Parables of Care presents true stories of creative responses to dementia care, told by carers, taken from a group of over 100 case studies available at http://carenshare.city.ac.uk/. Creativity, emotional intelligence and common sense are amply shown in these 14 touching and informative stories. Drawn by Dr Simon Grennan with Christopher Sperandio. Edited and adapted by Dr Simon Grennan, Dr Ernesto Priego and Dr Peter Wilkins. Created with funding from City, University of London's MCSE School Impact Fund 2017, the University of Chester, UK and Douglas College, Vancouver, Canada.


Background Opioid use disorder has recently been declared a public health emergency, yet it is unknown whether opioid prescribing patterns have changed over time. Our objective is to examine opioid prescribing behavior and overdose fatalities in one large state prior to state-mandated usage of a prescription drug monitoring program (PDMP). Methods We relied on de-identified longitudinal data from state and national databases for opioid prescriptions and overdose deaths in Texas between 2013 and 2017. Descriptive statistics and trend analyses were used to assess proportional differences and changes over time. Results Prescriptions for opioids represented over 45% of the total controlled medications dispensed across the entire period. This equates to roughly 17.7 million opioid prescriptions dispensed per year, or 63.7 opioid prescriptions per 100 persons, slightly less than the reported national average. Hydrocodone was the most widely prescribed opioid (32.9%), followed by tramadol (26.9%) and codeine (21.5%). The overall controlled substance prescribing rate appears to be decreasing in the latest year, and the composition of opioids has shifted. We found a reduction in schedule II medications (such as hydrocodone and fentanyl) and increase in schedule IV medications such as tramadol. At the same time, total overdose fatalities increased 42% during this time, and population-adjusted rates increased 34% to 5.87 deaths per 100,000 persons. Conclusions While prescribing rates have decreased in Texas, overdose deaths from both legal and illicit opioids are rising, suggesting that changing physician prescribing behavior alone may not be sufficient to curb the epidemic. Policies and community interventions should be considered to address increases in both prescription and illicit opioid deaths.


This paper describes what is believed to be a new form of high-voltage joint. The main novelties in the joint are that the metallic union of the conductors is insulated by wrapping on a single sheet of wide, impregnated paper by machine. The ends of the cable insulation are cut into a series of steps, or a taper, and knives on the machine cut the wide sheet of paper exactly to fit the steps or taper as the wide paper is being applied, until a smooth cylinder is built up to the original diameter of cable insulation. At this moment, the knives are removed, and at each end of the wide piece of paper, strips of tinfoil which have previously been cemented to the paper appear, and these strips gradually taper inward so that as the wide paper is applied, a flaring cone of metal is formed in the body of the insulation itself. This metallic cone acts as an electrostatic screen to control the longitudinal and radial stresses. It is formed automatically without any attention on the part of the splicer in the field, and it insures that all the insulation under stress is solid laminate paper insulation of the highest quality and breakdown strength, especially in the regions where the diameter is enlarged from that of the cable sheath to that of the joint sleeve. Test results are given.


There is an increased ratio of gastrointestinal diseases in the area of Mansehra, Pakistan, which depends on the Siran River for drinking. These diseases drew our attention to analyze the microbial population. For detection of Escherichia coli and other microbial population, samples were collected from different regions of Mansehra, Pakistan. Two samples were collected from each site for proper detection of microorganisms and repeated the process 5 times. The microbial counts were performed using total plate count agar (TPC) and eosin methylene blue (EMB). The samples were cultured on EMB and TPC agar at 370C for 24 h. The findings revealed that Baffa and Bajna had high microbial count confirmed by EMB and TPC. To this end, we confirmed that Siran River has high microbial count. The E. coli detection in water indicates the fecal contamination and the presence of E. coli in water makes the water unfit for drinking.

 Key words: Escherichia coli, eosin methylene blue, total plate count, drinking water.


In the material designing process of footwear outer-soles, a grip property of rubber is of crucial importance under water or oil lubricated condition. In general, contact states between rubber and floors under lubricated conditions are influenced by various factors, i. e. viscosity of a lubricant, sliding velocity, normal force, surface roughness and wettability between the two substrates. It has been said that lubrication conditions can be distinguished based on Stribeck curves, which are described by the relationship between Sommerfeld numbers and dynamic friction coefficients. Wettability under the static condition is estimated by the spreading coefficient, which is used to evaluate the energy balance of interface free energies at a triple line. The purpose of this study is to investigate influences of surface free energies, viscosities, sliding velocities and surface roughnesses on dynamic friction coefficients of rubber under lubricated conditions. The influences of spreading coefficients on the behaviors of Stribeck curves and the relationship between dewetting velocities and dynamic friction coefficients are also discussed.


Detailed profiles of hydraulic conductivity are recovered from the deployment of direct-push permeameters at the Geohydrologic Experimental and Monitoring Site, Kansas. Measurements with thin tapered tips, and with standard cone penetration test (uCPT) tips, show only minor differences, suggesting that tip-local disturbance effects are small, and that routine uCPT measurements are therefore representative of pristine conditions. Permeameter measurements are correlated against closely deployed uCPT measurements, estimates of hydraulic conductivity from uCPT sounding correlations, and from grain size correlations derived from both vision CPT (VisCPT) and from cone metrics. On-the-fly evaluations of hydraulic conductivity require that the tip-local pressure field is both steady and partially drained. Continuous penetration is shown to yield pore pressures sufficiently close to steady to enable conductivities to be directly determined. Cone metrics of cone resistance, sleeve friction, and pore pressure ratio are shown to be sufficient to discriminate between partially drained and undrained behavior, and therefore to define the permissible regime where conductivities may be determined from uCPT sounding data. Estimates of hydraulic conductivities from uCPT sounding data are shown to correlate with independently measured magnitudes of hydraulic conductivity recovered using the permeameter tests. However, most of hydraulic conductivities from the permeameter tests (4.5 cm length screen) are underpredicted, suggesting that storage effects, the inability to reach a steady state, or the effects of dilation may influence the response. Profiles of hydraulic conductivities evaluated from the on-the-fly method also correlate well with the permeameter measurements. Predictions from soil classification and from VisCPT methods are also capable of estimating conductivities, with soil classifications giving the closest correlations of these two for this particular suite of data.


In Optical communication network pulse broadening due to chromatic dispersion becoming an important factor for signal degradation. This may become worse when the data transmission rate keep increasing. So in order to achieve high data transmission rate at long span-length light wave system, the chromatic dispersion in the fiber must be compensated. Many compensation techniques have been demonstrated and they exhibit a variety of different and often complimentary properties. Transmitter compensation techniques are the most easily implemented but provide a limited amount of compensation. The most commercially advanced technique is negative dispersion fiber. We discuss the design of a Wavelength Division Multiplexed system (WDM) with dispersion compensation fiber (DCF). The effect of both pre-compensation and post-compensation techniques has also been discussed. The bit error rate (BER) of the system under two different modulation schemes is also discussed and identifies the better modulation format and best compensation technique in WDM network.


The problem of protecting mobile code from malicious hosts is an important security issue, for which many solutions have been proposed. We describe a method to adapt an existing technique, execution tracing, to enhance its flexibility in deployment for a large scale mobile agent system. This is achieved through the introduction of a trusted third party, the verification server, which undertakes the verification of execution traces on behalf of the platform launching the agent. The server constructs a certificate that testifies to the capability of a particular host platform to undertake the correct execution of a mobile agent. In this sense, the server assumes a role analogous of a Certificate Authority (CA) in a PKI. We briefly discuss the issues associated with such a framework.


A 13-year-old boy presented with a very unusual ependymoma extending extra-axially. Computed tomography demonstrated a tumor with a cyst and calcification adjacent to the dura and extending over the right occipital and parietal lobes. The cyst wall and solid tumor were enhanced postcontrast. Magnetic resonance imaging revealed that the solid tumor was isointense on T1-weighted images and a mixed iso- and high-intensity on T2-weighted images. The solid tumor and tissue surrounding the cyst were enhanced markedly by gadolinium-diethylenetriaminepentaacetic acid. Sagittal and coronal images demonstrated a multilocular tumor shadow. Cerebral angiography demonstrated a tumor fed by a posterior branch of the right middle meningeal artery but no feeders from the internal carotid and vertebral arteries. The tumor was removed en bloc. The histological diagnosis was clear cell-type ependymoma.


The choice of either induction or postremission therapy for adults with acute myeloid leukemia is still largely based on the "one size fits all" principle. Moreover, pretreatment prognostic parameters, especially chromosome and gene abnormalities, may fail in predicting individual patient outcome. Measurement of minimal residual disease (MRD) is nowadays recognized as a potential critical tool to assess the quality of response after chemotherapy and to plan postremission strategies that are, therefore, driven by the individual risk of relapse. PCR and multiparametric flow cytometry have become the most popular methods to investigate MRD because they have been established as sensitive and specific enough to allow MRD to be studied serially. In the present review, we examine the evidence supporting the appropriateness of incorporating MRD detection into the AML risk assessment process. A comprehensive prognostic algorithm, generated by combining pretreatment cytogenetics/genetics and posttreatment MRD determination, should promote advances in development of personalized therapeutic approaches.


