The use of immiscible liquids for cooling of surfaces with high heat generation density is proposed based on the experimental verification of its superior cooling characteristics in fundamental systems of pool boiling and flow boiling in a tube. For the purpose of practical applications, however, heat transfer characteristics due to flow boiling in narrow rectangular channels with different small gap sizes need to be investigated. The immiscible liquids employed here are FC72 and water, and the gap size is varied as 2, 1 and 0.5mm between parallel rectangular plates of 30mm×175mm, where one plate is heated. To evaluate the effect of gap size, the heat transfer characteristics are compared at the same inlet velocity. The generation of large flattened bubbles in a narrow gap results in two opposite trends of the heat transfer enhancement due to thin liquid film evaporation and of the deterioration due to the extension of dry patch in the liquid film. The situation is the same as that observed for pure liquids. The latter negative effect is emphasized for extremely small gap sizes if the flow rate ratio of more-volatile liquid to the total is not reduced. The addition of small flow rate of less-volatile liquid can increase the critical heat flux of pure more-volatile liquid, while the surface temperature increases at the same time and assume the values between those for more-volatile and less-volatile liquids. By the selection of small flow rate ratio of more-volatile liquid, the surface temperature of pure less-volatile liquid can be decreased without reducing high critical heat flux inherent in the less-volatile liquid employed. The trend of heat transfer characteristics for flow boiling of immiscible mixtures in narrow channels is more sensitive to the composition compared to the flow boiling in a round tube.


The expression of the neural cell adhesion molecule (NCAM) was studied in normal human myocardium and in Chagas' disease myocarditis. We found that NCAM is expressed in the conduction system as well as the myocardium in the fetal heart, but its expression is restricted to the conduction system and absent in the adult myocardium. Chagas' disease is an American endemic disease caused by the Trypanosoma cruzi parasite, which produces myocarditis and a blockade of the conduction system, resulting in cardiac dysfunction. We studied the expression of NCAM in paraffin-embedded human heart tissues from 34 autopsies of patients with Chagas' myocarditis and from murine and canine experimental acute Chagas' myocarditis, using a polyclonal anti-NCAM antibody and immunohistochemistry. Our results show a dramatic upregulation of NCAM expression in the intercalated discs of cardiomyocytes in acute and chronic Chagas' myocarditis. Surprisingly, the NCAM signal was detected in intracellular nests of amastigote forms of the parasite, within infected cardiomyocytes of human and experimental Chagas' myocarditis. In contrast, cardiac cell-cell adhesion proteins, N-cadherin and beta-catenin, were found in intercalated discs distorted by the infection but absent from the amastigote nests. Proteins reactive to several antibodies against NCAM were detected by Western immunoblotting in cultured T cruzi parasites and in trypomastigote forms of T cruzi extracted from the blood of infected mice. The upregulation of NCAM in Chagas' myocarditis and the expression of NCAM or a NCAM-like protein by T cruzi suggest that NCAM may act as a receptor for tissue targeting and cellular invasion by T cruzi in Chagas' disease.


This article analyzes the social circulation of news in the private sphere, using a sample of thirty-two Portuguese young people who were interviewed because they had some form of civic participation of different types and intensities. Through the consumption of news and political information, five profiles were identified: informed citizens, uninformed citizens, emergent consumers of information, the relevance of the self-centered and online citizens. These profiles revealed the significance of the social and civic capitals, the importance of daily life and family environments in the habits of news consumption and an important connection of family with political news.


Meta-analysis of 23 between-group direct observation studies of children with ADHD and typically developing peers indicates significant deficiencies in children with ADHD's ability to pay attention in classroom settings. Comparison with 59 single case design studies of children with ADHD suggests generalizability of between-group comparisons. Weighted regression analysis determined that several methodological differences – sample characteristics, diagnostic procedures, and observational coding schema – have significant effects on observed levels of attentive behavior in the classroom. Best case estimation indicates that after accounting for these factors, children with ADHD are on-task approximately 65% of the time compared to 85% for their classroom peers. Children with ADHD were also more variable in their attentive behavior across studies. Implications for conceptual models of ADHD are discussed.


OBJECTIVE
To examine the effects of catalpol and rhein on pro- and anti-inflammatory responses in C57BL/6 mice with experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis (EAE), a model of multiple sclerosis.

METHODS
Female C57BL/6 mice were randomly divided into four groups (n = 30): (a) normal saline control, (b) EAE control, (c) EAE + prednisone acetate (PA, 6 mg/kg), and (d) EAE + catalpol (40 mg/kg) and rhein (5 mg/kg). EAE was induced by injection of myelin oligodendrocyte glycoprotein 35-55 plus pertussis toxin. Treatments were orally administered daily for 40 d. Disease progression and neurological function were assessed using a semi-quantitative scale of tail and limb paralysis. Brains and spinal cords were collected on Days 6, 20, and 40 and assessed for histopathological changes by hematoxylin and eosin staining. Production of interleukin (IL)-2, IL-4, IL-10, and IL-17A protein was measured by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. Expression of the T helper (Th)1-, Th2-, Th17-, and regulatory T cell (Treg)-specific transcription factors T-bet, GATA3, ROR-γt, and Foxp3, respectively, were analyzed by quantitative reverse-transcription polymerase chain reaction and western blot analysis.

RESULTS
Combination treatment with catalpol and rhein significantly alleviated the clinical disability and neurological dysfunction of mice with EAE. Catalpol and rhein treatment also reduced the infiltration of pro-inflammatory T cells into pathological lesions; significantly increased the expression of the anti-inflammatory factors GATA3, Foxp3, IL-4, and IL-10; and significantly decreased the expression of the pro-inflammatory factors T-bet, ROR-γt, IL-2, and IL-17A.

CONCLUSION
Catalpol and rhein reduced the neurological disabilities of mice with EAE, at least in part by rebalancing the pro- and anti-inflammatory environment in the brains and spinal cords.


Since the 1980s, efforts have been made to develop sensors that measure a parameter from an individual cow. The development started with individual cow recognition and was followed by sensors that measure the electrical conductivity of milk and pedometers that measure activity. Some sensors like activity meters, electrical conductivity, weight floors and somatic cell count sensors are commercially available. Adoption has in general been low and mainly driven by the AMS, with a clear exception for estrus detection. In practice, the economic benefits of using sensor systems has not been proven. So, to make sensors live up to their full potential there is a need for research to shift from technical development towards practical applications and integration with operational farm management. Estrus detection sensors can have a good detection performance and are currently applied by farmers in practice, therefore this thesis focusses on sensors that support reproductive management. The main objective of this thesis is to study the utility of sensor technology to support reproductive management on dairy farms. This main objective was split in five sub objectives that each study a part of the main objective and were discussed in the separate chapters of this thesis. We demonstrated that utility of sensors for reproductive management can be found in economic benefits (estrus and calving detection), reduction of labor (calving and estrus detection) and more detailed management information (prognosis of insemination success). So, automated estrus detection aids reproductive management. From this thesis the following conclusions can be drawn: The developed theoretical framework describes four levels of sensor development, which should all be included in proper development of sensor systems. The literature review showed that no studies developed sensor systems with regard to management and decision support. It was possible to improve the prediction of the start of calving compared to a model that only uses the expected calving date. However, predicting the start of calving within an hour was not possible with a high sensitivity and specificity. There was financial merit in the use of calving detection, because the sensor system enables more timely intervention by the farmer. The uncertainty about the positive effects was large, which caused a wide range in the simulated financial benefits. Investment in a sensor for estrus detection was on average profitable with a return on investment of 11%. Profitability was influenced most by the heuristic culling rules and the expected increase of the estrus detection rate between detection by visual observation and the sensor. Routinely collected farm data can be used to estimate a prognosis on insemination success and be used to determine whether an individual cow has a higher or lower than average likelihood of insemination success. Integration of this prognostic model with an estrus detection sensor has potential. Currently farmers only adopt sensors for estrus detection or because they were standard with an AMS. A reason for this is that sensor systems do not produce clear information for farmers. Sensor technology should be focused on management support of applications. Labor benefits of sensors are important for adoption of sensors by farmers, farmers value flexibility, increased family time and less physical workload as benefits. However, economic evaluations of technical solutions are unable to quantify these benefits. Sensor research should consider the preference of farmers regarding labor. For the appraisal of sensor technology new methods to value labor benefits of sensor are needed. Furthermore, in sensor development societal acceptance should be an important consideration. Animal rights activists may frame the use of sensors as a form of industrialized farming. Only using technical arguments and considerations to explain the benefits of sensors will hamper the societal acceptance of modern dairy farming. Application of sensors on dairy farms should be communicated smartly to society in terms that relate the values of citizens.


Recent experimental data of the Hanle signal obtained from a hollow-cathode discharge are analyzed. It is shown that the electron-atom interactions is the main reason for the self-alignment of the atomic levels. The shape of the Hanle signal is calculated and shown to be in good agreement with the experimental observations.


Cyclotides are mini‐proteins that are synthesized via the ribosomal pathway. They have a variety of biological activities such as antimicrobial, antitumour, anti‐HIV activities. Because of their various bioactivities and unique stability, they are suitable candidate in drug design applications. The main aim of this study was to determine new antimicrobial agents, which can be used instead of chemical antibiotics. For this reason, we compared the antimicrobial effects of semipurified cyclotides against human and plant pathogenic bacteria.


We consider a point-to-point, correlated and block fading multiple antenna channel where the receiver has a noisy channel estimation and the transmitter has the statistics of the channel. Although very high rates are promised when the receiver knows the channel perfectly, the capacity is not known when the receiver has a noisy channel estimation. In this paper, we will derive an upper bound to the capacity of the system that we consider, and analyze the tightness of this bound and previously derived lower bounds with respect to block length and total average power. We observe that the lower and upper bounds converge with increasing block length, however there is a non-vanishing difference between the bounds with increasing total average power.


