Background There is a paucity of information available for clinical decision making applying to the elderly patient population. Therefore, data of percutaneous coronary interventions (PCI) including demographic information on the elderly patients, procedural practices, and outcomes are needed. Objectives and Methods From consecutive PCIs of participating institutions, demographics data, clinical, angiographic success and adverse clinical outcomes were collected. Standard statistical methods were used to compare crude differences in patient and procedural characteristics across age groups. Results At baseline, the prevalence of comorbid conditions ( renal failure and heart failure) increased with age. Unstable angina or a non-ST elevation MI were the most common indications for PCI across all age groups. Fewer patients ≥ 80 years old were undergoing primary PCI and older patients were somewhat less likely to receive a Ⅱb/Ⅲa receptor blocker. Slightly more patients ≥ 80 years old underwent a 2-vessel PCI ( consistent with them having more multivessel disease) and these patients were more likely to have an intervention on a Type C lesion. Compared to patients < 50 years old, those aged ≥ 70 years old had a significantly increased risk of death, MI, stroke, or vascular complications at the access site. Conclusions This study suggests increasing age is associated with increasing risk for an adverse outcome following PCI. This is in part attributable to case-mix but likely, also related to the changing physiology of aging. Despite the increased risk of the procedure, the clinical success rate for PCI is quite high and makes it a reasonable alternative for the treatment of CAD in the elderly.


In this paper, we study panel count data with informative observation times. We assume nonparametric and semiparametric proportional rate models for the underlying event process, where the form of the baseline rate function is left unspecified and a subject-specific frailty variable inflates or deflates the rate function multiplicatively. The proposed models allow the event processes and observation times to be correlated through their connections with the unobserved frailty; moreover, the distributions of both the frailty variable and observation times are considered as nuisance parameters. The baseline rate function and the regression parameters are estimated by maximising a conditional likelihood function of observed event counts and solving estimation equations. Large-sample properties of the proposed estimators are studied. Numerical studies demonstrate that the proposed estimation procedures perform well for moderate sample sizes. An application to a bladder tumour study is presented.


Political ecology, as a perspective for exploring power-permeated socio-ecological transformations, has to date rarely engaged with tourism. Neither has tourism theory, with some notable exceptions, engaged much with political ecology. In this article, I argue that the resultant lack of dialogue between these signifies a loss for political ecology and tourism theory alike, but also that current conceptualisations of tourism have much to offer for instigating a dialogue. Combining social-constructivist, political economy–oriented and Actor–Network-Theory conceptualisations of tourism with political ecology work, I account for the establishment of Bro Hof Slott Golf Club in Upplands-Bro, northwest of Sweden's capital. Here, immense investments have transformed shorelines into a meticulously maintained upscale golf landscape. But the development simultaneously sparked new future visions for what Upplands-Bro could become and conflicts concerning whether the development breached local plans, thereby illuminating the political nature of tourist-oriented environmental transformation.


ABSTRACT Knowledge of the diet of marine mammals is fundamental to understanding their role in marine ecosystems and response to environmental change. Recently, animal-borne video cameras have revealed the diet of marine mammals that make short foraging trips. However, novel approaches that allocate video time to target prey capture events is required to obtain diet information for species that make long foraging trips over great distances. We combined satellite telemetry and depth recorders with newly developed date-/time-, depth- and acceleration-triggered animal-borne video cameras to examine the diet of female northern elephant seals during their foraging migrations across the eastern North Pacific. We obtained 48.2 h of underwater video, from cameras mounted on the head (n=12) and jaw (n=3) of seals. Fish dominated the diet (78% of 697 prey items recorded) across all foraging locations (range: 37–55°N, 122–152°W), diving depths (range: 238–1167 m) and water temperatures (range: 3.2–7.4°C), while squid comprised only 7% of the diet. Identified prey included fish such as myctophids, Merluccius sp. and Icosteus aenigmaticus, and squid such as Histioteuthis sp., Octopoteuthis sp. and Taningia danae. Our results corroborate fatty acid analysis, which also found that fish are more important in the diet, and are in contrast to stomach content analyses that found cephalopods to be the most important component of the diet. Our work shows that in situ video observation is a useful method for studying the at-sea diet of long-ranging marine predators. Highlighted Article: Seal-borne acceleration-triggered video cameras showed that, in the mesopelagic zones across the eastern North Pacific, female northern elephant seals feed mainly on fish rather than squid.


Distributed algorithms typically run over arbitrary many processes and may involve unboundedly many rounds, making the automated verification of their correctness challenging. Building on domain theory, we introduce a framework that abstracts infinite-state distributed systems that represent distributed algorithms into finite-state guard automata . The soundness of the approach corresponds to the Scott-continuity of the abstraction, which relies on the assumption that the distributed algorithms are layered . Guard automata thus enable the verification of safety and liveness properties of distributed algorithms.


An in situ experimental model of rectal absorption was studied in rabbits compared with in vivo determination of drug concentration in the plasma of postcaval vein using indomethacin as drug. Pharmacokinetic parameters were similar between in vivo and in situ. When results from both studies were compared, 60% of the drug administered to the rectum was absorbed from the superior hemorrhoidal vein and the remaining 40% was absorbed from the inferior hemorrhoidal vein. When an aspirin suppository was used in this model, the amount of unaltered aspirin absorbed in the rectal mucosa or space was greater than the absorbed salicylic acid which was metabolized or degradated from aspirin. In the case of insulin, these differences were not seen in the insulin concentration of venous plasma between insulin physiological saline and surfactant suspension. However, using the in situ model, the surfactant effect on rectal absorption of insulin was observed. From the above results, it was concluded that this in situ experimental model of rectal absorption has advantages in that it can be used directly to measure the rectal absorption rate and to determine ratios of easily metabolized and poorly absorbed drugs. Therefore, this model appears to be useful in evaluation of rectal absorption.


Trust can transform conflicting interests into cooperation. But how can individuals know when to trust others? Here, I develop the theory that reputation building may signal cooperative intent, or "trustworthiness." I model a simple representation of this theory in which individuals 1) optionally invest in a reputation by performing costly helpful behavior ("signaling"); 2) optionally use others' reputations when choosing a partner; and 3) optionally cooperate with that partner. In evolutionary simulations, high levels of reputation building, of choosing partners based on reputation, and of cooperation within partnerships emerged. Costly helping behavior evolved into an honest signal of trustworthiness when it was adaptive for cooperators, relative to defectors, to invest in the long-term benefits of a reputation for helping. I show using game theory that this occurs when cooperators gain larger marginal benefits from investing in signaling than do defectors. This happens without the usual costly signaling assumption that individuals are of two "types," which differ in quality. Signaling of trustworthiness may help explain phenomena such as philanthropy, pro-sociality, collective action, punishment, and advertising in humans and may be particularly applicable to courtship in other animals.


Scrotal elephantiasis is a condition rarely encountered in developed nations. It is endemic in tropical regions due to the presence of filariasis (Wucheria bancrofti). We report 2 cases of idiopathic scrotal elephantiasis in Canadian citizens with no history of travel to endemic filariasis regions, malignancy, surgery or radiation. Both patients underwent complete excision of the involved tissue with reconstruction. We found that for advanced cases of scrotal lymphedema, surgery is currently the only solution. In our cases of advanced idiopathic disease, surgical treatment combining the expertise of a plastic surgeon and a urologist provided a successful functional and cosmetic result.


Abstract Background and Purpose: Data mining techniques are intensely used in various industries for the purpose of fraud prevention and detection. Research that focuses on the leasing industry is scarce, although frauds in the field of leasing occur rather often. First, we identify clusters of business clients in one leasing company by using the method of self-organising maps based on leasing contract attributes. Second, we compare clusters based on the presence of fraudulent clients, in order to develop fraudsters' profiles. Methodology: For detecting characteristics of fraudulent clients, we use a client database containing leasing contract attributes of one Croatian leasing company. In order to develop profiles of fraudulent clients, we utilise a clustering procedure with the Kohonen Self-Organizing Maps supported by Viscovery SOMine software. Results: Five clusters were identified and labelled according to the modal values of attributes describing the leasing object and the industry in which the client operates: (i) New cars / Trade; (ii) Used trucks or tugboats / Other services; (iii) New machinery / Construction; (iv) New motors / Trade; and (v) New machinery and tractors / Agriculture. Conclusion: Self-organising maps have proved to be a useful methodology for developing profiles of fraudulent clients in leasing companies. Companies can use our results and make additional efforts in monitoring clients from the identified industries, buying specific leasing objects. In addition, companies can apply our methodology to their own databases, in order to develop fraudster profiles for their specific purposes, and implement fraud alert mechanisms in their client database.


The aberrant expression of aldo keto reductases (AKR1B1 & AKR1B10) has been extensively studied in different types of cancer especially the colon cancer but a very few studies have yet been reported regarding the discovery of inhibitors for the treatment of colon cancer by targeting these isozymes. Therefore, there is a need of selective inhibitors of both targets for the eradication of colon cancer. Currently, the study is focused on the exploration of two quinolone compounds i.e., (S)-(6-Methoxyquinolin-4-yl)[(1S,2R,4S,5R)-5-vinylquinuclidin-2-yl]methanol (Quinidine) and (R)-(6-Methoxyquinolin-4-yl)[(1S,2S,4S,5R)-5-vinylquinuclidin-2-yl]methanol (Quinine) as the potential inhibitors of AKR1B1 and AKR1B10 via detailed in-silico approach. The structural properties including vibrational frequencies, dipole moment, polarizability and the optimization energies were estimated using density functional theory (DFT) calculations; where both compounds were found chemically reactive. After that, the optimized structures were used for the molecular docking studies and here quinidine was found more selective towards AKR1B1 and quinine exhibited maximum inhibition of AKR1B10. The results of molecular docking studies were validated by molecular dynamics simulations which provided the deep insight of stability of protein ligand complex. At the end, the ADMET properties were determined to demonstrate the druglikeness properties of both selected compounds. These findings suggested further exploration of both compounds at molecular level using different in-vivo and in-vitro approaches that will lead to the designing of potential inhibitor of AKR1B1/AKR1B10 for curing colon cancer and related malignancies.


