Static frictions are neglected in many dynamic analyses mainly due to inappropriate modeling of them. A new dynamic model describing the nonlinear and discrete features of static frictions is proposed in this paper. Using the new model, the drilling process of the hammer-drill system utilized in the EAS' Mars mission is analyzed. It is shown that most important functions of the hammer-drill system are realized by static frictions, which were not observed before the introduction of the new model of static frictions. Static frictions provide the torsional force on the drill and make the normal impact happen before the rotation, which is critical to the efficiency of the cutting process of the hammer-drill system.


People with cognitive disabilities need careful matching to find appropriate employment. However, it can be difficult for them to articulate their worries and concerns in a timely and useful manner. This work demonstrates how appropriately-designed technology can assist in accommodating cognitive disabilities, providing avenues to assess their concerns about work environments. A mobile application was developed with targeted repeated multimedia surveying to assess work concerns, with temporal- and geo-tagged answers stored for review by a personal assistant, employer, job coach, or person with a cognitive disability. An expert review provided feedback to balance concerns of user population and interface design.


We deduce conditional $L_p$-estimates for the variation of a solution of a BSDE. Both quadratic and subquadratic types of BSDEs are considered, and using the theory of weighted BMO we deduce tail-estimates for the solution on subintervals of $[0,T]$. Some new results for the decoupling method introduced in \cite{jossain} are obtained and used.


The second grade nanofluid flow with Cattaneo-Christov heat flux model by a stretching disk is examined in this paper. The nanofluid flow is characterized with Hall current, Brownian motion and thermophoresis influences. Entropy optimization with nonlinear thermal radiation, Joule heating and heat absorption/generation is also presented. The convergence of an analytical approach (HAM) is shown. Variation in the nanofluid flow profiles (velocities, thermal, concentration, total entropy, Bejan number) via influential parameters and number are also presented. Radial velocity, axial velocity and total entropy are enhanced with the Weissenberg number. Axial velocity, tangential velocity and Bejan number are heightened with the Hall parameter. The total entropy profile is enhanced with the Brinkman number, diffusion parameter, magnetic parameter and temperature difference. The Bejan number profile is heightened with the diffusion parameter and temperature difference. Arithmetical values of physical quantities are illustrated in Tables.


In order to achieve the purse of a research consisting in observing the differences regarding the cost production for ecological and conventional vegetal production sector a complex research instrument was developed. The main surveying tool used was the questionnaire, as it is able to offer the possibility for using unitary information which could be encoded for a more comprehensive analysis (Rotariu and Iluţ, 1997). The questions proposed were prepared based on the objectives of the study, so the information collected to be useful for the statistical analysis which conducted to the final conclusion of the research. Tab. 1 Types of questions used


In this paper we propose a social capital measure for individuals belonging to a social network. To do this, we use a game theoretical approach and so we suppose that these individuals are also involved in a cooperative TU-game modelling the economic or social interests that motivate their interactions. We propose as a measure of individual social capital the difference between the Myerson and the Shapley values of actors in the social network and explore the properties of such a measure. This definition is close to our previous measure of centrality (Gomez et al., 2003) and so in this paper we also study the relation between social capital and centrality, finding that this social capital measure can be considered as a vector magnitude with two additive components: centrality and positional externalities. Finally, several real political examples are used to show the agreement of our conclusions with the reality in these situations.


A case of corneal graft operation using chondroitin sulphate (CDS-TM) to protect the endothelium, highlights the surgical difficulties encountered as a result of the severe dehydration effects on the donor corneal button produced by the CDS. In vitro experiments comparing Healonid and CDS on 8 mm excised donor corneal buttons from three pairs of human eyes, confirms this effect with CDS which was absent with Healonid.


The matter of economy in the construction of hospitals has come to be of the. greatest importance in every part of this country, because these institutions are now an absolute necessity, not only in the great cities, but in every community. No town of more than one thousand inhabitants should be without its hospital, because these smaller towns contain all other necessities desired by intelligent, educated people. They usually have excellent schools and churches. The water supply is good and there is ample fire protection. The inhabitants of these towns are people of refinement and education, who, together with the population of the surrounding farming communities, make up the most valuable portion of the population of this country. These people must, for many generations to come, supply the physical, mental and moral stamina of this nation and are entitled to all the modern facilities. It seems that in civilized communities,


Background: Pemphigus vulgaris (PV) is a chronic autoimmune mucocutaneous disease. It often begins with blister formations which easily rupture. Fifty percent to 70% of patients with PV have initial site of involvement in the oral mucosa, before extensive extraoral or other mucosa lesion appear. Oral lesions are hallmark of PV. Purpose: The aim of this paper is sharing information with general practitioner dentists to recognize clinical presentations, examination and adequate therapy for PV. CASE: This article reports a case of PV in a 37 years old woman who had complained chronic aphthous without any skin lesion. Two years ago, she had come to our clinic and diagnosed of Recurrent aphthous stomatitis (RAS). After that, she also had been diagnosed of Erythema multiforme(EM). Clinical examinations had found desquamative gingivitis, multiple oral mucosa ulcerations and sloughing. Definitive diagnosis made after biopsy of the oral mucosa, demonstrated suprabasal and intraepitel acantholysis, which is histopathology characteristic of PV. Case Management: Patients treated with corticosteroid combined with Azathioprine and induce the clinical remission. Conclusion: The conclusion are PV frequently affects oral mucosa initially and it must be distinguished from other oral ulceration (RAS and EM), which can be the sole manifestation of PV, at least initially. A full history and examination, biopsy and appropriate histopathology are indicated. Thus, establishment of definite diagnosis and adequate and comprehensive combination treatment (corticosteroid and Azathioprine), could present clinical remission. Key words: Pemphigus vulgaris (PV), clinical features


The research is devoted to the problem of aesthetic education in contest of moral education. Aesthetic education is studied in context of Russian educational reformation (The end of ХХ – the beginning of XXI century) and growth of national consciousness and spiritual revival of the people. This period is suggested as an ideological return to the national cultural and historical traditions. This period is characterises by the rise of public activity towards national heritage and traditions of folk culture and art. Authors suggest and prove that the separation of education and national culture, as soon as lack of training in national-cultural issues, leads not only to local culture regression but to certain problems in international relations and national egoism. Only spiritually and morally enriched education, that means not only local language study, as it is often done in Russian Federation, but also study of traditional customs, art and values of cultural and historical traditions of local nationality (in our research Tatars), allows to teach children to appreciate the human values and spiritual achievements of other nationalities. This means that today the educational process at schools has to be inherent in the nature of the identification of possible and effective forms and methods for the implementation of the students education on national traditions and art, as the most valuable thing for centuries, formed by the wisdom and culture of the people, should become a part of the upbringing and education of the modern school. The authors developed the system of artistic and aesthetic education of students by means of Tatar decorative and applied arts that promote artistic and aesthetic education, development of artistic and creative abilities of students, on the basis of national consciousness of personality development. This system creates the sense of humanity of students and develops there interethnic attitudes to others. This system was implemented at a number of schools where developed course has welcomed by authorities. Students have studied a corresponding material of the Tatar arts and crafts together with their parents and teachers. The results have shown that not only the level of students' spiritual and moral education, aesthetic education has risen. The growth of their tolerance to other nation's representatives from the position of understanding of prevention every national culture peculiarities became the most amazing.


Recently, Jamadar et al. (2021, Metabolic and hemodynamic resting-state connectivity of the human brain: a high-temporal resolution simultaneous BOLD-fMRI and FDG-fPET multimodality study. Cereb Cortex. 31(6), 2855-2867) compared the patterns of brain connectivity or covariance as obtained from 3 neuroimaging measures: 1) functional connectivity estimated from temporal correlations in the functional magnetic resonance imaging blood oxygen level-dependent signal, metabolic connectivity estimated, 2) from temporal correlations in 16-s frames of dynamic [18F]-fluorodeoxyglucose-positron emission tomography (FDG-PET), which they designate as functional FDG-PET (fPET), and 3) from intersubject correlations in static FDG-PET images (sPET). Here, we discuss a number of fundamental issues raised by the Jamadar study. These include the choice of terminology, the interpretation of cross-modal findings, the issue of group- to single-subject level inferences, and the meaning of metabolic connectivity as a biomarker. We applaud the methodological approach taken by the authors, but wish to present an alternative perspective on their findings. In particular, we argue that sPET and fPET can both provide valuable information about brain connectivity. Certainly, resolving this conundrum calls for further experimental and theoretical efforts to advance the developing framework of PET-based brain connectivity indices.


Implementing a flexible and modular architecture for scheduled systems will speed-up the deployment of novel and adjustable MACs for cellular systems. Such an architecture will be of great benefit for researchers, vendors and operators by enabling off-the-shelf devices to be used for testing modified MACs, by allowing fast upgrade of existing devices, and by drastically reducing the time-to-market of MAC products, which ultimately turns into enhanced services for the users. In this paper, we show how the architecture proposed in the FLAVIA project can enable the paradigm shift towards open, modular and flexible scheduled MAC architectures, thus allowing cellular operators to use up-to-date research results to augment and promptly update the capabilities of the cellular network by creating and instantiating MAC services.


OBJECTIVE
To construct dopamine D1 receptor (DRD1) expression interference vectors to study the role of DRD1 in nerve cells and lay a foundation for drug development in anti-convulsion.

METHODS
Based on DRD1 gene sequence in GenBank, 10 interfere vectors of DRD1 were designed. Liposomal was used to transfect NG-108-15 and the transfect effect was assayed by GFP. With realtime PCR and Western blot, the DRD1 expression was detected.

RESULTS
The 10 constructed interfere vectors transfected into NG-108-15 cells by liposomal method and inhibited DRD1 mRNA and protein expression. DRD1 mRNA expression in NG-108-15 cells transfected with pGPU6-GFP-Neo-si-DRD1-5 was the lowest whereas DRD1 protein expression in NG-108-15 cells transfected with pGPU6-GFP-Neo-si-DRD1-1, -2, -6, -7 was the lowest.

CONCLUSION
DRD1 expression interference vector is successfully constructed.


