Background: The blend of cognitive and non cognitive abilities which is also influenced by the personality of an individual helps in the making of an ideal doctor. The personality traits required for a model doctor has not yet been identified. The aim of the study was to identify the prominent personality traits of medical school entrants and to correlate the various personality traits.
Materials and methods: This cross sectional study was done on 92 first year medical students in an Indian medical college. The validated IPIP big five personality questionnaire was administered. The results obtained were analyzed using ANOVA and Pearson's correlation tests on SPSS version 22.
Results: The students score highest on conscientiousness followed by openness; the least being agreeableness which is statistically significant. Agreeableness and neuroticism were found to be positively correlated significantly with conscientiousness. Neuroticism is negatively correlated with extroversion.
Conclusion: The results of the study show that these students have the ideal combination of personality traits to be successful in the pre clinical years. But this trait combination may not suffice to perform efficiently in the clinical years. Hence, this research highlights the importance of implementing strategies to help the students mould their personalities in order to become ideal doctors.


The market for biofuels from the forests have had a positive development and the job initiators for this master´s thesis wanted to examine the profitability of a method for harvesting forest fuel, which was unfamiliar to them. The method was the "long tree tops-method", here called the LT-method.

The LT-method is characterised by the fact that timber is harvested as the only roundwood assortment while the rest of the stem, which in other cases would become pulpwood, is harvested as forest fuel together with the logging residues. The method is based on the assumption that advantages in handling of the forest fuel assortment such as increased load weights for forest hauling and truck transportation, should compensate for the lower price for pulpwood when sold as forest fuel.

The aim of the study was to compare the profitability of the LT-method with the GROT-method (harvest of timber, pulpwood and logging residues) and conventional logging without any harvest of forest fuel, and aslo to try to identify factors affecting the profitability of the different methods. All calculations, analysis and comparisons were made on stand level and for final fellings.

In the study one object was logged according to the GROT-method and one object was logged according to the LT-method. Data from these loggings were complemented with data from earlier loggings and litterature studies. Based on these data calculations were made for the different methods´ profitability and sensitivity analysis were made to study the effects of different factors on the profitability of the different methods.

With the current prices for pulpwood, the mutual pricing and chipping cost for long tree tops and logging residues, the LT-method is not profitable compared to the GROT-method. In order for the LT-method to be financially competitive, a higher price and a lower chipping cost for long tree tops compared to logging residues is required. A higher price can be motivated by a higher quality, especially with concern to distribution of fractions and amount of stemwood, while the lower chipping cost can be motivated by a better utilization of the capacity of the chipper. Important factors for the profitability of the LT-method are price of pulpwood, share of timber and stand density.


Abstract : The principal goal in this field study was to assess the incidence of simulator sickness in the CH-47 flight simulator. The results show that this simulator produces a lower incidence of simulator sickness than the three other Army visually coupled flight simulators. 18 percent of the sample may be at risk for simulator-induced posteffects. Eyestrain and headache were leading symptoms of asthenopia, while fatigue and sweating were leading symptoms associated with motion sickness. Of possible impact on the results are the sample of aviators surveyed and the scenarios flown. None of the aviators sampled were in a training/qualification status. All were rated in the CH-47 and flying for continuation and proficiency. Therefore, it could be assumed the scenarios flown were less structured and flown by aviators familiar with both the aircraft that does not fly a large amount of high maneuver content missions. This could lead to lower amounts of provocative scene variables such as low-level flight, maneuvering in close proximity to the ground, and high speed turns. 48 percent of the pilots' and 37 percent of the copilots' missions were under instrument conditions. Such a large percentage of time spent with no scene content could account for some of the lower SSQ scores. The use of NVGs in the CH-47 simulator is associated with higher scores on the SSQ.


The following review discusses the successful application of X-ray, NMR, and molecular modeling in the design of potent and selective inhibitors of matrix metalloproteinases (MMPs) and TNFalpha-converting enzyme (TACE) from Wyeth. The importance of protein and ligand mobility as it impacts structure-based design is also discussed. The MMPs are an active target for a variety of diseases, including cancer and arthritis.


Purpose: A knowledge gap exists between general physicians and specialists in diagnosing and managing Alzheimer disease (AD). This gap is concerning due to the estimated rise in prevalence of AD and cost to the health care system. Medical school is a viable avenue to decrease the gap, educating future physicians before they specialize. The purpose of this study was to assess the knowledge level of students in their first and final years of medical school. Methods: Fourteen participating United States medical schools used e-mail student rosters to distribute an online survey of a quantitative cross-sectional assessment of knowledge about AD; 343 students participated. Knowledge was measured using the 12-item University of Alabama at Birmingham AD Knowledge Test for Health Professionals. General linear models were used to examine the effect of demographic variables and previous experience with AD on knowledge scores. Results: Only 2.5% of first year and 68.0% of final year students correctly scored ten or more items on the knowledge scale. Personal experience with AD predicted higher knowledge scores in final year students (P= 0.027). Conclusion: Knowledge deficiencies were common in final year medical students. Future studies to identify and evaluate the efficacy of AD education programs in medical schools are warranted. Identifying and disseminating effective programs may help close the knowledge gap.


both intracerebral and subdural in location.' The apoplectiform presentation of meningiomas has been noted in cases with and without haemorrhage.3 Ischaemia, haemorrhage, and oedema have been some of the immediate underlying causes. In this case, the history of headache and difficulty with word finding was consistent with the presence of a meningioma. The rapid clinical course, however, suggests that the intracranial haemorrhage was mainly responsible for the presenting symptoms. The mechanisms responsible for bleeding into a benign tumour are unknown. Highly vascular meningiomas may possess abnormal tangles of vessels; as the tumour grows, stretching ofthe vessels leads to weakening of the vascular walls.' Alternatively, the cerebral oedema and venous obstruction commonly found with meningiomas may cause tumour infarction followed by haemorrhage.' The anticoagulation of our patient would have increased the chance of bleeding into a tumour. It is notable, however, that there is only one other reported case of a subdural haematoma with a meningioma in the presence of anticoagulation therapy.4 It is a routine policy of the neurological surgery service at this university to submit representative tissue from all evacuated haematomas for pathological analysis. Although the likelihood of finding anything other than blood clot in such a specimen is low, cases such as the subject of this report justify the routine because the results can affect the patient's follow up and management. JEFFW CHEN HOI SANG U Departments of Surgery and Neurosurgery MARJORIE R GRAFE Department of Pathology, University of California, San Diego Medical Center, 225 Dickinson Street, San Diego, California 92103, United States


In connection with a problem of the Euroasian values the big urgency is got by questions of revealing of the ethnogeographical, historical and genetic center of forming of a "nomadic" civilisation as a complex of civilisational, economic-cultural and spiritual-religious phenomenon. In modern geopolitical conditions it is necessary to develop such a cultural-educational strategy of Russia which would allow cooperation with cultural heritage of neighboring civilisations with the least losses for national security.


Discovering the in-service dynamic forces, their location and their line of action
regarding the structure are necessary during its design, development and modification
stages. Additional information about the loads experienced by the structure will aid the
development iterations resulting in a better outcome. However, direct measurement by
using force transducer is not practical in some cases due to some difficulties in force
sensor configuration. As an alternative, it would be more convenient to just measure the
response and dynamic characteristic of a structure by using Operating Deflection Shape
(ODS) analysis and Frequency Response Function (FRF) measurement. Hence, the
analysis involved backtracking to determine the force causing the problem can be done.
It is known that this inverse problem is ill-conditioned in most practical cases. In this
study, a Perspex plate with 4 ground supports was used as test rig. Recovery of
unknown impact force using Modal Transformation Method (MTM) is experimentally
demonstrated. The transformation from high condition number of synthesised FRF
matrix to a well-conditioned case is demonstrated by adding additional information of
force location. The low quality of fitting a modal model by using modal parameters
obtained from the polynomial curve fitting algorithm is highlighted. In this study,
impact force determination with MTM is enhanced by using integration and data
filtering approaches. The effectiveness of various types of responses (i.e. measured
acceleration responses from sensors; velocity and displacement responses obtained from
integration result) is studied, and the results of the impact force determination are
examined in under-estimated, even-estimated and over-estimated cases of fixed analysis
frequency range. The outcomes show the importance of selecting a suitable response
unit and an appropriate analysis frequency range in impact force determination. When
the excitation frequency of an impact force is unknown and time-variant, selection of an
appropriate analysis frequency range by using Power Spectral Density (PSD) tool is


This study sought to compare intake levels of major dish items and food groups between normal and obese Korean children in order to understand obesity-related eating behaviors. The study was also conducted to apply the information on the differences in major dish items and food groups found in this study to development of a brief food frequency questionnaire (FFQ) for children's obesity-related eating behaviors. Finally, the developed FFQ was evaluated for reliability. A total of 290, 24-hour dietary recall data from 9-11 year-old normal or obese participants in the 2001 Korean National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (KNHANES) were reviewed to identify dish items and food groups showing outstanding differences between the normal and obese groups. Based on the level of intake amount between the two groups, a total of 7 items, including ddeokbokggi, spaghetti, ham roast, pork cutlet, dairy products & ices, kimchi, and fruits, were selected to be included in the FFQ. The former 5 items were seen to be consumed more in the obese group, while the latter 2 items were so in the normal group. The questionnaire was formatted into a frequency response section of a seven-category option and reference period of the last 7 days. Test-retest reliability of the developed FFQ was examined by administering it to 153, 9-11 year-old children at a public elementary school in Seoul twice at a month interval. The level of reliability was found to be reasonably high. In conclusion, this study suggests that high consumption of several high-calorie dish items and low consumption of kimchi and fruits may be important eating behaviors in relation to obesity risk among 9-11 year-old children who need nutrition educators' attention. The current study also implies that a simple FFQ can be utilized to reliably assess 9-11 year-old children's diets.