Field studies were carried out to determine dry matter (DM), nitrogen (N) and phosphorus (P) assimilation until anthesis and DM, N and P remobilization during grain filling in wheat. Twentyfive durum wheat (Triticum durum L.) varieties were grown in Tuscany at Grosseto and at Arezzo. At Grosseto 76% of DM was assimilated during pre-anthesis while at Arezzo the amount was 81%. At Grosseto 44% and at Arezzo 35% of N was accumulated until anthesis, while 33% of P was stored until anthesis in both localities. Cultivar differences in DM and N remobilization were positively related to pre-anthesis dry matter and N content at anthesis (r > 0.74). Environmental contraints on carbon, N and P availability in the plant are crucial factors in determining grain yield and N and P content in grain, affecting both accumulation and remobilization. In the low rainfall site of Grosseto, most of the grain yield originated from dry matter accumulation, while in the wetter environment of Arezzo remobilization and accumulation contributed equally to grain yield. Conversely, at Grosseto grain N content relied most on remobilization and at Arezzo remobilization and accumulation contributed equally. Finally, at Grosseto and at Arezzo accumulation of P was the main source of grain P content.


Abstract. We assessed the community characteristics of a group of planktonic herbivores across a species-rich area, the SE Pacific Ocean. A series of 22 stations between the Marquise Islands (7° S 142° W) and the coast of Chile (35° S 73° W) was sampled during the BIOSOPE cruise in 2004. We examined the relationships between taxonomic diversity, morphological diversity, patterns of tintinnid species assemblage, and phytoplankton abundance. Tintinnid community characteristics were estimated from large volume (20–60 l) discrete depth sampling and phytoplankton were characterized based on HPLC pigment signatures. Across the transect, average water column concentrations of tintinnids ranged from 2–40 cells l−1 or 8–40 ng C l−1, and were positively related to chlorophyll a concentrations which varied between 0.07–2 µg l−1. Large numbers of tintinnid taxa were found, 18–41 species per station, yielding a total of 149 species. Among stations, morphological and taxonomic diversity metrics co-varied but were not significantly related to phytoplankton diversity estimated using a pigment-based size-diversity metric. Taxonomic diversity of tintinnids, as H' or Fishers' alpha, was inversely related to chlorophyll concentration and positively to the depth of the chlorophyll maximum layer. Species abundance distributions were compared to geometric, log-series and log-normal distributions. For most stations, the observed distribution most closely matched log-series, coherent with the neutral theory of random colonization from a large species pool. Occurrence rates of species were correlated with average abundance rather than specific characteristics of biomass or lorica oral diameter (mouth) size. Among stations, species richness was correlated with both the variety of mouth sizes (lorica oral diameters) as well as numbers of species per mouth size, also consistent with random colonization.


The term "polypharmacy" is used to describe the excessive use of drug therapy. In 1980, I reviewed the evidence of a continuing epidemic of polypharmacy.1 In 1975, there were 1.7 billion visits per year to physicians in private practice.2 Such visits to a family physician resulted in the prescription of medications to 73% of the patient contacts; in 63% of the patient visits, medications were suggested by a pediatrician. Do two thirds of our patients require medication when seen in an ambulatory setting?
 Pediatric hospitals did not fare much better. Of 993 patients admitted to a children's hospital, 36.7% received antibiotics.3 Using strict criteria, these authors concluded that 38% of medical patients received antibiotics inappropriately and 78% of the surgical patients did not require antibiotics.


Satellite remote sensing techniques are widely considered as the most promising way to estimate evapotranspiration (ET) over large geographic extents. In this study, a hybrid dual‐source scheme and trapezoid framework–based evapotranspiration model (HTEM) is developed to map evapotranspiration from satellite imagery. It adopts a theoretically determined vegetation index/land surface temperature trapezoidal space to decompose bulk radiative surface temperature into component temperatures (soil and canopy) and uses a hybrid dual‐source scheme of the layer approach and patch approach to partition net radiation and estimate sensible and latent fluxes separately from the soil and canopy. The proposed model was tested at the Soil Moisture‐Atmosphere Coupling Experiment (SMACEX) site in central Iowa, USA, for 3 days during the campaign in 2002 using Landsat Thematic Mapper/Enhanced Thematic Mapper Plus (TM/ETM+) data, and at the Weishan flux site in the North China Plain during the main growing season of 2007 with Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer Terra images. Results indicate that HTEM is capable of estimating latent heat flux (LE) with mean absolute percentage errors of 6.4% and 11.2% for the SMACEX and the Weishan sites, respectively. In addition, the model was found to be able to give reasonable evaporation and transpiration partitioning at both sites. Compared with other models, HTEM generally produced better sensible and latent flux estimates at the two sites and had comparable abilities in estimating net radiation and ground heat flux. Sensitivity analysis suggests that HTEM is most sensitive to temperature variables and less sensitive to other meteorological observations and parameters.


Dear Sir, More than twenty years ago the Albers-Post scheme was proposed to describe the effects of ATP, ADP, Na, and K on transphosphorylation reactions carried out by Na, K-ATPase preparations. The scheme in its currently amplified version has been remarkably successful in accounting for the results of ion transport and transphosphorylation measurements, of physical and biochemical studies of the changes in pump configuration during transport cycles, of measurements of electrical events occurring during ion transport, and of measurements of the occlusion of Na and Rb ions by Na,K-ATPase preparations (Glynn, 1985, 1988). Basically, the Albers-Post scheme postulates that Na promotes phosphorylation of the pump by ATP to form the phosphorylated intermediate E1P, that Na is released during the conformational transition from EIP to E~P, that K promotes the dephosphorylation of E2P, and that K is released during the conformational transition from E 2 to El:


A new grouping strategy for the analysis of two-port arbitrarily shaped H-plane devices in rectangular waveguides is presented. The new grouping strategy accelerates a previous method based on the method of moments and the Green's function of an infinite line source placed inside two parallel plates. The computational cost of analyzing several H-plane filters of different geometries is reduced by about 50%, while maximum accuracy is maintained, as a result of using the new grouping strategy.


Selective incorporation of conformational constraints into thyclotides can be used to modulate their binding to complementary oligonucleotides, increase polarity, and optimize uptake into HCT116 cells without assistance from moieties known to promote cell uptake. The X-ray structure and biophysical studies of a thyclotide–DNA duplex reveal that incorporation of tetrahydrofurans into an aegPNA backbone promotes a helical conformation that enhances binding to complementary DNA and RNA. Selective incorporation of tetrahydrofurans into the aegPNA backbone allows polarity to be increased incrementally so that uptake into HCT116 cells can be optimized. The enhanced binding, polarity, and cellular uptake properties of thyclotides were used to demonstrate effective inhibition of microRNA-21 in HCT116 cells.


Homeostatic changes in the body, such as fever, may cause a sense of bitterness in the mouth. It implies in the reduction of appetite, which may finally result in the reduction of physical condition due to inadequacy of food intake. It causes the inhibition of healing process, which reduces working productivity. The objective of this study was to identify the mechanism of bitterness due to inflammation, as proved locally in the taste buds of Wistar rats. This study was carried out experimentally using post-only control design in experimental animals of male Wistar strain Rattus Norvegicus. The animals were divided into two groups first group served as control, while the second received treatment with Salmonella thypimurium 0.5 ml/kgBW. Tongue incision was taken from the animals for neutrophyl examination and immunohystochemical staining for the variables Gustducin. Data were analyzed using Leven s test to determine sample homogeneity, Kolmogorov-Smirnov test for data normality, and comparative test. From the result, it was found that there was an increase of biological response of signaling transduction of bitterness in taste buds, as indicated from the increase of the amout of gustducin and neutrofil. The result is there is significance different in treatment group or in inflammatory fever condition compared to control group (p < 0.05). By unfolding its mechanism, further studies can be recommended to find the way to inhibit this sense of bitterness. The results are intended to overcome homeostatic disorder in the body to prevent loss of appetite, so that physical endurance can be maintained.


The thymus has a dominant immunological role in utero and in early childhood, being a primary source of T lymphopoiesis, and its investigation may be particularly relevant for the immunological study of paediatric patients. Thymulin, a nonapeptide secreted by the thymus, is an essential hormone for T lymphocyte differentiation and function. As thymulin values in the normal population have not been well documented, especially for children under the age of 1 year, we detail thymic endocrine function by presenting age‐related plasma thymulin levels in a large series (n = 93) of healthy individuals, ranging from birth to old age. We demonstrate that thymulin is already detectable at birth; it then gradually increases with age, reaching the highest level in children aged 5–10 years. Starting at adolescence, thymulin titres gradually start to fall, reaching the lowest value at 36 years of age and remaining steady until 80 years (the oldest person tested).


The LHC stored beam contains 362 MJ of energy at the top beam energy of 7 TeV/c, presenting a significant risk to the components of the machine and the detectors. In response to this threat, a sophisticated system of machine protection has been developed to minimize the danger, and detect potentially dangerous situations. In this paper, the protection of the experiments in the LHC from the machine is considered, focusing on pilot beam strikes on the experiments during injection and on the dynamics of hardware failure with a circulating beam, with detailed time-domain calculations performed for LHC ring power converter failures and magnet quenches. The prospects for further integration of the machine protection and experimental protection systems are considered, along with the risk to nearbeam detectors from closed local bumps.


Devices that are designed for the use in critical infrastructures demand a high level of security. Therefore, a consideration of cyber threats and security mechanisms should be done in an early state, at best at the product's design phase. In this paper, we present a security assessment method in addition to a support tool that allows the involved participants to conduct security assessments in a reproducible and standardized way. Special for our method is the focus on the collaboration of different domain experts at various abstraction levels, which is typical for critical infrastructure device assessments.ion levels, which is typical for critical infrastructure device assessments.