In this paper, an unscented Kalman filter (UKF) coupled with a nonlinear model-predictive controller (NMPC) for a hydraulic wellbore model with multi-variable control and tracking is presented. In a wellbore, high drill string velocities in operational sequences such as tripping might result in surge and swab pressures in the annular section of the wellbore. To overcome these challenges, a controller incorporating safety and actuator limits should be used. A second-order model is used to predict axial drill string velocity downhole. With a NMPC specifying the block position trajectory, choke flow reference, desired backpressure pump flowrate and stand-pipe pressure, we can automatically supervise and control the pressure in the wellbore. To compensate for unmeasured states, an estimator is designed to predict the frictional pressure forces in the wellbore and filter noisy measurements. A stochastic approach for the hydraulic model is taken, including variance of the average fluctuations for the flow and pressure states. Comparing three NMPC configurations, the result of using an integration of the tracking error in the prediction model gave best offset-free tracking of the bottom-hole pressure. The controller compensates for the unknown fluctuations, and is shown to be robust towards model mismatch. Including the mechanical system in the NMPC prediction model, we can effectively constrain the predicted axial drill string velocity to reduce the pressure oscillations and achieve tracking of bottom hole pressure and choke differential pressure. The outcome is shown through extensive simulations to be an effective control strategy, reducing the pressure spikes while tripping.


The lipase-catalyzed transesterification of rice bran oil and methanol for biodiesel production in hexane was investigated. The effects of different hexane weight ratio, methanol molar ratio, reaction temperature and immobilized lipase dosage on the total conversion were systematically analyzed by response surface methodology (RSM). RSM analysis showed good correspondence between experimental and predicted values. The optimal condition was 4.058 molar ratio of methanol to oil, temperature 42.295°C, 6.86% immobilized lipase and 0.624 hexane based on rice bran oil weight. Moreover, gas chromatography mass spectrometry showed that biodiesel was mainly composed of the methyl esters of hexadecanoic, 9,12-octadecadienoic and 9-octadecadienoic acid. The fourier transform infrared spectrum of biodiesel also showed the characteristic bands of C=O, O-C-O, C=C and –(CH 2 )n-. Key words : Rice bran oil, biodiesel, response surface methodology, gas chromatography mass spectrometry, fourier transform infrared spectrum.


Michael Reese is the Associate Dean & Director at the Johns Hopkins Center for Educational Resources. Dr. Reese previously worked as an Educational Technologist at Caliber Learning and Booz-Allen and Hamilton. He also consulted with the University of Maryland School of Nursing on the launch of their distance education program. He earned an Ph.D. in sociology at Johns Hopkins. His dissertation modeled how educational innovations diffused in higher education. He also earned an M.Ed. in educational technology from the University of Virginia and a B.S. in electrical engineering at Virginia Tech, where he was named the Paul E. Torgersen Leadership Scholar.


Among various subtypes of malignant lymphomas, activated B-cell diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (ABC-DLBCL), mantle cell lymphoma (MCL), and adult T-cell leukemia/lymphoma (ATL) are clinically intractable as patients with these lymphomas carry a dismal prognosis, with long-term survival rates of 10-30%. Therefore, a novel therapeutic strategy is required to better manage patients with these malignancies. Recently, we and other investigators performed comprehensive genetic studies and revealed frequent genetic alterations in B and T cell antigen receptor signaling and NF-κB pathway, such as CD79A/B and CARD11 mutations in ABC-DLBCL and PLCG1, PRKCB, and CARD11 mutations in ATL, suggesting the biological relevance of this pathway.
 To exploit a new treatment strategy in these malignant lymphomas, we focused on the protease mucosa-associated lymphoid tissue lymphoma translocation 1 (MALT1) which is a key regulator of the antigen receptor signaling and NF-κB pathway and forms a complex with CARD11 and BCL10, and developed a novel compound CTX-177 to inhibit MALT1 with high potency and specificity. CTX-177 was efficacious against ABC-DLBCL and MCL models in vitro and in vivo. Moreover, CTX-177 exhibited combination synergistic effect with BTK inhibitor. In addition, the MALT1 inhibitor showed an anti-tumor effect against CARD11 mutated ABC-DLBCL model, which is resistant to BTK inhibitor.
 To further explore efficacy of CTX-177 against malignant lymphomas, we generated animal models such as genetically engineered mice and patient-derived xenograft models recapitulating molecular features of these diseases, and examined the response to the MALT1 inhibitor. In these experiments, target engagement of CTX-177 was confirmed by detecting digested substrates of MALT1, and mode of action was evaluated by downregulation of oncogenic transcriptional factor IRF4 which is critical for lymphoma survival. Importantly, the relationship of susceptibility to MALT1 inhibition and gene mutations was analyzed to identity a patient selection biomarker for CTX-177.
 In summary, the novel, selective, small-molecule MALT1 inhibitor CTX-177 demonstrated preclinical efficacy along with target engagement in several lymphoma models with activated antigen receptor signaling and NF-κB pathway. Our results underscore the preclinical therapeutic potential of CTX-177 as a single-agent or in combination with other inhibitors like BTK inhibitor for the treatment of malignant lymphomas.

 Morishita: Chordia Therapeutics Inc.: Current Employment, Current equity holder in private company. Mizutani:Chordia Therapeutics Inc.: Current Employment, Current equity holder in private company. Tozaki:Chordia Therapeutics Inc.: Current Employment, Current equity holder in private company. Arikawa:Chordia Therapeutics Inc.: Current Employment, Current equity holder in private company. Kataoka:CHUGAI PHARMACEUTICAL CO., LTD.: Research Funding; Takeda Pharmaceutical Company: Research Funding; Otsuka Pharmaceutical: Research Funding; Asahi Genomics: Current equity holder in private company. Yoda:Chordia Therapeutics Inc.: Research Funding. Izutsu:Symbio: Research Funding; Solasia: Research Funding; Celgene: Research Funding; Chugai: Research Funding; Novartis: Research Funding; Ono Pharmaceutical: Research Funding; Bayer pharmaceuticals: Research Funding; Daiichi Sankyo: Research Funding; AstraZeneca: Research Funding; Eisai: Research Funding; Incyte: Research Funding; Abbvie pharmaceuticals: Research Funding; HUYA Japan: Research Funding; Sanofi: Research Funding; Janssen: Research Funding; Yakult: Research Funding. Minami:Bristol-Myers Squibb Company: Honoraria; Novartis Pharma KK: Honoraria; Pfizer Japan Inc.: Honoraria; Takeda: Honoraria. Shimoda:Otsuka Pharmaceutical: Research Funding; Pfizer Inc.: Research Funding; Kyowa Hakko Kirin Co., Ltd.: Research Funding; CHUGAI PHARMACEUTICAL CO., LTD.: Research Funding; Merck & Co.: Research Funding; Astellas Pharma: Research Funding; AbbVie Inc.: Research Funding; PharmaEssentia Japan: Research Funding; Perseus Proteomics: Research Funding; Celgene: Honoraria; Shire plc: Honoraria; Bristol-Myers Squibb: Honoraria; Takeda Pharmaceutical Company: Honoraria; Novartis: Honoraria, Research Funding; Asahi Kasei Medical: Research Funding; Japanese Society of Hematology: Research Funding; The Shinnihon Foundation of Advanced Medical Treatment Research: Research Funding. Miyake:Chordia Therapeutics Inc.: Current Employment, Current equity holder in private company. Ogawa:KAN Research Institute, Inc.: Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees, Research Funding; Chordia Therapeutics, Inc.: Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees, Research Funding; Asahi Genomics Co., Ltd.: Current equity holder in private company; Otsuka Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd.: Research Funding; Sumitomo Dainippon Pharma Co., Ltd.: Research Funding; Eisai Co., Ltd.: Research Funding.


Water risk assessment is becoming an essential part of any decision-making process in the business sector. In the world where freshwater resources are becoming scarcer, water risks are growing and causing high costs to businesses. Therefore, numerous frameworks, guidelines, methodologies, tools, and other approaches were developed during the last century. Various scholars have appeared to give an economic value or price for environment goods in order to understand trade-offs better. Nowadays, the corporate world tends to use different approaches to convert sustainability management data to the financial language of decision-makers. This study explores the possible ways for a company to measure the costs of water related risks. It examines how to convert water risks to financial risks using a Peruvian agricultural company. The results show, that from all today's available frameworks, guidelines or tools there is no one commonly accepted and recognised as the best for water risk assessment and monetising. It was learned, that available tools could provide just a simple overview of possible water related risks and calculate their costs in a very general way. The work also highlights the importance of regular and appropriate data collection on the company level in order to be able to assess water risk related costs for the business.


ALTHOUGH functional asymmetries in the course of visual information processing have been known for a long time in humans as well as in non-human species, the structural basis of these asymmetries is largely unknown. We now report that due to an asymmetry of commissural projections in the pigeon the left nucleus rotundus of the ascending tectofugal visual system predominantly represents inputs from both eyes while the right nucleus rotundus mainly represents the contralateral left eye. We suggest that a comparable organization exists for several asymmetries in humans. A representation of both hemifields can provide the dominant hemisphere with direct access to all stimulus features when objects cross the vertical meridian.