Objectives: Our aim was to evaluate the relationship between serum C-reactive protein (CRP) levels and the neurological prognosis and development of vasospasm in patients with aneurysmal subarachnoid hemorrhage (aSAH). Methods: Eighty-two adult patients with aSAH diagnoses were prospectively evaluated. Glasgow Coma Scale (GCS) score, Hunt and Hess grade, Fisher grade, cranial CT scans, digital subtraction angiography studies and daily neurological examinations were recorded. Serial serum CRP measurements were obtained daily between admission and the tenth day. Glasgow Outcome Scale (GOS) and the modified Rankin Scale (mRS) were used to assess the prognosis. Results: Serum CRP levels were related to severity of aSAH. Patients with lower GCS scores and higher Hunt and Hess and Fisher grades presented statistically significant higher serum CRP levels. Patients with higher serum CRP levels had a less favorable prognosis. Conclusions: Increased serum CRP levels were strongly associated with worse clinical prognosis in this study.


efficacy of CPAP, studies defining adherence as use for at least 4 hours per night have reported that 29% to 83% of patients did not adhere to CPAP therapy. 9,10 Although multiple factors may contribute to CPAP intolerance, including mask fit, humidity, excessive mask leak, claustrophobia, and nasal symptoms, 11 pressure intolerance is a frequent complaint. 9 In 2 studies, 12,13 29% and 18% of patients reported "difficulty exhaling" during CPAP treatment. Several small studies have also suggested that initial rejection of CPAP correlates with increased nasal resistance. 14-16 Nasal resistance may contribute to CPAP intolerance through several mechanisms, including alterations in the route of breathing, 17,18 the need for high CPAP pressure, and increased leak. 19 During expiration, nasal resistance causes the pressure experienced by the patient to be higher than the prescribed Study Objectives: Patients with obstructive sleep apnea may have difficulty exhaling against positive pressure, hence limiting their acceptance of continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP). C-Flex is designed to improve comfort by reducing pressure in the mask during expiration proportion-ally to expiratory airflow (3 settings correspond to increasing pressure changes). When patients use CPAP, nasal resistance determines how much higher supraglottic pressure is than mask pressure. We hypothesized that increased nasal resistance results in increased expiratory supraglottic pressure swings that could be mitigated by the effects of C-Flex on mask pressure. Design: Cohort study. Setting: Sleep center. Participants: Seventeen patients with obstructive sleep apnea/hypopnea syndrome and a mechanical model of the upper airway. Interventions: In patients on fixed CPAP, CPAP with different C-Flex levels was applied multiple times during the night. In the model, 2 different respiratory patterns and resistances were tested. Measurements and Results: Airflow, expiratory mask, and supraglottic pressures were measured on CPAP and on C-Flex. Swings in pressure during expiration were determined. On CPAP, higher nasal resistance produced greater expiratory pressure swings in the supraglottis in the patients and in the model, as expected. C-Flex 3 produced expiratory drops in mask pressure (range -0.03 to -2.49 cm H 2 O) but mitigated the expiratory pressure rise in the supraglottis only during a sinusoidal respiratory pattern in the model. Conclusions: Expiratory changes in mask pressure induced by C-Flex did not uniformly transmit to the supraglottis in either patients with obstructive sleep apnea on CPAP or in a mechanical model of the upper airway with fixed resistance. Data suggest that the observed lack of expiratory drop in supraglottic pressure swings is related to dynamics of the C-Flex algorithm.


Decisions about allocating resources in health care are complex, and their undertaking requires the use of sophisticated models and methods. The generalized allocation model is based on assigning a group of tasks to a series of resources with a minimum total cost to the system. Each resource is limited and each task must be assigned to a single resource. This model has numerous applications in health care, especially in corrective allocations and in those dealing with certain equipment or material. A proper allocation can significantly reduce costs within the health care system. The solution to this type of problem is presented via an adaptive heuristic based on the GRASP (Greedy Randomized Adaptive Search Heuristic) and MMAS (MAX-MIN Ant System) systems. This method has the advantage of adapting easily to new restrictions or conditions arising from the problem. The paper concludes with computational results that prove that this method is among the most efficient of those known today, as well as final observations.


Under the Igiogbe custom of the Bini Kingdom of Edo State Nigeria, the eldest surviving son exclusively inherits the ancestral home of his deceased father. This custom is a mandatory norm in conflict of laws. Litigation on the custom has been described as a matter of life and death. There is a widely shared view among academic writers, practitioners, and judges that this customary law is absolute. Contrary to this popular view, this work argues that the Igiogbe custom can be displaced by statute and other customary or religious laws. To substantiate this position, this article examines all the reported appellate court decisions on the Igiogbe custom and other connected principles. It is often taken for granted that every Bini man is subject to customary law, thereby leading to the overriding application of the Igiogbe custom. Recent developments in case law suggest otherwise. There is a conflict of personal law question that is often ignored in most litigation concerning the Igiogbe. Careful consideration of this question can potentially lead to the application of other systems of succession law (statutory, religious, and other customary laws) other than the Igiogbe custom. Besides, these conflict of laws techniques and constitutional human rights norms can be used to strike the appropriate balance between competing interests and reasonable legitimate expectations of the deceased and their heirs.


Considers the relation between the general theory of relativity and the Einstein-Cartan theory in the case that matter is described by a Dirac field. Thereby the author finds the condition that an (arbitrary) solution of general relativity with a Dirac field is also a solution of the Einstein-Cartan-Dirac theory and vice versa. Exploiting this result the author generates new non-ghost solutions of the Einstein-Cartan-Dirac theory from ghost solutions of general relativity.


Some words about attitudes to technology: many people are afraid of new technology and, with the increasing presence of the Internet and computers, the term technophobe has appeared to refer to those of us who might be wary of these new developments. More recently, the term digital native has been coined to refer to someone who grows up using technology, and who thus feels comfortable and confident with it there is a tendency to call computer users either technophobes or technogeeks ( a term for a technology enthusiast) the truth is that most of us probably fall somewhere between the two extremes. A large part of the negative attitudes teachers have towards technology is usually the result of a lack of confidence, a lack of facilities or a lack of training, resulting in an inability to see the benefit of using technologies in the classroom. It is also often the case that teachers may not be fully in control of their work situations. A teacher may want to use more technology in their teaching, but the school may not have the facilities, or, on the other hand, a teacher may be instructed to start using technology for which they feel unprepared or untrained.


Even though accessibility of culture, preservation and promotion of arts are treated mainly as the responsibility of the State in Turkey, the government's approach was influenced by the global neoliberal currents and eventually directed towards a market-oriented approach, moving the position of the State from 'the initiator' towards 'the regulator' side over the last decades. Within this context, the State Theatres and the Istanbul City Municipal Theatre (ICMT), which are among the deep-rooted, oldest public arts institutions, have recently become the target of some regulatory changes in the government's agenda. The regulation changes in ICMT comprising the transfer of the management from actors to municipality officers, including such duties as the selection of plays, casting actors, and hiring technical staff, were put in action on 12 April 2012. Concurrently, the Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan's statement in favor of privatization of the State Theatres received reactions from the public. The main argument of the public opposition was that the freedom of state-supported art would be heavily damaged with the enactment of the new regulations. State support, it was maintained, is of crucial importance for arts production in a developing country such as Turkey.
Therefore, this paper aims to contribute those debates with the examination of efficacy of the State Theatres in Turkey. Besides, valuation of the State Theatres by the public will be discussed through the results of a public opinion survey on a test group. Following the analysis, recommendations for development of a more suitable management model for state-supported theatres in Turkey will be provided.


Equality of opportunity is understood to be one of the bedrock principles supporting the taxation of inheritance. The idea is that inherited wealth offers an unjustified head start for some individuals at the expense of others. In political theory, this principle is closely identified with the branch of liberalism known as resource equality. But the resource equality ideal has not been fully translated into the legal literature. The classics of the legal literature use the term 'equal opportunity' quite generally and often blend equal opportunity with goals that are quite distinct, like wealth equalization. This Essay revisits the topic of inheritance taxation to see whether a single-minded focus on equality of opportunity, interpreted as resource equality, can shed new light on questions of legal design. I conclude that the present estate tax and major proposals for inheritance taxation only weakly track the equal opportunity principle. A system of inheritance aimed at equality of opportunity would look radically different than current law or the classic proposals for reform, in at least four dimensions.First, the equal-opportunity principle suggests that inheritance taxation should be combined with a social inheritance, meaning a government expenditure program that would pay a universal, public inheritance. Second, in an equal-opportunity regime, gifts and inheritance received from close relatives should be taxed, while those received from peers, spouses, friends, and strangers should be exempt. This counterintuitive rule would reverse the standard result, which is to tax inheritance from parents, children, and other close relatives at the same rates or at lower rates. Third, the equal opportunity view implies that there should be no penalty on so-called generation-skipping transfers, which occur when a grandparent leaves her wealth to her grandchildren rather than to her children. Fourth and finally, equal opportunity suggests that gifts and bequests received by younger individuals should be taxed at higher rates than those received by older individuals.This article is available at the HLR website. SSRN does not permit the posting of a link.


This paper considers locating a static source on Earth using the time difference of arrival (TDOA) and frequency difference of arrival (FDOA) measurements obtained by a dual-satellite geolocation system. The TDOA and FDOA from the source are subject to unknown time and frequency offsets because the two satellites are imperfectly time-synchronized or frequency-locked. The satellite locations are not known accurately as well. To make the source position identifiable and mitigate the effect of satellite location errors, calibration stations at known positions are used. Achieving the maximum likelihood (ML) geolocation performance usually requires jointly estimating the source position and extra variables (i.e., time and frequency offsets as well as satellite locations), which is computationally intensive. In this paper, a novel closed-form geolocation algorithm is proposed. It first fuses the TDOA and FDOA measurements from the source and calibration stations to produce a single pair of TDOA and FDOA for source geolocation. This measurement fusion step eliminates the time and frequency offsets while taking into account the presence of satellite location errors. The source position is then found via standard TDOA-FDOA geolocation. The developed algorithm has low complexity and performance analysis shows that it attains the Cramér-Rao lower bound (CRLB) under Gaussian noises and mild conditions. Simulations using a challenging scenario with a short-baseline dual-satellite system verify the theoretical developments and demonstrate the good performance of the proposed algorithm.