Activating mutations in the KRAS oncogene occur in about 40% of colorectal cancers (CRCs) and over 90% of pancreatic ductal adenocarcinomas (PDACs). Since development of small molecules capable of inhibiting KRAS directly has proven difficult, alternative strategies have instead focused on inhibiting downstream effector pathways, such as the MAPK pathway. However, inhibition of the MAPK pathway alone with MEK inhibitors, such as selumetinib and trametinib, produces only cytostatic effects and is insufficient to kill KRAS-mutant cancer cells. We hypothesized that inhibition of an additional kinase during MEK inhibitor treatment could improve response. We performed a kinase-targeting shRNA screen to find kinases whose knockdown would cooperate with trametinib in KRAS-mutant CRC and PDAC cell lines. The kinases found in this screen represent potential therapeutic targets to inhibit in combination with MEK. Interestingly, despite using a very high concentration of trametinib in the screen to enrich for hits outside of the MAPK pathway, the most highly ranked kinases in the screen were members of the MAPK pathway, including ARAF, BRAF, CRAF, and MEK1. This suggests that even at high concentration, trametinib produces suboptimal MAPK inhibition. Indeed, we found that while MEK inhibitors produce robust inhibition of MAPK signaling initially, pathway reactivation was observed by 48-96 hours despite regular replenishment of drug. This feedback reactivation was accompanied by marked increases in active CRAF and phosphorylated MEK. In fact, experimental approaches that artificially increased upstream signaling flux through the MAPK pathway led to a >10-fold reduction in the ability of MEK inhibitors to inhibit the MAPK pathway. Remarkably, despite triggering the same degree of adaptive upstream MAPK signaling as seen with MEK inhibitor, we found that ERK inhibitors were able to maintain MAPK pathway suppression. Importantly, these differences in MAPK pathway suppression amount to differences in cell viability. Over four weeks, ERK inhibitor treatment reduces the outgrowth of KRAS-mutant cell lines compared to those treated with MEK inhibitors. Additionally, as these inhibitors are not used as monotherapies, replacement of trametinib with an ERK inhibitor in therapeutically relevant combination treatments improved cell responses over four weeks. Despite the feedback reactivation of the MAPK pathway, we find that ERK inhibitors are less sensitive to this signaling than MEK inhibitors, and can effectively maintain suppression of MAPK signaling. The findings of our screen demonstrate that MAPK pathway targeting is key to successful treatment of KRAS-mutant cancers, and that ERK inhibition provides greater opportunity for inactivating MAPK. Further exploration into the mechanisms of pathway feedback will be necessary to developing valuable clinical combinations for KRAS-mutant cancers. Citation Format: Leanne G. Ahronian, Sandra Misale, Jason T. Godfrey, Koki Nishimura, Lifeng Chen, Jeffrey A. Engelman, Ryan B. Corcoran. Adaptive feedback reactivates MAPK signaling in KRAS-mutant cancers with inhibition of MEK, but not ERK [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the American Association for Cancer Research Annual Meeting 2017; 2017 Apr 1-5; Washington, DC. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2017;77(13 Suppl):Abstract nr 101. doi:10.1158/1538-7445.AM2017-101


We have previously identified novel members of the pentraxin family (neuronal pentraxin 1 and 2) that are expressed in the nervous system. Neuronal pentraxin 1 (NP1) was identified as a rat protein that may mediate the uptake of synaptic material and the presynaptic snake venom toxin, taipoxin. NP2 was identified as a separate gene discovered by screening for a human homolog for NP1. Here, we report human cDNA and mouse genomic DNA sequences for NP1 (gene symbol NPTX1). Human NP1 and mouse NP1 show 95 and 99% amino acid identity, respectively, with rat NP1 and conserve all potential glycosylation sites. Like rat NP1, human NP1 message is large (6.5 kb) and is exclusively localized to the nervous system. The mouse NP1 gene is 13 kb in length and contains four introns that break the coding sequence of NP1 in the same positions as the introns of the human NP2 gene. The human and mouse NP1 genes are localized to chromosome 17q25.1-q25.2 and chromosome 11e2-e1.3, respectively. These data demonstrate the existence of a separate family of pentraxin proteins that are expressed in the human brain and other tissues and that may play important roles in the uptake of extracellular material.


Aim: Malignant melanoma is the most frequent skin cancer in children and adolescents. It comprises 1–3% of all malignancies. In this study, we aimed to evaluate the clinical aspects, histopathologic features, and treatment outcomes of our patients with malignant melanoma. Material and Methods: Patients aged <15 years who were treated between 2003 and 2018 for malignant melanoma were retrospectively analyzed. Results: Seventeen patients (10 females, 7 males), with a median age of 7 years (range, 7 months-13 years) were evaluated. Five patients had congenital melanocytic nevi. All had cutaneous melanoma except one with mucosal (conjunctival) melanoma. The most frequent primary tumor site was the lower extremities (35%). Sentinel lymphoscintigraphy, sentinel node biopsy, and PET/CT were performed as the staging procedures at initial diagnosis. Localized disease was present in eight patients; nine had regional lymph node metastasis. The only treatment was surgery in localized disease; surgery and adjuvant interferon treatment was given in patients with regional lymph node metastasis. Three developed distant metastasis (bone, lung, brain) at a median of 9 months. A three-year-old patient received a BRAF inhibitor (vemurafenib), and a 13-year-old patient received a check point inhibitor (ipilimumab); both died of progressive disease. The median follow-up for all patients was 25 months. The 5-year overall survival was 76.6%. Conclusion: Although malignant melanoma is rare in children, prognosis is good if diagnosed early. Physicians should be aware of skin lesions and full-layer biopsy should be obtained in suspicious skin lesions. Patients with congenital melanocytic nevi should also be followed up cautiously.


Based on their research experiences, three female Chilean researchers from the capital city and the north of the country reflect on political trauma and violence, poverty and exclusion, and the processes underlying the mobility of Colombian women in Chile's northern border. In all of these research areas, "the sensitive" not only becomes a research topic but also confronts both researchers and participants as the main characters of a particular and socially situated relationship. Through their research experiences, proposals, devices, and several methodological strategies for addressing these issues are critically presented, with an emphasis on what qualitative research makes possible, challenges, questions, and faces.


DYNAMICS OF COUPLED HUMAN AND NATURAL SYSTEMS IN EPIDEMIOLOGY AND ECOLOGY Kamal Jnawali Advisors: University of Guelph, 2017 Chris T. Bauch & Hermann J. Eberl Many natural systems exist in a state of two-way coupling with human systems, where changes in the human system create changes in the natural system, which in turn create changes in the human system once again. The study of dynamics of such coupled humanand-natural systems is a growing area of research. For instance, in the case of influenza antiviral drug use during a pandemic, widespread use of antiviral drugs is a main contributor to the evolution of drug-resistant strains, and recent studies show that influenza viruses can acquire drug resistance without incurring a fitness penalty that reduces their transmission rate. This phenomenon illustrates a coupled human-and-natural system since an influenza pandemic causes a human population to respond with antiviral drug use, which in turn changes influenza epidemiology. It also creates the possibility of strategic (game theoretical) interactions between humans making decisions about antiviral drug use strategies. On the other hand, the dynamics of endangered ecosystems can also illustrate a coupled human-and-natural dynamic, where processes such as agricultural expansion, migration and urbanization, road construction, mining and industry can endanger rare ecosystems, which in turn can stimulate human populations to enact conservation measures. Stochastic effects are important for evaluating the likelihood of extinction of a rare ecosystem, but stochasticity has been little studied in the context of extinction in coupled human-andnatural systems. This dissertation develops and analyzes a 2-player game theoretical model of influenza antiviral drug use, with both (i) 2 strategies with payoffs based on a fixed matrix and (ii) a continuous strategy set with payoffs determined by a stochastic differential equation model of influenza transmission and drug resistance. It also develops and analyzes (iii) a stochastic differential equation model to explore extinction and conservation opinion dynamics in a coupled forest-human system. The influenza models predict a coordination game between the two jurisdictions, where both players either choose a socially optimal low antiviral drug treatment rate or a suboptimal high treatment rate. This prediction of two co-existing Nash equilibria is robust to the mutation rate and the effectiveness of the drug in preventing transmission, but it is sensitive to the volume of travel between the two jurisdictions. In the coupled human-forest model, we predict a new mechanism that we call stochasticity-induced persistence, whereby an increase in stochasticity under certain conditions can actually make the natural population more likely to persist, instead of going extinct due to stochastic fade-out. All three models show how coupled humanand-natural systems can have novel dynamics that are not predicted when the human and natural systems are studied in isolation from one another.