The total RNAs were isolated from the venom glands of female Polistes hebraeus, Vespula maculifrons, Vespa velutina nigrithorax and Vespa magnifica, respectively. Using the ReverAid First Strand cDNA Synthesis Kit, the first cDNAs were synthesized from the total RNA templates. PCR was carried out for 30 cycles (40s at 94 degrees C, 40s at 52 degrees C and 1 min at 72 degrees C), with a final extension of 10 min at 72 degrees C. RT-PCR products were examined by electrophoresis in 1.5% agarose gels with ethidium bromide staining. After purification using QIAquick PCR Purification Kit, the PCR products were ligated into pGEM*-T easy vector. Positive clones were identified by double digestion of Xho I and Hind III and PCR amplification and then were sequenced. The sequencing results showed that the amplified cDNAs containing the open reading frames of prepromelittin, and their lengths were all 213 bp. The ORFs were potential to encode polypeptides of 70 amino acid residues with predicted molecular weight of 7.7 kDa, including a signal peptide of 21 residues and a promelittin of 49 residues. Comparative analysis showed that the prepromelittins from different wasp species shared more than 93% identities in nucleotide sequences and more than 95% identities in amino acid sequences with each other, respectively. The sequences of prepromelittins of Polistes hebraeus, Vespula maculifrons, Vespa velutina nigrithorax and Vespa magnifica share 94%, 100%, 94%, 93% homologies in nucleotide sequences, and 95.8%, 100%, 97.2% and 97.2% identities in amino acid sequences with those of the European honey bee, Apis mellifera, respectively. There are 67 common amino acid residues among the prepromelittins of the four wasps and two honey bee species, Apis mellifera and Apis cerana. Phylogenetic relationships based on the prepromelitin nucleotide sequences were also examined using the software DNAStar5.01. The result showed that a closer relationship lied in between Polistes hebraeus, Vespa velutina nigrithorax and Vespa magnifica, while Vespula maculifrons had a closer relationship with the honey bees, Apis mellifera and Apis cerana. In conclusion, the prepromelittins were very conserved in the primary structure and the wasp insects also contain the melittins in their venoms, which are very similar to that of honey bee, although they belong to different superfamilies.


The Non-Accelerating Inflation Rate of Unemployment (NAIRU) is a major concept in (monetary) economics in predicting changes in the inflation rate. As the inflation neutral unemployment rate is an unobserved and, in the long run, a changing variable, several questions arise about its adequate estimation. The following study determines four different possible NAIRU-curves for the German economy during the period of 1973Q1-2010Q2 by the use of a State-Space-Model. With the help of the Ordinary-Least-Square (OLS) and the Maximum-Likelihood (ML) method, these curves are implemented and utilized in regression models which are trimmed to satisfactorily explain inflation changes. It turns out that besides the NAIRU, several other variables like the changes in the unemployment rate or the labor productivity are necessary to forecast changes in the inflation rate accurately. Among the four regression models, the one applying the NAIRU with the lowest variance and with a high theoretic plausibility has the worst record, while the equation with a NAIRU fluctuating more than the unemployment rate explains the inflation rate best.


This meta-analysis aimed to synthesize the evidence on the relationship between Chinese personality traits and mental health. Through literature search and screening, a total of 70 original articles and 72 independent samples with a total of 65,133 participants were included. The results showed that: (1) Chinese mental health was significantly correlated with three dimensions of personality: psychoticism, neuroticism, and extraversion (correlation coefficients were 0.234, 0.438, and −0.101, respectively); (2) each factor of mental health was significantly positively correlated with psychoticism and neuroticism; only the factor of interpersonal sensitivity was significantly negatively correlated with extraversion; (3) subject type has a significant moderating effect on the relationship between mental health and neuroticism and extraversion, but has no significant moderating effect on the relationship between mental health and psychoticism; (4) publication type does not play a moderating role in the relationship between mental health and the three personality dimensions. This meta-analysis confirmed that personality traits have a significant predictive effect on mental health in Chinese people. However, the relationship between personality and mental health varied considerably across dimensions and groups.


At the end of the Qing dynasty, Beimen was a poor village where the biggest Nankunjuan Wanye temple of Taiwan could be established. It is necessary to discuss its location and history. Nankunjuan temple is located at Daofeng Lagoon, on the southwest coast of Taiwan. This place underwent the most severe changes in Qing Taiwan. The spread of Kunjuanwan worship was related to the geo-network built by the lagoons, floods and plagues from continuously silting, Wanye thus became the orthodox deity as well as in the imagination and creation of residents's historical memories. Officials and gentries identified Wanye with faith and historical memory of protecting Taiwan's capital (Tainan) was continuously narrated and created by people at that time. In the early 19(superscript th) century, Taiwan's capital initiated first the tour of inspection of Kunjuanwan for two months every year due to the legend of protecting capital. The ceremony of Wanye from Nankunjuan to the capital not only recreated the imagination of Wanye again and again but also demonstrated it to other towns. According to the geo-network of lagoon, Yanshuigang and Madou, the Wanye ceremony took place successively. The wealth belonged to the three biggest port cities in southwest Taiwan and the expanding of Wanye faith were spurs to build and mend the Nankunjuan temple to be the biggest Wanye temple in Qing Taiwan. Madou town is an example of the spread of Wanye worship in Taiwan during the Qing dynasty. The town which represented of Han Chinese power replacing the aborigines, so the correlation between Madou and Kunjuanwan, port function vanished and lots of floods occurred continuously which intensified the need of Wanye worship and stirred the fashion of faith at that time. At the end of the Qing dynasty, Madou was the only former port town where Wanye worship replaced Mazu worship and became the most important faith there.


This work presents a low-power differential cascode voltage switch with pass gate (DCVSPG) pulsed latch as an edge-triggered flip-flop and, also, implements it in a Viterbi decoder. The proposed DCVSPG pulsed latch is composed of a low-swing pulse generator and a DCVSPG latch. The lowswing pulse generator reduces not only the switching power but the leakage power by stacking gated transistors. The DCVSPG latch captures the input datum in an implicit transparent window that is produced by the low-swing pulse generator. Consistent with the low power consumption and high performance of the DCVSPG circuit technique, the DCVSPG latch can provide an energy-efficient latch. Based on UMC 90 nm CMOS technology, the simulation results reveal that the proposed approach achieves a higher energy efficiency compared to other flip-flops. For the Viterbi decoder, the proposed DCVSPG pulsed latch can reduce power consumption by 22.2% from that of the C2 MOS flip-flop obtained from the UMC 90 nm low-power cell library.


OBJECTIVES
To estimate the prevalence and incidence of Takayasu arteritis (TA) among the residents of the city of Izmir, the third largest metropolis in Turkey.

METHODS
Five tertiary care teaching hospitals, which were the only ones that provided rheumatology specialty care during the study period in the city of Izmir from 2006 through 2010, were invited to take part in the present study. A case search was performed electronically in the information systems of these hospitals using The International Classification of Diseases Tenth Revision (ICD-10) code for Takayasu arteritis (M31.4). The diagnosis was confirmed through chart review by a rheumatologist according to the 1990 American College of Rheumatology (ACR) criteria. Annual prevalence was calculated based on the number of patients that were alive at the end of 2010. Age- and sex-adjusted prevalence rates were standardised according to the 2010 Turkish population, based on 2010 Turkish Census.

RESULTS
A total of 41 patients were confirmed to have TA and also to live within the targeted area. The annual prevalence was estimated as 12.8 (95% CI 12.0-13.6) per million; 23.5/million (95% CI 21.9-25.0) in females and 1.9/million (95% CI 1.5-2.4) in males. The prevalence was higher 8.8/million (95% CI 7.7-10.0) in the population >40 years of age. During the study period, the mean annual incidence of TA was estimated as 1.11/million (95% CI 0.54-1.67).

CONCLUSIONS
The first epidemiologic study of TA in a Turkish population suggests that TA is a relatively common vasculitis in Turkey.


The objective of this study was to determine the effect of Citric Acid (AC) and Phytase on productive behavior of laying hens, phosphorous (P) and nitrogen (N) content in excreta, as well as P and calcium (Ca) content in whole egg and eggshell. This experiment was carried out on 80 week old hens after molting, and fed on a sorghum and soy paste diet (2.7 Mcal EM kg-1, 13 % PC, 4 % Ca and 0.4 % available P). Phytase was added as an ingredient, contributing 0.1 % of P and 0.3 % of Ca. AC levels were 0 %, 0.6 % and 2 %, while those for phytase were 0 and 600 units (UF). A completely randomized experimental design with a factorial 3 x 2 array and 5 replications of four hens per treatment was used. Results showed that a combination of 600 UF and 2 % AC increased egg weight and reduced P content in excreta by more than 50 %. N in excreta decreased when AC was added (P smaller than 0.01). The use of phytase increased Ca content in yolk and albumin while decreasing that of shell (P smaller than 0.05). AC increased Ca in shell (P=0.01). When AC and phytase were added to diets provided to hens at the end of the laying cycle, egg weightincreased and N and P excretion decreased.


Context. Hierarchal models of large-scale structure (LSS) formation predict that galaxy clusters grow via gravitational infall and mergers of smaller subclusters and galaxy groups. Diffuse radio emission, in the form of radio halos and relics, is found in clusters undergoing a merger, indicating that shocks or turbulence associated with the merger are capable of accelerating electrons to highly relativistic energies. Double relics are a rare class of radio sources found in the periphery of clusters, with the two components located symmetrically on the opposite sides of the cluster center. These relics are important probes of the cluster periphery as (i) they provide an estimate of the magnetic field strength, and (ii) together with detailed modeling can be used to derive information about the merger geometry, mass, and timescale. Observations of these double relics can thus be used to test the framework of LSS formation. Here we report on radio observations of ZwCl 2341.1+0000, a complex merging structure of galaxies located at z = 0.27, using Giant Metrewave Radio Telescope (GMRT) observations. Aims. The main aim of the observations is to study the nature of the diffuse radio emission in the galaxy cluster ZwCl 2341.1+0000. Methods. We carried out GMRT 610, 241, and 157 MHz continuum observations of ZwCl 2341.1+0000. The radio observations are combined with X-ray and optical data of the cluster. Results. The GMRT observations show a double peripheral radio relic in the cluster ZwCl 2341.1+0000. The spectral index is −0.49 ± 0.18 for the northern relic and −0.76 ± 0.17 for the southern relic. We have derived values of 0.48−0.93 μGauss for the equipartition magnetic field strength. The relics are probably associated with outward traveling merger shock waves.


Lemierre's syndrome is a rare but life-threatening condition characterized by an oropharyngeal infection typically secondary to Fusobacterium necrophorum resulting in septic thrombophlebitis of the internal jugular vein. Streptococcus intermedius is a particularly rare cause of Lemierre's syndrome with only a few cases reported in the literature. Here we describe a rare case of Lemierre's syndrome, caused by Streptococcus intermedius, likely secondary to an odontogenic infection, found to have a cervical epidural abscess with concomitant large retropharyngeal and prevertebral abscesses on presentation, in whom the clinical course was further complicated by an extensive cerebral venous sinus thrombosis. However, despite grave complications, early diagnosis and appropriate emergency management including intravenous antibiotics and surgical intervention led to a successful recovery, thus demonstrating that aggressive measures can potentially lead to a favorable outcome.