This study uses a descriptive quantitative approach, with data collection methods using questionnaires and documentation. The selection of samples using the Probability Sampling technique with the simple random sampling method from class X, XI and XII. The research was carried out by distributing questionnaires made with Google Forms and then sharing them online via Whatsap. Data analysis used quantitative descriptive analysis. The results of the student's research stated that online learning was still not effective based on data acquisition from 25 statements given by researchers to 97 respondents. It can be seen from the average results on the indicators of learning effectiveness. First, active learning obtains an average value of 2.62 belonging to the less effective category. Second, various learning methods obtain an average value of 3.09 belonging to the less effective category. Third, learning motivation obtains an average value of 2,826 belonging to the less effective category. Fourth, the democratic atmosphere obtained an average value of 2.6 belonging to the less effective category. Fifth, lessons at school need to be linked to real life, obtaining an average score of 2.94 belonging to the less effective category. Sixth, conducive learning interactions obtain an average value of 2.34 belonging to the ineffective category. And seventh, the diagnosis of learning difficulties obtained an average value of 2,746 belonging to the less effective category. Thus, the total average of all indicators obtained a value of 2.7374 belongs to the less effective category. So that learning Islamic Religious Education online during the Covid-19 pandemic at SMKN 1 Al-Mubarkeya Ingin Jaya Aceh Besar was declared less effective.


Background: Mechanical ventilation is a life-saving intervention for critically ill patients, but it can also lead to diaphragm atrophy, which may prolong the duration of mechanical ventilation and the length of stay in the intensive care unit. IntelliVent-ASV® (Hamilton Medical, Rhäzüns, Switzerland) is a new mode of ventilation that has been developed to reduce diaphragm atrophy by promoting spontaneous breathing efforts. In this study, we aimed to evaluate the effectiveness of IntelliVent-ASV® and pressure support-synchronized intermittent mandatory ventilation (PS-SIMV) mode in reducing diaphragm atrophy by measuring diaphragm thickness using ultrasound (US) imaging. Methods: We enrolled 60 patients who required mechanical ventilation due to respiratory failure and were randomized into two groups: IntelliVent-ASV® and PS-SIMV. We measured the diaphragm thickness using US imaging at admission and on the seventh day of mechanical ventilation. Results: Our results showed that diaphragm thickness decreased significantly in the PS-SIMV group but remained unchanged in the IntelliVent-ASV® group. The difference in diaphragm thickness between the two groups was statistically significant on the seventh day of mechanical ventilation. Conclusions:IntelliVent-ASV® may reduce diaphragm atrophy by promoting spontaneous breathing efforts. Our study suggests that this new mode of ventilation may be a promising approach to preventing diaphragm atrophy in mechanically ventilated patients. Further studies using invasive measures of diaphragm function are warranted to confirm these findings.


In today's competitive environment most of the Information Technology Enabled Services (ITES) industries having large amount of product data in the scattered form as the industries become bigger and bigger. Manage the CAD/Design data in an efficient way with existing infrastructure which can maintain the version of changes in the CAD data, also speedup the cross functional team to align the design updates. Currently Caresoft have 5000+ parts in folder by end of this year it will be overall 15000+ parts will be added up to 25000+ parts approximately so to manage these data at various level of company need rigid solution on it, so PLM implementation arises. This project provides best industry practices at various levels like Creo data management, Document Management, Engineering process management, Provides security, Bill of Material management, Queries, Report generation Data relational management. Project also provides solution in structure manager, access manager, change management, workflow designer organization creation etc


Innovation theory asserts that the adoption of new leisure activities in later life (leisure innovation) may facilitate healthy ageing through personal growth, interest renewal, identity reconstruction and increased sense of meaning in life. The purpose of this study was to explore innovation theory among retirement-age women. Thirteen women aged 60–70 completed in-depth interviews and focus groups. Data were analysed through open, axial and selective coding. Themes emerged regarding the nature of newly adopted leisure activities, triggers of innovation and outcomes of innovation. Participants attributed meaning to innovation within established interest areas and to innovation related to taking advantage of previously unavailable opportunities. Participants also identified innovation catalysts including additional resources, increased perceived freedom, purposive life changes and health concerns. Outcomes of innovation included feelings of joy, self-confidence, independence and improved social connections. Findings support and extend innovation theory and suggest that acknowledging and exploring the adoption of new leisure activities can extend existing theory and improve future research related to leisure and ageing.


Cell migration plays a pivotal role in diverse (patho)physiological phenomena, including cancer metastasis. Our knowledge on the mechanisms of cell motility originates primarily from studies using unconfined, two-dimensional (2D) substrates. However, these 2D assays fail to recapitulate the confining tracks encountered in vivo. Thus, we have engineered in vitro models to study cell motility in confining channels of different stiffness. According to the Osmotic Engine Model, the polarized distribution of ion channels, ion pumps and aquaporins along the longitudinal cell axis drives tumor cell migration inside stiff polydimethylsiloxane-based confining microchannels even after inhibition of actin polymerization with high doses (2 µM) of latrunculin A. This presentation will also discuss the interplay between the osmotic engine model and actin polymerization inside compliant, narrow microchannels. Uncovering the complexity of cell locomotion in physiologically relevant microenvironments could enable the development of therapeutic interventions aiming to halt metastatic spread.


This is a new translation of Giorgio Bassani's award winning collectionof novellas, which inspired his masterpiece The Garden of the Finzi-Continis. A young working class woman abandoned by her bourgeois lover; the tensions of intermarriage between established classes and communities; a holocaust survivor seemingly back from the dead; a formidable socialist activist defying house arrest; the only surviving witness to the first local atrocity of the Second World War. In these five unforgettable stories, Bassani gave life to the characters that would inform the Romanzo di Ferrara, his suite of novels depicting life in the city. Moving, poetic, atmospheric and artfully observed, this collection is a distillation of Bassani's genius. It won the Strega Prize on first publication as Cinque Storie Ferraresi in 1956, and established Bassani as one of the greatest Italian writers of the twentieth century. "Giorgio Bassani is one of the great witnesses of this century, and one of its great artists." (Guardian). "Powerful new translations...Bassani began as a poet, and McKendrick's redelivery of this taut uncompromising fiction reveals resonance and generosity." (Ali Smith).


Objective The aim of the present study was to evaluate the stability of four different types of aspheric intraocular lenses (IOLs) after implantation. Methods This retrospective study included 124 eyes implanted with four different types of aspheric IOLs including a one-piece four-loop fixed hydrophilic acrylic IOL, a one-piece flat fixed acrylic IOL, a one-piece two-loop fixed acrylic IOL, and a three-piece two-loop fixed silicone IOL. IOL decentration, tilt, and ocular coma‐like aberration (coma) at one-week, one-month, three-month, and one-year time points were evaluated postoperatively. Results IOL decentration, tilt, and coma in the AO, 36A, IQ, and KS-AiN implantation groups were statistically significantly different one week and one year postoperatively (p < 0.01). There were significant differences between each of the pairs of groups (p < 0.01), except for coma between the AO and 36A implantation groups one week postoperatively (p > 0.05). When comparing the different time points (ie, one week, one month, three months, and one year postoperatively), IOL decentration, tilt, and coma were significantly different in each group (p < 0.05). IOL decentration, tilt, and coma in each group increased over the period from one week to one year postoperatively. A positive linear correlation was observed between IOL decentration or tilt and coma one year postoperatively (p < 0.01). Conclusion One-piece multi-point fixed acrylic IOLs demonstrate better stability when compared with three-piece two-point fixed silicone IOLs. IOL decentration, tilt, and coma increase gradually over time. Ocular coma‐like aberrations are influenced by the stability of IOLs.


Proton exchange membrane fuel cells (PEMFC) are energy converters that can be used for nomad, automotive or stationary applications without emission of pollutants. This technology is already used but some drawbacks, such as durability, must be overcome to enable large-scale deployment. The insufficient durability is strongly linked to the corrosion of the carbon support in the cathode [1] so studies have been done on alternative materials. Metal oxides are known to be stable in fuel cell working conditions but they are semiconductors. In this work, we synthesized a composite material associating the conductivity and the texture of carbon aerogel to the stability of metal oxide by coating the surface of aerogel with tin dioxide. Thanks to their high specific areas and their controlled pore size distributions, carbon aerogels as catalyst support favor dispersion of catalyst nanoparticles and decrease the gas diffusion losses (better water management). Carbon aerogel was prepared by mixing resorcinol and formaldehyde with Na2CO3 in water [2]. The gel was supercritically dried (CO2) and pyrolysis (1050°C, N2). Grinded carbon aerogel was mixed with SnCl2.2H2O and HCl in ultrapure water to obtain SnO2 deposit. A study of the reaction parameters (mixing time, pH, and quantity of precursor) was performed in order to optimize the coating. The raw material and the SnO2/carbon aerogel samples were physically and chemically characterized (XRD, SEM, EDX, nitrogen sorption, TGA and electric conductivity). Nanoparticles of platinum were deposited on the bare and the coated samples. The results are discussed and compared to the PEMFC electrocatalyst specifications. [1] J. Wu et al., J. Power Sources, vol. 184, no 1, p. 104‑119, (2008). [2] Ouattara-Brigaudet et al, Int. J. Hydrogen Energy 37, 9742-9757 (2012)


&NA; Information literacy, essential to evidences-based nursing, can promote nurses' capability for life-long learning. Nursing education should strive to employ information literacy education in nursing curricula to improve information literacy abilities among nursing students. This study explored the effectiveness of information literacy education by comparing information literacy skills among a group of RN-BSN (Registered Nurse to Bachelors of Science in Nursing) students who received information literacy education with a group that did not. This quasi-experimental study was conducted during a women's health issues course taught between March and June 2004. Content was presented to the 32 RN-BSN students enrolled in this course, which also taught skills on searching and screening, integrating, analyzing, applying, and presenting information. At the beginning and end of the program, 75 RN-BSN student self-evaluated on a 10 point Likert scale their attained skills in searching and screening, integrating, analyzing, applying, and presenting information. Results identified no significant differences between the experimental (n = 32) and control groups (n = 43) in terms of age, marital status, job title, work unit, years of work experience, and information literacy skills as measured at the beginning of the semester. At the end of the semester during which content was taught, the information literacy of the experimental group in all categories, with the exception of information presentation, was significantly improved as compared to that of the control group. Results were especially significant in terms of integrating, analyzing, and applying skill categories. It is hoped that in the future nursing students will apply enhanced information literacy to address and resolve patients' health problems in clinical settings.