We present a novel methodology for integration of high-angle/horizontal (HA/HZ) well data into 3D geomodels as a natural extension to well placement workflows. Log interpretation, typically done in 2D cross-sections, is based on 1-D automated inversion, yielding near-wellbore reservoir structure and properties. 2D cross-section, updated by inversion and further refined using 2D/3D modeling, is subsequently retrofitted into the geomodel so as to minimally perturb the original topology. Changes in positions/dips/azimuths of boundaries and faults, cell properties, and further local grid refinements are applied automatically. The updated geomodel honors high-resolution logs and low-resolution seismic/nearby wells data. We demonstrate this on a typical real-time well placement scenario. Electromagnetic log interpretation codes are integrated as a high performance computing (HPC) Web service into a geosteering/model update workflow. As the initial model, we use 3D geomodel constructed from seismic/vertical well data. A ―curtain‖ cross-section is extracted, edited based on 1D inversion, and further refined to match HA/HZ logs through 2D and 3D forward modeling, by changing properties/dips/layer thicknesses /fault positions, while preserving the original topology. Then, updated node coordinates and cell properties of the affected pillar grid region are calculated to optimally retrofit the changed 2D cross-section into the grid. These changes are then automatically applied to the 3D model. For quality control, we recompute the 2D cross-section from the refined geomodel. Ultimately, we arrive at the geomodel that honors both seismic and resistivity well-log data. The combination, in a single workflow, of physics-based log modeling codes, Services-Oriented Architecture, HPC framework, and the solver to optimally retrofit 2D cross-sections into 3D models, creates a qualitatively new opportunity for well placement engineers. This integrated workflow (1) maximizes the value of deep directional resistivity well-logs and real-time well placement interpretation by incorporating them into the source of data for building geomodels; (2) radically speeds up the model refinement loop by automatically calculating and applying the modifications to 3D reservoir model; (3) enables geoscientists to directly refine geomodels while geosteering. The latter has not been a standard practice, hindered by challenges of scale difference between geomodels and well-logs and lack of availability of efficient modeling codes.


The time dependant Schrodinger equation was solved for one dimensional and two dimensional Gaussian potential wells in the presence of a strong laser field. Three laser fields Argon, Helium-Neon and Ti-Sapphire with different intensities with cosine and sine laser electric fields were used for the simulation. The Gaussian potential well get distorted in two different ways with the intensity change and the wavelength change of the laser. The wave functions and the position probabilities are presented. The Gaussian potential distortion for He-Ne laser occur in the opposite way compared to Ar and Ti-Sapphire for cosine electric field while Ar laser behaves differently than He-Ne and TiSapphire for sine electric field of the laser in the case of two dimensional potential.


The rich, fossiliferous Triassic sediments exposed in the Virginia Solite Quarry include a 34mm-thick ''insect layer'' that is notable for detailed preservation of soft-bodied invertebrate and vertebrate remains. We describe this unique KonservatLagerstätte and use sedimentologic and geochemical analyses to interpret the environmental conditions necessary to preserve such delicate fossils. This work is among the first attempts to apply detailed geochemical/stratigraphic analysis to the study of Lagerstätten and we report on a 332-mm-thick section that includes the insect layer and the rocks immediately below and above it. Our analysis successfully constrains various aspects of the depositional and diagenetic history of the Lagerstätte and permits a detailed analysis of changing conditions prior to, during, and after deposition. Geochemical and sedimentologic analyses of the insect layer and P. C. Ragland—deceased. C. M. Liutkus (&) Department of Geology, Appalachian State University, Boone, NC 28607, USA e-mail: email@example.com J. S. Beard · N. C. Fraser · P. C. Ragland Virginia Museum of Natural History, Martinsville, VA 24112, USA N. C. Fraser National Museums Scotland, Edinburgh EH1 1JF, UK surrounding lithologies reveal a change from siliciclastic-dominated layers (Unit 1) to dolomite-siliciclastic laminites above (Unit 2 and the insect layer), separated by a boundary dolostone layer that is traceable for over 200 m. We interpret this sedimentary shift as the initial stages in the transgression of a shallow, saline, alkaline rift-basin lake over lake margin deposits. The absence of bioturbation by plants and benthic organisms, as well as a lack of predation on the insects, is not explained by significant water depth, but is instead more reasonably considered a result of the chemistry of the water at the lake margin, affected by groundwater seeps, which provided F-, Mg-, and Ca-rich fluids. Although the initial conditions of preservation are remarkable, it is equally impressive that the fossils survived extensive diagenesis, e.g. dissolution of quartz and coarsening of dolomite.


OBJECTIVE
To determine if sevoflurane provides hemodynamic and recovery characteristics comparable to isoflurane in patients undergoing surgery for valvular heart disease.

DESIGN
A prospective crossover, dose-response study using sevoflurane and isoflurane before the start of surgery, followed by randomization to sevoflurane or isoflurane for surgery with blinded assessment for recovery.

SETTING
Tertiary referral cardiac center.

PARTICIPANTS
Twenty-seven patients scheduled for elective valve surgery. Surgery consisted of 18 aortic valve and 12 mitral valve replacements, of which 3 patients had 2 valves replaced; 1, tricuspid repair; and 8, coronary artery bypass procedures.

INTERVENTIONS
A pulmonary artery catheter was used to obtain a complete hemodynamic profile during the dose-response study before surgery. Transesophageal echocardiography was used to confirm the diagnosis, and electrocardiography monitored for myocardial ischemia.

MEASUREMENTS AND MAIN RESULTS
Both agents showed similar hemodynamic effects at 0.5 and 1.0 minimum alveolar concentration. There was a tendency to decreases in heart rate, blood pressure, and cardiac output, whereas filling pressures remained stable with each volatile agent. Electrocardiography did not detect ischemic changes. Times to eye opening and extubation were similar with both agents, with sevoflurane tending to be earlier than isoflurane.

CONCLUSION
Sevoflurane showed a tendency to lower heart rates and cardiac index compared with isoflurane. Eye opening and extubation were slightly earlier. These findings were not statistically significant, however.


The gametogenic potential of young male CBA/Ca mice aged 4-5 months was compared with that of animals 20-23 months of age which had recently ceased to sire offspring. The older mice had substantially lower circulating levels of testosterone and smaller testes. Testicular and epididymal spermatozoa were reduced in number, had more abnormal forms and fewer were progressively motile. Ageing seminiferous tubules varied in the degree of functional atrophy from complete depletion of germ cells to maintenance of sperm production. They were enclosed by a thickened basal lamina and more collagenous connective tissue and occasionally allowed the penetration of lanthanum between Sertoli cells into the ad-luminal compartment. There was no evidence of autosensitization to sperm antigens.


The military disaster of 1866 compelled Francis Joseph Ⅰ to come to terms with the Magyars. The subsequent Ausgleich, or Compromise, of 1867 transformed the Habsburg Empire into a dual monarchy in which Austria and Hungary became almost separate states except for defence and foreign affairs. Many of the other national groups within the empire-including the Czechs-opposed the Compromise of 1867. The dual monarchy, in effect, permitted the German-speaking Austrians and the Hungarian Magyars to dominate all other nationalities in their respective states. The most severe critics were the Czechs of Bohemia. At that time they favored policy of trialism. In 1871 Francis Joseph Ⅰ was willing to accept this concept. However, the Hungarian Magyars and the German-speaking Austrians vetoed the proposal due to the fear that they might have to make similar concessions to their own subject nationalities. For more than ten years the Czechs were conciliated by extension of generous Austrian patronage and admission to the Austrian bureaucracy. During this time Czechs politicians agreed with F.Palacky on the issue that the introduction of the Federalism into Austria was necessary to maintain the Habsburg Empire. On June 28, 1914, a young Bosnian nationalist shot and killed the Austrian Archduke Francis Ferdinand, an heir to the throne, and his wife as they drove in an open car through the Bosnian capital, Sarajevo. The assassin was a member of conspiracy hatched by the political terrorist society called Union and Death, better known as the Black. At this time the Archduke had been known to favor a form of federal government that would have given a higher status to the Slaves in the empire. Austria was sure that it was a Serbian who killed its prince, and Austrian leaders made up their minds to make war on Serbia. During the First World War T. Masaryk and his followers had given up Austroslavism of F.Palacky. Instead, they had tried to aid the Allies. From Geneve onwards T.G.Masaryk started organizing Czechs and Slovaks living outside Austria-Hungary, primarily in Switzerland, France, England, Russia and the United States, and establishing the contacts that would prove crucial to the cause of Czechoslovak independence. T.G.Masaryk originally wished to reform the Habsburg monarchy into a democratic federal state, but during First World War he began to favor the abolition of the monarchy. As a result of this constant efforts of T.G.Masaryk and his followers the Czechs had a real chance of constructing a viable modem nation-state. With the fall of the Austro-Hungarian Empire in 1918, the Czechs of Bohemia and Moravia joined with the Solvaks and Ruthenians to the east to form Czechoslovakia, and this new state included several million unhappy Germans. During the war the Czechs and the Slovaks had cooperated to aid the Allies. They had learned to work together and to trust each other.


The use of information technology (IT) in education has accelerated rapidly. From the learner's perspective, e-learning is self-service and allows an individual great flexibility and control as well as access to hyperlinked interactive multimedia contents while learning at preferred paces and times. Prior information systems (IS) research has investigated different aspects of e-learning; however, the cumulating evidences of its relative effectiveness and outcomes have been largely equivocal. In this study, we conducted a longitudinal quasi field experiment to comparatively examine e-learning and conventional classroom based learning in the context of English learning. Our evaluative study used relatively comprehensive effectiveness and outcome measurements and involved 507 undergraduate university students. In addition to assessing the effectiveness and outcomes associated with e-learning, we examined the effect of learning style on the effectiveness and outcome improvements resulting from the use of e-learning based as opposed to conventional classroom based learning. Overall, our analysis shows that learning effectiveness (measured objectively and subjectively) associated with e-learning is significantly higher than that observed in the conventional classroom. Subjects supported by e-learning are also more satisfied with the course contents than their conventional classroom counterparts. Personalized learning support appears to be stronger in e-learning than in the conventional classroom setting but the difference is not significant statistically. Anchored using the Learning Style Model by Kolb (1976), our analysis results suggest that the exact magnitude and significance of the differential learning effectiveness and outcomes resulting from e-learning appear to be contingent upon the individual's learning style. In particular, assimilators may benefit more from e-learning than accommodators, whereas e-learning effectiveness and outcomes seem comparable between convergers and divergers.