Hamiltonian Monte Carlo (HMC) is a state-of-the-art Markov chain Monte Carlo sampling algorithm for drawing samples from smooth probability densities over continuous spaces. We study the variant most widely used in practice, Metropolized HMC with the Stormer-Verlet or leapfrog integrator, and make two primary contributions. First, we provide a non-asymptotic upper bound on the mixing time of the Metropolized HMC with explicit choices of stepsize and number of leapfrog steps. This bound gives a precise quantification of the faster convergence of Metropolized HMC relative to simpler MCMC algorithms such as the Metropolized random walk, or Metropolized Langevin algorithm. Second, we provide a general framework for sharpening mixing time bounds Markov chains initialized at a substantial distance from the target distribution over continuous spaces. We apply this sharpening device to the Metropolized random walk and Langevin algorithms, thereby obtaining improved mixing time bounds from a non-warm initial distribution.


This study compared the in vitro cytotoxic activity against cultured NIH 3T3 mouse fibroblasts of peripheral blood leukocytes (PBL) from 13 patients with minor recurrent aphthous ulceration (RAU), 5 patients with non-aphthous oral ulceration and 23 age- and sex-matched healthy control subjects. Leukocytes from patients with RAU exerted a significantly greater degree of cytotoxicity towards the 3T3 cells than did those of control subjects. This enhanced cytotoxicity was abrogated by depletion of PBL bearing the CD5 antigen (T-lymphocytes). In contrast, PBL from patients with non-aphthous oral ulceration failed to exert an enhanced cytotoxic activity against 3T3 fibroblasts, when compared to PBL from healthy control subjects. It was concluded that PBL from patients with RAU exert a significantly enhanced cytotoxicity towards an unrelated xenogeneic target cell. This activity is a specific feature of RAU and in the assay system described appears to be mediated by T-lymphocytes.


The impacted canine is relatively common in incidence and can often lead to difficult treatment planning decisions. Cone Beam Computed Tomography (CBCT) imaging has improved diagnosis and treatment planning of impacted canines. In particular, this technology has allowed the clinician to accurately locate and visualize these teeth better than ever before, as well as greater appreciate the degree of damage to neighbouring teeth such as lateral incisors. Improved diagnosis and treatment planning with CBCT has therefore resulted in improved treatment outcomes. The objective of this presentation will be to cover the incidence, complications and management of impacted canines from an orthodontic perspective. Impacted canines are commonly cited as occurring in 1% of the population. Complications of impacted canines include root resorption and devitalization of the adjacent lateral incisor, ankylosis, cyst formation and prolonged retention of the deciduous canine. Interceptive management of impacted canines may include the removal of the deciduous canine. Managementof impacted canines also include either their removal or orthodontic movement into their correct position.


A 85-year-old woman was admitted to our hospital because of progressive hoarseness and dysphagia of two days' duration. Neurological examination on admission revealed right pharyngeal and vocal cord palsies. After admission, gradual swelling of her right ear was noted, and on day 6, vesicular eruptions in her right geniculate zone, the right VII and the VIIIth cranial nerve palsies were added. On the basis of these findings, she was diagnosed as Ramsay Hunt syndrome. Varicella zoster virus (VZV) infection was confirmed by the elevation of serum anti-VZV-antibody titer, and detection of VZV DNA from cerebrospinal fluid. Ramsay Hunt syndrome associated with multiple cranial neuropathy is not frequently reported. Reviewing Japanese literatures, we found that the IX and the Xth cranial nerves were most frequently affected, and the half of these cases were initiated with cranial neuropathy other than the VIIth. Additionally, spreading mechanisms of cranial neuropathy, and the early diagnostic problems of these conditions were discussed.


BACKGROUND
 People undergoing mass home- and community-based quarantine are vulnerable to mental health disorders during outbreaks of coronavirus disease (COVID-19), but few studies have evaluated the associated psychosocial factors.

 OBJECTIVE
 This study aimed to estimate the prevalence of anxiety and depressive symptoms and identify associated demographic and psychosocial factors in the general Chinese population during the COVID-19 pandemic quarantine period.

 METHODS
 Participants aged 18 years or above were recruited in a cross-sectional online survey using snowball sampling from February 26-29, 2020. The survey included questions on demographics, family relationships, chronic diseases, quarantine conditions, lifestyle, COVID-19 infection, and anxiety and depressive symptoms. Logistic regression analyses were conducted to identify factors associated with elevated anxiety or depressive symptoms.

 RESULTS
 Out of 2331 participants, 762 (32.7%) experienced elevated anxiety or depressive symptoms. Nine risk factors associated with anxiety or depressive symptoms included younger age, reduced income, having cancer or other chronic diseases, having family members living with cancer, concerns related to COVID-19 infection for themselves or family members, living alone, having family conflicts, having <3 or >8 hours of sedentary time per day, and worsened sleep quality.

 CONCLUSIONS
 The findings highlight an urgent need for psychological support for populations at high risk for elevated anxiety or depressive symptoms during the COVID-19 pandemic.


Background: Many clinical and public health researches collect data including multiple longitudinal measures and time-to-event outcomes, where characteristics of the pattern of exposure change and the association between features of longitudinal biomakers and the primary survival endpoint are of interest. Methods: Many existing statistical models for longitudinal-survival data might not provide robust inference when more than one longitudinal exposures which were significantly correlated and longitudinal measurements exhibit skewness and/or heavy tails; ignoring these data features may lead to biased estimation. In this article, we offered a multivariate joint model with the skew-normal (SN) distribution with application to the Mayo clinic primary biliary cirrhosis (PBC) study to assess simultaneous effects. Results: With the multivariate joint modeling associated with the skew-normal (SN) distribution, the subject-specific baseline (HR=2.390 with 95% CI: (1.429, 4.112)) and change rate (HR=2.588 with 95% CI: (1.845, 3.967)) of Bilirubin in natural log scale were positively associated with the risk of death; the higher the subject-specific change rate (HR=0.191 with 95% CI: (0.037, 0.915)) of Albumin in natural log scale was associated with a decrease in mortality rate; the subject-specific of SGOT levels in natural log scale did not affect the risk of death for PBC patients significantly. The results of the skewness parameters of natural log-transformed Bilirubin (δ1=0.42), Albumin (δ2=−0.03) and SGOT (δ3=0.095) were estimated to be significant, indicating the skewness of three biomarkers existed. Conclusions: Our results revealed the Bilirubin and Albumin levels may be involved in predicting risk of death for PBC patients, except for SGOT. The multivariate joint modeling associated with SN distribution provides better fit to the data, gives less biased parameter estimates for those longitudinal biomarkers in comparison with its counterpart where the normal distribution is assumed (data not shown here). The introduced modeling approach is generally applicable to other situations where longitudinal measurements and time-to-event outcomes are available.


Extant research has widely investigated linear functional forms in satisfaction and loyalty models. Though complex nonlinear nature of satisfaction loyalty link is suggested by several researchers, few attempts have been made to empirically examine nonlinearity. Moreover, researchers have used divergent functional forms to model nonlinearity and their findings are often inconclusive. In this study we use nonlinear form to describe the relationship between satisfaction, attitudinal loyalty, purchase loyalty and customer behavioral intentions such as willingness to pay more and external and internal complaining responses in the context of business-to-consumer ecommerce. We find modest empirical support for nonlinear effects in the relationship. Results support nonlinearity only in the case of attitudinal loyalty to internal complaining response link. Results also present evidence about the mediating role of attitudinal loyalty in the relationship between satisfaction, purchase loyalty, willingness to pay more and internal complaining responses.


CASE HISTORY AND CLINICAL FINDINGS
A 33-year-old experienced female diver complained of headache and chest pain when emerging after a dive. When she was rescued, tetraplegia, clouding of consciousness and aphasia were stated. The first measures consisted in the securing of the vital functions and the immediate administration of pure oxygen. Then she was transferred to the next hospital. During the 7-hour-transfer the sensory disturbances and the palsy of the left body side improved.

EXAMINATIONS
Computed tomography with contrast agent revealed a subcortical parieto-occipital brain edema in the left hemisphere without midline shift. Additionally a magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) after the second pressure chamber treatment showed a smaller brain edema on the right side.

DIAGNOSIS, THERAPY AND COURSE
The findings supported the diagnosis of decompression sickness type II. On the evening after the diving accident a generalised seizure occurred. Due to repeated cerebral seizures 20 mg of diazepam were administered. This was followed by a transport to the next health facility with a pressure chamber.  After two pressure chamber treatments within 24 hours the clinical symptoms disappeared, the neurological examination was unremarkable and MRI had returned to normal.

CONCLUSION
An acute decompression sickness is diagnosed purely clinically. In case of even the slightest suspicion the patient should be transported to a health facility with a pressure chamber as quickly as possible because this significantly improves prognosis. Up to that point, the administration of pure oxygen is indicated. Imaging methods realised within the first hours/days are valuable for securing the diagnosis. Follow-up MRI-scans serve to reflect the course of the disease.


Introduction In Kampala Uganda, female sex workers (FSWs) have high HIV prevalence (33%). Oral PrEP is a novel HIV prevention intervention that offers hope to decrease HIV incidence in key populations especially among FSWs. Studies have shown that with poor adherence, oral PrEP has no efficacy, and therefore adherence to PrEP is critical among FSWs to maximize HIV prevention. However, implementation data on adherence to PrEP among FSWs is limited so this study sought to assess adherence to PrEP. Specifically, we sought to 1) determine the level of adherence to PrEP among FSWs, and 2) determine factors associated with PrEP adherence. Methods This cross-sectional study was conducted from November to December 2018; 126 FSWs using PrEP were interviewed using a questionnaire. Adherence was categorically defined as high adherence and low adherence. Logistic regression was done. Results Using long-term contraception methods (OR 0.06, 95% CI: 0.04–0.77) and not using condoms with clients (OR 0.07, 95% CI: 0.01–0.42) were negatively associated with high PrEP adherence. Conclusion Barriers to PrEP adherence need to be addressed for successful PrEP implementation to improve adherence going forward. Service care providers should reinforce positive behaviors such as use of condoms devotedly during PrEP breaks.