The use of portfolio in the education system. Overview «Portfolio of clinical resident» as a new instrument for training in the clinical residency. This program was developed at the department of Family Medicine North-Western State Medical University named after I. I. Mechnikov


An electrochemical method has been developed for the determination of L-ascorbic acid (AsA) by a flow injection analysis. The method is based on a reaction of AsA with copper(II) at pH 5.0 to form a readily oxidizable species, followed by electrochemical detection at an applied potential of +20 mV vs. Ag/AgCI. Under the optimum conditions a linear calibration curve was obtained for AsA over the concentration range from 0.1 to 20 μM with a sample volume of 20 μl. The relative standard deviation of the peak height for 10 μM AsA was 1.0% (n=10). The method was successfully applied to the determination of AsA in fresh fruit juices and soft drinks. The obtained results are in good agreement with those obtained by high-performance liquid chromatography (r=0.994).


Hundreds of clinical trials are currently investigating the potential for mesenchymal stem cells (MSC) to treat human disease, including kidney disease. There is tremendous excitement over the therapeutic potential of this form of stem cell therapy and an improving understanding of how MSC act. This review will summarize our current knowledge concerning the mechanisms by which MSC accelerate kidney repair after acute injury. It will also survey the current MSC clinical trial landscape in nephrology. Finally, future challenges to a widespread application of MSC therapies for patients with kidney injury will be outlined.


A single-blinded, randomized controlled clinical trial was performed to investigate the effect of electric toothbrushes (ET) compared with manual toothbrushes (MT) on residents in nursing homes and to evaluate the caregiver's opinion on ET. A sample of 180 nursing-home residents were given either a new ET or a new MT. Oral examinations were performed to measure dental hygiene, using the Oral Hygiene Index-Simplified (OHI-S). Both groups received the same instructions for use. After 2 months participants were re-examined. Questionnaires were then sent to their caregivers. Participants' mean age was 86.1 ± 7.7 yr, and the mean number of remaining teeth was 20 ± 5.6. No specific intervention effect was found for ET. Both groups showed identical improvements in the OHI-S, from 1.27 ± 0.63 at baseline (the mean value for all participants) to 1.01 ± 0.53 after 2 months. Of 152 caregivers who responded to the questionnaire, the majority evaluated ET to be beneficial and less time-consuming compared with MT, also for demented residents. In a frail population, no difference is found in the effect of ET compared with MT. However, the ET appears to be a useful aid for residents who receive assistance with dental hygiene.


Fibroblast growth factor (FGF) 9 is a member of the FGF family, which promotes carcinogenesis in some solid tumours. However, its biological and prognostic significance in gastric cancer (GC) is unclear. We examined FGF9 expression in 180 GC and corresponding non-tumorous gastric tissue samples by immunohistochemistry and evaluated its role in predicting tumour prognosis. Knockdown of FGF9 by siRNA inhibited cell growth and induced apoptosis in GC cell lines. Fifty of the 180 GC specimens (27.8%) had high FGF9 protein expression, whereas decreased or unchanged expression was observed in 130 cases (72.2%). High FGF9 expression was a significant predictor of poor survival (28.1 vs. 55.8 months, P < 0.001). After stratification according to AJCC stage, FGF9 remained a significant predictor of shorter survival in stage II (30.6 vs. 64.9 months, P < 0.001) and stage III GC (29.7 vs. 58.9 months, P < 0.001). Multivariate and univariate analysis showed that higher expression of FGF9 can be used as a predictor for poor prognosis (HR, 2.95; 95% CI, 1.97–4.41; P < 0.001; and HR, 2.94; 95% CI, 2.01–4.31; P < 0.001, respectively). FGF9 may provide the anti-apoptotic function and be useful as a novel independent marker for evaluating GC prognosis


Aim : To assess the frequency of occurrence and the intensity of hypermobility of joints in children and teenagers of Tver in comparison with other regions of the Russian Federation. Patients and methods : 564 children and teenagers at the age from 3 to 17 years were examined. The presence of hypermobility of joints was determined by Beighton method. Anthropometrical measurements were taken, physical development of children was assessed. Results : The hypermobility of joints is characteristic practically for all children at the age of 3–4 years and most of children of 5–7 years. On average it meets in 71% of children of a preschool age and 31% of school students of Tver, making 35–40% in children of midchildhood; it is noted in every fourth child of 13–15 years and every tenth 16–17-year-old teenager. The hypermobility of joints of girls is 20% more than of boys. The high-grade hypermobility is characteristic for tall and thin teenagers; in midchildhood the children who in comparison with agemates are smaller in growth and weight are more flexible. The article presents the comparison of own data with the results of other similar researches. Conclusion : The frequency of occurrence of hypermobility of joints considerably differs in different age groups of children. The increased flexibility is physiological norm for the majority of preschool children, further it decreases in direct ratio to the age of a child. Key words : children, teenagers, hypermobility of joints, Beighton method, occurrence.


The proton affinities of the imines CH2NH, CH2NMe and PhCHNH have been determined by Fourier transform ion cyclotron resonance (FT-ICR) mass Spectrometry to be 854 ± 8 kJ mol–1, 880 ± 8 kJ mol–1 and 908 ± 8 kJ mol–1, respectively. These results lead, in conjunction with known ΔHf0 values for the protonated species, to ΔHf0(CH2NH)= 69 ± 8 kJ mol–1, which is significantly lower than previously reported in the literature, and to ΔHf0(CH2NMe)= 44 ± 8 kJ mol–1. The proton affinities of the small imines are between the values for the corresponding amines and nitriles. The decrease in proton affinity with the change in hybridization of the nitrogen atom from sp3 to sp2 to sp is discussed together with the increase in proton affinity upon introduction of a methyl group on either the carbon atom or the nitrogen atom in CH2NH.


A corporate-wide software process improvement effort has been ongoing at Schlumberger for several years. Through the motivation efforts of a small group, productive changes have occurred across the company. We see improvements in many development areas, including project planning and requirements management. The catalysts behind these advances include capability assessments, training, and collaboration. >


Some ideas are expounded about how to get published in management or marketing publications. First, almost anyone with ideas can get published. Second, only a few people have all the necessary skills (creative ideas, writing skills, organisational capabilities, packaging prowess and artful matching of product and markets) to publish alone on a regular basis. What publishing can do for you is examined, the ways that we stop ourselves from publishing and hints for getting into print are given.


The pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamics of oral S-1, a dihydropyrimidine dehydrogenase (DPD) inhibitory fluoropyrimidine, were compared with those of protracted venous infusion (PVI) of 5-fluorouracil (5-FU). In all, 10 patients with gastric cancer received PVI of 5-FU at a dose of 250 mg/m2/day for 5 days. After a washout period of 9 days, the 10 patients received two divided doses daily for 28 days. S-1 was administered orally at about 9 a.m. and 7 p.m. Plasma concentrations of 5-FU and F-beta-alanine (FBAL) were measured for pharmacokinetic analysis, and the plasma uracil concentration was monitored as a surrogate marker of DPD inhibition in the same 10 patients on days 1-5 of PVI of 5-FU and on days 1-5 of oral S-1. The area under the curve (AUC0-10h) of 5-FU on day 5 was 728 +/- 113 ng x hr/ml for PVI of 5-FU and 1,364 +/- 374 ng x hr/ml for S-1. The median 5-FU PVI: S-1 ratio of the AUC0-10h of 5-FU was 1.9. The AUC0-10h of FBAL on day 5 of PVI of 5-FU was 9,465 +/- 3,225 ng x hr/ml, AUC0-10h, as compared with 1,725 +/- 605 ng x hr/ml on day 5 of S-1 treatment. The AUC0-10h of uracil on day 5 was 252 +/- 60 ng x hr/ml with PVI of 5-FU and 12,582 +/- 3,060 ng x hr/ml with S-1. The AUC0-10h of FBAL was markedly lower and plasma uracil concentrations were significantly higher for S-1 than for PVI of 5-FU, clearly demonstrating the effect of DPD inhibition.


Simple Summary The COVID-19 pandemic has had a significant impact on health care including cancer screening. We examined 2020 compared to the 2014–2019 cancer screening percentages in the United States (US) based on a national survey. We saw overall decreases in screening mammograms, pap tests, and sigmoidoscopy/colonoscopy. Most decreases were higher among American Indian/Alaskan Natives, Hispanics, and multiracial participants, but decreases in pap test were also high among African-Americans/Blacks. As the pandemic expanded into 2021, cancer screening reduction is expected to be higher, increasing cancer disparities. Abstract Cancer screening is an important way to reduce the burden of cancer. The COVID-19 pandemic created delays in screening with the potential to increase cancer disparities in the United States (U.S.). Data from the 2014–2020 Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (BRFSS) survey were analyzed to estimate the percentages of adults who reported cancer screening in the last 12 months consistent with the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF) recommendation for cervical (ages 21–65), breast (ages 50–74), and colorectal cancer (ages 50–75) prior to the pandemic. Cancer screening percentages for 2020 (April–December excluding January–March) were compared to screening percentages for 2014–2019 to begin to look at the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. Screening percentages for 2020 were decreased from those for 2014–2019 including several underserved racial groups. Decreases in mammography and colonoscopy or sigmoidoscopy were higher among American Indian/Alaskan Natives, Hispanics, and multiracial participants, but decreases in pap test were also highest among Hispanics, Whites, Asians, and African-Americans/Blacks. Decreases in mammograms among women ages 40–49 were also seen. As the 2020 comparison is conservative, the 2021 decreases in cancer screening are expected to be much greater and are likely to increase cancer disparities substantially.


Two spacecraft charging software tools, the Spacecraft Plasma Interaction Software and the Multi-Utility Spacecraft Charging Analysis Tool, have been compared in the situation of a wake generated by an object immersed in dense drifting plasma. Each model takes account of the particle dynamics, the space charge effect on the electric field, and the currents collected by the object. The cross-comparison resulted in a good agreement between the two codes and with previous experiments conducted on the same configuration. In particular, a highly negative voltage imposed to the object rear side allows the collection of drifting ions at this location. The nontrivial shape of the current density map was correctly simulated by the two codes. Future works may allow to reach a better quantitative agreement.


