The present paper aims to study the item i in Kriol, the Portuguese-based creole of Guinea-Bissau. More specifically, i is 3SG subject pronoun and also functions as copula in individual-level predication. As a pronoun, i may also occur as resumptive to topic-comment structures. On the basis of the striking similarity between copular clauses with i and topic-comment structures with resumptive i, I will argue that the pronoun i and the copula i are not simple homophones, but represents two different syntactic functions of the very same item. I assume that the copula i derives from the resumptive pronoun i in topic-comment structures. This kind of grammaticalization of the pronoun into a copula, also known as copularization, is well documented in a number of languages.
The main goal of the paper will be to reconstruct the path of grammaticalization of the copula i and to provide a syntactic account of it. I will follow Lohndal (2009) in assuming that this kind of grammaticalization, motivated by the ambiguity caused by certain topic-comment structures with resumptive pronoun, corresponds to an economy-oriented structural change: the pronoun shifts from the specifier to the head of the predication phrase (PrP). This shift belongs to the type of structural changes included in Lohndal's copula cycle. Given that 3SG i is arguably a subject clitic and cannot sit in the specifier of PrP, I will argue, on the basis of Kihm's (2007) paper, that in the proto-creole that originated Kriol and the other Upper Guinea Creoles, there was a 3SG nonclitic pronoun *ele. It occurred as resumptive to topic-comment structures and was later reanalysed as a copula.


This paper presents a novel GA-RBFNN (genetic algorithm trained radial basis function neural network)-based model to carry out the maximum power point tracking (MPPT) for grid-connected photovoltaic (PV) power generation control systems. The hidden layer of the neural network is self-organised by the GA-based RBF growing algorithm. The trained GA-RBFNN-based MPP model is then employed to predict the maximum power points of a PV array using measured environmental data. The simulation results are compared with the conventional P&O method, and the current/voltage waveforms of the PV panel are presented and discussed.


Limited access to screening and evaluation for autism spectrum disorder in children is a major barrier to improving outcomes for marginalized families. To identify and evaluate available digital autism spectrum disorder screening resources, we simulated web and mobile app searches by a parent concerned about their child's likelihood of autism spectrum disorder. Included digital autism spectrum disorder screening tools (a) were on Internet or mobile app; (b) were in English; (c) had a parent user inputting data; (d) assigned likelihood category to child <9 years; and (e) screened for autism spectrum disorder. Ten search terms, developed using Google Search and parent panel recommendations, were used to search web and app tools in the United States, the United Kingdom, India, Australia, and Canada using Virtual Private Networks. Results were examined for attributes likely to benefit parents in marginalized communities, such as ease of searching, language versions, and reading level. The four terms most likely to identify any tools were "autism quiz," "autism screening tool," "does my child have autism," and "autism toddler." Three out of five searches contained autism spectrum disorder screening tools, as did one of 10 links or apps. Searches identified a total of 1475 websites and 919 apps, which yielded 23 unique tools. Most tools required continuous Internet access or offered only English, and many had high reading levels. In conclusion, screening tools are available, but they are not easily found. Barriers include inaccessibility to parents with limited literacy or limited English proficiency, and frequent encounters with games, advertisements, and user fees. Lay Abstract Many parents wonder if their child might have autism. Many parents use their smartphones to answer health questions. We asked, "How easy or hard is it for parents to use their smartphones to find 'tools' to test their child for signs of autism?" After doing pretend parent searches, we found that only one in 10 search results were tools to test children for autism. These tools were not designed for parents who have low income or other challenges such as low literacy skills, low English proficiency, or not being tech-savvy.


Abstract Purpose: The Disability Assessment Structured Interview (DASI) is a semi-structured interview for assessing functional limitations of claimants in a work disability evaluation. The aim of this study is to evaluate the effect of a 3-day DASI training course on the quality of assessment interviews of insurance physicians (IPs). Methods: In a pretest–posttest study, 55 IPs employed at the Dutch National Institute for Employee Benefits Schemes completed a 3-day DASI training. Before (T0), directly after the training (T1) and after 3 months follow-up (T2), these IPs filled out questionnaires that measured knowledge, skills, attitude and self-efficacy. Furthermore, in 10 disability assessment cases interview duration, IP's satisfaction, amount of acquired information and confidence of judgement were measured. Finally, the amount of information reported was measured in three randomly selected disability assessment reports of each IP. Results: IP's knowledge, skills and self-efficacy improved significantly after the training. The attitude of the IPs changed towards a more open attitude and structuring of the interview. Satisfaction about the interview, amount of acquired information and confidence of their judgement all increased. Conclusions: The DASI training improved the quality of assessment interviews of IPs. A semi-structured interview, like the DASI, can help physicians to pay more attention to activity limitations and participation in addition to medical information. Implications for Rehabilitation Experienced IPs are able to change their disability assessment interview routine after training. In determining work ability, IPs should pay more attention to claimant's activity limitations and participation in addition to medical information. A semi-structured interview as the DASI can help IPs to pay more attention to claimant's functioning. A 3-day DASI training for IPs can increase their confidence in their judgement and provides significantly more information in their assessment reports.


Background: Aromatase inhibitors (AIs) are commonly used as adjuvant endocrine therapy in postmenopausal women with hormone receptor-positive breast cancer (BC). However, many patients treated with AIs experience joint symptoms which may lead to non-adherence to treatment. We examined whether glucosamine plus chondroitin improves AI-induced arthralgias in women with early stage BC. Methods: This is a single-arm Phase II study evaluating the efficacy of glucosamine and chondroitin in postmenopausal BC patients with moderate to severe AI-induced arthralgias. Patients took glucosamine sulfate (1500mg/d) + chondroitin sulfate (1200mg/d) for 24 weeks, and were assessed every 6 weeks. The primary endpoint was change in Outcome Measure in Rheumatology Clinical Trials and Osteoarthritis Research Society International (OMERACT-OARSI) criteria at 24 weeks. Secondary endpoints include changes in Brief Pain/Stiffness Inventory-Short Form (BPI-SF), Western Ontario and McMaster Universities Osteoarthritis (WOMAC), Modified Score for the Assessment and Quantification of Chronic Rheumatoid Affections of the Hands (M-SACRAH), quality of life, grip strength and estradiol level. A Simon two-stage design was used. If 7/22 responses were observed, the trial would continue. Results: Of 36/46 patients enrolled to date, 21 were evaluable at 24 weeks. Median age: 61 (46-80); White/Hispanic/Black/Asian: 11/5/4/1. At 24 weeks, 12/21 patients (57%) had improved pain/stiffness or function in their knees or hips, and 14/21 patients (67%) had improvement in their hands, and 80% had improvement in hands and/or knees. There were also decreases in BPI pain/stiffness severity and functional interference (P Citation Information: Cancer Res 2010;70(24 Suppl):Abstract nr P2-13-02.


More than two-thirds of critically ill patients receive an antimicrobial therapy with a percentage between 30% and 50% of all prescribed antibiotics reported to be unnecessary, inappropriate or misused. Since inappropriate prescription of antibiotic drugs concurs to dissemination of the multidrug resistant organisms, a reasoned antibiotics use is crucial especially in Intensive Care Unit (ICU), where up to 60% of the admitted patients develops an infection during their ICU stay. Even if the concept of antimicrobial stewardship (AS) has been clearly described as a series of coordinated interventions designed to improve antimicrobial agents use, few studies are reporting about its effectiveness to improve outcomes, reduce adverse events and costs and decrease resistance rate spread. Moreover, although it is recognized that AS programs are particularly indicated in the critical setting due to the huge number of antimicrobial drugs used, the optimal characteristics of these interventions and the best system to evaluate their effectiveness are still unclear. Specific interventions, designed tacking into account the peculiarities of the ICU setting, are hence necessary to set-up an "in-ICU-stewardship," including prompt identification of infected patients, selection of appropriate empiric treatments, optimization of dosing and route of administration, improvement of diagnostic techniques, early de-escalation to achieve shorter duration and avoid unnecessary therapies. The present narrative review summarizes the "state of art" about AS programmes and discusses the effects of the interventions possibly applied in ICU setting to optimize the patient's treatment, reduce the micro-organisms resistance and contain the hospital resources utilization.


PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to empirically examine the impact of closing mechanism changes on market quality, investor trading behavior and market manipulation in the Shanghai stock market.Design/methodology/approachA dummy variable is constructed indicating whether the closing mechanism is call auction or continuous auction. Market quality is measured from aspects of liquidity, volatility and price continuity; investor trading behavior is scaled by order timing and order aggressiveness, and a price deviation indicator is the proxy of manipulation. Using panel regression, this study examines the impact of closing mechanism changes based on intraday transaction data from the Shanghai stock market.FindingsThe conclusions are as follows: First, market quality improves after the closing mechanism is reformed in terms of liquidity, volatility and price continuity. Second, order strategy changes significantly in the closing call market, and investors trade more aggressively in the continuous trading period before closing. Third, the closing call mechanism restrains the closing price manipulation and thus prompts an efficient closing price.Originality/valueThis paper examines the policy effects of closing mechanism changes from aspects of market quality, trading behavior and price manipulation, providing pieces of evidence for trading mechanism design and market supervision in emerging markets.


Mixtures of high dimensional Gaussian distributions have been studied extensively in statistics and learning theory. While the total variation distance appears naturally in the sample complexity of distribution learning, it is analytically difficult to obtain tight lower bounds for mixtures. Exploiting a connection between total variation distance and the characteristic function of the mixture, we provide fairly tight functional approximations. This enables us to derive new lower bounds on the total variation distance between pairs of two-component Gaussian mixtures that have a shared covariance matrix.