In this paper, we propose a reversible visible watermarking algorithm to satisfy a new application scenario where the visible watermark serves as a tag or ownership identifier, but can be completely removed to resume the original image data. It includes two procedures: data hiding and visible watermark embedding. In order to losslessly recover both the watermark-covered and nonwatermark-covered image contents at the receiver end, the payload consists of two reconstruction data packets, one for recovering the watermark-covered region, and the other for the nonwatermark-covered region. The data hiding technique reversibly hides the payload in the image region not covered by the visible watermark. To satisfy the requirements of large capacity and high image quality, our hiding technique is based on data compression and uses a payload-adaptive scheme. It further adopts error diffusion for improving subjective image quality and arithmetic compression using a character-based model for increasing computational efficiency. The visible watermark is securely embedded based on a user-key-controlled embedding mechanism. The data hiding and the visible watermark embedding procedures are integrated into a secure watermarking system by a specially designed user key


Background Osteoarthritis (OA) is the most prevalent joint disease and the leading cause of disability from 60 years onwards. In fact, 14,8% of the Spanish population has OA. Objectives This study aimed to determine if there is a differential profile and greater comorbidity in women affected by symptomatic knee OA compared to a control group without OA. Methods The EMARTRO study was designed as an observational, multicenter, transversal study to compare probability of suffering a comorbidities based on presence of symptomatic knee OA visited by GPs. Sociodemographic, anthropometric, clinical parameters and clinical variables of interest were recorded. The probability of suffering comorbidities in each study group was estimated using the Odds Ratio estimation with conditioned logistic regression models. The HAD scale, the Goldberg health questionnaire were administered to patients and the concomitant medication was also registered. The comparison between groups was done using t-Student, Chi-square and Mann-Whitney. Results A total of 897 women were included with a mean (SD) age of 67.4 (6.8) years. Osteoarthritic women were obese and had a higher BMI compared with control group, 31.2 (5.5) vs 27.5 (4.3) (p<0.0001), respectively. Regarding blood pressure, no differences were found in the systolic BP (p=0.0646) but in the diastolic, women with OA also had higher values, 77.9 (9.1) vs 75.8 (8.9) mmHg (p=0.0005). In general terms, the presence of OA doubled the probability of having concomitant conditions with respect to controls [OR=2,220 (95% CI: 1,449–3,400) p=0,0002]. Likewise, women with syntomatic knee OA were more likely to have hypertension [OR=1.697 (95% CI 1.299–2.217), p=0.0001], venous peripheral vascular disease [OR=2.148 (95% CI 1.547–2.984), p<0.0001] and gastroesophageal reflux (OR=1.890 (95% CI 1.297–2.754), p=0.0009). Regarding the mental health of the patients, according to the Goldberg scale, 41% of the patients with OA elicited psychopathology vs 17.8% in controls, p<0.0001. As for the HAD scale, there were more cases of anxiety (p<0.0001) and depression in the OA women (p<0.0001). The greater burden of physical and mental comorbidity in the OA patients was accompanied by a higher consumption of concomitant medications (p<0.0001). Conclusions The results of the present study indicate that in patients with knee OA, being female is a risk factor for the development of concomitant pathologies. Also, the increased likelihood of suffering from hypertension, venous peripheral vascular disease and gastroesophageal reflux should determine chronic medications for the treatment of osteoarthritis. Disclosure of Interest None declared


Branched chain amino acid enriched solutions have been proposed in several situations. The fate of the nitrogen contained in those amino acids, particularly the immediate urinary excretion, has not been established yet. In the present study, the rates of urea and total urinary nitrogen loss from 15N leucine were measured in a patient receiving a branched chain amino acid enriched solution. The results showed that: 1) the urinary excretion of leucine represented less than 1% of the amount of injected leucine; 2) 15N excreted from leucine was 5.37% of the 15N injected during the 24 h of the infusion and 7.66% during the following day; 3) the excretion of 15N urea represented 62% of the total 15N excreted during the first 24 h and 72% for the following day. Finally, in this patient, the amount of nitrogen from leucine immediately excreted in the urine was moderate.


Objective—Lipoprotein(a) is a highly atherogenic lipoprotein, whose metabolism is poorly understood. Currently no safe drugs exists that lower elevated plasma lipoprotein(a) concentrations. We therefore focused on molecular mechanisms that influence apolipoprotein(a) (APOA) biosynthesis. Methods and Results—Transgenic human APOA mice (tg-APO mice) were injected with 1 mg/kg of recombinant human fibroblast growth factor 19 (FGF19). This led to a significant reduction of plasma APOA and hepatic expression of APOA. Incubation of primary hepatocytes of tg-APOA mice with FGF19 induced ERK1/2 phosphorylation and, in turn, downregulated APOA expression. Repression of APOA by FGF19 was abrogated by specific ERK1/2 phosphorylation inhibitors. The FGF19 effect on APOA was attenuated by transfection of primary hepatocytes with siRNA against the FGF19 receptor 4 (FGFR4). Using promoter reporter assays, mutation analysis, gel shift, and chromatin immune-precipitation assays, an Ets-1 binding element was identified at –1630/–1615bp region in the human APOA promoter. This element functions as an Elk-1 binding site that mediates repression of APOA transcription by FGF19. Conclusion—These findings provide mechanistic insights into the transcriptional regulation of human APOA by FGF19. Further studies in the human system are required to substantiate our findings and to design therapeutics for hyper lipoprotein(a).


We present a wide-angle, nonmechanical laser beam steerer based on polymer polarization gratings with an optimal design approach for maximizing field-of-regard (FOR). The steering design offers exponential scaling of the number of steering angles, called suprabinary steering. The design approach can be easily adapted for any 1-D or 2-D (e.g, symmetric or asymmetric FOR) beam steering. We simulate a system using a finite difference and ray tracing tools and fabricate coarse beam steerer with 65° FOR with ~8° resolution at 1550 nm. We demonstrate high optical throughput (84%-87%) that can be substantially improved by optimizing substrates and electrode materials. This beam steerer can achieve very low sidelobes and supports comparatively large beam diameters paired with a very thin assembly and low beam walk-off. We also demonstrate using a certain type of LC variable retarder that the total switching time from any steering angle to another can be 1.7 ms or better.


The article focuses on effective treatment of the novel coronavirus infection (COVID-19) at early stages and substantiates the requirement for antiviral therapy and for decreasing the viral load to prevent the infection progression. The absence of a specific antiviral therapy for the SARS-CoV-2 virus is stated. The authors analyzed results of early randomized studies using lopinavir/ritonavir, remdesivir, and favipiravir in COVID-19 and their potential for the treatment of novel coronavirus infection. Among the drugs blocking the virus entry into cells, the greatest attention was paid to the antimalaria drugs, chloroquine and hydroxychloroquine. The article addresses in detail ineffectiveness and potential danger of hydroxychloroquine, which demonstrated neither a decrease in the time of clinical recovery nor any improvement of prognosis for patients with COVID-19. The major objective was substantiating a possible use of bromhexine, a mucolytic and anticough drug, which can inhibit transmembrane serin protease 2 required for entry of the SARS-CoV-2 virus into cells. Spironolactone may have a similar feature. Due to its antiandrogenic effects, spironolactone can inhibit X-chromosome-related synthesis of ACE-2 receptors and activation of transmembrane serin protease 2. In addition to slowing the virus entry into cells, spironolactone decreases severity of fibrosis in different organs, including the lungs. The major part of the article addresses clinical examples of managing patients with COVID-19 at the University Clinic of the Medical Research and Educational Centre of the M. V. Lomonosov Moscow State University, including successful treatment with schemes containing bromhexine and spironolactone. In conclusion, the authors described the design of a randomized, prospective BISCUIT study performed at the University Clinic of the M. V. Lomonosov Moscow State University with an objective of evaluating the efficacy of this scheme.


Increased serum neurofilament is associated with CNS axonal loss from a range of causes. We assessed its potential as a minimally-invasive indicator of active CNS pathology in those with neurological symptoms. GP referrals to the Neurology Rapid Access Clinic (RAC) at the John Radcliffe Hospital, Oxford were approached to take part. Informed consent was taken under a local Research Ethics Committee-approved protocol. Serum was taken prior to clinical assessment and tested for phosphorylated neurofilament heavy chain (pNFH) using a commercial ELISA (Euroimmun, Germany). Participants were followed up for final diagnosis. The 62 participants had a range of symptoms, with final diagnoses including migraine, functional, neurodegenerative and inflammatory conditions. Receiver Operating Curve analysis defined cut-off levels based on serum pNfH levels in healthy controls and patients with motor neurone disease measured as part of an independent local biomarker study. pNFH levels in the 'pathological' range were associated with serious underlying pathology in several RAC referrals. Ongoing analysis of the cohort will be presented. Alongside clinical reasoning, serum pNFH may have significant value for the improved triage of those presenting to primary care with neurological symptoms. Further study in larger populations, including healthy individuals, is now warranted.


Exposure of the skin to solar ultraviolet radiation (UV) leads to various adverse effects, such as the induction of cellular damage and mutations, suppression of the skin's immune system, and the induction of skin cancer. These effects are the consequence of various molecular alterations in the skin resulting from absorption of photons. Formation of DNA damage is one of these. In the present study the effect of tanning accelerators was investigated on the level of DNA damage after exposure to UV. With the use of a specific monoclonal antibody, DNA damage was quantified in human skin. Epicutaneous application of a complex of tanning enhancers (Unipertan® VEG-2002) before exposure to UV was found to reduce the level of DNA damage at 6 and/or 24 h thereafter. The results of in vitro studies (human skin organ cultures) as well as of a preliminary clinical trial are presented. The tanning enhancer was shown to increase removal of UV-DNA damage over normal repair measured at 6 and 24 h after UV exposure.