The trading mechanism for equities on the Tokyo Stock Exchange (TSE) stands in sharp contrast to the primary mechanisms used to trade stocks in the United States. In the U.S., exchange-designated specialists have affirmative obligations to provide continuous liquidity to the market. Specialists offer simultaneous and tight quotes to both buy and sell and supply sufficient liquidity to limit the magnitude of price changes between consecutive transactions. In contradistinction, the TSE has no exchange-designated liquidity suppliers. Instead, liquidity is provided through a public limit order book and liquidity is organized through restrictions on maximum price changes between trades which serve to slow down trading. In this paper, we examine the efficacy of the TSE's trading mechanisms at providing liquidity. Our analysis is based on a complete record of transactions and best-bid and best-offer quotes for most stocks in the First Section of the TSE over a period of 26 months. We study the size of the bid-ask spread and its cross- sectional and intertemporal stability; intertemporal patterns in returns, volatility, volume, trade size, and the frequency of trades; and market depth based on the response of quotes to trades and the frequency of trading halts and warning quotes.


The Gospel of Judas is an interesting document, which completes our knowledge of (especially) the Sethianic gnosis. This is, on the one side, a contribution to the history of Christianity in the 2nd century, which shows a growing of the picture of Judas from Irenaeus, Haer. 1.31.1 to the Codex Tchacos. But on the other side, we can also better understand the historic Judas and (somehow) the presuppositions of the death of Jesus. All in all, the Gospel of Judas enables us (despite all ambivalence) to get a new and more differentiated impression of Judas in comparison to the canonical tradition.


A common challenge in scientific and technical domains is the quantitative description of geometries and shapes, e.g. in the analysis of microscope imagery or astronomical observation data. Frequently, it is desirable to go beyond scalar shape metrics such as porosity and surface to volume ratios because the samples are anisotropic or because direction-dependent quantities such as conductances or elasticity are of interest. Minkowski Tensors are a systematic family of versatile and robust higher-order shape descriptors that allow for shape characterization of arbitrary order and promise a path to systematic structure-function relationships for direction-dependent properties. Papaya2 is a software to calculate 2D higher-order shape metrics with a library interface, support for Irreducible Minkowski Tensors and interpolated marching squares. Extensions to Matlab, JavaScript and Python are provided as well. While the tensor of inertia is computed by many tools, we are not aware of other open-source software which provides higher-rank shape characterization in 2D.


Over the past few years, the top web companies like Google, Yahoo etc have come up with several special techniques that process large amounts of raw data, such as crawled documents, web request logs, etc. The issue is how to handle large computations and large data. Parallel computing is the remedy for reducing the response time. The challenge here is to parallelizing the computation part and then Google introduced a technique called MapReduce to deal with this challenge. In this paper we are proposing a general Master-Workers(MW) Framework i.e., a framework for increasing the performance of the MapReduce applications. With various kinds of experiments we have shown our parallel framework which is efficient and robust for executing MapReduce applications on clusters. To this end, we build MW Framework for the users that can efficiently execute any MapReduce applications by varying parameters such as data size and the number of workers available. Our MW Framework is also robust against faults and poor machines.


Let ${\mathbb R}^{2k+1}_*={\mathbb R}^{2k+1}\setminus\{\vec 0\}$ ($k\ge 1$) and $\pi$: ${\mathbb R}^{2k+1}_*\to \mathrm{S}^{2k}$ be the map sending $\vec r\in {\mathbb R}^{2k+1}_*$ to ${\vec r\over |\vec r|}\in \mathrm{S}^{2k}$. Denote by $P\to {\mathbb R}^{2k+1}_*$ the pullback by $\pi$ of the canonical principal $\mathrm{SO}(2k)$-bundle $\mathrm{SO}(2k+1)\to \mathrm{S}^{2k} $. Let $E_\sharp\to {\mathbb R}^{2k+1}_*$ be the associated co-adjoint bundle and $E^\sharp\to T^*{\mathbb R}^{2k+1}_*$ be the pullback bundle under projection map $T^*{\mathbb R}^{2k+1}_*\to {\mathbb R}^{2k+1}_*$. The canonical connection on $\mathrm{SO}(2k+1)\to \mathrm{S}^{2k} $ turns $E^\sharp$ into a Poisson manifold. The main result here is that the real Lie algebra $\mathfrak{so}(2, 2k+2)$ can be realized as a Lie subalgebra of the Poisson algebra $(C^\infty(\mathcal O^\sharp), \{, \})$, where $\mathcal O^\sharp$ is a symplectic leave of $E^\sharp$ of special kind. Consequently, in view of the earlier result of the author, an extension of the classical MICZ Kepler problems to dimension $2k+1$ is obtained. The hamiltonian, the angular momentum, the Lenz vector and the equation of motion for this extension are all explicitly worked out.


In the present study, we propose novel sequence-to-sequence pre-training objectives for low-resource machine translation (NMT): Japanese-specific sequence to sequence (JASS) for language pairs involving Japanese as the source or target language, and English-specific sequence to sequence (ENSS) for language pairs involving English. JASS focuses on masking and reordering Japanese linguistic units known as bunsetsu, whereas ENSS is proposed based on phrase structure masking and reordering tasks. Experiments on ASPEC Japanese–English & Japanese–Chinese, Wikipedia Japanese–Chinese, News English–Korean corpora demonstrate that JASS and ENSS outperform MASS and other existing language-agnostic pre-training methods by up to +2.9 BLEU points for the Japanese–English tasks, up to +7.0 BLEU points for the Japanese–Chinese tasks and up to +1.3 BLEU points for English–Korean tasks. Empirical analysis, which focuses on the relationship between individual parts in JASS and ENSS, reveals the complementary nature of the subtasks of JASS and ENSS. Adequacy evaluation using LASER, human evaluation, and case studies reveals that our proposed methods significantly outperform pre-training methods without injected linguistic knowledge and they have a larger positive impact on the adequacy as compared to the fluency.


This article examines the indigenous religions of the Silla dynasty. According to the Silla annals of the Samguk sagi, religion was significant in all walks of life in Korea's premodern societies and formed a basis for state rule. Although Buddhism was recognized as Silla's central religious belief from the early sixth century, other religions and convictions existed in Silla society. Introduced and discussed here are shamanism, Taoist thought, belief in spirits of springs and dragons, progenitor myths, state sacrifice rituals, and portent ideology.


Hepatitis B virus (HBV) is one of the most dangerous risk factors of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). How HBV infection leads to the occurrence and development of HCC is complicated. It is not only related with physical condition of HBV infection host, environment, HBV genotype, HBV viral load and gene mutation, but also related with age of HBV infection host, types of infection, and host chromosome integration site.


The analysis of the possibility of the use quotient locomotive on ukrainian railways is executed. The experience of the russian railways is considered. Results of technical-econmic calculations to efficiency of the private locomo-tives using in Ukraine are broughted.


Papers from the workshop held in conjunction with the 28th Annual International ACM Conference on Research and Development in Information Retrieval, August 13-19, 2005, Salvador, Bahia, Brazil


The present study was undertaken to examine whether oral administration of colostrum to mastitic cows reduced inflammation in the udder. Fifty milliliters of a colostrum whey product was administered orally daily for 3 days to cows suffering from mastitis. Milk was collected on day 0 and 7 of colostrum administration. For Experiment 1, milk from 11 udder quarters with high somatic cell counts (SCC) in four cows was used. SCC in milk decreased significantly after colostrum administration, whereas colostrum administration increased sodium and IgA concentrations significantly compared with those before administration. In Experiment 2, cows with clinical mastitis were divided into two groups, with and without colostrum administration, whereas all cows with subclinical mastitis were administered colostrum. Antibiotics were infused into the mammary gland from the first day of colostrum administration for 2–4 days. There was no significant decrease in SCC after colostrum administration in any group. However, udder firmness in both clinical mastitis groups was reduced after administration regardless of colostrum administration. IgA concentration in both clinical mastitis groups was significantly increased after colostrum administration compared to that before administration, although there was no significant difference between them. These results suggest the possibility that oral administration of colostrum attenuates inflammation of the mammary gland. Further studies are required to examine the effect of colostrum more precisely using cows with subclinical and chronic mastitis and longer duration of colostrum administration.


Very few studies are available to understand the philosophical views of Rabindranath Tagore in the light of his attitude and realization of Islam vis-à-vis idea of universalism. Fact remains that the Islamic civilization has thoroughly been recognized in the academic circles but its depth and learning have not been studied up to expectation. European historians and philosophers seem to be hesitant to acknowledge the contribution of Islamic civilization over the centuries. Even a majority of Eastern scholars are critical about welcoming the actual merit of Islam. Rabindranath Tagore being one of the brightest stars in the galaxy of poets and writers made a serious study on the philosophy and writings of many Muslim thinkers and ultimately brought to our notice an extraordinary feeling about Islamic ideas and philosophy. Rabindranth Tagore seems to have sought the inner meaning of Islam and developed a kind of value- based attitude towards human life and the universe. It is likely that through his Gitanjali and Religion of Man (Manusher Dharma) in particular were presented with an objective to stimulate and guide men in search of Ultimate Truth and Oneness of God. It is said that Rabindranth Tagore was acquainted with the verses of the Qur"an in his childhood and in this respect his father Maharishi Devendranath Tagore imbibed in him many theological aspects of Islam as a religion. The paper intends to explore how Tagore was influenced by Islam and as a poet-thinker he nurtured the idea of eternal truth from the Upanishads, the Tripitakas as well as the Bible and through a particular discipline and inner uplift he came to the conclusion that aggregate of essentials of diversity cannot be judged in the light of mere logic and arguments. This feeling seems to have prompted Tagore to find out the inner truth of the universe and side by side to propagate the idea of universal humanism throughout the world.
Philosophy and Progress, Vol#61-62; No#1-2; Jan-Dec 2017 P 53-66