Bestselling author Lon Poole provides Mac users with all the hottest information on the new features in Apple's Macintosh system software. This book covers the new system capabilities and explains the difference between versions of System 7. To get even more from System 7, the book suggests many new free and low-cost utilities. Includes tips and insights for increasing productivity.


Here, we describe a new approach for mutational scanning of PCR products through hybridization analysis between complementary oligonucleotides. Sets of overlapping probe oligonucleotides complementary to wild-type (WT) sequence are hybridized to microbead-immobilized PCR products under solution-like conditions. Mismatch-hybridization situations between a mutant sample and probe oligonucleotides result in higher remaining concentrations in solution of involved probe oligonucleotides. Post-hybridization supernatants are subsequently analyzed for their probe oligonucleotide compositions using surface plasmon resonance-based biosensor technology. Relative remaining probe oligonucleotide concentrations are monitored in real-time through hybridization analysis between probe oligonucleotides and their corresponding sensor-chip immobilized complementary counterparts. This allows for the construction of composition diagrams revealing the existence and approximate location of a mutation within an investigated sample DNA sequence. Applied on PCR products derived from clinical samples of microdissected tumor biopsies, single mutations in exons 6 and 7 of the human p53 tumor-suppressor gene were successfully detected and approximately localized.


Sixty‐nine patients with chronic active hepatitis without cirrhosis were studied to define the prognostic implications of bridging necrosis of various types. There were 19 patients without bridging necrosis compared with 50 patients with bridging necrosis. The two groups did not differ significantly at presentation in age, sex, clinical or laboratory features. In the group without bridging necrosis, no patient died from the disease and none of 13 having a later biopsy developed cirrhosis. In the group with bridging necrosis, one patient died from hepatic failure and 7 of 36 developed cirrhosis (19%). When analyzed statistically, a significant (p<0.05) relationship is seen between increasing severity of initial lesion and the subsequent development of cirrhosis. It is concluded that patients with piecemeal necrosis without bridging should not be grouped together with patients with bridging necrosis or cirrhosis when considering management decisions.


We investigate entanglement of two electron spins forming Cooper pairs in an s-wave superconductor. The two-electron space-spin density matrix is obtained from the BCS ground state using a two-particle Green's function. It is demonstrated that a two spin state is not given by a spin singlet state but by a Werner state. It is found that the entanglement length, within which two spins are entangled, is not the order of the coherence length but the order of the Fermi wave length.


Working closely with the UK Ministry of Defence (MOD), Smiths has developed a Fleet and Usage Management System (FUMS™) to enable proactive fleet management and continuous diagnostic/prognostic improvements through a single fusion and decision support platform for helicopters, aeroplanes and engines. This paper gives an overview of a suite of FUMS™ algorithms that have been successfully developed for gas turbine applications and validated using a large volume of engine data. The system has been used to analyse both airborne acquired data and ground test-bed data. The system algorithms have been targeted at evaluating the following: stresses of compressor components, thermal transient stresses of turbine components, fatigue. Total Accumulated Cycles (TAC), engine vibration, neural network based performance/degradation and, Usage Indices (UIs) that summarise engine parameters and at the same time indicate the life/condition of engine components. By operating on data from the same engine on two test-beds, the system can be used to normalise the engine vibration and reconcile any differences in vibration-based acceptance/rejection criteria: these differences can result in the acceptance of an engine for on-wing operation at one site and the rejection of the engine at another site. The paper also gives an overview of the FUMS™ intelligent management software, which has allowed the MOD to plug-in 3rd party applications. In this way, MOD can evaluate, verify and procure engine technologies developed by various suppliers and build engine applications from these technologies without the need for software re-writing.Copyright © 2006 by ASME


Evaluation of 304 infertile couples with at least one abnormal semen analysis (sperm density < 20 x 10(6)/ml and/or motility < 50%) and no apparent female factors was performed in a multicentre prospective cohort study. In 73 cases therapeutic donor insemination was performed (TDI group) with a resulting pregnancy rate of 48%. The remaining 231 couples (non-TDI group) had an overall pregnancy rate of 25%. The TDI group had a shorter duration of infertility. The ages of both partners were comparable in TDI and non-TDI groups. In the non-TDI group, univariate analysis resulted in identification of six clinical variables associated with a change in pregnancy rates. The strongest association was noted for length of infertility. There was a weaker association for semen volume, concentration of leukocytes in semen, history of pregnancy in the female partner and laparoscopy. Multiple variable analysis of data from the non-TDI group revealed that independent predictors of pregnancy were 'duration of infertility' and 'history of pregnancy in the female partner'. The multiple variable modelling suggested that (i) an increase in the length of infertility by 1 month prolongs the time to pregnancy by an additional 1.6% (95% confidence interval: 1.5-1.7%); and (ii) a history of past pregnancy in the female partner reduces the time of pregnancy by 51% (95% confidence interval: 47-56%).


In print-type steganography and watermarking, visible calibration patterns are arranged around content in which invisible data are embedded, to provide plural feature points for normalization of a scanned image. However, it is clear that conventional visible calibration patterns interfere with the page layout and artwork of original contents. Additionally, visible calibration patterns are not suitable for security services. In this paper, we propose an arrangement of and a detection method for an invisible calibration pattern based on human visual perception. We embed the proposed calibration pattern in an original image by adding a high-frequency component to blue intensity in limited regions. The proposed method protects the page layout and artwork because it is difficult for observers to detect the calibration pattern embedded into an image with a normal background.


Human amniotic-derived cells (hAMCs) have recently raised interest for their differentiation capability and immunomodulatory properties. To assess the feasibility of hAMCs therapeutic treatment during fetal development, we explored the localization of cells derived from the human amniotic membrane in rat organs after in utero transplantation. Rats were sacrificed at different time points and their organs were analyzed for the distribution of hAMCs by immunohistochemistry using an antibody against Human Cytoplasm and through detection of human DNA. Immunohistochemical and PCR analysis showed that most of the rat tissues presented human cells/DNA suggesting a widespread migration of hAMCs after transplantation. We developed an efficient target-antigen detection method based on an immunohistochemical technique that resulted to be highly specific and sensitive to identify the hAMCs into rat tissues.


The aim of the article is to reinterpret those pages that Kant dedicated to the mathematical sublime, connecting it to the concept of actual infinity. An assumption of the analysis is the certainty that, by including a yearning for entirety, the noumenic destination of Kant's reason inherit the dimension of actual infinity that has been refuted by the coeval science. In Aesthetics, the sublime sinks within the critical exceptionality of a feeling, which is the same suprasensible ambition to the concept of actual infinity, which was analogically devised within the theoretical ideas and shown in practical determination. The sublime judgement reflexively states the noumenic excess compared to the dominion that has been potentially explored by the senses, while it remains in its sentimental component an "appendix" to the system of reason.


A nonlinear mixed-integer financial model and optimization algorithm are described that support management decisions for one defense contractor. Counterintuitive insights have been uncovered that improve financial performance at less cost and with greater confidence than traditional alternatives. It is argued that normal search routines would have been unlikely to uncover these insights.


Jatrorrhizine is a protoberberine alkaloid derived from Coptis chinensis concentrated extremely in rat kidney. In the present study, the involvement of rat organic cation transporter 2 (rOCT2) in the renal uptake of jatrorrhizine in rat was investigated through in vitro and in vivo experiments. Saturable and nonsaturable uptakes of jatrorrhizine were observed in rat kidney slices and rOCT2-Madin-Darby canine kidney (MDCK) cells. Michaelis-Menten constants of 677.8 and 21.0 µM, maximum uptake rate of 123 (pmol/min)/mg kidney and 13.7 (pmol/min)/mg protein, and nonsaturable uptake clearance of 0.054 (µL/min)/mg kidney and 0.032 (µL/min)/mg protein were observed in rat kidney slices and rOCT2-MDCK cells, respectively. As inhibitors of rOCT2, corticosterone, verapamil, and cimetidine can inhibit jatrorrhizine uptake in rat kidney slices and rOCT2-MDCK cells. Their median inhibitory concentration in rat kidney slices was 7, 78, and 538 µM, whereas that in rOCT2-MDCK cells was 1.07, 86.5, and 151.8 µM. Coadministration with 20 mg/kg corticosterone, a selective inhibitor of rOCT2, reduced the jatrorrhizine concentration in the cortex and medulla in the in vivo experiment. Thus, rOCT2 is mainly responsible for the renal uptake of jatrorrhizine in rat and in the regulation of jatrorrhizine concentration in the kidney.


With the upcoming shift from single-core to multicore COTS processors for safety critical products such as avionics, railway or space computer subsystems, the safety critical industry is facing a trade-off in terms of performance versus predictability. In multi-core processors, concurrent accesses to shared hardware resources are generating inter-task or inter-application timing interference, breaking the timing isolation principles required by the standards for such critical software. Several solutions have been proposed in the literature to control or regulate these timing interference, but most of these solutions require to perform some level of profiling, monitoring or dimensioning. As time-critical software is running on top of Real Time Operating Systems (ROTS), classical profiling techniques relying on interrupts, multi-threading, or OS modules are either not available or prohibited for predictability, safety or security reasons. In this paper we present METrICS, a measurement environment for multi-core time-critical systems running on top of the industry-standard PikeOS RTOS. Our framework proposes an accurate real-time runtime and resource usage measurement while having a negligible impact on timing behaviour, allowing us to fully observe and characterize timing interference. Beyond being able to characterize timing interference, we evaluated METrICS in term of accuracy of the timing and resource usage measurements, intrusiveness both in term of timing and impact on the legacy code. We also present a portfolio of the kind of measurements METrICS provides.