Oxidation behavior of Ni-toughened reactively sputtered composite thin films of nanocrystalline TiN and amorphous SiN_x [denoted as nc-TiN/a-SiN_x(Ni)] was explored to understand the oxidation mechanism. The films were deposited on silicon substrate using a magnetron sputtering technique. Oxidation was carried out from 450 °C up to 1000 °C. The nature of the oxidation was determined using x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy. The microstructure of the oxidized films was studied using grazing incidence x-ray diffraction. The topography was characterized using atomic force microscopy. It was determined that the oxidation of the nc-TiN/a-SiN_x(Ni) thin film proceeds primarily through a diffusion process, in which nickel atoms diffuse outward and oxygen ions inward. The oxidation takes place by progressive replacement of nitrogen with diffused oxygen. Five regions were identified in the oxidized layer from surface into the film. For films doped with 2.1 at.% Ni, a threshold temperature of 850 °C was determined, below which, excellent oxidation resistance prevails but above which, oxidation takes place at exponential rate, accompanied by abrupt increase of surface roughness.


Abstract : After the end of World War II, Japan was reborn as a democratic country. Japan decided to choose the alliance with the United States to guarantee its security. Japan has been building a modest defense capability under the provision of the Constitution of 1946, while firmly maintaining the Japan-U.S. Security arrangements. In an effort to establish the Japan Self Defense Forces (JSDF) in the early 1950s, the Government of Japan issued the interpretation of Article 9 of the Constitution. This interpretation has prohibited Japan from exercising the right of collective self-defense and has long been the most important premise for Japan's post-WWII security policy. During the Cold War period, the first security priority for Japan was to cope with the Soviet military threat. However, a series of epoch-making events in the early stages of the post Cold War period reflected the change in Japan's security policy and enlarged the roles and missions of the JSDF. At the same time, the Japan-U.S. alliance entered a new stage of development. The alliance changed its nature from the traditional anti-Soviet focus to an Asia-Pacific-wide security approach. Thus, Japan could no longer be as innocent vis-a'-vis its national security and its role in international security issues, especially in the aftermath of the terrorist attacks on 11 September 2001. Although dispatching Japan's destroyers and supply vessels to the Indian Ocean in support of the coalition campaign against terrorism marked one of the most significant strides in Japan's global military role since World War II, Japan's security policy may have reached its culminating point. Further efforts should be made so that Japan can fully implement its expected role within the international community. In order to fully participate in future coalition efforts that help ensure peace and stability of the world, Japan should make another great leap and allow itself to exercise the right of collective self-defense.


This paper investigates the extent of price transmission from international to domestic markets for selected agricultural products in Uganda, so as to assess the likely impact of increased market access on agricultural household poverty in rural Uganda. The study applies a variety of econometric techniques to assess the various components of market integration using monthly data over the period 2000 through 2004. The results indicate that there is price transmission from world market prices to border prices in the case of cotton, tea and tobacco. However, there is insufficient evidence of price transmission from border prices to producer prices. We also found evidence to support the null of no price transmission from border to producer prices for the non-traditional exports of beans, maize and banana, which are mostly exported to the regional market. We recommend that Government should strengthen the information network on agricultural marketing and distribution so as to reduce exploitation of smallholder farmers by well-informed middlemen. Government should also strive to increase investment in the agricultural sector so as to improve marketing and transport infrastructure.


That the dependence of the rate of formation of new metastases on the existing tumor volume is weak has been demonstrated from data on the distribution of sizes of metastasic lesions, as well as data on the fraction of tumors that are metastatic as a function of tumor size at diagnosis. A mathematical model for the rate of metastasis formation as a function of tumor size was developed to explain this finding and is presented here. The model includes several stromal cell populations, in particular macrophages and fibroblasts, in addition to tumor cells, which are divided into epithelial- and mesenchymal-like populations. Epithelial-to-mesenchymal transitions are accounted for, as well as key growth factors that mediate tumor-stroma crosstalk and recruitment of stromal cells to the tumor mass. A key feature of the model is cooperativity in the steps involved in the establishment of metastases. Experimental findings of tumor cell-macrophage cooperativity in chemotaxis-driven migration towards microvessels, and EMT/non-EMT cooperativity in tumor cell escape, extravasation and intravasation are incorporated into the model. By involving the product of two or more rates, each of which depend on tumor volume raised to a power less than one, these cooperative processes result in a dependence of the metastatic rate on tumor size that is less than the 2/3 power expected if the rate were merely surface-area dependent. In addition to providing a framework for understanding experimental findings on the kinetics of metastasis, the model should prove useful for investigating the interplay between cell kill rates due to treatment and tumor regrowth kinetics in the most common case where the treated tumor consists of a distribution of metastatic lesions rather than a single mass. Citation Format: {Authors}. {Abstract title} [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the 102nd Annual Meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research; 2011 Apr 2-6; Orlando, FL. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2011;71(8 Suppl):Abstract nr 39. doi:10.1158/1538-7445.AM2011-39


In this paper a capacity fade and cycle-life estimation of lithium iron phosphate (LiFePO4) battery based on a two year measured field data is reported. The testing was done to complement the tests made by research institutes in a laboratory by cycling charge/discharge profiles that represent solar home systems scenario. The battery testing laboratory at further training institute (FTI) laboratory ofAdama science & Technology University, Ethiopia is used for testing.Five Pico systems consistingof LiFePO4 (LFP), 18650 type batteries with a nominal capacity of 4200mAh were distributed in a neighboring village. Capacity fade and Cycle-life estimation analysis was done on the data collected over the course of two yearswhere measurements were taken every month. Using the data collected, the capacity fade and the cycle-life of these batteries have been calculated, accordingly the result showed average capacity fade of 8% of the initial measured capacity and average cycle-life of about 6.5Years. These results exceed well above even that of what the manufacturers give as specification, which is in most cases is estimated to be 2000 cycles (5.5 years).The resulting conclusion is that the LiFePO4 battery could be the best alternative to solve one of the prominent pitfalls of solar home systems (SHS),specifically reliability and running cost. Therefore it is recommended to deploy this battery more oftenin new designs. In addition to that the result obtained from this work can be used as an input for further studies in the area of SHS.


The right of every person to obtain information, guaranteed by Article 54 Section 1 of the Constitution of the Republic of Poland, is realized mainly through media. In order to carry out these tasks, the media need to have guaranteed, and not just confirmed by the above mentioned regulation, freedom of speech, but also the freedom to perform activities, through which they will be able to distribute information. Such guarantees can be found in Article 14 of the Constitution, whereas the ban on preventive censorship and press licensing, expressed in Article 54 Section 2 of the Constitution is a detailed guarantee of the freedom to conduct business by the media. This regulation, however, stipulates that an act of parliament may introduce an obligation to obtain a prior license to run a radio or TV station. Administrative decisions in this matter are included mainly in Chapter 5 of the Broadcasting Act, titled "Licences to broadcast programmes", (Art.33-40b). It is also necessary to point to the fact that radio and TV programme broadcast takes place within the frames of running a business activity. However, according to Article 46 Section 1 Point 5 of the Act on the Freedom to Perform a Business Activity, running a business activity in the area of broadcasting radio and TV programmes requires to obtain a license, while the detailed range and conditions of running a business activity subject to licensing are regulated by other acts of parliament. According to Article 22 of the Constitution, "limiting the freedom to run a business activity is only acceptable by means of an act of parliament and only due to an important public interest."


Abstract We evaluated the predictivity and applicability of previously proposed models for the reproductive toxicity of chemicals to Daphnia magna [SAR QSAR Environ. Res. 27:10, 833–850] by using external data from the United States Environmental Protection Agency database ECOTOX. These models were based on quantitative structure–activity–activity relationships (QSAARs) and a quantitative activity–activity relationship (QAAR): the models can be categorized as acute-to-chronic models with (QSAAR) and without (QAAR) structural and physicochemical (e.g. distribution coefficients, log D) descriptors. We found that the QSAAR models were suitable for chemicals with an '–NH2 attached to aromatic carbon' sub-structure, whereas the QAAR model was better for multicomponent compounds, coordination complexes, tin compounds and straight-chain primary amines. For chemicals with a known specific mode of action (e.g. pesticides and antibacterial agents and their derivatives), toxicity estimation within the acute-to-chronic framework requires special attention. We evaluated the applicability of the models on the basis of the descriptors in the models. We recommend that chemicals be pre-screened before their toxicities are estimated with these models: pre-screening enabled the estimation of the toxicities of some chemicals within the applicability domains of the models.


In this paper, we first introduce the concept of quasi-coincidence of a fuzzy interval value with an interval valued fuzzy set. By using this new idea, we consider the interval valued (, fuzzy (implicative) ideals of pseudo-MV algebras and investigate some of their related properties. Some characterization theorems of these generalized fuzzy (implicative) ideals are derived. ) q ∈∈∨ − fuzzy (implicative) ideal. (, ) q ∈∈∨ −


Purpose The overlap method is one of the most popular procedures for construction of an esophagojejunostomy and its common entry is usually closed with sutures. This study aimed to report long-term complications and surgical outcomes of the overlap method with stapled closure (OMSC), to compare them with those of laparoscopy-assisted total gastrectomy (LATG), and to analyze a learning curve. Methods Between January 2015 and August 2017, 100 consecutive patients underwent laparoscopic total gastrectomy with OMSC for gastric cancer and the patients' medical records were reviewed. Their clinicopathologic characteristics, surgical outcomes, and long-term complications were investigated and compared with those of the LATG group. A learning curve of OMSC was analyzed using the Exponentially Weighted Moving Average chart. Results The overall duration of surgery was shorter in the LATG group; however, there was no difference in patients with early gastric cancer. Hospital admission was shorter and the pain scale was lower in the OMSC group. There was no difference in the number of harvested lymph nodes, date of flatus, or incidence of postoperative morbidity. Both groups showed no duodenal stump leakage, anastomosis-related complications, recurrence, or mortality during the follow-up period. Petersen hernia was a notable long-term event following OMSC compared with LATG. At least 27 cases of surgery were required to reach a plateau in terms of surgery duration for OMSC. Conclusion OMSC is a safe option for the treatment of gastric cancer and has favorable long-term results and surgical outcomes. Closure of mesenteric defects and Petersen space should be considered.