Understanding the touchpoints of water usage metering and how meter data is used in all business areas of water utilities, and in the everyday lives of customers, can lead to an appreciation of the scale of obtainable benefits of digital water metering (DWM). The absence of a systematic cataloguing of benefits, and the measurement of their value to a water utility and its customers, may explain the lack of acceptance of this technology among water utilities.
Manual meter reading has been identified as inefficient and ineffective for most utility processes, other than periodic billing for which it too can be problematic. DWM substantially eliminates the walking of meter reading routes by meter readers. It delivers over 2000 readings per quarter (at hourly intervals) rather than just the one reading obtained by the meter reader. Special trips to the property, which are required to read the manual meter when the customer leaves, are also eliminated. Sometimes the customer is asked to read the meter when the water utility cannot. DWM is accurate and automatic whereas manual meter reading is subject to mis-reads and estimation when the meter cannot be accessed. In Australia, and many other parts of the developed world, few water utilities have switched to DWM completely and, in many others, only in particular circumstances, usually involving a lack of physical access or where access by meter readers would be inefficient. Where significant network issues or scarce water resources have existed, digital meters have improved the management of the network and allowed the deferral of network augmentation and the conservation of water.
This doctoral research study aimed to address this lack of knowledge of DWM benefits by searching for and cataloguing the benefits, and by developing plausible measures that provide probabilistic ranges of outcomes of savings and changes to customer sentiment. The objectives were to find as many benefits as possible from across water utilities' operations and among customer interactions with their water and wastewater service provider; to value those benefits, particularly the less-tangible benefits: and to develop a tool to model the value of benefits for water utilities.
To identify the benefits, an extensive literature review of academic and industry reports was conducted. Interviews were conducted with several current and past staff of water utilities. The literature review was backed up by structured interviews with employees with specific expertise from a cross section of companies and representing various roles within those organisations. Customers were surveyed directly to identify their responses to the potential of digital metering. Qualitative and quantitative methods were applied to the expert opinions and customer survey responses to develop a valuation model that calculates savings and change in customer satisfaction levels. Other surveys were conducted to collect data from water utilities on specific issues. The valuation model was trialled in the field. The methods and findings are presented in the four journal papers that are included in this thesis.
In all, 77 benefits of DWM were identified. These were categorised into a taxonomy based on who would benefit, (i.e., the water business, the customer or both water business or customer) as well as the business areas and sub-areas of those beneficiaries. A second taxonomy was developed that categorised benefits according to sustainability themes. Qualitative analysis of the expert opinions regarding the benefits exposed the range of opinions on the likelihood that benefits could be achieved and the extent of the benefit. While quantifying the savings of individual benefits, two contexts were identified (Cost of Water savings, and Charges and Operational Cost savings) and the need for flexibility to meet local expectations was observed. The customer survey revealed the potential change in levels of customer satisfaction from a current 5.8 (0 – 10 scale) to between 6.2 and 8.8, with a simple average of 7.6. Separate valuation methods within the model were developed for each context. A third valuation method was developed for measuring change in customer satisfaction over multiple years. The application of the model, using a large metropolitan water utility's data, calculated savings outcomes that were consistent with the utility's cost-benefit analysis and provided the utility with risk-based probabilistic ranges. DWM benefit savings were also viewed through a sustainability lens after being allocated to the different sustainability themes. The trial raised issues with the framing of business cases for DWM projects and which were then examined.
Other findings were made during the study. The commonly used scale used in the Net Promoter Score classification of customers was observed to be inaccurate for relationship type surveys of water utilities, and a new scale was proposed. The potential of data analytics applied to hourly meter readings to answer questions on usage within residential properties was examined through a case study of a regional water utility. A model to optimise the sequencing of meter deployment to gain benefits early was proposed and a prototype model presented. Further, an opportunity for a capability model for intelligent metering was identified and a preliminary model was developed. The study also proposed that a longitudinal study of the uplift in customer satisfaction from the use of DWM be conducted, and that a non-monetary measure of the value of social equity be developed and applied to DWM project proposals.


Chemical and structural evolution in battery materials influences properties relevant to ionic and electronic transport and ultimately impacts the battery performance. Although chemical and structural gradients have been observed in several cathode materials, the origin(s) of these phenomena are poorly understood. Via high-throughput core-level spectroscopies {i.e., X-ray absorption spectroscopy (XAS), depth-profiled X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) and electron energy loss spectroscopy (EELS)}, as well as scanning transmission electron microscopy (STEM), the present study seeks to achieve mechanistic understanding for these phenomena in a stoichiometric Rm layered cathode material (e.g., LiNixMnxCo1−2xO2, NMC). We observed that the surfaces of particles in the composite electrode are complicated by the presence of a surface reaction layer resulting from electrolyte decomposition. In large particle ensembles, the global nickel oxidation state switches between Ni2+ and Ni2+x (x = 1–2) during charging/discharging processes, and hole states are also created at the O2p level due to the TM3d–O2p hybridization states. In primary particles, the surface is less oxidized than the bulk counterpart of the same particle whenever the particle has been cycled. This is partially attributed to the reconstruction from an Rm structure to an Fmm structure at the surfaces of NMC particles. This work provides a unique insight into correlating crystal structures with charge compensation mechanisms and performance fading in stoichiometric layered cathode materials.


Memories of past events can be recalled long after the event, indicating stability. But new experiences are also integrated into existing memories, indicating plasticity. In the hippocampus, spatial representations are known to remain stable, but have also been shown to drift over long periods of time. We hypothesized that experience, more than the passage of time, is the driving force behind memory plasticity. We compared the stability of place cells in the hippocampus of mice traversing two similar, familiar tracks for different durations. We found that the more time spent in an environment, the greater the representational drift, regardless of the total elapsed time. Our results suggest that spatial representation is a dynamic process, related to the ongoing experiences within a specific context, and is related to the accumulation of new memories rather than to passive forgetting. Highlights Representational drift is related to experience within an environment. Representational drift is a dynamic context-wide process. Place cell number decreases with experience, spatial information content increases.


The article under discussion depicts the pedagogical ideas of the great thinkers of the East on problems of upbringing and education of the young generation. The authors of the article consider that the pedagogical ideas of the great thinkers of the East are a significant contribution to the world pedagogy. A retrospective analysis of the history of pedagogical thought in the East shows that human self-value, ascent to the values formed in childhood, caring attitude to children are an integral part of historical and cultural pedagogical tradition.


In today"s knowledge economy, library and information services are viewed as sellable products through marketing concepts. Marketing helps libraries to promote the value of the services in an emerging information communication technology world where patrons prefer the "Web" as their primary source of information because of its promptness in answer to queries. Technological advancement, marketing and globalization have ushered in a great change and challenges in educational environment thereby, bypassing the traditional concept of services in librarianship. The way information is harnessed, communicated, processed, acquired, organized, and disseminated is now changing through marketing principles. For instance marketing of library services (product/commodity) increasingly involved satisfaction of user, by providing maximum value to patrons. Information is a commodity and an information service is the philosophy of marketing the library commodity. The philosophy of marketing states that the social and economic justification for an organization"s existence is the satisfaction of customer"s wants and needs, while meeting organizational activities through financial sustainability. Keying to the above, also discussed is the growth of library through marketing commercialization, marketing strategy, and promotions. The information world is growing through information technological revolution that has drastically challenged many facets of human existence: from education, industry, economy, marketing and politics to information delivery. The library cannot be left out in this noble innovation. The need for information marketing becomes imperative, given the fact that ICT has improved accessibility to information, and this has changed not only the roles, but also the way information is harnessed. The paper argued that if marketing of information is carefully planned and executed; marketing has the potentials to change the status quo of librarianship. It recommends de-classification, repositioning and reengineering of library and information services through effective marketing. It concludes that a new dawn is here and information professionals should realize that the right time to strategies is now, in other to be relevant in an environment that is shifting and full of threats.


Lipopolysaccharides (LPS) of gram-negative bacilli are known to protect mice against unrelated bacterial infections and to be nonspecific mitogens of murine bone marrow-derived (B-) lymphocytes. For assessment of the role of these cells in the mechanism of LPS-induced resistance to infection with Klebsielia, various nontoxic mitogens were assayed. In contrast to LPS or lipid A, the nontoxic mitogens did not protect mice. Experiments were also performed with LPS in nude mice and in mice treated with immunosuppressants. Stimulation by LPS was decreased after administration of hydrocortisone or cyclophosphamide under conditions that inhibited the in vitro activation of lymphocytes by mitogens. Moreover, nude mice and mice treated with 6-mercaptopurine were more resistant to Klebsiella than were control mice.


As a phase space language for quantum mechanics, the Wigner function approach bears a close analogy to classical mechanics and has been drawing growing attention, especially in simulating quantum many-body systems. However, deterministic numerical solutions have been almost exclusively confined to one-dimensional one-body systems and few results are reported even for one-dimensional two-body problems. This paper serves as the first attempt to solve the time-dependent many-body Wigner equation through a grid-based advective-spectral-mixed method. The main feature of the method is to resolve the linear advection in $(\bm{x},t)$-space by an explicit three-step characteristic scheme coupled with the piecewise cubic spline interpolation, while the Chebyshev spectral element method in $\bm k$-space is adopted for accurate calculation of the nonlocal pseudo-differential term. Not only the time step of the resulting method is not restricted by the usual CFL condition and thus a large time step is allowed, but also the mass conservation can be maintained. In particular, for the system consisting of identical particles, the advective-spectral-mixed method can also rigorously preserve physical symmetry relations. The performance is validated through several typical numerical experiments, like the Gaussian barrier scattering, electron-electron interaction and a Helium-like system, where the third-order accuracy against both grid spacing and time stepping is observed.


Professional geology is based upon scientific and/or applied studies implementing objective field observations, measurements and sampling combined with laboratory studies with all required modern tools and techniques. Results obtained are interpreted within the limitations imposed by lack of sufficient data (e.g., lack of good outcrops; impossibility to reach deeper Earth levels; imperfectness of the fossil record; overprint of thermal events effacing older isotopic evidence, etc.), and by flaws of the scientific theory. The theoretical geology derives basic geologic theories from the wealth of centennial professional observations. Both professional and theoretical geology require an objective description of the facts observed. All requirements in respect of the ethical attitude towards Nature, society, the customer, colleagues and predecessors should be respected, too. On the way of establishment of ethical relations between Nature and Society, a new science, geoethics, is being developed. It is aiming at a sustainable development of society in harmony with the natural environment.