Given the indolent behavior of follicular lymphoma (FL), it is controversial whether limited stage FL can be cured using radiotherapy (RT). Furthermore, the optimal RT field size is unclear. The authors of this report investigated the long‐term outcomes of patients with limited stage FL who received RT alone and studied the impact of reducing the RT field size from involved regional RT (IRRT) to involved node RT with margins up to 5 cm (INRT≤5 cm).


Zero dynamics of nonlinear control systems with symmetries are studied in this paper. It is shown that the zero dynamics of a symmetric system is also symmetric and admits a special form of cascade decomposition. A local zero dynamics is always possible to be extended to the semiglobal case. The relation between the zero dynamics and the quotient system is also discussed.


The question of congenital deformities and defects of the extremities is attractive because of the richness of different morphologic manifestations; it is difficult when it comes to the systematic grouping of observations, and it is extremely embarrassing when etiology is concerned. It seems that with all the scientific armamentarium of modern physicians, they are approaching the problem merely from another side and have not yet succeeded much more in detecting the underlying cause than had the observers of many hundred years ago, who interpreted the various monsters as lusus naturae. Nature, or a great vital force, in incalculable mood, enjoys and diverts itself by producing the most abstruse forms. The more modern conceptions are more mechanistic, and the thin amniotic membrane especially has frequently been accused of being responsible for the development of congenital deformities, either by inflammatory adhesions or simply by decreased amount of amniotic fluid. No doubt for


Bamboo is a biomass material that has great potential as a bioenergy resource of the future. To the best of our knowledge, there is a lack of sufficient information concerning bamboo pellets. Bamboo and pine pellets were therefore manufactured using a laboratory pellet mill. This study was carried out to compare and evaluate the properties of bamboo and pine pellets as biomass solid fuels. Bamboo pellets exhibited better combustion properties except for inorganic ash and worse overall physical properties than pine pellets. Most properties of both pellets were improved through carbonization treatment except for bulk and particle density. The properties of all pellets determined in this study met the requirements of Pellet Fuels Institute standards except for bulk density of bamboo pellets, and the gross calorific value also met the minimum requirement for producing commercial pellets of DIN 51731 (>17,500 J/g) (1996). The information from this study is helpful for evaluating properties of bamboo pellets and developing and using bamboo resources.


When methionine (Met) is limiting in swine diets, it is commonly supplemented by using anhydrous dl-methionine (DLM, 99% purity) or liquid dl-methionine-hydroxy analogue free acid (MHA-FA, 88% purity). The objective of this experiment was to test the null hypothesis that the bioavailability of DLM and MHA-FA were not different for growing pigs, using the indicator amino acid (AA) (phenylalanine, Phe) oxidation (IAAO) method in a slope-ratio assay. Six barrows (mean BW during study: 21.1 kg) received seven dietary treatments with all pigs receiving all diets in random order at an intake of 95 g/kg BW0.75. The basal diet (BD) contained analyzed content of 15.1% CP, 0.20% Met, 0.73% Phe and all other AA in excess of requirement. The BD was supplemented with three graded levels of DLM or MHA-FA on an equimolar basis. Dietary treatments only varied in Met content and included: (i) BD, (ii) BD + 0.034% DLM, (iii) BD + 0.054% DLM, (iv) BD + 0.086% DLM, (v) BD + 0.029% MHA-FA, (vi) BD + 0.078% MHA-FA and (vii) BD + 0.107% MHA-FA, as analyzed. Indicator AA oxidation was determined during 4 h studies, where pigs were fed half-hourly meals each equal to 1/32 of their daily feed allowance. Each meal was mixed with 258.7 kBq (s.e. 2.6) of l-[1-14C]Phe with a prime of 3.5 times the half-hourly dose added to the first meal. The slope of the decrease in IAAO calculated by linear regression analysis was greater (P = 0.012) for DLM supplementation (9.87 ± 1.450 per g, 1.488 ± 0.215% per mmol) than for MHA-FA (6.48 ± 0.89 per g, 1.107 ± 0.152% per mmol). The ratio of slopes indicated a bioavailability of MHA-FA on a product basis, relative to DLM, of 65.7%. Bioavailability on an equimolar Met basis, calculated from the ratio of the slopes was 74.4% for MHA-FA, relative to DLM. In conclusion, these results indicate that the metabolic bioavailability of MHA-FA for growing pigs is appreciably lower than that of DLM on both an equimolar and a product basis.


Initiating Sequences in Exercise Induced Idiopathic Ventricular Tachycardia of Left Bundle Branch‐Like Morphology. Initiating sequences for VT may infer the underlying arrhythmogenic mechanisms. This study examines the initiating sequences of exercise induced idiopathic VT of left bundle branch block‐like (LBBB‐like) morphology and makes an attempt to relate these to clinical aspects and the mechanisms of arrhythmia. Thirty‐two patients (mean age 33.4 ± 13.2 years; 18 men) with exercise induced VT in the absence of structural cardiac abnormality on history, clinical examination, and noninvasive and invasive investigations were divided into two groups on the basis of the initiating sequence of VT on exercise. Group I consisted of patients with long‐short sequence of RR intervals prior to the onset of VT (initiating/preinitiating cycle length ratio < 0.78). Group II consisted of patients without changes in cycle length prior to VT. Group I mechanism would suggest delayed afterdepolarizations (DADs) or reentry whereas group II mechanism triggered activity due to early afterdepolarizations. Fourteen patients (group I) had long‐short sequence and 18 patients (group II) were without cycle length changes prior to VT initiated during exercise. VT axis was inferior in all 18 patients in group II but only in 9 patients in group I (P = 0.02). In these predefined patient groups, sustained monomorphic VT could not be initiated by programmed stimulation in any patient in group I, whereas four patients in group II had inducible VT. Patients in group II also had higher incidence of sustained VT on ambulatory monitoring (P < 0.05). The two groups did not differ in other respects. This study demonstrates the existence of at least two possible mechanisms of initiation of exercise induced idiopathic VT of LBBB‐like morphology. VT initiated without cycle length changes is more common, more likely to have an inferior axis suggesting an outflow tract origin, and is probably related to triggered activity secondary to DADs. VT initiated with a long‐short sequence is more often nonsustained and may have a superior axis suggesting an origin from the body or septal region of the ventricle. The two groups, therefore, exhibit differences in electrophysiological characteristics that may aid classification and therapy of this arrhythmia.


disease in the community-let alone in an individual." True primary prevention, however, must start in childhood. It is developing tissues which are the most susceptible to injury, and good habits learnt early are those most likely to be continued. It is clear that subjects receiving "usual advice" can adapt their lifestyle provided they are given the opportunity to do so. This will entail making healthier foods more readily available. Also, they must be taught to resist the promotional material put out by the dairy and other food industries. The conclusion of a recent meeting of the International Atherosclerosis Society in Berlin, at which the World Health Organisation presented its report, was that for practical purposes the relation of diet to coronary heart disease was no longer controversial and beyond serious argument. In the UK the recommendations are similar to those of the Joint Working Party of the Royal College of Physicians and the British Cardiac Society.7 Dietary details have recently been discussed and spelt out in more detail.8 It is likely that the recent World Health Organisation report will be accepted in the UK as transcending other recommendations, at least by the medical profession, health educators, and the public, as the pattern for the foreseeable future. In most human affairs no matter how great the majority there are some who take a different view, but this cannot determine policy.


Summary

1. The restoration of native, forested riparian habitats is a widely accepted method for improving degraded streams. Little is known, however, about how the width, extent and continuity of forested vegetation along stream networks affect stream ecosystems.

2. To increase the likelihood of achieving restoration goals, restoration practitioners require quantitative tools to guide the development of restoration strategies in different catchment settings. We present an empirically based model that establishes a relationship between a 'stress' imposed at different locations along a stream by the spatial pattern of land cover within catchments, and the response of biologically determined ecosystem characteristics to this stress. The model provides a spatially explicit, quantitative framework for predicting the effects of changes in catchment land cover composition and spatial configuration on specific characteristics of stream ecosystems.

3. We used geospatial datasets and biological data for attached algae and benthic macroinvertebrates in streams to estimate model parameters for 40 sites in 33 distinct catchments within the mid-Atlantic Piedmont region of the eastern U.S. Model parameters were estimated using a genetic optimisation algorithm. R2 values for the resulting relationships between catchment land cover and biological characteristics of streams were substantially improved over R2 values for spatially aggregated regression models based on whole-catchment land cover.

4. Using model parameters estimated for the mid-Atlantic Piedmont, we show how the model can be used to guide restoration planning in a case study of a small catchment. The model predicts the quantitative change in biological characteristics of the stream, such as indices of species diversity and species composition, that would occur with the implementation of a hypothetical restoration project.