This paper describes a CAD program which checks the circuit topology and the electrical parameters from the IC layout data against the user supplied circuit descriptions. Taking advantage of the hierarchical characteristics of the layout data, the program achieves an efficient analysis and does a clear presentation of the results.


BACKGROUND
Basal cell carcinoma (BCC) is the most common skin malignancy in humans. BCCs are defined as slow-growing, locally invasive, malignant (but not life threatening), epidermal skin tumours which mainly affect white skinned people. The first line treatment is usually surgical excision, but numerous alternatives are available.

OBJECTIVES
To assess the effects of treatments for basal cell carcinoma.

SEARCH STRATEGY
We searched the Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews (2002 issue 1) and Cochrane Controlled Trials Register (2002 issue 1), the Cochrane Skin Group Specialised Register (January 2002), MEDLINE (from 1966-2002), EMBASE (from 1980-2002), the Mega Register of Controlled trials and the National Research Register (2002 issue 1). In addition the cited references of all trials identified and key review articles were searched. Pharmaceutical companies were contacted where appropriate for reviews or unpublished trials.

SELECTION CRITERIA
Inclusion criteria were adults with one or more histologically proven, primary basal cell carcinoma. The primary outcome measure was recurrence at 3- 5 years, measured clinically. The secondary outcome included early treatment failure within 6 months, measured histologically. Adverse effect of treatment was evaluated by reviewing aesthetic appearance (to patient and blinded observer) and pain during and after treatment.

DATA COLLECTION AND ANALYSIS
Study selection and assessment of methodological quality were carried out by two independent reviewers.

MAIN RESULTS
19 studies (13 published and 6 abstracts) were identified which include 7 broad therapeutic categories. Only one RCT of surgery versus radiotherapy had primary outcome data at four years, which showed that there were significantly more persistent tumours and recurrences, measured histologically, in the radiotherapy group as compared to the surgery group, which translates to an odds ratio of 0.09 (95%CI, 0.01 to 0.67) in favour of surgery. Cryotherapy, although convenient and less expensive than surgery, showed no significant difference in recurrences at one year, measured clinically, when compared to surgery, OR 0.23 (0.01 to 6.78). However when radiotherapy was compared to cryotherapy there were significantly more recurrences at one year, measured histologically, in the cryotherapy group, this translates to an odds ratio of 14.80 (95%CI, 3.17 to 69) in favour of radiotherapy. Preliminary studies suggest a high success rate (87-88%) for imiquimod in the treatment of superficial BCC using a once-daily regimen for 6 weeks and a useful (76%) treatment response when treating nodular BCC for 12 weeks, when measured histologically. However this cream has not been compared to surgery.

REVIEWER'S CONCLUSIONS
There has been very little good quality research on efficacy of the treatment modalities used. Most of the trials have looked only at BCCs in low risk areas. Surgery and radiotherapy appear to be the most effective treatments with surgery showing the lowest failure rates. Other treatments might have some use but few have been compared to surgery. Imiquimod emerged as a possible new treatment although it has not been compared to surgery or any other modality.


The objective of the present study was to evaluate antimicrobial, cytotoxic and antioxidant potential of methanol extract of fruit part of Phyllanthus acidus. Phytochemical screening showed evidence of glycoside, tannin and resin. Antimicrobial activity was evaluated using disc diffusion method against 13 pathogenic bacteria where in higher concentration the extract showed moderate to good zone of inhibition against B. megaterium and B. subtilis also with S. typhi and S. dysenteriae. In case of brine shrimp cytotoxicity assay, showed good result with LC50 value 4.46 μg/ml where as LC90 value was 70.79 μg/ml. Antioxidant activity was evaluated by using total flavonoid content determination assays, total antioxidant capacity, 1,1-diphenyl-2-picryl-hydrazil (DPPH) free radical assay, reducing power assessment, cupric ion reducing capacity assay (CUPRAC method). The extract showed moderate to good antioxidant activity in a dose dependent manner and found to contain flavonoid compounds. In DPPH radical scavenging assay IC50 value found 2063.42 μg/ml and compared to ascorbic acid with 52 μg/ml. The extract also showed good cupric ion reducing capacity. The results of the present study indicate that the extract possesses moderate to good antioxidant potential.


【Recently, the research focused on fuel cell hybrid vehicles (FCHVs) is becoming an attractive solution due to environmental pollution generated by fossil fuel vehicles. The proper energy control strategy will result in extending the fuel cell lifetime, increasing of energy efficiency and an improvement of vehicle performance. Battery state of charge (SoC) is an important quantity and the estimation of the SoC is also the basis of the energy control strategy for hybrid electric vehicles. Estimating the battery's SoC is complicated by the fact that the SoC depends on many factors such as temperature, battery capacitance and internal resistance. In this paper, battery charging time estimated by SoC is studied by using the speed response and current response. Hybrid system is consist of a fuel cell unit and a battery in series connection. For experiment, speed response of vehicle and current response of battery were determined under different state of charge. As the results, the optimal battery charging time can be estimated. Current response time was faster than RPM response time at low speed and vice versa at high speed.】


A middle-aged patient is reported who came to laparotomy after a six months period of abdominal complaints. Extensive investigations couldn't explain his symptoms. At laparotomy he was found to have an ileal intussusception due to an invaginated Meckel's diverticulum. These events are confronted with other collected literature reports. Symptomatology and treatment are discussed.


attuned to irony, he notes the northern resort to states' rights theory and action in that decade to combat the pro-South leanings of congress and the federal courts. Both Union and Confederate governments huppressed state sovereignty during the Civil War, and Reconstruction witnessed an orgy of naliondist excesses committed by the executive and legislative branches. McDonald maintains that the Supreme Court narrowly ;\voided being "destroyed as an arbiter of the Coriatitution" (21 8) at that time, yet after Reconstruction that same Court emerged as the champion of a revitalized doctrine of states' rights, serving as a powerful counteru,eight to congressional authority until the New Deal. Finally, he suggests that in the 1990s the Court has again become the defender of states' rights theory and practice but regards that defense's future as uncertain. .StritPs' Rigtits and the Union will find an appreciative audience among undergraduate ;ind graduate students. Experts in the field will likely respond with either praise or pointed criticism, as is usually the case with the scholarship of Forrest McDonald.


A device that can fail by shocks or ageing under policy N of maintenance is presented. The interarrival times between shocks follow phase-type distributions depending on the number of cumulated shocks. The successive shocks deteriorate the system, and some of them can be fatal. After a prefixed number k of nonfatal shocks, the device is preventively repaired. After a fatal shock the device is correctively repaired. Repairs are as good as new, and follow phase-type distributions. The system is governed by a Markov process whose infinitesimal generator, stationary probability vector, and availability are calculated, obtaining well-structured expressions due to the use of phase-type distributions. The availability is optimized in terms of the number k of preventive repairs. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.


BACKGROUND
Variceal bleeding is an acute medical emergency with high mortality. Although less common than oesophageal variceal haemorrhage, gastric variceal bleeding is more severe and more difficult to control. The optimal therapy for gastric variceal bleeding remains unclear although endoscopic injection of N-Butyl-2-Cyanoacrylate (Histoacryl) glue is often used. However, its long-term efficacy is poorly described. We studied the immediate and long-term effects of Histoacryl glue injection as treatment for bleeding gastric varices in a large UK hospital.

METHOD
Endoscopy records and case notes were used to identify patients receiving Histoacryl injection for gastric variceal bleeding over a 4-year period.

RESULTS
Thirty-one patients received Histoacryl for gastric variceal bleeding. Seventy-four per cent patients had alcohol-related liver disease and 61% of cirrhotics were Childs Pugh grade B or C. Fifty-eight per cent were actively bleeding during the procedure with 100% haemostasis rates achieved. Two patients developed pyrexia within 24 h of injection settling with antibiotics. No other complications were encountered. Mean overall follow-up was 35 months, with mean follow-up of survivors 57 months. Forty-eight per cent patients had endoscopic ultrasound assessment of varices during follow-up with no effect on rebleeding rates. Thirteen per cent required subsequent transjugular intrahepatic portosystemic shunt placement. Gastric variceal rebleeding rate was 10% at 1 year and 16% in total. One- and two-year mortality was 23% and 35%, respectively.

CONCLUSION
Endoscopic injection of Histoacryl glue appears to be a safe and effective treatment for gastric variceal bleeding. Further data are required to compare it with other therapies in this situation.


Prefabricated zirconia crowns (ZRCs) require a passive fit and more reduction than stainless steel crowns (SSC). To determine the mean and maximum reduction depths in the mesialbuccal and occlusal areas for three ZRC brands and one SSC in posterior primary typodont molars and to compare reduction depths to existing literature to determine the preparation's proximity to pulpal tissue. Four primary maxillary and mandibular typodont teeth (J and S) were prepared according to the manufacturers' guidelines for three ZRCs and an SSC. The teeth were scanned before and after preparation with an optical scanner, and Recent Progress in Materials 2021; 3(2), doi:10.21926/rpm.2102021 Page 2/10 the mean and maximum depths of reduction for each tooth were calculated in triplicate with custom software and statistically compared among the types of crown. The results were compared to existing data on primary tooth enamel and dentin thickness. Maximum mesial-buccal and occlusal depth respectively of preparation for any ZRC for tooth J was 1.19 mm and 1.58 mm while for tooth S it was 1.06 and 2.07mm Both EZ Crowns and Kinder Krowns required an additional 0.5mm occlusal reduction beyond the manufacturer's recommendation for tooth S. Ideal preparations of ZRCs require more reduction than SSCs. Both EZ Crowns and Kinder Krowns require more reduction than the manufacturer's recommendation for a mandibular first primary molar.