To the Editor.— We wish to report two cases of cobalamin deficiency that produced neurologic deficit in patients with normal hematocrit levels, mean RBC volume, and serum cobalamin levels by radiodilution assay. Report of Cases.— Case1.—The condition of a 50-year-old woman was evaluated because of a three-month history of burning dysesthesias in the arms and legs, and ataxic gait. Two years earlier, the patient had had 45 cm of terminal ileum resected because of ischemic necrosis. Subsequently, she had chronic diarrhea. The neurologic examination showed marked loss of proprioceptive and vibratory sensation in the distal lower extremities, ataxic gait, and hyperactive reflexes with Babinski's signs. The patient had a normal myelogram and normal CSF analysis results, including an unremarkable oligoclonal banding pattern. The serum cobalamin level by radiodilution assay was 334 pg/mL (normal, 300 to 1,000 pg/mL); however, the cobalamin level by microbiologic assay was 113 pg/mL (normal, 130


This work aimed to determine which non-linear model (Brody, Gompertz, logistic, von Bertalanffy or Richards) best represents the average growth curve of goats, in addition to evaluating the effect of the environment. The weight data of 40 Repartida goats reared in the Brazil Caatinga were included in this study. Weight data was collected every 30 days from birth until 270 days of age. The parameters of the models (A, mature body weight; B, constant of integration; k, maturation rate; m, inflection point) were estimated using the NLIN procedure of SAS. The logistic model showed a slightly higher average fit in comparison to the other models. The absolute growth rate suggests that the maximum growth rate was reached early. The effect of the contemporary groups was significant (P < 0.05), but only for the estimated k parameter. The estimated correlation between the A and k parameters was significant and negative, indicating a lower probability of a high body weight in adulthood. Goats of the Repartida ecotype are characterized by their high birth weight and low weight at maturity, which combined with the nutritional deficit, suggests that these animals have adapted to the adverse conditions of the Brazilian Caatinga region.


The relevance of research related to search for the optimality of motion technology in various phases of javelin throwing. The questions of biomechanical parameters of javelin throwing are considered at different stages of sports actions in the  article. The aim of the work was determination of the rational structure of motor actions in various phases of javelin-throwing. The research was carried out on the basis of an analysis of 764 training and competitive attempts of javelin throwers. The videograms were analyzed using the software «KinoVea». Along with the phase structure of the javelin throwing, the main positions are highlighted, including initial, final and a number of intermediate provisions. To assess the movement, a number of animation positions are highlighted in the main elements of the movement. As the studied parameters were defined time parameters, angular speeds of movement of body parts, moments of inertia and radius of the moment of inertia motion, angular positions in the joints and trajectories of changes in the center of mass of links relative to the general center of mass. The research revealed kinematic and dynamic parameters of the phase structure of javelin throwing. The ranges of angular positions of the body links are revealed in various phases of throwing action. The parameters of the moment and radius of inertia positions of the body links are determined, relative to the common center of mass in different phases of motion, that allows you to predict deviations from the rational trajectory of technology and prevent the possibility of injury. The sequence of movements of the body's links is studied, taking into account the influence of kinematic and dynamic parameters of movement. The findings of research contribute to the selection of the most rational summing training exercises. In addition, it will help reduce the load on the joint and ligamentous apparatus of the thrower.


A new three-dimensional graphene oxide-wrapped melamine foam was prepared and used as a solid-phase extraction substrate. β-Cyclodextrin was fabricated onto the surface of three-dimensional graphene oxide-wrapped melamine foam by a chemical covalent interaction. In view of a specific surface area and a large delocalized π electron system of graphene oxide, in combination with a hydrophobic interior cavity and a hydrophilic peripheral face of β-cyclodextrin, the prepared extraction material was proposed for the determination of flavonoids. In order to demonstrate the extraction properties of the as-prepared material, the adsorption energies were theoretically calculated based on periodic density functional theory. Static-state and dynamic-state binding experiments were also investigated, which revealed the monolayer coverage of flavonoids onto the β-cyclodextrin/graphene oxide-wrapped melamine foams through the chemical adsorption. 1 H NMR spectroscopy indicated the formation of flavonoids-β-cyclodextrin inclusion complexes. Under the optimum conditions, the proposed method exhibited acceptable linear ranges (2-200 μg/L for rutin and quercetin-3-O-rhamnoside; 5-200 μg/L for quercetin) with correlation coefficients ranging from 0.9979 to 0.9994. The batch-to-batch reproducibility (n = 5) was 3.5-6.8%. Finally, the as-established method was satisfactorily applied for the determination of flavonoids in Lycium barbarum (Goji) samples with relative recoveries in the range of 77.9-102.6%.


We have measured resistivity as a function of temperature and pressure of Ti4O7 twinned crystals using different contact configurations. Pressures over 4 kbar depress the localization of bipolarons and allow the study of the electrical conduction of the bipolaronic phase down to low temperatures. For pressures P > 40 kbar the bipolaron formation transition is suppressed and a nearly pressure independent behavior is obtained for the resistivity. We observed an anisotropic conduction. When current is injected parallel to the principal axis, a metallic conduction with interacting carrier effects is predominant. A superconducting state was not obtained down to 1.2 K, although evidences of the proximity of a quantum critical point were noticed. While when current is injected nonparallel to the crystal's principal axis, we obtained a logarithmic divergence of the resistivity at low temperatures. For this case, our results for the high pressure regime can be interpreted in the framework of interacting carriers (polarons or bipolarons) scattered by Two Level Systems.


Several researchers have proposed that skilled adults may solve single-digit addition problems (e.g. 3+1=4, 4+3=7) using a fast counting procedure. Practicing a procedure often leads to transfer of learning and faster performance of unpracticed items. Such transfer has been demonstrated using a counting-based alphabet arithmetic task (e.g., B+4 = C D E F) that indicated robust RT gains when untrained transfer problems at test had been implicitly practiced (e.g., practice B+3, test B+2 or B+1). Here we constructed analogous simple addition problems (practice 4+3, test 4+2 or 4+1). In three experiments (n=108) there was no evidence of generalization for these items, but there was robust speed up when the items were repeated. The results are consistent with direct retrieval of addition facts from long-term memory rather than a counting procedure.


Compliance during treatment with antidepressants is important, yet about half of the patients stop using antidepressive medication within 3 months. A structured treatment programme, in which the patient actively participates, with extensive education, surveillance of side effects and compliance, simple regimes, improving problem-solving behaviour and eventually engaging and educating family members and friends can improve compliance. This has been demonstrated in published studies. Research has shown that interventions that enhance compliance can lead to a better outcome of the depression.


This paper presents an intelligent reactive power and voltage control system that has been developed over three years in Korea. The general structure and more importantly the least cost search method for a feasible solution are discussed herein. As a result, the system has shown a promising performance and will therefore be tested on Jeju Island, Korea as a part of the smart grid demonstration system.


Abstract Bison utilization during the Late Prehistoric period in the central Plains varied from the diffuse pattern that characterizes the Central Plains tradition to the focal pattern of the westernmost Oneota. Both patterns are represented at sites in the Lovewell locality on White Rock Creek, a tributary of the lower Republican River in north-central Kansas. Intensive bison exploitation is also represented at the Montana Creek East (14JW46) site within this locality. Abundant faunal remains indicative of marrow and bone grease processing are associated with the varied, if modest, lithic and ceramic assemblages. These do not suggest use by Oneota or Central Plains tradition peoples although a date fits the Late Prehistoric period. A buried Plains Woodland component, previously undocumented at Lovewell, indicates earlier evidence of bison hunting. Together the remains at this and certain other sites at Lovewell indicate extensive use of bison by different groups.


Delay is one of the major issues in EPC projects in Oman. Project managers are not considering the root causes of delay while taking preventive measures. This project aims to identify the most common types of delay in EPC projects, to find out the root causes of delay by using Ishikawa diagram and further to prepare acceleration plan for a running project by using schedule compression techniques. The objectives of this project are: (a ) to identify root causes of various delays commonly affecting the EPC projects in Oman by using Ishikawa diagram. (b) to identify critical delay cause factors for a running project by conducting questionnaire survey. (c) to prepare acceleration plan for the project by using schedule compression techniques. To achieve this study: all the information was collected, schedules were compared to calculate the delay in each activity, questionnaire survey was conducted to study the impact of various factors causing delay and the root causes by using Ishikawa diagram and finally prepared an acceleration plan by using schedule compression techniques . The results found are: time and cost constraints are the biggest obstacle causing delay in EPC projects. The study identified the importance of analyzing the root causes before taking any particular preventive measures.


The Very High Temperature Reactor (VHTR) is the nearest Generation IV concept. This paper presents results of the U.S. DOE NERI Project on utilization of higher actinides (TRUs and partitioned MAs) as a fuel component for extended-life VHTR configurations. The idea is to approach autonomous operation on a single fuel loading that would allow marketing power units with VHTRs as nuclear batteries for worldwide deployment. The research focus is on possible designs and their advantages and limitations. The project is currently within its third year of studies. Although indicating some technical limitations and challenges, studies of VHTRs with TRUs/MAs definitely suggest promising performance and possibility to utilize the core configurations with TRUs/MAs gaining prolonged operation and self-sustainability. (authors)


Since the collapse of the peace process in 2015, the Turkish Government has sought to turn every move towards Kurdish rights into an existential threat – a process led to the re-securitization of the Kurdish question. Ever since the descent of Turkey into an authoritarian polity has begun in the aftermath of the June 2015 elections, the Kurdish minority has suffered a brutal crackdown marked by high of political imprisonment and greater restrictions on freedom of assembly and association and on electoral aspects of self-determination. This commentary will take a closer look at the dire consequences of the collateral impact of Turkey's authoritarian turn on the Kurdish political movement from the perspectives of minority rights and self-determination.