House dust mite allergy is a serious problem that affects about six million people in Poland and if left untreated could be the reason for the development of bronchial asthma. The main purpose of this study was to analyse how aware the patients in the respiratory ward were about the prevention of allergic diseases caused by house dust mites and the prophylactic measures that can be taken. The study took place between September 2018 and November 2018 and involved 109 patients, hospitalised in the Respiratory Ward of the Railway Hospital in Wilkowic-Bystra, who had been diagnosed with asthma and house dust mite allergy. People between 51 and 60 years of age comprised the largest group of respondents. A diagnostic survey method was utilised for the study, whereby the survey data was collected by way of a questionnaire completed by the participants. Most people (45.0%) experience an increase in allergy symptoms when cleaning the house and when sleeping at night (35.0%). Over half of the respondents (59.0%) believe, that the main places in which dust mites are found in the home are rugs, blankets and bedding. According to respondents (40.0%), prophylactic treatments against dust mite allergy at home are effective in alleviating the symptoms. Most respondents use preventive measures to combat house dust mites and relieve allergy symptoms. The main source of information about the prevention of allergic diseases is a doctor.


Advancements in cancer therapy increased the cancer free survival rates and reduced the malignant related deaths. Therapeutic options for patients with thoracic cancers include surgical intervention and the application of chemotherapy with ionizing radiation. Despite these advances, cancer therapy-related cardiopulmonary dysfunction (CTRCPD) is one of the most undesirable side effects of cancer therapy and leads to limitations to cancer treatment. Chemoradiation therapy or immunotherapy promote acute and chronic cardiopulmonary damage by inducing reactive oxygen species, DNA damage, inflammation, fibrosis, deregulation of cellular immunity, cardiopulmonary failure, and non-malignant related deaths among cancer-free patients who received cancer therapy. CTRCPD is a complex entity with multiple factors involved in this pathogenesis. Although the mechanisms of cancer therapy-induced toxicities are multifactorial, damage to the cardiac and pulmonary tissue as well as subsequent fibrosis and organ failure seem to be the underlying events. The available biomarkers and treatment options are not sufficient and efficient to detect cancer therapy-induced early asymptomatic cell fate cardiopulmonary toxicity. Therefore, application of cutting-edge multi-omics technology, such us whole-exome sequencing, DNA methylation, whole-genome sequencing, metabolomics, protein mass spectrometry and single cell transcriptomics, and 10 X spatial genomics, are warranted to identify early and late toxicity, inflammation-induced carcinogenesis response biomarkers, and cancer relapse response biomarkers. In this review, we summarize the current state of knowledge on cancer therapy-induced cardiopulmonary complications and our current understanding of the pathological and molecular consequences of cancer therapy-induced cardiopulmonary fibrosis, inflammation, immune suppression, and tumor recurrence, and possible treatment options for cancer therapy-induced cardiopulmonary toxicity.


Spinal epidural abscess (SEA) is a rare disease with poor prognosis if not diagnosed and treated early. It typically occurs at the presence of predisposing conditions including diabetes mellitus, intravenous drug abuse, immunosuppressive therapy, cancer, renal failure and HIV infection. Back pain, fever and neurological deficit are usually considered the classical triads of symptoms. Contrast-enhanced magnetic resonance image is currently the gold standard for the diagnosis of SEA. A combination of surgical drainage of abscess and prolonged antimicrobial therapy has been considered as the treatment of choice. We reported a 58-year-old woman who admitted due to neck pain then upper limb numbness and weakness. Cervical magnetic resonance imaging revealed a cervical epidural abscess. Treatment including surgical drainage and evacuation of spinal abscess and intravenous antibiotics ameliorated the neurological deficits.


The major insect pest species that cause economic losses to sunflower producers in North Dakota are banded sunflower moth (Cochylis hospes Walsingham), red sunflower seed weevil (Smicronyx fulvus Le Conte), and sunflower midge (Contarinia schulzi Gagne). New emerging insect pests include lygus bugs (Lygus spp.), sunflower bud moth (Suleima helianthana (Riley)), longhorned beetle (Dectes texanus LeConte), and sunflower seed maggot (Neotephritis finalis (Loew)). Sunflower moth (Homoeosoma electellum (Hulst)) occasionally migrates into the northern Great Plains production region and can cause severe yield losses. Results of the 2006, 2007 and 2008 sunflower insect pest surveys are reported for banded sunflower moth, red sunflower seed weevil, sunflower midge and longhorned beetle in North Dakota.


Based on the DEM (digital elevation model) of Jiangjiagou watershed,Yunnan Province,the watershed is compartmentalized into some sub-units according to landform by using Geographical Information System software. With the information data of land use,soil classification,hydrology,and meteorology,the fitting CN values for sub-watersheds are presented and the CN distribution map is drawn by the GIS software. The hydrograph of calculated runoff process by the SCS model and isochrones method is fitted well with observed runoff data. It shows that SCS model can be successfully used in Jiangjiagou watershed and simulated result can supplement observed data. This paper provides a method to study the distributed hydrological model in Jiangjiagou watershed.


The step-by-step chromaticity compensation method for chromatic sextupole optimization and dynamic aperture increase was proposed by E. Levichev and P. Piminov (E. Levichev and P. Piminov, 2006). Although this method can be used to enlarge the dynamic aperture of a storage ring, it has some drawbacks. In this paper, we combined this method with evolutionary computation algorithms, and proposed an improved version of this method. In the improved method, the drawbacks are avoided, and thus better optimization results can be obtained.


In the previous article, we presented the results of literature review showing the changes in hormone concentrations (parathyroid hormone, insulin, growth factor, prolactin) in patients with chronic renal failure (CRF) at the pre-dialysis and dialysis stages, described pathological relationships between renal failure and serum hormones concentrations, as well as changes in their biological effects. In this article, that continues the general topic, we provide the results of literature review that shows changes in serum concentrations of thyroid, adrenal, sex hormones and the features of the functioning of hypothalamus-pituitary-peripheral glands axis in patients with CRF. The presence of close pathogenic interactions of renal functional condition with hormonal activity of the thyroid gland was evaluated, as well as the ability of thyroid gland to influence the CRF progression both during pre-dialysis and dialysis stages of CRF. Most patients with CRF have low serum triiodothyronine and thyroxine levels. It means that CRF is a pathological condition associated with thyroid hypofunction that progressively worsening as glomerular filtration rate decreases. For patients receiving dialysis treatment, hypothyroidism is associated with higher mortality. Secondary adrenal insufficiency is usually progresses in patients on renal replacement therapy. Non-diagnosed chronic adrenal failure may be life-threating that's why the analysis of adrenal function is especially actual for patients on both pre-dialysis and dialysis stages of CRF. Secondary adrenal insufficiency caused by long-lasting treatment with corticoids is a diagnostic problem for patients on dialysis treatment, because many nephrological diseases are treated by corticoids, and immunosuppressive therapy protocols used after the kidney transplantation are usually include prednisone. As the endocrine dysfunction progresses in patients with CRF, sexual dysfunction develops due to sex hormone imbalance. Abnormal androgen concentration is a typical finding in CRF. A negative correlation was found between endogenic testosterone concentration and CRF stages I–V that indicated an abnormal profile of male sex hormones. There are gender-specific features of the development and progression of clinical symptoms of hormonal imbalance. The number of experimental studies show that continuous estradiol treatment may prevent the development of glomerulosclerosis. The results of clinical trials concluded that lower CRF progression and the lower incidence of CRF observed in young females compared to males, as well as the absence of gender protection in post-menopausal period, shows the important role of female sex hormones.


The ongoing interest in very efficient systems for the imitation of cytochrome P‐450‐dependent monooxygenase reactions, consisting of metalloporphyrin and oxygen donor, prompted us to develop a method to compare the catalytic activity of soluble metalloporphyrins with those which have been immobilised on different silica surfaces. In this article, we describe a method which allows direct comparison between the catalytic activities of soluble and immobilised metalloporphyrins by measuring the NO release of cyclohexanone oxime. We observed that all metalloporphyrins are able to enhance the NO release of cyclohexanone oxime in the presence of iodosobenzene as oxygen donor. In case of cationic metalloporphyrins, no difference in the catalytic activity was determined. In contrast, for perfluorinated metalloporphyrins we ascertained a major loss of activity after immobilisation. These results led us to the assumption that it is not easy to compare quantitative results of NO releases if soluble and immobilised metalloporphyrins were used.


The viability of tandem photochemical reaction-chemiluminescence detection was studied for a heterogeneous family of nitro compounds using chloramphenicol as a test substance. The 'on-line' chemical photodegradation of chloramphenicol was performed in a flow injection assembly by using a photoreactor consisting of a 725 cm x 0.5 mm id piece of PTFE tubing coiled around an 8 W low-pressure mercury lamp. Photodegraded chloramphenicol was detected by oxidizing photo-fragments from the parent compound and their subsequent reaction with a luminol-Co(II) system. The calibration graph was linear up to 3 x 10(-5) mol l-1 chloramphenicol, the limit of detection was 3 x 10(-9) mol l-1, the relative standard deviation was 1.8% for 2 x 10(-6) mol l-1 of the drug and the sample throughput was 60 h-1. The proposed method was used to determine chloramphenicol in pharmaceutical formulations and its application to other related nitro compounds was studied.


The presence of an anomalous origin and/or distribution of a coronary artery as the infarct-related vessel during primary angioplasty for acute myocardial infarction might represent a clinical and technical challenge. We report on a case of a patient with an acute anterior myocardial infarction who was referred to our hospital for primary angioplasty and whose culprit lesion was located on an aberrant left main coronary artery. The purpose of this case report was to review the incidence and angiographic evaluation of an anomalous coronary vessel and to discuss the technical approach to an anomalous left main intervention and its impact on clinical outcome.