Functionally Graded Materials (FGMs) are designed for use in high-temperature applications. Since the mass production of FGM has not yet been made, the determination of its thermo-mechanical limits depends on the compositional gradient exponent value. In this study, an efficient working model is created for the thermal stress problem of the 2D-FG plate using Multi-gene Genetic Programming (MGGP). In our MGGP model in this study, data sets obtained from the numerical analysis results of the thermal stress problem are used, and formulas that give equivalent stress levels as output data, with the input data being the compositional gradient exponent, are obtained. For the current problem, efficient models that reduce CPU processing time are obtained by using the MGGP method.


A gas bubble very close to an underwater sound source can have a profound influence on the sound radiated by the source. It is well known that when source and bubble are far apart, the bubble is a strong scattering centre for the incident sound, but when they are close together the bubble responds also to the near-field flow. This near field is scattered by the bubble from a non-propagating to a propagating mode so that the acoustic output of a multipole source, which has a relatively high near-field, can be considerably increased by the scattering process. A theory is developed for the scattering by a single spherical gas bubble near (a) a compressible spherical monopole source and (b) a compressible spherical dipole source, but it can be applied to non-spherical sources and bubbles by ascribing to them an 'equivalent spherical radius'. The theory is in good agreement with experiments using bubbles near a spherical monopole source and in fair agreement with experiments on bubbles near non-spherical monopole and dipole sources.


European policy makers have been struggling to fulfil the partially conflicting policy goals of (1) granting equitable and timely access to medicines to their citizens, (2) rewarding innovation to pharmaceutical industry and (3) containing costs in order to ensure long-term financial
sustainability of the health care system. From 2007/2008 on, Europe was affected by the global financial crisis that hit the countries in the region to different extents. Several countries had to take strict austerity measures, also in the pharmaceutical. Such measures are intended to address market participants such as pharmaceutical industry, wholesalers and pharmacies. Cost-containment is likely to also target patients and consumers by impacting accessibility and
affordability of medicines. Change to Win, a US-based non-profit labor organization, addressed Gesundheit Osterreich
Forschungs- und Planungsgesellschaft GmbH, a legal subsidiary of Gesundheit Osterreich GmbH (GOG/Austrian Health Institute) for non-profit clients, to submit a report about pharmaceutical pricing in European countries in order to investigate measures taken during the global financial
crisis and to provide an outlook on planned and future policy measures. The report is intended to be used by CtW Investment Group, which works with pension funds sponsored by unions affiliated with the Change to Win labor federation. In the results section, we start by providing an outlook on the current pattern and expected trends related to pharmaceutical policies as well as a forecast on pharmaceutical expenditure in the European countries over the next years . This is followed by information about
most frequently applied policies related to pharmaceutical wholesale, pharmaceutical pricing in general and the commonly applied pricing policy of external price
referencing.


The China-ASEAN Free Trade Agreement has been hailed as a landmark pact in pushing for freer trade between China and the ASEAN countries. With the establishment of the free trade zone, trade and investment
 between the Chinese and ASEAN economies are expected to increase significantly; but while the economic benefits are inexorable, the extent of gains derived from closer integration hinges on the Sino-ASEAN
 economic relationship, which is both complementary and competitive in nature. At the present stage of development, China and ASEAN are more competitive than complementary, given the similarity in their
 trade and industrial structures. ASEAN and China are also direct competitors for foreign investment, rather than significant investors in each other9s economies. Despite these challenges, the prospects
 for bilateral trade to flourish are bright if both China and ASEAN can interlock their economies through deeper integration in the long term.


The "American Dream of the 21st Century" is a very laudable and idealistic piece. In similar vein, I have been working on a project for almost 37 years. To fight climate change, the Dirigo Energy Institute ("DEI") recommends a MASS policy of Mutual Assured Survival Systems using a tripod offense of Nuclear Power, Ocean Power, and Solar Power. Any leg can complement other regenerative options (geothermal, wind, hydro, biomass, etc.) such that each leg will have the potential to supply all the world's energy needs for all time in a cost effective and environmentally benign manner. In this essay, DEI's visions are described on the following: Dirigo Means "I Lead", Micro-City Enterprises, Micro-Farm Enterprises, Allied Modular Power Systems, Remote Island Waste Management, Power Breakwater Enterprises, and John's Peerless Products.


Lawsonite is a major host mineral of trace elements (e.g., REE, Sr, Pb, U, Th) and H2O in various rock types (metabasite, metasediment, metasomatite) over a wide range of depths in subduction zones. Consequently, the composition of lawsonite is a useful archive to track chemical exchanges that occurred during subduction and/or exhumation, as recorded in high-pressure/low-temperature (HP/LT) terranes. This study provides an extensive dataset of major and trace element compositions of lawsonite in HP/LT rocks from two mélanges (Franciscan/USA; Rio San Juan/Dominican Republic), two structurally coherent terranes (Tavşanlı/Turkey; Alpine Corsica/France), and the eclogite blocks of the Pinchi Lake/Canada complex. Bulk major and trace element compositions were also determined for lawsonite-bearing host rocks to understand petrogenesis and assess compositional evolution.
 Most analyzed mélange and coherent-terrane metabasalts have normal mid-ocean ridge/back-arc basin basalt signatures and they preserve compositional evidence supporting interactions with (meta)sediment ± metagabbro/serpentinite (e.g., LILE/LREE enrichments; Ni/Cr enrichments). Most lawsonite grains analyzed are compositionally zoned in transition-metal elements (Fe, Ti, Cr), other trace elements (e.g., Sr, Pb), and/or REE, with some grains showing compositional variations that correlate with zoning patterns (e.g., Ti-sector zoning, core-to-rim zoning in Fe, Cr-oscillatory zoning). Our results suggest that compositional variations in lawsonite formed in response to crystallographic control (in Ti-sector zoning), fluid-host rock interactions, modal changes in minerals, and/or element fractionation with coexisting minerals that compete for trace elements (e.g., epidote, titanite). The Cr/V and Sr/Pb ratios of lawsonite are useful to track the compositional influence of serpentinite/metagabbro (high Cr/V) and quartz-rich (meta)sediment (low Sr/Pb). Therefore, lawsonite trace and rare earth element compositions effectively record element redistribution driven by metamorphic reactions and fluid-rock interactions that occurred in subduction systems.


Critical limb ischemia (CLI) is a terminal stage of peripheral artery disease (PAD). The number of patients with CLI is increasing, and the disease has a major impact on patients' quality of life. In spite of the marked advances in surgery and interventional angioplasty, a large number of patients require revascularization. To treat these patients, cell based angiogenesis is attracting a great deal of attention as a new strategy. "Therapeutic angiogenesis" is a term that has become widely used in the last decade. Despite negative results in several clinical trials of cytokine-based angiogenesis, cell based therapy produced effective angiogenesis. This cell-based angiogenesis originates from persistent basic research. The first clinical randomized pilot study was reported in 2002. Up to now, more than 30 clinical studies on the use of mononuclear cells or progenitor cells for the treatment have been published. As the prognosis of the patients with CLI is poor, it has been discussed with respect to their safety and feasibility. With the increasing number of treated patients, the accumulated outcomes from these clinical studies are demonstrating this therapy to be reliable. They reveal indications of the stage of the patients with PAD and the timing of treatments. However, clinical data concerning long time prognosis and a standardized protocol have not been discussed sufficiently. This review summarises data from recent clinical outcomes from 17 studies (11 involving BMMNC that included >10 patients, 6 involving PBMNC that included >10 patients) that are treating patients with PAD by autologous cell transplantation.


Candidiasis is the most common fungal infection predominantly affecting the mucous membrane. The fungus Candida causes these lesions. There are strains resistant to modern antimycotic drugs among Candida spp. Due to the increase in candidiasis prevalence and the widespread use of antifungal agents, the issue of effective treatment is becoming increasingly important. Liability of C. albicans to antigenic mimicry and suppression of the immune response mediates the evasion of the fungus from the immune response and development of excessive inflammation. The evasion of the fungus Candida from the local nonspecific immunity factors contributes to the breakdown of the antibody response initiation and cellular reactions of the acquired immunity, which are of key importance for anti-candidiasis protection. Therefore, the lack of an adequate local immune response from the mucous membranes is a possible reason for the development of a recurrent vulvovaginal candidiasis. Modern treatment for recurrent candidiasis in the formed risk groups involves the use of prophylactic aggressive etiotropic therapy, but at a lower dose, and the pathogenetically substantiated treatment involves regulating the local immune response in the vagina through the use of immunomodulatory drugs that inhibit the growth of fungi by activating the innate and acquired components of mucosal immunity. In addition, local immunomodulators contribute to the recovery of damaged mucous membranes and additional lubrication of tissues in contrast to antimycotics, which tend to increase the clinical manifestations of infection and dryness of mucous membranes when applied topically in the early stages of treatment.


A new band-reject frequency-selective surface (FSS) based on dual-band near-zero refractive index metamaterial (ZIM) design is presented in this paper. Consisting of a planar array of complementary dual-layer symmetry resonant ring, the proposed FSS exhibits a high-selective band-reject filtering response. From the viewpoint of effective medium, the subwavelength FSS is characterized by near-zero effective magnetic permeability and near-zero effective electric permittivity in two different operational bands, respectively. The corresponding resonant behavior and E-field distributions are analyzed in detail. A prototype of the proposed FSS working in X-band is fabricated and measured. The simulation and experiment results verify the effectiveness and correctness of the ZIM-based design method.


AIM OF THE STUDY
To assess the prevalence and characteristics of complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) use among multiple sclerosis (MS) patients in Poland.

CLINICAL RATIONALE FOR THE STUDY
Multiple sclerosis (MS) is a chronic, progressive and disabling neurological disease with significant impact on quality of life. Although the efficacy and safety of complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) has not been scientifically confirmed, many patients use CAM as a complement or an alternative to conventional therapy.

MATERIAL AND METHODS
Data was collected via a self-designed survey consisting of 33 questions. The questionnaire was distributed among MS patients hospitalised during 2016 in the MS Unit at the Department of Neurology, Medical University of Warsaw, Poland. The study group consisted of 75 patients (47 females, 28 males, mean age 44.6 ± 12.5 years) with clinically defined MS.