Reverberation chambers (RCs) are electrically large, highly conductive resonant enclosures used as test facilities for radiated emissions and immunity measurements on electronic devices. In recent literature, it has been claimed that RCs can be an interesting alternative to anechoic chambers as facilities for accurately characterizing the radiation pattern of an antenna under test, but this assertion has only been supported by numerical simulations, using elementary dipoles in a scalar two-dimensional RC. On the contrary, in this contribution, a novel technique that allows for the first time to perform actual antenna radiation pattern measurements in RC is presented. In order to demonstrate its validity, the radiation pattern for both E- and H- planes of a horn antenna has been measured in an RC at 10 GHz, in X band, and compared to the ones obtained in anechoic chamber, being the results in good agreement.


Despite the tremendous advancement of women in Western society, they are still exceedingly underrepresented in positions of leadership and policymaking in the public sphere. This study aims to explore the ways women may overcome the traditional barriers on their path to key positions of influence by examining the factors that contributed to the success of women who have reached senior policymaking positions in their organizations. The study combines qualitative and quantitative methodologies, consisting of in-depth interviews with high-ranking women in different spheres of Israeli society, such as parliament members, directors in the public and private spheres, senior military commanders, and the like, along with self-report questionnaires. The findings identify diverse factors that contributed to the rise of these women to the top, including organizational properties, familial features and personal attributes. Practical recommendations for the advancement of women to influential leadership positions are suggested in accordance with the results.


Summary. The receptor for granulocyte–macrophage colony‐stimulating factor (GM‐CSF) can exist as both transmembrane (tmGMRα) and soluble (solGMRα) isoforms, and the latter, is a normal constituent of human plasma. We investigated if aberrant solGMRα expression occurs in haematopoietic malignancies and whether or not solGMRα expression levels correlated with clinical presentation. Compared with the normal population, patients with acute lymphoblastic leukaemia (ALL) had low levels of solGMRα whereas clonal disorders of the myeloid lineage demonstrated higher levels of solGMRα. Patients with acute myelogenous leukaemia (AML) and high levels of solGMRα presented with a distinct clinical picture. These patients were older, predominantly belonged to the M4 and M5 French–American–British (FAB) subtypes, and they had higher white blood cell counts at presentation including myeloid precursors and myeloblasts. They often presented with either unexplained lung infiltrates or hypoxia and lower rates of microbiologically defined infections. Elevated solGMRα levels were not associated with decreased relapse‐free and overall survival in the AML population. On multivariate analysis, the correlation between elevated solGMRα levels and age, M4 and M5 FAB subtypes and decreased numbers of infections persisted. Our study is the first to describe that distinct clinical presentations are associated with aberrant solGMRα levels in haematological malignancies.


Recent developments in Hungary and Poland have made democratic backsliding a major issue of concern within the European Union (EU). This article focuses on the secondary agents that facilitate democratic backsliding in Hungary and Poland: the European People's Party (EPP), which has continually protected the Hungarian Fidesz government from EU sanctions, and the Hungarian ruling party Fidesz, which repeatedly promised to block any EU-level sanctions against Poland in the Council. The article analyses these agents' behaviour as an instance of transnational complicity and passes a tentative judgment as to which of the two cases is normatively more problematic. The analysis has implications for possible countervailing responses to democratic backsliding within EU member states.


Arlington House, located within Arlington National Cemetery and now managed by the National Park Service, was built in a three phase, sixteen-year construction sequence (1802-1818), and is considered the first American example of adapting the principles of Grecian style architecture to a domestic building. Despite its historic designation as a National Monument in 1925, the interpretation at Arlington House does not adequately portray the significance of its early history and architecture nor its contribution to the development of the nation's capital. Federal legislation requires the site interpretation to portray the period of April 1861, when its last occupants, General Robert E. Lee and his family, departed following Virginia's secession from the Union. The emphasis on Lee's tenancy overshadows the early history of Arlington House and the contributions of its owner, George Washington By providing a comprehensive historical overview of the development of Arlington House, this research is intended to: (1) outline the major factors that shaped its history to promote a broader understanding of its national significance as a historic site; and (2) promote a greater appreciation of architect George Hadfield's professional accomplishments and his contribution towards developing an American vernacular form of residential Greek Revival architecture. This paper will argue for a more broadly representative site interpretation that expands the current interpretation by placing greater emphasis on the significance of its early history and architectural design. Identifying the factors that have shaped the historical and architectural significance of Arlington House is critical in advocating for a comprehensive approach to its public site interpretation. Ultimately, this research questions the relevancy of the existing federal legislation that mandates the interpretation while advocating a policy change that seeks to incorporate a broader approach to how site interpretation is presented at house museums managed by the National Park Service.


We present a detailed characterization of surface and underground seismic noise measured at Limburg in the south of the Netherlands. This location is the Euregio Meuse–Rhine candidate for hosting Einstein Telescope, a future observatory for gravitational waves. Seismic noise measurements were performed with an array of seismometers installed on the surface. Passive seismic methods like beamforming were used to extract the propagation wave types of ambient seismic noise and the Rayleigh-wave dispersion in the region. Subsurface shear-wave models sensitive to depths of 300 m were derived by using the Rayleigh-wave dispersion and ellipticity. Subsurface P-wave velocities to depths of 200 m were obtained from an active seismic survey. Wavepath Eikonal tomography was used on the source-receiver refracted-wave travel-times to obtain a subsurface P-wave velocity model. Both the passive and the active seismic data analysis point to the presence of a layered geology with a soft-soil to hard-rock transition occurring at a shallow depth of about 25 to 40 m. The surface arrays are complemented by two permanent tri-axial seismometers installed on the surface and in a borehole at 250 m depth. Their data are used to interpret the surface-wave and body-wave contributions to the observed seismic noise. We use a cross-correlation analysis and compute the theoretical surface-wave eigenfunctions to understand the contributions of the different wave types at different frequencies. We observe that below 4 Hz in the horizontal component and 9 Hz in the vertical component, the seismic noise at depth is dominantly due to surface waves. Above these frequencies a significant contribution can be attributed to both nearby and far-away body-wave sources. At a depth of 250 m we find that the surface noise power has been damped by up to a factor 104 above about 2 Hz. The Limburg geology with soft-soil on top of hard-rock efficiently damps the anthropogenic noise produced at the surface. This implies that Einstein Telescope's test masses are shielded from anthropogenic seismic noise and construction at greater depth will not bring significant further improvements in this regard. A body-wave background has been identified that contributes about half of the total underground seismic noise at 250 m depth for frequencies above 4 Hz. It remains to be studied if subtraction schemes for Newtonian noise originating from this body-wave background will be necessary. Finally, we estimate an interferometer downtime of about 3% due to regional and teleseismic earthquakes. We believe this is acceptable as it is comparable to current experience at the LIGO and Virgo interferometer sites.


Shallow injection, trailing shoe and band spreading machines were evaluated, in terms of their potential for reducing ammonia (NH3) emission, by making measurements after application and in direct comparison with surface broadcast applied cattle slurry (pig slurry on one occasion). Several sets of comparative measurements were made with each type of machine on both grassland and arable land (mostly cereal stubbles), covering a range of soil, crop and weather conditions. Measurements of NH3 emissions were made for 5–7 days following application using a micrometeorological mass balance technique. Mean reductions in NH3 emission achieved from grassland, in comparison with surface broadcast application, were 73, 57 and 26% for shallow injection, trailing shoe and band spreading, respectively, the latter not being significant (probability P>0·05). Mean cumulative emissions, expressed as % total ammoniacal N applied in the slurry, were 13, 12 and 35% for shallow injection, trailing shoe and band spreading, respectively. There was a trend (probability P=0·029) for decreasing emissions with increasing sward height (between 10 and 20 cm) following trailing shoe applications. Abatement was generally less effective when these techniques were used on arable land, with mean reductions of 23, 38 and 27% achieved for shallow injection, trailing shoe and band spreading, respectively, with none achieving statistical significance (probability P>0·05). There was considerable variation in the efficiency of shallow injection, with reductions achieved in individual experiments ranging from 0 to 90%. The considerable variability in efficiency of the techniques for NH3 emission abatement warrants further investigation.


SUMMARY Methods are described for the growth of Aspergillus nidulans in submerged culture. In experiments with intact organisms D-galactose was oxidized by an inducible enzyme system; D-fucose was a poor inducer of this system. Mutants isolated by their failure to grow on galactose as sole carbon source were defective in the oxidation of galactose.


In this article, we take as our starting point the argument that intercultural theory and, above all, intercultural education often focuses on people's ideas, consciousness and attitudes. We argue that intercultural education has a bias towards cognitive structures as well as individualism. In parts of the intercultural research field, there is thus a lack of knowledge about how an intercultural dialogue can be understood based on interaction between people and the institutional and structural contexts in which they meet. The aim of this article is therefore to discuss how an intercultural dialogue can be understood from a social-psychological and sociological point of view. We argue that the dialogue in 'actual' meetings between people is not governed by ideas or attitudes, but by negotiations and interpretations that are situated. Furthermore, by introducing the concept of home culture, we discuss how this dialogue must also be put in relation to the present overall life situation, here and now, of all children/students, as well as to institutionally and socially active categorisations, routines and power relations, in order to develop fruitful, critical and relevant intercultural education.


In this work, a new constrained hybrid variational deblurring model is developed by combining the non-convex first- and second-order total variation regularizers. Moreover, a box constraint is imposed on the proposed model to guarantee high deblurring performance. The developed constrained hybrid variational model could achieve a good balance between preserving image details and alleviating ringing artifacts. In what follows, we present the corresponding numerical solution by employing an iteratively reweighted algorithm based on alternating direction method of multipliers. The experimental results demonstrate the superior performance of the proposed method in terms of quantitative and qualitative image quality assessments.