This short book, published in 1971, is concerned with fiberoscopy of the stomach. It is divided into two parts; the first (53 pages) gives a very short history of the method, principles of fiberoptics, descriptions of instruments and methods of preparation and examination, photography, complications, and indications. In addition to the two Hirschowitz gastroscopes, the Olympus gastrocamera (GTV) and GTFA gastrocamera-fiberscope are briefly illustrated. The second part (79 pages) discusses foreign bodies, diverticula, ulcers, pyloric stenosis, polyps, tumors, and the stomach after an operation. These subjects, as noted in the foreword, are covered strictly from the surgical viewpoint, and gastritis is not presented because it is predominantly of medical import (although, in many instances, a firm diagnosis must be made by surgical biopsy). Polyps, tumors, and the stomach after an operation comprise the largest part of these discussions, the remainder of the topics being limited to a few pages. There


: On the 100 unfixed corpses the differences in extraperitoneal segments of the wall of the ascending and descending colon were found. Three basic forms of individual differences of blood vessels topography of the posterior wall of ascending and descending colon were revealed.


To the Editor: We read with great interest the article by Audard et al, which appeared in the January 2008 issue of Pancreas. More specifically, we would like to comment on E-cadherin in solid pseudopapillary tumor (SPT) of the pancreas. We and others have published findings on E-cadherin expression in SPT. In addition to some observing loss of membrane expression, others have also noticed very characteristic nuclear positivity for E-cadherin. This nuclear E-cadherin expression was further explored by our group in another set of tumors (esophageal squamous carcinomas), and in fractionation studies, a fragment of the E-cadherin molecule was confirmed to be intranuclear in location. Further to this, Chetty and Serra showed that the staining pattern for E-cadherin in SPT is dependent on the antibody used. Use of the antibody that recognizes the extracellular domain of the E-cadherin molecule results in the absence of staining in SPT (complete membrane loss in all cases), whereas use of the antibody that recognizes the cytoplasmic domain results in nuclear positivity. We note that in the study by Audard et al, the antibody used is quoted as catalogue number BSC8426.[ However, this seems to be a typographical error and most likely is catalogue number SC6426. If this is the case, then the antibody used by Audard et al, recognizes the extracellular domain of E-cadherin, and SPT cases are negative with this antibody. Interestingly, they did observe cytoplasmic dotlike positivity in 26 of 28 cases. Although this has not been observed previously in SPT, Dabbs et al have commented on cytoplasmic dot-like accentuation in pleomorphic lobular breast cancers using an antibody to the full length of the Ecadherin molecule. The study by Audard et al is yet another independent corroboration that E-cadherin is disrupted and abnormally localized in SPT. The mechanism may well be related to the wnt signaling pathway and/or related proteins such as p120 or some other yet to be identified mechanism. However, it is important to emphasize that E-cadherin and A-catenin immunohistochemistry can now be used to diagnose SPTand separate it from lookalike such as pancreatic neuroendocrine tumors.


Introduction: Treatment with nHF-system is able to improve symptoms of acute and chronic respiratory insufficiency. The method uses a warmed and humified high flow of air with 20-50 liter per minute (lpm). By using these devices an increase of mean pressure, pressure amplitude and a decrease in pCO2 is observable. Method: Healthy volunteers and patients with COPD were included in this study. For detection of volume changes, frequency variations and I/E-ratios we used two elastic impedance measure belts (thoracal/abdominal). The signal was relayed to a polysomnography device. Flows from 20 lpm up to 50 lpm with small, medium and large nasal prongs were tested. To compare the results with a closed ventilation support system, the measurements were also performed with CPAP (6 and 10 mbar) and BiPAP (14/6mbar). We compared the results with values measured during spontaneous breathing. Results: nHF led to a significant decrease in minute volume, tidal volume and breathing rate in healthy volunteers in comparison with spontaneous breathing. The I/E-ratio results in no significant changes. In patients with COPD the breathing rates were also decreased, but the tidal volumes were increased with partial reductions in minute ventilation. The I/E-ratio was not changed in COPD. In comparison with spontaneous breathing, CPAP and BiPAP showed significant changes in patients with COPD. Discussion: nHF resulted in significant effects on respiratory parameters of healthy volunteers and in patients with COPD. The changes deliver a possible explanation of the active manner of the breath support and the decrease in pCO2.


Abstract Mangroves play an important role in carbon sequestration, but soil organic carbon (SOC) stocks differ between marine and estuarine mangroves, suggesting differing processes and drivers of SOC accumulation. Here, we compared undegraded and degraded marine and estuarine mangroves in a regional approach across the Indonesian archipelago for their SOC stocks and evaluated possible drivers imposed by nutrient limitations along the land‐to‐sea gradients. SOC stocks in natural marine mangroves (271–572 Mg ha−1 m−1) were much higher than under estuarine mangroves (100–315 Mg ha−1 m−1) with a further decrease caused by degradation to 80–132 Mg ha−1 m−1. Soils differed in C/N ratio (marine: 29–64; estuarine: 9–28), δ 15N (marine: −0.6 to 0.7‰; estuarine: 2.5 to 7.2‰), and plant‐available P (marine: 2.3–6.3 mg kg−1; estuarine: 0.16–1.8 mg kg−1). We found N and P supply of sea‐oriented mangroves primarily met by dominating symbiotic N2 fixation from air and P import from sea, while mangroves on the landward gradient increasingly covered their demand in N and P from allochthonous sources and SOM recycling. Pioneer plants favored by degradation further increased nutrient recycling from soil resulting in smaller SOC stocks in the topsoil. These processes explained the differences in SOC stocks along the land‐to‐sea gradient in each mangrove type as well as the SOC stock differences observed between estuarine and marine mangrove ecosystems. This first large‐scale evaluation of drivers of SOC stocks under mangroves thus suggests a continuum in mangrove functioning across scales and ecotypes and additionally provides viable proxies for carbon stock estimations in PES or REDD schemes.


This article investigates the implications of the volatility of the euro-dollar rate for emerging economies that have linked with the euro through a currency board arrangement. It analyzes to what extent the economies of Estonia and Bulgaria are affected by a strong appreciation (depreciation) of the euro as their anchor currency. The article focuses on the exchange rate risk exposure with respect to trade, foreign reserves, and foreign public debt, and argues that currency risk cannot be neglected in transition countries pegged to euro.


Abstract Rural areas which have not getting electricity networks provided by Perusahaan Listrik Negara or PLN can consider constructing windmills to generate electricity. In the construction  of these windmills, a special attention should be paid to such factors as topography of the location and wind speed in the site of windmills so that a proper type of windmills that will be used in the area can be decided. Therefore, developing a computer program for selecting the type of windmills used is expected to serve as an input for the development of agricultural technologies that utilize renewable energy. Making the computer program consists of the following steps: making the initial view layout of the program, program scripts, animation, and program evaluation. Making a program design is started by determining the input and output components of the program so as to set the initial view of the program. Based on the formulas used for windmills generating electricity, a computer program to determine the type of windmills was developed by using Visual Basic 6.0. Meanwhile, Adobe Flash CS3 Professional software was used to construct animated windmills, which can also be run under Visual Basic 6.0 program. Keywords: windmill, energy, electricity, power Diterima: 13 Maret 2010; Disetujui: 17 September 2010


We report here—for the first time—single-laser-shot one-dimensional thermometry in flames using femtosecond coherent anti-Stokes Raman scattering (fs-CARS) line imaging. Fs-CARS enables high-bandwidth (1-10 kHz), nearly collision-free measurement of temperature and species concentration in reacting flows. Two high-power, 800-nm beams are used as the pump and probe beams, while a tunable 983-nm beam is used as the Stokes beam for CARS signal generation from the N2 Q-branch transitions at ~ 2330 cm -1 . The probe beam is frequency-chirped for single-lasershot imaging of the time-dependent frequency-spread dephasing of the Raman coherence. All three laser beams are formed into sheets and crossed in a line through the probe volume. The resulting line CARS signal at ~ 675 nm is spatially and spectrally resolved and recorded as a 2D image. Temperature measurements are demonstrated in flat-field flames up to temperatures exceeding 2000 K and the potential for high-speed measurements through sharp thermal gradients is explored. Such high-bandwidth, one-dimensional temperature measurements can provide valuable data to numerical modelers for validating complex turbulent-combustion model as well as increase the understanding of the spatio-temporal instabilities in practical combustion devices such as modern gas-turbine combustors and augmentors.


One of the most computationally convenient nonredundant ways to describe the dependence between two variables is by describing the corresponding copula. In many applications, a special class of copulas—known as FGM copulas—turned out to be most successful in describing the dependence between quantities. The main result of this paper is that these copulas are the fastest to compute, and this explains their empirical success. As an auxiliary result, we also show that a similar explanation can be given in terms of fuzzy logic.