RESULTS
According to the questionnaire, 48 patients (64%) had used CAM at least once. Most of the patients declared that CAM had a possible (58%) or a marked (43.7%) positive effect. 61.4% of CAM users reported reduced fatigue and 33.3% improved mood. There were significant correlations between CAM use and lower social and professional status (p < 0.04), disease progression (p < 0.03), and lack of efficacy of disease-modifying therapies (p < 0.04). There were no significant correlations between CAM usage and sex, habitation, education, marital or professional status. The most frequently used CAMs were vitamins (48%), and polyunsaturated fatty acids (36%); psychophysical methods (44%) included manual therapies (24%) and relaxation techniques (17.3%) as well as herbal medicine (29.3%). Physicians were considered to be the most reliable authority in both conventional treatment (97.3%) and CAM (67%). Complementary and alternative medicine users significantly more often discussed this issue with their doctors (56%) compared to patients who did not use alternative medicine (p < 0.05). However, 54% of patients did not inform their physician about CAM use. Responders said that physicians did not initiate discussion about it (55.9%), but 44% of patients would like to have the possibility of talking to a doctor about CAM.

CONCLUSIONS AND CLINICAL IMPLICATIONS
Although CAM efficacy and safety is not confirmed, one should keep in mind that most MS patients use alternative methods, especially those individuals with a more severe phenotype. Physicians are mostly perceived as reliable authorities and therefore they should discuss this issue with patients in order to eliminate drug interactions and to improve compliance.


Noninvasive perfusion mapping is important to determine perfusion changes due to molecular and neuropathological modifications as well as pharmaceutical interventions. Here, we adopted a dynamic BOLD-MRI method for quantifying whole brain perfusion, such as cerebral blood volume (CBV) and cerebral blood flow (CBF) without the use of exogenous contrast agents in mice. High-resolution perfusion maps allow us to determine regional perfusion values and cortical depth-dependency. The proposed technique is non-invasive and repeatable with every <1 min temporal resolution and can combine with evoked fMRI studies for determining a neural activity-induced quantitative change of perfusion parameters.


The concept of resolving set and metric basis has been very successful because of multi-purpose applications both in computer and mathematical sciences. A system in which failure of any single unit, another chain of units not containing the faulty unit can replace the originally used chain is called a fault-tolerant self-stable system. Recent research studies reveal that the problem of finding metric dimension is NP-hard for general graphs and the problem of computing the exact values of fault-tolerant metric dimension seems to be even harder although some bounds can be computed rather easily. In this article, we compute closed formulas for the fault-tolerant metric dimension of lattices of two types of boron nanotubes, namely triangular and alpha boron. These lattices are formed by cutting the tubes vertically. We conclude that both tubes have constant fault tolerance metric dimension 4.


It has been observed that storms in early fall can result in top-to-bottom mixing of Chesapeake Bay. A three-dimensional, time-dependent circulation model is used to examine this destratification process for September 1983, when extensive current and hydrographic data were available. The model bay is forced at the surface by observed hourly winds, at the ocean boundary by observed hourly surface and bottom salinities and sea level fluctuations, and at the head by observed daily discharges for a 28-d period. A second-moment, turbulence-closure submodel, with no adjustments from previous applications to its requisite coefficients, is used to calculate the vertical turbulence mixing coefficients. Comparisons with data inside the model domain indicate relative errors of 7% to 14% for sea level, 7% to 35% for current, and 11% to 21% for salinity. The tidal portion of the spectrum is modeled better than the subtidal portion. The model is used to examine both the mechanisms of wind mixing and the temporal and spatial distribution of vertical mixing within the estuary. Wind-driven internal shear is shown to be a more effective mechanism of inducing destratification than turbulence generated at the surface. The model is also used to show that the vertical temperature inversion which occurs in the fall does not affect the timing of the destratification as much as its completeness. The distribution of mid-depth vertical mixing shows highly variable values in the mid-bay region, where wind-induced mixing is dominant. This suggests that the source of oxygen to mid-bay bottom waters is similarly variable. Vertical turbulence mixing coefficients of 10−2 cm2 s−1 (background) to 103 cm2 s−1 were needed to simulate the September period, indicating the need for time-variable mixing in models of dissolved and suspended estuarine constituents.


Federal agency approaches to land management are undergoing a shift from parcel-specific concerns toward a more holistic, ecosystem management approach. Southern bottomland hardwood ecosystems provide important environmental services and commodity goods (Wharton et al. 1982), yet much of our knowledge of these systems comes from anecdotal information. The Bottomland Hardwood Ecosystem Management Project of the U.S. Forest Service is part of a larger, interagency initiative to provide information that will form the scientific basis for ecosystem management of these systems (Harms and Stanturf 1994).


Increasing scarcity of freshwater resources is driving many countries in the arid and semi-arid regions to use marginal quality water for agriculture and related activities. While the nutrients contained in the wastewater is considered as beneficial to agriculture, the contaminants present in the wastewater pose health risks directly to agricultural workers and indirectly to consumers of the wastewater grown produce (fodder crops, greens and vegetables), as the long term application of the wastewater may result in the accumulation of toxic compounds such as heavy metals in soil and plants. In this way the heavy metals enter the food chain of animals and human beings, which could cause health hazards. Heavy metal accumulation in plants depends upon plant species. The efficiency of different plants in absorbing metals is evaluated by either plant uptake or soil-toplant transfer factors of the metals. This emphasizes the need for understanding the heavy metal uptake by plants in wastewater irrigation. The objective of this paper is to analyze the heavy metal uptake in wastewater irrigated plants such as Guinea grass (Panicum maximum), Ponnankanni keerai (Alternanthera sessilis) and Solanum melongena (Solanum melongena) in Avaniapuram Sewage Farm, Madurai, Southern part of India, where sewage irrigation is practiced since 1924. The results revealed a higher cadmium accumulation in all the three plants, which may be due to the presence of heavy metals in the source itself. A marginal accumulation of chromium and lead was found in the three species. Therefore the study recommends a pre- treatment of wastewater before land application, to avoid entrance of metals into the food chain.


E-participation is a two-way process, comprising government-led projects and citizens' initiatives. Although the cooperation between them is the best outcome, they usually compete for popularity and efficiency, representing conflicting views on engagement. In this paper, we aim to determine factors influencing the outcome of such competition. We analyze the sources of portals' viability as separate initiatives and the possibilities for their convergence and cooperation. We take the case of St. Petersburg (Russia), where public authorities and civic activists have created two e-participation platforms to address the same issues of urban development. Our main argument is that the viability of portals is based on their institutional basis. Our findings suggest that while the government -- sponsored initiative is a formal institutional innovation with strong political support, it is unlikely to sustain changes in the bureaucratic process without political leadership. The civic initiative does not create new laws, but develops online community, contributing to new social norms. When the former is winning the competition in the short-term, the latter has a strategic advantage. Co-existence and "forced cooperation" is the most possible future here, as the institutional environment forces the government and activists to cooperate despite the escalating conflict. A rational choice by citizens, whose alternative suits their interests best, will also determine the future of the portals, but is shaped by the abovementioned conditions.


The synthesis of gold-silver (AuAg) nanoalloys of various compositions has been performed by direct irradiation of highly intense femtosecond laser pulse in the presence of polyvinylpyrrolidone (PVP). The mixture of Au and Ag ions of low concentration was simply introduced into a glass vial and subjected to femtosecond laser pulses for several minutes. The AuAg nanoalloys of 2-3 nm with reasonably narrow size distribution were formed, and the position of the surface plasmon resonance (SPR) increased monotonically with an increase in the gold molar fraction in the ion solutions. The high resolution transmission electron microscope (HRTEM) images exhibited the absence of core-shell structures, and the energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDX) analysis confirmed that the particles were Au-rich alloys even for the samples with large fraction of Ag+ ions fed in the solution mixture. The formation mechanism of the alloy nanoparticles in the high intensity optical field was also discussed.


In order to evaluate the natural course of Duchenne's cardiomyopathy (DMD), 201T1-SPECT and RI cardioangiography with 99mTc-albumin were performed in 14 patients. They were examined once a year for five years except for 6 patients. Hypo-perfusion were observed in both posterior-inferior and anterior wall at 12 years of age and extended to the lateral wall and septum with aging. The degree of cardiac involvement was different in each case. Systolic parameters (LVEF, 1/3 EF, 1/3 ER-mean) tended to decrease with aging from 15 years of age. Diastolic parameters (%EFV, 1/3 FF, 1/3 FR mean) decreased gradually after 16 years of age. Hypokinetic changes of regional wall motion were observed at 15 years of age and they became severely with aging. Although phase delay appeared visually at 16 years of age, standard deviation of phase angle increased from 15 years of age. Follow up studies by 201T1 myocardial SPECT and gated pool scintigraphy revealed well the progression of cardiac involvement in patients with DMD.


We report a novel technique to reconstruct fluorescence lifetime distributions in turbid media by using Fourier domain reconstruction of time gated imaging data. The time gating provides sufficient temporal resolution to determine short fluorescence lifetimes while the use of the Fourier transform, which is essential for the time de-convolution of the system of the integral equations employed in the reconstruction, permits a relatively rapid reconstruction of 3-D tomographic data. This approach has been applied experimentally to reconstruct fluorescent lifetime distributions corresponding to phantoms with wells filled with fluorescent dyes embedded inside highly scattering slabs. In practice, the scattering medium can itself be fluorescent and we also suggest a simple iterative technique to account for background autofluorescence, which we have also tested experimentally.


Parallelism helps performance but at the same time stresses computer resources that are shared among threads. In this paper, we propose a low-overhead hardware counter based profiling method to accurately identify time-relevant contention locations in the program, then these contentions are mitigated so that performance of multithreading tasks can be boosted by the reduction of unnecessary contention cycles. In our preliminary experiment using NAS Parallel Benchmark (NPB), the contention searching algorithm is able to find an severe memory contention loop in FT code. After contention mitigation, more than 10% of the total cycles is eliminated, and the execution time of FT is reduced by 3% at the same time.