Expressions for the coupling coefficient in corrugated waveguides with rectangular tooth shape are derived based on local mode expansion. The expressions are exact to first order in the tooth height (or index difference) for any waveguide cross-section. When applied to slab waveguides, the familiar expressions are obtained. Specializing to weakly guiding fibers, with step index profile, result in simple expressions in terms of the fiber parameters, which are compatible with the effective index method. >


Chronic degenerative conditions increase as physiological function declines over the life span. Today, coronary artery and cerebrovascular diseases, malignant neoplasms, and noninsulin-dependent diabetes mellitus are leading causes of morbidity and mortality across affluent and underdeveloped societies. Elevated blood pressure, plasma glucose, and body mass index (BMI) are risk factors for these outcomes. In the USA, African Americans show more cardiovascular disease, diabetes, hypertension, and obesity than European Americans. One reason for such disparities may be physiological differences, while others may include sociocultural differences. To explore these influences, we examine blood pressure, glycemia, fat patterning, and body habitus among a sample of 114 older middle-class African Americans residing in Central Ohio during 1995. Our results indicate that BMI and waist/hip ratio positively associated with elevated post-load glucose. Additionally, elevated post-load glucose was significantly associated with upper arm circumference and triceps, subscapular and suprailiac skinfolds. Subscapular skinfolds and abdominal depth were significantly associated with elevated fasting glucose. Abdominal depth predicted both elevated fasting and post-load glucose as well as systolic hypertension. SBP predicted elevated fasting and post-load glucose in our sample. However, no measured variable was significantly related to diastolic hypertension. Our participants represent middle-class African Americans residing in Central Ohio. Their fasting glucose, two-hour post-load glucose, BMI, and wait-hip ratio are above cut-points suggesting diabetes and obesity. These results support the conclusion that such risk factors affect those of higher socioeconomic status as well as the more commonly portrayed poorer classes of African


1,3,6,8-Tetrasubstituted pyrene derivatives with two types of substituents (4-(2,2-dimethylpropyloxy)pyridine, 1-decyl-1,2,3-triazole, 1-benzyl-1,2,3-triazole, and pyrazole), substituted in such a way that provides the long axial symmetry, are prepared and characterized in the present study. To the best of our knowledge, the pyrene derivative containing the same heteroaryl motif (triazole) but substituted by two various alkyls, straight decyl and benzyl-based side chains (C), is reported for the first time. For comparison, compounds with one kind of triazole motif and substituted pyridine or pyrazole groups were prepared (A and B). The photophysical properties of all molecules were evaluated by thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) and UV-Vis spectroscopy (absorption and emission spectra, quantum yields, and fluorescence lifetimes). The obtained results were compared to analogues substituted at the 1,3,6,8 positions by one kind of substituent and also with all the 1,3,6,8-tetrasubstituted pyrenes reported in the literature substituted by two kinds of substituents with a substitution pattern that provides long axial symmetry. In addition, theoretical studies based on DFT and TD-DFT were performed that supported the interpretation of the experimental results. The photophysical properties of tetrasubstituted pyrene derivatives having triazole units at the 1,8-positions, respectively, and other identical substituents at the 3,6 positions show the dominance of triazole units in the pyrene framework; the dominance is even higher in the case of the substitution of 1,3,6,8 positions by triazoles, but containing two various alkyls.


Traditionally, the investment funds market exploits analysis and design concepts based on the procedural programming approach. We propose a set of analysis patterns which describes the financial products using the objectoriented paradigm. Primarily, the goal of our project has been to provide a solution to calculate the limits related of the managed financial investments. Thus the analysis of financial products has been performed from the calculus of limits point of view. The result is a set of design guidelines that include not only the definition of limits and their calculus formulas but also the definition of products, domains, and portfolios. Our aim has been to provide a model that can be further extended with new types of limits and calculus formulas and to be reused in other financial applications. The paper ends by summarizing the most important implementation issues we have addressed.


Single Point Incremental Forming (SPIF) is an unconventional forming process that is suitable for prototype production and small lot production due to the economical tooling cost, short lead time, and the ability to create symmetrical and asymmetrical complex geometries without the use of expensive dies. This article presents the effect of the step size Δz of a forming tool made of 145Cr6 tool steel on the formability and maximum forming angle, mechanical properties, hardness, surface roughness, microstructure and texture of bimetallic Al/Cu sheets. Experiments were conducted at a constant rotational speed and feed rate, with the use of rapeseed oil as a lubricant. The tests were carried out with the use of a forming tool on both sides of the bimetallic sheet. The shape and dimensions of the formed elements are determined by non-contact optical 3D scanning. It has been proved that an increase in the step size Δz affects the deterioration of the surface quality of the specimens (an increase in the Ra parameter from 0.2 μm to approximately 3 μm for the step size of 1.2 mm), while a small step size down Δz favours the geometric stability of the samples. With increasing step size (at Δx = Δy = const.), the drawpiece wall continually thinned until the material fractured. Based on the results, it was shown that increasing the step size Δz over 1.1 mm causes cracking of the drawpieces. Furthermore, greater thinning of the Al/Cu sheet was observed in the range of step size Δz between 0.7 and 1.0 mm for aluminum side and step size Δz ≤ 0.6 mm and Δz ≥ 1.1 mm for copper side. It was also found that the mechanical properties of the bimetal sheet decreased as a result of incremental forming. The greatest decrease in strength and ductility was recorded for a pitch of 1.2 mm. Strength decreased from 230 MPa (for sheet in initial state) to approximately 80 MPa, elongation from 12% to approximately 8.5%, and hardness from 120 HV10 for Cu and 60 HV10 for Al to approximately 30 HV10 for both layers.


This thesis explored principles of community design for future development both in the U.S. and Japan by examining the organizational structures, levels of participation and processes of community designs. Three cases in the U.S. and two cases in Japan were chosen for case studies. The method of research included a critical review of the literature, personal interviews and neighborhood visits. At the same time, the roles of architects in design processes were discussed as well as the roles of other participants: community residents, city officials and other professionals who were involved in the projects. Levels of participation are defined by the distribution of power in decision-making, and each case is summarized in terms of levels of participation in each stage of chronological progression of the design process: use, pre-design, design, construction and habitation phase. The U.S. and Japanese cases were compared by means of seven criteria: contextual consistency, spatial configuration, consideration of the family variation, achievement, citizens' levels of participation, involvement of institutions and the relationship between the community and the government. Findings clarified that the social background of each nation, attitude of city officials toward urban redevelopment, technical skills of professionals and attainability of financial support affect the success and effectiveness of participatory community design. In conclusion six principles of participatory design were suggested to promote creative ways of including communities. Change in the role of architect were mentioned. Thesis Supervisor: Reinhard Goethert Title: Principal Research Associate


To clarify the usefulness of matrix metallo-proteinases (MMPs) and tissue inhibitors of metalloproteinases (TIMPs) as prognostic factors in advanced colorectal carcinoma, the immunohistochemical expressions of MMP-1, MMP-2, MMP-3, MMP-9, TIMP-1 and TIMP-2 were examined. Specimens were selected from 67 consecutive patients undergoing surgery for advanced colorectal carcinoma. The patterns of expression were compared with the prognoses of the patients. The patients with TIMP-2 expression in stroma adjacent to the tumor mass had better prognoses than those of the patients who had no TIMP-2 expression in normal stroma adjacent to the tumor (p<0.05), which probably acted as a block of cancer cell invasion. However, the expression of MMP-2, presumably acting as an antagonist to TIMP-2 was not related to the prognosis, and the MMP-1, MMP-2, MMP-3, MMP-9 and TIMP-1 expressions were not related to any clinicopathological factors examined.


The aim of this meta-analysis is to assess the efficacy of extracorporeal shockwave therapy (ESWT) in patients with peripheral arterial disease (PAD). This meta-analysis was performed according to Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) guidelines. A systematic search was conducted independently by two authors using PubMed, EMBASE, and Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials (CENTRAL) from inception to January 15, 2023. Primary clinical outcomes assessed in this meta-analysis were changes in maximum waking distance (MWD) and pain-free walking distance (PFWD) from baseline. Other outcomes assessed included change in ankle brachial pressure index (ABI) and degree of arterial stenosis. Four RCTs involving a total of 228 patients were included. Change of PFWD and MWD from baseline was significantly higher in patients randomized in the ESWT group as compared to the control group. No significant differences were reported between the two groups in terms of change in ABI from baseline. In conclusion, this meta-analysis of four randomized controlled trials found evidence that ESWT is an effective treatment for patients with PAD in terms of improving PFWD and MWD and reducing stenosis. However, there was no significant difference in the improvement of the ankle-brachial index between the study groups.


We believe that the following case is of interest for two reasons: first, because seborrheic dermatitis is rarely confined to a nerve distribution and only a small number of cases have been recorded; second, because this case may shed some light on the fundamental nature of seborrheic dermatitis in general. REPORT OF A CASE A woman aged 42 years was admitted to the National Hospital for Nervous Diseases on Jan. 27, 1953, under the care of Dr. Michael Kremer, complaining of headache for 18 months and failing vision in the right eye for one year. Her memory and powers of concentration had been failing for the past few years. She was found to be vague and unobservant about her symptoms, but there was no evidence of intellectual impairment. Primary optic atrophy was present in the right eye, and the eye was slightly proptosed. There was slight


This study investigated purchasing behaviors of processed foods in high school students (male 94 and female 85) in the Yongin region. Frequency of eating processed foods was generally once (36.9%) or twice (32.4%) a day. Frequency according to processed food items was in the following order: confectionary (31.3%)> beverages (17.3%)> breads (12.3%)> instant noodles (11.7%) and milk or dairy products (11.7%)> frozen desserts (10.6%). The places for purchasing were a big mart (30.7%), convenience store (28.5%), and school cafeteria (26.8%). The reasons for purchasing were 'tasty' at 43.6% and 'hungry' at 35.2%. Main factors affecting purchasing were 'taste' at 70.9%, followed by price (16.2%)> quantity (5.6%)> nutrition (4.5%). The most important parts of food and nutrition labels were 'shelf-life' (67.0%) and 'calories' (57.5%). Degrees of confirmation of food and nutrition labeling were 'always' (12.3%), 'rarely' (28.5%), and 'sometimes' (59.2%). The reasons for not reading labels were 'unconcerned' (27.9%), 'too tiny lettering' (28.5%), 'hard to understand' (16.2%), and 'habitually' (15.1%). These results reflect low attention of high school students towards healthy food choices using food and nutrition labeling during purchasing. In conclusion, a specific education program for providing accurate product information as well as leading healthy purchasing behaviors should be required.