In this work, we employed a step-by-step sol-gel process to controllably deposit ultra-thin layers of SiO2 on anatase nanoparticles in the range between 0 and 1 nm. The deposition was confirmed by TEM, EDX, and ATR-FTIR (e.g., Ti-O-Si band at 960 cm-1). Zeta potential measurements unravelled a continuous change in surface charge density with increasing silica shell thickness. The photocatalysts were evaluated towards adsorption and degradation of positively-charged and negatively-charged dyes (methylene blue, methyl orange) under UV illumination. The growth mechanism follows the Stranski–Krastanov model with three thickness regimes: (a) Flat islands (first step), (b) mono/bilayers (second/third step), and (c) regular thick films (fourth/fifth step). The results suggest different rate limiting processes for these regimes: (a) For the thinnest scenario, acidic triple-phase boundaries (TPBs) increase the activity for both dyes with their accessibility being the rate limiting step; (b) for continuous mono/bilayers, dye adsorption on the negatively-charged SiO2 shells becomes the rate liming step, which leads to a stark increase in activity for the positively-charged MB and a decrease for MO; (c) for thicker shells, the activity decreases for both dyes and is limited by the charge transport through the isolating shells.


A mobile robot traversing an uneven terrain can undergo tip over instability when one or more wheels of the mobile robot losses contact with the uneven terrain. In this paper, we study the tip over stability of a three wheeled mobile robot. The three wheeled mobile robot studied in this paper has torus shaped rear wheels and have the ability of lateral tilting – a condition required for slip free motion on uneven terrain. The torus shaped wheels and slip free motion makes the dynamics and tip over stability analysis more difficult and interesting. In this paper, the force-angle stability measure technique is used to analyze and detect tip over instability. Simulation results of the stability analysis shows that the wheeled mobile robot with lateral tilt of rear wheels is capable of moving on certain kinds of rough terrains without tip over.


The experiments of variable rate fertilization (VRF) for maize were carried out by using a VRF system that was designed and manufactured by us. In the studies, prescriptions of VRT were made for maize according to the nutrient levels in soil and the theory of yield goal. The results of this study have shown that VRF increased maize yield by 11% more in 2004 than that of conventional method of fertilization and 33% in 2005, and the application rate was saved by 32% in 2004 and 29% in 2005. In addition to higher yields, VRF also increased the cost-benefit ratio under the condition of reasonable rate of fertilizer application.


BACKGROUND
NCognitive impairment is common amongst acute geriatric hospital admissions but detection is often poor and this is associated with worse outcomes. The four-question abbreviated mental test (AMT4) has previously been promoted nationally in the acute setting as a succinct assessment tool. However, a recent national dementia Commissioning for Quality and Innovation (CQUIN) goal recommends a single screening question followed by the tenquestion abbreviated mental test (AMT10). We aimed to evaluate the negative predictive value of the AMT4 within the acute setting by comparing it to three other validated tools.

METHOD
We identified 100 acute medical admissions (>60 years old) with a negative AMT4 and administered the AMT10, six-item cognitive impairment test (6CIT) and confusion assessment method (CAM) within 24 hours of admission.

RESULTS
Forty-six percent of the participants scored positively on at least one of the additional tests despite a negative AMT4. Forty-four patients had a positive 6CIT, 23 had a positive AMT10 and six had a positive CAM. Using the 6CIT as a diagnostic standard, tests of short-term memory had the greatest sensitivity and specificity for cognitive impairment.

CONCLUSION
Nearly half of the participants had signs of cognitive impairment despite a negative AMT4. Consequently, there is a risk of under diagnosis with potentially serious consequences for morbidity and mortality. Tests of shortterm memory were strongly associated with cognitive impairment. We propose the addition of such a test in order to increase the sensitivity of the AMT4 without compromising its brevity and utility in the acute setting.


Burst oscillations, a phenomenon observed in a significant fraction of Type I (thermonuclear) X-ray bursts, involve the development of highly asymmetric brightness patches in the burning surface layers of accreting neutron stars. Intrinsically interesting as nuclear phenomena, they are also important as probes of dense matter physics and the strong gravity, high magnetic field environment of the neutron star surface. Burst oscillation frequency is also used to measure stellar spin, and doubles the sample of rapidly rotating (above 10 Hz) accreting neutron stars with known spins. Although the mechanism remains mysterious, burst oscillation models must take into account thermonuclear flame spread, nuclear processes, rapid rotation, and the dynamical role of the magnetic field. This review provides a comprehensive summary of the observational properties of burst oscillations, an assessment of the status of the theoretical models that are being developed to explain them, and an overview of how they can be use...


Abstract Background: Little is known about emotional quality-of-life in paediatric heart disease in low- and middle-income countries where the prevalence of uncorrected lesions is high. Research on emotional quality-of-life and its predictors in these settings is key to planning interventions. Methods: Ten-year retrospective cross-sectional study of children aged 6–17 years with uncorrected congenital or acquired heart disease in 12 low- and middle-income countries was conducted. Emotional functioning score of the PedsQL TM 4.0 generic core scale and data on patient-reported limitation in sports participation were collected via in-person interview and analysed using regression analyses. Results: Ninety-four children reported mean emotional functioning scores of 71.94 (SD 25.32) [95% CI 66.75–77.13] with lower scores independently associated with having a parent with a chronic illness or who had died (p = 0.005), having less than three siblings (p = 0.007), and reporting a subjective limitation in carrying an item equivalent to a 4 lb load (p = 0.021). Patient-reported limitation in sports participation at least "sometimes" was present in 69% and was independently associated with experiencing symptoms at least once a month (p < 0.001). Conclusion: Some of the factors which were associated with better emotional quality-of-life were similar to those identified in previous studies in patients with corrected defects. Patient-reported limitation in sports participation is common. In addition to corrective surgery and exercise, numerous other interventions which are practicable during surgical missions might improve emotional quality-of-life.


Edge cracking has become a limiting factor in the use of some advanced high strength steels (AHSS) for high-performance automotive applications. This fact has motivated the development of a multitude of experimental tests for edge formability prediction over the last years. In this sense, the Hole Expansion Test (HET) according to ISO16630 has been established in the automotive industry as a standard procedure for edge cracking sensitivity ranking. However, whereas it may be useful for rapid material screening, the results are often not accurate and reliable enough. Consequently, alternative methods based on Digital Image Correlation (DIC) have been proposed aimed at improving the prediction of edge cracking occurrence during forming and obtaining useful strain data that can be implemented in forming simulations. This paper explores the applicability of different DIC-based methods, such as Half-Specimen Dome Tests, Sheared Edge Tensile Tests, and KWI hole expansion tests with a flat nosed punch, for characterizing the edge formability of three cold-rolled AHSS sheets. The results obtained from the different testing methods are compared and validated with a laboratory-scale demonstrator. Finally, the limitations and advantages of the different methods are discussed.


Abstract Organic vegetable growers rely heavily on mechanical methods such as tillage and other forms of labor-intensive soil cultivation for weed management despite the negative effects to soil health associated with intensive soil disturbance. The use of cover crops and no-till (NT) vegetable production represents an alternative approach to weed control that can enhance rather than degrade soil health; however, there are challenges inherent with this practice and previous results in vegetable production have been mixed. Field experiments were conducted over 2 yr at the Clemson Student Organic Farm to examine the effects of tillage [NT versus conventional tillage (CT)] on weed development and management in organic tomato and summer squash production under different nitrogen (N) fertility regimes, and to assess soil N dynamics in both systems. Squash yields were similar between tillage treatments in both years. NT tomato yields were 43% greater than CT yields in 2014, whereas CT tomato yields were 46% greater than NT yields in 2015. Squash and tomato yields per unit of management labor (time) were significantly greater in NT compared with CT treatments for both years. There were no statistical differences in squash and tomato yields between N fertilization treatments in either year. Pre- and post-season soil N results were mixed. Pre-season soil N levels were significantly higher in NT tomato plots in 2014 but similar between tillage treatments in tomato plots in 2015 and in squash plots both years. Post-season soil N levels in tomato plots were similar between tillage treatments both years. Post-season soil N levels were significantly higher in NT squash plots in 2014 and in CT squash plots in 2015. Roller-crimped NT mulches provided adequate early-season weed suppression in both years and saved considerable weed management and seedbed preparation labor. Overall, the results demonstrated that organic NT is a viable method for reduced tillage summer vegetable production in the southeastern Piedmont region.


There are three sets of potential source rocks in the Yanchang Formation in the east part of the Shanbei Slope in the Ordos Basin. Based on the experimental results of total organic carbon, vitrinite reflectance, rock organic matter extraction, and saturated hydrocarbon chromatography (GC-MS), we have analyzed the geochemical and biomarker characteristics of the Chang 7, Chang 8, and Chang 9 source rocks, and the Chang 8 reservoir extracts and find that the Chang 7, Chang 8, and Chang 9 source rocks were deposited in the sedimentary environment of weak oxidation and weak reduction. Higher plants contribute more in the parent materials of the Chang 7 and Chang 9 source rocks, whereas lower aquatic organisms contribute more to the Chang 8 source rock. However, the source of the Chang 8 crude oil in the east part of Shanbei Slope does not match the chemical fingerprint of the Chang 8 source rock. To address this problem, we examined samples taken from the Zhidan oilfield, where our results show that the Chang 7, Chang 8, and Chang 9 source rocks all have hydrocarbon-supplying capacity. The relative abundance of regular steranes (C27, C28, C29) and hopane (17α(H), 21β(H)-hopane, 17β(H)-rearranged hopane, 18α(H)-22,29,30-trinorhopane) provides a means to assign the crude oil components to a given. Further analysis of the biomarkers of the three source rocks and those of the Chang 8 crude oil indicate that crude oil in the Chang 8 reservoir was not generated in situ; rather, it was supplied by the underlying Chang 9 source rock.