A common result of many studies of children at risk for developmental disorder is the heterogeneity of individual reactions to adversity. One attempt to explain the differential outcome of children at risk lies in the assumption of protective factors. In a prospective study of 362 infants the significance of pre- and perinatal complications (early biological risks) and of adverse family living circumstances (early psychosocial risks) on child development at 4 1/2 years was examined. Additionally, to study the interplay between risk and protective factors a number of mother-child and family characteristics potentially favourable to early development were assessed. Results indicated that early risk factors made a significant contribution to child development at preschool age. Using multiple risk indices, between 10 and 20% of the variance of the developmental outcome at 4 1/2 years was explained. Significant predictors of later developmental disorders were neonatal seizures and very low birth weight among the biological risks and low educational level of the parents, early parenthood and unwanted pregnancy among the psychosocial risks. The contribution of early protective factors to developmental outcome, however, was only limited. The high overlap with risk factors, the low specific predictive power and the lack of a moderator effect question the theoretical usefulness of a global concept of protective factors. However, when interactions between specific risk and protective factors were studied, there was evidence of a buffer effect of a successful early mother child interaction.


Purpose: To prepare and characterize a formulation containing an ethanol extract of Camellia ptilophylla leaves (cocoa tea), with a focus on antihyperlipidemic and anti-obesity activities. Methods: An aloe vera–based formulation of an ethanol extract of cocoa tea ( C. ptilophylla ) was prepared. The formulation was given orally at 400 mg/kg daily to obese (high-fat diet–induced) mice for 1 month, and body weight as well as total cholesterol, triglyceride, HDL cholesterol, LDL cholesterol, and VLDL cholesterol levels were determined and compared with those of control and standard groups (the latter mice received atorvastatin at 400 mg/kg daily). Results: At the end of treatment, the standard group exhibited 64.65 % reduction in body weight gain and the test group exhibited 48.87 % reduction, compared with control. The group that received the formulation had significantly lower levels of serum total cholesterol, triglycerides, and LDL cholesterol, and a higher level of HDL cholesterol. Conclusion: The formulation of an ethanolic extract of cocoa tea leaves seems to exert antihyperlipidemic and anti-obesity activities comparable to those of a modern lipid-lowering agent (atorvastatin) in mice. Thus, this natural remedy has the potential to prevent or delay hyperlipidemia and the cardiovascular complications associated with diet-induced obesity. Keywords: Obesity, Lipid profile, Cocoa tea ( Camellia ptilophylla ) leaves, Weight management, Herbal formulation, Antihyperlipidemic, Anti-obesity


This article proposes an optimization model for preventing the waste of time in the educational and research activities' cycle of an organization such as a university. For this purpose and in order to increase efficiency and prevent the waste of time; the graph theory models have been used. The educational and research activities diagrams of a supposed university is drawn by the use of graphs theory model, and then these graphs are analyzed, then in order to design a model, the units, activities and the time of doing each activity are symbolized, and the collected data are presented in the form of matrix. In this article two procedures are suggested for optimization; using subgraphs for every activity cycle in order to shorten the activity cycles and minimizing the time of doing each work. The algorithm of time minimizing is based on recognizing and determining the edges with the most weight as the maximum time. Also the influential factors on the waste of time in activity cycle are recognized and then replaced or omitted.


The Leonid meteor shower in November 1998 was observed widely by astronomers. The first peak, rich in bright meteors, appeared about 16 hours before the predicted maximum of the main shower. The main shower was also observed by both optical and radio methods during 19:00-21:00UT on Nov. 17, and the ra-dio peak was over 2500h-1. About 18 hours after the main shower, an abnormal phenomenon in the ionosphere was detected by two separate ionosphere observing stations. And the very high abnormal phenomenon maintained over one hour. The phenomenon showed that the ionosphere was injected with a large amount of small dust particles that could not be observed in optical and radio. The observational results show that the Leonid meteor shower in 1998 had three peaks.


Chrysotile, or "white", asbestos is the dominant form of asbestos in international commerce today. It accounts for 99% of current world asbestos production of 2 million tonnes. Chrysotile is an extremely hazardous material. Clinical and epidemiologic studies have established incontrovertibly that chrysotile causes cancer of the lung, malignant mesothelioma of the pleura and peritoneum, cancer of the larynx and certain gastrointestinal cancers. Chrysotile also causes asbestosis, a progressive fibrous disease of the lungs. Risk of these diseases increases with cumulative lifetime exposure to chrysotile and rises also with increasing time interval (latency) since first exposure. Comparative analyses have established that chrysotile is 2 to 4 times less potent than crocidolite asbestos in its ability to cause malignant mesothelioma, but of equal potency of causation of lung cancer. The International Agency for Research on Cancer of the World Health Organization has declared chrysotile asbestos a proven human carcinogen. Sales of chrysotile asbestos have virtually ended in Western Europe and North America, because of widespread recognition of its health hazards. However, asbestos sales remain strong in Japan, across Asia and in developing nations worldwide. The claim has been made that chrysotile asbestos can be used "safely" under "certain conditions" in those nations. That claim is not accurate. The Collegium Ramazzini, an international learned society in environmental and occupational medicine, has called for an immediate worldwide ban on all sales and uses of all forms of asbestos, including chrysotile. The rationale for this ban is threefold: (1) that safer substitute materials are readily available, (2) that "controlled" use of asbestos is not possible, and (3) that the health risks of asbestos are not acceptable in either the industrialized or the newly industrializing nations.


The sound of construction should be reliably predicted at the planning stage, and any mitigation should be implemented not only to avoid excessive noise exposure to the public but also to improve the environmental performance and the process of construction. There are various noise prediction methods that have been practiced by the respected parties. The simplest and most recommended method of noise prediction is the procedure of BS 5228-1:2009. However, previous studies have claimed that this method was inaccurate because of several factors. Therefore, this study attempts to assess the difference between the prediction using this method and the noise obtained from the measurement. The study was conducted by measuring noise emissions from construction activities through selected stations on the earthwork, piling, and structural work, by measuring the individual noise emission of construction equipment, and by predicting noise from construction activities using the measured data. Several related variables were also measured to identify their effects on outdoor sound propagation. Disparities between noise prediction and measurement were checked using a t-test. The results showed that all the stations have the significant disparities between prediction and measurement. Apart from the high noise emission level of machines, the highest over prediction (5 dBA) was due to the use of several moving machines during operation processes. Consequently, this affects the distance between the sound source and the measurement station (geometry factor).


The DNA damage response likely includes a global phosphorylation signaling cascade process for sensing the damaged DNA condition and coordinating responses to cope with and repair the perturbed cellular state. We utilized a label-free liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry approach to evaluate changes in protein phosphorylation associated with PP5 activity during the DNA damage response. Biological replicate analyses of bleomycin-treated HeLa cells expressing either WT-PP5 or mutant inactive PP5 lead to the identification of six potential target proteins of PP5 action. Four of these putative targets have been previously reported to be involved in DNA damage responses. Using phospho-site specific antibodies, we confirmed that phosphorylation of one target, ribosomal protein S6, was selectively decreased in cells overexpressing catalytically inactive PP5. Our findings also suggest that PP5 may play a role in controlling translation and in regulating substrates for proline-directed kinases, such as MAP kinases and cyclin-dependent protein kinases that are involved in response to DNA damage.


Background and Purpose Cerebral intraventricular infusion of acidic or basic fibroblast growth factor has been shown to attenuate ischemic damage to hippocampal CA1 neurons in the gerbil. The purpose of the present study was to determine if the basic fibroblast growth factor transgenic mouse has an enhanced ability to resist the effects of severe cerebral hypoxemia-oligemia. Methods Mice that were transgenic for bovine basic fibroblast growth factor were exposed to right carotid artery ligation, hyperglycemia, and 20 minutes of 1% carbon monoxide. After 5 days' recovery, brains were examined for histological damage. Results Counts of CA1 neurons in the right hippocampus showed a significantly higher number of neurons per millimeter CA1 in hypoxic-ischemic transgenic mice compared with nontransgenic controls (transgenic, 260±33; nontransgenic, 151 ±37 neurons per millimeter CA1; P<.05). Conclusions The results indicate that basic fibroblast growth factor transgenic mice, as judged by CA1 hippocampal neuronal survival, have an enhanced ability to resist the effects of a complex hypoxic-ischemic cerebral insult. (Stroke. 1993;24:1735-1739.)


ABSTRACT Sera from three separate healthy population cohorts were used to determine the incidence of group C rotavirus infections in 1,356 South Africans. Using an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay based on a recombinant group C rotavirus VP6 protein, the total percent positivity was found to be 34.4% (range, 33 to 38%), with almost half of the population infected after the age of 20 years.


Acute hypersensitivity reactions (AHRs) occurring in present-day anaesthesia can have severe, sometimes fatal, consequences and their incidence is increasing. The most frequent allergens responsible for AHR during anaesthesia are neuromuscular blocking agents (NMBAs) (70% of the cases) followed by antibiotics (18%), patent blue dye and methylene blue dye (5%), and latex (5%). Following an AHR, strategies for subsequent anaesthetic procedures (especially the choice of an NMBA) may be difficult to formulate due to inconclusive diagnostic analysis in up to 30% of AHRs. Current diagnosis of AHR relies on the detection of mast cell degranulation products and drug-specific type E immunoglobulins (IgE) in order to document an IgE-mediated anaphylaxis (IgE endotype). Nonetheless, other IgE-independent pathways can be involved in AHR, but their detection is not currently available in standard situations. The different mechanisms (endotypes) involved in peri-operative AHR may contribute to the inconclusive diagnostic work-up and this generates uncertainty concerning the culpable drug and strategy for subsequent anaesthetic procedures. This review provides details on the IgE endotype; an update on non-IgE related endotypes and the novel diagnostic tools that could characterise them. This detailed update is intended to provide explicit clinical reasoning tools to the anaesthesiologist faced with an incomplete AHR diagnostic work-up and to facilitate the decision-making process regarding anaesthetic procedures following an AHR to NMBAs.