One-hundred and eighty-nine commercial red wines from four vintages (1996-1999), four varieties (Pinot noir, Merlot, Cabernet franc, Cabernet Sauvignon) and 13 vineyard locations within the Okanagan Valley of British Columbia were analysed for total phenolics, anthocyanins, flavonols, tartaric esters, free SO2, pH and titratable acidity, as well as copigmented-, monomeric-, polymeric- and total- anthocyanins (absorbance values). Color was evaluated using color density, hue, Hunter-color (L, a, b) and chroma values. Statistics (means, standard deviations) and discriminant analysis were used to explore the response patterns in the compositional analyses among the vintages, varieties and vineyard locations. Color density was highly correlated to the monomeric- and polymeric- anthocyanins for all varieties. Discriminant analysis revealed that some wine vintages could be differentiated using the flavonols, anthocyanins, copigmented anthocyanins, hue and L values. Phenolic concentrations were lower in 1996 and 1997 vintages compared to 1998 and 1999. Discriminant analysis showed that the varieties Pinot noir, Cabernet franc and Merlot/Cabernet Sauvignon could be differentiated using the monomeric-, polymeric- and total- anthocyanins, as well as color density, hue and L values. Cabernet Sauvignon wines formed a subset within the Merlot grouping. Discriminant of wines from the vineyard locations revealed that there was a considerable overlap among the regions, but that the groupings were generally consistent with geographic location. Sensory analysis was used to determine the intensity of astringency and astringent aftertaste in a subset of 35 wines from 1998. Multiple linear regression was used to relate the sensory and compositional analyses. A two-variable model predicted astringency (R=0.77) from total phenolics and copigmented anthocyanins; whereas, a one-variable model was developed to predict astringent aftertaste (R=0.74) from total phenolics. Sensory data collected on an additional 25 red wines were used to validate the appropriateness of the models.


The paper presents a novel design of planar multilayered microstrip antenna arrays using aperture-coupled stacked patch radiating elements with dual polarization capability. Frequency bandwidth of up to 26% (VSWR < 2:1), isolation between orthogonally polarized channels better than 30 dB and level of cross-polarization better than -30 dB have been achieved in both E- and H-planes of radiation pattern for the two orthogonal linear polarizations. Numerical results obtained by FDTD computer simulations are compared with measured characteristics of a manufactured antenna samples, operating in frequency bands from 0.9 to 15 GHz.


ABSTRACT The lack of a peptide-swine leukocyte antigen class I (pSLA I) complex structure presents difficulties for the study of swine cytotoxic T lymphocyte (CTL) immunity and molecule vaccine development to eliminate important swine viral diseases, such as influenza A virus (IAV). Here, after cloning and comparing 28 SLA I allelic genes from Chinese Heishan pigs, pSLA-3*hs0202 was crystalized and solved. SLA-3*hs0202 binding with sβ2m and a KMNTQFTAV (hemagglutinin [HA]-KMN9) peptide from the 2009 pandemic swine H1N1 strain clearly displayed two distinct conformations with HA-KMN9 peptides in the structures, which are believed to be beneficial to stimulate a broad spectrum of CTL immune responses. Notably, we found that different HA-KMN9 conformations are caused, not only by the flexibility of the side chains of residues in the peptide-binding groove (PBG), but also by the skewing of α1 and α2 helixes forming the PBG. In addition, alanine scanning and circular-dichroism (CD) spectra confirmed that the B, D, and F pockets play critical biochemical roles in determining the peptide-binding motif of SLA-3*hs0202. Based on biochemical parameters and comparisons to similar pockets in other known major histocompatibility complex class I (MHC-I) structures, the fundamental motif for SLA-3*hs0202 was determined to be X-(M/A/R)-(N/Q/R/F)-X-X-X-X-X-(V/I) by refolding in vitro and multiple mutant peptides. Finally, 28 SLA-3*hs0202-restricted epitope candidates were identified from important IAV strains, and two of them have been found in humans as HLA-A*0201-specific IAV epitopes. Structural and biochemical illumination of pSLA-3*hs0202 can benefit vaccine development to control IAV in swine. IMPORTANCE We crystalized and solved the first SLA-3 structure, SLA-3*hs0202, and found that it could present the same IAV peptide with two distinct conformations. Unlike previous findings showing that variable peptide conformations are caused only by the flexibility of the side chains in the groove, the skewing of the α1 and α2 helixes is important in the different peptide conformations in SLA-3*hs0202. We also determined the fundamental motif for SLA-3*hs0202 to be X-(M/A/R)-(N/Q/R/F)-X-X-X-X-X-(V/I) based on a series of structural and biochemical analyses, and 28 SLA-3*hs0202-restricted epitope candidates were identified from important IAV strains. We believe our structure and analyses of pSLA-3*hs0202 can benefit vaccine development to control IAV in swine.


This qualitative study had as its object the daily-life of women after being submitted to a histerectomy. Following this sense the phenomenological approach was chosen as methodological framework , supported by Martin Heidegger phenomenology. The deponents were twenty five women submitted to a histerectomy at HU/UFJF in 2006. The interpretative understanding, showed, under Hedegger perspective, that women s daily-life after being submitted to histerectomy expresses itself in a movement that goes forward and backward for inauthenticity to an indication of properties and improperties. In the daily-life after the surgery is that she understands herself as being-there-with-the-other and revealing herself as "being-of-possibilities" in a self world. It showed that the assistential dynamics must be considered from the perspective of the subjectivity of the woman who will be submitted to histerectomy.


In the present paper we investigate the application of differentiable kernel for generalized matrix learning vector quantization as an alternative kernel-based classifier, which additionally provides classification dependent data visualization. We show that the concept of differentiable kernels allows a prototype description in the data space but equipped with the kernel metric. Moreover, using the visualization properties of the original matrix learning vector quantization we are able to optimize the class visualization by inherent visualization mapping learning also in this new kernel-metric data space.


The research sets purpose to increase the dtudi result of ips by using the draft map method for subject kind of job toward students at third grade in SDN XXV Wailiti in 2017 / 2018 . This research is actually a class measure research which has the students of third grade as its subject of research, consists of 9 schooolboys and 16 schoolgirls. It is done within 2 cycles and each cyele goes through planning, implementation, observation and reflection. While to assemble the data, it uses test, observation, documentation. The result of the research shows increases in teachers and students activity, and also the study result of students in IPS by using draf map method. The observation on the teachers activity on the firdt cycle at first meeting reaches 75% categorizet as good, and at the second neeting reaches 88,33% categorizet as good. The second cyle for the first meeting gets 90% for good category, and on the second it achieves 96,6% for very good category. While the students activity on the first cycle for the first meeting reaches 75% categorizet as good, and the second meeting reaches 83,33% categorizet as very good. On the second cycle at first meeting attains 87,5% for good category, second meeting achieves 95,83% categorizet as very good. Based on the study result of first cycle, students reach the average level become 66,6%. While the second cycle shows student in average level raises up to 81,6%. In summary, by using draft map method for subject kind of job can increase teachers skills, students activity and study result toward student at third grade in SDN XXV Wailiti, sub-ditrict of Alok Barat, Sikka Regency.


The problem of hydromagnetic nanofluid flow in the presence of radiation and non-uniform heat generation/absorption past an exponentially stretching sheet is modeled in this study. By using similarity transformation, the equations of the flow are transformed to nonlinear coupled differential equations. The equations are then solved by the method of asymptotic series and the various flow profiles for the parameters governing the flow were obtained using the software "Mathematica Version 10". It is observed that increase in the magnetic field and radiation parameters lead to decrease in the velocity, while increase in the stretching sheet parameter and thermal Grashfof number results in increase in the velocity and decrease temperature and concentration respectively. An increase in thermopheresis, thermal conductivity leads to increase in temperature and concentration distributions in the system.


In this paper we propose an enhanced relay-enabled distributed coordination function (rDCF) for wireless ad hoc networks. The idea of rDCF is to use high data rate nodes to work as relays for the low data rate nodes. The relay helps to increase the throughput and lower overall blocking time of nodes due to faster dual-hop transmission. rDCF achieves higher throughput over IEEE 802.11 distributed coordination function (DCF). The protocol is further enhanced for higher throughput and reduced energy. These enhancements result from the use of a dynamic preamble (i.e. using short preamble for the relay transmission) and also by reducing unnecessary overhearing (by other nodes not involved in transmission). We have modeled the energy consumption of rDCF, showing that rDCF provides an energy efficiency of 21.7% at 50 nodes over 802.11 DCF. Compared with the existing rDCF, the enhanced rDCF (ErDCF) scheme proposed in this paper yields a throughput improvement of 16.54% (at the packet length of 1000 bytes) and an energy saving of 53% at 50 nodes.


We introduce a model-agnostic algorithm for manipulating SHapley Additive exPlanations (SHAP) with perturbation of tabular data. It is evaluated on predictive tasks from healthcare and financial domains to illustrate how crucial is the context of data distribution in interpreting machine learning models. Our method supports checking the stability of the explanations used by various stakeholders apparent in the domain of responsible AI; moreover, the result highlights the explanations' vulnerability that can be exploited by an adversary.


Present study has been undertaken on both public and private full cost and low cost airlines operating in India for which Indian Airlines, Jet Airways, Kingfisher Airlines, IndiGo Airlines and JetLite have been taken into consideration. The main objectives of this research are to analyse the efficiency level of these three types of airlines operating in India with respect to their internal and external service quality parameters,to identify the most significant service quality factors and their impact on both internal and external customer satisfaction in three types of airlines and to develop a framework which may help to initiate some adequate measures so that all three kinds of airlines operating in India can achieve their desired passenger service quality. The respondents have been selected by random sampling method; Data Envelopment Analysis, Factor analysis, Multiple Regression Analysis have been used to analyze the data. The diverse findings in the context of internal and external service quality in Indian domestic airlines sector research lay the foundation for future investigation in a very promising but highly complex world aviation market.