Food and packaging interactions that may impair the food quality have been studied and methods to determine these interactions have been developed.
 An off-line supercritical fluid extraction method using carbon dioxide was developed and used to extract sorbed low molecular weight compounds from polymer films. This method is quantitatively comparable to methylene chloride extraction, but faster and more environmental friendly.
 Both external factors like humidity, and properties of the food itself (e.g. type and concentration of compounds) were found to affect the type and degree of interaction with the packaging material. The relative humidity (RH) was found to affect the permeation and sorption of aldehyde and alcohol vapours in both polar (EVOH) and unpolar (LLDPE and HDPE) polymers. The alcohols and aldehydes were affected in different ways. In the EVOH film the permeability of aldehydes increased with increasing RH while the permeability of alcohols was at a maximum at 50% RH. This difference is attributed to the different ability of the compounds to interact with sorbed water and the polymer and can be explained by also studying the sorption and diffusion of the compounds.
 Sorption of vegetable oil into polyolefins (HDPE and PP) increased the oxygen transmission rate (OTR) through the polymers. After 40 days of storage in rapeseed oil, the OTR of a 40 .my.m HDPE-film was increased by approximately 40% compared to the OTR of the virginal polymer. The PP film was affected to a lesser extent.
 As foods consist of a complex mixture of many compounds it is often necessary to use a simplified model system to study aroma/packaging interactions. The effect of the model system (i.e. gas/liquid state, concentration, and mixture of compounds) on the sorption data obtained was investigated. Hexyl acetate and ethyl butyrate in a liquid model system (40% ethanol) at a concentration of 50 or 1000 .my.g/ml, were sorbed to a lesser extent from a mixture of compounds than from a single compound solution. The use of single compound solutions may thus lead to overestimation of the amounts sorbed in an actual food packaging application. However, at low concentrations (i.e. 5 .my./ml), which could be found in foods, the compounds were found to be sorbed in the packaging material independently of co-sorbants. The aroma vapours were sorbed in amounts related to the feed concentration without any interactive effects of co-sorbants, in the concentration range (i.e. 0.12-3.4 .my.g/ml) and mixtures investigated.
 In spite of the increasing use of refillable polymer containers for foods there is currently no standard test procedure to check the sorption and remigration of aroma or misuse chemicals into/from the packaging material. A test scheme for a cost and time-efficient inertness test for determination of the interactions between misuse chemicals or aroma compounds and refillable PET bottles was developed. Small strips of PET bottle walls in contact with a selection of model contaminants were used in the test.
 This thesis shows the importance of studying the barrier properties of a polymer film under as realistic conditions as possible, taking into account both the storage conditions and the interactions between a food and the packaging material.


Background: Improving infant and young child feeding practices in children birth–23 months of age is therefore critical to improved nutrition, health, development of children and, ultimately and impact child survival.
Objectives: The main objective is to assess knowledge, attitude and practices of mothers concerning infant and young child feeding, and to use the results as baseline for nutritional intervention programs in the future.
Methodology: A survey study was carried out in (13) Primary Health Care centers in Erbil city to assess knowledge, attitude and practices of mothers concerning infant and young child feeding, and to use the results as a baseline for nutritional intervention programs in the future in a period of 2nd of January 2008 to 30th of September 2009. Purposive (nonprobability) sample of 1000 (mother-child pairs) were selected.
Results: The results of present study shows that the mothers have efficient practices and attitudes toward breast, formula and complementary feeding. Infant and young child feeding indicators concerning early initiation and exclusive breastfeeding were poor, among mothers attending PHC centers in Erbil.
Conclusion: Majority of surveyed infant and young child's feeding pattern was mixture feeding, or mixture and complementary feeding. And the feeding indicators were low among mothers in Erbil city, the investigators decided to construct an educational health program to be implemented by nurses in Primary Health Care centers in Erbil city for improving mothers knowledge, attitudes and practices of infant and young child feeding.
Recommendations: The study recommended to revitalizing and expanding the Baby-friendly Hospital Initiative and Establishing of breastfeeding intervention programs for protection, promotion, and support of breastfeeding


The 8-bit design is able to process 256 times input combination in compare to 4-bit vedic multiplier, using approximates 6 times basic elements, 2 times IO buffers, approximate 1.5 times total power dissipation. HSTL_I_12, SSTL18_I and LVCMOS12 are the most energy efficient IO standards in HSTL, SSTL and LVCMOS family respectively. Device static power and design static power are two types of static power dissipation. Device static power is also known as Leakage power when the device is on but not configured. Design static power is power dissipation when bit file of design is downloaded on FPGA but there is no switching activity. Design static power dissipation of 8-bit Vedic multiplier is almost double of design static power dissipation of 4-bit Vedic multiplier. Device static (leakage) power dissipation of 8-bit Vedic multiplier is almost equal to device static power dissipation of 4-bit Vedic multiplier on 40nm FPGA.


Human and mouse studies have shown that rotavirus infection is associated with low inflammation and unaffected intestinal barrier at the time of diarrhea, properties different from most bacterial and inflammatory diseases of the gut. We showed by in vitro, ex vivo, and in vivo experiments that neurotrophic factors and 5-HT have barrier protective properties during rotavirus insult. These observations advance our understanding of how the gut barrier is protected against rotavirus and suggest that rotavirus affects the gut barrier differently from bacteria. This is the first report to show that neurotrophic factors contribute to maintain the gut epithelial barrier during viral insult. ABSTRACT Increased intestinal permeability has been proposed as a mechanism of rotavirus-induced diarrhea. Studies with humans and mice have, however, shown that rotavirus leaves intestinal permeability unaffected or even reduced during diarrhea, in contrast to most bacterial infections. Gastrointestinal permeability is regulated by the vagus nerve and the enteric nervous system, which is composed of neurons and enteric glial cells (EGCs). We investigated whether the vagus nerve, serotonin (5-HT), EGCs, and neurotropic factors contribute to maintaining gut barrier homeostasis during rotavirus infection. Using subdiaphragmatic vagotomized and 5-HT3 receptor knockout mice, we found that the unaffected epithelial barrier during rotavirus infection is independent of the vagus nerve but dependent on 5-HT signaling through enteric intrinsic 5-HT3 receptors. Immunofluorescence analysis showed that rotavirus-infected enterocytes were in close contact with EGCs and enteric neurons and that the glial cell-derived neurotrophic factor (GDNF) was strongly upregulated in enterocytes of infected mice. Moreover, rotavirus and 5-HT activated EGCs (P < 0.001). Using Ussing chambers, we found that GDNF and S-nitrosoglutathione (GSNO) led to denser epithelial barriers in small intestinal resections from noninfected mice (P < 0.01) and humans (P < 0.001) and that permeability was unaffected in rotavirus-infected mice. GSNO made the epithelial barrier denser in Caco-2 cells by increasing the expression of the tight junction protein zona occludens 1 (P < 0.001), resulting in reduced passage of fluorescein isothiocyanate dextran (P < 0.05) in rotavirus-infected monolayers. This is the first report to show that neurotropic factors contribute to maintaining the gut epithelial barrier during viral insult. IMPORTANCE Human and mouse studies have shown that rotavirus infection is associated with low inflammation and unaffected intestinal barrier at the time of diarrhea, properties different from most bacterial and inflammatory diseases of the gut. We showed by in vitro, ex vivo, and in vivo experiments that neurotrophic factors and 5-HT have barrier protective properties during rotavirus insult. These observations advance our understanding of how the gut barrier is protected against rotavirus and suggest that rotavirus affects the gut barrier differently from bacteria. This is the first report to show that neurotrophic factors contribute to maintain the gut epithelial barrier during viral insult.


The age of personalised medicine has seen the rapid emergence of a direct-to-consumer (DTC) genetic testing industry. While various forms of DTC testing have been available for many years, the emergence of DTC genetic testing is raising new concerns relating to the accuracy of predictions, and potential harms to consumers given there is typically no individualised genetic counselling. DTC testing also has the capacity to increase pressure on an already overstretched health care system if confused consumers seek assistance from health practitioners in interpreting test results. In Australia, a number of companies advertise genetic testing directly to consumers. While some require that a health professional orders the tests and communicates results to the consumer, others offer unmediated services. Internationally, private companies are entering the DTC genetic testing market in increasing numbers. More likely than not, Australian consumers are responding to online advertising by these companies and sending their tissue samples for analysis overseas. There is a growing body of academic commentary internationally calling for more stringent regulation of the industry. In many countries, genetic tests are already included within regimens regulating therapeutic goods, in the form of in-vitro diagnostic medical devices (IVDs). However, there is ongoing debate as to whether such regimens adequately regulate DTC testing, and a lack of consistency in regulatory approaches between countries, even within Europe. In 2003, the Australian Law Reform Commission and Australian Health Ethics Committee concluded in Essentially yours, the report of their inquiry into the protection of genetic information, that there are "strong arguments for regulating the supply, directly to the public, of products used in some forms of genetic testing". Essentially yours also canvassed the difficulties associated with regulating foreign companies offering DTC genetic testing through the internet. The Australian Therapeutic Goods Act 1989 (Cwlth) (the Act) applies to all therapeutic goods imported into, supplied in and exported from Australia. In 2002 a new regulatory framework was established for medical devices through the Therapeutic Goods (Medical Devices) Regulations 2002 (Cwlth) (the Regulations). Amendments to the Regulations in 2010 introduced an IVD regimen for genetic tests. In this article we provide a brief overview of how this new regimen regulates IVDs, and some thoughts on its likely effect on DTC genetic testing. It is not our intention to add to the extensive debate surrounding the ethical and legal implications of DTC testing, or to take a position on the appropriate regulatory response.


This paper presents a practical numerical method, an implicit finite-difference scheme for solving a two-dimensional time-space fractional Fokker–Planck equation with space–time depending on variable coefficients and source term, which represents a model of a Brownian particle in a periodic potential. The Caputo derivative and the Riemann–Liouville derivative are considered in the temporal and spatial directions, respectively. The Riemann–Liouville derivative is approximated by the standard Grünwald approximation and the shifted Grünwald approximation. The stability and convergence of the numerical scheme are discussed. Finally, we provide a numerical example to test the theoretical analysis.


The character and role of finite correlations between potential and magnetic low-frequency plasma excitations are investigated. Caused by the Lorentz force, they are significantly inherent to the nonlinear plasma behaviour. The cross-field correlations are found to narrow the renormalized width of the potential fluctuation spectrum and broaden that of the magnetic one. So the anomalous diffusion relevant to the long-wave perturbations, is increased. The anomalous heat conductivity associated with the short-wave motions, is not essentially influenced.