The use of animal models is a key aspect of scientific research in numerous fields of medicine. This book vigorously examines the important contributions and application of animal models to the understanding of human movement disorders and will serve as an essential resource for basic neuroscientists engaged in movement disorders research. Academic clinicians, translational researchers and basic scientists are brought together to connect experimental findings made in different animal models to the clinical features, pathophysiology and treatment of human movement disorders. A vital feature of this book is an accompanying DVD with video clips of human movement disorders and their corresponding animal models. The book is divided into sections on Parkinson disease, Huntington disease, dystonia, tremor, paroxysmal movement disorders, ataxia, myoclonus, restless legs syndrome, drug-induced movement disorders, multiple system atrophy, progressive supranuclear palsy/corticobasal degeneration and spasticity. This book serves as an essential resource for both clinicians interested in the science being generated with animal models and basic scientists studying the pathogenesis of particular movement disorders. It provides a single comprehensive resource on animal models of movement disorders that academic clinicians, translational researchers, and basic neuroscientists can refer to. It includes contributions by expert movement disorder clinicians and top-level researchers in the field.


Fabric-reinforced cementitious matrix (FRCM) composites are materials that are usually applied to strengthen existing structures. In this study, a hemp mesh coated with epoxy was manufactured and combined with a cementitious matrix to strengthen a concrete beam. This beam was subjected to bending cyclic loading tests and a nondestructive modal analysis test. The modal analysis was performed to determine the dynamic elastic properties of the beam under pre-cracking, post-cracking, and strengthened conditions. The beam stiffness increased following strengthening with hemp-FRCM. The results of the experimental cyclic loading test showed that the hemp-FRCM system improved the load-bearing capacity of the beam at the service limit state by 42%. Analytical and numerical models were adjusted and validated using the experimental results, and both proved to be effective calculation tools. The models accurately reproduced the behaviour of the FRCM-strengthened concrete beam if the strengthening connection could prevent sliding and mortar debonding failures.


In 2002 the transition government of Alejandro Toledo established a Truth and Reconciliation Commission in Peru. Its aim, like that of similar commissions created to deal with the democratization of a country after a period of violent intra-ethnic conflict and widescale abuses of human rights, was to record the testimonies of the victims and offer recommendations ranging from reparation to radical structural change in the governing of the country. Working alongside the Peruvian commission was El Grupo Cultural Yuyachkani, one of Latin America's oldest and most impressive activist theatre collectives. To facilitate the truth-gathering process as well as publicly honor and remember the dead, five members of Yuyachkani traveled to the mountainous regions of the Andes most affected by the war. There, over a period of eight months, they held workshops, performed in the streets, and participated in local demonstrations. Through a range of stylized performance pieces and street-art installations directly related to the recent crisis and translated into an idiom accessible to all, they converted ordinary streets and plazas into ritual spaces for reflection and remembrance. In doing so, they dignified the victims and their relatives and transformed the personal stigma of abuse into the collective trauma of a nation needing to heal. This essay details the collaboration between Yuyachkani and the TRC and explores the critical intersection of secular ritual and "embodied memory" for the process of postwar reconstruction in Peru.


This paper describes examples of a recently recognized type of soft-sediment deformation associated with early compaction of fine-grained sediments. This type of deformation was originally described from the North Sea Basin, where Paleogene slope and basin-floor claystones are deformed over an area of >150 000 km 2 by a layer-bound system of minor extensional faults arranged in polygonal patterns in map view. The development of this regionally extensive polygonal fault system has been attributed to volumetric contraction during early compactional dewatering on the basis of detailed strain measurements carried out using high-resolution three-dimensional seismic data. A comprehensive review of published two-dimensional and three-dimensional seismic data from 27 other layer-bound fault systems from many different sedimentary basins is presented in this paper. The only factors common to all 28 examples of layer-bound faults are that the deformed units are only found in marine depositional settings, are dominantly composed of ultrafine-grained smectitic claystones or carbonate chalks, and are characterized by high porosity and extremely low permeability. Other factors such as sedimentation rate, organic carbon content, age, depth of burial, methane content, and pore-fluid chemistry are not systematically correlated with this deformational response. The correlation between distribution of deformed units and ultrafine grain size suggests that the deformation mechanism is related to colloidal properties as part of this type of compactional response. The restricted distribution of layer-bound fault systems to predominantly pelagic depositional units with often low sedimentation rates is compatible with a recently presented model of volumetric contraction during early burial. We build on this model of fully three-dimensional compaction to propose that layer-bound faulting is an expression of the process of syneresis, whereby pore fluid is expelled from sedimentary gels under the spontaneous action of osmotic or electrochemical forces.


In the present study, steel structural wind turbine tower with design configurations is analysed using ABACUS CAE 2022 FEM modelling. Tower of 73m heights is considered and investigated with dynamic parameters, mechanical design options. Structural and dynamic analyzes of the wind turbine, which is thought to be built in the Mamurdağ location of Samsun İlkadım District, has been tried to be analyzed using the Finite Element Method.The main purpose of this study is to numerically examine the dynamic behavior of the wind turbine under the existing ground conditions of Mamurdağı for the Wind Turbine. The turbine preferred as a model in this study is the 73m high 800Kw wind turbine belonging to Enocon Company. Modeling was made in the light of the technical data of the relevant company. While the numerical model was being created, the blades of the wind turbine and the nacelle-rotor system were not modeled, but the actual weight, corresponding to approximately 81 tons was applied as a load to the system. In the last part of the article, the dynamic properties of this 73m high tower are examined to obtain the natural frequencies and mode shapes. As a result of the analysis, 5 different mode shapes, frequency and period values of the wind turbine planned to be built were obtained. According to the modal analysis results of the wind turbine, the result of the dominant frequency was obtained as 0.72327 (cycles/time). First Mode is in the y-x plane so this is the lateral movement in this direction.


Aggregating search results from a variety of heterogeneous sources or verticals such as news, image and video into a single interface is a popular paradigm in web search. Although various approaches exist for selecting relevant verticals or optimising the aggregated search result page, evaluating the quality of an aggregated page is an open question.
 This paper proposes a general framework for evaluating the quality of aggregated search pages. We evaluate our approach by collecting annotated user preferences over a set of aggregated search pages for 56 topics and 12 verticals. We empirically demonstrate the fidelity of metrics instantiated from our proposed framework by showing that they strongly agree with the annotated user preferences of pairs of simulated aggregated pages.
 Furthermore, we show that our metrics agree with the majority preference more often than current diversity-based information retrieval metrics. Finally, we demonstrate the flexibility of our framework by showing that personalised historical preference data can be used to improve the performance of our proposed metrics.


Wheat is the most important cereal crop in Ethiopia ranking third in terms of area after teff and maize and second in terms of production after maize. Six local wheat varieties commonly cultivated in South Gondar, one of the eleven zones found in Amhara region, were collected from the local farmers to study their variability and associations of yield and yield related traits using twelve agro-morphological traits. The studied genotypes were grown in main rain season of 2014/15 at Farta district in a complete randomized block design with three replications. Analysis of variance indicated the presence of highly significant difference among the studied genotypes which revealed the presence of high genetic variability of wheat in the study area. Highest yield was recorded from the local variety Ferno with 1957 kg/ha followed by Chekole (1588.33kg) and Canada Sendie (1580.7kg). Higher value of GCV and PCV were recorded in most of the studied traits indicating selection may be effective from these traits and phenotypic expression would be good indication of the genotypic potential. Broad sense heritability estimates were very high for most traits signifying the possibility of success in selection. Correlation study revealed that number of tillers per plant, number of seeds per plant and harvest index had positive and highly significant correlation with grain yield. The present investigation will guide in planning future breeding strategy with desired traits to improve this crop in the study area.


Objective To determine the relationship between shift work and mental health, particularly insomnia, depression, and suicidal ideation, among electronics production workers. Methods A survey was conducted with 14,226 workers from an electronics manufacturer in South Korea. After excluding 112 individuals with incomplete responses, 14,114 respondents were analyzed. As part of a larger project, we collected data on respondents' general characteristics, work-related characteristics, and health status; however, in this study, we focused on the data related to shift work and mental health. Insomnia, depression, and suicidal ideation were set as dependent variables and working schedule as set as the independent variable. We performed multiple logistic regression analysis with daytime workers as the reference group. The model was adjusted for age, gender, body mass index, workplace, educational level, and marital status with or without children under 6 years of age. Results Relative to daytime workers, shift workers had 2.35, 1.23, and 1.17 greater odds of insomnia, depression, and suicidal ideation, respectively. Within the shift worker group, we found that the odds of depression and suicidal ideation increased dramatically when respondents had insomnia. The ORs for depression and suicidal ideation were 4.899 and 7.934, respectively. Conclusions Our findings suggest that shift work is related to an increased risk of mental health problems in production workers, and the sleep disturbance related with shift work is a central mechanism for this relationship. Since these results suggest that proactive management of sleep problems might attenuate their detrimental effects on shift worker's mental health.


ABSTRACT Apicomplexan parasites of the genus Eimeria are widespread in poultry flocks and can cause the intestinal disease coccidiosis. Early studies, concerned with intraspecific variation in oocyst morphology, indicated that phenotypic changes may be induced by selection experiments conducted in vivo. Genetic selection driven by targeted selection for specific phenotypes has contributed to our understanding of the phenomenon of drug resistance and the development of live attenuated vaccines. Our present knowledge regarding genetics of Eimeria is largely based upon the utilization of such selected strains as genetic markers. Practical advantages of working with Eimeria spp. in the chicken are discussed. The selection of drug-resistant strains by serial propagation has provided useful information regarding the mechanisms of drug resistance and likely longevity of anticoccidial drugs when introduced in the field. Selection experiments to develop precocious strains of Eimeria and growth in chicken embryos have contributed to the development of safe and effective live attenuated vaccines for the control of coccidiosis. Establishment of protocols for genetic complementation by transient or stable transfection of Eimeria is now supporting direct manipulation of parasite genotypes, creating opportunities to expand the range and value of live parasite vaccines. Procedures for developing drug-resistant and precocious lines of Eimeria and/or genetic markers described here are likely to prove useful for researchers investigating the propensity for resistance development to novel compounds and the development of new attenuated vaccines. Such investigations can be helpful in providing a better understanding of biochemical and molecular aspects of the biology of these parasites.


adjust these estimates to reflect baseline levels of information transmission using data on the baselines rates at which physicians can identify the optimal treatment without any explicit mechanism to elicit preferences from the patients. Obtaining data on the baseline levels of information transmission should be a high priority. The EVSOI approach may also be used to value direct to consumer advertising and certain educational programs for patients that aim to promote optimal health decisions.