: Overqualification of newcomers', so-called "unrecognized talents" or "a great talent gone to waste", has became more and more common. Newcomers' overqualification is prone to produce low satisfaction, counterproductive work and withdrawal behaviors. However, overqualification is a "double-edged sword", with a question on perspective on how to use newcomers' redundant qualification to serve the organization, has became the key issue to the management. Therefore, this study will explore the dynamic evolution and influence mechanism of newcomers' overqualification under organizational socialization perspective. First of all, we will define the local overqualification through qualitative method, and develop the scale and test reliability according to the normative methods. Secondly, this study will construct the dynamic evolutionary model of overqualification, and we will use polynomial regression with response surface analysis to analyze how newcomers' overqualification can change dynamically with the perception of leader's and colleagues' overqualification during organizational socialization. Thirdly, this study will establish the mechanism model, analyze the effects of newcomers' overqualification on organizational citizenship behavior and active behavior in the interaction process of newcomers with their leaders and colleagues.


The surface imprinted technique was utilized in creating the synthetic lysozyme receptors on the poly(hydroxyethyl methacrylate) [p(HEMA)] cryogel membrane with the assistance of polydopamine under alkaline conditions. Following the design of the artificial receptors, Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), scanning electron microscope (SEM) and the swelling test were used for the characterization studies and the lysozyme adsorption capability of the adsorbent was evaluated in the aqueous solution.
The maximum adsorption capacity (Qmax) of lysozyme was found as 108.9 mg/g and the adsorption of the target protein on the adsorbent was monolayer and showed a good fit to the Langmuir isotherm model. The IF factor was 3.26 and the adsorbent was highly selective against creatinine and bovine serum albumin (BSA). Furthermore, the adsorbent maintained its stability after 5 adsorption, desorption, and regeneration cycles.


Background: The number of people with a migration background and dementia is increasing in Europe. All patients with suspected dementia have the right to an appropriate cognitive assessment and correct diagnosis for optimal treatment and support. Rowland Universal Dementia Assessment Scale (RUDAS) cognitive screening instrument is less affected by language, culture, and educational background, and adapted for use in multicultural populations. Objective: To compare the diagnostic accuracy of RUDAS-S to the Swedish version of Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE-SR) for detecting dementia in a multicultural group of outpatients in Swedish memory clinics. Methods: We tested 123 outpatients (36 nonnative Swedish), in 4 memory clinics in Southern Sweden with RUDAS-S to supplement the usual cognitive assessment. Results: RUDAS-S had moderate to good diagnostic performance for detecting dementia in a multicultural population in Sweden, with an area under the receiver operating characteristic curve (AUC) of 0.81. At a cutoff score <25 its sensitivity was 0.92, specificity 0.60, and accuracy 76%. The AUC for the MMSE-SR was 0.79. At a cutoff score <23 its sensitivity was 0.65, specificity 0.81, and accuracy 73%. Conclusion: RUDAS-S is at least as accurate as MMSE-SR for detecting dementia in memory clinics in Sweden and can be used for all patients undergoing a cognitive assessment, irrespective of their cultural, language, and educational background. However, there is a need for other cross-cultural cognitive tests to complement RUDAS-S to extend cognitive examination.


OBJECTIVE
To evaluate cardiac electrical function in the Spectacled Flying Fox (bat) infested with Ixodes holocyclus.

DESIGN
Prospective clinical investigation of bats treated for naturally occurring tick toxicity.

PROCEDURE
ECGs were performed on bats with tick toxicity (n = 33), bats that recovered slowly (n = 5) and normally (n = 5) following treatment for tick toxicity, and on normal bats with no history of tick toxicity (n = 9).

RESULTS
Bats with tick toxicity had significantly prolonged corrected QT intervals, bradycardia and rhythm disturbances which included sinus bradydysrhythmia, atrial standstill, ventricular premature complexes, and idioventricular bradydysrhythmia.

CONCLUSIONS
The QT prolongation observed on ECG traces of bats with tick toxicity reflected delayed ventricular repolarisation and predisposed to polymorphic ventricular tachycardia and sudden cardiac death in response to sympathetic stimulation. The inability to document ventricular tachycardia in bats shortly before death from tick toxicity may be explained by a lack of sympathetic responsiveness attributable to the unique parasympathetic innervation of the bat heart, or hypothermia-induced catecholamine receptor down-regulation. Bradycardia and rhythm disturbances may be attributable to hypothermia.


The genesis of racial predisposition to disease is a subject infrequently discussed or all too often dismissed with the statement, in most cases quite obvious, that the tendency is hereditary. In great part, this is probably due to the impossibility, at present, of putting hypotheses on this subject to experimental or statistical proof and to the reluctance on the part of modern scientific workers to recognize the importance of such tentative opinions. But, since in reality hypotheses play so important a role in scientific medicine, 1 it is without apology to experimental science that I offer this possible explanation for the marked predisposition of the Negro to keloid formation. In this hypothesis the principle of sexual selection makes, so far as I know, its first appearance in pathology. Keloid occurs as an uncommon sequela to injury to the skin. Whether the division into "true" and "false," or traumatic and nontraumatic,


The article presents the experience of organizing medical care for shift workers on the «Prirazlomnaya» platform. The characteristic of an oil field in the Pechora Sea is given. The stages of construction and commissioning of the «Prirazlomnaya» platform, its tactical and technical data and design features are described. Presented the work of ship doctors at the health center, their responsibilities for the medical care of the platform staff, features of medical evacuation of patients in extreme conditions of the Arctic.


Epitaxial AlGaN/GaN layers grown by MBE on SiC substrates were irradiated with 150 MeV Ag ions at a fluence of 5×1012 ions/cm2. AlGaN/GaN MQWs were grown on Sapphire substrate by MOCVD and irradiated with 200 MeV Au8+ ions at a fluence of 5×1011 ions/cm2 . These samples were used to study the effects of SHI on optical properties of AlGaN/GaN based nano structures. RBS/Channelling strain measurements were carried out at off normal axis of irradiated and unirradiated samples. In as grown samples, AlGaN layer is partially relaxed with a small compressive strain. After irradiation this compressive strain increases by 0.22% in AlGaN layer. Incident ion energy dependence of dechannelling parameter shows E1/2 dependence, which corresponds to the dislocations. Defect densities were calculated from the E1/2 graph. As a result of irradiation defect density increased on both GaN and AlGaN layer. Optical properties of AlGaN/GaN MQWs before and after irradiation have been analyzed using PL. This study shows that SHI increase the confinement effects in the MQWs and intensity of the active layer of the MQWs luminescence is increased by one order. This may be due to the induced strain in GaN and AlGaN layers. Some unwanted yellow luminescence has also been introduced by the SHI possibly due the point defects or defect luminescence from the induced dislocations in GaN bulk epitaxial layers. In this study, we present some new results concerning high energy irradiation on AlGaN/GaN heterostructures and MQWs characterized by RBS/Channelling and PL.


Cycloplegics are very safe and useful medications. To avoid the unpleasant side effects of these medications, six precautions are considered. They are: 1. dosage, 2. cycloplegic selection, 3. toxic reaction, 4. biologic variations, 5. topical anesthesia, 6. environmental temperature and humidity.


The statistics of the envelope of the backscattered signal from tissues have been known to vary from the well-known Rayleigh model. The K-distribution is used to model this non-Rayleigh behavior, since the generalized K-distribution encompasses a wide range of distributions like Rayleigh, Lognormal, and Rician. Computer simulations were conducted using a simple one-dimensional discrete scattering model to investigate the properties of the echo envelope. Significant departures from Rayleigh statistics were seen as the scattering cross sections of the scatterers became random. The validity of this model was also tested using data from tissue mimicking phantoms. Results indicate that the density function of the envelope can be modeled by the K-distribution and the parameters of the K-distribution can provide information on the nature of the scattering region in terms of the number as well as the scattering cross sections of the scatterers.<<ETX>>


The problem of museums and public institutions handling reproductions of works in their collections is not only a legal question but also one of museum ethics. Public museums are committed to spreading knowledge and to making their collections accessible. When it comes to images of their holdings, however, they often follow a restrictive policy. Even for works in the public domain they claim copyright for their reproductive photographs. This paper offers an analysis of the different interests at stake, a short survey of important cases, and practical recommendations.


Land is a basic source of livelihood for most of the Nepalese. Land fragmentation, improper use of land, rapid urbanization and lack of formal plan has created serious problems mostly in urban areas including study area. So proper Land use planning is necessary for getting optimum benefit from land resource in sustainable way. Risk factor has to be considered in land use planning process. Since Expert driven (Top down) approach has not gained satisfactory achievement, Participatory (Bottom up) approach has emerged to ensure public participation in land use planning. Participatory approach has also some limitations.
So the study seeks to implement integration of both expert driven and participatory approach to identify low risk land use zones in study area. Study targeted to identify risk areas from participatory approach before land use zoning. The case study was carried out in Banepa Municipality. The research was completed by following integrated approach using both primary and secondary data. Both desk study and case study method has been applied. Questionnaire, focus group discussion, interview techniques has been used in the study for collecting primary information where as high resolution satellite imagery, municipal GIS database, Census data etc. were used as secondary data. GIS application was used for Multi-criteria Analysis (MCA). To determine corresponding weight for each factor for land use zoning AHP (Analytical Hierarchy process) has been implemented.
Different risk zones in the study area are identified using participatory approach. Final risk free land use zoning map of the study area is prepared. Study concludes that integrated approach is useful for effective land use zoning and risk should also be considered in this process. Different kinds of risk like landslide, flooding, industrial hazard etc. are dominant in the study area. Legal, organizational and technical improvement is required for effective implementation of land use zoning.


