revascularisation and/or hospitalisation for or death from CV causes.

RESULTS
One hundred and twenty consecutive SNV patients were included and analysed (54 males, mean age 53±18 years). High CV risk was found in 28 (23.3%) patients. In univariate analysis, age, male gender, VDI, VAT/SAT ratio and serum troponin level were significantly associated with high CV risk, whereas age and VAT/SAT ratio remained independently associated with high CV risk. Variables associated with high tertile of VAT/SAT ratio included age and metabolic risk factors. After median follow-up of 42 months, 19 (16%) patients experienced MCVEs. Hazard ratios for incident MCVEs compared with 1st tertile of VAT/SAT ratio were 7.22 (1.02-51.3; p=0.048) and 9.90 (3.15-31.2; p=0.0002) in the 2nd and 3rd tertile, respectively.

CONCLUSIONS
Abdominal visceral adipose tissue is a reliable surrogate marker of CV risk and predicts incident MCVEs in SNV patients. Abdominal adipose tissue should be probably evaluated routinely in these patients to assess CV risk.


The Box and Blocks Test (BBT) is a widely used outcome measure for manual dexterity assessments in neurological rehabilitation. The BBT score is based on the maximum number of cubes that a person is able to displace during a 60s time window. In this paper, a low-cost instrumented system to automatically obtain the number of cubes using proximity sensors is presented. For that purpose, the central partition of the BBT was sensorized, aiming to minimise the employed sensors and minimally alter the physical BBT box. The counting system, connected to the mobile app, allows for the self-administration of the test as users only need to follow the presented instructions. Firstly, the methodology used to automate the test scoring is presented, including the sensors' description and the prototype design. Then, the obtained success rate in cube counting is shown, with an average of 98% in trials with five healthy users. Finally, the conclusions and future work are shown. The results support the use of automated methods for upper limb assessment, providing more objective results and additional information about user performance.


The notion of causality is used in many situations dealing with uncertainty. We consider the problem whether causality can be identified given data set generated by discrete random variables rather than continuous ones. In particular, for non-binary data, thus far it was only known that causality can be identified except rare cases. In this paper, we present necessary and sufficient condition for an integer modular acyclic additive noise (IMAN) of two variables. In addition, we relate bivariate and multivariate causal identifiability in a more explicit manner, and develop a practical algorithm to find the order of variables and their parent sets. We demonstrate its performance in applications to artificial data and real world body motion data with comparisons to conventional methods.


Integral abutment bridges are becoming widely accepted for new construction of short to medium length highway bridges of limited skew. Although they offer an economic alternative to the use of bearings, integral abutments present their own unique challenges. One area of concern is the development of passive pressures behind the abutment due to the cyclic loading of the soil during thermal movement of the superstructure. The challenge of the present work is to present to the engineering community the best estimate of the passive pressures behind the abutment. To meet the challenge, the authors review both the classic earth pressure theories and the more recent displacement-dependent theories used to describe the development of passive pressures. The information is compared to 1) the soil-pressure data obtained from the Scotch-Road Integral Abutment Bridge that was instrumented by the Stevens Institute of Technology; 2) additional data on two full-scale tests that were obtained from the literature; and 3) data from laboratory tests found in the literature. Finally, the authors suggest two K sub p factors that should be used for the calculation of passive pressures behind a cyclically moving abutment. For relatively short bridges, the NCHRP curve for dense sand can be used. For longer bridges that experience large enough displacements to guarantee the applicability of the classic earth pressure theories, a Rankine pressure for dense sands was found adequate. For either case, a linear distribution of pressure is suggested.


Metallothionein (MT) has many functions that are modulated by several factors, including ultraviolet (UV) radiation and cytokines. We thought that these diverse functions of MT might reflect the specific regulatory mechanisms of its expression. To understand some of the molecular mechanisms underlying MT expression, we examined the effects of several cytokines and UVB on the promoter activity of the MT gene. First, we introduced the MT promoter construct into the HaCaT keratinocytes and treated them with various concentrations of interleukin-1α (IL-1α) and IL-6. The addition of IL-1α and IL-6 led to an increase in the promoter activity of the MT gene. UVB is known to induce MT expression in epidermal keratinocytes, and IL-6 is a possible mediator of MT induction by UV radiation. Therefore, we investigated whether UVB could induce MT promoter activity. Our results showed, interestingly, that UVB radiation has no or little effect on the promoter activity. This suggested a complex molecular regulation of the MT gene.


OBJECTIVE
To explore the clinical effects of ultra pulse mode of ultra pulse carbon dioxide fractional laser combined with Deep FX mode or Scaar FX mode on the treatment of patients with hypertrophic scars on face and neck.

METHODS
One hundred and fifty-eight patients with hypertrophic scars on face and neck who met the inclusion criteria were admitted to Hunan Provincial People's Hospital from January 2012 to January 2015. Firstly, the scar areas were cleaned and given compound lidocaine cream for surface anesthesia. Then the scar areas were treated with ultra pulse mode of ultra pulse carbon dioxide fractional laser, with energy from 150 to 175 mJ, frequency of 40 Hz, hole to hole distance of 4 mm or 5 mm, and the treatment time of each hole of 2 s or 3 s. For mild scar, Deep FX mode was added for treatment with energy from 30 to 50 mJ, frequency of 300 Hz, and density of 5%; for moderate and severe scar, Scaar FX mode was additionally used for therapy, with energy from 80 to 150 mJ, frequency of 300 Hz, and density of 3%. The above-mentioned treatments were performed per three months, totally for 3 times, 10-15 min per treatment. After each treatment, wounds were moisturized and given sun protection. Before the first treatment and 6 months after treatment of 3 times, the curative effect was assessed by Vancouver Scar Scale (VSS) and University of North Carolina Scar Scale. Six months after treatment of 3 times, satisfaction degree of patient and loss of working time were recorded. The adverse effects of whole treatment course were recorded. Data were processed with t test.

RESULTS
(1) Six months after treatment of 3 times, VSS score of patients was (3.1±1.0) points, which was significantly lower than that before the first treatment [(9.4±1.8) points, t=53.096, P<0.05]; University of North Carolina Scar Scale score of patients was (1.6±0.7) points, which was significantly lower than that before the first treatment[(8.0±1.4) points, t=63.730, P<0.05]. (2) Six months after treatment of 3 times, 150 patients were very satisfied with the curative effect, 6 patients were satisfied, and 2 patients were relatively satisfied. The loss of working time of patients was 10-15 (10.5±0.3) d. (3) During the treatment, mild erythema appeared in 5 patients which disappeared without treatment; pigmentation appeared in 6 patients 2 weeks after the first treatment, and pruritus and rash appeared in 2 patients 3 days after the first treatment, which were all improved with pharmaceutical therapy.

CONCLUSIONS
Ultra pulse mode of ultra pulse carbon dioxide fractional laser combined with Deep FX mode or Scaar FX mode has definitely clinical effect on patients with hypertrophic scars on face and neck with few adverse effects, which is worth to popularize and apply for clinic.


The proteasome has emerged as the primary target for the treatment of multiple myeloma. Unfortunately, nearly all patients develop resistance to competitive-type proteasome inhibitors such as bortezomib. Herein, we describe the optimization of noncompetitive proteasome inhibitors to yield derivatives that exhibit nanomolar potency (compound 49, IC50 130 nM) toward proteasome inhibition and overcome bortezomib resistance. These studies illustrate the feasibility of the development of noncompetitive proteasome inhibitors as additives and/or alternatives to competitive proteasome inhibitors.