We show that supramolecular chemistry provides a convenient tool to prepare carbone nanotubes (CNTs) that can be dispersed in solvents of any chemical nature, easily recovered and redispersed. Thymine-modified CNTs (CNT-Thy) can be dispersed in solution in the presence of diaminotriazine (DAT) end-functionalized polymers, through supramolecular Thy/DAT association. DAT-polymer chains are selected according to the solvent chemical nature: polystyrene (PS) for hydrophobic/low polarity solvents and a propylene oxide/ethylene oxide copolymer (predominantly propylene oxide based, PPO/PEO) for polar solvents or water. Long-term stable supramolecular CNT dispersions are reversibly aggregated by adding a few droplets of a selective dissociating agent of the Thy/DAT association (DMSO). CNT-Thy, simply recycled by centrifugation or filtration, can be redispersed in another solvent in presence of a suitable soluble DAT-polymer. Dispersion and aggregation can also be switched on and off by choosing a polymer for which a given solvent is close to Θ-conditions, e.g., PS in cyclohexane or PPO/PEO in water.


For the conservative restoration of historical buildings and cultural Heritage, it is crucial to compose a complete registration of structural data to verify many interdisciplinary and complex problems that involve different scaled parameters. For an extensive monitoring pattern, direct transducers and high precision levelling on structural nodes may detect any variations expressed in fractions of millimeters, but these data have to be correlated with other parameters expressed in centimeters or meters and spread on large surfaces (i.e a complete crack map of a building). A critical reading of structural data needs 3D restitutions and other graphical representations, as well as mathematical routine elaborations. Nowadays specific softwares offer a concrete possibility to make use of many different data sets in a single environment. Graphical and numerical data could interact at different model scales so that resulting 3D plotting elaborations may show several complex structural correlations. Similar guide-lines previously experienced for the Cupola di S. Maria del Fiore and for the Battistero di S.Giovanni in Florence were employed since the first phase of the study planned for the restauration works of the Cappella dei Principi di San Lorenzo. The acquisition process of technical data was carried out to obtain a complete integration among photogrammetric surveys and other consolidate structural investigations. Graphical elaborations derived by this approach show a kind of crowding of interesting pieces of information on some critical structural nodes in concordance to specific boundary elements of the SAP building model.


Summary

Stevia-based sweeteners are beginning to enter the UK market following approval for use in the European Union in late 2011. Intensely sweet compounds, called steviol glycosides, are purified from the leaves of the stevia plant to result in a sweetener of natural origin that is about 200 times as sweet as sucrose. The scientific community has been aware of stevia for more than 100 years, yet the case for safety was not made until after reliable purity specifications were established and research results were available that closed safety gaps to the satisfaction of regulators. In food and beverage formulations, steviol glycosides exhibit characteristic behaviours and successful formulation is dependent upon understanding and managing these attributes. Steviol glycosides are particularly well suited for a variety of beverage and dairy applications, confectionery and several other foods. This is in part caused by steviol glycosides' high degree of stability in food processing. Stevia-based sweeteners offer exciting potential for use as an innovative solution for calorie and sugar reduction.


ABSTRACT There is a well-established complex interaction between vitamin D metabolism and bone and gonad functions. In this study, we aimed to investigate the potential effects of vitamin D therapy on testosterone and osteocalcin (OC) levels in aged male rats. Forty-five adult male rats were divided into three groups in this study. Unlike the control group, the two experimental groups received 50 IU/kg/day and 100 IU/kg/day of vitamin D3 (cholecalciferol), respectively, for a 4-week period using the gavage method. Testicular tissue and blood samples from rats were collected under general anesthesia at the end of the 4-week period. Testicular tissue samples were examined using light and electron microscopy. Additionally, serum testosterone and OC levels were measured in blood samples. The 50 IU/kg dose of cholecalciferol increased testosterone and OC levels, which were lower than normal due to aging, and regulated the organization of the seminiferous tubule epithelium and interstitium more effectively than the 100 IU/kg dose of cholecalciferol. Male fertility functions and bone health, which degrade due to aging, were increased due to the use of exogenous vitamin D, although the higher dose was not associated with more effective results.


The rapid growth of mobile communications has not only led to a rising number of mobile telephones. It has also made base stations essential for services widespread on many roofs. However, not everyone is aware that working close to sources of high frequency electromagnetic fields (EMF), such as transmitter antennas for mobile phones, pagers and police, fire and other emergency services, can result in high EMF exposure. This paper deals with measurements and calculations of the compliance boundary for workers in one typical roof top base station setting according to EU Directive and other relevant EN standards.


This paper aims to develop a dynamic process view of outsourcing. In the research, a longitudinal, grounded theory approach was used, with iterative steps of reviewing the current literature and knowledge on outsourcing and, in parallel, empirically examining the processes occurring with three case companies. The case companies, all from the telecommunications industry, outsourced at least three activities, which were examined over the course of 4 years. The research provided a dynamic model of the outsourcing process as well as identifying key drivers and influences on the process.


This editorial is my last contribution in my role as Editor-in-Chief of the Science family of journals. I have had a front-row seat to learning about often astounding research across many disciplines. And I have overseen efforts at three mature journals and helped develop or launch three new ones. As I take stock of this tremendous opportunity, I have been reflecting on the characteristics of privilege, in science and in life.


ABSTRACT B3LYP and MP2 calculations with the commonly-used 6-31+G(d) basis set predict qualitatively different structures for the Tyr–Gly conformer book1, which is the most stable conformer identified in a previous study. The structures differ mainly in the ψtyr Ramachandran angle (138° in the B3LYP structure and 120° in the MP2 structure). The causes for the discrepant structures are attributed to missing dispersion in the B3LYP calculations and large intramolecular BSSE in the MP2 calculations. The correct ψtyr value is estimated to be 130°. The MP2/6-31+G(d) profile identified an additional conformer, not present on the B3LYP surface, with a ψtyr value of 96° and a more folded structure. This minimum is, however, likely an artefact of large intramolecular BSSE values. We recommend the use of basis sets of at least quadruple-zeta quality in density functional theory (DFT), DFTaugmented with an empirical dispersion term (DFT-D) and second-order Møller-Plesset perturbation theory (MP2 ) calculations in cases where intramolecular BSSE is expected to be large.


Highway infrastructures represent one of the largest public investments, and they are a very significant factor for the nation's advancement. Managing the resources to optimize the network performance and its level of service is one of the greatest challenges that face public agencies while having funding constraints. Alberta Infrastructure and Transportation (AIT) owns the provincial highway network that is worth a total value of approximately $19.2 billon. This includes 30,000 km highway and over 3,800 bridges that need to be managed. AIT will be investing approximately $1.0 billion annually over the next ten years to enhance its network level. This requires conducting analysis on long-term and short-term periods, and investigates the impacts of various decisions while incorporating engineering principles and business logic to optimize funding expenditures. To achieve this goal, AIT is currently developing a highway Capital Planning Decision Support System (NESS) that will assist solving this multi-objective dilemma in short-term and long-term horizons. NESS is an engineering analysis tool that uses geometric design standards safety and level of service criteria to identify highway deficiencies for planning and design of highway capital improvement. The system will have the capacity to assess the safety efficiency, analyze cost effectiveness of various treatment options while achieving the optimal use of resources. The proposed system will recommend alternative activities that will incorporate risk analysis. This will assist to accomplish the overall benefit to the entire highway transportation system. The objective of this paper is to describe the Capital Planning Decision Support System concept and the proposed approach followed by Alberta Infrastructure and Transportation (AIT) to manage its highway network on a micro-level and subsequently a macro-level. This Decision Support System will incorporate expert knowledge, engineering principles, network physical conditions, geometric design, safety, level of service benchmarking, and funding aspects.


AIM: The purpose of this study is to identify characteristics of falling in patients with peripheral neuropathy
METHODS: 31 (mean age 47.00 ± 19.47 years ) cases with neuropathy were included in the study. Superficial and deep sensation in lower exremities ,foot dorsi flexion, knee extension and flexion of hip muscle strength (0-5) were evaluated. Patients were asked to report the falling activity, the number of falls, cause of falling, the shape of falling, fear of falling and type of injury caused by falls in the last 6 months.
RESULTS: Duration of disease 09.37 ± 09.64 years. The cases of muscle strength 51.9%/57.8% at the left/right foot dorsiflexion, 7.6%/8% knee extension, 7.7%/8%, hip flexion value of the 3 under was found. The cases of 32%/ 28% \'s of the left/right loss sensation of pressure under the sole. 50% cases of the style of socks hypoesthesia was found. 71% of the cases reported falling, 38% fell more than 3, 63% have a fear of falling, 46.7% was occurred by foot insertion, 57.7 % cases for a fall during a walking activity.
CONCLUSIONS: Understanding the properties of falling in patients with peripheral neuropathy will guide physiotherapists in the practice of neurological rehabilitation for practice and therapatic purposes


Mucor species exhibit fungal dimorphism in controlled environments. In this work, we examined the effect of myoinositol supplementation on the growth and morphology of Mucor circinelloides. Using sporangiospores as inoculums, diverse morphologies were induced in synthetic broth incubated at pH 4.5, temp. 20 degrees C, ambient. The morphologies included thallic suptypes (holoblastic-, holothallic-, enterothallic conidia as well as vesicular conidial headgroups), which were determinate in growth, and proliferating yeast forms. Analysis of variance, p<0.05, showed that time had significant impact on growth. A separation of means, l.s.d. 14.34, p<0.05, indicated that myoinositol supplementation at 500 microM supported the least growth, but 2.0-3.0 mM levels had the higher values, and this was followed by the control, 300 microM, 1.0, 2.0, 5.0 mM supplementations. Although the predominant morphology, that is, terminal budding yeast cells was not quantitated, observation showed that it was more preponderant, had optimal size and cell shape became more regular at 2.0 mM myoinositol supplementation.