Spontaneous speech in the form of conversations, meetings, voice-mail, interviews, oral history, etc. is one of the most ubiquitous forms of human communication. Search engines providing access to such speech collections have the potential to better inform intelligence and make relevant data over vast audio/video archives available to users. This project presents a search user interface design supporting search tasks over a speech collection consisting of an historical archive with nearly 52,000 audiovisual testimonies of survivors and witnesses of the Holocaust and other genocides. The design incorporates faceted search, along with other UI elements like highlighted search items, tags, snippets, etc., to promote discovery and exploratory search. Two different designs have been created to support both manual and automated transcripts. Evaluation was performed using human subjects to measure accuracy in retrieving results, understanding user-perspective on the design elements, and ease of parsing information.


Extracellular Vesicles (EVs) are small vesicles that can be actively secreted by most cell types into the extracellular environment. Evidence indicates that EVs can carry microRNAs (miRNAs), long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs), tRNA-derived small RNAs (tsRNAs), proteins, and lipids to target cells or tissue organizations. Latest studies show that EVs play a vital role in the immune modulation and may contribute to the pathogenesis of autoimmune diseases. Systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) is a common autoimmune disease characterized by abnormal T cell activation and sustained production of autoantibodies against self-antigens, resulting in inflammation and damage to multiple systems. Pathogenic mechanisms of SLE, however, are still not well understood. In this review, we summarize the latest research advances on the functions and mechanisms of EVs, and its role in the pathogenesis, diagnosis, and treatment of SLE.


21cm emission from residual neutral hydrogen after the epoch of reionization can be used to trace the cosmological power spectrum of density fluctuations. Using a Fisher matrix formulation, we provide a detailed forecast of the constraints on cosmological parameters that are achievable with this probe. We consider two designs: a scaled-up version of the MWA observatory as well as a Fast Fourier Transform Telescope. We find that 21cm observations dedicated to post-reionization redshifts may yield significantly better constraints than next generation Cosmic Microwave Background (CMB) experiments. We find the constraints on Ω{sub Λ}, Ω{sub m}h{sup 2}, and Ω{sub ν}h{sup 2} to be the strongest, each improved by at least an order of magnitude over the Planck CMB satellite alone for both designs. Our results do not depend as strongly on uncertainties in the astrophysics associated with the ionization of hydrogen as similar 21cm surveys during the epoch of reionization. However, we find that modulation of the 21cm power spectrum from the ionizing background could potentially degrade constraints on the spectral index of the primordial power spectrum and its running by more than an order of magnitude. Our results also depend strongly on the maximum wavenumber of the power spectrum whichmore » can be used due to non-linearities.« less


Colonial archives are at the center of increased interest from a variety of perspectives, as they contain traces of historically marginalized people. Unfortunately, like most archives, they remain difficult to access due to significant persisting barriers. We focus here on one of them: the biases to be found in historical findings aids, such as indexes of person names, which remain in use to this day. In colonial archives, indexes can perpetuate silences by omitting to include mentions of historically marginalized persons. In order to overcome such limitations and pluralize the scope of existing finding aids, we propose using automated entity recognition. To this end, we contribute a fit-for-purpose annotation typology and apply it on the colonial archive of the Dutch East India Company (VOC). We release a corpus of nearly 70,000 annotations as a shared task, for which we provide baselines using state-of-the-art neural network models. Our work intends to stimulate further contributions in the direction of broadening access to (colonial) archives, integrating automation as a possible means to this end.


The zonation of the city of Kazan was conducted according to the type and thickness of artificial soils. The following categories of artificial soils were identified: sandy and loamy fill-up soils, sandy alluvial soils, soils from industrial dumps, modern heterogeneous fill-up soils which contain household and construction waste, and cultural layer soils. Special attention is paid to the engineering and geological assessment of the heterogeneous fill-up soils and industrial dumps. Our investigations show that these soils are characterized by high chemical and microbiological aggressiveness towards underground constructions, which undoubtedly require anti-corrosion actions.


Abstract Purpose: To evaluate the use of the Distress Thermometer in an Australian population using the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS) as the criterion measure for case detection. Patients and methods: A cross-sectional survey of 439 cancer patients (61.2% response) under current medical care at a regional tertiary cancer centre was undertaken. Assessments included general distress, anxiety and depression, general health and well-being, cancer-specific distress, social support, and social constraints. The screening properties of the Distress Thermometer were evaluated against cases identified using the full-scale scores of the HADS as has been done previously. In addition, we used the separate scores on the depression and anxiety scales to evaluate the utility of the Distress Thermometer in detecting cases of anxiety only, depression only, and depression and anxiety together. Results: The sensitivity and specificity of the Distress Thermometer with the HADS full scale were found to be similar to that of previous research. Use of the sub-scale scores of the HADS to detect cases led to some differences in the Distress Thermometer performance. In particular, detection of cases of depression only was quite poor. The positive predictive value (PPV) of the HADS generally and specifically was noted to be problematic. Conclusions: Although we obtained similar results to previous research, our results suggested that caution may need to be exercised when using the Distress Thermometer as a screening instrument. It may not be as effective a screen for depression symptoms and has a high rate of false positives.


A thermoacoustic refrigerator (TAR) of miniature scale, aimed for low-capacity cooling, was numerically and experimentally investigated. DeltaE (Ward and Swift, 1994) was used to model and optimize the TAR design. MEMS stacks, along with several other materials, were used to produce cooling. The precise control over dimensions and geometry that MEMS technology provides can be critical to cooler performance. A commercial PZT driver was used in this study to deliver acoustic power for heat pumping. The cooler is 1/4λ long in standing-wave configuration and operated at 4 kHz, where the acoustic resonance resides. TAR in other geometry and using in-house drivers were also developed but are not included in this paper (Chen et al., 2002). A pressurized version, aimed for higher power density and efficiency using inert gas mixtures, is under development. The performance, challenges, and a system test bed using LabVIEW are reported.Copyright © 2002 by ASME


Objective: To assess the current status of faculty development events in different Medical institutions of Bangladesh among the medical teachers.
Methods: This cross sectional study was carried out in four medical Institutions situated in Dhaka city and outside Dhaka. Total respondents were 120 teachers working in medical colleges and institute. Opinion of one hundred teachers working in preclinical, para clinical and clinical departments were collected by self administered semi structured questionnaire. Twenty (20) teachers were selected for in depth interview.
Results: Study revealed that thirty eight percent of medical teachers attended in Faculty Development (FD) activity within one year whereas sixty two percent did not participate in any FD activity. Among the attended teachers in FD activity 65.8% teacher attended by self initiative and 63.2% were by self funding. All of them mentioned that it was beneficial to them. Twenty percent of medical teachers told in in depth interview that they have no clear cut idea about faculty development activity. Among the respondents, majority (80%) in in-depth interview and 68% in questionnaires) of the teachers thought that the existing activity in their institution is effective to some extent and few respondents (20%) in in-depth and 3% in questionnaires) thought that it is very effective. They also highlighted the areas which should be emphasized for faculty development includes: assessment, professional development, teaching material development etc. Majority of teachers in both the groups in in-depth interview (80%) and in-structured questionnaires (99%) opined that a well organized faculty development program is a needed for medical teachers.
Conclusion and recommendation: Existing faculty development activities in different institutions are not very effective. A well-organized faculty development program is a need for medical teachers. A proper policy level guidelines for at periodic training for the teachers can improve faculty development of different institutions.
Bangladesh Journal of Medical Education Vol.11(2) 2020: 14-20


We propose a method to synthesize 3D consistent brain MRI utilizing multiple 2D conditional SPatially-Adaptive (DE)normalization (SPADE) GANs to preserve the spatial information of patient-specific brain anatomy and a 3D CNN based network to improve the image consistency in all directions in a cost-efficient manner. Three individual 2D SPADE-GAN networks are trained across the axial, sagittal and coronal slice directions and their outputs are thereafter used further to train a CNN based 3D image restoration network to combine them into one 3D volume, using real MRI as a reference. The resulting predicted-synthesized 3D brain MRI is evaluated quantitatively and qualitatively.


Multimodal treatment approaches are indispensable for patients with advanced-stage cancer, while radiation therapy has been established as essential part of therapeutic approaches and has been introduced as a better option to face challenges, such as, local relapse or oligometastatic disease. The mere insight of the concept of oligometastases, proposed for the first time in the middle 1990s, led to the hypothesis that this condition may be cured using local ablative weapons. This hypothesis has already been demonstrated by surgical ablative techniques. Even though been considered a gold-standard approach for ablation of metastatic lesions, surgery limitations, technical obstacles, or patients refusal, or advanced age, or associated comorbidities, or advancements in radiation delivery and imaging technology, all have allowed the progressive implementation of radiation therapy as an alternative local ablative weapon. The advanced technique of stereotactic body radiation therapy has been shown to be safe and effective, and achieved high local control rates, and long-term survival. Despite its good results, stereotactic radiotherapy still faces significant clinical challenges, including selection of candidate patients most likely to being in oligometastatic state and most likely to being in the therapeutic technique. In this article, we will make an overview of the oligometastatic disease and review the growing clinical literature of patients suffering from this condition and treated with radiation therapy.


Abstract A low pathogenic avian influenza virus of the H5N2 subtype was isolated for the first time from layer chickens in Japan in 2005. Surveillance in trading restriction zones and epidemiologically related farms revealed 41 seropositive farms, and 16 H5N2 viruses were isolated and characterized from nine of these farms. That these viruses were genetically and antigenically similar to each other suggested that these isolates were derived from a common origin. Complete genomic characterization of all eight gene segments showed that these H5N2 isolates in Japan had high homology to the H5N2 strains prevalent in Central America since 1994. The virus was reisolated from tracheal and cloacal swabs of experimentally inoculated chickens and efficiently transmitted to sentinel chickens in adjacent cages.