Abstract : AIB1 (Amplified In Breast cancer 1) is a nuclear receptor coactivator found amplified and overexpressed in a subset of breast cancers. AIBl potentiates the transcriptional activity of the estrogen, progesterone, thyroid hormone, and retinoid receptors. It is necessary for normal female reproductive function and mammary gland development and is rate-limiting for tumor growth in nude mice. It is hypothesized that the amplification and overexpression of AIBl contribute to the promotion and/or progression of breast cancer. An understanding of the regulation of expression of AIB1 will give insight into the role of AIB1 in breast cancer. This work has shown that antiestrogens, retinoids, and TGF-beta contribute to the overexpression of AIB1 in MCK-7 breast cancer cells. The putative promoter for the AIB1 gene has been identified. Regulatory elements involved in the regulation of AIB1 by antiestrogens, retinoids, and TGF-beta were not found in the cloned promoter regions and may be upstream or intronic enhancer elements. Further studies will explore the consequences of overexpression of AIB1 through stable transfection into a cell line with low endogenous levels of AIB1.


We would like to report a case of masseter muscle spasm (MMS) following administration of atracurium. A 29 year-old lady presented for elective diagnostic laparoscopy. Her past medical history included mild asthma and uneventful general anaesthesia for a laparotomy. Pre-operative assessment of her airway revealed a Mallampatti score of 2 with good mouth opening. Anaesthesia was induced with fentanyl 100 lg, propofol 150 mg and atracurium 40 mg. Her lungs were ventilated for 3 min with a facemask with nitrous oxide 30% in oxygen and isoflurane 1%. The airway was easy to maintain, however, direct laryngoscopy was not possible due to severely restricted mouth opening. The possibility of inadequate anaesthesia and muscle relaxation was considered and a further 20 mg of atracurium was given followed by a further 3 min of bag-mask ventilation. A second attempt at direct laryngoscopy was unsuccessful due to same restricted mouth opening. Blood pressure, heart rate, oxygen saturation and endtidal carbon dioxide remained stable throughout. There were no other signs of developing Malignant Hyperthermia (MH). The temperature measured during and after the procedure was within normal limits. The trachea was successfully intubated orally using a fibre-optic laryngoscope and anaesthesia maintained using a propofol infusion. The surgery was completed without further complications. The paralysis was reversed with neostigmine 2.5 mg and glycopyrrolate 500 lg and the trachea was extubated when spontaneous ventilation was established. She was admitted overnight for observation and made an uneventful recovery. Serum creatinine kinase measured post operatively was within normal limits. The Malignant Hyperthermia Centre at St James University Hospital, Leeds was contacted for advice regarding further testing. They felt that lack of other signs of MH and the short period of exposure to isoflurane did not justify further investigation in this patient. MMS following induction of anaesthesia is a rare phenomenon and can be an early sign of MH. It is most commonly associated with succinylcholine and volatile agents, although nondepolarising muscle relaxants have been implicated [1]. We feel it is most likely that our patient developed MMS following administration of atracurium. MMS can result in difficulties with airway management, in particular inability to remove secretions from the airway and achieve tracheal intubation. With appropriate airway management MMS should not be life threatening.


Objective: To evaluate the effect of course length and corridor width on 2-minute walk test results in older adults. Design: Cross-sectional and experimental study with different test conditions. Setting: Geriatric rehabilitation clinic. Subjects: A total of 21 patients (median age 81 years). Main measures: Patients walked two minutes on a 20 m and 40 m course with a 2 m or 1 m corridor width and on a continuous course without any turning in a corridor of 2 m width, five walks in total. The distance traveled within the 2 minutes was recorded. Results: Compared with the 20 m course length, median walking distances measured by the 2-minute walk test in a walk way 2 m broad were better on the continuous corridor without any turn (136.9 m vs. 129.3 m, p = 0.002) and on the 40 m course (131.8 m vs. 129.3 m, p = 0.003). Walking distance on a 20 m course length was longer in a corridor of 2 m width compared with the 1 m corridor width (129.3 m vs. 119.2 m, p = 0.005). The walking distance was not affected by corridor width on the 40 m course length. Conclusions: Performance of elderly patients on the 2-minute walk test is influenced by the width of the corridor and the length of the course used.


Background The formation of new blood vessels is an important process in embryonic development and in physiological repair processes. Abnormalities in blood vessel growth have been associated with various pathologies. Hypertension and impaired vascular growth The basic observation underlying the hypothesis that essential hypertension is based on an impaired capacity for vascular growth is the nature of the structural alterations of microvascular beds in essential hypertension. Recent advances in understanding the molecular and cellular mechanisms of vascular growth suggest that the remodeling of individual vessels and vascular networks in hypertension may be a pathological variant of the formation of mature networks. Pathogenesis of impaired vascular growth Genetic and fetal influences appear to have significant effects in determining impaired vascular development as an early cause of essential hypertension.


Direct oxidative nucleophilic substitution of the 3-hydrogen of BODIPY dyes by pyrrole has been developed under reflux condition under oxygen, from which a series of pyrrolyldipyrrinato BF(2) complexes 1a-h, as extended BODIPYs, have been synthesized. Most of these BODIPYs show strong fluorescence emissions at wavelengths over 600 nm in six solvents of different polarity. Removal of the BF(2) group from BODIPY 1e gave the corresponding free base pyrrolyldipyrrin 7 as an analog of the natural product prodigiosin, in high yield.


Fischlers Reform of the Cap has introduced economic support to reinforce the range of instruments aimed at promoting food quality. Before the Reform, European Union market intervention for food quality was confined to the regulatory ground. The paper discusses the economic justifications for financial aid in the case of quality improvement and in the case of information circulation and provision of assurance to consumers. The possibility to add new Quality Schemes at the existing ones is criticized because of the information overcrowding. Furthermore, it is argued that a race to the bottom mechanism could be enforced as a result of the introduction of the possibility to settle Quality Schemes on a national basis. The paper also shows that the unsatisfactory functioning of existing Quality Schemes could be better faced by simplification of the whole quality certification system; by a communication effort at a general level and not only for single Quality Schemes; and by a better coordination of the different strategies of the different stakeholders in the food chains.


In this study, quality of white button mushrooms (Agaricus bisporus) treated by water and citric acid was evaluated during storage at 2 temperatures (room temperature and 4°C). The effect of modified atmosphere packaging (MAP, by 4±1% CO2, 6±1% O2 and the remaining N2) with or without water absorbent (silicagel) was also evaluated. Samples were assessed for their organoleptic properties (texture, color and spoilage), colorimetery and respiration rate during 12 days of storage. Results showed that among all treatments, water treated samples packaged with MAP method contained silicagel sachet and also stored at refrigerator obtained the most organoleptis scores. This sample retained the optimum level of inter packaging gas composition and finally the best storage time was determined as 8 days.


OBJECTIVE
Half of all preterm births occur in women without clinical risk factors. Our goal was to assess fetal fibronectin assay, Bishop score, and cervical ultrasonography as screening tests to predict which low-risk pregnancies will end in preterm birth.

STUDY DESIGN
We performed a secondary analysis of data collected at 22 to 24 weeks' gestation from low-risk subjects enrolled in the Preterm Prediction Study, an observational study of risk factors for preterm birth conducted by the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development Maternal-Fetal Medicine Units Network. Analysis was limited to primigravid women and to women who did not have a history of preterm birth or spontaneous pregnancy loss at <20 weeks' gestation. Bishop score (> or =4), fetal fibronectin level (> or =50 ng/mL), and cervical length (< or =25 mm) at 24 weeks' gestation were evaluated alone and in sequence as tests to predict spontaneous delivery before 35 weeks' gestation.

RESULTS
Of the 2929 subjects enrolled in the original study, 2197 (1207 primigravid women and 900 low-risk multiparous women) met criteria for this analysis. There were 64 spontaneous births before 35 weeks' gestation (3.04%). All three tests were significantly related to birth before 35 weeks' gestation (high Bishop score: relative risk, 3.6; 95% confidence interval, 2.1-6.3; fetal fibronectin detection: relative risk, 8.2; 95% confidence interval, 4.8-13.9; short cervical length: relative risk, 6.9; 95% confidence interval, 4.3-11.1). However, the sensitivities of the tests alone were low (23.4% for high Bishop score, 23.4% for fetal fibronectin detection, and 39.1% for short cervix), as were the sensitivities for Bishop score followed by cervical ultrasonography (14.1%) and fetal fibronectin assay followed by cervical scan (15.6%).

CONCLUSION
In the setting of low-risk pregnancy, fetal fibronectin assay and cervical ultrasonography have low sensitivity for preterm birth before 35 weeks' gestation. Sequential screening with Bishop score or fetal fibronectin assay followed by cervical ultrasonography further decreased sensitivity to only 15% among low-risk women.


Background: The influx of over 1.3 million refugees in Uganda, with over 10% settling in the capital city Kampala, challenges the ability of urban refugees to access Sexual and Reproductive Health services (SRH) and family planning (FP) amidst the multiple uncertainties of a precarious everyday life. Utilization of SRH services remains low among urban refugees despite the fact that these services are essential to those of reproductive age and vulnerable to unwanted pregnancies and its consequences and contracting sexually transmitted infections (STIs) including HIV. Mildmay Uganda conducted a multimethod outreach program to establish the predictors of access to SRH services by urban refugees in Kampala city. This paper reports on social demographic characteristics that influenced the uptake of SRH services by urban refugees.Methods: A participatory, gender based, community-led, empowerment approach known as Gender Action Learning Systems (GALS) was employed to deliver SRH including family planning services to urban refugees in Kampala between March 2018 and September 2019. Urban refugees enrolled in GALS were interviewed at the beginning and end of the GALS intervention, where both qualitative and quantitative data were collected. Univariate, bivariate, and multivariate analyses were conducted to determine social demographic factors influencing the uptake of SRH services by urban refugees.Results: The study enrolled 867 participants, with 605 remaining to the end. Median age was 29 (IQR:22-36) years with a standard deviation of 10.7, 52% of the participants had never married. Retention in the study of the sexually active age cohort of primary interest (15 -34) was higher than the 35-54 cohort for both men and women. There were significant associations between SRH use and age, religion and education level among the urban refugees. Pentecostal religion (Adjusted OR 7.9; 3.5-18) and education level of primary (Adjusted OR 3.4; 1.1-11) were associated with uptake of SRH and FP. Conclusion: The participatory, peer-led community approach to delivering SRH services to urban refugees in this research project boosted uptake by the refugees and supported its successful completion and ability to address previously unknown predictors. A continuous awareness campaign using tested models such as GALS to promote services to refugees is needed to successfully integrate newcomers into Uganda's general healthcare services.