Paget's disease of bone is a benign disease, of uncertain etiology, characterized by an accelerated turnover, that is, bone resorption and formation. Paget's disease may be present in up to 5% of the population, and the majority of cases are asymptomatic. We report the imaging findings of Paget's disease of pelvis discovered incidentally in patient with lung cancer evaluated by fluorine-18-fluorodeoxyglucose (FDG) positron emission tomography/computed tomography (PET/CT) for staging. FDG PET-CT scan showed intense uptake in the right lung lower lobe primary and mediastinal lymph nodes. Furthermore, increased uptake noted in left hemipelvis suggestive of Paget's disease. He underwent follow-up FDG PET-CT after chemotherapy showed decrease in lung mass and mediastinal nodes. However, the uptake in left hemipelvis remains same confirming Paget's disease.


One of many duties of teachers is as a facilitators of students learning activities, as facilitator a teacher has to be capable in serving various kinds of instructional media. This research  aims to develop instructional media by applying  the computer assisted as simulation trainer of DCS in order to run processing control system, and analyzing characteristics on processing control systems, interactively, intuitive, effectively, and efficiently. This DCS/SCADA trainer is developed using LabVIEW application as the Human Machine Interface (HMI) which usually present on Distributed Control System (DCS). Arduino microcontroller as replacement for Programmable Logic Control (PLC) device. Applied controlling systems are Proportional Integral and Derivative (PID) control on single loop level and cascade loop level. From the research result by using mixed methods acquired qualitative and quantitative data's. Data then analyzed through triangulation process by using the support of NVivo application until its validity and credibility can be approved as assessment on the instructional media which had been developed. To know the effectiveness thus testing of the student comprehension regarding of the media that is being used before has to be done by providing pretest and posttest. The results of the analysis of qualitative data obtained the information that stakeholders in the development of instructional media have confirmed agreement on the suitability of media that is developed with the curriculum in instrumentation processing control program. And the results of testing the effectiveness of this medium can be proven by the average value of the results of more than pretest posttest, the effectiveness is then expressed in Cohen-d where the results indicate a positive difference.


In large-scale heterogeneous P2P net- works, it is indispensable to manage objects based on node's capabilities. In order to achieve this end, capability-aware object management based on Skip List has been proposed. However, in this method, the number of hops for message routing increases as the number of nodes becomes large. In this paper, for the capability-aware object management, we pro- pose a new message routing algorithm s in order to decrease the number of hops. In our proposed algo- rithm, additional node-information is included in a transmitting message and this information is used so that a node does not receive the same message dou- bly. Each node can use our proposed algorithm sim- ply, and its implementation is easy. We evaluate the performance of the proposed method by simulation. Numerical examples show that the proposed method can decrease the average number of hops in any cases. In addition, the maximum number of hops decreases significantly when the number of nodes is large.


Problem outline: Adding armor to protect vehicle occupants leaves conventional suspensions incapable of delivering ride quality and handling needed for mission objectives. The current up-armored HMWWV has exceeded the design weight for the M1113 variant by a considerable amount. The rated GVW is 11,500 lb, yet the mission ready weight often reaches 14,500 lb. This results in greatly reduced reliability and frequent breakage of suspension components. When the suspension is overloaded, the ride height is reduced and the vehicle is no longer capable of safely traversing rough terrain. In addition, the lack of available compression travel results in severe bottoming that transmits extremely high shock loads into the suspension, chassis and ultimately the occupants. A semi-active suspension upgrade kit for the up-armored HMWWV was developed with the objective of achieving comparable performance for the weight range of 8300lbs curb weight to 14,500lbs combat loaded. Objective: The performance target was equivalent handling, stability and ride quality as an M1113 HMMWV at rated GVW. The project developed a bolt on suspension retrofit kit for existing vehicles which is also compatible with new vehicles builds. The kit maintained ride height throughout the range of predicted loads and provided sufficient damping force to achieve comparable handling and performance to the target. Occupant comfort was improved through a reduction in absorbed power over RMS terrain courses. Testing demonstrated improved stability and balance during slalom and increased speed during NATO lane change maneuvers. This translated into a reduced danger of rollover, better control during aggressive or emergency maneuvers and a 50% reduction in unscheduled maintenance costs. The system has application for other vehicles that traverse rough roads or have large changes from curb weight to GVW. Conclusion: A semi active suspension significantly improves vehicle mobility and reduces maintenance cost. Complete study provided below. UPGRADED SUSPENSIONS SYSTEMS IMPROVE MOBILITY AND SURVIVABILITY OF GROUND VEHICLES


Psittacosis, also referred to as ornithosis, is a disease primarily of birds, which may be transmitted to humans. Psittacosis is caused by Chlamydia psittaci, an obligate intracellular parasite found worldwide. Humans are infected with C. psittaci when the organism enters the blood stream, usually through inhalation of dried excrement from diseased birds or through wound contamination with infected avian secretions. C. psittaci replicates in the liver and spleen and infects the lung and other organs hematogenously.1 The clinical manifestations of human psittacosis range from a mild respiratory infection to a severe systemic illness.1,2 Symptoms are frequently described as flu-like with fever, headache, body aches, and dry or productive cough. Sore throat, chest pain, abdominal pain, vomiting, and diarrhea are variably present. Physical findings may include a pulse-temperature dissociation, localized lung crackles, hepatomegaly, splenomegaly, and a pale macular skin rash. Chest radiographs may demonstrate lesions that are atelectatic, patchy, miliary, nodular, or consolidated in one or both lungs. White cell counts, erythrocyte sedimentation rates, and liver function tests are usually normal. In severe illness, signs and symptoms of liver dysfunction, neurological impairment, and respiratory and renal failure may be present. Since 1879 when psittacosis was recognized as a disease entity, cases have been reported in North and South America, Europe, Asia, and Australia. However, reports of psittacosis in Africa have been rare. An Ethiopian group, studying community-acquired pneumonia, published what they claimed to be the first report of psittacosis in Africa in 1994.3 The report published here is believed to be the first documented case of human psittacosis in Egypt.


Author(s): Hall, Levi; Palmer, Theron | Abstract: A Slight Chance of Rain is a continuous side scroller which seeks to take the focus off of the quick twitch movement style of play within the genre, and place it on strategizing. A Slight Chance of Rain does this in part by making the obstacles that the player has to face not come from the horizontal plain of the character, but rather along the vertical plane. It also achieves this goal by giving the player the ability to naturally slow down and speed up their character�s run pace, jump and booster jump over flying objects, slide under objects, boost forward, and slowdown and speed up time around the character within an expanding radius.The goal of A Slight Chance of Rain is to simply traverse through the city environments scoring the highest amount of points as possible by passing under the objects as close as you can without dying. With the help of your umbrella shield, which can be replaced throughout the game sporadically through the destruction of falling objects, you have the opportunity to do this without taking from your own health entirely. Once your umbrella shield is destroyed though, you become vulnerable to taking personal damage form the objects. The greater in size of the object, the greater the amount of damage to your umbrella or health is given. To encourage replay and further risk, you have the opportunity to replay levels to increase your score for each.


The eukaryotic mRNA 3' poly(A) tail and the 5' cap cooperate to synergistically enhance translation. This interaction is mediated, at least in part, by elF4G, which bridges the mRNA termini by simultaneous binding the poly(A)-binding protein (PABP) and the cap-binding protein, elF4E. The poly(A) tail also stimulates translation from the internal ribosome binding sites (IRES) of a number of picornaviruses. elF4G is likely to mediate this translational stimulation through its direct interaction with the IRES. Here, we support this hypothesis by cleaving elF4G to separate the PABP-binding site from the portion that promotes internal initiation. elF4G cleavage abrogates the stimulatory effect of poly(A) tail on translation. In addition, translation in extracts in which elF4G is cleaved is resistant to inhibition by the PABP-binding protein 2 (Paip2). The elF4G cleavage-induced loss of the stimulatory effect of poly(A) on translation was mimicked by the addition of the C-terminal portion of elF4G. Thus, PABP stimulates picornavirus translation through its interaction with elF4G.


PurposeThis paper will try to uncover how e-learning is giving a new shape to the education industry. Also, it will encompass the students' perspective and experience of e-learning.Design/methodology/approachThe present study employed interpretative phenomenological analysis (IPA) to intensely scrutinize the lived-in experiences of the participants. In the present study, the respondents were selected from Delhi NCR of India. Semi-structured interviews were conducted to collect the primary data to understand the student's perspectives on the impact of information and communications technology (ICT) in education industry.FindingsThe findings have been grouped under two sections referred to as "themes," which include "drivers for e-learning adoption" and "inhibitors which restrict the adoption of e-learning."Practical implicationsAt present, India does not have a big market for e-learning, but there is huge potential in the country. The present study may be helpful for the educational institutions in India and in similar developing countries in understanding the students' perspectives on e-learning adoption. The educational institutions may improve their systems accordingly so that they can not only retain the students of their own countries but also attract students from other countries for further education.Social implicationsE-learning can be employed to give users quick access to ideas and experiences from a wide range of people, communities, and the cultures to increase the tangibility.Originality/valueThe study will be useful to the policymakers in the higher education sector of developing nations like India, in understanding the students' mindsets. This study makes a contribution to the growing literature on e-learning, where the researchers have determined the relative importance of various motivating and inhibiting factors which influence the adoption of e-learning. Additionally, the study has used IPA as the methodology to determine the factors, which is a novel contribution.