ABSTRACT Recent studies suggest that the COVID-19 pandemic has increased alcohol sales and alcohol related problems. This may be due to the synergistic effects of unemployment, stress from childcare or additional caregiving responsibilities, reduced social interactions and negative coping strategies. Weerakoon and colleagues set out to identify the most robust risk factors for alcohol consumption, binge drinking, and changes in drinking patterns due to the COVID-19 pandemic. One-third of the sample reported consuming more alcohol after COVID-19 compared to pre-COVID-19. In addition, each additional week spent at home under stay-at-home orders was increased the odds of binge drinking by 19%. Individuals who have been diagnosed with depression and were currently experiencing depressive symptoms were more than three times more likely (OR = 3.37) to have increased their alcohol consumption during COVID-19 compared to those with no history or symptoms of depression. Parents of children was associated with decreased COVID-19 related binge drinking (OR = .74). As many daily life factors have been altered due to the pandemic, a more holistic lifestyle disruption construct may help further investigate the long term effects of social isolation on alcohol use as the pandemic continues. Furthermore, the role of social support in mitigating COVID-19-related stress has yet to be examined and may be a protective factor against alcohol related problems. As stress continues, researchers should continue assessing the longitudinal effects of COVID-19 lockdowns with the goal of early identification for those at the highest risk of problematic alcohol use.


A primary contribution of this essay is to provide a survey of the human and environmental impacts of livestock production. We will find that the mass consumption of animals is a primary reason why humans are hungry, fat, or sick and is a leading cause of the depletion and pollution of waterways, the degradation and deforestation of the land, the extinction of species, and the warming of the planet. Recognizing these harms, this essay will consider various solutions being proposed to "shrink" livestock's long shadow, including proposed "technical" or "market" solutions, a transition to "new agrarian" methods, and a vegetarian or vegan diet. Though important and morally relevant qualitative differences exist between industrial and non-industrial methods, this essay will conclude that, given the present and projected size of the human population, the morality and sustainability of one's diet are inversely related to the proportion of animals and animal products one consumes.


Abstract Soldier pile and lagging is a conventional means of temporary excavation shoring. Timber lagging design has traditionally been based upon the designer's experience or empirical rules. One such method is the Goldberg Zoino chart used by the Federal Highway Administration. Most of these methods restrict the designer to a consistent soil profile, certain pile spacing, construction grade timber lagging, and limited depth. The methods do not take into account surcharge loads or a variety of other factors that could arise. A designer working outside of ordinary circumstances with unusual loads, varying soil conditions, or alternate lagging materials has difficulty estimating lateral earth pressures. In rigid earth retention systems, lateral earth pressure is generally assumed to be constant along the length of the wall. In soldier pile and lagging systems, the lagging is often considerably less stiff than the steel soldier piles. As the lagging deflects, the soil tends to bridge between the stiffer elements resulting in a lower pressure on the lagging. Several previously published methods by others for determining this reduced pressure are summarized and discussed. These methods typically consist of using a portion of the active earth pressure in several different pressure distributions. A simple theoretical model is presented for determination of lateral earth pressures on wood lagging. The model is based on a three-dimensional "silo" shaped sliding wedge analysis. Results of the model are compared with other published methods. The model compares well with these methods which cover the normal spectrum of design situations. In addition, the model can be used to estimate lateral earth pressures outside typical situations.


A severe and prolonged form of biopsy-proved cholestatic hepatitis occurred in a 45-year-old man who had received floxacillin for two weeks preceding the episode of drug-related cholestatic injury. Immunologic tests revealed evidence of in vitro sensitization to the drug as well as to the serum of a normal subject collected after ingestion of floxacillin. Floxacillin should be added to the list of drugs causing cholestatic hepatitis, most likely by an immunologic mechanism.


Unlike this study focused extensively on trading behavior of option market, those researches were just taken their attention to model-driven option pricing. For example, Black-Scholes (B-S) model is one of the most famous option pricing models. However, the arguments of B-S model are previously mentioned by some pricing models reviewing. This paper following suggests the importance of the dynamic character for option pricing, which is also the reason why using the genetic algorithm (GA). Because of its natural selection and species evolution, this study proposed a hybrid model, the Genetic-BS model which combining GA and B-S to estimate the price more accurate. As for the final experiments, the result shows that the output estimated price with lower MAE value than the calculated price by either B-S model or its enhanced one, Gram-Charlier garch (G-C garch) model. Finally, this work would conclude that the Genetic-BS pricing model is exactly practical. Keywords—genetic algorithm, Genetic-BS, option pricing model.


Purpose: Wilms' tumor is a childhood cancer of the kidney with an incidence of ∼1 in 10,000. Cooccurrence of Wilms' tumor with 2q37 deletion syndrome, an uncommon constitutional chromosome abnormality, has been reported previously in three children. Given these are independently rare clinical entities, we hypothesized that 2q37 harbors a tumor suppressor gene important in Wilms' tumor pathogenesis. Experimental Design: To test this, we performed loss of heterozygosity analysis in a panel of 226 sporadic Wilms' tumor samples and mutation analysis of candidate genes. Results: Loss of heterozygosity was present in at least 4% of cases. Two tumors harbored homozygous deletions at 2q37.1, supporting the presence of a tumor suppressor gene that follows a classic two-hit model. However, no other evidence of second mutations was found, suggesting that heterozygous deletion alone may be sufficient to promote tumorigenesis in concert with other genomic abnormalities. We show that miR-562, a microRNA within the candidate region, is expressed only in kidney and colon and regulates EYA1, a critical gene for renal development. miR-562 expression is reduced in Wilms' tumor and may contribute to tumorigenesis by deregulating EYA1. Two other candidate regions were localized at 2q37.3 and 2qter, but available data from patients with constitutional deletions suggest that these probably do not confer a high risk for Wilms' tumor. Conclusions: Our data support the presence of a tumor suppressor gene at 2q37.1 and suggest that, in individuals with constitutional 2q37 deletions, any increased risk for developing Wilms' tumor likely correlates with deletions encompassing 2q37.1. (Clin Cancer Res 2009;15(19):5985–92)


"A study to assess the Effectiveness of Pranayama on the level of Depression among elderly in selected Old Age Home, Vellore".
AIM OF THE STUDY
To reduce the level of depression among elderly through Yogic Breathing Technique (Pranayama).
OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY
1. To find out the prevalence of depression among the elderly in selected old age home.
2. To assess the Pre and Post test level of depression among elderly.
3. To evaluate the effectiveness of Pranayama on Pre and Post test level of depression among elderly.
4. To find out the association between selected demographic variables on the level of depression among elderly.
The conceptual framework was derived from Roy's Adaptation Model. The study variables were depression and Pranayama and hypothesis were formulated.
An evaluative approach with Pre experimental design was used to achieve the objectives of the study. The study was conducted at Indian Red Cross Society Old Age Home, Poigai. The sample size was 60 elderly.
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The data collection was validated and reliability was established. The researcher used validated tool for collecting data. Demographic variable proforma, Yesavage Geriatric depression scale were the various tools used by the researcher. The validity was obtained from various experts and reliability was obtained through inter rater evaluation and found to be highly reliable. The main study was conducted after the pilot study. Initially level of depression (Pre-test) was assessed for the elderly. Pranayama was practiced among the elderly. Pranayama refers to breathing exercise, breath retention and deliberate methods of inhalation and exhalation for mental and physical benefits.
This therapy enhances relaxation. This is done on daily basis for 30minutes in morning before breakfast for a period of six weeks. Techniques of Pranayama were demonstrated by the researcher. The level of depression, (Post-test) were assessed again after 6 weeks. The data obtained were analyzed using Descriptive and inferential statistics.
MAJOR FINDINGS OF THE STUDY WERE
Majority of the old age people in old age home were aged between 60-65 years (30%) had duration of stay between 1-3 years in the old age homes (45%) and do not have spouse residing in the same home (95%). Most of them were females (55%), non-educated (41.67%), Hindus (88.33%), Govt. Aid (51.35%) and belongs to joint family (53.33%). Significant percentages of them have more than two children (48.33%), with monthly no income (38.33%) of old age people respectively.
EFFECTIVENESS OF PRANAYAMA ON DEPRESSION
Mean and standard deviation of old age people before pranayama (M = 20.8833, SD = 5.98612) of elderly is not significant (p> 0.05), whereas after pranayama there is significant difference in the
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mean and standard deviation (M =13.8333, SD = 6.87705) of elderly (p< 0.001). It can be attributed to the effectiveness of pranayama on reducing depression.
Chi square test was used to find out the association between selected variables and the post test level of depression. There was no significant association between the level of depression and selected demographic variable such as gender, age, religion, educational status, type of family, marital status, monthly income and duration of stay in old age home (p>0.001). Null Hypotheses (Ho2) with regard to association between the level of depression and demographic variables was retained.
The above finding reveals that Pranayama was effective to reduce the depression among old age people.
RECOMMENDATIONS
 The study can be conducted on a large sample to generalize the results.
 The study can be conducted in the other settings like the community and the hospitals.
 Longitudinal study can be conducted for long term effects of Pranayama on depression.
 A study can be conducted on quality of life among old age people.
 Study can be conducted to assess the various other psychological problems in old age people.
 Experimental study can be conducted with various preventive interventions on prevention of old age depression.


To improve the reliability and efficiency of Web Software, the Testing Team should be creative and innovative, the experience and intuition of Tester also matters a lot. And most often the destructive nature of Tester brings reliable software to the user. Actually, Testing is the responsibility of everybody who is involved in the Project. But, one's personal curiosity and attention is more important than the various techniques and tools available in the market for Web Testing due to the phenomena that Software Testing is an art. In this study, we are actually discussing certain techniques and tools which can be helpful to minimize bugs in Web Application and achieve reliability and efficiency to a certain level. Indeed, for bettering the quality of Web Application, Testing may not be considered as the only effective method because no one can certify that a system is bug-free. This paper presents some essential web testing techniques, strategies, methods and tools which need to be focused on when performing Web Testing for several web applications in order to achieve better results