The extremum of snow and ice meltwater runoff is analyzed in this paper, based on the observation (1980-2002) at the headwaters of the urumqi River, Tianshan Mountains. It is revealed that there is a slight increase of the extremum at the Glacier No.1 and the Ice-Free Cirque Stations in spring, but a decrease of that in the total-Control Station; and there is an increase of the extremum at the Ice-Free Cirque and the Total- Control Stations in summer, but a decrease at the Glacier No.1 Station. Analysis of the extreme (maximum/minimum) runoff series and the correlative temperature shows temperature is the principal factor to the extremum in spring, both temperature and precipitation control the maximum runoff in summer, and relative low air temperature after a major precipitation results in the minimum runoff.


Many microwave collision avoidance radars have been tested using FMCW (frequency modulated continuous wave) radar and pulsed radar working around 10, 35 and 60 GHz. The aim of this paper is to describe an efficient radar system, termed bimodal, obtained by the combination of these two systems. The FMCW sensor is used for close detection and easier speed calculation, and the pulsed one for large distances and multi-target separation. The bimodal system has been used to improve the performances of the two sensors by retaining the advantages of each. The new radar is able to detect obstacles between 2 and 150 m with low emitted power. The whole system is controlled by a decision program unit. An accuracy of m has been achieved.


The study examined here tested a resource dependence view of the organization on a sample of nonprofit social service agencies. Results indicated that CEOs of privately funded nonprofit agencies were more likely to use board involvement techniques than CEOs of government-funded or commercially supported organizations. In addition, privately funded agencies were less vulnerable to economic shock than government or commercially funded agencies, and funding source explained incremental variance in board involvement and vulnerability beyond characteristics of the organization and board. These results provide support for assertions of resource dependence theory and suggest that a CEO's strategic engagement with an organization's board depends in part on the nature and concentration of the organization's resources.


This issue of IJE includes a theme on autism edited by two of us (Ezra Susser and Michealine Bresnahan). Our colleague Guohua Li joins us to write this introduction. In choosing this topic we venture into territory marked by controversy and conflict. The heat of the conflict is reflected in two recently published books, reviewed here by Stein and by Grinker. One of the flashpoints of controversy pertains to time trends in autism and autism spectrum disorders (ASDs). ASDs are variously defined in epidemiological studies, but usually include ICD-10 Childhood Autism, Atypical Autism, Other Pervasive Developmental Disorder, Pervasive Developmental Disorder Unspecified and Asperger's Syndrome. Recent reports suggest that 0.4% of children are affected with autism, and 1% affected with ASD. This is about a 10-fold higher prevalence for autism than was found in the earliest research such as the classic 1966 study by Lotter, and 5-fold higher than was found for autism in most studies as recently as the 1990s. A similarly dramatic time trend is found when attention is extended to the broader category of ASD. These figures have generated intense debate over whether the observed increase is mainly 'real' (increasing incidence) or 'artefactual' (increasing ascertainment). The original research piece presented by King and Bearman, commentaries on this article by leaders in the field and the paper by Naaser et al., contribute important data and thoughtful perspectives to this debate. Naaser and colleagues draw on the registries of Western Australia to illustrate the concurrence of changes in diagnostic criteria and available services with periods of increase in ascertainment, providing a type of ecological evidence for factors other than increasing incidence playing an important role in the autism and ASD time trends. King and Bearman take a quite different approach. They draw on the California Department of Developmental Services, a source that has figured large in the controversy over time trends in autism. They use the individual-level data, available from this source, to estimate the proportion of the increased prevalence of autism that could be due to diagnostic substitution and accretion. Based on observed changes in diagnosis, the paper infers that a significant part of the increase can be attributed to a shift away from mental retardation alone towards autism (with or without mental retardation). The commentary by Charman et al. also presents intriguing data that illustrate the impact of varying diagnostic criteria. In this commentary they include a remarkable comparison of autism diagnoses made by the old Lotter criteria, which focus on social aloofness and rituals, and newer ICD-10 criteria for the same children. The experts applying Lotter criteria included Lorna Wing and Susan Bryson who were familiar with the use of the criteria from the early time period. A significantly lower proportion of children were diagnosed with autism by Lotter criteria than by ICD-10 criteria. Although all of these articles present evidence that some of the time trend is related to increasing ascertainment, they also concur that a significant portion of the time trend remains unexplained. If any part of this represents an increase in incidence—as seems likely—we are pressed to intensify the search for environmental contributions to aetiology. As Rutter points out, this investment must include studies with the means to identify these factors in the relevant time frame—prospective research beginning in gestation with careful case identification and ongoing followup. Such methods are already being pursued in some studies such as the Autism Birth Cohort nested in the Norwegian Mother and Child Study, * Corresponding author. Department of Epidemiology, Mailman School of Public Health, 722 West 168th Street, NY 10032, New York, USA. E-mail: email@example.com 1 Department of Epidemiology, Mailman School of Public Health, Columbia University, New York, NY, USA. 2 New York State Psychiatric Institute, New York, NY, USA. 3 Department of Psychiatry, College of Physicians and Surgeons, Columbia University, New York, NY, USA. 4 Department of Anesthesiology, College of Physicians and Surgeons, Columbia University, New York, NY, USA. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the International Epidemiological Association


This paper presents an optimal routing algorithm (ORA) for minimizing power loss and at the same time maximizing the voltage stability in radial power systems. In the proposed ORA, a voltage stability index (VSI) for real-time assessment is introduced based on the conventional critical transmission path framework. In addition, the algorithm can automatically detect the critical transmission paths that will result in voltage collapse when additional real or reactive loads are added. To implement effective ORA, an improved branch exchange (IBE) method has been developed based on a loss calculation index and tie-branch power flows that is suited for real-time applications. The proposed algorithm has been tested in the IEEE 32- and 69-bus systems as well as in a large-scale Korea Electric Power Company 148-bus system to show its effectiveness and efficiency


Two experiments examined children's understanding of how ownership affects object use. In Experiment 1, 84 children age 4-6 were asked what a person was allowed to do with a human-made object that either belonged to the person or belonged to someone else. In Experiment 2, 44 children age 4-5 were asked what a person was allowed to do with a natural object that belonged to the person, belonged to someone else, or belonged to no one. Children were permitted to provide as many responses as they wished. Children's responses reflected an appreciation that ownership affects a wide range of object uses, including harmless object use. Children's responses also reflected an appreciation that owner's rights should be upheld regardless of whether the owner's identity is known, or whether the owner is nearby. Moreover, children's responses suggest that they view ownership as restricting nonowners from using property, rather than affecting use by entitling owners.


Scanning and transmission electron microscopy were used to investigate the fine structure of the sperm of the Sparid fish Pagellus erythrinus L. The spermatozoon of pandora has a spherical head lacking an acrosome, a cone-shaped midpiece and a long tail. The midpiece houses a single mitochondrion. The centriolar complex lies inside the nuclear fossa and is composed of a proximal and a distal centriole which are arranged at right angles to each other. The flagellum is inserted medio-laterally into the head, contains the conventional 9+2 axoneme and possesses one pair of lateral fins. On the basis of its ultrastructural organization, the pandora sperm can be regarded as an evolved form of the primitive spermatozoon found in Teleosts. According to the morphological classification proposed by Mattei (1970), the sperm of pandora belongs to a "type I" designation, like that of the other Sparid fish.


Utilization of bio-ethanol as an alternative fuel for diesel engines is one of the effective strategy for suppression of global warming because of its high thermal efficiency. In order to realize a premixed compression ignition (PCI) engine by utilizing the ethanol blend fuel, the effects of ethanol blend ratio and exhaust gas recirculation (EGR) ratio on combustion and exhaust emission were investigated experimentally in a direct injection diesel engine. According to the experimental results, in the case of ethanol blend fuel with the blend ratio larger than 40%, smoke density could be reduced in spite of increase in EGR ratio without deterioration of thermal efficiency. The combustion of two components fuel blended with ethanol and tetradecane instead of gas oil were simulated by means of the numerical code KIVA-3V in order to elucidate the reason for reduction in smoke density by EGR. It is shown that if the smoke density reduces by increase in EGR ratio, the mass fraction of the local unburned mixture having high equivalence ratio decreases in the combustion region with increase in EGR ratio by promotion of the premixed condition based on the longer ignition delay due to ethanol blend and EGR.


This article has reviewed that pacifism of Japan after World War II has degenerated into anti-pacifism by the Government of history education policy. After World War II, history education policy in Japan is shown clearly in the course of study. Thus, this article analyzed educational goals and contents in detail from the first course of study on 1947 to the current course of study and looked at how the destruction of pacifism of Japan has gone after World War II. By this Japan has overcome anti-pacifism in East Asia and was looking for a way to become a true pacifism. First is teaching pacifism which is based on peace not violence, as history. Then a plan to overcome the anti-pacifism as members of civil society in East Asia will be found. Which the ultimate goal of history education should be and what should be taught to students are important than any others. And right way for history education is not by monopolized history education by government, but by various kinds of civil society, trying to make history education for peace. Finally, based on a critical reflection on anti-pacifism history education policy of the Japanese government reviewed in this paper, the history education policy of peace and coexistence should be the top priority of government. For history education policy to be changed to pacifism for peace, active participation of Japanese citizens, as sovereigns are needed preferentially. However, policies of current Japanese government and conservative right wing forces are exactly opposite to this trend. Also it is fact that nominal pacifism which comes from exemption for Tenno's responsibility for war after World War Ⅱ clearly exists. Furthermore, international condition of East Asia where anti-pacifist idea that revision of Article 9 of the Japanese Constitution will play positive role in Northeast Asia"s order is coexisting is also a task which should be overcame.