The conformation and charge exposure of peptides attached to colloidal gold nanoparticles (AuNPs) are critical for both the colloidal stability and for the recognition of biological targets in biomedical applications such as diagnostics and therapy. We prepared conjugates of AuNPs and three isomer peptides capable of recognizing toxic aggregates of the amyloid beta protein (Abeta) involved in Alzheimer's disease, namely, CLPFFD-CONH(2) (i0), CDLPFF-CONH(2) (i1), and CLPDFF-CONH(2) (i2), where D is the amino acid aspartic acid that is negatively charged at pH = 7.4. We then studied the effect of peptide sequence on the charge exposure through force spectroscopy measurements. The peptide-AuNPs conjugates were fixed on glass surfaces, and their interactions with peptide-functionalized tips were determined. Our results show a higher density of surface charge in the conjugates of the isomers i0 and i2 and a lower density in i1, which is due to the higher degree of functionalization in the first two compared with the third. However, the charge per molecule of the peptide is higher for i1 with respect to i0 and i2, which could be related to the local conformation that the peptides adopt on the surface. The acid-base behavior of the peptide anchored to the AuNPs is different than expected in aqueous solutions of free peptides, which could be related to the low accessibility of the NH(2)-terminal group belonging to the cysteine that is located near the AuNPs surface. In contrast with other techniques, the fixation of the peptide-AuNPs conjugates to a surface allows for characterization of the local charge exposure of peptides anchored to AuNPs over a wide range of pH.


The problem of evaluating the university faculty research performance in the European Higher Education Area and in the European Research Area is enlightened in the paper. It is emphasized that under the transition to open science and open access and increasing digitalization, that has emerged in the higher education system due to the global COVID-19 pandemic, the problem of academic staff research performance evaluation and their career attractiveness needs to be reconsidered. The article analyses the key principles of evaluating researchers and their professional development; they are enlightened in the basic regulations of the European Commission, European University Association and European Research Area, and in the Hong Kong Principles as a part of the Open Science and Open Access Initiative. The issue of using almetrics in evaluating research outputs is actualized; it provides the «visibility» of the researcher not only for the scientific or educational community, but also for society as a whole. This expands the scope of usual indicators of research performance and provides a comprehensive and more objective measurement of researchers' excellence. The structure of research performance evaluation is given; it should be based on an integrated approach, taking into account the peer-review, quantitative and qualitative measurements, and include all the components of university staff research activity, i.e. the scientific creativity potential and its research outputs, research supervision, young scientists' mentoring, national and international cooperation, performing administrative duties, research dissemination, and mobility.


This paper presents the results of an investigation on the characteristics of tunnelling-induced ground settlement in groundwater drawdown environment. The dynamics of the effect of groundwater drawdown on the ground settlements are first investigated using a case history concerning a conventional tunnelling situation in which the interaction between the tunnelling and the groundwater induced excessive ground surface settlements. A 2D stress-pore pressure coupled finite element analysis is then conducted on a tunnelling case with groundwater drawdown, aiming at investigating ground surface settlement characteristics. The results indicated among other things that significant portion of ground settlement can occur before tunnel face reaches, and that the error function approach does not provide a good fit to the settlement troughs for tunnelling cases with groundwater drawdown.


Peripheral nervous system (PNS) disorders are a common cause of total permanent disability, which can be caused by disorders in the metabolism of neurotropic vitamins (thiamine, pyridoxine, cyanocobalamin). Treatment of PNS disorders commonly requires long-term treatment associated with the occurrence of side effects. The article discusses the use of neurotropic vitamins for patient management with various forms of PNS disorders. Data concerning experimental and clinical studies, systematic reviews and meta-analyses on the results of patient treatment with poly- and mononeuropathies, peripheral nerve injury, dorsalgia, tunnel syndromes using vitamins of group B are presented. It is shown that the use of a vitamin complex of group B is more effective than the use of placebo, as well as their use separately. In most patients, clinical improvement (reduction of the neurologic deficits severity, pain management) is accompanied by the recovery of electroneuromyography indices, reduction in the need of analgesic drugs in dorsalgia, decrease in the treatment duration, and decrease in the incidence of side effects. The use of neurotropic vitamins has been noted for the good tolerability, in particular, there was a rare occurrence of adverse events during their use. KEYWORDS: thiamine, pyridoxine, cyanocobalamin, methylcobalamin, neuropathy, nerve injury, polyneuropathy, dorsalgia, treatment, side effects, clinical study. FOR CITATION: Chugunov A.V., Kazakov K.A., Kazakov A.Yu. Neurotropic vitamins use in the patient management with various lesions of the peripheral nervous system. Russian Medical Inquiry. 2020;4(9):606–611. DOI: 10.32364/2587-6821-2020-4-9-606-611.


Neuropathic pain (NP) is a debilitating condition associated with traumatic, metabolic, autoimmune and neurological etiologies. Although the triggers for NP are diverse, there are common underlying pathways, including activation of immune cells in the spinal cord and up-regulation of the N-methyl-D-aspartate receptor (NMDAR). Ketamine, a well-known NDMAR antagonist, reduces neuropathic pain in a sustained manner. Recent study has shown that the novel 11-amino acid peptide erythropoietin derivative ARA290 produces a similar, long-lasting relief of NP. Here, we show that both drugs also have similar effects on the expression of mRNA of the NMDAR, as well as that of microglia, astrocytes and chemokine (C-C motif) ligand 2, all-important contributors to the development of NP. Although the effects of ketamine and ARA 290 on NP and its molecular mediators suggest a common mechanism of action, ARA 290 has no affinity for the NMDAR and acts specifically via the innate repair receptor (IRR) involved in tissue protection. We speculated therefore, that the IRR might be critically involved in the action of ketamine on neuropathic pain. To evaluate this, we studied the effects of ketamine and ARA 290 on acute pain, side effects, and allodynia following a spared nerve injury model in mice lacking the β-common receptor (βcR), a structural component of the IRR. Ketamine (50 mg/kg) and ARA 290 (30 µg/kg) produced divergent effects on acute pain: ketamine produced profound antinociception accompanied with psychomotor side effects, but ARA290 did not, in both normal and knock out mice. In contrast, while both drugs were antiallodynic in WT mice, they had no effect on NP in mice lacking the βcR. Together, these results show that an intact IRR is required for the effective treatment of NP with either ketamine or ARA 290, but is not involved in ketamine's analgesic and side effects.


For all measurements the problem of error estimation is very important. At time there exists an arbitrariness selecting a sultable error criterion for measured values and measuring devices. This arbitrariness is removed by means of the modern information theory. Thereby the law of the a priori distribution is of high importance. As the result of stipulated considerations two distribution laws are derived for constrained and unconstrained test data from which the mean information-error of a measuring device can be computed.


textabstractThis thesis explores how social context influences the neurobiological processes underlying decision-making. To this end, this research takes an interdisciplinary approach, combining methods and insights from Psychology, Marketing, Economics, and Neuroscience. In particular, behavioural responses are collected, and used in combination with both functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) techniques and pharmacological interventions examining the role of the hormone oxytocin in decision-making.
The first part of this thesis is concerned with the effects of social influence on decision-making, or in other words, how human decisions are influenced by the behaviour and beliefs of other people. Specifically, this part examines the influence of both celebrity endorsements and peer groups on the neural processes underlying decision-making. The second part of this thesis investigates the influence of social norms on decision-making. This section examines the neural processes involved in cooperation and the role of oxytocin in social norm enforcement.


We propose an advanced genetic algorithm (GA) to design fiber Bragg gratings (FBGs) with given fabrication constraints. Our GA is enhanced by a new Fourier-series-based real-valued encoding to obtain more degrees of freedom and a rank-based fitness function. The new GA enables us to remove phase shifts in the gratings. The designed minimum-dispersion bandpass grating has a dispersion of /spl plusmn/28 ps/nm in the 0.33-nm flat-top passband. The grating is fabricated using a phase mask without phase shift.


The validity of the general idea of plate tectonics is accepted; the magmas evolved along the spreading ridges are thought to be largely tholeiitic basalt, although alkalic olivine basalt and ultramafic rocks of several kinds have also been dredged from them. The ultramafics may be residual from the partial melting of pyrolite while the tholeiite was being formed at shallower depths, or they may possibly be fragments of the mantle raised by the injection of sills. Bouvet and Jan Mayen Islands, both on the crest of the Mid-Atlantic Ridge, are largely composed of alkali basalt with very minor differentiates of trachyte and even rhyolite that may be readily accounted for by differentiation at a high level in the volcanic edifice. Iceland, though, has so much granite and rhyolite widely distributed that it seems likely, as suggested by several students, that its basement is sialic. The volcanic islands tend to be more alkalic the farther they are from the ridges; perhaps they rose from deeper sources in areas of low heat flow and are not related to plate margins. If the African Rifts are incipient plate margins, it is noteworthy that the magmas associated with them are wholly different from the tholeiites of the oceanic ridges. They are among the most highly alkaline of any rocks known. The magmatic activity at the subduction zones, where the plates are being destroyed, is very different. There are three varieties of these plate junctions: continental against oceanic, oceanic against oceanic, and continental against continental. In both the junctions involving oceanic crust the material being consumed includes a variable thickness of sediment, underlain by 5 or 6 km of tholeiitic basalt overlying the downgoing mantle. These rocks are much less refractory than the pyrolite of the mantle and must surely compose a large part of material parental to the magmas formed along the subduction zones, the andesites, granodiorites, and granites. There is nowhere the tremendous volume of intermediate rocks that would have had to be formed if these voluminous magmas had been products of crystallization differentiation from a basaltic magma. The presently most active of the continent-continent junctions is along the Himalayas where India is underthrusting the continent of Asia; here there is no evidence of magmatism except along the transcurrent faults at either end of the main range. But there are large volcanic and plutonic masses that have no obvious relation to the plate boundaries active in Mesozoic and Cenozoic time. The Eogene volcanics of the San Juans and the Neogene volcanics of the Yellowstone are more than 1,500 km from any obvious subduction zone, and these regions of magmatic activity seem no more closely related to subduction zones than are the Tertiary igneous rocks of West Texas, the Cretaceous tuffs and plutons of Arkansas, the Cretaceous intrusives of the Monteregian Hills, and the minor Tertiary intrusives of Virginia.