The paper presents an analysis of the changes in fishing practices in West Africa both by national and foreign vessels and in trade patterns, as well as on the way in which these affect the economic and nutritional patterns of the Western and Central African countries, especially when climate variability is taken into account. Projections for the next decade indicate an increasing gap between estimated demand and supply under all scenarios elaborated. The more optimistic scenario shows that when environmental conditions are favourable, future fish supply cannot fulfil a growing population demand if per capita consumption remains at 2012 level. When environmental conditions are unfavourable, the supply-demand gap could rise to 1.8 million tonnes. However, even the best environmental conditions will not be able to satisfy the demand if the fish consumption per capita increases and the gap will progressively grow with time reaching 2.9 million tonnes in 2025. The pessimistic scenario presents a worrying picture of the future supply of West Africa where the gap between demand and supply may reach 3.3 million tonnes in 2025. In both scenarios, market mechanisms will adjust demand and supply by increasing the price of fish reducing therefore the accessibility for poor people and inhabitants of rural and areas far from the main fish markets. The foreseen deficiencies of fish supply will lead to nutritional loss, as some nutritional elements present in fish are not adequately represented in the foreseen substitutes (e.g. chicken). Therefore, climate variability increases the food security risks both in terms of quantity and quality.


FPGAs require a much longer compilation cycle than conventional computing platforms like CPUs. In this paper, we shorten the overall compilation time by co-optimizing the HLS compilation (C-to-RTL) and the back-end physical implementation (RTL-to-bitstream). We propose a split compilation approach based on the pipelining flexibility at the HLS level, which allows us to partition designs for parallel placement and routing. We outline a number of technical challenges and address them by breaking the conventional boundaries between different stages of the traditional FPGA tool flow and reorganizing them to achieve a fast end-to-end compilation. Our research produces RapidStream, a parallelized and physical-integrated compilation framework that takes in a latency-insensitive program in C/C++ and generates a fully placed and routed implementation. We present two approaches. The first approach (RapidStream 1.0) resolves inter-partition routing conflicts at the end when separate partitions are stitched together. When tested on the Xilinx U250 FPGA with a set of realistic HLS designs, RapidStream achieves a 5-7 × reduction in compile time and up to 1.3 × increase in frequency when compared to a commercial off-the-shelf toolchain. In addition, we provide preliminary results using a customized open-source router to reduce the compile time up to an order of magnitude in cases with lower performance requirements. The second approach (RapidStream 2.0) prevents routing conflicts using virtual pins. Testing on Xilinx U280 FPGA, we observed 5-7 × compile time reduction and 1.3 × frequency increase.


ABSTRACT The normal development of empathy has been proposed to be imperative to the healthy emotional and social functioning of youths. In contrast, compromised levels of empathy have been linked to an increased propensity to engage in antisocial behaviors, including animal cruelty. Previous findings have revealed parent attachment to be intrinsically linked to the development of empathy. This association has been shown to play a role in predicting the expression of various outcome behaviors, including both those which are prosocial in nature, and those which are antisocial, and potentially aggressive. This study examines these associations in a sample of 281 12- to 18-year-old students. The aims included the investigation of the direct predictive roles played by attachment and empathy for prosocial and antisocial behaviors directed at both humans and animals. We also investigated the mediating role played by empathy in these relationships. Attachment and empathy significantly predicted prosocial and antisocial behaviors, both individually, and in combination. Furthermore, empathy was found to serve a mediating role in the associations between attachment and: human-directed prosocial behavior, the humane treatment of animals, and animal cruelty. These findings expand upon existing literature by demonstrating that it is, at least partially, through empathy that attachment to parents predicts prosocial and antisocial behaviors during adolescence. This is in contrast to the direction of relationships implied by some previous findings and proposals, which have suggested that treating animals humanely fosters the normal development of empathy, for example. Notwithstanding the promising findings revealed by the current study, we recommend that replicating this research using a larger sample will assist in addressing the limited generalizability identified in the current study. It is further proposed that the use of a lie scale could limit the influence of social desirability responding. Future research is also needed to determine the direction of the demonstrated relationships.


In 1978, a sweeping reform created the first national health service of continental Europe: Italy's Servizio Sanitario Nazionale. This new scheme was based on the principle of "full democratic universalism": The state would provide free and equal benefits to every citizen and the organization of public health would subject to popular control, essentially through political parties. However, the severe problems encountered in implementing the reform design and rapidly increasing health expenditures soon eroded any consensus on this principle. Thus the 1980s and early 1990s witnessed a gradual shift to "conditional and well managed universalism." These latter principles stress the need to differentiate access to care according to some criterion to regulate demand and the need for efficient use of scarce resources through adequate valorization of managerial skills and the use of "market-type" incentives. An elaborated system of user copayments was introduced gradually, and in 1992 a "reform of the reform" profoundly changed the organizational framework of the Servizio Sanitario Nazionale. The new government elected in the spring of 1994 announced ambitious plans to partially dismantle public universal insurance. Although these plans may prove difficult, the potential to form an anti-universalistic coalition seems strong in the contemporary Italian health care arena.


Antipsychotic-like effect of agomelatine in a rodent model Objective: Agomelatine is a naphthalene bioisostere of melatonin. Melatonin is involved in several neurophysiological systems; nevertheless, data about the relationship between melatonin and psychosis such as schizophrenia are limited and contradictory. In this study, we examined the antipsychotic-like effects of agomelatine in a rodent model. Method: In this study, we evaluated the effect of agomelatine on novelty-induced rearing behavior and apomorphine-induced stereotypical behavior in male rats. Agomelatine (20 and 40mg/kg, i.p.), chlorpromazine (1mg/kg, i.p.), or isotonic NaCl (1mL/kg, i.p.) were administered to four groups of rats (n=6), respectively. An hour later, apomorphine (2mg/kg, s.c.) was administered to each rat. Results: Our results showed that either dose of agomelatine decreased rearing behavior in rats significantly, in a dose dependent manner. Agomelatine also decreased the stereotypical behaviour scores like chlorpromazine did. Conclusion: We conclude that agomelatine has beneficial effects on rearing and stereotypical behaviour, which were accepted to be indicators of antipsychotic effect.


Lipid peroxidation and alterations in cation loss have been induced in liposomes by ferrous ion, ascorbic acid, reduced and oxidized glutathione, and gamma radiation. Modifications of these effects by tocopherol and 2,6-di-tert-butyl-4-methylphenol (BHT) were studied when these antioxidants were either incorporated in the membrane or were added to already formed liposomes prior to the addition of the chemical agent or to irradiation. Lipid peroxidation, as indicated by the thiobarbituric acid test for malonic dialdehyde, did not correlate with alterations in cation loss. The largest amounts of lipid peroxidation induced by ascorbic acid and glutathione were associated with decreased cation loss. Inhibition of Fe(2+)- and radiation-induced lipid peroxidation by antioxidants did not inhibit the associated increase in cation loss. Tocopherol was a more effective antioxidant than BHT when it was incorporated in the membrane, whereas BHT was more effective when it was added to the liposomes after formation.


The surface roughness and residual stress behavior in two types of SiNx/SiO2 dielectric quarter-wave stacks was investigated experimentally. A reactive pulsed magnetron sputtering system was used to prepare the SiNx/SiO2 multilayer thin films. The results show that SiNx/SiO2 quarter-wave stack with a buffer layer of MgF2 thin film can reduce the residual stress. The effect of aging on the residual stress in two quarter-wave stacks was also studied. We found that the residual stresses in both SiNx/SiO2 multilayer coatings are changed from a compressive state to a tensile stress state with increasing the aging time. The root mean square (RMS) surface roughness of MgF2/(SiNx/SiO2)22 and (SiNx/SiO2)22 quarter-wave stacks are 2.23 ± 0.22 nm and 2.08 ± 0.20 nm, respectively.


Background: Bladder cancer is very diffuse especially in men aged about 65 years and the diagnosis is difficult and invasive. The identification of simple urine biomarkers that will enable diagnosis at an earlier stage of disease and accurately monitor for recurrence is a big challenge. The aim of this research is to find a simple urine test that may substitute or reduce the invasive and expensive cystoscopy.
 Methods: Voided urines collected in the morning before operation from 25 patients affected by papillary bladder carcinoma (Ta) were used after a short conservation at −80 ℃ and long conservation for more than 1 year. The lipids were extracted and analyzed using an Agilent Technologies. A statistical analysis of the results was performed with the specific software LipoStar.
 Results: The results show a clear difference in lipids between patients and controls that can be separated into two groups. In order to identify the lipid species, characteristic fragments of MS/MS spectra were used. On that basis, about 50% of 150 lipids selected were identified. This subset is mainly formed by triacylglycerols, alkyl diacylglycerols, cholesteryl ester and palmitoyl-sphingomyelin that are all present in high quantity in patients' urine. These differences become less evident in samples saved for more than 1 year. Although the dataset is small, it appears that the urine lipids may be used as markers with good specificity and sensitivity.
 Conclusions: The relevance of lipids in tumorigenesis as well the possible alterations of chromatin lipids are discussed including also the possibility of miRNA influence. The development of a special kit for use in screening and for monitoring the appearance or reappearance of bladder tumors could prevent many deaths due to this disease and may reduce the current invasive and expensive diagnostic system.