Abstract:In the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, children were susceptible to deadly infectious diseases. An increasing focus on the health of children led to the opening of fever hospitals, lock hospitals, sanatoria, and convalescent homes. This paper addresses the impact of infectious diseases on children in Scotland: their proximity to death, their experiences of medical treatment in hospital, the hospital regimes, and their separation from families. It will show how advances in sanitation, housing, medicine, and medical practice led to the demise of these types of hospital settings in the second half of the twentieth century, providing thought-provoking context to the COVID-19 pandemic.


During the last 13 years (1968-1980), 427 radiographic examinations were carried out during the course of medico-legal autopsies at the Institute of Forensic Medicine at the Free University of Berlin. Important problems were the demonstration of retained foreign bodies resulting from shooting, stabbing or blunt trauma, bone injuries, identification, and the question of life in neonates. An historical survey is given and 12 cases with special forensic problems are illustrated and discussed, and further means of investigation are described.


We investigate a practical pilot design for indoor channels with an analysis of channel estimation for block and comb-type pilot arrangements. For the pilot design over indoor channels, the performance is determined by the tradeoff between the interpolation error by frequency selectivity of the channel and the noise reduction by the interpolator, compared to the Doppler effect. Results show that the performance of channel estimation for the comb-type pilot symbol, with respect to the derived criterion, outperforms that of the block-type pilot symbol for indoor channels, whereas it is a slow-fading environment.


It has earlier been shown that the Sternheimer method is appropriate in deriving crystal field parameters (CFP) for Pr3+ and Nd3+ doped in YLF or Nd3+ in YAG. In this connection, the dipole (αD) and quadrupole (αQ) polarizabilities for the whole rare-earth (RE) series will be presented. These are needed for the self consistent lattice summations performed. The various rare-earth wavefunctions needed for the computations are derived from the well known relativistic full Hartree-Fock code by R. D. Cowan. The main CFP behaviour for the various RE dopants in YLF are seen to agree fairly well with the experimentally fitted parameters. Covalency effects are, as expected, observed to be more important for higher order parameters. It is also seen that the contribution to the crystal field due to covalency is approximately constant for a given Btp. This observation is also supported by calculations of Newman. The shielding, nuclear antishielding factors and radial integrals for the whole RE series are also presented.


In previous work, attention was restricted to tracking the net using a backward method that knows the target point beforehand (Bellmans's equation), this work tracks the state-space in a forward direction, and a natural form of termination is ensured by an equilibrium point 𝑝∗(𝑀(𝑝∗)=𝑆l∞and𝑝∗•=∅). We consider dynamical systems governed by ordinary difference equations described by Petri nets. The trajectory over the net is calculated forward using a discrete Lyapunov-like function, considered as a distance function. Because a Lyapunov-like function is a solution to a difference equation, it is constructed to respect the constraints imposed by the system (a Euclidean metric does not consider these factors). As a result, we prove natural generalizations of the standard outcomes for the deterministic shortest-path problem and shortest-path game theory.


Contents: Introduction, Birgit Jentsch and Mark Shucksmith Conceptual framework and literature review, Mark Shucksmith The changing rural context, Toivo Miulu, Alana Gilbert, Euan Phimister and Mark Shucksmith Methodology, Birgit Jentsch The attractiveness of rural areas for young people, Elizabeth Auclair and Didier Vanoni The impact of programmes under the European employment guidelines on young people in rural areas, Gerhard Dietz and Gerhard Christe Rural youth in local community development: lessons through partnership, Brian McGrath Rural development programmes and their impact on youth integration, Thomas Dax, Ingrid Machold and Christine Meisinger Social networks, labour market and policy impact in Santa Marta de Penaguiao, Chris Gerry, Patricia AntA^3nio, Carlos Marques, Jose Portela and Vasco Rebelo Experience of rural youth in the 'Risk Society': transitions from education to the labour market, Birgit Jentsch Conclusion, Birgit Jentsch and Mark Shucksmith Bibliography Appendices Index.


Dysregulated inflammation is considered as an essential pathological process in inflammation-associated diseases, which would be aggravated by high levels of reactive oxygen species (ROS) generation inducing oxidative stress. Currently, extensive attention has been paid to polyphenolic compounds owing to their broad spectrum biological activities, such as antioxidant and anti-inflammatory effects, while their therapeutic potential has been compromised by the poor stability, short plasma half-life, and low bioavailability. Given that polyphenols have a wide range of structural characteristics and various physicochemical properties, there remains a real challenge toward green, mass production of universal nanocarriers for effective entrapment of these active pharmaceutical ingredients. In this study, we adopted a flash nanocomplexation (FNC) platform to prepare nanocomplexes comprising polyphenols and d-α-tocopheryl polyethylene glycol 1000 succinate (TPGS) enabled by hydrogen bonding. We confirmed that the molecular structure of polyphenols has a great influence on their complexation with TPGS, and stable nanocomplexes were formed when the number of phenolic hydroxyl groups of polyphenols was above the value of 8. These hydrogen-bonded nanocomplexes produced by an FNC apparatus exhibited well-controlled quality with uniform size, good colloidal stability, and high batch-to-batch repeatability, thus improving the druggability as potent nanotherapeutics for antioxidant and anti-inflammatory applications. In vivo experiments indicated that the optimal nanocomplex (EGCG-NC) can be applied to ameliorate acute lung injury in a mice model after nasal administration. These results proved that polyphenols formulated with TPGS for nanocomplex formation through hydrogen-bonding complexation could augment their therapeutic potential for modulating hyperactive inflammation in the treatment of acute lung inflammation.


Results of a 7-year follow-up review of a patient with intratubal cancer and lumbo-aortic glands invasion are reported. The highly lympholytic character of these tumors and the existence of elective lumbo-aortic lymph node metastases suggest that surgery should include routine bilateral lumbo-aortic curettage in tubal cancer, particularly stages I and IIA. As well as providing improved assessment of degree of extension of the disease it can also avoid the frequently poorly tolerated abdominopelvic radiotherapy.


This article examines the factors that affect the profits of four airlines in the Philippines. The estimated profit equation indicates that an additional passenger contributes PHP 1,989 to profits, while an additional seat reduces profits by PHP 1,312. The findings indicate that airlines have a strong incentive to fill a seat before departure, justifying the practice of heavy discounting to stimulate passenger traffic during periods of low demand. An additional route reduces profits by PHP 107.736 million, which may indicate that new routes have lower-than-expected passenger traffic. This may also suggest that most profitable routes are already served by at least one airline and entry into existing routes may not be profitable. The 1997 Asian financial crisis, the 2001 terror attacks in the United States, and the most recent global financial crisis, collectively result in PHP 1.391 billion reduction in profits, underscoring the vulnerability of the airline industry to unanticipated events.


Manifestations of a major thermal anomaly in the Geysers-Clear Lake area of northern California include the late Pliocene to Holocene Clear Lake Volcanics, The Geysers geothermal field, abundant thermal springs, and epithermal mercury and gold mineralization. The epithermal mineralization and thermal springs typically occur along high-angle faults within the broad San Andreas transform fault system that forms the western boundary of the North American plate in this area. The young volcanic rocks overlie Mesozoic marine rocks of the Great Valley sequence which have been thrust above the coeval Franciscan Complex and penecontemporaneously dropped back down along low-angle detachment faults.Many of the waters of the region are nonmeteoric as defined by their isotopic signature. One type of isotopically shifted water emerges from or near Great Valley sequence rocks and is the most chloride rich. It is interpreted to be evolved connate in origin. A second type, evolved meteoric water, has moderate chloride contents, high boron contents, and high B/Cl ratios and is found locally in Franciscan rocks, notably at the Sulphur Bank mercury mine, where it probably results from near-closed-system, repeated boiling of meteoric water in host rocks that also contribute organic components to the water. At the Sulphur Bank mine fracturing of otherwise impermeable Franciscan rocks by faulting has created a localized zone of permeability in which thermal water boils repeatedly with limited venting to the surface. Boron-rich fluids were apparently present at depth in The Geysers geothermal field when intrusion of silicic magma occurred, because the concealed intrusion of felsite is surrounded by a halo of tourmaline-bearing hornfels. The volume of this poorly dated early to middle Quaternary intrusive body probably exceeds the 100 km 3 of erupted Clear Lake Volcanics. Similar intrusions may have occurred in the eastern part of the area at Wilbur Springs and the McLaughlin mine, where gold deposition and evidence of hydrothermal phenomena suggest more magmatic activity than is indicated by the small exposed bodies of early Quaternary basaltic lava. The Clear Lake Volcanics are the present locus of volcanism in the northern Coast Ranges and progressively older volcanic centers occur to the south. Geophysical data suggest that a large silicic magma body may be centered north of The Geysers steam field, providing the heat for the geothermal field.Geothermal power production has peaked at The Geysers and pressure declines indicate significant depletion of the fluid resource. The vapor-dominated field evolved from a preexisting hydrothermal system within fractured, otherwise impermeable Franciscan metamorphic rocks. A deep water table of saline fluid has been postulated to be present under the steam field, but no chloride-rich water has been found at drillable depth. We propose that recently discovered, isotopically shifted steam in the northwest Geysers area indicates the presence not of deep connate water but xather of boiled-down, boron-rich Franciscan evolved meteoric water. This water is likely to be present in limited quantities and will not provide a significant hot water resource for geothermal power production at The Geysers field or from the main Clear Lake volcanic field.


Latin American finance is strongly bank-oriented and dominated by local family groups. In recent years, however, sustained growth, changes in industrial patterns, and a surging middle class have increased the demand for better functioning stock markets and arm's length access to finance. Meeting this demand is essential to sustain the process of economic growth in the region and may play a role in a regional political struggle between moderate social democracy and radical populism also known as the 'battle for Latin America's soul'. This paper throws some light on the mismatch between the supply and demand sides of Latin American finance, in an attempt to address the question of whether or not the promotion of domestic stock markets is a sound policy objective for the region.


We use perturbation analysis to obtain explicit approximations of the equilibrium bids in asymmetric first-price auctions withn bidders, in which bidders'valuations are independently drawn from different distribution functions. Several applications are presented: explicit approximations of the seller's expected revenue, the maximal bid, the optimal reserve price, inefficiency, and a consequence of stochastic dominance. We also suggest an improved numerical method for calculating the seller's expected revenue.