Little is known about how the minds and bodies of reincarnated agents are represented. In three studies, participants decided which individual, out of multiple contenders, was most likely to be the reincarnation of a deceased person, based upon a single matching feature between the deceased and each of the candidates. While most participants endorsed reincarnation as entailing a new body, they reasoned that candidates with a similar physical mark (e.g., a mole) or a similar episodic autobiographical memory to the deceased, when alive, were more likely than candidates with other physical or psychological based similarities to be the reincarnation of the deceased. As predicted, by increasing the distinctiveness of a matching physical mark and an episodic autobiographical memory, while holding others constant, likelihood judgments for the candidate with the similar distinctive physical mark were significantly higher than candidates with non-distinctive physical marks, but differences between the distinct and general episodic autobiographical memory condition did not reach statistical significance. These findings support the claim that we intuitively represent reincarnated agents as psychologically determined but physically embodied, and that different assumptions underpin the use of physical and psychological features to establish identity in reincarnation contexts.


This paper is devoted to the issues related to the assessment of business activity of the enterprises in public service sphere. The importance of this problem is in the fact that an assessment of business activity is the basis for optimal management decisions to improve the efficiency of economic activities, sustainable development both of businesses in general and wholesale trade enterprises in particular. Wholesale trade enterprises fulfill a function of sales divisions and departments for the purchase of resources. An assessment of business activity of wholesale trade organizations, circumspected fulfillment of its functions by an organization, formation of complex long-term competitive advantages lead to increased production, restoration of economic connections and inter-regional integration of the consumer market, improve the efficiency of the trading process and sustainable development of the region as a whole.


For several years it has been recognised that the common denominator for many of the well known risk factors for cardiovascular disease is that they all may give rise to chronic inflammatory reactions in vascular tissues. New tools made available through rapid progress in the fields of immunology and molecular biology have made it possible to reach a better understanding of the molecular events leading to the development of atherosclerosis. These developments have resulted in a renewed interest in the role of inflammatory and immune reactions in atherogenesis. During recent years it has also become increasingly clear that the release and ability to respond to cytokines is not restricted to the cells classically included in the immune system. At least in vitro, smooth muscle cells and endothelial cells produce and respond to cytokines in a manner suggesting that they play active roles in inflammatory reactions. Several cytokines have been found to influence the growth of smooth muscle cells, suggesting a possible link between two of the major characteristics of atherosclerotic lesions: the inflammatory reaction, and the intimal proliferation of smooth muscle cells. Of particular interest is the ability of interleukin-1 and TGF beta to induce autocrine PDGF loops in smooth muscle cells. By this mechanism a transient secretion of cytokines from activated leucocytes may give rise to prolonged activation of smooth muscle cell proliferation. However, the effects of cytokines on vascular cells are very complex and it cannot be taken for granted that the inflammatory reaction generally encountered in atherosclerotic lesions only serves to promote the progress of the disease.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)


Understanding program execution is a challenging task for novice programmers. The semantic rules which determine how execution affects the program state are numerous and complex, and students frequently hold fundamental misconceptions about these rules. If students do not build a correct mental model of program execution early on, they will face substantial hurdles as they try to develop and debug their code. This paper presents VizQuiz, a tool for auto-generating multiple choice quizzes designed to help students gain insight into the semantic rules which govern program execution. VizQuiz provides students with an initial state and a piece of code, and tasks them with mentally tracing the execution of that code and selecting the correct final state. Reference diagrams are used to depict the initial and final states, and as feedback to help students visualize the correct behavior if they select a wrong answer. Feedback is auto-generated, so students can immediately correct their misconceptions and re-attempt.


A 30‐year minimum Antarctic snowmelt record occurred during austral summer 2008–2009 according to spaceborne microwave observations for 1980–2009. Strong positive phases of both the El‐Niño Southern Oscillation (ENSO) and the Southern Hemisphere Annular Mode (SAM) were recorded during the months leading up to and including the 2008–2009 melt season. The 30‐year record confirms that significant negative correlations exist at regional and continental scales between austral summer melting and both the ENSO and SAM indices for October–January. In particular, the strongest negative melting anomalies (such as those in 2008 and 2009) are related to amplified large‐scale atmospheric forcing when both the SAM and ENSO are in positive phases. Our results suggest that enhanced snowmelt is likely to occur if recent positive summer SAM trends subside in conjunction with the projected recovery of stratospheric ozone levels, with subsequent impacts on ice sheet mass balance and sea level trends.


OBJECTIVE
The aim of the study was to compare the incidence of post-operative complications between those patients that received TachoSil to the transection surface of the liver vs. those that received Surgicel.

METHODS
Retrospective study of a prospective database in a tertiary hospital. Primary endpoints were overall complications. Secondary endpoints were liver surgery-specific composite endpoint, major complications and hospital stay. Uni- and multivariate analysis of predictive factors for complications and subgroup analysis were performed.

RESULTS
One hundred thirty-three liver resections were performed between 9 November 2007 and 2 November 2011: 64 with TachoSil and 69 with Surgicel application. Both groups were equivalent concerning demographic, clinical and major intra-operative data. No significant differences were observed in overall complication rate (62.5% vs. 62.3%), liver surgery-specific composite endpoint (12.5% vs. 18.8%), major complication rate (18.7% vs. 24.6%) and median hospital stay (13 vs. 10 days) for TachoSil and Surgicel application, respectively. Predictive factors for complications in multivariate analysis were: American Society of Anesthesiology Score ≥3 and duration of surgery >240 min. Subgroup analysis found a reduced complication rate with TachoSil for major hepatectomy.

CONCLUSION
The results of the present study suggest that the routine use of TachoSil after a liver resection does not reduce the overall complication rate compared with Surgicel application. However, TachoSil may be beneficial in a major hepatectomy.


Abstract Annual leave is granted to employees in order for them to rest and to regain efficiency at work. In accordance with Article 31 (2) of the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union and Article 7 of the Directive 2003/88/EB of the European Parliament and of the Council regarding certain aspects of work time organization (Working Time Directive), employers must guarantee employees at least 4 [work] weeks of paid annual leave. Furthermore, Article 49 of the Constitution of the Republic of Lithuania maintains that every employed individual has the right to paid annual leave. The question arises whether this type of constitutional right can be absolute and if, as a result, employees are able to exercise their discretion to decide for themselves how to use this right. Can employers decide to grant or refuse to grant leave based on their own discretion? This article aims to address the content of the right to paid annual leave and its implementation details. In particular, it seeks to verify the extent to which an employee or an employer can affect the implementation of such a right.


In investigations of sexually transmitted diseases (STDs), true infection times are often either interval censored or right censored. For such data, reliable estimation of the survival function is difficult to obtain. In this research, we propose a resampling based method for the estimation of the survival function using auxiliary behavioural information provided by daily diaries. By imputing the unknown infection time from a list of sexual encounter times recorded in the diaries, the proposed procedure can be easily implemented using existing estimation procedures for right censored data. Our simulations show that the proposed procedure consistently outperforms the existing ad hoc estimation methods and produces smaller mean integrated squared errors (MISE). We illustrate this method by analysing infection data obtained from an ongoing STD investigation of adolescent females. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.


We propose Chaskey: a very efficient Message Authentication Code (MAC) algorithm for 32-bit microcontrollers. It is intended for applications that require 128-bit security, yet cannot implement standard MAC algorithms because of stringent requirements on speed, energy consumption, or code size. Chaskey is a permutation-based MAC algorithm that uses the Addition-Rotation-XOR (ARX) design methodology. We prove that Chaskey is secure in the standard model, based on the security of an underlying Even-Mansour block cipher. Chaskey is designed to perform well on a wide range of 32-bit microcontrollers. Our benchmarks show that on the ARM Cortex-3/M4, our Chaskey implementation reaches a speed of 7.0 cycles/byte, compared to 89.4 cycles/byte for AES-128-CMAC. For the ARM Cortex-M0, our benchmark results give 16.9 cycles/byte and 136.5 cycles/byte for Chaskey and AES-128-CMAC respectively.


This paper discusses a novel method for computing propagation and reflection of beams in a beam waveguide by combining a new type of wave-objects with Physical Optics. The wave objects are generated starting from the electric field spectrum in the focal plane, by applying the Fourier Series and the Generalised Pencil-of-Function expansion. This transforms the radiation integral to a form which rigorously respects the wave equation and can be evaluated in analytical closed form. The wave objects are launched to the reflector and reflected to the subsequent focal plane via Physical Optics. By computing the Fourier spectrum in the new focal plane it is possible to re-expand the reflected field into a new set of wave-objects, which is the foundation of beam waveguide analysis.


This paper investigates the influence of various parameters on the behaviour of water droplets on polymeric surfaces under electric fields. An inclined plane test was carried out to understand the droplet behaviour in strong electric field. Parameters, such as water droplet conductivity, droplet volume, polymeric surface roughness and droplet positioning with respect to the electrodes were studied. The flashover voltage is affected by all aforementioned parameters. The droplet positioning is in some cases more vital than the droplet volume. K e y w o r d s: water droplet, polymeric surface, hydrophobicity, partial discharges, local arcs