This paper explores gender differences in injury severity risk using a comprehensive crash dataset including the driver, vehicle, environment, and roadway characteristics. For the purpose of this study, only single vehicle crashes that occurred in the Commonwealth of Virginia, collected in a five year period from 2011 to 2015, were used. This study contributes to the literature of crash analysis by incorporating an extensive dataset with normalized attributes. The dataset used for model estimation integrated from two different data sources. These data sources include Virginia Traffic Records Electronic Data System (TREDS) to incorporate crash information and Virginia Base Mapping Program to incorporate roadway characteristics. A two level nested logit model is developed for each gender, in order to relax the Independence of Irrelevant Alternatives (IIA) assumption. Several crash determinants including but not limited to, drivers characteristics, drivers behavior, vehicle condition, weather conditions, roadway geometry and surface conditions were found to have an impact on both male and female drivers. This study is an assessment of influence of different factors on crash severity segmented by gender. A few interesting results include; (i) female fatality risk exceeds male fatality risk when driving under the influence of alcohol, (ii) speeding contributes to lower fatality risk among female drivers compared to their male counterparts, (iii) poor vehicle conditions have no impact on injury risk to female drivers while having an increased injury risk among male drivers, and (iv) while driving in a work zone area increases the risk of property damage crashes, the impact is higher for male drivers compared to female drivers.


Adenoviral vectors used in gene therapy are predominantly derived from adenovirus serotype 5 (Ad5), which infects a broad range of cells. Ad5 cell entry involves interactions with the coxsackie-adenovirus receptor (CAR) and integrins. To assess these receptors in vivo, we mutated amino acid residues in fiber and penton that are involved in receptor interaction and showed that CAR and integrins play a minor role in hepatic transduction but that integrins can influence gene delivery to other tissues. These data suggest that an alternative entry pathway exists for hepatocyte transduction in vivo that is more important than CAR or integrins. In vitro data suggest a role for heparan sulfate glycosaminoglycans (HSG) in adenovirus transduction. The role of the fiber shaft in liver uptake was examined by introducing specific amino acid changes into a putative HSG-binding motif contained within the shaft or by preparing fiber shaft chimeras between Ad5 and Ad35 fibers. Results were obtained that demonstrate that the Ad5 fiber shaft can influence gene transfer both in vitro and to the liver in vivo. These observations indicate that the currently accepted two-step entry pathway, which involves CAR and integrins, described for adenoviral infection in vitro, is not used for hepatic gene transfer in vivo. In contrast, alpha(v) integrins influence gene delivery to the lung, spleen, heart, and kidney. The detargeted vector constructs described here may provide a foundation for the development of targeted adenoviral vectors.


Background Evidence-based approach to the care at the end of life will decrease the danger placed on traditional and familiar policies in hospitals of Sub-Saharan Africa. Palliative care has different characteristics within Africa, there are diverse attitudes to palliative and end of life care informed by multiple meanings and traditions. Although there is insufficient information documented on palliative and end of life care provision in Nigeria and other Sub-Saharan African countries, and there is only weak evidence upon which to build policy and practice development. Nurses and family carers are faced with different challenges when providing care to patients at the end of life. Therefore, it became imperative to explore the factors perceived to promote care at the end of life from the perspective of nurses, patients, and family carers. Method A qualitative ethnographic case study design was employed for the study. Participant observations consisting of 188 hours of observation, and semi-structured interviews with 40 participants (nurses-14, patients-12, and family carers-14) were used as tools for data collection. Data analysis follows an inductive thematic approach using NVivo 11 qualitative data management programme. Findings Six overarching themes emerged: Enhanced communication skills, Increase drug supply, improve manpower, reward or incentives, training of staff, and improve logistics supplies. Conclusion Basically, these factors were directly related to the poor managerial processes and hospital's policies. If the hospital management increases drug supply, improve manpower, revive decayed infrastructure, improve logistics supplies, provide reward or incentives to staff, and encourages staff training and development, certainly the quality of palliative and end of life care will be improved.


BACKGROUND
The development of therapies for lysosomal storage disorders has created a need for biochemical markers to monitor the efficacy of therapy and methods to quantify these markers in biologic samples. In Pompe disease, the concentration of a tetrasaccharide, consisting of four glucose residues, is reputedly increased in urine and plasma, but faster and more sensitive methods are required for the analysis of this, and other oligosaccharides, from biologic fluids.

METHODS
We optimized the derivatization of storage oligosaccharides with 1-phenyl-3-methyl-5-pyrazolone for the measurement, by electrospray ionization tandem mass spectrometry, of oligosaccharide concentrations in urine (n = 6), plasma (n = 11), and dried-blood spots (n = 17) from Pompe-affected individuals. Age-matched control samples of urine (n = 10), plasma (n = 28), and blood spots (n = 369) were also analyzed.

RESULTS
The mean tetrasaccharide concentration was increased in urine from infantile-onset (0.69-12 mmol/mol of creatinine) and adult-onset (0.22-3.0 mmol/mol of creatinine) Pompe individuals compared with age-matched controls. In plasma samples, an increased tetrasaccharide concentration was observed in some infantile patients (up to 22 micromol/L) compared with age-matched controls (mean, 2.2 micromol/L). The method developed was sensitive enough to determine oligosaccharide concentrations in a single 3-mm blood spot, but no differences were observed between blood spots from control and Pompe-affected individuals.

CONCLUSIONS
Measurements of oligosaccharide concentrations in urine by this new method have potential application for the diagnosis and monitoring of patients with Pompe disease. Plasma analysis may have limited application for infantile patients, but analysis of blood spots does not discriminate between controls and affected individuals.


Morphometric measures and volumes of spermatozoa were determined for 28 human ejaculates which were previously analyzed for semen volume, sperm concentration, morphology, motility, and fertility by in vitro fertilization procedures (IVF). Morphometric measurements of sperm heads were analyzed using a Zeiss Videoplan computer, while spermatozoan volume was determined with an Elzone particle analyzer. Though a strong relationship was anticipated, correlations between the volumetric data and different morphometric measures revealed poor, insignificant values. This lack of correspondence may be due to individual differences in the thickness of the spermatozoa within a sample. Twenty-two of the ejaculates used in this study were classified as fertile and six were infertile according to the IVF procedure results. Correlations between the morphometric measurements and the volume determinations in the fertile group were all positive. In contrast, those of the infertile group were all negative with one exception (width vs. volume).


With the intensive use of information and communication technologies, governments are transforming into e-governments. While public management research has given increased attention to this subject lately, this article reviews the limited literature that deals with the impacts of e-government technologies on street-level bureaucracies. A twofold argument is being developed. First, what can be called the 'curtailment thesis', stressing the reduction or disappearance of frontline policy discretion, is addressed. Second, the 'enablement thesis' gets attention, highlighting how technologies provide frontline workers and citizens with additional action resources. The article concludes with propositions for a future research agenda on the topic.


A 58-year-old woman with bilateral lower limb varicose veins and Burkitt lymphoma underwent positronemission tomography/computed tomography (PET-CT) to exclude lymphoma relapse. PET-CT images did not show any suspicious lesion suggestive of malignancy. However, intense 18F-fluorodeoxyglucose (FDG) uptake focus was detected in the left lung without a corresponding CT abnormality. Follow-up PET-CT 7 weeks later showed disappearance of the 18F-FDG–avid left lung focus, although another new 18F-FDG–avid focus without a corresponding CT abnormality was detected in the right lung. It is possible that these artefacts were due to 18F-FDG–avid microembolus formations, probably related to intravenous 18F-FDG injection into the left foot passing through the varicose veins of the leg. Care should be taken to avoid misinterpreting PET-CT images should a similar situation be encountered in the future.


Intentionally or unintentionally, from ages, architects, builders and construction experts have used mathematics as a very basic yet important tool for the soulful purpose of design, execution and finalization of building projects. In the history, architects were mathematicians and also some mathematicians were architect too. Vitruvius was a very well-known architect as well as famous mathematician. Mathematical readings of Pythagoras were later used in building proportions. Well known worker and user of golden ratio Leonardo Da Vinci along with many achievements was an architect too. The approach of this research paper is to come up with findings on importance of mathematics in architecture, as in geometry, from very important site analysis to final design of elevation or facade. Aim of the whole research is to come up with mathematical functions related to mensuration of building construction and Architectural Engineering. This paper is an initial part of the same research.


This study is to further confirm the diagnostic value of class I MHC detection in muscle biopsies of adult patients presenting with clinical features of dermatomyositis (DM) and to address its diagnostic value in the case of nonspecific biopsies. A retrospective study was performed on muscle biopsies in 22 patients presenting with clinical features of DM. Immunohistochemical detection of class I MHC was performed in all cases. On pathological features two groups of patients were recorded: group I (14 patients) with typical features of DM and group II (eight patients) with almost normal muscle biopsies (no inflammatory exudates, no perifascicular atrophy). Abnormal sarcolemmal class I MHC expression was recorded in all cases. In all muscle biopsies of group I patients, class I MHC expression was observed in almost all fibres but was stronger in perifascicular areas (eight patients) or was restricted to perifascicular atrophic fibres (six patients). In all muscle biopsies of group II patients, only some perifascicular fibres expressed class I MHC. According to Bohan and Peter criteria, patients were classified as definite DM (nine group I and three group II patients), probable DM (five group I and two group II patients) and possible DM (three group II patients). Abnormal perifascicular class I MHC expression is of diagnostic value in patients presenting with clinical features of DM especially when muscle biopsy fails to show typical features such as inflammatory infiltrates and/or perifascicular atrophy.