Abstract. In this study the authors investigated the possibilities to use open data and open software complemented with machine learning to enhance the content of municipal databases. In the study area in Székesfehérvár, a GIS system is used with approximately with 30 modules, although many are still missing. The authors prepared examine the easiest and most affordable methods to extract data to use in two future modules: Parking and Traffic Engineering module. In parking model along field survey, they used QGIS and OpenStreetMap, in the other module they used Google StreetView for defining the places of traffic signs and used machine learning to define the signposts. They found that the accuracy of creating the parking module is based on the completeness of the database and the field measurement method, in case of the Traffic Engineering method the up-to-dateness and completeness of the original data source (Google Street View) and the number of teaching samples influence the results.


Abstract Purpose: The purpose of this study was to explore and compare foot and ankle characteristics in people with stroke and healthy controls; and between stroke fallers and non-fallers. Methods: Participants were recruited from community groups and completed standardized tests assessing sensation, foot posture, foot function, ankle dorsiflexion and first metatarsal phalangeal joint range of motion (1st MPJ ROM), hallux valgus presence and severity. Results: Twenty-three stroke participants (mean age 75.09 ± 7.57 years; 12 fallers) and 16 controls (mean age 73.44 ± 8.35 years) took part. Within the stroke group, reduced 1st MPJ sensation (p = 0.016) and 1st MPJ ROM (p = 0.025) were observed in the affected foot in comparison to the non-affected foot; no other differences were apparent. Pooled data (for both feet) was used to explore between stroke/control (n = 78 feet) and stroke faller/non-faller (n = 46 feet) group differences. In comparison to the control group, stroke participants exhibited reduced sensation of the 1st MPJ (p = 0.020), higher Foot Posture Index scores (indicating greater foot pronation, p = 0.008) and reduced foot function (p = 0.003). Stroke fallers exhibited significantly greater foot pronation in comparison to non-fallers (p = 0.027). Conclusions: Results indicated differences in foot and ankle characteristics post stroke in comparison to healthy controls. These changes may negatively impact functional ability and the ability to preserve balance. Further research is warranted to explore the influence of foot problems on balance ability and falls in people with stroke. Implications for Rehabilitation Foot problems are common post stroke. As foot problems have been linked to increased fall risk among the general population we recommend that it would be beneficial to include foot and ankle assessments or a referral to a podiatrist for people with stroke who report foot problems. Further research is needed to explore if we can improve functional performance post stroke and reduce fall risk if treatment or prevention of foot problems can be included in stroke rehabilitation.


It is widely recognized that to be literate in today's world requires conscious, creative and critical deployment of language (and other semiotic devices) for different social purposes, contexts and audiences (FREEBODY & LUKE, 1990, 2003). This notion of literacy as social practice (BARTON & HAMILTON, 2000; STREET, 1995) has been extended to include the idea of multiliteracies (NEW LONDON GROUP, 1996; KALANTZIS & COPE, 2012), in recognition of the roles technology and digital text use and production play in young people's lives. However, the literacy practices of primary school-aged students, as they enact them in their daily in-school and out-of-school lives, remain under-investigated. This is particularly the case with bilingually-educated students whose literacy practices, involving texts, talk and technology, are deployed across languages. The research reported here investigated the literacy practices and language use of 68 students at three primary schools in Melbourne, Australia. Each of these schools offered bilingual programs to their students (involving instruction in Mandarin Chinese or Vietnamese, along with English). Data collected through individually administered questionnaires and small group interviews reveal these students live highly multilingual lives, where sophisticated linguistic choices and translanguaging are part of both their in-school and out-of-school lives. The research revealed that direct connections are made between the languages learned at school and personal, family and community literacy practices. As such, the students were found to attach high levels of importance to becoming biliterate, and powerfully attest to the linguistic, educational, social and functional benefits of bilingualism and a bilingual education. The research findings provide valuable insights into bilingual and multilingual practices involving texts, talk and technology. This article posits that bilingual education, as implemented at the three research sites, enhances students' learning and their sense of personal identity, as well as affording them skills and understandings they deploy in their own increasingly technology-mediated lives.


A recent World Bank report reveals that poverty has been decreasing in all regions of the world with the exception of sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) as more than 45% of countries in the sub-region are off-track from achieving the Millennium Development Goal (MDG) extreme poverty target. This paper investigates the effects of mobile phone technology, knowledge creation and diffusion on inclusive human development in 49 SSA countries for the period 2000-2012 using Tobit model. The study finds that mobile phone penetration in SSA is pivotal to sustainable and inclusive human development irrespective of the country's level of income, legal origins, religious orientation and the state of the nation. However, the pupil-teacher ratio exerts a negative influence on inclusive human development. The net effects of interactions between the mobile phone and knowledge diffusion variables are positive.


This project makes available a language by which mourning can be expressed and explored as an epistemic concern and as an urgent matter to rethink politics in relation to difference. Through a situated, multidirectional investigation of its sensory, political, aesthetic, and psychoanalytic distributions, I claim that mourning—as the perceiving of alterity in relation to perceived 'loss'—produces a political subject exposed to uncertainty and the possibilities of community and 'moaning'. I propose 'moaning' as a mode of perceptual uncertain knowledge production. Engaging with Fred Moten's (2003) conceptualisation of 'black mo'nin'' in relation to postmortem photographs of Emmett Till, a black teenager who was lynched in 1955, I examine the socio-political stakes of moaning. Following Moten's attention to aesthetics as a political and epistemic concern, I formulate two modes of aesthetic perception: 'moaning aesthetics' as uncertain re-distributing perceiving of sights and sounds open to new political possibilities; and 'hegemonic aesthetics' as a closed, self-affirming cycle between hearing and seeing that disappears politics. I then ask: How, under conditions of political disappearance, might politics be regained by way of perception? Through re/analyses of and re/encounterings with the postmortem photographs of Emmett Till in relation to 'lynching photographs' of Elias Clayton, Elmer Jackson, Isaac McGhie, Lige Daniels, William Brown, Laura Nelson, Will James, Richard Dillon, August Goodman, Jesse Washington, Thomas Shipp, Abram Smith, George Meadows, Garfield Burley, Curtis Brown, Lee Hall, Bennie Simmons, Will Moore, Clyde Johnson, Leonard Woods, John Richards, Rubin Stacy, W.C. or R.C. Williams, and four unidentified persons, and 'memento mori photographs' from James Van Der Zee's The Harlem Book of the Dead (1978) and the Thanatos Archive, I advance that moaning is critical for 'dis-appearing'—as in appearing new political subjectivities and possibilities from a condition of having been disappeared—and that perceiving political unknown, uncertain possibilities is politically vital.


School readiness is a new term that is used in recent years and refers to the various skills a child requires in order to begin elementary school. What it essentially enquires is the ability of the child to start the process of learning to read and write in an organized and structured way.
In Greece, kids start the first class of elementary school around the age of six. However, that age is nothing more than a simple average, since there is a significant variance in when the children are actually ready for school. For sake of convenience and organization, our society tends to use these averages.
The purpose of the current paper is to evaluate the readiness of children of preschool age in their learning level for their introduction in the public education, while also includes their readiness in a socio-emotional level.
For the attainment of this research, questionnaires were drafted that were later filled by children of various nurseries around the city of Athens. The area of "Penteli" is also included separately since it houses a children's hospital, a doctor of which, created the questionnaires.
The research and statistical analysis that follows will be based on nominal and ordinal scales. The resulting percentages and final conclusions will cover all basic cognitive levels a child needs to have in that specific age.
After a series of correlation tests between dependent and independent variables, we'll focus on an in-depth statistical analysis using the method of multiple logistic regression in order to reach certain conclusions on what seems to affect the cognitive growth areas of a child of preschool age and how ready they are to begin public training. Additionally, we will discover the set of independent variables that are statistically significant in child growth.


Background: Adequate knowledge about the health hazards of hospital waste, proper techniques and methods of handling the waste, and practice of safety measures can improve the safe disposal of hazardous hospital waste and protect the community from various adverse effects.

Objectives: A study was conducted to see the effect of training on change in knowledge regarding biomedical waste (BMW) management according to new rules of 2016 among health care workers.

Materials and Methods: A hospital-based, cross-sectional study was conducted in a 760-bedded teaching hospital in Bhopal (M.P). The study consisted of 100 health care workers as participants, which included 75 nurses, 15 laboratory staff, and 10 sanitary staff. A predesigned structured questionnaire consisting of 15 questions was administered to the participants before and after 1-day modular training conducted in two sessions. Data collected were analyzed using paired t-test.

Results: Knowledge of correct color coding for waste disposal in pretest was 42%, and in posttest, it increased to 83%, and awareness about risk of transmission of diseases through BMW if not managed properly was known to 63% in pretest which increased to 97% of the participants in posttest. The knowledge about needlestick injury prophylaxis protocol was 52% before session and increased to 88% after training session. Knowledge about the new categories of BMW disposal was found to be 9% in pretest and increased to 46% after training sessions. The change in the knowledge about different aspects of BMW handling and management after training was statistically significant.

Conclusion: Training on all aspects of BMW management will lead to a further improvement in BMW management in the hospital.


Oil was extracted from Lophira lanceolata seeds and some physicochemical properties were examined. The oil yield is promising. Methyl ester derivative which exhibited better fuel properties was produced from the oil. The refractive index, free fatty acid, kinematic viscosity, saponification and iodine values were determined and discussed in relationship to its applications. The energy density compared favourably with those of other seed oils and commercial grade diesel. The waste shells were also utilized for the production of biogas with potentials as energy resource that can be stored and used. The residue left behind possessed bio-fertilizer value showing the presence of N, P, K, Ca, Mg. Hence, L. lanceolata has potentials of a renewable energy resource.