Learning algorithms can only perform well when the model is trained using suffcient number of training examples with respect to the complexity of the model. To obtain good generalization performance with a limited training data set, it is essential that prior knowledge of the problem is included in the representation of the objects or in the model of the data. Here we will consider image data and we propose to explicitly include the spatial connectivity of pixels in image data into the (estimated) covariance matrix of the data. This spatial regularization biases the model to solutions where remote pixels are uncorrelated. This adjusted covariance matrix can then be used in a supervised classification setting, or in unsupervised clustering or PCA. Examples for classification and feature extraction on image data are given.


Aims. In this paper, we aim to study the main properties and luminosity function (LF) of the [O II]3727 emitters detected in the OTELO survey in order to characterise the star formation processes in low-mass galaxies at z ∼ 1.43 and to constrain the faint-end of the LF.
Methods. Here, we describe the selection method and analysis of the emitters obtained from narrow-band scanning techniques. In addition, we present several relevant properties of the emitters and discuss the selection biases and uncertainties in the determination of the LF and the star formation rate density (SFRD).
Results. We confirmed a total of 60 sources from a preliminary list of 332 candidates as [O II]3727 emitters. Approximately 93% of the emitters have masses in the range of 108 < M*/M⊙ < 109. All of our emitters are classified as late-type galaxies, with a lower value of (u − v) when compared with the rest of the emitters of the OTELO survey. We find that the cosmic variance strongly affects the normalisation (ϕ*) of the LF and explains the discrepancy of our results when compared with those obtained from surveys of much larger volumes. However, we are able to determine the faint-end slope of the LF, namely, α = −1.42 ± 0.06, by sampling the LF down to ∼1 dex lower than in previous works. We present our calculation of the SFRD of our sample and compare it to the value obtained in previous studies from the literature.


Background: New drugs must be designed and synthesized for combating resistant pathogens. In this study, antibacterial and antifungal activities of 4 new derivatives of 1,3,4-oxadiazole were assessed against 8 bacterial and 2 fungal pathogens. Methods: To this end, the cinnamic acid derivatives were dissolved in acetonitrile solvent and N-iso-cianoimino-triphenyl-phosphorane was added to the above-mentioned solution, followed by applying Petroleum ether and Ethyl acetate as solvent and base. Then, antimicrobial susceptibility tests were used to determine inhibition zone diameter, minimum inhibitory concentration, the minimum bactericidal concentration (MBC), and minimum fungicidal concentration (MFC) values. Results: The chemical structure of all compounds was characterized with infrared spectra, 1H-NMR, and 13C-NMR. A variety of inhibitory effects were observed by the synthesized compounds. Methoxyphenyl derivative (3c) affected bacterial strains, especially Streptococcus mutans. Other compounds also had antibacterial properties. Additionally, compound 3c showed the greatest effect on fungal samples, especially Aspergillus flavus. Conclusions: In general, our new derivatives of 1,3,4-oxadiazole are able to destroy Gram-positive bacteria. In addition, developing new derivatives of 1,3,4-oxadiazole in future research can improve therapeutic properties. It seems that with the addition of other functional groups and increasing the destructive power of compounds, inhibitory effects on fungal samples can also be observed.


Reliable and energy-efficient data collection from resource-limited sensors is essential to the success of future Internet of Things (IoT). In this article, we study the energy consumption minimization problem during the data collection from a generic wirelessly-powered sensor. Specifically, we determine the optimal data collection parameters, in terms of charging duration and charging power as well as sensor transmission rate, in real time according to the instantaneous channel condition while satisfying a certain latency constraint. For the scenario of ideal rate-adaptive transmission with linear energy harvesting, we derive closed-form expressions for optimal transmission parameters. We also establish the condition on channel quality for successful data collection under a latency constraint. For the more practical case of finite block-length transmission with nonlinear energy harvesting, we develop a deep reinforcement learning (DRL) solution for efficient online implementation. We also propose an online tuning scheme to cater for model inaccuracy and environment variation. The accuracy and effectiveness of our proposed approaches are verified by comparing with benchmark schemes. Our DRL-based approach has broad applicability and can solve other real-time optimal design problems in wireless communications.


The development of multiplexed immunoassays is impeded by the difficulty in distinguishing labeled immunocomplexes from free probes and nonspecifically bound probes. Here, we attempted to overcome this issue by counting core-satellite-structured immunocomplexes simultaneously using dark-field and fluorescence microscopy. The tumor biomarkers of carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA), α-fetoprotein (AFP), and prostate-specific antigen (PSA) were chosen as model targets. Gold nanoparticles (AuNPs) with diameters of 70 nm were coated with the detection antibodies of the three targets. Quantum dot (QD) 525, QD 585, and QD 655 were modified with the capture antibodies of CEA, AFP, and PSA, respectively. Then, an immunocomplex containing one AuNP and one or several QDs was formed, whereas free and nonspecifically bound probes had either one AuNP or one QD. When observed with a transmission grating-based spectral microscope, the immunocomplexes had overlapping scattering and fluorescent spectral images and were therefore identified and quantified precisely. The biomarkers inside the immunocomplexes were recognized on the basis of the fluorescent first-order streaks of the QDs. Model biomarkers in buffer and in 12.6% blank plasma were quantified for validation. The limits of detection for CEA, PSA, and AFP in buffer were in dozens of femtomolar and were close to those in blank plasma. The results demonstrated that our approach worked well in distinguishing immunocomplexes from free and nonspecifically bound probes. The successful quantification of the three targets in five human plasma samples verified the reliability of our method in clinical applications.


A flexible numerical procedure for the calculation of thin-film optical constants from specular transmittance and reflectance data is presented. The method is based on the minimization of a quadratic error function, which may be adapted to the specifics of the optical behaviour of the given sample (or set of samples), and the given wavenumber region. The flexibility in choosing an appropriate form of the minimized error function, in combination with the powerful minimization method of conjugated gradients, allowed us to investigate the optical constants of very different types of novel thin-film material with a complicated optical loss behaviour. In particular, the results concerning the investigation of single- and two-layer systems based on the following technologically interesting optical thin film materials are presented: (1) amorphous silicon as an example of-an anorganic solar cell material; (2) as-deposited (rough) CVD diamond layers as an example of a polycrystalline protective material; (3) hydrogenated amorphous carbon, applicable as a protective long-wavelength in antireflection coating as well as a spectrally selective solar absorber; (4) copper phthalocyanine layers as an example of a molecular solid, potentially applicable as an organic solar cell material; (5) rare-earth diphthalocyanine layers, interesting because of their electrochromic behaviour.


The paper analyzes the government budget cost of credit guarantees and subsidies. The analysis is done both in a general qualitative manner and quantitatively for the case of Czech Supporting and Guarantee Agricultural and Forestry Fund (SGAFF). In the quantitative part of the paper we show that the portfolio of the SGAFF has a sufficient value to cover expected costs of credit guarantees and subsidies provided by the SGAFF. The qualitative theoretical model is dealing with government interventions designed to decrease the credit rationing of good farmers. The theoretical model shows that with uniform non-targeted supports the budget cost minimizing government unambiguously prefers lump-sum guarantees to interest rate subsidies. With supports targeted fully to disadvantaged farmers the government is indifferent between lump-sum guarantees, proportional guarantees and interest rates subsidies as far as the government budget costs are concerned.


The existence of firms and ensuring the going concern gross depend on liquidity and working capital management of firms, to examine this, an Ex-post - facto research involving trend analysis of five years financial statements of five manufacturing companies was carried out using purposive sampling technique. Multivariate analyses were made to test the research hypotheses. The result however, indicated that each working capital component affected the company's level of profitability at varying rates, but, these effects when pooled together are not significant. To facilitate the smooth running and/or effective management of working capital so as to enhance the level of profitability, it was recommended that the companies should adequately plan and control their operations, adjust the shortfalls as noted, consider the principles of finance in their decision making, employ the services of experts (analysts) in complex business areas, and conduct periodic stock taking if possible every two weeks.


Attention‐deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is a neurodevelopmental disorder with core symptoms that include hyperactivity, impulsiveness, and inattention, and it is the most common psychiatric disorder among children and adolescents. These core symptoms are continuously recognized throughout the day from childhood to adulthood. Furthermore, children with ADHD from childhood to adulthood might also have various comorbid psychiatric disorders. Recently, bipolar disorder and disruptive mood dysregulation disorder, a new clinical issue, have been discussed as comorbid disorders or differential disorders associated with ADHD. Furthermore, comorbid disorders of ADHD are related to quality of life and family burden. Children with ADHD have poorer long‐term outcomes than controls with respect to: academic achievement and attainment, occupational rank and job performance, risky sexual practices and early unwanted pregnancies, substance use, relationship difficulties, marital problems, traffic violations, and car accidents. Irritability of children with ADHD has been a key symptom that clinicians and researchers have used to evaluate the developmental condition of children with ADHD. ADHD is sometimes a chronic disorder that occurs over a long period, increasing the family burden of these children (including health‐care costs), which will increase with aging for unremitted children with ADHD. Therefore, clinicians should evaluate not only the mental condition of the child but also the family burden. Children with ADHD should be treated during childhood to reduce their clinical symptoms and family burden.